Aug 5 (DN) SLFP leadership should take the slogans made at the Joint Opposition's Paada Yatra seriously as it is obvious that they are attempting to take over power through riots, NSSP leader Prof Wickramabahu Karunaratne said. He also said President Maithripala Sirisena as the SLFP leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe should take this incident seriously as the Joint Opposition is attempting to disrupt Parliament acting as a Constitutional Council by such activities. more..

Aug 5 (DN) Officers attached to the CID arrested two foreigners who allegedly collected money through ATM machines. A CID officer said having received a tip-off, they had commenced investigations to arrest these persons. CID arrested the two foreigners at a hotel in Wellawatte. Investigations revealed one suspect is a Polish and the other is Turkish. CID seized 50 forged ATM cards, Rs1,000 notes worth Rs15,000, two Rs5,000 notes, 34 Rs500 notes, 46 Rs100 notes, more..

Aug 5 (LBO) Central Bank will introduce several improvements to the process of trading treasury bonds and reporting of bond trades. In addition, a new trading platform will be rolled out, and the supervision functions will be switched from the Public Debt Department to the Department of Supervision of Non-bank Financial Institutions. Central Bank, under the new governor appointed last month, said it has commenced releasing more..

Aug 5 (ST) A wild elephant who is reported to have killed six people in the hill country has finally been tranquilized and caught after a four-day operation by wildlife officials and villagers in Morangahathenna. The elephant, estimated to be about 30 years of age, had been roaming the Victoria, Randenigala and Rantembe reserves and raiding villages across a 33 kilometer radius despite the presence of an electric fence. Wild elephants are rare in the hill country. more..

Aug 5 (DN) MP Mahinda Rajapaksa betrayed the country like Don Juan Dharmapala, State Minister Palitha Range Bandara said. �Mahinda Rajapaksa betrayed the country while entering into an agreement with a Chinese company through the proposed Port City project. While entering into the agreement, Rajapaksa has approved to offer the sole ownership of a land plot of the proposed Port City to China,� he said. �It is undoubtedly a betrayal of the country to a foreign nation. more..

Aug 5 (AD) Party membership of MP Sanath Nishantha has been suspended by the central committee of the SLFP, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said. He stated that the decision was taken when the SLFP central committee convened a meeting last night, after taking into consideration the statements made by Puttalam District MP in the recent past. Amaraweera said that meanwhile the disciplinary committee has been tasked with more..

Aug 5 (DM) Shocking CCTV footage show the brutal murder of a a 39-year-old being shot dead by two persons on a motorcycle on July 21st night, at Sylvester road Mount Lavinia. The footage show the victim Manju alias Dinesh Sanjaya riding his motorcycle who receives a phone call after he witch he stations himself at a bend on the road. Shortly thereafter two persons in another motorcycle approach the victim from behind on another motorcycle and shoot him. more..

Aug 5 (CT) Immediate solutions must be found to counter the menaces that have arisen due to Babul which is not categorized as a drug under Sri Lankan Law, Minister Faiszer Musthapha said. Mixed with Ganja it is being sold to schoolchildren in the Dehiwala area, he added. A ministry source said, "As the Laws of Sri Lanka do not allow the taking of any legal measures against selling Babul, the minister has said that effective solutions should be taken to amend the law if necessary. more..

Aug 5 (CI) Second day in Galle finished as it started: with Steven Smith at the crease facing Dilruwan Perera. Australia would take that result if it meant a captain's innings, a double-century to drag his side back into the series. The reality was a world away from that, for in between Perera had taken five wickets and scored a half-century, Rangana Herath had claimed a hat-trick, 21 wickets tumbled, and more..

Aug 5 (CT) The govt is planning to build seven stores which could stock up to 3,000 MT of paddy, in the Polonnaruwa District. This will enable the safe stocking of rice for 25 years, Minister P. Harrison said. He also assured that crises faced by dairy farmers will also be addressed as he is responsible for providing them with solution as the minister in charge. He added, "Ministry of Rural Affairs is hoping to continue their contract with Milco for a long time because both organizations more..

Aug 5 (LBO) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe met leading business personalities at a dinner event organized by the Horton Debate Society in Colombo recently. At the well-attended function, PM Wickremesinghe explained his plans for electoral reforms, constitutional amendments and the initiatives underway to develop the economy. PM was joined by his wife Maitree, while Nirj Deva Aditya, Member of the European Parliament, presided over the event. Ranjan Hulugalle, chairman of LBO, more..

Aug 5 (AD) Office for National Unity & Reconciliation (ONUR) has welcomed the report which was recently released by the ICRC highlighting the plight of families of the missing persons and recommendations for the authorities to consider. The report titled Living with uncertainty: Needs of the families of missing persons in Sri Lanka was released last week by the ICRC. ONUR, which has been established with a mandate more..

Aug 5 (DM) Police have found that a complaint lodged by a British tourist claiming that his gold ring worth Rs. 280,000 was stolen from a hotel he was staying, was fake and it was aimed at fraudulently making an insurance claim. The complaint had been made that the gold ring studded with a diamond and another electronic device worth Rs. 28,000 had been stolen from his room in the hotel he was staying in the Gampola area. He had also requested a copy of the complaint as more..

Aug 5 (PTI) Demands for taking back Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka, constitutional status for Bhojpuri, setting up of a Project Rhino, resolution of Mhadei river water dispute were among several issues raised in the Lok Sabha today. Raising the issue, K N Ramachandran (AIADMK) expressed concern over growing harassment of TN fishermen from SL Navy. He said as part of finding a permanent solution, India should take back the Katchatheevu island given to it in 1974 more..

Aug 5 (AD) Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena says that a disciplinary inquiry is not necessary to suspend a member of the SLFP who is not an MP or councilor. He stated that a disciplinary inquiry against an MP should be carried out very meticulously. It cannot be done in a manner which is rejected by courts, he said. SLFP central committee yesterday decided to suspend the party membership of a group of former SLFP LG members more..

Aug 6 (CT) Pada Yatra: rough translation, pilgrimage. They�ve been around for awhile, but the most famous is Mahatma Gandhi�s non-violent Salt Tax protest. That original Pada Yatra started with 80 people and went down in history as the famous Dandi Salt March: it even inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. Leave it to the Joint Opposition to organize their own Pada Yatra. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Co basically rallied thousands of people who marched, on foot, from Kandy to Colombo, while more..

Aug 6 (DN) The Joint Opposition (JO)�s paada yatra is over. Claims and counter claims about participation in it still abundant. The JO, of course, says a million people participated in it. Obviously it is an exaggeration which borders the absurd. According to reports of several media that cannot be accused of favouring the Govt the demonstration had taken less than three hours to reach its destination � the Lipton Circus. We have already experience of May Day rallies which took more..

Aug 6 (SO) No fresh arrests have been made even two weeks after the second haul of cocaine worth billions of rupees was busted in a sugar container. Different teams of investigators involved in the investigation are yet to crack the case, believed to be the largest cocaine smuggling racket uncovered in the country. Investigators now suspect that the racket may have continued undetected at least for last 10 years, with the high-end drug more..

Aug 6 (CT) Seven years had passed since the war came to an end. The govt that was formed with your support has functioned for over 20 months now. The tussle between the govt and the people over their lands is continuing. The first village that was formed in Killinochchi is Paravipanjan, which is the most important settlement in the Killinochchi town area. It is now under the control of the army which is using it as the Head Quarters of a division of the SL Army. In the midst of this confused situation, more..

Aug 6 (DN) CKDu or Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Aetiology is perhaps the most serious non-communicable disease afflicting dry zone farming communities in six out of nine provinces of SL. Only the western, southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces appear to be free from the disease according to available statistics compiled by Health Ministry. Despite 20 years of research carried out by scientists here and abroad, the exact cause of CKDu has not been identified to date. more..

Aug 6 (CT) Kurunegala District UNP MP, J. C. Alawathuwala says that there are certain ministers who go to the FCID and give statements, however, the complaints do not go into the waste paper basket, "The UNP MPs are vigilant as to what happens to complaints against ministers; just because ministerial portfolios have been given, investigations on accusations have not been halted. They should be punished". more..

Aug 6 (DM) �Most of the escaped prisoners were from open prison camps where we have employed them in cultivation. Only a very few escaped from courts and prison hospitals. These are open areas. There are no walls. Prison officers can monitor. But usually we handover ten to fifteen prisoners to be taken to the fields and there are difficulties in monitoring them all,� said Prisons Media Spokesperson Thushara Upuldeniya. He added that there was a lack of security as well. more..

Aug 6 (DM) This is the first time that we are doing an award ceremony for the Alumni, said W.K.H. Wegapitiya, Chairman of the Sri J'pura University Alumni Association. Award Ceremony had been in discussion for quite a long time and took a period of six months to organize. He stated proudly that the University since 1956, had produced a number of successful and distinguished graduates in various fields such as academics, arts and culture, commerce, entrepreneurship, more..

Aug 6 (Island) Recent weeks have seen several learned opinions expressed on the old controversy over the location of Elara Sohona, site where according to the 5/6th century A.C. Chronicle, Mahavamsa, King Duttha Gamani had his adversary who fell in battle cremated, had a monument built for him and ordered worship. Earlier chronicle, Dipavamsa, makes no mention of details of the war between Duttha Gamani and Elara or about the two personalities given in the main chronicle more..

Aug 6 (Island) We were told it would be a long political walk. A walk of protest given the name of Paada Yaatra, a journey on foot. There were memories of a similar event in 1992, when the walk did mark the beginning of a political change. But this walk, which too had political goals, had an entirely different step to it. The highlight was footwork different to that of a walk. The focus was on the footwork of the dance. The star of this dance-walk was the one and only Namal of Hambantota more..

Aug 6 (CI) Sri Lanka's spin bowlers are as innocuous a group of people as you may care to encounter. The gang's kingpin, Rangana Herath, is approaching the age and shape whereupon Sri Lankan men begin taking abrupt daytime naps on the verandah while the tea they had been drinking is incrementally spilt upon themselves. He has never been known to sledge, through a career that now spans 318 wickets. more..

Aug 6 (CI) 1: Number of Sri Lanka bowlers to take a hat-trick in Tests before Rangana Herath. Nuwan Zoysa had taken wickets off his first three deliveries in a Test against Zimbabwe in Harare in 1999-2000. Click here for a list of hat-tricks in Tests. 1892: The only time before Herath a left-arm orthodox bowler took a hat-trick in Tests. England's Johnny Briggs had ended Australia's second innings with a hat-trick on that occasion. Australia chinaman bowler Lindsay Kline is the only other more..

Aug 6 (NS) It has been decided that the current consensus govt will run for its full term of five years until it fulfills its pledges given in August 2015. Initially, the UNP and the SLFP had agreed to work together for two years and to decide the future, depending on how it works during that period. However, due to various reasons, they have now extended the cohabitation even before the two year period is over. The initial pledges given to the people included working jointly to resolve more..

Aug 6 (CI) Not up to international standard was the damning verdict of Australia's coach Darren Lehmann after the tourists lost 11 for 77 on a hectic day in Galle to all but hand over the Warne-Murali Trophy to SL for the first time in its existence. Lehmann, who recently signed a contract extension to remain coach until October 2019, was frank in conceding that his side does not appear to have improved in playing spin bowling on more..

Aug 6 (Island) National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) has revealed that about 40% of Sri Lankans consume alcohol. The findings of the NATA survey have come as no surprise. Drinking has apparently become SL�s national pastime. Most Sri Lankans exercise only one part of their anatomy properly�the elbow, which they keep bending religiously. Sri Lankans seem to have a problem with drinking anything, even tea, which they use as an excuse to consume all the sugar in the world, more..

Aug 6 (Hindu) SL Naval personnel rescued three fishermen of Kottaipattinam who were stranded the mid-sea following a snag in their engine on Friday. Fishermen, V. Murugesan (45), C. Balasundaram (55) and A. Soosai (22), who ventured into sea on Wednesday, did not return home the next day. They informed the Coastal Security Group personnel about the snag. Meanwhile, naval personnel from SL, after an inquiry, towed them to Kangesanthurai and rectified the engine. more..

Aug 6 (DN) Sri Lanka swimmers Matthew Abeysinghe and Kimiko Raheem, who shared 12 gold medals between them at the last South Asian Games in India, find the weather conditions and the Olympic pool water to their liking as the duo completed another work out today under the watchful eyes of coach Manoj Abeysinghe. Matthew Abeysinghe who becomes the first ever Lankan swimmer to compete in Olympics as more..

Aug 6 (FT) The Court of Appeal further extended the Interim Order till 17 November staying the decision to ban the use of full face helmet and fixed for hearing the Writ applications those are seeking an order prohibiting the authorities from taking any steps towards imposing ban on the use of full face helmets. Bench comprised Justices Vijith K. Malalgoda (President of the Court of Appeal) and Padman Surasena. There are three Writ petitions filed seeking an order prohibiting more..

Aug 6 (FT) National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection (NMCRP) requested Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to formulate the necessary regulations for the internal market for all cosmetic products. Writing to CAA Director General A.K.D.D Arandara, NMCRP said: �We urging you to initiate prompt action to make the necessary regulation as a body responsible for the protection of consumers� rights.� NMCRP also claimed the CAA had failed to gazette any regulation and more..

Aug 6 (EN) Sri Lanka's power regulator has given the nod for state-run CEB to buy alternative plants on an interim generation plan which was rejected at the same time, after the sudden scrapping of a planned coal plant threw the sector into a crisis. CEB's 2015 Least Cost Long Term Generation Plan (LCLTGEP) was earlier rejected by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), on multiple grounds and more..

Aug 6 (Island) The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is expecting several top public sector entities to list with it in the future. This would ensure a high market capitalization inflow into the market, its chairman Vajira Kulathilaka said. "CSE always provides necessary investor opportunities and convenience to promote the market. Therefore, we through Central Depository System (Pvt) Ltd (CDS), a fully owned subsidiary of the CSE, have launched CDS e-connect, secure electronic business portal more..

Aug 6 (SL) WHILST newly elected ABA president, DIG (ret.) Rohan Abeywardena won�t likely encounter problems of a financial kind [thanks to the inclusion of Dian Gomes, long the sport�s chief provider, as one of two vice presidents], his job nonetheless isn�t going to be an easy one. Since Gomes� involvement in the sport�s administration in 2000, Sri Lanka boxing has never been in want, be it in terms of paying for the services of a top foreign coach, funding boxers� participation in more..

Aug 6 (FT) Work on the much-awaited Rubber Industry Masterplan has commenced in earnest, with the Industry and Commerce Ministry implementing a major portion of projects outlined in it. Meanwhile, India says that its team will be in town as early as next week to discuss the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) mooted between the two South Asian neighbours, as announced yesterday. more..

Aug 6 (Island) Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath said that he was lost for words after his hat-trick heroics put Sri Lanka firmly in control to win their first series over Australia in 17 years. Herath took a hat-trick in Australia�s first innings yesterday morning to join Nuwan Zoysa as the only Sri Lankans to complete the rare milestone. Zoysa�s hat-trick came in 1999 against Zimbabwe in Harare when he dismissed Trevor Gripper, Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin. "After 17 years we are on the verge more..