Aug 6 (DN) Minister Harin Fernando has included former SL fast bowler Vinothen John into the national selection committee which another former SL fast bowler Ashantha de Mel will continue to head. The Minister stated that he had retained only De Mel and Chaminda Mendis from the previous selection committee and included John. Brendon Kuruppu and Hemantha Wickremaratne were members of the earlier selection committee. Speaking further the Minister stated that more..

Aug 6 (FT) The Supreme Court yesterday decided to start hearings into two complaints against former Fisheries Deputy Minister Sarath Kumara Gunaratne, for allegedly misappropriating over Rs. 10 million in public funds during the last presidential campaign. Gunaratne is accused of using Treasury funds worth over Rs. 10 million, released to develop the Negombo fisheries harbour, to instead hold Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa�s final presidential campaign rally in Negombo. more..

Aug 6 (CT) A suggestion was presented to UNP Parliamentary group yesterday, to allow party Leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to discuss and nominate a Candidate from the UNP for the forthcoming Prez election. The suggestion, made by MP Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa, was seconded by MP Mujibar Rahuman. Accordingly, the trio will discuss and decide more..

Aug 6 (RW) According to the Ministry of Health, by August this year 234,078 dengue cases and 47 dengue deaths were reported. Last year 58 dengue deaths were reported. The sources said 47 dengue deaths is alarming since the number was reported in six months. Therefore, the public should take steps to destroy mosquito breeding sites regularly. They should at least use 30 minutes per week in this regard. The 3rd and 4th types of dengue cases were reported mostly in this season. more..

Aug 6 (KT) The SL govt is negotiating with the UAE for the transfer of expat prisoners to the island nation. Ahamed L.S. Khan, outgoing Charge d'Affaires at SL Embassy, said the new ambassador is set to join office by mid of this month and has some immediate things to follow up on. "We have an extradition treaty with the UAE. We are negotiating the transfer of prisoners. There are about 600 Sri Lankans in prisons here, mostly for minor offences. They can serve their sentences in Sri Lanka, more..

Aug 6 (Island) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Kurunegala District UPFA lawmaker will accept the leadership of the SLPP on Sunday (11) before declaring Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s candidature for the 2019 presidential election. The prez election is scheduled to take place between late Nov and early Dec, 2019. Mahinda Rajapaksa received SLPP membership from SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris on Nov 11, 2018 more..

Aug 6 (AAP) Recruited as a child soldier at age 12 and later tortured by his enemies before fleeing by boat to Australia, Sri Lankan Ganeshamoorthy Thiyagarajah is now facing years behind bars for a brutal killing in Adelaide. Thiyagarajah was found guilty recently of the murder in March 2017 of his housemate Mohammed Mansoor at their Penfield Gardens home. In sentencing submissions in the Supreme Court on Monday, prosecutor said Mr Mansoor was brutally and intentionally killed more..

Aug 6 (SLA) "The routine US Travel Advisory (2nd level) issued a few hours ago for US citizens travelling during these long holidays is not something pertaining exclusively to Sri Lanka as alleged by some social media networks but a customary notification setting out to be cautious about their movements in crowded areas and public gatherings as has been clarified later by the US Ambassador here in Colombo. No country in the world, in this instance even those with more..

Aug 6 (Island) Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing Easter Sunday carnage has decided to summon the members of the Special Investigation Committee (SIC) appointed by Prez Sirisena for the same purpose. PSC had informed the SIC members to be present to give evidence on Aug 8 at the Committee Room 1 of the Parliament complex. Headed by SC Judge Vijith Malalgoda, SIC also comprised former IGP N.K. Ilangakoon more..

Aug 6 (DM) Dumping of garbage at the Kerawalapitiya garbage facility had been suspended with effect from today, the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry said. In a statement, it said the garbage facility was maintained by the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation (SLLRDC) which is under the purview of the ministry. The ministry said the facility was opened as a temporary measure to the mounting garbage issue in the Colombo city for a period of one year. more..

Aug 6 (DN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to testify today before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing Easter Sunday attacks. Chair of the Committee and Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri said that the Premier is expected to appear before the committee at 6pm this evening. Prior to his testimony, State Minister for Defense Ruwan Wijewardene, Minister Sagala Ratnayaka and former minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara are also slated to testify on the same day. more..

Aug 6 (Island) State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake yesterday sat his first test paper of the A/L exam with the intention of perusing studies in the legal field. He sat for the exam at the Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Kotte. Once tough hero of the Silver Screen and mini screen hit the limelight after appearing with late mini screen sensation Ramani Bartholomeusz in Bhagya, where its theme song Aju Thapara became a popular hit. more..

Aug 6 (DM) The climate forecast projects that the dry zone of Sri Lanka, which receive an annual rainfall of less than seventy-five inches, is to get drier in the years to come. On the other hand, it has already been witnessed that the annual rainfall in the wet zone has been on the rise during the past few years. This means while the dry zone is going to get drier the wet zone is going to be wetter, with more floods, earthslips, epidemics and other related catastrophes. more..

Aug 6 (DM) After much deliberations and meticulous analysis of Intelligence reports, in 1988, following a hard and painful struggle and out of absolute need for socio-political survival, JR and his coterie reluctantly handed over the leadership and nomination to R. Premadasa, who called it dekona pathhu una Vilakkuwak, meaning a torch burning at both ends. UNP�s Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa, the popular demand among the rank and file and the Presidential aspirant, more..

Aug 6 (DM) Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, who is in the centre of controversy over allegations linked to Easter Sunday�s terrorist attack, speaks about charges against him, political dynamics and the plans of his party ACMC. Q: After Easter Sunday attack, there seems to be communal polarization. It changed political dynamics. How will it shape future politics? A: Sri Lankans are intelligent. more..

Aug 6 (DM) The UNP is heading towards a dangerous internal rupture as the jockeying for the party candidacy at the presidential election is fought ugly along the usual fault lines. During the last ten years, internal fighting in the UNP saw a major crossover and an aborted leadership challenge. The party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe survived both, perhaps at the expense of the electability of the Grand Old Party. more..

Aug 6 (ST) Shares of Helitours (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka Air Force�s (SLAF) commercial passenger service, will be transferred to the Treasury after the Auditor General queried how the company was registered as a private entity but sustained by tax money with public officials on its board of directors. �The Air Force and Treasury are in discussions since a decision has been made and are working out the modalities,� said Group Captain more..

Aug 6 (LBO) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in association with the Ministry of Development Strategies and Int'l Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Board of Investment of SL, Department of Commerce and SL Export Development Board will be organizing Sri Lanka Investment and Business Conclave 2019, under the theme Explore: Network: Capitalise� on 16th Sept 2019, more..

Aug 6 (EN) Sri Lanka has the second highest welfare coverage in Asia, albeit with low spending per person, while other forms of social protection are below par, ADB said. Social Protection Indicator for Asia Report said that Sri Lanka has the second highest social assistance (welfare assistance and child, elderly and disability assistance) coverage, reaching 54.7% of the programs' intendent recipients, behind Thailand's 60%. more..

Aug 6 (DN) A major transformation is now taking place in the Colombo landscape thanks to the World Bank and all others who contribute towards it. This transformation is taking place in all three spheres - underground, ground level, as well as the airspace, Minister Champika Ranawaka said. He was addressing a meeting after inaugurating the constructions work on the St. Sebastian Southern Pump House in Colombo recently. more..

Aug 6 (TS) Peel Region hired a cop�s cop as its new chief of police Friday. And in the process, history was also made. When Halton Regional Police Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah is sworn in Oct. 1, he will become the first South Asian police chief in Ontario�s history, as well as the first ever officer of SL background to serve in the top cop role in North America. While his ancestry is a side story to his exemplary policing career, more..

Aug 6 (RN) The Methodist Church has accused three Buddhist monks of attacking an evangelist student in Mahiyanganaya on Sunday. President Bishop Asiri Perera said that a group of four monks flanked by a mob had forcibly entered a local Methodist house of worship. Three of the monks had proceeded to harass and assault the student who had been conducting a sermon there. Having demanded information on his identity, more..

Aug 6 (Island) Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Nihal Ranasinghe, yesterday, gave an undertaking to the PCoI that he would within a day, revoke the transfer of Director of School Supplies, I.M.K.B. Ilangasinghe, who complained that he had been transferred after giving evidence before the Commission. Ranasinghe told PCoI that an inquiry had been conducted against Ilangasinghe over allegations of irregularities in 2013 and 2014. more..

Aug 6 (DM) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Maitripala Sirisena had a crucial discussion last night with regards to the formation of an alliance in view of the upcoming presidential elections, informed sources said. The talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and informed sources said that it was successful. Sources also said the Prez had indicated that he would direct SLFP on how the ongoing talks more..

Aug 6 (CT) Govt reduced stunting by only a third (33.33%) and not by two thirds (66.67%), as originally planned, a shortfall of 100,000 in absolute terms; data on a recent European Commission (EC) report showed. The report, shown diagrammatically and released in June, covering a seven-year horizon beginning in 2012 and ending last year (2018), indicated that the prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age at the beginning of the survey period (2012) had been 300,000. more..

Aug 6 (DM) Seventy-three police officers, including senior superintendent of police (SSP), superintendent of police (SP), a woman police superintendent, chief inspectors (CI) and inspectors of police had been transferred with immediate effect, the police said. They said the National Police Commission (NPC) had approved the transfers which were made due to service requirements. Accordingly, four SSPs, twenty-two SPs, 24 ASPs, thirteen chief inspectors (CI), more..

Aug 6 (FT) A news item titled President unlikely to allow jumbo cabinet, is indicative of a constitutional controversy. Referring to a resolution now before the Parliament for the formation of a National Govt and thereby to increase the number of Cabinet Ministers to 48 and the number of Deputy Ministers to 45, Shiral Laktilleke as the Senior Advisor to the Prez has stated: �In terms of the Constitution, it is the President who has to decide on whether he is satisfied that more..

Aug 6 (MFA) Ministry of foreign Affairs will be conducting Integrated Consular Mobile Services in Anuradhapura and Puttalam Districts on 17 and 19 August 2019 respectively. This mobile consular service will be conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the partner organizations from Colombo and the relevant districts. Through this mobile service which is conducted on the guidance and instructions of Minister of Foreign Affairs, people of Anuradhapura & Puttalam more..

Aug 6 (EN) SL has lifted value added tax from apartments costing below 25 million rupees, while the payment date for VAT has been shifted to the 20th of the following month in changes approved by the cabinet this week. The changes will be presented to parliament in Sept, finance ministry said. Housing units which had got a compliance certificate from local govt authority or had a sale agreement under the Notary Ordinance more..

Aug 6 (AF) Passing Out Parade of the No 5 contingent of the Aviation Unit under the United Nations helicopter deployment in Central African Republic (MINUSCA) was held today (5) at SLAF Base Katunayake. This Heli-deployment comprises 18 Officers and 92 Airmen and is scheduled to proceed to Central Africa during the month Sept 2019. Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Sumangala Dias took the salute of the passing out parade commanded by Wing Commander more..

Aug 6 (MFA) Sri Lanka is hosting the First Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Maritime Safety and Security Working Group (MSSWG), in Colombo on 8th and 9th Aug. This Meeting will finalize the Work Plan for two years, advancing the IORA Action Plan (2017-21) with Member States towards developing a regional agenda. IORA is a dynamic inter-governmental organization aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development more..

Aug 6 (RN) World cup winning cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga says Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe should not be blamed for the failures in Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) since it is the administrators who ruined the game. He said that he thinks the cricket administration is a den of thieves. He said that the impression that the administration and the players are good and the Coach is bad is wrong. more..

Aug 6 (EN) Sri Lanka's state-owned reinsurance agency NITF is building capital buffers which will help in dealing with increasing frequencies of natural disasters, ratings agency Fitch said. NITF's dividend payouts to the govt has eased to 86 percent of net profits in 2018, from 154 percent in 2017, Fitch said. "We believe that significant dividend outflows will constrain NITF's capitalisation, particularly during periods of increasing frequency of large natural calamities," Fitch said. more..

Aug 6 (RN) Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said that there should be proper policies which should be implemented and not be limited to the paper they are written on to win the presidential elections. He also added that even the current govt had some policies which were presented at the presidential election in 2015 which were never implemented. He said that everyone has different opinions but more power should be given to the UNP in the proposed alliance as it is the major party. more..

Aug 6 (AD) Unrest was reported from near the St. Sebastian Church in Katuwapitiya following an incident of alleged vandalizing of a religious statue on the road to the church. Archbishop of Colombo Rev. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith arrived at the area to appease the situation. Cardinal requested the crowd gathered at the church to act with more patience and pointed out that, previously, people of Katuwapitiya St. Sebastian Church more..

Aug 6 (Island) The Tamil people will never vote for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa or any of his family members because of the various injustices they faced during Rajapaksa�s tenure as President, TNA MP, Mavai Senathirajah said in Jaffna on Sunday. He said that Namal Rajapaksa, son of Mahinda, is attempting to win over people by opening up SLPP offices in the North and building houses. However the decision of the people will not change because of such gestures, he said. more..

Aug 6 (CT) MP Udaya Gammanpila claimed that whoever gets the support from the Leader of All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) and Minister Rishad Bathiudeen will definitely lose the Election, since people have lost faith in the ACMC and this time they will definitely not support that Party. He claimed that people will never support those who were allegedly connected to terrorists and supported the terror attacks. �It is true that the Party Bathiudeen helped won in the past. more..

Aug 6 (DM) Minister Harin Fernando said yesterday that if the leadership is not accepted by the people, it should undergo a change and the most suitable person for the UNP today is Sajith Premadasa. Addressing a news briefing, he said he would not describe Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe as an incapable person but if the party supporters are in favour of Sajith Premadasa, he should be appointed as the presidential candidate. more..

Aug 6 (AD) Supreme Court has ordered to move the Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed by Dr. Mohamed Shafi of Kurunegala Hospital, seeking an order declaring his arrest and detention unlawful, to the 27th of Sept. FR petition was taken up before a 3-judge bench consisting of SC Justices Sisira de Abrew, Prasanna Jayewardene and Vijith Malalgoda today. Appearing on behalf of Dr. Mohamed Shafi, Faisz Musthapha, PC requested the court to set a date to revise the petition. more..