Feb 5 (FT) Govt has decided to appoint a committee to look into the feasibility of digitising SL�s television broadcasting technology to meet international standards. The committee will look into fast-tracking implementation of the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB-2) technology, which Japan is currently using for its television and radio networks. Minister Bandula Gunawardana and the Japanese delegation recently held discussions to implement the ISDB-2 broadcasting technology in SL. more..

Feb 5 (IANS) Union Cabinet has granted ex-post facto dispensation to Alliance Air, a 100% subsidiary of Air India, to fly on international sectors between India and Sri Lanka. A special dispensation is allowed for the interim period till Alliance Air deploys minimum of 20 aircraft or 20% of total capacity, whichever is higher for domestic operations, a govt statement after the Cabinet meeting said. The ongoing strategic disinvestment of Air India does not include sale of Alliance Air. more..

Feb 5 (EN) Committee on Public Finance of Parliament has deferred the approval of finance bills aimed at slashing value added tax and changing tobacco taxes, its chairman M A Sumanthiran said. Public Finance Committee has asked for the economic justification for slashing value added tax from 15 to 8% when it met on Apr 5. The cabinet had approved the tax cut, and the Department of Inland Revenue is implementing the tax cut, without more..

Feb 5 (AD) Saman Rathnapriya has been sworn in as a Member of the Parliament of the United National Party (UNP) a short while ago. Rathnapriya�s name was Gazetted to fill the vacant National List MP seat of the UNP on January 27. A UNP parliamentary seat was left vacant with the resignation of UNP National List MP Jayampathy Wickramaratne. Accordingly, Saman Rathnapriya was sworn in before Speaker Karu Jayasuriya as of UNP National List parliamentarian today (05). more..

Feb 5 (AD) Court of Appeal rejected a petition filed by former Magistrate Thilina Gamage seeking an order to replace Justice Judge Gihan Kulatunga from the trial on keeping an elephant calf without valid a license with a new judge. The decision was passed by Appeal Court Justices Mahinda Samayawardena and Priyantha Fernando, today. The petition filed by former Magistrate Thilina Gamage pointed out that a case filed against him by the AG for keeping an elephant calf without more..

Feb 5 (DM) While introducing a fast ticket issuing system for tourists and the local community, Wildlife Conservation Department launched an online E-Ticketing system for Yala National Park. E-Ticketing system was launched by the Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena at the Ministry premises today. He said as advised by Prez, the latest technology should be used to facilitate the general public and this was the day that more..

Feb 5 (DM) A 19-year-old youth was arrested with US$ 70,600, which is equivalent to LKR 12,827,977, at an Army checkpoint at Tharapuram, Mannar yesterday. The suspect was arrested by the Police and the Army when they stopped his motorcycle following a tip off received to the army. The officers recovered 706 notes of USD 100 bills under the seat of the motorcycle. Police said the suspect was arrested as he failed to describe how the foreign currency came into his possession. more..

Feb 5 (DM) The govt is exploring avenues to narrow the gap between tea auction prices and FOB prices for the benefit of planters amid persistent low tea prices at the Colombo Tea Auction and rising cost of production. �Although, exporters claim that market forces are responsible for auction prices, as per our understating, that is not the case. They are making good money out of these transactions. For example, the current tea auction price of high-grown is around Rs.540, but the FOB price is always more..

Feb 5 (EN) Is bringing some discipline to the tuk-tuks and making them charge uniform rates even possible and therefore should they be regulated? Clearly some regulation is called for. In the Western province most tuk-tuks have meters, although the flagfall charge, that�s the charge for the first kilometer, may differ. Tuk-tuks running for Ride Hailing companies are possibly the cheapest. But in metros like Jaffna, Kandy and Galle, more..

Feb 5 (Island) A 36-year-old man died on Sunday after drinking juice made out of the leaves of a tree, believed to have medicinal properties. Inquirer into sudden deaths, G.P.R Rajapakshe conducted the inquest at Gampaha Teaching Hospital yesterday. Mother of the victim, giving evidence, said: "My son, who was separated from his wife, used to drink a lot of juice to stay healthy. He had seen on Facebook that the juice of the leaves of Gaja Madara trees was good for nervous system. more..

Feb 5 (DM) The National Transport Commission (NTC) would introduce another set of classical audio songs and high-quality music video CDs and DVDs to play in buses within the next two months, NTC Director-General commander (Rtd) Mr Nilan Miranda said. "We cannot take legal action against bus operators for not playing the videos and audios given by the NTC. But this can be considered as a condition, during the renewal of the route permit," NTC Director-General said. more..

Feb 5 (ET) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa visit from Feb 7-11 will seek to revive India-SL-Maldives NSA level dialogue and trilateral maritime security coop in Indian Ocean Region amid growing Chinese interests. A pact to establish air link could also be established between Sanchi in MP and Sri Lanka for Buddhist pilgrims from the island nation, officials told ET. Meanwhile keeping an eye on neighbourhood India is also expected to host Prez of more..

Feb 6 (CT) Switzerland must deny accreditation to the Ambassador designate for Sri Lanka, C.A. Chandraprema, because of his membership during the late eighties of a death squad responsible for the murders of hundreds of people, including human rights lawyers, journalists, university students and school children. C. A Chandraprema was known as Thadi Priyantha at the time and was a key member of the People�s Revolutionary Red Army or PRRA, one of many shadowy armed groups more..

Feb 6 (CT) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa (PGR) coined the phrase prosperity with splendor and promulgated it as the chief objective of his presidency. It is a tacit acceptance that seventy-two years of independence had neither brought prosperity nor splendour. Why did a nation endowed with so much natural resources & human talent, gained its independence on a platter without shedding a drop of blood but with ample foreign reserves, inherited a highly efficient civil service & public administration, more..

Feb 6 (Roar) SL celebrated 72 years of independence from the British with performances and parades at the Independence Square in Colombo. Although Independence Day celebrations have become a show of military strength, independence for Ceylon was a negotiated settlement that was the cumulative end to many events and movements throughout the period SL was colonised by Portuguese, Dutch & British. more..

Feb 6 (SO) A few years ago, while presenting the popular radio show Subharathi, Indika Jayaratne made a wry observation: sivil samaajaya janasathu kala yuthui. Civil society ought to be nationalized, he believed. In other words, according to him, there�s a disconnect between civil society and nation. They are not synonyms of course, but those who would go on as though they and they alone represent civil society certainly presume they do and moreover might even believe that others agree. more..

Feb 6 (Island) Since cholera was never endemic to SL, it was essential to prevent those stricken with the disease from entering the island. Initially, however, the measures taken were almost totally ineffective. A feeble form of quarantine existed at Mannar, the entry point for immigrant labourers, that proved virtually useless. According to the Cholera Commission: "The coolies are examined on arrival and departure, and ships with any sickness on board are obliged to hoist a yellow flag and more..

Feb 6 (SO) State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the UNP will be further split and no solution could be found for their crisis, despite whatever alliance is formed. The State Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said that the UNP has realized that they are not in a position to form a Govt in view of the internal tug-of-war between its different ranks. State Minister said according to the prevailing situation, more..

Feb 6 (CT) SL politics, in the orbit of the last five decades, whatsoever, is yelled by power-greedy hypocrites, cannot be spoken about and analysed upon in the void of four personalities. They are four Rajapaksas, to be more precise, Mahinda, Chamal, Gotabaya and Basil. After the 1970s, had there been any transformation in the domain of the politics of this land, any transcendence in the realm of its governance, any growth in the processes of its positive revolutions, any supremacy more..

Feb 6 (CT) In her post-South Asia visit Media briefing in Washington, D.C., US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells referred to Sri Lanka as a piece of real estate in the Indian Ocean. The question is if Sri Lanka is just a piece of real estate for barter or sale, or is there more to the Nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity than the rest of the world might premise and presume. "Sri Lanka occupies some very important real estate in the Indo-Pacific region, and it's a country of more..

Feb 6 (DN) The University of Peradeniya is heir to a 75-year-old university tradition which commenced with the inception of the University of Ceylon, the first institution of its kind established in Colombo on July 1, 1942. It moved to the banks of Mahaweli River, the longest in the country, in 1952. The University is located in Peradeniya in the Central Province, which bares lush greenery, vegetation, and mist-clad mountains, approximately 6 km from the city of Kandy, more..

Feb 6 (EN) SL�s credit from the banking system to the central govt and state enterprises had surged in December, while private credit had also spiked, taking total credit to level seen during the last currency crises. Private credit had grown 57.9 billion rupees in December, up from 47.1 billion rupees, just as the govt slashed taxes in a bid to stimulate the economy. Private credit has been positive since Aug 2019. Total in December went up to 5,811 billion rupees up 4.4% from a year earlier. more..

Feb 6 (ST) Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) President, Rohan de Silva is confident that Dinuka Karunaratne will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games which begins on July 24. �The main target of SLB is to qualify players for the Tokyo Olympics. He (Dinuka) is one of our best hopes and main contenders to qualify from badminton for the Tokyo Games. None of our girls have a chance of qualifying,� said the SLB chief. more..

Feb 6 (Island) China is battling the coronavirus outbreak with might and main. It is sure to succeed in its endeavour. Global concerns about the situation there are understandable, and everything possible must be done to contain the highly contagious virus, which has caused millions of people to be placed under lockdown in several Chinese cities. Some international media outfits have drawn flak for using the coronavirus spread to stoke a wave of anti-Chinese sentiments across the globe more..

Feb 6 (Island) Sri Lanka has just secured a low profile series win against Zimbabwe, with a playing XI sans Kusal Perera (KJP), who played the greatest 4th innings ever to be played by a Lankan. Some may even argue it was the greatest 4th innings performance ever, including a former national cricketer from yesteryear from a famous cricketing family. The new head coach Mickey Arthur had a marvelous answer when explaining KJP�s exclusion from the tour to Zimbabwe. more..

Feb 6 (DN) Former SL captain Kumar Sangakkara became the first-ever sportsman to be honoured and felicitated at Kamban Vizha (a prestigious Tamil cultural festival) for his exceptional and exemplary service and for doing his country proud. Star southpaw Sangakkara, awarded the K. Vijayapalan memorial award, joined an elite and exclusive list of award winners and honourees, including Indian musical maestro S.P. more..

Feb 6 (CT) Corruption allegations were raised in Parliament today over the Central Expressway project. Minister Johnston Fernando told Parliament that sections of the project were offered to contractors at a higher price than earlier offered. Fernando said that a contract offered as part of the project by Mahinda Rajapaksa govt for Rs 2.5 billion was cancelled by the former Govt, and offered at Rs 3.5 billion. He said that investigations must be launched on why the contract was offered at more..

Feb 6 (Island) Nestl� Lanka has committed to making 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. Its vision is that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter. Striving for a cleaner and greener nation, the Good Food Good Life company has launched a number of green initiatives, under its Making My Sri Lanka More Sustainable campaign. "As a company deeply rooted in SL, we believe that it is our duty and responsibility to safeguard the planet by more..

Feb 6 (DN) With West Indies due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Feb 10 for an ODI and T20I series starting later this month, the question mark over the T20I captaincy will once again surface with present skipper Lasith Malinga under tremendous pressure from all quarters to retain his post. Malinga�s captaincy came into focus after Sri Lanka were drubbed 0-3 by India and suffering a similar thrashing at the hands of Australia. more..

Feb 6 (Island) Professionals� National Front (PNF), affiliated to the SLPP, handed over a set of proposals to PM Mahinda Rajapaksa on Feb 4, providing ideas from various economic sectors on how the govt could formulate a National Trade Policy in order to effectively gain from bilateral free trade agreements. These proposals were handed at an event held at the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) to raise awareness on the importance of a National Trade Policy. more..

Feb 6 (CT) With effect from 1 Feb, Hajar Alafifi assumed duties as Chairperson of Unilever Sri Lanka and joins the Unilever South Asia Leadership Team, taking the helm from her predecessor, Carl Cruz, who has been appointed MD of Unilever West Africa Multi Country Operations - Ghana & Nigeria. Hajar Alafifi arrived in Sri Lanka from London, where she last served as the Global Brand Vice President Household Cleaners and the Dishwash business, home to the brand Sunlight. more..

Feb 6 (FT) The SLFP said they would not budge on wanting their party to play an equal role to that of the SLPP in the proposed alliance to contest the upcoming General Election, saying the issue will be discussed as coalition talks progress in the future. In addition to this, a suitable role within the SL Nidahas Podujana Peramuna for SLFP Chairman and former Prez Maithripala Sirisena will also be discussed, more..

Feb 6 (FT) UDA former Chairman and Noritake Company Executive Consultant Nimal Perera has assumed duties as Chairman at Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC. The other Directors appointed by the Ministry of Finance are as follows: Ishan Dantanarayana, Priyantha Deniyaya, Priyantha Jayamaha, V. Kanagasabapathy, Dheeshana Ameresekera and M.K. Pradeep Kumara. Prior to his current position at Hotel Developers (Lanka), Perera has held several positions in more..

Feb 6 (EN) Parliament�s Committee on Public Finance has called for the observations of the Central Bank, on several forensic audits that shows alleged fraud in bond sales and investment made by the Employees Provident Fund. �The Committee on Public Finance decided to called for observation of the Central Bank (CBSL) regarding the Forensic Audit report on the issue on Treasury Bonds at the Committee meeting held today (5) at the Parliament Complex,� the assembly�s media office said. more..

Feb 6 (FT) The modality for the wage hike for plantation sector proposed to be effective from March is yet to be finalised, official and industry sources said yesterday. �The RPCs have submitted a proposal looking at a different model based on productivity and a share of revenue. We are now in the process of exploring how best we can work this out to be able to provide a Rs. 1,000 daily wage for the estate workers from 1 March,� more..

Feb 6 (Island) Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has implemented a successful program to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus from all ports including the Port of Colombo. This program is implemented under the guidance and supervision of Minister of Ports and Shipping Johnston Fernando, State Minister of Ports Development - Kanaka Herath, with the leadership and initiative of the chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) � General Daya Rathnayake, & with the supportive assistance more..

Feb 6 (Island) Parliament Library would allow MPs to access CDs, containing phone call recordings handed over by UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake, after obtaining party leaders� approval, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya told the House, yesterday. Ramanayake is under arrest pending investigations into his voice clips. Earlier UNP MP Hirunika Premachandra told the house that she had sought access to the recordings only to be told that they were not available to MPs. more..

Feb 6 (CT) Govt suspects the 3 Feb power cut to be a sabotage of power and have appointed a committee to investigate the matter. State Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said, though the CEB claimed the reason for the power cut was because they were not provided with enough fuel, the power station in Kerawalapitya has 1,500 tons of fuel in their storage facility. This was an act of sabotage intentionally created by the CEB to disrupt more..

Feb 6 (Island) Sri Lanka Cricket has taken steps to address the continuous poor performance of SL�s U-19 team at the Youth World Cups. Although, the country�s junior cricketers have done reasonably well in age group bilateral series, they have not reached the finals of the Youth World Cup in 20 years. The last time they reached the finals was in 2000 under the leadership of Malintha Gajanayake when Colombo hosted the event. SL lost a close final to India captained by Mohammad Kaif. more..