Jun 9 (CI) India A continued their winning run against Sri Lanka A, romping to a ten-wicket victory in just 33.3 overs in the second one-dayer on Saturday. Put in to bat at Union Gymkhana Ground in Belgaum, the Sri Lankans could put up only 242 for 7, and centuries from openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill meant an easy victory for the home team. Gill retired hurt with cramps when he was on 109 (off 96 balls), with the team score at 226 for no loss in 30 overs, but Gaikwad more..

Jun 9 (SO) The long overdue tea infilling and replanting program will kick off with nurseries to be laid this year to commence replanting next year aimed at increasing crop yield, a top official of the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) said. SLTB Chairman Lucille Wijewardena said tea infilling and replanting has to be done in about 1,000 hectares or between 2-3% of the total crop. It is only around one percent of the total crop that has been replanted. �Tea replanting is done once is 30 to 40 years. more..

Jun 9 (CT) Eighteen Deputy Medical Administrative Grade posts were left vacant with the Health Ministries most recent attempt to fill vacancies in that grade. It resulted in the Ministry having to formulate another list of doctors who could fill the posts according to their Merit order and submit it to the Public Service Commission (PSC) one more time. From the 13 Deputy Medical Administrators who were given appointments to Hospitals in more..

Jun 9 (DM) UPFA MP Faizer Musthapha yesterday said he would have resigned from his post if he was a minister of this govt. MP Musthapha told parliament that Muslim MPs resigned from their ministerial posts as the Muslim society had wanted them to do so. �The Muslim civil society was of the opinion that Muslim ministers should not hold ministerial posts if they cannot provide security to the Muslim community,� the MP said. He said Muslims were not extremists but a group that more..

Jun 9 (ST) An official gazette notification was issued by the Presidential Secretariat on Friday on the resignations of nine Muslim Ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers, who voluntarily quit their portfolios. Nine Muslim politicians � four Cabinet ministers, four state ministers and one deputy minister � tendered their resignation letters effective from Monday, June 3. The names of the ministers and their portfolios are as follows: Ministers: more..

Jun 9 (CT) Investigations currently being conducted by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), to inquire into the Easter Sunday attacks, which took place on 21 April, could only be brought to a halt by Parliament itself and not by the Speaker. Speaker�s Office, issuing a statement in this connection yesterday, said this is in the context that the Prez had told Cabinet on Friday that he had directed that a letter from Attorney General more..

Jun 9 (IE) In the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings which killed more than 250 people, India has shared with SL phone numbers of five Lankans suspected to be associated with Islamic State (IS). India has also shared call logs and details of some Indians who were in touch with the family of two Lankan suicide bombers involved in the attacks. National Investigation Agency (NIA) team was in SL last week in connection with the agency�s probe into two IS modules in India that are suspected more..

Jun 9 (Reuters) Macau have decided not to send their team to contest the second leg of the World Cup qualifying first-round match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday due to security concerns. Macau Football Association issued a statement on Saturday saying it had asked FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation to switch the match to a neutral venue but that request had yet to be accepted. �Due to the recent terrorist attack in Sri Lanka and for the sake of the team�s personal safety, more..

Jun 9 (ST) Minister Ravi Karunanayake has ordered Ministry Secretary and CEB to appoint 27 of his personal nominees as project coordinators for a spate of power plants, including some which are not yet in operation. In a letter to Ministry Secretary B.M.S. Batagoda & CEB General Manager S.D.W. Gunawardana, minister has said, �please initiate necessary action to expedite the process of appointing project coordinators, more..

Jun 9 (NST) Police have crippled a migrant smuggling syndicate following the arrest of 11 people, including three Malaysians, on May 27. The arrests were made at the Padang Besar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex and two other locations in the Klang Valley. Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador said the syndicate, which had been active since mid-2018, was using Malaysia as a transit country before sending Sri Lankans nationals to Europe. more..

Jun 9 (AD) Ministry of Environment says that traditional sawmills will not be banned under the proposed amendments and that only mobile sawmills will be banned from Dec 31, 2022. Accordingly the President is expected to amend the 1896/26 Timber Mill Registration Special Gazette dated 2014.12.03, the ministry said. It added that there are around 300 mobile sawmills registered across the country presently and that only those sawmills will be banned through the Gazette more..

Jun 9 (ST) It took only two Buddhist monks, one to stage a fast-unto-death and another to strongly voice that cause, to bring the Presidency to its knees. Ven. Athuraliya Rathana Thera, MP, was on the third day of his death fast outside Kandy�s sacred Sri Dalada Maligawa from May 31. He was surrounded by other Buddhist clergy and agitated laymen. Joining in on June 2 again was the Ven. Galagoda-aththe Gnanasara Thera, more..

Jun 9 (Island) The national poll for the election of the next President is required to be held between Nov 8th and Dec 8th this year. Since the incumbent President has now indicated that he might not be seeking re-election, SL�s next President will assume that office as soon as the result of that election is declared by the Commissioner of Elections. Several potential candidates have already emerged. In fact, any elector who has attained the age of 35 years, is not a citizen of any other country, more..

Jun 9 (Island) Sunday Island (2nd June) carried an article by Frank de Silva of Narahenpita, at page 12, titled, Did they die in vain? This article, inter alia, lays out the intelligence gathering function of the police. Sunday Times 2 of the same date carries an article by B. Anton Jeyanathan, Retired DIG, at page 7, titled Ominous and Dangerous signs neglected wherein he too lays out the function of Intelligence gathering. These two articles are at variance in regard to the intelligence gathering function. more..

Jun 9 (ST) Unbelievable but true. A leading Muslim country�s envoy read the riot act to a one-time minister who has resigned in protest. He did not hide his anger over the controversial politician making public remarks that the diplomat�s country together with other like-minded countries should expose the Sri Lankans over the treatment of Muslims. �Don�t place your community at risk with those irresponsible remarks. more..

Jun 9 (SO) The wife of Dr Seigu Siyabdeen Mohammed Shafi is set to file a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition at the Supreme Court consequent to his sudden arrest on May 24 over charges of amassing a large amount of wealth and assets, following a newspaper article that alleged he was involved in sterilizing women without their consent. Several Fundamental Rights violations, including illegal detention that is a direct more..

Jun 9 (CT) The story of oceans is the story of life. A defining factor of our planet, Earth�s nickname Blue Planet is derived from the sheer abundance of water on its surface; of which 96.5% is contained in oceans. Our oceans also provide the air we breathe and produce over half of the world�s oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere. They also regulate our climate and weather patterns, by transporting heat from more..

Jun 9 (Hindu) The art of pinch-hitting in one-day internationals at the top of the order originated in the 1980s with India�s Kris Srikkanth, was carried forward in 1992 by Mark Greatbatch, but one player who packaged that tactic with greater consistency and intimidation was SL�s Sanath Jayasuriya. The left-handed batsman is believed to be the architect of Sri Lanka�s 1996 World Cup triumph, when opposition teams lost matches more..

Jun 9 (ST) India�s PM Narendra Modi arrives in Colombo today on a four-hour visit which assumes much greater significance than the brief stopover for many reasons. Main among them is his expression of solidarity for the govt�s strong drive against IS-backed jihadi extremists. Indian agencies are already extending their co-operation to track them down in the light of fears they could threaten India�s national security also. more..

Jun 9 (ST) Security agencies could not piece together vital intelligence that could have possibly averted or minimised the casualties from the Easter Sunday attacks even at the eleventh hour due to systemic failure in the national security apparatus. This was revealed this week during the hearing by the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the attack. It was also revealed that a lack of coordination between different agencies and more..

Jun 9 (CT) Some 5,000 people, living in 25 villages surrounding the Welikanda-Polonnaruwa DS region, are without toilet facilities and are forced to use the open exposing them to the threats of serpents and even wild elephants, a top regional official conceded. �This problem has been there for many years and most of the families live in wattle and daub abodes bordering thick forests that are infested with wild elephants, more..

Jun 9 (ST) A confrontation between the Executive and the Legislature paralysing the working of the govt � in another worst case political crisis � for Sri Lanka is becoming inevitable. During a 90-minute emergency Cabinet meeting on Friday night, President Maithripala Sirisena issued the UNP-led United National Front (UNF) an ultimatum to call off sittings of the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday attacks. more..

Jun 9 (EN) Auditor General has said 170 billion rupees of debt taken to build Hambantota Port from China, which is about 1.2% of gross domestic product, has disappeared from state accounts. Following the lease of Hambantota Port to a Chinese firm, the debt was to be taken off Sri Lanka Port Authority accounts. The cabinet had decided to on July 20, 2017 the Treasury had taken responsibility to make payments on the Hambantota Port loans. more..

Jun 9 (PTI) PM Narendra Modi on Sunday visited St. Anthony�s Shrine in Kochchikade, one of the sites of the horrific Easter Sunday attacks, soon after his arrival in Sri Lanka and paid tributes to the victims of the terror strikes, expressing India�s affirmation of solidarity with the counrty in the wake of the attacks. �Started the Sri Lanka visit by paying my respect at one of the sites of the horrific Easter Sunday Attack, St. Anthony�s Shrine, more..

Jun 10 (CT) Dear Mr. Speaker, I write this with reference to the Media Statement issued by your Office, on your behalf, dated 8 June 2019, regarding the current controversies over the proceedings of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the Terrorist Attacks of 21 April 2019. The Statement explains the background within which the present PSC is appointed, and no one would have any concerns or objections over the presumed good intentions. more..

Jun 10 (CT) The death fast by a relatively insignificant nationalist Buddhist monk turned politician Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero MP, of the JHU and a National List MP nominated by the UNP in the current Parliament, ended on the fourth day. The monk was demanding the resignation or removal of Rishard Bathiudeen MP, and Minister for Industry & Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Co-operative Development, Vocational Training & Skills Development. more..

Jun 10 (SO) On June 4, it was Ex-TID Chief Nalaka De Silva�s turn to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing into the Easter Sunday terror attacks. It was the first time the public would hear from De Silva who on May 21 had been bailed out, after being arrested and remanded in October last year when he was accused of instigating a VIP assassination plot. The beleaguered former Chief of the TID arriving more..

Jun 10 (ST) The gay abandon with which politicians and public servants at the highest level act as if they are beyond even the slightest hint of accountability boggles our perpetually astonished imagination. This is exemplified by their behaviour in relation to first, ignoring all impending warnings of the Easter Sunday attacks by Islamist jihadists and second, by casually waving away responsibilities after the event on one ground or another, notwithstanding monumentally devastating consequences. more..

Jun 10 (ST) The sighting of the Ramadan new moon on the night of June 4th which bade the Muslims to break their fast and feast and share their sawans with the other races in a traditional show of communal harmony may, sadly, have been only a brief breather from the storms that unknown evil forces plan to unleash upon this thrice blessed land in times to come. Just one and a half months before, the 42 day Christian Lent of self denial � observed to share Christ�s sufferings on the cross for more..

Jun 10 (CT) The aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings, carried out by Islamic extremists, led by Zahran Hashim of Kattankudy, saw a series of unpleasant events taking place in the country, summing up with Muslim politicians; including four State Ministers and four Cabinet Ministers, stepping down from powerful positions in the incumbent Govt. These developments has irked the majority, including Tamils of many areas more..

Jun 10 (Island) President Maithripala Sirisena pontificated on the virtues of unity and reconciliation while mourning the rise of communalism, at a function in the North, the other day. He is not alone in lamenting the absence of reconciliation. His lament reminded us of a tuk-tuk sticker with some words of wisdom thereon, conveying very succinctly the message of communal harmony, which govt leaders have failed to deliver in zillions of words. Some of the witty one-liners written on more..

Jun 10 (CT) 253 individuals that perished on the Easter Sunday, due to a well-orchestrated suicide bombing by Islamic terrorists may be cursing and reeling in their graves, when detailed information concerning the terrorist attack, which could have been easily averted, is gradually unwound. From day one, an accusing finger was directed at the Prez, as Minister of Defence, for being in Singapore during the terrorist attack, which could have been easily averted, is gradually unwound. more..

Jun 10 (SO) The fast unto death by independent MP Athuraliye Rathana thera has had its share of drama but now that the venerable monk has given up his fast, been given a clean bill of health and has presumably resumed partaking of his daaney and gilanpasa, we must raise the question, did it achieve anything, if at all? Or, did it make matters worse? Rathana thera began his fast demanding the removal of Governors Azath Salley, M.L.A.M. Hizbullah and Minister Rishard Bathiudeen. more..

Jun 10 (Island) Sri Lanka Tourism is currently going through a major crisis as a result of the devastation of the Easter 2019 terrorist attacks. Occupancies are at rock bottom levels and staffs are being laid off, and some hotels are partially closed down. However, in this environment of doom and gloom, a proper crisis management plan has to be implemented to tide over the rough times being experienced. In addition, there are also opportunities to be availed of. more..

Jun 9 (CB) Sri Lanka pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep has been ruled out of the Bangladesh match on Tuesday after dislocating the little finger on his bowling hand. The 32-year-old is likely to regain fitness in a week's time, according to ICC. Pradeep injured himself in the nets while bowling to Kusal Perera. The bowler put his right hand up to protect his face from a straight shot hit back at him and injured himself in the process. more..

Jun 9 (ST) Congratulations is due to the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) President on his election as a co-opted member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). An enviable achievement this, even if it is for representing South Asia Football Federation (SAFF), rather than the FFSL. A back room entry is as good as the front door, when it comes to such privileged sanctums, even while SL languishes at the bottom of FIFA rankings. Without sounding peevish, SL Football fans can more..

Jun 9 (ST) State-owned Lanka Sathosa Ltd (LSL)�s retail store network of 403 outlets currently running at a loss is set to be revamped with the introduction of a new sophisticated system, a Finance Ministry report revealed. The new sophisticated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system has been devised to increase the asset base in the company covering the entire outlets, warehouses and the Lanka Sathosa Head Office. Under this initiative the LSL will strengthen the marketing arm more..

Jun 10 (FT) Govt has issued fresh legislation amending VAT for tourism-related industries to 7% instead of 5% to avoid restrictions on input credit claims after worried industry stakeholders lobbied the Finance Ministry over the changes. Finance Ministry has issued a fresh gazette effective from 1 June to revise the VAT percentage charged on services rendered by a hotel, guest house, restaurant or other similar business providing more..

Jun 10 (CI) There was a masterclass in batting at The Oval. Shikhar Dhawan overcame a weakness to score 117. Steven Smith showed none as he made 69. Hardik Pandya was pure unfettered power. David Warner fought demons. And Virat Kohli, as always, was method over madness. That the Oval pitch offered nothing to the bowlers dulled the contest a little bit, but India showed immense awareness with the way they paced their innings and for that alone they deserved victory. more..