Sept 3 (CT) The four southern states of India are located closer to Colombo than to Delhi. Colombo can therefore be used as an efficient gateway to the South Indian market, giving it access to 250 million people. The National Savings Bank affiliate NSBFMC makes this defiant and revealing statement in the background brief of the document that seeks investors for the National Airline. It is a positively promising discovery by a state owned bank. It has daringly suggested that more..

Sept 3 (Island) Leader of the Communist Party, D.E.W. Gunasekera said that S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was the only political leader in post independence Sri Lanka who took meaningful action against govt corruption by having allegations of bribery against five ruling party politicians probed impartially. Some of them like Minister C.A.S. Marikkar and MP D.B. Monnekulame were the PM�s closest friends who had helped found and build the SLFP but under Bandaranaike, allegations more..

Sept 3 (IT) Before the final ODI against hosts Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Kandy, Australian cricketers participated in a cricket clinic for 40 children and 20 parents impacted by the floods and landslides in May this year that left as many as 200 people reported dead or missing. The event was part of Cricket Cares, Cricket Australia's community action program which uses cricket as an agent of change in the community through individual player charities, disaster relief efforts, more..

Sept 3 (DN) Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi said govt has paid its special attention to recycle and reuse garbage which would provide solutions to overcome the garbage disposal problem through a proper national strategy within the next three years as it was a major environmental issue in the country. He pointed out that Ministry of Megapolis & Western Development had paid attention to utilize more..

Sept 3 (ST) Veterinary surgeons of the Wildlife Veterinary Surgeons Association (WVSA), attached to the Dept of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), have suspended elephant capture-and-relocation for the past two weeks, demanding a monthly allowance of Rs 20,000. They claim they are overworked and underpaid, though working under trying conditions, while faced with constant threats of physical harm from wild animals. WVSA Secretary, Dr S. Jayawardena said there are only 9 surgeons more..

Sept 3 (Island) South Asia�s first science messaging service, Vidu Nena Hawula released the 1000th message on August 31 under the patronage of Minister Susil Premajayantha at the ministry auditorium in Colombo. Vidu Nena Hawula Science Messaging Service, also known as OSCEM (Open Science Circle in Electronic Media) was launched in January 2012 by the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research. more..

Sept 3 (AD) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today said very hard lessons were learnt from the serious mistakes of UN during the final stages of the war in SL and that more lives could have been saved had the UN been more actively engaged. He made these remarks at an event on SDG16: Sustaining Peace: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals held in Colombo. He stated that in the conflict�s decisive final stages, more..

Sept 3 (DM) Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera is to undertake an official visit to the Republic of Slovenia from tomorrow to September 8. This is the first high-level visit from Sri Lanka to the Republic of Slovenia since the election of the new Govt in January 2015. Minister Samaraweera has been invited by Mr. Karl Erjavec, the Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Bled Strategic Forum 2016: Safeguarding the Future. more..

Sept 3 (Hindu) A total of 452 SL refugees have been repatriated and returned to the Island with the assistance of the UNHCR in 2015-16, a policy note of Public Department tabled in the Assembly. The numbers were 396 in 2014-15. �The refugees who are willing to go back to Sri Lanka on their own accord are issued Exit Permits by the District Collectors concerned, for which, to expedite the process, a simplified procedure has been formulated and implemented,� it added. more..

Sept 3 (FT) Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena, who is known as Maithripala Sirisena, a SL politician with 25 years in mainstream politics and one who does not belong to the SL political elite, shot to fame to hold the highest mantle in the country on that famous date, 8 Jan 2015. Referred to up unto the date by those only the closest to him as Maithri, it became a household name and the name even spread worldwide more..

Sept 3 (Nation) There is much ado about the establishment of the office of missing persons (OMP). No one can refuse such a remarkable step if they understand the pain of love for our missing countrymen and women. Statistics of the enforced disappearances are not important to highlight here as our tiny beautiful country marked the world record by disappearing her own countrymen. Life in this form is a one-time chance; death is the inevitable consequence for anyone who is born. more..

Sept 3 (AD) The body of an Air Force flight sergeant, who had died under suspicious circumstances, has been discovered from the Airport Road in Ratmalana. Police said that investigations are ongoing to determine whether he had died from an accident or if there was any foul play as the officer was found with injuries to the head. The victim who was attached to Ratmalana Air force camp was identified as 40-year-old Flight Sergeant K.S. Deshapriya of Agalawatte. more..

Sept 3 (GDI) SL Bureau of Foreign Employment has paid Rs 25 million as compensation to families of migrant workers who died overseas during the period January to July. The compensation for 57 deaths was paid to family members by the insurance policy of the SLBFE. Rs.500, 000 was paid for sudden deaths while Rs 250,000 was paid for deaths due to sickness. In addition for medical treatment and more..

Sept 3 (CG) The SLFP today accused outsiders of attempting to split the party to create a new political alliance. SLFP member Susil Premajayantha said that political parties which were part of the UPFA and those who are not recognised as a political party, are behind moves to split the SLFP. He said that those looking to divide the SLFP want to create a new political force in the country. However he noted these politicians never supported the SLFP in 1994 when the party came back to power more..

Sept 3 (ST) Maharagama Cancer hospital will not only get a PET-scanner soon but will also receive a CT-scanner, the Kadijah Foundation said last week. Foundation President M.S.H. Mohamed said that the monies collected for a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner, a nuclear medicine imaging diagnostic tool to assess the functioning tissues and organs of the body, has far exceeded expectations and that the excess money would be used to buy a much needed CT scanner too. more..

Sept 3 (GDI) The debt burden which is felt by the South is also felt by the North, Minister Arjuna Ranatunga stated. He also emphasizes on the fact that for the development of the country, if anyone is Sinhalese, Tamil or Muslim in not concern. North needs rapid development in order for reconciliation and unity of the country. Minister was addressing an event in Kites, Jaffna. A safe passenger boat transportation service, more..

Sept 3 (NS) National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection (NMCRP) has called on the Police to support the work of public health inspectors when raids are conducted on canteens, eateries, restaurants and hotels that are known to be violating sanitary regulations. Chairman of the NMCRP Ranjith Withanage pointed out that the Ministry of Health must issue guidelines that medical reports should be obtained by those working in such places, especially in food preparation. more..

Sept 3 (CT) Govt of SL is seemingly all out to promote exports, but when it comes to catering to the domestic market, GoSL's actions appear to encourage imports to cater to such demands as opposed to helping the local industry to meet this need. This was revealed by Industrial Association of Sri Lanka's (IASL's) newly elected President Dinesh Dharmadasa at IASL's AGM, which was held at a leading Colombo hotel on Thursday. He said local industrialists who import raw materials for more..

Sept 3 (HT) A meeting between Former Nepalese PM and senior leader of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal and former President Rajapaksa was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday. In the meeting held on the sidelines of the ongoing International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAP), Rajapaksa shared his concerns about the development of the Lumbini Area as well as the efforts made during his tenure to more..

Sept 4 (SO) In a remarkable coincidence, President Sirisena today celebrates his 65th birthday just two days after marking the 65th birthday of the political party he heads. While President Sirisena has made history on his own by becoming the common candidate for both the country's major political parties in a presidential election, his party has also made history by dramatically and decisively contributing to this country's post-colonial revival and national consolidation. more..

Sept 4 (Island) President Maithripala Sirisena�s meeting on Friday with media people including editors and publishers as well as the heads of the electronic media revealed an aspect of his political sagacity as well as the willingness to candidly respond to the questions that were thrown at him. It is hard to fault his logic that had Mahinda Rajapaksa won the third term he had sought and Prabakharan survived the military defeat of the LTTE and found refuge abroad, more..

Sept 4 (SO) While sticking to the basic Tamil political position for greater devolution, Opposition Leader, TNA head and, SL Tamil community political elder R. Sampanthan last week would not specify areas for more provincial powers, hinting at a possible softening of line by the Tamil leadership. He expressed his views on the extent of further devolution to be negotiated and TNA's meeting with UN Sec General Ban Ki-moon. more..

Sept 4 (ST) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday spoke in Colombo under the auspices of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) on the topic of Sustaining Peace and Achieving Sustainable Development Goals. He referred to the many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN, but clearly went off track to compare what happened in Sri Lanka with what happened in Rwanda �which raised some eye-brows and more..

Sept 4 (CT) What could very well turn out, in the long term, to have been a statement tantamount to political suicide was uttered by President Sirisena when he addressed the media after talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, revealing the fact that he had in one-on-one talks with Ban slammed Extremist political elements in the North and South for exerting unfair political pressures on the govt. He had gone to the extent of literally warning Ban to watch out for those extremists. more..

Sept 4 (CT) President Maithripala Sirisena who celebrated his 65th birthday yesterday is all set to make a controversial statement today at Maligapitiya stadium situated at the foot of the Elephant Rock, as the SLFP celebrates its 65th Birthday. President Sirisena who was busy sorting out his party matters had to put those aside as outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Sri Lanka on 31 August. more..

Sept 4 (SO) A 17-year-old student from Kadugannawa made headlines this week when he hacked into the official website of the country�s most influential person; President Sirisena. The teenage computer hacker, having by-passed security on the web site, posted a message on the homepage, without revealing his identity. Message read; �Dear Mr. President, We are extremely displeased about the decision to hold GCE A/L in April since Sinhala Hindu New Year falls between exam dates. more..

Sept 4 (SO) One cannot believe that all the upheavals that are taking place and the protests and rioting are spontaneous. To this cat, they are most definitely master-minded, encouraged, provoked, staged and stoked. They are not natural conflagrations. This is the freedom of the wild asses. Some of the incidents last week seem to be a deliberate bringing together of combustible elements and setting them on fire � these elements being human beings with nothing to do and more..

Sept 4 (EN) Sri Lanka can sharply boosts state revenues with a lower uniform import tariff, as evidence from other countries also showed that complex and cascading levies led to massive revenue loses, at top trade economist has said. Sri Lanka's tax revenues are far below the levels suggested by published rates, Athukorala told a forum organized by Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based free market think tank. "People think higher tariffs brings more govt revenue," he said. more..

Sept 4 (ST) My dear SWRD and Sirima, I thought of writing to you in the Land of No Return because your beloved Blue Party is celebrating its sixty fifth anniversary this week- although I am not sure whether celebrating is the correct word as there seems to be more in-fighting than celebrations now with its members divided into two camps. There is even serious talk of one group forming a separate party of their own. Curiously, they are claiming that there is nothing wrong with that more..

Sept 4 (ST) Though it may a dead rubber, the final ODI at the Pallekelle Stadium is vital for the young Lankans, when they take on the Australians this afternoon. Chandimal and his team will have to come up with an improved show this time around. It is vital to keep up the adrenaline at the right levels and not have any ill effects of the huge Australian batting tenacity of the last game. During the last game regular skipper Angelo more..

Sept 4 (Island) Adolf Hitler, a man who swept the Germans up to incredible victories, was also the main reason Germany ultimately lost the war. He refused to accept reality, took no advice from his Generals and then made poor decisions. This way he ensured a relatively quick end of Nazi Germany. Similarly, former captain Sanath Jayasuriya, mastermind of SL's 3-0 whitewash against world's number one ranked team, underestimated the Australians and suffered an ODI series defeat more..

Sept 4 (ST) In the consequence of the unfortunate crowd protest that took place in Dambulla during the fourth ODI, SLC wishes to state that SLC together with the Sri Lanka Police applied stringent security measures in place to safeguard the cricket fans who have purchased tickets for the matches. We continuously announced through the media that there will be no tickets sold on the day of the match and fans were thus requested to purchase their tickets prior to the day of the match more..

Sept 4 (CT) National Identity Card is a must have for any citizen to prove ones identity whenever it is required. The national identity card has gone through many phases since it was first introduced on 14 Sep, 1972. Evolution is a common phenomenon in everything and changes in the NIC have been no exception. The Department of Registration of Persons (DRP) implements the provisions of the Registration of Persons Act, No 32 of 1968. more..

Sept 4 (Island) The media briefing held on Friday at the end of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon�s visit to Sri Lanka was a damp squib which means it was good for SL and especially for the govt. Journalists who went to that media briefing expecting a sensational headline left disappointed. The only headline that we got was that the UN Sec. Gen. did his best to dodge making headlines. He uttered some platitudes for all of eight minutes and then fled after a further 12 minutes when more..

Sept 4 (NS) The workshop organized by Home Cooking Made Simple is an initiative by Shanaka Waduge who together with her daughter Amandi became the First Champions of the recently held Mother-Daughter Cook-Off competition organized by Water�s Edge Hotel. In an age where parents are baffled about how to handle kids engrossed on laptops and mobile phones the What�s Cooking workshop has become a breath of fresh air to both parents and kids. more..

Sept 4 (ST) The govt is heading for a revenue shortfall this year due to a delay in the implementation of several tax amendment proposals in the 2016 budget as well as VAT and NBT revisions made by the PM in April. CB Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy warned that Govt�s revenue targets could come under pressure unless the proposed VAT increase was implemented as soon as possible. Following Supreme Court�s decision more..

Sept 4 (Island) Otara Foundation is partnering with the Colombo Municipal Council to increase the tree cover within the city of Colombo with a project to plant 184 trees such as Ehela, Moodilla, Karanda, Kohomba, Takomaria and Kaha-Mara, most of which are native to Sri Lanka. The project kicked off on Tuesday with the planting of 20 Tabeuia rosea trees along Cambridge Place Colombo 7. Among the other streets identified by the CMC to be lined with these trees are Thurstan Road more..