Aug 30 (Nikkei) The Bohra Mosque in Colombo has become a hive of activity in recent weeks, its walls surrounded by construction equipment as the Dawoodi Bohra community prepares for the biggest international event to be held in Sri Lanka since Islamist attacks on hotels and churches killed more than 250 people in April. The success of the sect's annual Ashara Mubaraka gathering, which moves between different countries each year, will be of crucial importance to Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 30 (AD) The Permanent High Court at Bar has decided to hear the case against former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and six others, filed over alleged misappropriation of state funds accumulating to Rs 33.9 million, on a daily basis from the 15th of October, says Ada Derana reporter. The case was taken up before a three-judge bench consisting of Special HC Judges Sampah Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne more..

Aug 30 (NF) The Department of Wildlife Conservation states that the Yala National Park will remain closed from September 1st to October 31st. Publicity officer at the Department Hasini Sarachchchandra said that the decision has been taken due to the prevailing dry weather and maintenance activities. Meanwhile, all the national parks are due to be closed from the 13th to the 15th of next month (September) due to an islandwide elephant survey. more..

Aug 30 (PMD) Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby who is currently visiting Sri Lanka called on Prez Sirisena yesterday and appreciated the commitment of President to build peace and reconciliation in the country. The visit of the Reverend is a blessing to Sri Lanka said President Sirisena while thanking the Archbishop for taking time to visit the island. President and the Archbishop engaged in a cordial discussion and the Archbishop especially appreciated the measures taken more..

Aug 30 (RN) Women�s activists are angry and exasperated by police detaining women wearing sarees or dresses with the images of Hindu Deities on them. Activists say there has been a rash of such incidents recently. Some of the images, particularly of the Hindu deity Krishna, resemble images of the Buddha and that has led to some of the detentions, these activists say. On Thursday a woman wearing a sari at Trinco bus stand more..

Aug 30 (DM) The govt has shelved fresh attempts made by it to enact the 20th Amendment to the Constitution for the abolition of the executive presidency because of objections from the main opposition and a section of the UNP, the Daily Mirror learns. UNP leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, along with Minister Ravi Karunanayake called on President Maithripala Sirisena and sought the possibility of getting his support to enact the 20th Amendment originally brought by the JVP. more..

Aug 30 (RN) When the time is right, the UNP will nominate an electable candidate who enjoys the support of all Sri Lankans, UNP MP Harshana Rajakaruna said. Addressing the media at Temple Trees, MP said that those who started their presidential election campaign too early are facing problems at present. �Although a prez election has yet to be officially called, some parties have already nominated their candidate. We will nominate a suitable candidate when the time is right. more..

Aug 30 (AD) Chairman of the National Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya says that they hope to hold an election for the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha within the first week of October this year. The Supreme Court today ordered the Elections Commission to hold the elections of the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha after accepting nominations by Democratic United National Front (DUNF). more..

Aug 30 (Island) The Mirihana police have commenced investigations to trace a suspect who allegedly stole a gold bangle worth Rs 200,000 from former Minister and Moneragala District UPFA MP Sumedha Jayasena. A senior police officer said, yesterday, that investigations had commenced following a complaint made by the MP. According to the MP�s complaint one of her supporters had come to her house at Madiwela saying that his child was ill and doctors had prescribed surgery and more..

Aug 30 (AD) The Supreme Court has concluded hearing the two petitions filed against the Ruhunu Economic Development Corporation (REDC) of SL Bill by Joint Opposition MP Bandula Gunawardena and Attorney-at-Law Premnath C. Dolawatte from Sathya Gaveshakayo (Truth Seekers) organization. The two petitions had sought the Supreme Court to deliver an order declaring the Bill, which was recently tabled in the Parliament, is against the Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that more..

Aug 30 (Reuters) A Sri Lankan court on Friday ordered police to exhume and relocate the remains of an Easter Sunday suicide bomber buried in a public cemetery in the eastern district of Batticaloa, after residents� protests stoked tension. Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels across SL killed more than 250 people in the country�s worst suicide bombings since it defeated dissident Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, more..

Aug 30 (PMD) The construction works of the Fisheries Harbor in Point Pedro were commenced under the patronage of Prez Sirisena, today. The proposed fisheries harbor established as part of the Northern Province Sustainable Fisheries Development Project with theobjective of providing livelihood opportunities in the Northern peninsula. Point Pedro Fisheries Harbor will be the largest fisheries harbour in the country and the estimated project cost is Rs.12,600 million. more..

Aug 30 (Age) Police are still hunting a speeding hit-run driver and possible accomplice who left a popular Monash University student dead on Thursday night in Melbourne's south-east. Nisali Perera, 20, was thrown 20 metres and left for dead after she was hit by a dark-coloured sedan on Wellington Road, Clayton, at about 9.45pm. Friends and family on both sides of the Indian Ocean have paid tribute to the Sri Lankan student, who began her studies at Monash last year. more..

Aug 30 (EN) Sri Lanka's inflation edged up to 3.4% in August 2019, from 3.3% as month earlier. Colombo Consumer's Price Index barely grew to 130.1 points in August from 130 a month earlier. Until July 2019, CB has been steadily mopping up inflows amid weak credit and allowed the exchange rate to appreciate. But in mid July it stopped mopping up and in the first week of August, started to print money heavily, more..

Aug 30 (EN) Sri Lanka is unveiling a program to upgrade, rural agriculture, and diary and fisheries, which will boost their capacity and output and the quality of products with subsidized credit, Minister Mangala Samaraweera said. "We will be giving 100,000 rupees for drip irrigation in rural agriculture," he said. "For dairy we are allocating funds for small milk transport tanks for 200,000 rupees and 650,000 for refrigeration systems. Drip irrigation saves water and nutrients. more..

Aug 30 (DM) Colombo Trial-at-Bar today fixed the trial of the Welikada Prison massacre case to be heard from October 14, 2019, on all Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Trial-at-Bar comprising Judges Gihan Kulathunga, Pradeep Hettiarachchi and Manjula Thilakarathna also directed to issue summons on witnesses one to four of the prosecution, to be present on Oct 14, 2019. Earlier, the Trial-at-Bar allowed the evidence to be heard in absence of the suspect, more..

Aug 30 (EN) SL�s Office of Missing Persons needs the full support of state authorities to fulfill its mandate of finding the fate of disappeared people and ensuring accountability for those responsible for their disappearance, a UN official said. �Today we stand up for the rights of the victims of enforced disappearances and their relatives,� UN Resident Coordinator in SL, Hanaa Singer said in a statement to mark the International Day of more..

Aug 30 (TL) The PM's Office has refuted reports claiming that PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a committee headed by his Secretary, Saman Ekanayake to probe into an allegation that Rs. 1.2 billion has gone missing from the Central Cultural Fund operating under Minister Sajith Premadasa. A senior official from the PM's Office said that following the news reports, Minister Premadasa had inquired on the matter from the PM's Secretary and he was informed that more..

Aug 30 (DM) Minister Ajith P. Perera said UNP constitution does not have provisions to delay the naming of its presidential candidate till the presidential poll is declared. Mr. Perera said that the UNP constitution does not have a provision which Mr. Nanayakkara is claiming to be in existence. �Mr. Nanayakkara should prove his point,� Mr. Perera said. Besides, the Minister said the candidate chosen by the party should have adequate time to plan his campaign. more..

Aug 30 (DM) Former MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena said today he was well aware of SLPP MPs and their objectives more than anyone else. He said that only two parties were capable of developing the country�s economy and ensuring national security and said the SLPP was only concerned with family politics. "As someone who had associated with SLPP MPs, I am well aware of their policies and objectives. more..

Aug 31 (CT) The International Day of the Disappeared is on the 30th August and I was in Mannar when a group of mothers were preparing to show their collective resistance at Omanthai in North and Kalmunai in East. The discussion was around how safe it is to protest even though the emergency has been lifted but the Prez has signed an extraordinary gazette assigning same powers that is granted under Emergency Regulations to the military. more..

Aug 31 (CT) Simmering ethno-religious tensions in Sri Lanka require urgent action by the authorities to strengthen respect for freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka, says UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Ahmed Shaheed. �There is a serious deficit of trust among ethno-religious communities in Sri Lanka following the deadly Easter Sunday bomb blasts and subsequent mob violence this year, and these tensions must not be ignored,� Shaheed said, more..

Aug 31 (Roar) A Moratuwa Uni student in his early twenties ended his life earlier this year after being subject to the depravity of ragging. He left behind letters, documenting in excruciating detail, the acts of torture he was subjected to. A similar experience was recounted just this July, when Darshana Udayanga, a second-year student of the Ruhuna University, finally came out the public. �A group of students that belonged to a union forcibly more..

Aug 31 (SO) The first ever Jaffna Book Fair 2019 organized by the Ceylon Importers� and Exporters� Association will be held at the Weerasingham Hall, Jaffna, from Aug 27 to Sept 1, commencing 9am to 6pm. The Jaffna Book Fair 2019 came to light under the guidance of the Governor of the Northern Province, Suren Raghavan, and the assistance of the Governor�s Office. JBF 2019 will consist of all genres of books and would surely be a treat for book lovers based in Jaffna. more..

Aug 31 (SO) When I walked into the sprawling British built abandoned railway station, an imposing colonial heritage building greeted me. While I was photographing the remnants of this century old building a couple of weeks ago, a middle aged trishaw driver approached me and asked why I was doing so. I replied him that I am from a newspaper and was going to write a story on this heritage building. He then said they had planned to build a Buddhist shrine near the station premises more..

Aug 31 (CT) Youth are being forced to go begging for jobs from this regime and then get tear gassed in return. However, no one today questions this regime as to what has become of its major promise to create one million jobs for youth, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the SLPP Youth Convention on 24 Aug, at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, said. His full speech verbatim is as follows: more..

Aug 31 (CT) Capital punishment has been a punishment for centuries. Do serious crimes require serious laws? An argument that has grasped the attention of the general public. Drug cartels have influenced govts throughout the world. Countries such as Mexico and Colombia can't record the scope of violence generated by drug cartels due to restrictions on reporting by the govt and attempts by criminal groups to mislead the public. Forced disappearances and homicide has been more..

Aug 31 (Island) British PM Boris Johnson has come under heavy fire over his decision to prorogue the House of Commons. The current parliamentary session has lasted for more than two years, and the Johnson supporters see nothing wrong with the suspension, which the Queen has also accepted. She usually acts on her PM�s advice. But the British Opposition and anti-Brexit campaigners have offered stiff resistance to the govt move, and there have also been some street protests. more..

Aug 31 (CT) SL is currently enjoying its new found economic potential having made links with many affluent countries after the end of the war. The country is one of the best tourist destinations of all time and could grow rapidly if the govt focuses on tourism beyond what it is currently doing. Southern Province Tourist Board (SPTB) is urging the govt to grant it more autonomy in running the industry. In a rough survey, there are about 6, 000 unregistered tourism-based businesses in the South, more..

Aug 31 (Island) An event of great cultural and historical significance takes place annually in the hill capital of Sri Lanka in the month of Esala. This is followed by several such events right throughout the country. One such event is the historic Sri Dalada Perahera of Sri J'pura Kotte Rajamaha Viharaya held in memory of and to pay obeisance and to honour the Sacred Tooth Relic as the Kingdom of Kotte was once the abode of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Dalada Perahera has a long history. more..

Aug 31 (FT) International rating agency Moody�s yesterday said the credit profile of Sri Lanka (B2 stable) reflects ongoing Govt liquidity and external vulnerability risks but expects continued focus on fiscal, monetary and economic reforms to lift growth potential. Key credit challenges include large borrowing requirements, with a high reliance on external funding, and low foreign exchange reserves coverage of forthcoming more..

Aug 31 (Island) An article by Sarath de Alwis captioned A Brisk and Brusque Verdict appropriately captured the mood and verdict of the people who, two days earlier, had voted at the local govt elections. Sarath had differentiated two sets of rulers in this country: honest crooks and dishonest crooks. Outcome of that elections confirmed what was expected: people had rejected the dishonest crooks (in the yahapalanaya governing alliance) in preference for the honest crooks more..

Aug 31 (EN) Central bank printed 2 billion rupees at for 315 days at 7.94%, and 264 million rupees at 7.9%, through outright purchases of bills, below the 8% policy rate for overnight liquidity injections, official data shows. The rate setting monetary board cut the cash injection rate to 8% from 8.5% last week, despite the rupee coming under pressure from large scale money printing that began from Aug 7. The domestic operations departments printed 20 billion rupees at 7.83% from August 07, more..

Aug 31 (FT) SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said the SLPP will not revise its decision to name former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its prez candidate despite ongoing talks with the SLFP to form a coalition to contest the upcoming Prez Election together. Rajapaksa said ongoing talks between the SLPP and SLFP will not change their stance on their Prez candidate. He also said talks between the two parties were more..

Aug 31 (CT) Oshini Herath of British School defeated Tania Doloswela comfortably by two straight sets (6-3, 6-0) to wrap up the U-16 Girls title at the 104th National Tennis Championship, played at the SLTA courts, yesterday. Oshini got off to a flying start against Tania, and employing a variety of slices and earned an early break of a 2-0 lead. Tania was right back in it a few games later, levelling the score at 2-2. The pair was locked in a close battle in first set, trading breaks to start off the match. more..

Aug 31 (FT) Ambassador Saroja Sirisena presented Letters of Credence to Actg. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Cornel Feruta on 23 Aug, at the Vienna Int'l Centre accrediting her as the Permanent Representative of SL to IAEA. Ambassador recalled the exceptional work carried out by the IAEA under the leadership and guidance of former Director General of the IAEA, late Yukiya Amano and his concrete achievements in spheres of nuclear security, more..

Aug 31 (Island) Leader of ACMC Minister Rishad Bathiudeen says that when supporting a prez candidate his party will give consideration to the one who comes with a sound plan to protect the country�s security, economic system and culture. Addressing the media after attending a ceremony held at the Yakkala Werellawatte Technical College premises to declare open the newly constructed Administration Building and renovated more..

Aug 31 (CT) First unofficial Test match between SL and Bangladesh, Emerging teams ended drawn at Khulna yesterday. Bangladesh team posted 360 runs for their first innings with their captain Najmul Shanto registering a stunning century, and guiding his team to a sizable score with the support of Afif Hossain and Zakir Hasan. SL bowlers toiled hard with their best performer being Ramesh Mendis who took 4 wickets for 73 runs while Asith Fernando and Kalana Perera chipped in with 2 wts each. more..

Aug 31 (CB) Cricket South Africa have announced Isuru Udana as a replacement international marquee player for Paarl Rocks for the upcoming season of the Mzansi Super League. Udana is set to replace England all-rounder David Willey, who has ruled himself out due to workload management. "We are very excited to get a player of Isuru's calibre who was Sri Lanka's star player during their KFC T20 Series against the Standard Bank Proteas earlier this year," CSA Acting Director, said. more..