Sep 20 (Nikkei) Thailand sees a planned trade deal with Sri Lanka as an opportunity to tap into China's signature Belt and Road Initiative while hedging against fallout from the escalating global trade war. Representatives of the SL govt are in Bangkok on Thursday for two days of talks regarding the pact with their Thai counterparts. This follows Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha's state visit to Colombo in July, when the two countries more..

Sep 20 (AD) The Joint Opposition alleges that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is clearly not in a good mental health condition according to medical observations. The IGP could be seen laughing and crying at times, then he assaults the employees on other occasions and these are symptoms of two mental disorders, the JO claimed. They further stated that, even if the IGP is removed from his post, it is assured that he would receive an Ambassador position at a Sri Lankan mission abroad. more..

Sep 20 (AD) Colombo High Court today issued an order to temporarily lift the travel ban currently imposed on PHU leader MP Udaya Gammanpila. Considering a motion submitted by the defendant, MP Udaya Gammanpila, Colombo High Court Judge A.A.R. Heiyanthuduwa has issued this order. The attorney representing the defendant sought an order from the High Court to temporarily lift the overseas travel ban currently imposed on his client until 10th Oct and again from 14th to 20th of Oct, more..

Sep 20 (DN) The Joint Opposition group is now clearly divided into two camps known as the Mahinda Camp and Gota Camp, JVP leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said. Since it is mandatory to close all possibilities for Mahinda to become the state leader again, Gota Camp was opposed to the abolition of the Executive Presidency through the 20th Amendment and each camp is involved in a desperate attempt to promote more..

Sep 20 (DM) Just like US President Donald Trump is properly managing US economy, Our Trumps should also manage the Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) to ensure the economic stability in the country, former minister and MP Susil Premajayantha said today. MP Premajayantha told a Joint Opposition (JO) media conference that claims made by some govt ministers were baseless that only the US�s economy was stable at present whilst the economy of many other countries were facing issues. more..

Sep 20 (DN) A corruption case filed against former minister and Kalutara District MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena for unlawful acquisition of assets estimated at Rs.41.1 million was yesterday fixed for trial on Oct 19 by the Colombo High Court. Filing a motion before High Court Judge Sampath Wijeratne, defence counsel Hemantha Gamage moved court that the trial date that had been fixed for trial earlier (Oct 4) be adjusted to another date since his client is expecting to travel abroad. more..

Sep 20 (DM) After months of preparation, The Mall at Colombo City Centre opens to the public today amidst an ambience of colourful celebrations. Conveniently situated by the historic Beira Lake at the heart of the city, the ultramodern lifestyle destination is billed as SL�s first international mall, and is set to transform not only the lifestyles of contemporary Sri Lankans, but also the urban fabric of Colombo as it develops more..

Sep 21 (CT) It must be torturous to be Angelo Mathews right now, amid humiliating defeats to nascent Test-playing nations, facing vitriolic criticism on skill levels and performance, and dealing with growing pressure to step down from captaincy. But if there�s one man who could empathize with Mathews, it would be Ranil Wickremesinghe, who currently holds the office of PM for the fourth time in a four-decade-long, tumultuous political career. Many parallels can be drawn between more..

Sep 21 (CT) According to world history, many civilizations such as Indus, Mexican, Maya, and Inca were originated with the association of rivers, and had a long history, and flourished with power and knowledge and faded away with passing the time. Civilization in SL is also associated with a Malwathu Oya River, but our civilization is referred to as hydraulic civilization mainly because of the tank cascade system and also the manmade incredible hydraulic structures present over dry and more..

Sep 21 (SO) As the global community celebrated International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICCD), yesterday (15), SL struggled with the consequences of the oil spill which occurred a week earlier on the western coast. It may only take a matter of few days to clean up an oil spill. However, it would take many years for the nature to wear off its effects and restore the eco-systems. Sometimes the damage is irreversible, say experts. more..

Sep 21 (DN) While market participants do businesses within their resources and market forces, there is an extensive network of state policy-making authorities in the area of fiscal, monetary, exchange, administrative and coordination/extension/marketing connected with exchange rate and BOP. Deliverables, policy instruments, statutory principles and powers of respective policy-making authorities along with Cabinet level supervisory lines are clear on paper. more..

Sep 21 (CT) While parents or near relatives or carers in the case of some orphans would be the guardians of children when they are at home, or in a care facility, their guardians are their teachers when they are at school. A child is not the property of a guardian, but a human being with rights who has to be looked after by the guardian. There is very unfortunate evidence of many instances when such guardians in schools have used force and cruel practices rather than love and kindness more..

Sep 21 (CT) General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva says that a Govt that can hear cases against the PM should be established, �We received the post of Chief Opposition Whip, not because we requested for it. It was because of a problem that arose in Parliament.� Q: You say that there is no govt in the country. People feel that now, there is no Opposition in the country either? A: Actually, there is an Opposition. more..

Sep 21 (DN) Some human beings in the process of getting civilized and cultured through education get enlightened, and in addition to being lawful in public conduct also become urbane, refined, courteously formal, gracious, cordial, suave, sober and self-denying for the sake of others. Yet life in the context of modern society is made miserable by public servants who undervalue the life of the people, abuse their position, for they do not know the very basic fact that we citizens of Sri Lanka more..

Sep 21 (Island) Political leaders are going for one another�s jugular over various issues in Colombo. They thunder in Parliament and elsewhere, claiming to be the saviours of the nation, which has come to such a pass that the need has arisen for it to be saved from its saviours. The JO held a demonstration near the National Police Commission office, yesterday, calling for action against those responsible for distributing packets of spiked milk among its supporters more..

Sep 21 (DN) It was a tough week for the country� wild elephants. A Batticaloa-bound train barrelled down a pregnant elephant and her two calves near Habarana. A five-year-old calf died after eating a hakapatas near Yan Oya in Kahatagasdigiliya, A'pura. And a tusker killed another elephant in a fight in Kala Wewa National Park. Of all the incidents, the elephant fight drew the most attention when a video of an elephant death ritual after the deadly brawl racked up over 10,000 views more..

Sep 21 (Island) Numbers show that SL's worker remittances are saturating, therefore, other sources of inflows need to be leveraged, to cover the shortfall and strengthen the position of the country's current account of the balance of payments (BOP), Shiran Fernando, chief economist of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said in Colombo yesterday. Shiran made this comment while giving an overall picture of the economy covering foreign direct investment, macro-economic stability, more..

Sep 21 (DM) There is no doubt that SL should have more and more investors, paving the way for economic growth, but not at the cost of environment and its people. A country must have development that is sensitive to the concerns of its people. Therefore, the responsible authorities must strike a balance between environment and development. Daily Mirror on Sept 13 published an Expose� titled Nuisance next door quoting more..

Sep 21 (Island) You would sure wonder why the double barreled Cassandra Cry this week since usually Cass casts a look only at the past week. The change is due to an article by Laksiri Fernando - an academic of professor status who was in the University of Colombo and migrated to Australia, for good or temporarily, we do not know. His article in The Island of 14 Sept titled Possibility of a common democratic woman candidate? had a brilliant suggestion for the next presidential election. more..

Sep 21 (CT) Sri Lanka Rugby will not consider Jason Dissanayake of Kandy Sports Club for selection to the national team after he decided not to take part in the first leg of the Asia Rugby 7s Series which was held in Hong Kong last week. Dissanayake represented Sri Lanka in the Asian Games a few weeks ago, but he had told the national selectors via email that he will not be able to participate in the Asia 7s Series due to family commitments. more..

Sep 21 (TP) Yasantha Rajakarunanayake is surprised Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the world�s richest man, remembers him three decades after they lost touch. The Sri Lankan scientist, now based in the US, was Bezos� classmate at Princeton University in the 1980s. Speaking at The Economic Club of Washington, Bezos described Yasantha as the smartest guy at Princeton. It was Yasantha�s mastery of math, Bezos added more..

Sep 21 (Island) An Open Day programme aimed at providing easy access to Central Bank services for school children and people of the Rajarata and Wayamba regions, and creating awareness about Central Bank activities is to be held on 21 and 22nd Sept at the Central Bank Anuradhapura regional office premises and the public grounds (Salgado) Anuradhapaura. The programme will be held from 9.00am to 7.00pm and the public will get the opportunity of resolving EPF related issues more..

Sep 21 (CT) No doubt the inclusion of Phil Simmons as head coach has given the Afghanistan team a much needed boost, especially with Simmons having a thorough knowledge of Afghanistan�s opposing teams such as Ireland, West Indies and Zimbabwe, who played in the last ICC World Cup qualifiers. He has coached all three teams prior to the assignment with Afghanistan. On Monday during the Asia Cup, there was another familiar face in the opposing camp who was sitting in more..

Sep 21 (CT) Youth star Parami Wasanthi Marisstella continued her record breaking run when she shattered her second distance meet record clocking 9 minutes 58.3 seconds in the 3000m at the Sir John Tarbet Athletic Championship yesterday. A total of 12 records were set during the morning session to take the tally to 15. Parami from Kuliyapitiya CC, the Asian Junior Gold medalist, clocked 6 minutes 37.9 seconds to win more..

Sep 21 (FT) Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyaratne revealed that Sri Lanka is presently working on drafting a national policy on cybersecurity. �The country which is in the process of drafting a cybersecurity policy; Sri Lanka needs to identify mechanisms for the implementation or a body that it will monitor,� Waidyaratne as the Chief Guest told the inauguration ceremony the 6th Annual Daily FT-CICRA Cyber Security Summit 2018 titled Towards a secure digital future. more..

Sep 21 (DNA) Mumbai girl Pallavi Subhash � a well-known figure on the small screen has done her first int'l project - Bimba Devi alias Yashodhara -a SL Sinhalese historical film will be opening film at the South Asian Festival of Arts and Literature (SAFAL) Sydney. President of the Australian South Asian Forum and festival founder Ashish Gholkar who confirmed this said: �We are inviting the Pallavi Subhash to the inaugural to do the honours when the film will open the festival.� more..

Sep 21 (DM) Education Ministry said discussions are underway to hold the GCE O/L and A/L Exams in December and to release their results by the end of December before the start of the new school term. Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said after the end of the A/L exams, University entrance will commence and after the O/L exams the A/L classes will begin in January. �Preparations for changing the exam dates more..

Sep 21 (DN) Sri Lankan spikers failed to live up to expectations in the semi-final of the Asia Men�s Volleyball Challenge Cup when they went down by 3 sets to 1 (25-22, 24-26, 20-25, 20-25) to Iraq at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. Sri Lanka got off to great start in the opening set to take a firm lead before the first break at 7-4. They maintained this position till a few minutes from the finish when their opponents came back strongly to reduce it to 24-22. Lankans however gained the most needed more..

Sep 21 (DN) Sri Lanka�s main investment promotion agency the Board of Investment of SL says it is tackling to cater to project requirements of BOI approved companies owing to lack of available resources mainly land , buildings and raw materials, know-how and most importantly, lack of skilled manpower in the country. Manilal Ranasinghe, Deputy Director, Investment Promotion of BOI said so at a pre-budget seminar, under the theme, Striving for Export Competitiveness. more..

Sep 21 (Forbes) Sri Lanka is ready to rise again - a nation on the path to sustained growth path, that is. That�s according to a recent McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) study, which names Sri Lanka among the few countries that are well-prepared to rise among emerging markets in the next decade- provided that China doesn�t stand on the way, it should be added. Among Sri Lanka�s strengths is its human capital. more..

Sep 21 (EN) Climate change could decrease Sri Lankan living standards around 4.9 to 7% by 2050 and wipe out up to 50 billion dollars in GDP, a new World Bank report said. �In Sri Lanka, living standards will go down by around 5%, and in the worst-case scenario will decline by around 7%,� said Lead Economist Muthukumara Mani, who was one of the authors of the report, titled South Asia�s Hotspots: The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards. more..

Sep 21 (DM) Three SLFP rebel group frontliners, MPs S.B. Dissanayaka, Dilan Perera and Thilanga Sumathipala urged President Maithripala Sirisena to take over the Law and Order Ministry immediately under his wings and remove IGP Pujith Jayasundara from his post. They alleged that there was a real threat to the lives of Prez Sirisena & Gotabaya Rajapaksa as exposed by Police informer Namal Kumara and added they believed that PM Wickremesinghe was behind the conspiracy. more..

Sep 21 (FT) Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday declared the rupee was under pressure more due to exogenous factors, but reassured it would ease as a follow up to ongoing stabilisation measures whilst being wary of overly aggressive propping up, saying past exercises led to double-whammies. The reassurances on the currency as well as insights to the challenges faced were shared by more..

Sep 21 (CT) Govt revenue and grants during the first six months of this year ended June reached Rs 925 billion, representing nearly 41.5% of the target for this year, while the total State expenditure reached Rs 1.27 billion, representing 44% of the total expected for the year. Govt revenue increased 5% to Rs 920.8 billion during the first six months from Rs 876.3 billion a year ago, while recurrent expenditure increased 8% to Rs 995.6 billion from Rs 918.2 billion during same period last year. more..

Sep 21 (Island) Security Forces Commander, Jaffna, Maj. Gen. Dharshana Hettiarachchi yesterday said that it was not the task of the military to protect northern politicians or support their activities. Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi said so in response to a query raised by a Jaffna-based journalist, at a special media conference, called by Security Forces HQ, Jaffna to explain the current security situation. Declaring that Aava group was incapable of posing a serious security threat, more..

Sep 21 (CT) The movement of independent professionals is not liberalized or allowed in the Singapore-SL Free Trade Agreement (FTA); in fact, the Singaporeans did not want it, said Minister Malik Samarawickrama. Moreover, he said both Sri Lanka and Singapore decided that the FTA should be limited to business visitors and intra-corporate transferees in a few sectors; hence, the agreements completely exclude more..

Sep 21 (AD) Minister Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka says that the allegations against Inspector General of Police (IGP) should be proven before he can be removed from his post.However, the IGP is a special character and if there are any allegations against him, it should be investigated immediately, said Fonseka. Both the accused and the accusers should be inspected and one cannot be removed from a post by simply just accusing them, further said Fonseka. more..

Sep 21 (DN) Rs. 9000 million has been allocated to provide relief to people affected by the drought prevailing in various parts of the country. President Maithripala Sirisena following discussions with PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had taken this decision. President after reviewing programmes implemented by the Govt to provide relief to people affected by the drought advised officials to accelerate them, President�s Media Division said. more..

Sep 21 (Island) Sri Lanka is yet to receive a two-billion-yuan (nearly USD 300 mn) grant from China as project proposals have not been finalised. President Maithripala Sirisena revealed that the Chinese offer in late July, 2018, at a ceremony to launch construction of a Chinese-funded kidney hospital in Polonnaruwa. Turning towards the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo Chang Xueyuan, Prez Sirisena said that more..