Aug 3 (DN) JHU Western Provincial Councillor Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe, a witness in the controversial RADA case yesterday told the Colombo High Court that Tiran Alles, the first accused in the case, at a media briefing in 2010 had mentioned how he witnessed bags containing millions of rupees been given to a LTTE leader Emil Khanthan. Warnasinghe, the first witness in the case revealed these facts while he was more..

Aug 3 (DM) An Indian who attempted to smuggle in a stock of gold biscuits and jewellery valued at more than Rs.16 million was arrested on arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by the airport customs. Asst. Customs Superintendent Nuwan Abeynayka said the stock of contraband had been hidden in a stock of tools and equipment for motor vehicle repairs. He had stated that he was just a motor mechanic and did not have any articles to declare. more..

Aug 3 (DM) The 62-year-old father, of a wanted suspect known as Pukudi Kannaa, was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle at Muthuwella Mawatha in Modara this afternoon, Police said. Police Spokesman said the victim was identified as Gopal Millage Balachandran and that his son, Pukudi Kannaa, was a wanted suspect of an organised crime gang. The victim was pronounced dead after he was admitted to the National Hospital, Colombo. The deceased was shot on the right side of more..

Aug 3 (UCAN) The hurt felt by many survivors and families of those killed in the 1995 bombing of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in northern Sri Lanka remains acute. Some 147 people were killed and 400 wounded in the incident that occurred at the height of the island nation's civil war. Some believe the Air Force bombed the property in the village of Navaly as part of a broader campaign to retake the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE, more..

Aug 3 (SLN) The Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe visited the Southeastern Naval Command on 01st August 2018. Upon his arrival, the Navy Commander was warmly received by Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera, Commander Southeastern Naval Area. After addressing the heads of departments attached to the Southeastern Naval Command at the command conference hall, Vice Admiral Ranasinghe declared open the newly constructed command more..

Aug 3 (FT) Colombo District Court yesterday fixed pre-trial inquiry for 11 September on the defamation litigation initiated by Attorney-at-Law Upul Jayasuriya against politician Azath Sally for his alleged defamatory speech. The matter was taken up before District Court Judge R.P.D.P.P. Ratnayake. Plaintiff Upul Jayasuriya is seeking a sum of Rs. 100 million as damages from the Defendant Azath Salley. Plaintiff, who is the incumbent Chairman of the BOI, more..

Aug 3 (PMD) When the number of academics in a country increases, answers to a range of issues in the areas of economic, social and political could be found easily, said Prez Sirisena. The govt has commenced a massive transformation in the education sector to build the children of the country as an educated generation, who are ready to take the future of the country. He made these remarks participating in Annual Prize Giving more..

Aug 3 (EN) Sri Lanka has missed a June forex reserve target in an IMF program, and the island will seek a waiver of the performance criteria, CB Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. SL has already met the fiscal deficit target, he said. The forex reserve target is a performance criteria, which has to be met to pass an IMF review. He said the target was set last year, when the central bank was collecting forex reserves easily, but external conditions had since changed, more..

Aug 3 (CT) Well known film directors Dr. Somaratne Dissanayake and his wife, Renuka Balasooriya are being accused of plagiarizing an existing movie script written by an upcoming screenwriter cum director, who is seeking redress under the Intellectual Property Act. Lawyers for screenwriter Nadaraja Manivanan, in a Letter of Demand to the veterans, are challenging their ongoing film project based around true events surrounding the 2004 tsunami incident, claiming that they have more..

Aug 3 (Shine) The archeology team of Shanghai Museum will set off for Sri Lanka this month to launch archeological research in its harbor city Jaffna for about 40 days, aiming to boost the historic study of ancient China�s Maritime Silk Road. Initiated by the joint efforts of Shanghai Museum and the SL Central Cultural Foundation, the project is the museum�s first overseas trial, and their pottery and porcelain experts more..

Aug 3 (AD) JO MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena, who has been charged over the alleged illegal acquisition of assets, has been granted permission to travel overseas by the Colombo High Court. When the case filed by the Bribery Commission was taken up before the Colombo High Court Judge Sampath Wijeyratne today, the attorney representing the MP informed the court that his client is required to travel to Japan for a personal visit and requested to issue an order lifting the travel ban temporarily more..

Aug 3 (AD) The token strike launched by the GMOA today is unreasonable and it is based on misleading demands, says Minister Rajitha Senaratne. Although the GMOA claims that the 12% VAT imposed on medical specialists has been doubled, the 24% VAT is charged from medical specialists with over Rs 350,000 of monthly income, stated the Minister. However, medical officers with a monthly income lower than Rs 350,000 are charged only the 12% VAT. more..

Aug 3 (CT) 33-year-old man, who exposed the environmental destruction taking place in the Rilagalayaya Mountain Range to journalists, including those of this newspaper, has allegedly been attacked, leaving him warded at the Tangalle Hospital. He is receiving treatment for serious injuries to the head. The informant K.V. Rangana, who has been agitating for over a year against large scale environmental damage more..

Aug 3 (DM) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday warned foreign countries not to accept any asset offered by the Sri Lankan govt saying he would pay attention to these agreements when they come to power. Addressing the Jana Bala Sena protest rally organised by the Joint Opposition at the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo, Mr. Rajapaksa said the government was leasing out national assets such as the Hambantota Port and the Mattala Airport in an authoritarian manner. more..

Aug 3 (AP) German authorities have arrested a Sri Lankan man suspected of involvement in killing captured govt soldiers as a member of the Tamil Tigers rebel group a decade ago. Federal prosecutors said a judge ordered the 36-year-old, identified only as Sivatheeban B. because of German privacy rules, detained pending a potential indictment. He was arrested Wednesday in the Duesseldorf area, suspected of committing war crimes and membership in a foreign terrorist more..

Aug 3 (DM) Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he was not aware of a salary increase to MPs and Ministers and added he would not give his sanction to go ahead with the pay rise to them when it comes to the Treasury for approval. Responding to the Daily Mirror at the news briefing, Minister said he was against the increase of any sector in the public service under the prevailing situation in the country. more..

Aug 4 (CT) Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) personnel, first landed in Jaffna in July 1987 to implement the Indo-Lanka Accord, were surprised to see the well-built houses with solid tiled roofs and each house with the well. As the IPKF miscalculated the strength and weakness of the LTTE, to a great extent they also underestimated the social structure and the infrastructure of the people in the Jaffna Peninsula. The majority of the IPKF personnel first thought encountering the LTTE was more..

Aug 4 (CT) The media and politicians regularly include Democracy in their speeches and writings. This is to be expected in a country that titles itself as a Democratic Socialist Republic. This is negated by a perceived dominance of undemocratic and anti-socialist actions and desires. In the popular perception, the words that spring to mind as symbols of democracy are �The Franchise� and Political Parties. Both are misleading as criteria of democracy. more..

Aug 4 (SO) Marking a major milestone in the Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga mega development project, Prez launched the water- filling process of the twin reservoir from Kalu Ganga last week. Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga project is the fourth largest irrigation project in the country which is six times larger than the ancient irrigation wonder, the Parakrama Samudraya. This giant irrigation project, that comes under more..

Aug 4 (GV) On Aug 2, the Joint Opposition held the Jana Bala Sena rally, beginning at Lipton Circus and ending at the Vihara Maha Devi Park amphitheatre. The protest at Lipton Circus was broadcast live by Hiru News and has received 1000 likes, 228 shares and over 950 comments at the time of writing. Ending at the Vihara Maha Devi amphitheatre, the rally drew a large crowd. Below is a capture of the crowd at yesterday�s rally. Scroll below or click here to see additional photos and audio. more..

Aug 4 (CT) When I look through my diaries for 2008 and 2009, I am astonished at the amount of work I did. Not only was I holding two full time jobs, as head of the Peace Secretariat and Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, but I had also introduced innovations which required my personal involvement. In both institutions I had begun senior staff meetings, for I had found that often there was ignorance of what the institution was doing and its priorities. more..

Aug 4 (SO) In a world where one�s own parents are brutally killed over material possessions, the heartwarming image of a crying constable beside the lifeless body of his canine buddy on television brought tears to many eyes last week. Police constable Dharshana bid farewell to his canine partner after seven years of close comradeship and detective work together at the Batticaloa Police HQI. more..

Aug 4 (CT) President Maithripala Sirisena had sent a message for the speedy recovery of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Leader, Muththuvelu Karunanidhi who is presently warded at Kauvery Hospital in the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai. Prez Sirisena�s message was personally conveyed to Karunanidhi�s son and Tamil Nadu State Assembly Leader of the Opposition, M. K. Stalin a few days ago by Minister and CWC Leader, Arumugam Thondaman who visited Chennai where the more..

Aug 4 (Island) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has done a Prez Maithripala Sirisena. Whenever the govt takes unpopular decisions and riles the public in the process, President, invariably, claims to be unaware of them. His stock excuse is that he has got to know about them from the newspapers. What a song and dance he made about the recent fuel price hikes; he went so far as to halt their implementation only to make an about-turn a few days later. Now, PM is reported to have demanded to know more..

Aug 4 (CT) Mangroves are a valuable ecological and economic resource to Sri Lanka. SL is home to over 20 mangrove species which extend over an area of 15,670 hectares. However, mangroves represent only 0.2% of the total forest cover. The coastal, inland, and offshore fisheries contributed 1.3% of the GDP of SL in 2017. However, there has been a decline in coastal fishery production by 5.3% while inland aquaculture, shrimp, and prawn production declined by 7.9% & 23.4% compared to 2016. more..

Aug 4 (CT) Steeple Chase runner Nilani Ratnayaka and Discus thrower Gayan Jayawardane set new Sri Lanka records at the National Athletic Championship 2018, at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. Nilani, who trains under Sajith Jayalal, ran a lone race to break her own record with an impressive time of 9 minutes 46.76 seconds. She renewed her own record of 9 minutes 55. 59 seconds set in February in Indonesia. Nilani also clocked under 9 minutes 50 seconds which was the standard given by more..

Aug 4 (Island) A mouthwatering contest is on the cards when Asian Junior Championship medalists Aruna Dharshana and Pasindu Kodikara take on seasoned campaigners in the men�s 400 metres finals of the 96th National Athletics Championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium today. The heats and the semi-finals of the men�s 400 metres went according to script on Friday resulting in 4 sprinters producing sub 46.70s more..

Aug 4 (CT) The South Africa Emerging team cut the deficit to just 56 runs at the end of the second day of their four-day unofficial Test match against Sri Lanka being played at Sooriyawewa, Hambantota yesterday. Continuing to bat after being 69 for 3 overnight, Sri Lanka Emerging went on to score 319, a lead by 103 runs on the first innings. South Africa Emerging were 47 for no loss at the close. Charith Asalanka batted with patience to score 100 runs. He hit just four boundaries more..

Aug 4 (Island) Doctor, we killed our father was a thought-provoking opinion piece by a Senior Consultant Physician (The Island, 21 July), detailing lapses in the management of a diabetic resulting in, perhaps, an avoidable death, where the family blamed themselves as a grief reaction. It concluded with the following: �It is indeed fortunate that we practice in a country such as ours where medical litigation is almost non-existent, facilitated by the poor health knowledge of our people. more..

Aug 4 (SLA) Colombo Army Hospital, one of the largest and world-class hospitals in the country which caters to medical needs of Army personnel both serving and retired, family members, civil staffers and Navy, Air Force and Police personnel when referred made history on Thursday and was awarded the Int'l Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification which in turn recognizes its services & gives a high degree more..

Aug 4 (DN) Sri Lanka had made several changes to their national Men's under 20 sevens rugby team by including the services of players of the calibre of Heshan Jansen, Chathura Seneviratne and Randy Silva. But it was really shocking to see the selectors leaving out players like Chamod Fernando (CR & FC), Gihan Madushanka (Havelocks / Navy SC), Manula Rathnayake (Isipathana), Christine De Lile (S. Thomas Mount Lavinia), Diluksha Dange (Trinity/KandySC), Vishva Ranaraja (Trinity). more..

Aug 4 (DN) A report containing the relief measures taken by authorities targeting the people affected by Uma Oya Multi-Purpose Project will be submitted before court within one month, the Attorney General informed the Supreme Court yesterday. Deputy Solicitor General Parinda Ranasinghe appearing for the Minister of Environment made these remarks pursuant to a Fundamental Rights petition filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice, and four individuals who are residents of Bandarawela more..

Aug 4 (PMD) President Maithripala Sirisena says the present govt had not taken steps to divide the country or to subjugate the country to any force and there will be no opportunity to divide the country in the future too. Prez also said that the present govt has taken steps to liberate our war heroes from all the pressure from internationally. President further said that certain politicians rally around Lipton Circus shouting outdated more..

Aug 4 (Island) Fast bowler Lahiru Kumara is unlikely to feature in the third ODI against South Africa that gets underway at the Pallekele International Stadium on Sunday. Kumara, who split the webbing between his ring and little fingers on his left hand during training earlier this week didn�t feature in the second ODI as well and he is now expected to return to the side for the fourth ODI, also at Pallekele. Kumara required 4 stitches for the split webbing and stitches will be removed either Sunday or Monday. more..

Aug 4 (CT) In a mid-night operation, the Rameswaram Town Police have arrested seven suspects and seized 5,000 explosive-filled detonators, procured and hidden in the backyard of a house in Rameswaram, to be smuggled to Sri Lanka via the sea route. Acting on specific information, a special team, under the directions of Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena, seized 50 boxes, each consisting of 100 detonators, in the early hours of 1 Aug after arresting more..

Aug 4 (Hindu) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has supported India�s bid for a permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Mr. Wickremesinghe, who had arrived here on Thursday along with his wife Maitree, offered prayers at the temple of Lord Venkateswara on Friday. He expressed satisfaction over the progress made in the talks between both the countries on the contentious fishermen issue. more..

Aug 4 (ST) British High Commissioner to SL James Dauris hosted visiting Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland and representatives of Commonwealth countries based in Colombo at a roundtable meeting at his residence, today (3). The meeting was attended by representatives from the High Commissions of Australia, Canada, Pakistan and South Africa, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, the British HC in Colombo said in a media release. more..

Aug 4 (FT) The latest edition of LMD reveals that the LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) remained virtually unchanged in July � at 101 basis points compared to 102 in the preceding month � although the barometer continues to languish well below its all-time average of 129. Nielsen�s Managing Director Sharang Pant noted that �prices are moving up again as the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) stood at 2.1% in May versus 1.6% in April�. He continued: more..

Aug 4 (Hindu) Days after Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told Parliament that there was no proposal for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to acquire a controlling stake in SL�s Mattala Rajapaksa Int'l Airport, a SL Minister said talks on the project are progressing with India. Mr. Sinha�s remarks last week came at a time when three rounds of official negotiations were completed on a likely joint venture between the AAI and more..