Jun 9 (ST) As an individual who successfully came through the pipeline of the once globally acclaimed best school cricket structure of the world former SL allrounder and current SL U-19 Manager, Farveez Maharoof joined his former seniors at national level, calling school cricket badly needs a new strategy. Maharoof, who captained the SL U-19s in the ICC Youth World Cup in 2004, was one of the few youngsters to be fast-tracked more..

Jun 9 (Island) The phrase Time of Troubles is borrowed from the title of a classic sociological study of 19th century Ceylon by Prof Ralph Pieris (1952). Here it is intended to highlight the fact that, although the imperial sunset over our island has often been described as a peaceful transfer of power, it occurred at an extraordinarily stormy time � politically, economically and environmentally. The calamities that had plagued the country in the Donoughmore era more..

Jun 9 (CT) With Colombo's food inflation at 9.9% last month and financial institutions offering interest rates at less than that, it may be a challenging task for such institutions to mobilise deposits, with a particular focus on reinvesting such monies by lending to the riskier private sector, the engine of growth. A low interest rate regime has to be complemented by a low inflationary regime for such lending to be successful. But with Govt's face value money printing (FVMP) more..

Jun 9 (FT) In a progressive move Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stepped in to complete the multi-billion rupee and the city�s iconic high rise property development Altair which is three years behind schedule and facing legal battle between overseas promoters. Rajapaksa has appointed urban development veteran and Colombo Hilton owning company Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC Chairman Nimal Perera as Special Authorised Officer more..

Jun 9 (ST) With the globe under attack by COVID-19 so did the sports in Sri Lanka which came to a complete stop from March onwards. The Inter-Club rugby league was suspended with the Super Round matches not taking place along with the oldest knock out rugby tournament in South Asia, Clifford Cup which is more than 100 years. Clubs too find it tough in their progress with the financial burden on their shoulders too heavy to carry. There is hardly any income as no rugby or gate collection plus more..

Jun 9 (Island) EC member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole has challenged a newspaper group to investigate what he calls a bribery scandal involving the LTTE�s polls boycott, which prevented the Tamil people from voting at the 2005 prez election, in the North. Several others have made this allegation during the last 15 years or so. True, the polls boycott adversely affected the franchise of the Tamil people in the LTTE controlled areas, and stood UPFA prez candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa in good stead. more..

Jun 9 (FT) The JVP yesterday wrote to President�s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera demanding the Govt clarify its stance regarding the $ 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant and whether it will be signed by this administration. The letter signed by former JVP MP and CoPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti called on the Govt to clarify its stance on the proposed MCC agreement. more..

Jun 9 (CT) Sri Lanka has received the green light to host the Asia Cup T20 tournament from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), President of SLC Shammi Silva said. Tournament was set to be hosted by Pakistan in UAE in September, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation which has not been brought under control, they are facing difficulty in hosting the event. "We had a discussion with PCB and they have already agreed to our hosting this edition due to the present world situation. more..

Jun 9 (ST) SL authorities are carrying out discussions with India and Japan for plans to open the East Container Terminal (ECT) for operations within the next few months. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Daya Ratnayaka said that currently they were in discussion with India and Japan on plans for the ECT. He noted that on the ground level they have plans to fix three cranes due from China that had been ordered for the Jaya Container Terminal to be installed at ECT. more..

Jun 9 (Island) The Bar Association of SL has urged the Minister of Justice to reconsider his directive to grant several exemptions on the examination to be followed by students of Kotelawala Defence Uni (KDU) upon being admitted to SL Law College. BASL says that the Minister of Justice has acted ultra vires of his powers to grant an exemption to the KDU purporting to act in terms of S. 7A of the Incorporated Council of more..

Jun 9 (Island) Plasticcycle - the social entrepreneurship project of John Keells Group, hosted a webinar on June 4 , in line with this year�s theme for World Environment Day, on Biodiversity Conservation Trends Post Covid-19 with renowned Wildlife & Fisheries Biologist Vimukthi Weeratunga. Weeratunga, Manager for Nature Trails � Cinnamon Holidays as of May 2020, was the scientific advisor for the documentary Wild Sri Lanka produced by Mike Birkhead Associate of UK for more..

Jun 9 (TM) Govt would begin the process of repatriating migrant workers in Middle East this week after the green light was given in response to the request made by SL to conduct PCR tests on all returnees 48 hours prior to arrival, Additional Secretary to the President (Foreign Relations) Jayanath Colombage said. He said the Govt was waiting for confirmation from the countries in the Middle East and so far the UAE had verbally agreed to conduct tests on all returnees. more..

Jun 9 (FT) SLPP said they anticipate a written response from the Election Commission (EC) regarding their complaint about Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole�s controversial statement in Jaffna. SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam on Saturday complained to the EC regarding Prof. Hoole�s statement and questioned the impartiality of the Commission member. Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris said Prof. Hoole�s controversial statements more..

Jun 9 (TM) Although there were strong winds and fairly heavy rains over the past two days, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) had not recorded any damage to property or displacements. DMC Spokesperson Pradeep Kodippili said that the strong winds had only uprooted trees and obstructed the Kegalle-Mawanella road on Sunday (7) evening, which had then been cleared immediately. �There was an incident where an electrical post had fallen on a vehicle, and damaged the vehicle. more..

Jun 9 (EN) Sri Lanka has completed construction of two 10 MegaWatt renewable power plants in the Jaffna peninsula, and they will be formally commissioned later this month, officials said. �We hope to connect the two 10MW plants to the national grid later this month,� Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said. Ceylex Engineering, a affiliate of LTL Holdings won a competitive bid to build the two wind power plants and sell power to the CEB in 2017, but there were delays in land procurement. more..

Jun 9 (FT) Spurred by COVID-19, a high-level meeting held yesterday introduced several policies to rev up SL�s public transport sector, including amalgamating private and State buses into one timetable and providing special loans to purchase and repair buses, as well as extending insurance and leasing payments. The meeting presided over by Prez Rajapaksa was held last morning to discuss how public transport could be improved more..

Jun 9 (CT) Former President of the Bar Association, President's Counsel U.R. de Silva alleged that the present Election Commission (EC) has become a puppet in the hands of one of its members, Prof Ratnajeevan Hoole. He claimed the EC was therefore drawn into a hidden agenda to force people to take to the streets against the present regime. He also charged that the EC was also determined to delay the staging of the next General Election till it received confirmation to stage more..

Jun 9 (FT) Govt has made it mandatory for owners of coconut plantations to register themselves with Coconut Development Authority. Decision was made to ensure that only the registered plantations would be eligible for coconut development programs launched by the Govt in the future. �Registration has been mandatory to get correct data on coconut plantations, plan future development programs, and study the crop yields of the sector. The data will also be used to protect plantations,� more..

Jun 9 (DN) The Court of Appeal yesterday issued notice on former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen to appear in court on June 29 in connection with a writ petition filed by Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) over deforestation around Wilpattu national park. The Court of Appeal made this order for the purpose of verifying whether the former Minister, a respondent in the petition is expecting to file written submissions against the petition or not. more..

Jun 9 (Island) Sunday�s mock election had shown that it was possible to conduct an election within the stipulated time in keeping with health guidelines, national coordinator of the CMEV Manjula Gajanayake said. "The mock election went well and we observed it. The main thing that the elections commission, as well as the monitors, wanted to see was whether we could hold the election within nine hours in keeping with health guidelines. I think this showed us that we could." more..

Jun 9 (DN) The new Building Complex of SL�s first fully-fledged Faculty of Technology of the University of Sri J'pura was opened yesterday. The new faculty spread over 10 acres of the Techno park was built at a cost of about Rs 3 billion. Fully pledged faculty located in the Pitipana, Colombo consists of new laboratories, lecture rooms, staff rooms, canteens as well as other facilities is looking forward to contributing to the nation with high-quality graduates and research-based knowledge. more..

Jun 9 (TM) Several leading telecommunication service providers have begun disconnecting voice services that have exceeded their credit limit, ending over a two-month period of a no disconnection policy. As per a directive issued to them by their regulator, TRC, service providers provided uninterrupted services throughout the curfew period without disconnection, despite the accumulated total of customers� outstanding more..

Jun 9 (Island) In response to Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith�s call for allowing church services and other religious activities to resume, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to meet religious leaders of all faiths this week to decide whether to reopen places of worship to devotees. PM said that he too thought that people should be allowed to visit their places of worship as the country was returning to normal. "I will be meeting religious leaders within this week and discuss the matter with them. more..

Jun 9 (DM) There will be only two main political parties to contest this year's general election, former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe told several UNP-led trade union members at Sirikotha. �Only two main political parties will contest the general election. They are the UNP and the SLPP. This is what is called democracy. UNP is the only party that contested all general elections in the country. We will contest this one too. Some suggested that we aim to become the main opposition at this poll. more..

Jun 9 (MFA) On behalf of the President and PM, Govt and people of SL, Minister of Foreign, Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations Dinesh Gunawardena met the Ambassadors of Arab Countries based in Colombo at the Ministry of Foreign Relations, today (8) and expressed sincere gratitude through them to their respective Arab Govts for the support and solidarity given to the people and Govt of SL during more..

Jun 9 (FT) Definitely, one of the more congenial time fillers of the curfew hours was the WhatsApp; browsing its endless stream; inexhaustible, imaginative, flowing steadily. Representing a wide spectrum of views and attitudes; droll, mischievous, partially factual, on occasion even alarming, the medium caters for every age and taste. While we waited anxiously for the menace of the corona to pass, every distraction was welcome. WhatsApp messages kept coming. more..

Jun 9 (FT) As we are into the third month of the pandemic, it makes sense to take a step back and reflect at the lessons learned and what must be carried forward for the balance part of the year whilst some we just leave behind. A point to note is that already some supermarkets have stopped the practice of washing hands in the backdrop of two COVID-19 clusters � the Navy and returnees from overseas crossing 1,800 cases and 11 deaths to date in Sri Lanka. more..

Jun 9 (AD) IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $50 million loan to Commercial Bank of Ceylon (ComBank), SL�s largest private bank, to help small and medium businesses in the country deal with the adverse economic impacts of COVID-19. The funding will be used to expand lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, with over a third dedicated to businesses owned by women. The financing package is part of IFC�s US$8 billion global COVID-19 fast track financing more..

Jun 9 (DM) All PCR tests at BIA are conducted by the Health Ministry within minutes after passengers pass the immigration counter, Airport and Aviation Services Chairman G.A. Chandrasiri said, adding that the samples are then sent to Negombo General Hospital within an hour for results to be handed over to the ministry within 24 hours. �The same procedure was followed for all airline crew members transiting at BIA, but passengers arriving on charter flights in the future can hire a private hospital more..

Jun 9 (PMD) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa pointed out the importance of developing the service provided of private bus owners in a systematic manner while ensuring a standard service to the public. President directed relevant officials to prepare a joint time table after carefully studying the long-standing issue relating to the same in consultation with the National Transport Commission, Provincial Road Passenger more..

Jun 9 (DN) The Colombo District yesterday fixed its order for June 15 for issuing restraining orders against the expulsion of Samagi Jana Balawegaya party representatives from the UNP. The Colombo District Court yesterday refused to issue a restraining order, deciding that it was appropriate to consider both sides� submissions before issuing a restraining order against the parties. Colombo District Chief Judge Amali Ranaweera made this order after considering a case filed by more..

Jun 9 (AD) A Police Constable has been arrested over aiding a suspect to shoot an underworld figure named Sunshine Sudda. The arrested Police Constable is serving attached to the Thalangama Police Station. The underworld figure named Sunshine Sudda was injured in gunfire at the Mirissa Harbor Road on May 30. CCTV footage showed that the perpetrator chased the victim down the road and opened fire at him. Reportedly, 28-year-old victim Amila Prasad alias Sunshine Sudda. more..

Jun 9 (EN) Veteran politician Mangala Samaraweera is saying he is stepping down from Parliamentary politics and asked voters not to cast their preferential vote for him at the upcoming Parliamentary General Elections. Samaraweera has represented the Matara district for more than thirty years in Parliament and has held important ministerial portfolios in a number of govts. He was first Foreign Minister and more..

Jun 9 (EN) A waste-to-energy plant being built north of Sri Lanka�s capital Colombo has been delayed due to Coronavirus travel restriction which had blocked the arrival of specialists from China, a minister said. �There was a delay in the waste-to-energy power plant being built in Muthurajawela,� Power Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told reporters. �Due to the situation, there was a delay in the arrival of persons from China involved in building this plant.� more..

Jun 9 (Island) UNP Working Committee (WC) yesterday decided to sack its local councillors who had joined Sajith Premadasa's Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and remove them from their positions. The WC also decided to instruct the party lawyers to take the necessary legal steps and inform the Election Commission of its decision. The WC decided to appoint former UNP MP Arjuna Ranatunga, an advisor to the party and one of its members. more..

Jun 9 (DM) Putting an end to the long school vacation, all govt schools will reopen from June 29 in four stages, the Education Ministry announced today. Education Minister Dullas Alahapperuma told a news conference that the decision to reopen the schools was taken after discussion with the President, the Education Ministry, the Health Ministry officials, the Higher Education Ministry, Cabinet Ministers and more..

Jun 9 (Island) Geological Professor Meththika Vithanage has filed papers in the Supreme Court, stating that the burial of a COVID-19 infected body could pollute the soil and the ground water table. SC yesterday re-fixed for support on July 13, the twelve fundamental rights violation petitions filed by Muslims, Catholics and Protestant Christians, who had complained that the cremation of the corpses of persons of their faiths who succumbed to COVID-19 was a violation of their right to more..

Jun 9 (AD) The GCE A/L exam for the year 2020 has been postponed September, stated Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma. Accordingly, the A/L examination will commence on the 07th of September and conclude on the 02nd of October. Previously, the exam was scheduled to be held on August 05. Western Power Company, promoted by Sri Lanka�s Aitken Spence has been denied visas to bring in Chinese experts needed for the project after the airports closed in March. more..

Jun 9 (AD) The extraordinary gazette notification containing the preferential numbers for the General Election 2020 has been published today, stated Dept of Govt Printing. Govt Printer said that the gazette has published the preferential numbers of candidates in 22 districts. Chairman of the EC Mahinda Deshapriya said on Monday that preferential numbers will be issued to candidates through District Election Offices from today. more..