Aug 9 (CT) PM's statement to the PSC on Tuesday 6 August was to the effect that the entire Govt cannot walk away from the responsibility of failing to prevent the Easter Sunday suicide attack killings. He specifies it by the statement that �there were prior intelligence warnings about it. He goes back to the time at which the Islamic extremism in the country was taken for discussion at the National Security Council (NSC) but gives no time as to the time of those specific meetings. more..

Aug 9 (FT) Parliament is the supreme authority that enacts laws and formulates policies for the country. It is also the custodian of public property of the country. If the Parliament, the Ministers and MPs misuse public property in their custody, contrary to the law; and the Parliament prevents the law being implemented against them admit-ting it as an accepted policy; and allows them to acquire the best economic means of the State, directly or indirectly, causing a massive revenue loss to the State more..

Aug 9 (DM) The Hayleys group�s coconut shell-based activated carbon manufacturer, Haycarb PLC saw a surge in earnings during the June quarter (1Q20) amid healthy demand for the firm�s value-added activated carbon products. Haycarb�s earnings for the quarter under review rose 165 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.267.7 million, the interim accounts released to the Colombo Stock Exchange showed. The earnings per share improved to Rs.9.01 per share, more..

Aug 9 (AD) The process of removing garbage amassed on the streets of Colombo has been commenced. As the waste terminal in Kerawalapitiya, which is operated by Land Reclamation & Development Corporation under the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, has stopped accepting any waste material with effect from Monday, garbage had piled up in Colombo. The ministry said the decision was taken as the Kerawalapitiya waste terminal more..

Aug 9 (AD) Minister Rishad Bathiudeen has instructed the heads of institutions providing vocational training and courses to look into facilitated means for rehabilitated youths in the north and the east to undertake vocational courses that lead them to formal employment opportunities. He stated this addressing a meeting held at Ministty of Industry & Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Co-operative Dev, more..

Aug 9 (NR) Cochin International Airport in Kerala, India has been temporarily closed due to heavy rains and flooding. With Kerala severely affected by monsoon floods, authorities of the Cochin Int'l Airport have said that the airport will not be operational till 3pm on 11th of August. Ten flights towards Kochi have been diverted to other airports. 60% of the airport�s operating area is submerged and the fire station, goods-carrying area and taxiway of Terminal 3 have been inundated. more..

Aug 9 (DM) Kurunegala Mayor Thushara Witharana (SLPP) was today remanded till Sept 17 by Kurunegala High Court Judge Menaka Wijesundara for not appearing in Court on July 25 when a case filed against him was taken up for hearing. He and three others were accused of robbing a man after threatening him with a pistol. AG had named Mayor Witharana as the first accused in the case. The counsel appearing for the mayor said his client could not be in court on July 25 more..

Aug 9 (MFA) Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha on Thursday (8) called for an early decision by ASEAN to include Sri Lanka as an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner, in order to strengthen engagement with ASEAN and its member countries. This follows the submission to the ASEAN of Sri Lanka�s dossier for Sectoral Dialogue Partnership in March 2019. The Foreign Secretary made this request, more..

Aug 9 (DN) A corruption case filed against NFF leader and MP Wimal Weerawansa was yesterday postponed for Aug 28 by the Colombo High Court. The case was yesterday taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Pradeep Hettiarachchi. Court was informed that the defence was yet to receive several documents pertaining to the case. In this case, Bribery Commission Director General had filed indictments against Wimal Weerawansa for the alleged unlawful acquisition of money more..

Aug 9 (RN) Although the present Govt did take steps to enforce the law and end corruption, those measures weren�t enough to fulfil the expectations of the public, UNP MP Sujith Perera said. Perera told journalists at Temple Trees today that the misunderstandings between President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe could be one of the reasons for the delay in enforcing the law. �When we came into power in 2015, we pledged to prosecute corrupt individuals. more..

Aug 9 (EN) The high cost of health insurance business is a challenge for all insurance companies in Sri Lanka, having the highest net claim ratio,, but also one of the sources of growth in future, a new report said. A contraction in health insurance was one reason for the slow growth in general insurance in 2018, KPMG Sri Lanka said in their second insurance sector report. The year had been a challenging one for Sri Lanka with more..

Aug 9 (DM) National Police Commission (NPC) today approved the transfer of Kurunegala DIG Kithsiri Jayalath to the Puttalam Division. Although the NPC first approved his the transfer to the Trincomalee Division on August 2, it was cancelled on the same day. NPC Secretary Nishantha Weerasinghe said the DIG's transfer had been recommended by the IGP on the request of the CID. �DIG Jayalath was transferred to facilitate the ongoing investigations being carried out more..

Aug 9 (AD) The Kurunegala Magistrate has ordered to move the case filed against Dr. Mohamed Shafi to Dec 12th. The case was taken up for the fourth time this morning. Dr. Shafi, who is accused of allegedly amassing assets through suspicious means, performing illegal sterilization surgeries and having links to terrorist activities, appeared arrived at the Kurunegala Magistrate�s Court complex at around 10 am today. The CID presented a report of 12 pages containing the details on the probes more..

Aug 9 (PMD) With the objective of further strengthening religious ties between Sri Lanka and Cambodia President Maithripala Sirisena participated in several Buddhist religious programmes today. Prez is currently on a state visit to Cambodia on an invitation extended by the Govt of Cambodia. President today visited Angkor in Cambodia�s Northern Province of Siem Reap. Angkor Archeological Park, more..

Aug 9 (GDI) Two independent UK-based tour operators- Travel Gallery and Experience Travel Group hosted Sri Lanka Revival on 16 July in London. The event, focused on encouraging holidaymakers to return to the beautiful paradise isle, drew in over 90 UK tour operators, 40 journalists and 50+ representatives from Sri Lankan hotels and Destination Management Companies (DMCs). "The clear message which we wanted to convey was that SL is open for business, more..

Aug 9 (AD) Court of Appeal today issued an order preventing any obstructions against the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) disposing garbage at the Aruwakkalu garbage dump. The CMC had commenced the process of removing garbage amassed on the streets of Colombo to the site in Aruwakkalu, Puttalam. As the waste terminal in Kerawalapitiya, which is operated by the Land Reclamation & Development Corporation under the Ministry of Megapolis and Western more..

Aug 9 (CI) Former captain Dinesh Chandimal has been recalled to SL's squad for the first Test against New Zealand in Galle from August 14, after being left out of the tour of South Africa earlier this year and then the World Cup because of poor form. Niroshan Dickwella, wicketkeeper-batsman who was the vice-captain on that tour of South Africa, where Sri Lanka scripted a remarkable 2-0 series win, was named in the squad more..

Aug 9 (CG) Govt of SL, together with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Korea Int'l Cooperation Agency (KOICA), today launched a three-year, LKR 1.06 billion project to build resilience of communities against the impact of natural disasters. �The damages caused by the current dry spell and the preceding years of cycles of floods and droughts, clearly demonstrate the need to build capacities of rural farming families against climate shocks,� said Brenda Barton, WFP Country Director. more..

Aug 9 (ST) At least two terrorists from Sri Lanka have sneaked into the Philippines to train local militants on making bombs and attacking churches and other soft targets north of the country. A watch list from the Manila Int'l Airport Authority identified the two as Mark Kevin Samhoon and Victoria Sophia Sto Domingo. Both were tagged as suicide bombers, with kin in the Philippines. Samhoon has ties to the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), the terrorist group accused of more..

Aug 9 (RN) Responding to a remark by SLPP architect Basil Rajapaksa yesterday that the party�s presidential candidate would be a Terminator who fights corruption, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe retorted that an SLPP-presidency would end up terminating not just the economy but the basic freedoms of the people. In a speech made in both Sinhala and English at Temple Trees today, an upbeat PM went on the offensive, more..

Aug 9 (AD) A new alliance that is capable of winning the presidential election will be formed, Minister Ravi Karunanayake says. Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be a challenge in the upcoming presidential election, he said further. Responding to a question raised by a media person on several UNP members meeting the former defence secretary, Minister Karunanayake said everything reported by media is not true, however, it is not wrong. more..

Aug 9 (ST) The Supreme Court today dismissed three petitions which had been filed in favour of the private member's bill submitted in Parliament seeking to abolish the death penalty. The petitions had been dismissed after the Attorney General had raised objections citing that the Supreme Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear petitions filed under Section 120 and 121 of the constitution. Professor Kamina Gunaratne and lawyer Radhika Coomaraswamy were among the petitioners more..

Aug 9 (DM) UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa says that the UNP should form an alliance only after naming its Presidential Candidate. Issuing a statement, Minister stated that certain newspapers had reported today that both he and PM had agreed that a UNP-led DNF alliance should be formed as immediately as possible. Premadasa said that he 100,000% agrees with the forming of such an alliance. more..

Aug 10 (CT) 36th anniversary has just passed by. The prison carnage was a bloody chapter necessarily complementing the horrors of Black July narrative. Sadly, 1983 Welikada Massacre featuring the butchery of Tamil prisoners has sunk into oblivion. In ethno-political discourses, the prison riots of 2012 have supplanted the 1983 massacre. I was associated as a Junior, with Senior lawyer Mr. M. Sivasithamparam (Siva), representing a number of these prisoners in Colombo HC cases, more..

Aug 10 (CT) Lankans born after 1948 must be the most unfortunate folk living on this planet, despite many narrations indicating, according to Buddhist belief that, SL is a blessed country and several Gods have sanctified this nation. Could it be the reason why this Island was once known as the Dharma Deepa? When the Portuguese arrived in Ceylon in 1505, they introduced beef eating to the natives which then became a common habit, even among Buddhists, mostly influenced by Christians more..

Aug 10 (TM) The JO charged that nationalism had taken the forefront in politics in numerous countries across the world. JO stalwart, UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena said that at the end of the day, it was all about democracy and having citizens of the country truly participating in the governing process. Q: Since Independence, SL political parties have formed coalitions and alliances to contest elections. more..

Aug 10 (CT) Minister Eran Wickramaratne, the other day bemoaned that his own party, the UNP lacks democracy in its internal operations. This theme is doubtless going to be repeated by the Sajith Premadasa faction while pursuing its various gyrations and gymnastics to seek nomination for President from the Grand Old Party. The leader would be slandered direct and by innuendo by Sajith backers and the lack of democracy would be the main line of criticism. more..

Aug 10 (CT) Despite the prolonged war in the North which destroyed well-grown coconut and Palymyra trees, a thousand coconuts were dashed at Wattrapalai Kannaki Amman temple in the Mullaitivu District last week to seek divine intervention for Minister of Housing and Construction Sajith Premadasa to be announced as Presidential Candidate of the UNP. It was a few days before the coconut dashing ceremony that Minister Sajith Premadasa toured Mullaitivu, more..

Aug 10 (TM) TNA MP Easvarapatham Saravanapavan charged that authorities worked hand in glove with the drug racketeers and that it would thus be nigh on impossible to eradicate the drug menace with such corruption within the system. Q: What do you see as the main factor for successive govts� failure in tackling drug menace? A: Firstly, forces must support this task, especially the Police. But they are not doing so. more..

Aug 10 (DN) The end of racism and fascistic violence has been predicted so many times by historians and socialist writers. Though the situation contained by Yahapalanaya it was not resolved. However, neither is there an inevitable tide down of situation of nationalism that is engulfing the world, nor is nationalism universally in decline. Despite shared dynamics and integration, Lanka remains too diverse to be caught up in a single torrent of nationalism. more..

Aug 10 (DN) People will always believe what they want to believe, how they want to believe it, when they want to believe it. The events of Easter Sunday 2019 (Sunday April 21, 2019) triggered a process in Sri Lanka which has exposed the entire Sri Lankan Muslim population to this concept in a very negative sense. Questions which were discussed previously in the rarefied atmosphere of academic conferences have entered the mainstream of public consciousness. more..

Aug 10 (Island) Due to the difficulties anticipated in the delimitation process if the Dinesh Gunewardene PSC recommendations are to be implemented, some including Dr. Sudantha Liyanage, who designed that system, have given thought to an alternative proposal which will retain the present proportional representation system but still provide the party that wins a parliamentary election a working majority. This is based on the logic that if we can�t have proper electoral reform we must more..

Aug 10 (Island) UPFA MP Nimal Lanza, of all people, on Thursday, complained to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya that MP Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had called Parliament the most corrupt institution in the country. Speaker�s position was that Wijeyadasa should leave Parliament if the latter had so low an opinion of it. Dr. Rajapakshe, being a senior lawyer, may not have said so without evidence to support his claim. If only the Speaker had asked Wijeyadasa to substantiate that allegation. more..

Aug 10 (Roar) A tropical paradise with a variety of breaks to suit any surfer from beginner to advanced, SL is known for its beaches and cozy nooks that make surfers feel right at home. However, surfing didn�t become a local favourite until the 1960s, when a group of young Sri Lankans walked into the waters of Mount Lavinia beach and experienced the thrill of surfing for the first time. Today, surfing has evolved from being more..

Aug 10 (FT) Deputy Minister Nalin Bandara, moving three Orders under the SL Export Development Act, informed the House that merchandise exports have increased by 5.7% while services have risen by 27.1% during 1Q 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. Minister, mentioning each sector to showcase the positive direction in which they are headed, said: �We were able to report growth from $ 7,584.4 m in 1Q 2018 to $ 8,441.7 m in 1Q 2019. This is a positive growth that happens when more..

Aug 10 (FT) Members of Kalmunai Muslim community praised the Leader of ACMC on 5 August for his efforts to solve the Kalmunai Divisional Secretariat issue peacefully. ACMC leader meanwhile urged the Kalmunai representatives to work for an amicable and sustainable solution, rather than rushing for quick answers. �ACMC has been calling for a peaceful solution to the Kalmunai issue that would address concerns of all parties,� stressed Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. more..

Aug 10 (Island) The Elephant is not happy in the political jungle today. The symbol of political power from the dawn of limited independence, and the image of massive power after the birth of the Executive Presidency � the Huge Elephant Power or Maha Ali Balaya, born in 1978 with JR parentage, is facing an elephantine crisis. It is not struck by the Hand power of the Freedom enemies of the 1956 Banda Brigade. more..

Aug 10 (CI) Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has cranked up its search for the senior team coach, with the side's next assignment - a one-off Test against Afghanistan - less than a month away. The board's shortlist included Mike Hesson, Grant Flower, Paul Farbrace, Russell Domingo and Chandika Hathurusingha, after Andy Flower declined the board's offer a 2nd time. BCB may be in a race with other subcontinent boards, with India, Pak, Afghan also looking for a head coach, more..