Jan 21 (AP) A German court convicted a SL man Monday of accessory to murder in the 2005 killing of SL's foreign minister for providing his assassins with crucial information. The regional court in Stuttgart concluded that the defendant, previously identified only as Navanithan G. in line with German privacy rules, had tipped off members of the Tamil Tigers separatist group about Lakshman Kathirkamar's whereabouts. more..

Jan 21 (FT) The Finance Ministry yesterday called on all Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) wishing to avail themselves of the Government�s moratorium to submit their applications to their relevant bank branches before the end of this month. The deadline for the applications is 31 January, the Finance Ministry said in a statement, pointing out that SMEs that had taken loans less than Rs. 300 million were eligible to have their loans restructured under this program. more..

Jan 21 (DN) Galle Chief Magistrate issued an injunction restricting the holding of a musical entertainment Sihinaya by Brother Charles Anthony Thomas scheduled to be held at the temple premises of Imaduwa Paragoda Rajmaha Viharaya in Ahangama, Galle. Manager of Abigail Production and two Buddhist monks namely Ven. Devalehinda Ajitha Thera and Ven. Paragoda Samitha Thera were cited in the injunction. Magistrate issued the above order in consideration of submissions more..

Jan 21 (AFP) A SL attempt to set a world record for the largest gathering of twins may have failed Monday after an unexpectedly large turnout overwhelmed organisers who vowed to try again. Organisers from the SL Twins group had called on multiples across the island to pack a sports stadium in Colombo to try to break Taiwan's Guinness World Record set in 1999 of 3,961 pairs of twins, 37 sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. more..

Jan 21 (PHC) Pakistan�s new High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Major General (Retd.) Muhammad Saad Khattak presented his credentials to President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President Office on January 20, 2020. During the audience with Sri Lankan President, High Commissioner conveyed best wishes of the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan to the President and people of Sri Lanka. He affirmed the desire to further strengthen fraternal ties between the two countries. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Sri Lanka Denis Chaibi visited the Northern Province from 15 to 17 Jan. Ambassador Chaibi launched an EU-funded demining project implemented by HALO Sri Lanka during a visit to the Muhamalai minefield on 17 Jan. EUR 2.5 million grant will support mine clearance in Muhamalai, SL�s densest and one of the largest and most complex minefields in the world, as well as training of mine clearance personnel. more..

Jan 21 (Island) Sri Lankans are now waking up to the political reality, says JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake. The 46-year-old MP said that two months after the formation of the current govt, the people have realised once again that they have been swayed by some promises and their aspirations will never be fulfilled. Ratnayake, explaining his assessment of the current political situation, said that the govt had let down the people who voted for it. more..

Jan 21 (CT) Prez Rajapaksa�s Viyathmaga member and Governor of Western Province Seetha Arambepola is in stark violation of the constitution of SL and continues profiting in her professional capacity. Seetha Arambepola is an ENT surgeon by profession and was appointed as Governor of Western Province from Dec 2019. However Governor Arambepola despite functioning as the Western Province Governor can still be consulted as an ENT surgeon every day at Golden Key more..

Jan 21 (ST) The telecom regulator has ordered all mobile service operators to include an opt-out or unsubscribe option free-of-charge so that users receiving unsolicited promotional messages can choose to stop receiving them. The decision covers unsolicited promotional messages that the mobile service providers themselves send or are conveyed by third parties, said Oshada Senanayake, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL). more..

Jan 21 (DN) Action will be taken concerning the controversial call recordings made by MP Ranjan Ramanayaka once the 10 investigation teams inquiring into the matter reveal their findings, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said. Addressing the heads of major TV and radio channels at Temple Trees yesterday, PM also expressed his confidence that the Chief Justice would take action against those judges more..

Jan 21 (DM) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa must be commended for his outspokenness in some cases compared to other leaders of the country including his brother and former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksas. Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his recent visit to India told an Indian Tamil journalist representing the Chennai based The Hindu on Nov 30 that he did not believe in devolution of power as a solution to the same issue. Prez echoed this sentiment back home as well during a meeting with newspaper more..

Jan 21 (DM) Sri Lanka has long been regarded as a model of a successful welfare state - yet it has for decades faced major challenges in providing employment and meeting the aspirations of youth. The World Bank, in one of its reports, quotes two reasons for youth unemployment in Sri Lanka. (1) Competing hypotheses of unemployment and (2) Inaccessibility of quality education and training. World Bank classifies the first reason into three categories: more..

Jan 21 (DM) Is Ranjan Ramanayake, a wad of bubble/chewing gum spit away by the leadership or an actor in a Hollywood Cow boy film of 1940s-50s, playing the role of a cattle herder on horseback on ranches in Texas and North America, who also performed a number of other tasks? Whatever he may be, Ranjan has exposed wrongdoers risking his own interests with alleged phone recordings one after another more..

Jan 21 (DN) The Govt will take urgent steps to develop and transform the dilapidated and neglected Pettah Floating Market, the World Market and the International Gem and Jewellery Trade Centre into a tourist paradise once again, Urban Development State Minister Gamini Lokuge said. He disclosed this during an inspection tour of the area on Friday. The State Minister was accompanied by Hambantota District MPs more..

Jan 21 (RN) A group of Muslim Girl students have complained that an Examinations Department official harassed them while they were sitting a public examination in Colombo on Sunday (19). The students say they were berated for wearing hijabs, a head covering which also covers their ears. The incident took place during the Efficiency Bar � 2 Exam for Development officers which was held at St. Paul�s Girls� School, more..

Jan 21 (DM) As a Buddhist country, Sri Lanka�s temples undoubtedly practise Metta (Loving Kindness) meditation and chant the Metta prayer, wishing all beings to be happy and most importantly free of suffering on a daily basis. But it is appalling to see the same places inflicting pain and allowing living beings to suffer while in captivity. Recently, footage of Myan Kumara, the elephant at the Bellanwila Temple being more..

Jan 21 (DM) The govt must immediately expose the high profits made by the plantation companies and inform the public that they could easily give their workers a daily basic salary of Rs. 1,000, the 1000 Movement, a collective of unions and civil society activists, said. Chinthaka Rajapakshe, Moderator of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) said that the Employers� Federation of Ceylon (EFC) more..

Jan 21 (EN) Sri Lanka will start recruiting unemployable graduates to the state service from March 1, though how many will be recruited this year has not been revealed. �We will start giving these jobs before March 1,� State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said. �It is the intention of the Prez and PM to give state jobs to unemployed graduates.� Critics say unemployed graduates represent a crisis in the tax-payer funded more..

Jan 21 (AD) The Colombo High Court has decided to hear the Attorney General�s revision application against granting bail to former Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, on the 5th of March. The former Minister was arrested late last month and remanded over the controversial white van press conference organized by him in November, but he continued to receive treatment at the hospital. more..

Jan 21 (AD) Sri Lanka completely rebuffs the claims that it exports plastic waste to Malaysia, says the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). Malaysia�s Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin on Monday said that 150 containers of plastic waste from 13 countries, namely Sri Lanka, France, the UK, US, Canada, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, China, Portugal, Bangladesh and Lithuania, have been rerouted. more..

Jan 21 (NI) he BBC Sinhala service has accepted the resignation of its Colombo based correspondent, Azzam Ameen following a controversial telephone conversation which was leaked out in the public between Ameen and UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake last week. Ameen had tendered his resignation to BBC with effect from the Jan 1, but it had not been accepted by the BBC Sinhala Service at the time. more..

Jan 21 (AD) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has said that the forensic audit report on the Central Bank bond scam will be tabled in the Parliament. Speaker announced this when the Parliament convened at 1.00 pm today (21). The forensic audit report on the CB bond scam was previously received by the Parliament and the Speaker has taken measures to abstain from releasing the aforesaid to MPs upon the instruction of the Attorney General. more..

Jan 21 (CT) Rooftop Security Scanners have come into play now that the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation Authority of SL late last week lifted the ban it imposed on Drones, implemented by it after the Easter Day terrorist carnage. We've shifted over from one Govt to another these nine months on farcical probe after probe into the attacks when it's all so devilishly clear that the people behind the attacks have always been well known to the Indians, US and Saudi authorities. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Higher education cannot be experienced, nor can it function in isolation from its relevant industries. We need to be aware of the country�s demand for resources and an effective workforce that will support industries to take the economy to the next level. Educators need to be responsive and relevant in the face of current demand so that economic expansion and development can take place. Given that, we cannot look at undergraduate or postgraduate more..

Jan 21 (AD) Colombo Chief Magistrate has ordered the Govt Analyst to analyze and submit a report of the local Swiss Embassy staffer, Garnia Bannister Francis�s personal phone. On the 30th of Dec last year, Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne released the embassy staffer on bail under two personal bail bonds of Rs 500,000 each. However, her foreign travels were banned and her passport was taken into the custody of the court. Francis was arrested on Dec 16 by the CID and more..

Jan 21 (EN) The dark-furred leopard that made headlines earlier this week is not of an extinct species as claimed by some but an otherwise ordinary leopard displaying a colour mutation, experts said. Images of a so called black panther that was captured by a trap camera in the central hills in October last year went viral online yesterday following an announcement of its discovery by the Dept of Wildlife (DWC). The animal is a melanistic colour variant of SL leopard more..

Jan 21 (Island) Nearly 500,000 accidents take place countrywide annually going by the insurance records, says Deputy Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law Ajith Rohana. Speaking at the Symposium and Stakeholder meeting under the theme Safe Sri Lanka: Road Safety Challenge 2020, on Saturday, DIG Rohana said that all those road accidents were preventable. He said that most of the accidents went more..

Jan 21 (AD) Bill to repeal the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act will be tabled in the Parliament today. The parliamentary session chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is scheduled to convene at 1 pm this afternoon. A proposal presented by MP Venerable Athuraliye Rathana Thera as a Private Member�s Bill will accordingly be tabled in Parliament. Ven. Rathana Thera said the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act must be repealed just as the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) more..

Jan 21 (Island) Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), said that the Education Minister had not appointed a single Tamil or Muslim to the Task Force on Education. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said: "Task Force is to formulate a national policy. So, there should be representation from all ethnic communities. Those from different mediums of instruction and geographical areas face different issues and we must have a good understanding of all these. That�s why it is vital to have at least more..

Jan 21 (DM) Stating that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya would resolve the UNP crisis within this week, UNP MP Mujibur Rahaman said that prominent members of the party should be prepared to make sacrifices to safeguard the party�s future. He said that Speaker Jayasuriya would resolve the issue this week through an arrangement which could be accepted by everyone including Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa. more..

Jan 21 (EN) Sri Lana�s Department of Inland Revenue has issued a notice saying a debt repayment levy, a new direct tax slapped on banks by the last administration need not be paid from January, potentially lifting their profits from next year. The debt repayment levy, like all direct taxes hits capital formation, investment and future jobs unlike indirect taxes like value added tax. The Inland Revenue Department has issued a notice ahead of parliamentary passage of the tax. more..

Jan 21 (AD) Interdicted Magistrate Dhammika Hemapala has left the CCD after recording a statement for over three hours. He had arrived at the CCD at around 2.30 p.m. to record a statement over his controversial video conversation with UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake. Earlier this month, a series of audio recordings of phone conversations between the MP and several high-profile officials in the country including former Director of CID Shani Abeysekara & justices, were leaked to media. more..

Jan 21 (EN) UNF MP Hirunika Premachandra has lodged a complaint with the CID over the recorded telephone conversations purportedly between her and MP Ranjan Ramanayake. Premachandra filed the complaint yesterday under provisions in the Computer Crimes Act No 24 of 2007 that pertain to information stored in a computer. Even as she is contesting their authenticity, more..

Jan 21 (AD) UNP MP Shantha Abeysekara, who was remanded for violating bail conditions on a case filed in 2004, has been granted bail by the Chilaw High Court after more than three months. The MP is one of the suspects of a case (16/07) filed before the Chilaw High Court over an incident of illegal possession of firearms while being a member of an illegal assembly in Chilaw in 2004. Abeysekara had been granted bail by the court on 31.03.2019 with regard to case while one of bail conditions more..

Jan 21 (EN) Central Bank said five forensic audits into the EPF and issuance of Treasury Bonds cost the taxpayer 275 million rupees. The CB in a statement said a cabinet appointed consultant procurement committee, with approval from the cabinet of ministers, selected audit firms with global practice and international experience in forensic audits. Five forensic audits have been completed at a cost of 275 million rupees, while the procurement for the remaining audit is ongoing, more..

Jan 21 (DM) MP Ranjan Ramanayake today tabled in Parliament several CDs containing audio clips of phone conversations he has had with many people including a few heads of State. He did so while stating in Parliament that he was tabling the CDs containing telephone conversations he has had with politicians of various political parties, prostitutes, artistes and even heads of State. However, MP said more..

Jan 21 (DM) The SLFP is suffering for what they did to the UNP during the coalition govt of 2015, UNP MP S.M. Marikkar said. He said that the SLFP was at the mercy of SLPP for what it did to the UNP during the coalition govt. �SLFP was given all good ministries. They employed their supporters in the institutions that came under their ministries while UNPers did not get a single employment opportunity in some state institutions. The SLFP is therefore suffering retribution today,� he said. more..

Jan 21 (DN) A Chinese company has expressed its willingness to implement an eco-friendly electric tram car project as a solution for the huge traffic congestion prevailing within the Colombo City and suburbs, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. According to the representatives of the Chinese company named China Railway Group Ltd, as the first phase of the project they are planning to construct a track above 14 feet along High Level road from Kottawa - Pettah to provide transport facilities using more..

Jan 21 (KT) Dubai public prosecution accused three Sri Lankans, aged between 28 and 34, of contempt of religion through posts on Instagram and Facebook. It referred them to trial pursuant to the anti-discriminatory and hatred law and the Federal Penal Code. Dubai Court of First Instance ordered that all the three accused be deported after paying the fines. The trio has been detained. The case dates back to May 19 last year. more..