Aug 2 (CT) Former Secretary to the President K.H.J. Wijeyadasa says that it was not easy to work with President R. Premadasa, since he wanted everything delivered neatly. Q: What is your full name? A: Kandukumara Hapudoragamage Jothiyarathna Wijeyadasa. Q: Your native place? A: Udahamulla, Nugegoda. I spent most of my childhood there. Q: Who are your parents? A: My mother is Pothuvila more..

Aug 2 (DN) While the practice of child sex tourism can erode the moral integrity of our nation, the greatest victims are of course, the defenceless children, their voices unheard, their stories untold, their plight implacable, and their innocence stolen. They must endure the immediate and long-term emotional, psychological, and physical impact of sexual exploitation. To make matters even worse, in areas with limited educational opportunities, people are ill-informed of the health risks and more..

Aug 2 (DN) Much has been written about the fateful year of 1983. Most of the writings have been on the contributory factors that went to make that black event, the ferocity of the racial attacks during the rioting and the weak handling of the tragic developments by the authorities. The short and long term effects of that decisive occurrence has not absorbed the writers as much. Such convulsions are not accidental events happening randomly. Invariably, there are long histories and more..

Aug 2 (ST) It was not too many moons ago that the loquacious Rajitha Senaratne, minister and cabinet spokesman, claimed that the condition of some of our roads demanded that ministers and others of such elevated status straining every sinew to serve the people, need to have comfortable (not to mention expensive) vehicles to perform their sacred duties. Don�t get me wrong. Minister Senaratne is an honourable man. So are they all, all honourable men (and women, naturally). more..

Aug 2 (Island) On Saturday, Angelo Mathews achieved what even legendary Sri Lankan captains like Arjuna Ranatunga and Mahela Jayawardene failed to achieve. Mathews� two predecessors were brilliant tacticians and had outstanding teams at their disposals, but never achieved a Test win against world�s best team � Australia. Mathews leading a young Sri Lankan team was able to bring down world�s number one ranked team as Sri Lanka won the first Test at Pallekele by 106 runs. more..

Aug 2 (CT) Jaffna University brawl has regressed into a he-says-she-says case, simply because the media has taken sides. The only unambiguous factor in this case is where the law is standing on this matter. That law must be enacted to arrest this brawl from snowballing into something worse. While some see this as nothing more than a clash between two student factions, others read ethnic tension woven into the incident. more..

Aug 2 (FT) It has come to the attention of Transparency International SL that in spite of earlier intimations that the RTI Bill had received the certificate of the Speaker on 7 June, RTI Bill has in fact still not been certified and therefore does not have the force of law. This was confirmed upon reference to the latterly published official Hansard. RTI Bill was passed by MPs in Parliament on 24 June 2016. As a leading advocate for the enactment of comprehensive RTI legislation in SL, more..

Aug 2 (Island) Set to revolutionise the local TV watching experience, the world�s leading Internet TV service, iflix, launched in Sri Lanka on August 1, making its vast library of the latest and most popular global TV shows accessible to entertainment buffs across the country. �While there are currently several options available in the Lankan market for TV enthusiasts, iflix sets itself apart with a fantastic mix of localised and international content, great user-friendly interface and more..

Aug 2 (Island) This weekend could be a massive one for SL cricket. National cricket team has never laid their hands on Warne-Murali Trophy since it was initiated in 2007 and the home team will head to their favourite hunting ground expecting to seal the three match Test series against Australia. A series win is vital for Sri Lankans for many reasons. To start with, this has been an awful year for Angelo Mathews� side more..

Aug 2 (CT) A thanksgiving service will be held at the Methodist Memorial Church, Moor Road, Wellawatte at 6.30 p.m. today, to launch the bicentenary celebration of Jaffna Central College which is also the Founder's Day of the College. A gala fellowship dinner event is organized by the OBA, Colombo at the Concord Grand Hotel, Dehiwala on 6 Aug 2016, as a part of the bi-centenary celebrations. Titled Celebration of Central, ceremony is set to attract old boys and families from Sri Lanka and abroad. more..

Aug 2 (DN) A jeep in which Gampaha district Parliamentarian Prasanna Ranaweera came to Pasyala to participate in the Joint Opposition�s Paada Yatra on July 30 afternoon, collided with a motorcycle injuring the two on the motorcycle. The two injured in the crash were taken in the jeep and admitted to the Wathupitiwala Hospital after which the occupants of the jeep had escaped without reporting the incident to Police. Nittambuwa police are investigating the incident. more..

Aug 2 (NS) Academics in the Eastern Province addressing the growth of education and the development of education highlighted that owing to the fact that students were learning in the vernacular languages, they were not excelling in the English medium and were lacking in knowledge of the English language. Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences of the Faculty of Arts and Culture of the South Eastern University, Dr. A. Rameez said that in the Eastern Province, more..

Aug 2 (CT) Minister Sajith Premadasa, pledged to increase the number of Udagama Housing Projects planned for next year. It will be doubled to 400 from the 200 planned for this year. Minister went on to say that he is determined to continue the task of providing housing for the most needy in the country despite their race, religion, political affiliations and whatever restrictions or barriers. He also said the govt will be taking every possible action for the development of the country and more..

Aug 2 (FT) Reflecting monetary tightening by the Central Bank, Sri Lanka�s trade deficit contracted marginally in April by 2.9%, on a year-on-year basis to $ 754 million due to the steeper reduction in imports with the first quarter also shrinking by 2.4% to $ 2.6 billion from a year ago. Latest data showed earnings from exports in April 2016 stood at $ 707 million, indicating a marginal decline of 0.9%, year-on-year, more..

Aug 2 (DN) No matter how many pada yatra is conducted, the government will not change until 2020, Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said. �Today the judiciary functions independently. The govt does not need to block the pada yatra,� Minister said, even though the protest is organised to destabilise and change the current system. �The people have the freedom to take part in it,� he said. Minister Senaratne said the previous regime had taken out loans amounting to Rs. 3.5 trillions through more..

Aug 2 (Yahoo) Sri Lanka has a rich tradition of producing mystery bowlers. The latest joining the list is young left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan, who made an impressive Test debut against Australia in the first match of the ongoing series. Here is a list of 5 such �mystery� wrist bowlers, who had impressive starts to their careers, but eventually drifted away from the international scene. #5 Somachandra de Silva: The present interim chairman of Sri Lankan cricket, more..

Aug 2 (FT) It has been revealed that Sri Lanka loses revenue of over Rs. 6,000 million due to the import of foreign liquor through illegal means. Govt says this considerable amount of money can be used for the country�s development. However, Special Narcotic Raids Unit, established under the purview of Ministry of Finance, has so far been able to round up several such racketeers. Accordingly, Special Narcotic Raids Unit was set up more..

Aug 2 (Island) Injuries to bowlers continue to haunt Sri Lanka and the latest victim is fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who has sustained a hamstring injury during warm-up yesterday in Galle. Pradeep was sent to Colombo for MRI scans and remains a doubtful starter for the second Test starting in Galle on Thursday. SL also missed the services of fast bowler Suranga Lakmal due to a hamstring strain ahead of the first Test at Pallekele. Eyebrows have been raised with the amount of injuries more..

Aug 2 (ST) Sri Lanka Cricket in a brave stance refused their support to the Two Tier ranking system which has been proposed by the International Cricket Council. During the just concluded Test match at Pallekelle, ICC CEO David Richardson who was also present at the occasion took the opportunity to make a presentation on the advantages of a two tier system in World Cricket. At the conclusion of the proceedings SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said �They were very keen to more..

Aug 2 (DN) Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2016, organised by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will commence today, with the participation of President Sirisena. The two day summit, titled Focus. Act. Deliver, has attracted 460 top corporate and public sector senior executives will discuss how to unleash SL�s unrealised economic potential. Chamber will conduct seven sessions of strategic discussions covering more..

Aug 2 (DN) Sri Lankan has been placed first in the world in breastfeeding during an international survey conducted in 2016 with the participation of 121 countries. Cuba won second place, Health Services Director General Dr. Palitha Mahipala said. He said the same survey was conducted in 2012 with the participation of 51 countries where SL was again placed first. The current percentage of breastfeeding in SL is 92% and it should be further increased to 96% or above, he said. more..

Aug 2 (CI) Just as Zimbabwe are getting back to Test cricket, they face the prospect of another lengthy stint without matches in the longest format. Sri Lanka's tour of Zimbabwe in Oct-Nov, pencilled into the FTP as two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I, may instead consist of a triangular ODI series featuring SL and West Indies. A source said that Zimbabwe never really intended for SL to play Tests as it is not financially viable, and that a 3-team, ODI competition is definitely being planned. more..

Aug 2 (CT) Former Minister Basil Rohana Rajapaksa who has been charged under the Public Property Act for having provided to local govt institutions across the island, galvanized pipes which had been purchased using money from the capital of the Divi Neguma Development Department, together with its Director General Amith Kithsiri Ranawaka were ordered to be remanded further until 8 August by the Kaduwela Magistrate yesterday. more..

Aug 2 (FT) MP Wimal Weerawansa is scheduled to be questioned today over the alleged financial fraud reported at the State Engineering Corporation (SEC), which came under his purview as Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities of the previous govt. Weerawansa, NFF Leader, will be questioned by the Police investigators of the PRECIFAC, an official said. He said that the police investigators would question him over the complaints regarding more..

Aug 2 (DN) 16-year-old student from Ambalangoda committed suicide by hanging after his parents refused permission to attend a cricket match. Relatives said the student had prepared to go for the cricket match early morning but his parents had refused permission saying he should spend more time for studies. Following an argument child, a student from a leading school in Ambalangoda had locked himself inside a room. Parents had later found that their son had hung himself more..

Aug 2 (CT) The CID has decided to once again question two retired Deputy Inspectors General of Police, who had earlier been questioned, in order to further determine the manner in which the investigation into the murder of veteran journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was suppressed during the past seven years. It was regarding this murder that former IGP Mahinda Balasuriya was questioned for more than 5 hours by the CID more..

Aug 2 (DN) 12th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) will be an ideal opportunity for SL micro sector entrepreneurs to gain exposure to the world WIEF Foundation Chairman Musa Hitam said. The forum will be held at Jakarta Convention Centre from Aug 2 to 4. Hitam said it will also give them a chance to speak and interact with some of the world�s leading companies and share their experiences. Some 2,500 delegates and 60 role players from over 100 countries are expected to attend WIEF. more..

Aug 2 (Island) The GCE (A/L) Exam commences today at 2,204 centres countrywide and ends on August 27. Commissioner General of Examinations W.M.N.J. Pushpakumara said 315,605 candidates were sitting the examination this year, 240,991 school candidates and 74,614 private candidates. The Examinations Chief said that there was also a special examination centre for prisoners at the Kalutara prison and two special centres for blind students at Tangalle and Ratmalana. more..

Aug 2 (Island) MP Udaya Gammanpila alleged that the police had made series abortive attempts to sabotage Pada Yathra at the behest of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe govt. The police acted as if they had been receiving directives from Sirikotha as regards the five-day protest, UPFA MP Gammanpila said. The MP was responding to a query in the wake of the police repeatedly seeking judicial intervention to restrain the protest. more..

Aug 2 (DM) The authorities have agreed with the private bus operators to increase bus fares by six per cent from yesterday. However, the journey in a private bus is a nightmare for the commuters, given the conditions the buses are in including cleanliness and the arrogance of bus conductors and the reckless manner in which the buses are driven by equally arrogant drivers. Almost all politicians and many public servants who are involved in decision-making may not have travelled in more..

Aug 2 (DM) Youth Commission in their report as far back as 1990 had recommended that the Parliament being the central institution of our democratic system, steps needed to be taken to re-establish public confidence by revamping and strengthening the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in order to fortify the democratic, legislative process. They had suggested that an effective committee system be established in order to involve members of the public through a consultation process. more..

Aug 2 (DM) Despite various govt programmes and efforts, the chronic renal disease that started from the dry zone of the country continues to take its toll on people with as many as five persons dying on a daily basis. The disease has now spread to all parts of the country barring the Western Province at the moment. The use of agrochemicals, the etiological factor of the disease, takes place unabated. more..

Aug 2 (Island) The Joint Opposition had conducted a Pada Yathra to divide the SLFP, Minister Faizer Mustapha alleged. He said as SLFP and UPFA General Secretaries had said disciplinary action would be taken against the SLFP members who criticised the party and its Central Committee during the protest march. Minister said though the JO members were holding protest marches all around the country shouting more..

Aug 2 (ST) A Govt ban on tuition classes before the A/L exam scheduled to begin next week, begs the futility of the exercise and the need to look inwards at our education system, itself. Last week, the Exams Dept imposed a ban on all tuition classes to be effective from July 22. Gazette notification no. 1816 of Aug 21, 2016, issued by the Exams Dept stated tuition classes, seminars and workshops to coach students for forthcoming more..

Aug 2 (SL) The highly-debated and long-delayed Krrish project � which recently recommenced initial construction work, is yet to be given green light by the govt as it had not completed its payment obligations due. However once cleared by the UDA and the Attorney General�s Department, project has no impediment from the country�s investment promotion agency � Board of Investment (BoI), BoI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said. more..

Aug 2 (EN) Sri Lanka's economic policy has deteriorated to the 'supreme idiocy' of resorting to price controls after generating inflation through loose macro-economic policies, a top economist said. "There has been the supreme idiocy of imposing price controls, which I thought was something we had left behind in 1977," Razeen Sally, Chairman of Sri Lanka's IPS and a professor at Singapore National University said. more..

Aug 2 (AM) JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake hit out at the govt for its excessive expenditure, alleging that the govt spends an average of Rs 50 million for one Minister each month. These include the Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers and the Deputy Ministers, he said. He said that the govt added a provision to increase the number of Ministries to grant more perks to the politicians of both parties. more..

Aug 2 (Island) The Dhamma-Samaggi Sansadaya comprising Buddhist monks has urged the administration of the University of Jaffna and the student community to pursue path of national reconciliation. Statement: "A clash between Sinhala and Tamil students that occurred at Uni of Jaffna in July at a cultural event organised by the University students to welcome the new intake of freshers to the Uni has saddened everyone more..