Jan 12 (TM) CEO and CFO of the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) have been interdicted for acting without due care and in negligence of their fiduciary roles. The decision has been taken by the Insurance Regulatory Commission of SL (IRCSL) with effect from 16 Dec 2019. A letter to this effect, has been issued by the IRCSL to the CEO of the NITF. This action has been taken based on the results of a special audit carried out by audit firm Ernst & Young on behalf of the IRCSL, more..

Jan 12 (CT) UNP MPs Ranjith Maddumabandara and Ravindra Samaraweera had reportedly told Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to leave the UNP without causing further damage as the Party was only able to be in power for just six years under Wickremesinghe's 26-year leadership. This happened at the UNP Parliamentary Group meeting on Thursday. Maddumabandara had said that the reason the UNP lost the last more..

Jan 12 (BBC) A record number of elephants - 361 - have died in Sri Lanka during 2019, environmental groups say. It is highest figure of elephant deaths to be reported since Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, conservationists said. Most were killed by people. There are an estimated 7,500 wild elephants in Sri Lanka. Killing them is illegal, but the animals often come into conflict with rural communities. Elephants are revered in Sri Lanka but some farmers view them as pests. more..

Jan 12 (HT) Senior SL leader and former chief minister of the island nation�s Tamil-majority North Eastern province, CV Wigneswaran, on Friday urged India to grant dual citizenship to the Lankan Tamil refugees living here since the late 1980s. The demand for dual citizenship for SL Tamil refugees living in several camps across Tamil Nadu and outside has gained momentum in the wake of the Citizenship (Amd) Act. And, there is unanimity on this across the political spectrum, more..

Jan 12 (ST) CJ Jayantha Jayasuriya and AG Dappula de Livera have recommended two separate persons to sit on a vacant Supreme Court seat amidst a judicial service inquiry into taped conversations between judges and an MP and a string of Commissions of Inquiry into alleged misdeeds of the former govt. Court of Appeal President Yasantha Kodagoda has been nominated by Chief Justice to fill the vacancy created more..

Jan 12 (AD) Award-winning actor and dramatist Jayalath Manoratne passed away early this morning following a brief illness. He was 71. Manoratne who was born on June 12, 1948, opened his outstanding career as an actor with the stage play Aspa Gudung in 1966 and followed it up with hundreds of others including Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra�s productions. In a career spanning more than five decades, his contributions to theatre in creations like Sinhabahu, Maname, Mahasara, more..

Jan 12 (ST) An Emirates Boeing 777 which was diverted to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) owing to bad weather hit a fox on landing and birds on take-off, aviation officials confirmed. MRIA no longer takes scheduled flights. It is used only for emergency purposes. On the day of the incident, Nov 18, there was bad weather at the Bandaranaike Int'l Airport (BIA). Emirates flight, EK652, arrived from Dubai via Male around 6.57pm. Upon landing it ran into a fox. more..

Jan 12 (ST) The UNP�s actor turned politician Ranjan Ramanayake shook Sri Lanka this week in what could be called the Colombo-gate tapes � some 127,000 recordings of telephone calls he made to CID top brass, members of the judiciary and even actresses over his sexual preferences. About 100 of the choicest tapes are known to be in the public domain through the social media, a source familiar with the case said. more..

Jan 13 (CT) Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera�s private bill in the parliament to remove altogether the MMDA, apparently to save under-aged Muslim girls from being married forcibly, and to modernise Muslim marriage and divorce, though looks progressive to the uninitiated, yet, should be viewed in the wider context of a sinister agenda by Buddhist supremacists to homogenise Sri Lanka�s rich cultural and religious heterogeneity. There is no argument against reforming and modernising more..

Jan 13 (CT) Uditha Devapriya provides an interesting political take On arresting Ranjan Ramanyake� in Friday�s Daily Mirror. It is a refreshing commentary on the arrest of the actor-politician and the politician-actor and his allegedly recorded revelations involving highly placed police and judicial officers. Refreshing, that is, in contrast to all the highfalutin legal commentaries that are doing the rounds. One only needs to say LOL � laugh out loud, in social media vocabulary. more..

Jan 13 (ST) The Colombo-gate recordings of some 127,000 telephone conversations by actor turned UNP parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake have gone viral. In a conversation with Mr Ramanayake, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Shani Abeysekera, then Director of the CID, tells how he met an overseas reporter from The New York Times (NYT). �The lady was tough and kept asking me whether I am saying the truth,� more..

Jan 13 (ST) Handwringing by Govt politicians over leaked tape recordings of phone conversations between prosecutors, judicial officers and a United National Party politician known more for his brawn than his brain, (this worthy�s cerebral power appears to be even less than commonly perceived), is hypocritical in the extreme. Even as they badly hide their grins, it is evident that the leaked tape recordings are a political blessing for Pohottuwa politicians as they launch an all-out attack on more..

Jan 13 (SO) And justice for all, is the title of a film released in 1979 about a lawyer, Arthur Kirkland (played by Al Pacino), who is forced to defend a guilty judge even as he defended other innocent clients. It�s an ironic title considering a script which brings to question received truths about the US justice system. Indeed, truths such as equality before the law, unwavering pursuit of the truth, judicial integrity, etc., are received elsewhere as well. Sri Lanka, for example. more..

Jan 13 (SO) The leaking of telephone conversations recorded by the publicity longing controversial actor cum UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake, seems to have opened up a can of worms. The recordings have exposed unethical behaviour behind closed doors by key personalities in the Judiciary, the police and the legislature shedding light on a shocking backstage drama where members of previous Rajapaksa govt more..

Jan 13 (SO) Those voice recordings, they were no rama lama ding dong. Everybody who is somebody knew all along that the principal author of those clips was a joker, with his biceps mostly lodged in his brain. But that�s the whole point. Jokers and buffoons took over matters that dealt with the administration of justice and law and order in this country in the five years of Yahapalana rule, and then this was no longer a rama lama ding dong doo-wap. The ramifications were deep going, more..

Jan 13 (Island) Iraq is in the same predicament as the proverbial grass under the feet of fighting elephants. It has become a battleground for two powerful nations. Having endangered the Iraqi military installations by assassinating a top Iranian military commander and provoking reprisals, the US boasts that it suffered no casualties in the recent missile attacks carried out by Iran. Thankfully, there are no signs of the conflict escalating to an unmanageable level�so far so good�but more..

Jan 13 (ST) Long-drawn dramatic search op done by a possibly 40-strong squad of policemen at UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake�s home last Saturday, seeming to search for something they couldn�t exactly put their finger on, and his subsequent arrest later that evening on the charge of possessing a firearm without a valid licence, no doubt, made compelling viewing to a nation slowly getting accustomed to seeing former regime�s high flyers swiftly brought to ground on habitual basis. more..

Jan 13 (Island) A recent front page article said that the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) had collected 1.6 million MT of Plastic waste in the year 2019 and the weekly collection of plastic trash was 238,000 of pieces. Its grandiose plan to clean 100 KM of the coastal areas with a view to collecting 20,000 kilos of plastic trash per week must have warmed the cockles of the hearts of many readers and the general public who are anxious to see a clean coastal belt right round the country. more..

Jan 13 (ST) The stock market recovered after a day-long crash, the Colombo auction didn�t react but was on alert while airlines are bracing for possible pressure on air fares if tensions in West Asia escalate to a full blown conflict between the US and Iran. Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) Chairman Dimuthu Tennakoon said that airlines operating to Sri Lanka have been called for a meeting tomorrow and they expect to have more..

Jan 13 (ST) National football coach Nizam Packeer Ali gets a chance to redeem himself after the debacle at the South Asian Games (SAG) when SL take part in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup to be held in Bangladesh from Jan 15 to 25. This will be the final assignment for Packeer Ali whose contract expires in March, according to Football Federation of SL (FFSL) officials. The former SL full back has been at odds with FFSL officials and local media after a mixed performance by the national team more..

Jan 13 (EN) Foreign investor holdings of Sri Lanka rupee bonds grew by about 1.5 billion rupees to 105.52 billion rupees on January 2020, up from 104.02 billion rupees a week earlier, official data show. Foreign investors have exited steadily since a rate cut in April 2018, and liquidity injections in August, coupled with a so-called one sided �DMC� rule under an IMF program. The one side DMC which tends to undermined the credibility of Sri Lanka�s dollar peg swiftly, more..

Jan 13 (DN) Lasith Malinga said Sunday he was ready to stand down as Sri Lanka's Twenty20 skipper after the team's humiliating 2-0 loss to India in their latest foreign tour. Returning from the series, the 36-year-old told reporters that Sri Lanka was just not good enough to make an impact in the 20- over game. He said SL bowlers weren't able to restrict opponents while the batsmen were incapable of putting up 170 more..

Jan 13 (Island) The seventh death anniversary of former SL wicketkeeper Guy De Alwis fell yesterday. Guy had so much to offer as an administrator when he was snatched away from us aged 52. A product of S. Thomas� College, Mount Lavinia, Guy broke into the national team at the age of 23. The mass exodus of players on the rebel tour to South Africa in 1982 opened up a place for him and he was one of the 7 debutants in Christchurch, NZ. He replaced Mahes Gunathilaka as the wicketkeeper. more..

Jan 13 (ST) While most other teams are already working out with their core groups of players for the World T20 tournament later this year, Sri Lanka is in a royal mess, yet to even identify who their own core group will be. The results in India weren�t unexpected but the manner in which Sri Lanka surrendered in the two matches played (the first was washed out) raises serious questions about team selection and captaincy. Captain Lasith Malinga may have the best cricketing brain in the team and more..

Jan 13 (ST) There were just two balls of the match remaining when paceman Shaminda Eranga banged in a short ball to Jimmy Anderson and it ballooned from his glove to Rangana Herath parked on the leg side, scripting a historic win in 2014. Sri Lanka won in a dramatic fashion, thereby registering their first series victory against England in their own den. This would not have happened if Test cricket was played over four-days, more..

Jan 13 (ST) SL�s apparel industry expects the fabric manufacturing plant, to be established in eastern Eravur, to commence construction in six months� time with the likelihood of attracting an investment of US$40 million towards the project. SL Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) Rehan Lakhany said that within about six months the plant would be ready for construction. He noted that since this has been part of the new President�s election manifesto the industry is convinced that the project more..

Jan 13 (DN) Unbeaten NCC and CCC recorded their 5th wins in the SLC Major T20 Inter Clubs Cricket tournament conducted by SLC yesterday. NCC beat Tamil Union C & AC by 6 wickets at MCG Katunayake and CCC beat Lankan CC by 1 wicket at SSC. Janith Silva�s 5 wickets haul steered Army CC to win over Chilaw Marians CC by 31 runs at Surrey ground. Irosh Samarasuriya of Nugegoda SC made unbeaten ton against Kandy Custom SC. Keahsn Wijerathne (Lankan CC) took 5 wts more..

Jan 13 (TM) The Govt has given the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) time till Wednesday to agree to renegotiate the cost of construction of the second terminal of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). This is following a deadlock of several years, in which JICA refused to budge from the original quotations submitted by two Japanese contractors, which were 46% & 96% higher than engineer�s estimate. more..

Jan 13 (EN) Sri Lanka has ended 2019 with US$ 7,638 million of forex reserves in Dec 2019 below initial targets, despite weak credit slowing imports, with monetary policy reversing from around July, official data showed. But the reserves were up from 6.9 billion recorded on Dec 2019. SL�s gross official reserves are made up of monetary reserves of the central bank, collected by pegging the currency to the US dollar and dollar balances of the Treasury raised or kept to repay foreign loans. more..

Jan 13 (ST) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is in negotiations with former Sri Lanka head coach Tom Moody to appoint him on a potential consultancy role. SL reached the 2007 World Cup finals, the first time since their victory in 1996 tournament under Moody. The board now wants to use his extensive experience to help raise the local standards. The former Australian international has responded positively for the offer and could start his first consultancy stint as early as mid-February. more..

Jan 13 (Island) UNP MP Mujibur Rahman, said Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s govt was in a far bigger crisis than the UNP though the media remained focused on the Opposition. He claimed that there were several influential factions within the govt trying to consolidate their positions in the run-up to the parliamentary polls expected in late April 2020. Referring to post-presidential poll role played by Viyath Maga, more..

Jan 13 (CT) Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, says the CEB needs to spend Rs 6.5 billion, to purchase emergency power, this year. He pointed out that due to various irregularities in the CEB since 2015, the Govt has to spend this amount. Minister further stated that although the demand for electricity has increased by 27%, it has been uncovered that only 2 per cent of the electricity demand is supplied. Meanwhile, the employees of CEB say that CEB had not incurred such a loss before 2015, more..

Jan 13 (AD) State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi will visit Sri Lanka next week to discuss matters related to bilateral ties, according to an official statement. He will arrive in Colombo on Tuesday (14) and meet President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and his counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena during his visit. This will be Wang�s first overseas visit for the year 2020. The visit is the highest level interaction so far after Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected Prez. more..

Jan 13 (TM) Despite Attorney General (AG) Dappula de Livera claiming that investigations had been instituted on the basis of the Central Bank Forensic Audit (FA) report, Neither the CID nor any other branch of the Police have been tasked with such an investigation. SP Jaliya Senaratne said that no orders had been given to carry out any investigation pertaining to the FA reports. �We have not received instructions to more..

Jan 13 (DM) Release of Army Officer Sunil Ratnayake and 34 officers attached to the State Intelligence from prison was a welcome move, UNP MP Ajith P Perera said. MP said that the decision of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a welcome move. �President pledged during the Presidential Election campaign that he would release all military personnel, who are detained would be released. �We are happy that he had fulfilled one pledge that he had made during the campaign,� he said. more..

Jan 13 (DM) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said that arrangements are underway to offer a key post to General Secretary of the JHU MP Champika Ranawaka in the near future in the UNP. He said so, at a public gathering held in Kosgama to thank people in the Avissawella electorate who supported him during last Prez Election. He also said that the doors are open for the educated and intelligent individuals such as Champika Ranawaka who thinks to adopt himself to the future world. more..

Jan 13 (AD) Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa says he has no issue with working together with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in building the country. UNP MP expressed these views addressing a public meeting held in Kesbewa, this afternoon (12). He says that he will go on a victorious journey by getting together everyone. He does not want to obtain titles by breaking apart the party, Premadasa added. more..

Jan 13 (EN) Sri Lanka�s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a commission to probe the sale of assets of ETI Finance Ltd, a troubled finance company to a consortium involving foreign investors. Control of ETI Finance, EAP Broadcasting Company, EAP Films and Theatres Ltd, Hotel Sapphire Ltd, Swarnamahal Jewelers Ltd were sold to Blue Summit Capital Management Private Ltd and Ben Holdings Private Ltd, to raise money to pay depositors, under central bank supervision. more..

Jan 13 (Island) The War Heroes for Motherland Organisation yesterday demanded that UNP MP Ranajan Ramanayake and former CID Director SSP Shani Abeyesekera be arrested immediately and booked for concealing facts related to the alleged crime of abducting and killing of web journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. Convenor of the organisation Major (Retired) and Attorney-at-Law Ajith Prasanna said that a leaked telephone conversation between Ramanayake & former CID Director showed more..