Nov 5 (FT) The third Annual Youth Cyber Security Summit, as an extension of the seventh Annual Cyber Security Summit organised by CICRA Consultancies and the Daily FT in September, attracted the attendance of over 350 schoolchildren. All of these students were sponsored to attend the event by cooperate entities that believe in protecting the next generation through education and awareness. more..

Nov 5 (Island) Since Sri Lanka�s entry into the GSP+ scheme in mid-May 2017, the apparel industry had been the biggest beneficiary of the trade facility accounting for 60 per cent of the country�s US$3 billion exports to the EU, the European Union (EU) said. Explaining the benefits of this scheme, EU said the GSP+ incentives had galvanized SL into moving ahead with producing higher quality sustainable products, more..

Nov 5 (AD) President�s Counsel Ali Sabry says that the manifesto of NDF Prez Candidate Sajith Premadasa contains ideas from the interim report complied with inputs from the TNA. Sabry said that there are grave and serious issues in the manifesto of Sajith Premadasa. He points out that that the interim report of the Steering Committee on the Constitution submitted to the parliament was made by PM & TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran. more..

Nov 5 (AD) The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) today called upon the govt not to proceed with the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and urged the President to inform the MCC and the US govt that it will be rescinded with immediate effect. Issuing a statement, the BASL says it has been reliably informed that the Finance Ministry is in the process of making arrangements to sign MCC today. more..

Nov 5 (ST) Adrive through the roads and by lanes of three provinces � Northern, North Central and North Western � tells the same story. There are no visible sights and sounds of a presidential election. Posters, cutouts and banners are nowhere. The few exceptions are the decorated venues of political meetings. Other than that, life is as normal as it could be, but with a damper. That is the incessant rain that has flooded paddy more..

Nov 5 (TM) Former Prez Chandrika Kumaratunga said the agreement between the SLFP and the SLPP marks the end of SLFP. Bandaranaike expressed these views in a letter addressed to SLFP Chairman Prez Sirisena yesterday. She further claimed that according to the constitution of the SLFP, the decision to support the SLPP was not taken through the convening of the party�s central committee meeting. more..

Nov 5 (RN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe says Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s proposal to eliminate the Z-score will jeopardize the future of many university aspirants. Wickremesinghe said Gotabaya will earn his nick-name as Terminator as this could spell the end of free Higher Education. The elimination of the Z-score to be replaced by a system guided by the schools is a promise enshrined in Gotabaya�s manifesto. more..

Nov 5 (Island) SLPP Chairman Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday said NDF prez candidate Sajith Premadasa owed an explanation as to whether he accepted the five-party Tamil political grouping�s demand for the abolition of the country�s unitary status, the re-merger of the Eastern Province with the Northern Province, an exclusive foreign accountability mechanism and the dismantling of Sinhala settlements such as Weli Oya, more..

Nov 5 (CT) The MCC proposal was mooted way back in 2001. It's been taking all of 19 long years for PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to finally, (hopefully?), add last week that, despite deep doubts from President Maithripala Sirisena, the go ahead has been given by the Cabinet for the MCC to be signed. Nineteen years of one Govt taking over from another, the blather and bother, the (let's face it!) cursing and the allegations, the ungodly rows in the Parliament where vermin enter through vote more..

Nov 5 (FT) Many of us were hoping for a new dawn in 2015. The hope for a Yahapalanaya Govt now leaves ashes in the mouth of many people. It is true they brought us back our freedom and strengthened independent institutions but they failed fundamentally in convincing people that democracy and freedom should be the pillars of our social fabric. Dysfunction at the top, alleged corruption, bureaucratic performance and resulting chaos has made people clamour for strongmen and more..

Nov 5 (AD) A delegation from the Association of Belgian Travel Organizers (ABTO) arrived in Sri Lanka on the 27th of Oct, following the invitation of Minister John Amaratunga, in support of Sri Lanka Tourism recovery efforts. Upon their arrival they were given a warm welcome amidst a distinguished gathering, and also had the opportunity of witnessing a cultural performance. The delegation consisted of 6 members headed by the President of Board of ABTO, Luc Coussement (TUI), more..

Nov 5 (BBC) Two Sri Lankans were among 33 people injured after a bus travelling from Paris to London overturned in northern France. Four people were seriously injured and 29 others wounded when the FlixBus coach toppled at an exit near Amiens on the A1 motorway on Sunday morning. Northern Ireland couple Jamie Kerr and Gemma Given, both 20, were treated in hospital for head and hand injuries. Eight other Britons were on board, alongside passengers from nine nations. more..

Nov 5 (RN) Election watchdog the Center for Monitoring Election Violence is investigating claims by residents of Colombo that local officials have crossed their names off electoral lists effectively denying them the vote at the upcoming Prez and Parliamentary elections. RepublicNext first published the complaints made by Shewantha and Savithri Rodrigo who took to Social Media last week to air this issue. more..

Nov 5 (EN) International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank Group, said it will be funding a US$ 478,149 advisory project to increase female participation and leadership in retail supply chains. The program, named WomenRetailerDev, will provide training to 357 distributor operation owners and contributors, and 4,500 retail owners and employees selling fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). The training, which will run up to May 2022, will focus on business & financial more..

Nov 5 (DM) The Election Commission said it had received 2, 867 complaints on election law violations and election-related violence from October 8 to November 4. It said 24 complaints were made to the National Election Complaint Management and the District Election Complaint Management Centres while 2,748 were made to the respective centres. The EC said 97 complaints on election law violations were received during the 24 hours beginning from 4.00 p.m. yesterday. more..

Nov 5 (DN) The total quantity of heroin detected so far this year amounts to over 1.6 metric tons and 35,702 suspects have been arrested in this connection, Police revealed. Police Media Spokesman SSP Ruwan Gunasekara also disclosed that the authorities were preparing to seize the assets of 24 big-time drug dealers identified as king-pins in the multi-billion dollar drug smuggling and retailing underworld. more..

Nov 5 (AD) Delivering the ballot papers printed for the Presidential Election 2019 to the Election Commission will be concluded within the course of the day (05), says the Department of Government Printing. Government Printer Gangani Kalpana Liyanage said the ballot paper printing process came to an end last Saturday. The Printing Department commenced delivering the printed stocks of ballot papers to the Election Commission yesterday (04) under tight security. more..

Nov 5 (DM) Opposition today challenged prez candidate Sajith Premadasa to reveal his stance on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement. MP Dr. Bandula Gunawardana said the MCC would be destructive similar to the Kandyan Convention of 1815 which ceded the country to the British. �Why all this hurry and secrecy over an agreement which will only grant USD480 million? We challenge prez candidate Sajith Premadasa, who is a part of this govt, to reveal more..

Nov 5 (AD) UPFA MP Kumara Welgama says that they cannot tell the people to vote for any specific candidate because the SLFP is not fielding a candidate for this prez election, but urged supporters not to vote for anyone who are destroying the party. Addressing a special conference held by the Organisation to Protect the SLFP at the Sugthadasa Stadium today, the former minister also responded to the statement more..

Nov 5 (CT) Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), including loans to projects approved by the Board of Investment (BOI), decreased by 61.3% to US$ 553.2 million during the first half of 2019 compared to $1,427.9 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2018, Central Bank said. The contraction in FDI inflows, during the reference period, was mainly caused by a reduction in FDI inflows to infrastructure projects and services sectors, which recorded drops of 75.8% and 11.1% respectively, it said. more..

Nov 5 (AD) UNP Puttalam District MP Shantha Abeysekara has been further remanded until November 15 by the Chilaw High Court for violating bail conditions. Chilaw High Court Judge M.I. Fernando issued this court order when the parliamentarian was produced at the court today (05). Parliamentarian was remanded for a second time over violating bail conditions pertaining to a case filed against him over an incident in 2004. The MP is one of the suspects of a case more..

Nov 5 (DM) The JVP today urged the govt not to sign the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement in haste before the prez election as planned and stressed the need to sign such agreements after a proper dialogue and in a transparent manner. JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake told a news conference that even though the govt was claiming that Sri Lanka would receive a grant of US$ 480 million through the MCC agreement, more..

Nov 5 (EN) The Kingsbury hotel, damaged in the Easter Sunday bombings, said it is revamping restaurants which will be reopened in time for the tourism revival expected in the forthcoming main winter season. The hotel, part of the Hayleys Group, has signed an agreement for the refurbishment with the BOI, the investment promotion agency which gives tax breaks. The Kingsbury had incurred 93 million rupees in damages from the terror attack, in which 3 hotels and 3 churches were bombed, more..

Nov 5 (AD) Minister P. Harrison says the LP gas companies have assured to supply domestic gas without interruption starting from this week. He cited the increased demand in domestic gas as the reduces seen in prices, Saudi Aramco Drone attack and the adverse weather conditions causing impediments to shipping processes as the reasons for the LP gas shortage that lasted across the country for past few days. He said that a shipload of domestic gas is already on its way more..

Nov 5 (AD) Former Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Vigneswaran says it is significant to note that the Sinhala Candidates from the main political alliances from the South were not prepared to discuss the 13-point requests of the five Tamil parties with them. Instead they have come forward to release their respective Election Manifestos only, he said responding to a question from Tamil journalists. more..

Nov 5 (CT) For the first time in the history of SL's Parliament, its workforce is planning to stage a token strike. A representative of the Parliament staff said, this token strike will be launched shortly seeking solutions to nine demands. He added that despite having notified the relevant officials in Parliament, in writing regarding issues faced by them, those officers had failed to address the problems faced by them for over one-year, which had prompted them to initiate a 24-hr strike. more..

Nov 5 (DM) Ven. Ududumbara Kashyapa Thera has commenced a protest fast urging the govt not to sign the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Agreement with the United States. The protest fast is staged at the Independence Square in Colombo. The MCC Agreement that is to be signed between the govt of SL and US became widespread speculation as the Prez Election 2019 is drawing closer and objections from various parties were raised against the signing of the agreement. more..

Nov 5 (EN) Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said that according to their estimation the total spending by all candidates for the prez campaign could reach Rs 10 billion by election day. This was revealed at a press conference today, for the first time in Sri Lanka estimates of campaign finance were by a polls watchdog. CMEV said they have been monitoring advertising spending by the main candidates between Oct 14 and 31st more..

Nov 5 (ST) Police have sought public assistance to locate a Maldivian national over an incident involving the vandalisation of Buddhist statues in Mawanella last year. Police Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said that the suspect is believed to have maintained close links with the main suspect accused of involvement in the incident. He is believed to be between the ages of 30 and 35. Public have been requested to contact the following numbers to provide information on any whereabouts of more..

Nov 5 (EN) High-cost oil-based power generation rose sharply in Sri Lanka in the first seven months of 2019 from a year ago, accounting for the highest share of energy supply as drought reduced hydro-power capacity, central bank said. Total electricity generation, excluding rooftop solar power, increased by 5.2% to 9,271.4 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the first seven months of 2019 from 8,809.8 GWh in the same 2018 period. �Amidst dry weather conditions experienced in the first half of 2019, more..

Nov 5 (AD) Prez front-runner of SLPP Gotabaya Rajapaksa says he would not allow the importation of eggs and poultry products under his administration. Rajapaksa made this remark while addressing a rally at Hettipola area, which was held as a part of his election campaign last evening. The rally took place with the auspices of Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and SLPP�s prez hopeful Gotabaya Rajapaksa. more..

Nov 6 (CT) Polling started at midnight. The first vote was cast by the President at the polling station next to his ancestral home in the newly consecrated capital city of our great motherland. Prez arrived at the polling station at the auspicious time of 11.11 pm. On his arrival, he was greeted by the members of the National Election Commission, National Astrological Commission, National Collective of Professionals in Divine Arts, the commanders of the tri-forces and inspector-general of the police. more..

Nov 6 (DN) SL Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Initiative (SLDC) is a 3-year national-level project (started in Oct 2016) led by the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and funded by the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF). World Diabetes Foundation was established by Novo Nordisk in 2002 as an independent and non- profit trust dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diabetes in developing countries. The foundation supports sustainable partnerships and more..

Nov 6 (ST) Time was when the sailor, longing for a glimpse of Ceylon�s shoreline, would holler a relieved Land Ahoy as soon as he glimpsed a shadow of a mountain � rising far away in the central uplands- a holy beacon venerated by all religions- Adam�s Peak. Today, the metropolitan skyline (and all its vapours) have mostly blocked out that solitary peak afloat in mist. The Buddhist beacon that has taken its place- more..

Nov 6 (Island) SL�s entire system of education, at pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, has been facing multiple crises. Attempts made in the recent past to address some aspects of these crises have either succeeded only partially, or failed altogether. The persistence of these multiple crises has also generated new interest in educational reforms among prez candidates in the 2019 Prez Campaign. It is reported that the main prez candidates have assigned the responsibility more..

Nov 6 (DN) Recently I attended a function at the Shangri-La hotel where a very important person (VIP) was the chief guest. Prior to getting there, I was unaware of the VIP�s expected participation, the function was promoted as a musical event. However, from the unusual security arrangements around the hotel I realized that the presence of an important person was anticipated. The hotel premises were teeming with security personnel, some in military uniform, others in western attire or more..

Nov 6 (SO) From the densely populated high-rise apartments and conglomerates to the tin-sheet and cardboard covered huts beside the railway-lines to the farmer who hoes his paddy field using a bull; the multi ethnic, multicultural Western Province was toured by the Sunday Observer team to meet voters for their views on the Prez election. Diversity being its main characteristic, the Western Province�s issues are as diverse as more..

Nov 6 (SO) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa made an interesting statement this week. A victory for Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the prez election will be considered as a mandate for a general election soon after, he told a gathering at the official launch of brother Gotabaya�s manifesto. These comments, coming on the first anniversary of the infamous failed constitutional coup last year, are thought provoking. Coming from a politician who was twice elected as Prez of the country, more..

Nov 6 (Island) Former Prez Chandrika Bandaranaike (CBK) has embarked on what she calls a mission to save the SLFP, which her late father founded, and held a meeting in Colombo, to drum up support for her cause. She has, in a letter to Prez Sirisena inveighed against her bete noire, former Prez Rajapaska, of having ruined the SLFP. Mahinda has accused CBK of having brought the party to this sorry pass. Prez Sirisena tells us that he will thwart some sinister attempts being made in some more..