Aug 9 (DN) In this article, I have drawn the attention of the reader to the new challenge posed to the govt by the terrorist movement of the Islamic extremists affiliated to the ISIS or in other word the challenge of global terrorism to the restoration of inter-communal harmony. Sri Lankans are now experiencing a certain degree of political instability in the country. After the break-up of the coalition govt formed in the year 2015 there is a critical deficiency in the required degree of cohabitation more..

Aug 9 (TM) Australian outbound tour operator TripADeal, which brings in the highest number of Australian tourists to Sri Lanka annually, urged SL to commence direct flights to and from Sydney to double Australian tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka. TripADeal Co-Founder Norm Black stated that the current direct flight from Melbourne is mostly used by Sri Lankan expats residing in Australia. He further explained that most of Australia�s outbound tourists come from Sydney. more..

Aug 9 (TM) JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa charged that the two major parties were forming alliances purely for political gain and not to better the country. Q: Since Independence, Sri Lankan political parties have formed coalitions and alliances to contest elections. Aren�t the major political parties strong enough to contest independently and win? A: After 1956, a culture of forming political alliances commenced. more..

Aug 9 (Island) Parliament originally laid out in the 1978 Constitution was very different to what we have today. Before the Fourteenth Amendment, there were to be only 196 MPs and not 225. There was no National List. There was no preferential vote system. Some features of the elections system were the same as what we have today. Each Province was to have four seats distributed among the electoral districts in that Province. Total number of seats to be allocated in this manner was 36 more..

Aug 9 (CI) Just how wholesome can Kane Williamson get? He's fielding in a ground in the northernmost reaches of Colombo, as New Zealand warm up for their Test series in Sri Lanka, which begins next week. His bowlers aren't having a lot of luck on a surface that seems to have completely neutered quicks. It's hot. It's humid. It had rained earlier. These aren't necessarily the ideal circumstances in which Williamson may have liked to spend his 29th birthday. more..

Aug 9 (EN) SL's growing information communication technology is generating a demand for higher skilled workers at degree level with soft-skills, which may leave workers with lower level qualifications from vocational schools without jobs, a survey has found. A 2018 survey by Sri Lanka's ICT Agency has found that pure ICT companies are now the dominant employer in the sector where the basic entry requirement had grown to degree level more..

Aug 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka�s state-run airline is set to report a loss of up to$160 million loss this year, as tourism in the island nation suffers following the Easter bombings, the carrier�s CEO said. Cash-strapped SriLankan Airlines has cut ticket prices, reduced ground handling charges, and offered discounts to prevent empty seats on its flights since Islamist militants on April 21 bombed churches and luxury hotels, killing more than 250 people, including 42 foreign nationals. more..

Aug 9 (DN) Handball Federation of SL have set their sights on winning a medal at the forthcoming South Asian Games (SAG) by getting down the services of two high performances coaches from Serbia Nedeljko Matic and Nenad Kraljevski. The two accomplished European coaches arrived in the island on August 1 and have got down to the business of raising the handball profile of SL with enthusiasm. The duo are here on a four-month contract till the SAG which will be followed by more..

Aug 9 (EN) After years of taxing basic foods to keep prices artificially high and fatten the profits of an inefficient but political powerful farming lobby an administration led by UNP is planning to ban several cereals outright. "We have already decided to ban importing Green gram from this year," Minister P. Harrison said. He said that importing black-eyed peas, Kurakkan, Soy beans, Urad, Paddy, Chilly seed will also be banned. more..

Aug 9 (DN) New Zealand bowlers were made to work hard for their wickets in their 3-day warm-up match against a SL Cricket President�s XI who racked up a score of 323 for six wickets on a rain affected opening day at FTZ grounds, Katunayake yesterday. Most successful of the eight bowlers used by NZ was slow left-arm bowler Ajaz Patel who finished with an impressive haul of five wickets for 41 runs off ten overs. Patel caused a middle order slump after SLC President�s XI openers more..

Aug 9 (CT) John Keells Holdings (JKH) announced that it renewed its 16-year public-private partnership with Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) for the refurbishment and maintenance of the Slave Island Railway Station. The renewal Agreement in this regard was signed on 29 July 2019 between SLR GM, M.J.D. Fernando, and JKH was represented by Group Finance Director, Gihan Cooray, and Secretary, Nadija Tambiah. Situated in the hub of commercial activity, 1878 Slave Island Railway Station, more..

Aug 9 (FT) JVP lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayaka criticised the Govt for delaying answers to questions raised under Standing Order 27 (2), on matters of urgent public importance, and the Ministers who avoid responding to the questions. MP Dissanayaka, before moving another set of questions under Standing Order 27 (2) in Parliament, questioned the Speaker on the reasons for the delay, and wanted Leader of House more..

Aug 9 (EN) Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings (AHUN) will be selling the lease rights to a Maldivian Island valued at 953 million rupees, the firm said. AHUN, in its interim financials, said that its subsidiary Ace Resorts Pvt Ltd will be disposing the lease of the Raafushi island in the Noonu Atoll. The balance sheet of AHUN showed the asset valued at 953 million rupees. The 45.25 acres island, was leased by Ace Resorts from the Maldivian govt for 668.5 million rupees in 2015, more..

Aug 9 (Island) Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and Mobitel, together with the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, launched the Digital Roadmap for the Northern Province in the presence of officials and the national media at the auditorium of the Jaffna District Secretariat in Jaffna. The Roadmap unveiled SLT Group�s progress towards achieving the national goal of transforming the Northern Province into a digitally empowered region. SLT�s National Digital Roadmap is more..

Aug 9 (DN) The construction industry is pleased that the govt has finally awarded an expressway building contract to SL companies, President-Elect of Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka (CCI-SL) Ranjith Gunatilleke said. A part of the Colombo - Kandy Expressway project funded by local banks was awarded to Lankan construction companies recently. �This would help the industry to get more exposure,� he said more..

Aug 9 (EN) SL's tourism industry is promoting good environmental and social practices, by recognizing leaders that follow standards with the industry planning to double arrivals to five million within five years, officials said. "Sri Lanka depends on tourism heavily because it is the third biggest revenue generator of the country," Minister John Amaratunga said. "That is why it is of utmost importance that every aspect of the industry operates with the best possible sustainable practices." more..

Aug 9 (FT) Against challenging macroeconomic backdrop, Aitken Spence PLC has reported a 17.5% growth in Group revenue during the first quarter of the year at Rs. 12.4 billion compared to Rs. 10.6 billion recorded in the previous financial year. Profit-before-tax for the quarter was Rs. 475 million down from Rs. 538 million over the previous year. This is after accounting for an additional charge of Rs. 36 million for the quarter, due to the adoption of the new leasing standard SLFRS 16 as required. more..

Aug 9 (CT) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been given seven days to reply to the five key points observed in the forensic audit draft report of its activity, said Sports Minister Harin Fernando. He ordered a forensic audit into SLC�s financial activity last January and several questions were raised by the AG�s 2000-page draft report received by the Sports Ministry recently, it was announced on Wednesday. more..

Aug 9 (DN) Kumar Sangakkara has joined the Commonwealth to help promote peace. Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said that she had a meeting with Sangakkara during which he expressed his commitment to work with the Commonwealth to deliver Peace at the Crease. Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland said she had a discussion with Sangakkara and that he was committed to working with the Commonwealth to promote peace. more..

Aug 9 (DM) SLFP would not discontinue ongoing talks with the SLPP, aimed at forming an alliance to powerfully confront the UNP at the Prez poll, even after the SLPP nominated its candidate on Sunday, UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera said. But the SLFP has no intention to participate in the SLPP convention, he added. �If the SLFP is to come to an agreement with the SLPP to create this alliance, we need to know its policies if and when the candidate of alliance emerged victorious more..

Aug 9 (Island) A tender for importing 10 million capsules of Flucloxacillin, had been given to a company that quoted almost double the price of the other competitor, who, too, had fulfilled all technical criteria, PCoI was told. The bidder, Orient Company, was rejected on the grounds that its bid bond, a guarantee that the bidder will take on the job if selected, was too low, Saman Munasinghe, Import Manager of SPC told the PCoI. more..

Aug 9 (DM) State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake said he will sit as an independent MP in Parliament if he is expelled from the UNP over the comments he had made on Buddhist monks. He said this while speaking to journalists after appearing before the UNP disciplinary committee appointed to look into the allegations he had made against monks. State Minister actually responded to a question raised by the journalists as to what he would do in the event he is expelled from the party. more..

Aug 9 (DN) Southern Expressway, commissioned just eight years ago, is already susceptible to landslide risk and hazards in 18 identified physical locations along its length spanning 133 kilometers, according to RDA data. Information obtained from the RDA on the basis of the Right to Information Act (RTI) reveals that at five points along its length, the E-01 expressway has already been affected by landslide events while thirteen other stretches of the expressway are exposed to landslide risks. more..

Aug 9 (DN) CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara disclosed that 63 suspects are currently held in custody over their links to Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, including 12 hard core terrorists. He said among them are about 4 to 5 suicide attackers who had not detonated their bombs on the Easter Sunday. Army Chief Mahesh Senanayake cannot claim he had no knowledge about the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), more..

Aug 9 (DM) SLPP Chairman Professor G. L. Peiris yesterday said they were ready to face any legal challenge if Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa�s parliament membership was challenged after he was appointed SLPP leader. Professor Peiris said this in response to a question asked at a news briefing held yesterday. When asked whether Mr Rajapaksa would lose his parliamentary seat when he was appointed as SLPP Leader this Sunday, he said, �We are ready to face any legal challenge.� more..

Aug 9 (DM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP Deputy Leader and Minister Sajith Premadasa yesterday came to an agreement to form a coalition as soon as possible to face the upcoming Presidential Election, sources said. The agreement was arrived at following a Party Leaders� meeting, where the amendments to the constitution that the coalition would be based on was discussed. The UNP Executive Committee had decided that the constitution of the DNF should be amended. more..

Aug 9 (CT) JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said in Parliament that the Govt�s decision to reduce the ground handling charges for services provided by the SriLankan Airlines to other airlines would cause a loss of around USD 710,000 (Rs 124,840,652) per month. Govt recently decided to reduce the ground handling charges at the BIA, for a period of six months commencing from 1 Aug. Dissanayake, raising a question, more..

Aug 9 (DM) Lawmaker Sajith Premadasa has decided to break away from the shackles placed on him and think for himself. At present Sajith is much talked about after he showed his intentions of contesting the much-looked-forward-to presidential elections. He has been loyal to the UNP and walked behind the shadows of former leaders of the party. But that system of doing politics hasn�t served him well because it (the system) helped Ranil Wickremesinghe rise in the party ranks and more..

Aug 9 (DM) Presidential elections in January 2015 saw both Tamils and Muslims polling almost en bloc, perhaps for the first time in such a manner at any election. It was an open protest vote packed with anger against the Rajapaksa regime. So much so, women�s polling sections in and around Colombo had unimaginably long queues. Muslim ladies who may never have voted at an election in all their lives were queuing up to vote. The sick and the elderly were seen wheeled to the polling stations. more..

Aug 9 (DM) The calls to reform the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) in Sri Lanka have been longstanding. Drawbacks pointed out by the Muslim female activists in the much old community law are the minimum age of marriage, the lack of mutual consent for marriage and divorce and the serious limitations of the existing Quazi Court system. After the April 21 Easter Sunday attacks, more..

Aug 9 (DM) Will former President Mahinda Rajapaksa nominate his brother and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday for the candidacy of SLPP for the forthcoming Prez election? Has Gotabaya Rajapaksa completed the process of renunciation of his US citizenship, as claimed by his loyalists? Will UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe allow party�s Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa to contest more..

Aug 9 (Island) Environmentalists, Cabinet decision taken, on Tuesday, to import 32,215 litres of glyphosate annually, mainly to control a disease in sugar plantations. The joint proposal was presented by Ministers Navin Dissanayake and Malik Samarawickrama. They propose the import of 32,215 litres of glyphosate out of which 31,815 litres will be used in the sugar cane plantations, 200 litres to sterilise plants more..

Aug 9 (Island) Conserving films was tantamount to preserving national heritage for posterity, but both National Film Corporation and the National Archives had failed so far to find a sound solution for decades to meet that requirement, the JVP told Parliament. JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that the National Film Corporation did not have a proper mechanism to preserve films produced in the past by Lankan filmmakers. more..

Aug 9 (Island) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, said he regretted to observe a recent statement by MP Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse that Parliament was the most corrupt institution in the country. "If MP Rajapakse holds such an opinion of the august assembly then he should not remain in such a corrupt place," the Speaker said. Speaker Jayasuriya said so when UPFA Gampaha District MP Nimal Lanza more..

Aug 9 (ST) The Rumassala coastline, including a coral reef off Galle, has been protected through immediate action to siphon out 22 metric tonnes of oil from the Sri Lanka Glory, a vessel which recently crashed into the rocks in adverse weather conditions. Sri Lanka Glory had drifted towards the Rumassala coastal line from the Galle Port due to heavy winds and turbulent ocean currents. more..

Aug 9 (EN) Sri Lanka's industrial activity grew 2.2% in June 2019 from a year earlier, with a growth in petroleum refining, state statistics office said. Index of Industrial Production of the Census and Statistics Department grew to 107.3 points in June 2019 from 105 points a year earlier. Industrial activity had also grown 1.2% in June from a month earlier, as the country continued to recover from the Easter Sunday bombings. more..

Aug 9 (PM) President Maithripala Sirisena, who is on a state visit to Cambodia, held a meeting with Cambodian PM Samdech Akka Moha Sena Pakdei Techo HUN SEN today (8) afternoon. Prez Sirisena was accorded a grand welcome on his arrival at the Peace Palace by the PM of Cambodia. The PM recalled the strong religious and cultural ties between the two countries which since ancient times. more..

Aug 9 (RN) Matara Police has charged 19 students of the Ruhuna Campus with ragging and sexual assault after a concerted campaign supported by the uni and spearheaded by freshman student-victim Darsha Udayanga. Students were remanded for two weeks on 6 Aug by the Matara Magistrate under Ragging Act of 1998 which was enacted by Parliament after a series of incidents across campuses during that period. more..

Aug 9 (ST) The Permanent High Court at Bar today (9) issued an arrest warrant against the main suspect of the Bond Scam case former Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjuna Mahendran, to produce him before the court. The three-judge bench consisting of Special High Court Judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Janaki Rajaratne ordered to issue the arrest warrant in English language. more..