Jul 23 (DM) The Police must not have any hesitation to arrest and produce to court those responsible for the alleged archaeological destruction at Kurunegala and the govt would not obstruct the law taking its course on the crime, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said. He said PM Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the Attorney General and the Police Chief to act according to the law. �PM Rajapaksa has given clear instructions to the Attorney General and the IGP to take legal action against more..

Jul 23 (AD) It was revealed at the PCoI probing the 2019 Easter Attacks that Army Mohideen arrested over the attacks may have had connections with the officials of the CID. Giving evidence before the Commission yesterday (23), an intelligence officer attached to the Eastern Province stated that he has doubts as to why Army Mohideen was not arrested by the CID when they had already been provided intelligence information. more..

Jul 23 (Island) Public Health Inspectors� (PHIs) Union says it is gearing up for a major trade union action with the support of 19 trade unions consisting of paramedics and other supplementary unions. "We are yet to reach a final decision but it seems that our demands will not be met by the Health Ministry. The majority of the 2,000 members of the PHI union are ready to fight for justice," Union�s President Upul Rohana said, adding that final decision on ongoing trade union action would be taken today. more..

Jul 23 (DM) The govt was considering resuming the Demerit Points System for driving licenses, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday. The demerit system was considered as a strategy to prevent accidents caused by negligent drivers. The system gives drivers a score of 0 to 24 in road accidents caused by negligence. The driver's license will be suspended after the score drops to 0 at the end. �Demerit Point System will encourage drivers to be responsible and careful,� Minister said. more..

Jul 23 (NR) Public Health Inspectors have decided to launch an island wide token strike tomorrow. Chairman of SL Public Health Inspectors Union Upul Rohana said the decision was reached when the Executive Committee convened today. The strike action is being launch in protest to sufficient powers not being vested with PHI through the gazette notification issued with the health guidelines pertaining to Gen. Election. more..

Jul 23 (AD) SL�s listed largest public-quoted mini hydropower company, Vallibel Power Erathna PLC, announced that it has entered into a Power Purchase Agreement with CEB on 07 July 2020, for the sale of electricity from their 9.9MW Erathna Hydropower plant. Signed Agreement is valid till 20 July 2024 and has the provision for extension up to 14 July 2039. Company reasoned that the delay in making the market disclosure was due to the delay in receiving the confirmation of signing more..

Jul 23 (Island) Sri Lanka is one of the nine countries approved by the govt of Russia for its citizens to visit with the diminishing of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country. This was revealed by Russia�s Ambassador to SL Yuri Materiy during a discussion with Director General of Civil Aviation, Captain Themiya Abeywickrema on Tuesday at the Civil Aviation Authority. Noting that the decision was taken by the Russian govt due to the optimal measures taken by Sri Lanka to control more..

Jul 23 (AD) The govt is planning to establish a faculty of medicine at the University of Moratuwa, says Minister Bandula Gunawardana. He said the academic activities of this medical faculty are expected to be inaugurated with immediate effect. A proposal has been presented to the recent meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, seeking the apporval to upgrade the General Hospital Nagoda-Kalutara and Homagama Base Hospital more..

Jul 23 (Island) Just over 140 incidents of rape, 42 cases of serious sexual abuse and 54 cases of child abuse were reported from various police divisions in the country in the first 15 days of 2020. The number sky rocketed to 5242 cases of child abuse and 1642 cases of sexual abuse of women to date, the Stop Child Cruelty Trust reveals. It said that by the end of 2017, there were over 17,000 cases of child abuse stalled at the Attorney General�s Department dating back as long as ten years. more..

Jul 23 (CT) UNP Assistant Leader Ravi Karunanayake said, he would urge the Leader of SJB Sajith Premadasa and its General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, to desist from further hoodwinking the public in the run-up to the 5 Aug General Election, as it has come to light from an audio recording of a top Govt official claiming that the SJB was no longer a recognised political party. He claimed that an official from Election Commission (EC) has alleged in an audio tape that more..

Jul 23 (AD) Registrar General says that National Birth Certificate introduced in 2019 has been designed to meet national and int'l standards with the most secure strategies and international standards while eliminating the shortcomings of the former birth certificate. The birth certificate is prepared in both languages while the section Are Parents Married? that is prejudicial to some children has been removed. more..

Jul 23 (AD) The writ petition filed by interdicted Negombo Prison Superintendent (SP) Anurudha Sampayo seeking an injunction n restraining him from being arrested by the CID has been set to be considered tomorrow. The petition was called before the Court of Appeal judge bench consisting of the President of the Appeal Court A.H.M.D. Nawaz, and Judge Sobhitha Rajakaruna today. Speaking on behalf of the Attorney General, Deputy Solicitor General of the State Milinda Gunatilake told more..

Jul 23 (EN) Met Department is forecasting above-average rainfall for the month of July due to the strong day to day atmospheric variability forming in the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Department predicts higher rainfalls in most parts of the country and showery conditions to increase during the last week of July 2020 with heavy showers in South Western part of the country. �Considering the prevailing global climate conditions, forecasts from different global climate models more..

Jul 23 (DM) Jeevan Thondaman (25) was nominated to be the Nuwara Eliya District candidate at the upcoming General Election after his father, Arumugan Thondaman, leader of the CWC, suddenly passed away at the age of 56. Q: Your educational and professional qualifications? A: Bachelor of Laws - Uni of Northumbria, UK. Q: Why should people vote for you other than for being the son of Arumugam Thondaman? more..

Jul 23 (AD) A suspect has been arrested for the possession of 3,150 LCD stamps in Kollupitiya on Thursday (23), police said. The arrest was made at a guest house at Bagatalle Road in Kollupitiya, during a raid carried out based on information received by officers of the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB). The arrested suspect, a 26-year-old resident of Kokila Road in Wellawatte, is to be produced before the Fort Magistrate�s Court today. The PNB is conducting further investigations. more..

Jul 23 (EN) SL is continuing talks with India over the development of a container terminal in Colombo port, Minister Bandula Gunewardene said as port workers continued to protest. �The last administration has signed an agreement with India,� Minister Gunewardene said. �It is not the policy of Prez and this govt to get emotional or excited.� Problems will be resolved through talks. Whether the US, China or India, it matters will be discussed with friendly countries at a diplomatic level.� more..

Jul 23 (PTI) Former SL captain Kumar Sangakkara on Thursday delivered a powerful message against racism, saying education without values will not stop discrimination. Sangakkara said a change can be brought only by teaching real history instead of a sanitised version of it. Offering his views on the Black Lives Matter movement that has gathered momentum following the death of African-American George Floyd, more..

Jul 24 (CT) What is the true state of the country�s economy? It is difficult to know this, because neither Central Bank, which is the supreme institution that monitors the nation�s economic performance, expected to act as an independent watchdog over economic policies of govts in power and the custodian of uncompromised data, nor, in the absence of an elected parliament, the Presidency and its cabal of economic experts and advisors, are prepared to place the truth before the public. more..

Jul 24 (DM) The Sinhala lawmakers coming in their numbers to pay respects to the late CWC President Arumugan Thondaman remind us of something that needs to be changed in this country. People in power need to do more for the living rather than for the dead. It was good to see lawmakers from all walks of life gathering in their numbers to pay respects to this great leader of the working class; the people getting to have a glimpse of the remains of Thondaman which were kept at several more..

Jul 24 (DM) Former Foreign Minister and former Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera made a surprise decision not to contest Parliamentary election. Various claims were made over his surprise move, including claims of a rift between him and Sajith Premadasa, who he had supported at the Presidential election. In an interview with Daily Mirror, Samaraweera explains the reason for his move, his future plans and more. more..

Jul 24 (CT) TNA�s political manifesto for the forthcoming general elections, which was released last week, calls for a fresh mandate from Tamil people for a federal-based solution in the form of a merged Northern and Eastern province where Tamil speaking people live in majority numbers. It stated this could ensure a lasting peace in an undivided country in the future. This is consistent with the issues of community equality that have been uppermost in the Tamil polity from more..

Jul 24 (DM) It might not be ethically correct to predict result of any election, especially of a tightly contested election as it might influence the constituency. Yet, the result of the parliament election that is scheduled to be held on Aug 5 is a foregone conclusion and it also seems not to be a closely fought race. However, the much touted slogan of the SLPP to obtain two-thirds of seats in parliament at the next week�s election is a very difficult target under current PR system. more..

Jul 24 (SO) UNP Ratnapura district candidate and sports-star Ruwini Abeymanna said some UNP politicians left the party and joined the SJB for perks and privileges. That should not have happened. That is why I decided to contest the General Election under the UNP banner. She said, �We cannot permit a party such as the UNP to be scuttled. So long as our party remains strong, it can fulfil the needs of the people.� more..

Jul 24 (CT) South-West (SW) Monsoonal Season is now on.Though bereft of its usual ferocity due to climate change, it still has occasion to create mischief, more often than not, aided and abetted by man�s misdemeanours vis-�-vis the environment. Under the usual scheme of things the ferocity of the SW Monsoon should have had ended by last month. But as experienced in at least parts of Colombo and in the suburbs, yesterday, the area concerned was engulfed by heavy, intermittent showers, more..

Jul 24 (ST) If there is one topic that attracts the attention of govts, politicians, policymakers and economists, it�s agriculture. Be it an election, a village fair or reaching out to the poor; agriculture is the one sector that binds people. And this was the topic of discussion when the trio of friends gathered one morning under the margosa tree for their morning tea-cum-chat. �Ape govinge thathwaya den tikak hondai. Meeta pera, vairus prashnaya hinda, paladawa vikunan-da beri hinda vinasha more..

Jul 24 (Island) PM of New Zealand Jacinda Arden grabs headlines�always for the right reason. She has done so again. First, she received praise for containing Covid-19 in her country. Now, she is drawing accolades for having dismissed a minister who had an inappropriate relationship with an ex-staffer. Her Health Minister had to resign a few weeks ago for violating lockdown rules and some slip-ups in the handling of the pandemic. Power seems to be an efficacious aphrodisiac; more..

Jul 24 (Island) The report of the special Presidential Commission headed by Dr. Laksiri Gunaruwan to assess the proposed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact was released to the public on 23rd June 2020. It paints a grim picture of what would happen if the Compact is signed and recommends that the Govt reject it. To the best of my knowledge, there has been little discussion of the report in the print media as well as academic and professional journals. more..

Jul 24 (MB) Playful elephant calves in Minneriya National Park are a common sight. But things were different for the two baby elephants noticed when the country�s national parks reopened in mid-June after the COVID-19 lockdown. The calves were the same size, always together and suckling milk from the same female at the same time. These observations spurred the curiosity of elephant researcher Sumith Pilapitiya, more..

Jul 24 (ST) Metropolitan Group, the present service provider, will be continuing the maintenance and the issuance of National Smart Card Based Driver�s Licences till the whole system is taken over by SL Army next January, the Motor Traffic Department (DMT) Commissioner General Sumith Alahakoon said. The present service provider will continue with a new contract at Rs. 1,000 per card for six months till Dec 3 in accordance with the cabinet approval given to extend its period for the maintenance more..

Jul 24 (MFA) Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha said that the investment environment in Sri Lanka for Indian investors is conducive not only because of its stable leadership but also due to the strong bilateral relationship between Sri Lanka and India. This was consolidated on following the early visits of the Prez, PM and the Foreign Minister to India where areas of cooperation was fully reviewed. Addressing the webinar Deepening Economic Collaboration between India and Sri Lanka, more..

Jul 24 (FT) Tile & Sanitaryware Importers Association (TSIA, yesterday raised serious concerns about the Govt�s import ban on their products, and clarified how such a move is detrimental to the Govt�s efforts to reduce foreign exchange outflow. TSIA, SL�s main body established to address the grievances of tile and sanitaryware importers, consists of over 300 importers in Sri Lanka with a large majority of them having more..

Jul 24 (Island) There is an interesting debate on social media these days asking whether Sri Lanka need to qualify for the T-20 World Cup that has been postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Test cricketer and Manager of the national cricket team Charith Senanayake had asked the query on social media after the team improved their rankings over the last few months. At the cut off date, SL were below the relegation zone requiring them to play a qualifying round. more..

Jul 24 (DN) �It is very unlikely that the Inter-Schools Under 19 Cricket tournament for the year 2020/21 conducted by SL Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) will kick off as planned and has to be rescheduled for Jan 2021,� said Tilak Wattuhewa, President of SLSCA said. With the GCE A/L exam being rescheduled for Oct 12, due to the COVID-19 pandemic followed by the GCE-O/L exam in Dec, the school�s first eleven season will be pushed to early next year, which was confirmed by more..

Jul 24 (CT) Ex-SL cricketers, Avishka Gunawardana, Nuwan Zoysa and Dilhara Lokuhettige who were banned by the ICC, are hoping for a silver lining when their appeal was taken up at the Sports Ministry, yesterday. Their counselor Krishmal Warnakulasuriya explained that following numerous appeals to the ICC and SL authorities, they finally got a hearing from the Sports Ministry 13 months after they were charged by the ICC more..

Jul 24 (DN) Over 69% of Sri Lankan companies anticipate unforeseen opportunities amidst the pandemic while 92% have taken some form of measure to manage staff count, SL Market Trends Survey published by Ernst & Young SL said. New business opportunities are continuing to emerge post-COVID-19 and they intend to explore them beyond the crisis. �As business leaders navigate the crisis and its aftermath, the role of employees and HR functions in shaping the more..

Jul 24 (PMD) Following corporate, individual donations and direct deposits, ITUKAMA COVID-19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund balance has now surpassed Rs. 1511 million. Govt employees of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council have donated Rs. 17,504,709.35 to the Fund. This sum was handed over to Prez Rajapaksa by Governor of the Sabaragamuwa PC Tikiri Kobbekaduwa. In addition, Mr. Upali Premathilaka Rs. 100,000.00, Ms. Lalitha Robinson Rs. 10,000.00, more..

Jul 24 (Island) CEB was going to float the much-needed tender to tap nearly 150 MW Solar PV plants before December. CEB Chairman Vijitha Herath said that they were confident of achieving the targets. "We hope we will be able to achieve above targets due to the firm commitment of all relevant parties to mark 2020 as the highest solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) signing year." CEB successfully completed tender bids of more..

Jul 24 (CT) Election Committee of the Chess Federation of SL (CFSL) comprising Upali Gunasekera (Chairman), Aruna de Silva and Nadeeka Perera, met on 22 July at Polymath College, Navinna, Maharagama to finalise nominations for the CFSL election to be held at their Annual General Meeting on 29 Aug 2020 at their headquarters. Sealed nominations were opened at 2 p.m. as informed to member organisations, and it was found that only Luxman Wijesuriya and more..

Jul 24 (CT) Cash flow issues and forex risk factors might delay Sri Lanka�s construction sector developers� ability to finance projects, an equity research report stated. According to SC Securities, in its quarterly earnings update of listed Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC (TKYO), the recommencement of Govt-funded infrastructure projects during 2020 is unlikely. �Thus, there could be a contraction in consumption of construction related materials,� it stated. more..