Jun 27 (Island) There is ample scope for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to develop bilateral business opportunities which needs to be exploited by manufacturers and service providers of both countries, Riaz Hamidullah, Bangladesh High Commissioner to SL said at the National Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. Trade between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2017 was around US$ 78 million with Sri Lanka exporting to the tune of around US$ 47.80 million worth of goods and importing more..

Jun 27 (PMD) President Maithripala Sirisena met with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Muslim countries holding the membership of the Organization of Islam Countries (OIC) to discuss about the current security situation in the country at Presidential Secretariat today (26). He thanked the envoys for the cooperation and assistance provided to Sri Lanka at this time of need and urged them to continue to provide economic assistance and more..

Jun 27 (PL) Cuba's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelino Medina, has highlighted SL's support to end the US blockade by welcoming the Head of State of that Ministry, Vasantha Senanayake. It is an honor to greet him in the context of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic ties, said Medina as he welcomed the visitor to the headquarters of the Cuban Foreign Ministry. High-ranking official recalled that SL was one of the first Asian countries to more..

Jun 27 (CT) MP Dullas Alahapperuma emphasised that the Party will take necessary action against MP Kumara Welgama for criticising Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the media. Alahapperuma said, that he strongly condemned the statement made by Welgama regarding Rajapaksa and added that political enemies can use those statements as powerful trump cards against Rajapaksa. �The UNP never said that Rajapaksa eloped in fear of war even though they continuously criticised him. more..

Jun 27 (Sputnik) Sri Lanka is mulling over the possibility to buy more Russianmade helicopters in addition to several aircraft of the Mi family the country has, SL Chief of the Defense Staff Adm. Ravindra Wijegunaratne said on the sidelines of the Army-2019 defense forum. "Helicopters are a requirement because we have them in the UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and Central African Republic. more..

Jun 27 (Island) Having reached back to back World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011, SL were on course for a third final in the last World Cup having finished the group stage on a high note. They were drawn with South Africa to play the quarter-final fixture at the Sydney Cricket ground. A batting unit powered by Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, T.M. Dilshan and Angelo Mathews coupled with bowling excellence of Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara made SL the favourites to win the contest. more..

Jun 27 (FT) A controversial circular that made it mandatory for women in the State sector to wear either the saree or osari to work will be amended to include appropriate attire that is decent and upholds the respectability of the public service. The draft circular got approval of Cabinet on Tuesday. The circular adds that in addition to the dress code stipulated for women workers in Ministries, Provincial Govt offices and departments, those whose are required to wear certain clothing more..

Jun 27 (DM) A former employee of the US Embassy today alleged that there were incidents of Sri Lankan women being harassed by some American diplomats at the US Embassy. He said this while re-tweeting a tweet by US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz which was about empowered women powering economies. She said she was happy to speak at the American Chamber of Commerce on women in the workplace. more..

Jun 27 (PSL) The National Drug Prevention Week from started on June 19 will continue until July 01. This was under the concept of President Sirisena with the objective of further strengthening the drug prevention program in Sri Lanka and rallying all Sri Lankans for the program. Policy and formulation and implementation of legislation under the drug prevention program are already being implemented island wide through three main themes: prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. more..

Jun 27 (Island) Close on the heels of hotels slashing room rates, SriLankan Airlines is expected to reduce ticket prices, in a bid to boost the tourism industry, which took a heavy blow due to the April 21st Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks on some churches and hotels. Sources said that PM at a meeting with stakeholders in the tourism and aviation sectors and treasury officials in Colombo on Monday, had requested SriLankan to consider offering air tickets at a lower price as a temporary measure. more..

Jun 27 (Island) Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) was told, that the Prez�s Office and the Defence Ministry functioning under Prez Sirisena had helped Colossus (Pvt) Ltd. a factory owned by Yusuf Ibrahim, the father of two the suicide bombers who carried out Sunday attacks, for manufacturing non-ferrous metal products such as pipes, profiles, and different types of sections out of copper, brass, and other copper alloys. more..

Jun 27 (TN) The Spencer Eye Hospital of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has received three more corneas donated from Sri Lanka for corneal transplant. KMC Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saifur Rehman received the corneas from the Lions Club on Wednesday. Lions Club Pakistan Chairman Abubakar Karim met the metropolitan commissioner at his office. Former council chairman Lions Arshad Islam, vice district governor south Lions Amin Rehman and more..

Jun 27 (FT) The Private Secretary of the Minister of Postal Services and Muslim Affairs Ministry has been asked to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks. Fahim M. Hashim who is also the brother of the Muslim Affairs Minister M.H.A. Haleem will appear before the Committee tomorrow to counter allegations made against him and the Minister by the Western Province former Governor Azath Salley. Salley recently accused more..

Jun 27 (EN) Central bank has made a 14.8 billion rupee loss on outstanding swaps which gave hedged the foreign exchange risks of banks in a quasi-fiscal activity, published accounts show. SL's soft-peg with the US dollar collapsed from around 152 to the US dollar to 182 to the US dollar during 2018 in the wake of two liquidity shocks generated by the central bank. In 2018 the central bank made a 137 billion rupee profit more..

Jun 27 (DM) Despite the Govt declaring train services as Essential Service, the Railway Trade Union (RTUA) Co-Convener Lal Ariyaratne said that they would continue their weekly trade union action from tomorrow midnight. The TU struck work midnight last Thursday for 48 hours. TUs said the weekly strike will continue until their demands are met by the Govt. A Special Gazette Notice would issue tonight declaring train service as essential service, by Minister Ashoke Abesinghe. more..

Jun 27 (FT) British High Commission said it was deeply concerned at the possible abandonment of the moratorium on the death penalty in SL. �We are deeply concerned at reports that Sri Lanka intends to abandon its long-standing moratorium on use of the death penalty. The UK opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle,� the statement released by the Foreign Officer said. SL voted in favour of a global moratorium on the use of the death penalty more..

Jun 27 (DM) It is reported that there was much consternation among the prisoners who were in the chapel ward no: 3 of the Welikada Prison last morning on being told that capital punishment was to be implemented again after 43 years. It was reported that the demeaner of many such prisoners had changed after hearing the bad news and that they were suffering from stress. Prison officials complained that most of the prisoners on more..

Jun 27 (DM) Mercifully, the 48-hour work stoppage by members of the Railway Trade Union Alliance (RTUA) from Thursday midnight was called off on Saturday night with normal train services resuming from Sunday morning. RTUA convener Lal Ariyaratne threatened to continue with the work stoppage every Friday until the authorities granted their demands, which included the rectification of salary anomalies. He said railway guards, engine drivers, controllers, station masters and more..

Jun 27 (DM) Many years ago Sri Lankans used to look down upon anything that was Chinese. Now China has established itself as a growing economy and SL can�t think of any other nation better than her to rope in when planning and developing its infrastructure. The result of such dealings is the SL market getting flooded with Chinese workers. The latest news that puts them under the spotlight is the Govt of SL trying to accommodate a request made by a Chinese envoy to import a Chinese more..

Jun 27 (DM) Former Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M Hizbullah drew much attention after the Easter Sunday attacks with several allegations made against him. Revelations of the National Thowheed Jama�ath (NTJ) operating from Kattankudy, the Arabization of Kattankudy during his tenure as Governor, and the planning and money that went into constructing the Batticaloa Campus have been openly criticised. more..

Jun 27 (DM) The CID was working towards releasing Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen who was alleged to have performed illegal sterilization, NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa said. He said there was no need of an institution called CID if it attempted to release the criminals, even when there were clear cut evidences to prove their culpability. �It seems that the CID is doing the same thing in the case of Shafi as it is doing for more..

Jun 27 (Island) President Maithripala Sirisena, yesterday, declared that he was strongly opposed to military agreements with the US. Addressing the media, Sirisena, emphasised that he wouldn�t accept those agreements, including the proposed Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). At the onset of the briefing, the second since Easter Sunday attacks, Prez discussed a range of vital issues, focusing on current political uncertainty. more..

Jun 27 (Island) Lawmaker and constitutional affairs expert Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne, PC, yesterday emphasised that all political parties represented in parliament and others, including the civil society had to intervene to restore the 19th Amendment to its original form. Acknowledging that two power centers had been created by 19th Amendment as alleged by President Maithripala Sirisena and more..

Jun 27 (DM) Industrial Development Board Director-General, P.L.U. Ratnamalala who testified before the PSC said copper was supplied to factories after looking into their capacity of melting copper and at a price decided by an expert committee. He said there was a written request by the President�s Public Relations Director to supply 500 metric tonnes of copper to the Wellampitiya factory more..

Jun 27 (DM) Secretary to the Industry and Commerce Ministry, K.D.N. Ranjith Asoka said he received a letter from Presidential Secretariat to release 500 tonnes of copper to Colossus Ltd in Wellampitiya. He said it was not influenced but a mere request. Testifying before the PSC, he refuted allegations that Sathosa vehicles were used for terrorist activities and slammed rumours of having secret rooms in the Sathosa building. more..

Jun 27 (AP) Military and police forces led by SL's former defense secretary, now a presidential hopeful, repeatedly tortured and raped political opponents, in some cases branding them with hot metal rods and lashing them with electrical cables, according to new allegations made Wednesday by 10 men and women in an American court. The claims against Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who along with his brother is a prominent figure more..

Jun 27 (CT) The Colombo Fort Magistrate yesterday (26), issued notice on the daughter of President Maithripala Sirisena, Chathurika Sirisena, as she had avoided appearing in Court on two occasions to give evidence. Notice was issued in connection with a case where a forged letter containing Chathurika Sirisena�s signature, had been submitted to obtain a loan from the Seylan Bank, was taken up for hearing yesterday. more..

Jun 27 (Island) Electricity Users' Association commenced a campaign to defeat Power & Energy Minister�s attempt to increase electricity tariff to recover a loss of Rs. 100 bn suffered by the CEB: Rs. It said seven-rupee electricity tariff increase per unit was in the pipeline. Association's Convener Sanjeewa Dhammika said that Power & Energy Minister had said the CEB had incurred a loss of Rs.100 bn. more..

Jun 27 (AD) he Colombo High Court has served indictments on the former DIG Anura Senanayake for concealing evidence on the murder of Sri Lankan rugby player Waseem Thajudeen, stated Ada Derana reporter. The indictments were served before the Colombo High Court Judge Vikum Kaluarachchi, today (27). The court then ordered the suspect to be released on bail conditions of 2 personal bails, each worth Rs 200,000. more..

Jun 27 (FT) Capital inadequacy, political interference, abuse of power, wasteful and unproductive expenditure, corrupt deals, circumventions of regulatory directions, unscrupulous lending operations, imposed IMF and WB conditions for reforms, and window-dressed balance sheets are some of the often-heard media speak about our banking sector. While some of the local non-State sector banks do not fall into this category, the State banks more..

Jun 27 (CT) Dr. D.B.T. Wijeratne, Assistant Representative of the FAO in Sri Lanka sounded a concerned plea at a seminar in Colombo recently calling for measures to improve the lot of children under five years of age in Sri Lanka who have been found to be worryingly undernourished and stunted in their growth. On two sides of the coin of child health he said there was undernourishment on the one hand and obesity on the other. So when we talk in terms of overall national child health more..

Jun 27 (EN) Sri Lanka�s plans to revive executions, which the island�s president maintains is needed to fight the illicit drugs trade, is incompatible with human dignity and will not help attract tourists and investors, Canada has said. �Canada is deeply concerned by reports that Sri Lanka is considering a reversal of its long-standing moratorium on the death penalty,� a statement by the High Commission of Canada to SL said. It came after Prez Sirisena, who advocates reviving hangings, more..

Jun 27 (AD) An Indian national has been arrested at the BIA with crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as Ice, worth over Rs 5 million. The suspect was arrested by customs officersat the arrival lounge of the airport after he had arrived in the country from Chennai at around 9 a.m. this morning. SL Customs said that the passenger, a businessman from TN, frequently flies to Sri Lanka and that he had been waiting at the arrival lounge in order to collect a luggage which had been misplaced. more..

Jun 27 (EN) European Union has joined other countries like Canada to oppose President Sirisena�s revival of the death penalty, saying it will send wrong signals to investors and violate commitments to the UN. �The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and a degrading punishment, and the EU unequivocally opposes its use in all circumstances and all cases," EU spokesperson said. While the SL authorities have cited more..

Jun 27 (EN) A South Korean investor making labels and hand tags in Sri Lanka is expanding its packaging manufacturing operations, the BOI said. The investment promotion agency said it has signed recently a supplementary agreement with J and D Venture (Pvt) Limited to expand their operations. The investors had initially invested in the island as Da-Sung Industrial (Pvt) Limited and Jin-Sung Industrial (Pvt) Limited in 1993. �They were pioneers of manufacturing woven labels in Sri Lanka. more..

Jun 27 (ST) CID today told court that no evidence was available to prove any allegation levelled against Kurunegala Hospital doctor Mohamed Shafi. Charges against the doctor included his alleged links to terrorism, illegal acquisition of assets, and the sterlisation of women while performing C-Section procedures. Meanwhile, the director of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital submitted a report before the Kurunegala Magistrate's court on complaints which had been filed against more..

Jun 27 (EN) Inadequate regulations prioritising renewable electricity generation and heavy losses in the state power utility raise the risks for private investments in SL�s energy sector, a new Asian Development Bank report said. Land acquisition for power projects is one of the biggest risks identified by investors, according to the report on public-private partnerships. �The absence of any policy or regulatory frameworks prioritizing more..

Jun 27 (AD) Bribery Commission has filed a case in the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar against former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and former Sathosa Chairman Nalin Fernando for causing loses amounting to Rs 53 million to the govt. The case was filed this morning with the second Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in Colombo. The former Sports Minister and Sathosa chairman are accused of causing millions of losses to the govt by importing Carrom boards & checkers boards more..

Jun 27 (AD) A married couple who had been issued arrest warrants from the court has been arrested at the BIA. They have been arrested by the Immigration and Emigration Bureau and have been handed over to the Gampaha Police station. Accordingly, the 63-year-old Osman Gunasekara and his 53-year-old wife have been arrested upon their arrival at the BIA from Australia. Reportedly, the couple has been issued warrants by the Gampaha Magistrate�s Court over more..