Sep 28 (FT) Sri Lanka�s newest commercial int'l airline, Spark Air, plans to take wing from February next year, with the Mattala Int'l Airport serving as its hub. The company, Spark Air Ltd., will initially fly two Airbus A330 aircraft for cargo operations due to the ongoing pandemic, and later expand to passenger operations as the airline passenger situation improves in time to come. Spark Air Head of Safety Management Systems more..

Sep 28 (EN) Sri Lanka tea prices mixed as industry expects Russia winter buying to slightly boost the market, with the cheaper High Growns seeing gains this week, though premium Low Growns saw weaker demand, brokers said. SL sold 5.5 million kg of tea, selling 0.7 million kg in Ex-Estate teas (teas sold while in the factory itself to retain quality) while selling 2.5 million kg in Low Grown (Leafy/Tippy) teas. Sri Lanka sold 5.86 million kg of tea in the auction held in the previous week. more..

Sep 28 (DM) Following parliamentary elections, Prez Rajapaksa wasted no time in obtaining cabinet approval and thereafter gazetting the proposed 20th Amendment. Many commentators have noted how the 20A as proposed will diminish parliamentary powers, erode judicial independence, and weaken independent commissions. But it is also critical for ordinary people�especially those who voted for the current govt�to know that the proposed 20A will usher in an era of unchecked corruption more..

Sep 28 (Island) Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris says the govt wants to enhance opportunities available to the student community to learn English. Prof. Peiris explained the pivotal importance of govt-private sector partnership in a large scale countrywide project geared to help the student community. Minister said after inspecting an ongoing smart classroom project at Susamayawardhana Maha Vidyalaya in Colombo late last week. more..

Sep 28 (Forbes) The Panama-flag oil supertanker that had an explosion off the coast of SrL earlier this month, the MT New Diamond, is being helped by a controversial support vessel that led the operation to deliberately sink a large, Japanese iron ore vessel Wakashio in the coastal waters of Mauritius last month. Satellite analysis by global maritime analytics firm, Windward has revealed that the Malta-flagged fire-ship, Boka Expedition, sailed from the scene of the controversial scuttling of the Wakashio more..

Sep 28 (FT) Sampath Bank PLC has announced the elevation of Rushanka Silva as Deputy Chairman (Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director) and Deshal De Mel as Senior Independent Director with immediate effect. The bank also announced the appointment of Keshini Jayawardena as Non-Executive, Independent Director with effect from 1 Oct. The bank continues to serve as a champion of gender diversity with leading women from different sectors accounting for around 30% its Board more..

Sep 28 (AD) SL, bested by China, came in second in terms of COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures, economic recovery and int'l cooperation out of 108 countries surveyed by the Yicai Research Institute, part of the country�s largest financial media group Yicai Media Group. Nine out of the top 10 countries were in the Asia-Pacific region, namely South Korea, SL, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia & NZ, more..

Sep 28 (FT) A group of 17 crew members of an Indian oil tanker arrived in SL have been diagnosed with COVID-19 on Saturday. PCR tests were conducted on all the crew members of the Indian oil tanker after one of them showed symptoms of COVID-19. Tests have confirmed that all 17 crew members were positive for the virus. A group of Sri Lankans who worked with them have also been quarantined. Several Lankans have gone to inspect oil tanker that arrived in Colombo recently. more..

Sep 28 (FT) SLPP MP Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon has handed over 3 Private Member Bills to introduce a minimum age of 18 years for marriage in SL, as well as to amend the Marriage Registration Ordinance and the Civil Procedure Code (Section 627). The three Bills have been published in the Govt Gazette and can be presented to Parliament next month. The proposed Minimum Age of Marriage Act No. of 2020 makes it illegal to contract a marriage unless both parties to the marriage more..

Sep 28 (CT) If the intelligence information on the Easter Sunday attacks was shared with the STF, at least the attacks that took place in Colombo could have been prevented by sealing off Colombo, former Commandant of the STF, Senior DIG M.R. Latheef said. Testifying before the PCoI, he also said former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former IGP Pujith Jayasundera or former Director of State Intelligence Service (SIS), more..

Sep 28 (CT) Although it is compulsory for any ministers to appoint someone to cover their duties when they go abroad, no one was appointed to act as the Defence Minister except on one occasion when former Prez and Defence Minister Maithripala Sirisena went abroad, said former Secretary to the Prez, Austin Fernando. He said this, on 26 Sept, testifying before the PCoI into the bombings on Easter Sunday. He served as Prez Secretary for a short period from 2017 to 2018. more..

Sep 28 (CT) Although the PM has the power to summon the Armed Forces in the absence of Prez, Commanders of Tri-Forces had been instructed by former Prez Sirisena, not to visit the PM, said former State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene. He also said Sirisena, who was the Defence Minister at the time, had never appointed him as the Acting Minister in accordance with the due process when he was on foreign tours and noted that he had served as Acting Defence Minister only once more..

Sep 28 (AFP) Sri Lanka has shipped back to Britain container-loads of waste that the govt said was brought into the island in violation of international laws governing the shipping of hazardous material. The 21 containers -- holding up to 260 tonnes of rubbish -- first arrived by ship in Colombo's main port between Sept 2017 and Mar 2018, customs said, adding that they departed Sri Lanka on Saturday. more..

Sep 28 (FT) Strange revelations and unfolding theatrics now getting exposed after being hidden behind the disastrous event on the Easter Sunday of 21 April that shocked the whole world, make us ponder over the disorderly and primitive state of affairs that had existed in the country then. Grotesque enough and highly farcical, nevertheless lamentable, state of affairs arising out of the statements made by the former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, deserves a closer more..

Sep 28 (DM) Private sector credit made a strong rebound in August as banks ramped up disbursements of credit to private borrowers, from large to small businesses and individuals as economy gathered pace after the coronavirus put a dampener on credit growth during the first half of the year. The total outstanding credit to the private sector gained by a strong Rs.78.3 billion or 5.2% in August, reflecting that the gross disbursements of new credit had surpassed settlements of more..

Sep 28 (FT) Nawaloka Air Services Ltd., a subsidiary of Nawaloka Holdings headed by Dr. Jayantha Dharmadasa, is one of the largest diversified conglomerates in Sri Lanka and has been appointed the General Sales Agent for Maldivian Airlines in Sri Lanka for passenger and cargo, effective 15 September. Nawaloka Holdings has been in business for over 65 years, is currently over 10,000 employees strong and caters to seven sectors including Healthcare. more..

Sep 28 (AD) Sri Lanka Police says that a total of 1,481 persons have been arrested during a special operation in Western Province. Among them are 777 suspects arrested over various offenses, 514 suspects arrested for drug related offences and another 326 individuals with pending warrants who had been absconding. Around 70 suspects who had been evading police after committing various offences have also been arrested while 80 unsolved crimes have been solved, police said. more..

Sep 28 (FT) The Credit Information Bureau of Sri Lanka, known more popularly in its acronym CRIB, has become the villain in the eyes of bank borrowers, politicians and media today. Bank borrowers dislike CRIB and would be more comfortable if it is abolished. In their view, CRIB has become a stumbling block when they seek loan facilities from banks. Politicians dislike CRIB because they come under the influence of more..

Sep 28 (AD) Popular actor and film director Tennison Cooray has passed away at the age of 68 years. He has passed away while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital, earlier today. One of SL�s best-known comedians, Cooray is an actor in SL cinema and stage drama in addition to being a screenplay writer, film director, and producer. He is best known for his comedy roles in films such as Re Daniel Dawal Migel franchise, Cheriyo franchise, Peralikarayo, Somy Boys, Wada Bari Tarzan more..

Sep 28 (FT) Last week, the controversial 20th Amendment Bill was placed on the Order Paper of Parliament, the First Reading was moved by the Minister of Justice, and its journey through the legislature commenced. None of the legislators appear to have realised that what was taking place was in breach of the procedure laid down in the Constitution. Section 41 of the Bill seeks to amend Article 154R, an Article in Chapter XVIIA of the Constitution. more..

Sep 28 (DM) Several MPs of the opposition will raise their hands in support of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, but without crossing the floor of the House to join the govt, Daily Mirror learns. The 20th Amendment has already been presented to Parliament. Afterwards, the main opposition SJB and some others have moved the Supreme Court against the content of the bill. Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya has already more..

Sep 28 (Island) Police have advised residents of Millaniya, Horana not to go into a scrub land, where jackals frequent. SSP Sanjaya Irasinghe said that there were around 20 foxes in the scrub forest of Millaniya. Some of those foxes might have rabies, he said. Policemen and wildlife officers have been deployed in the area to protect the villagers. �Following the death of a girl and a cow bitten by a pack of rabid foxes there, police have deployed teams of policemen to guard the area more..

Sep 28 (FT) Bringing convenience to fingertips, Mobitel, Sri Lanka�s national mobile service provider joined hands with Fortumo, one of leading mobile technology companies to launch direct carrier billing facility in Sri Lanka. The partnership will facilitate Mobitel subscribers to enjoy premium digital content, pay for games, in-app content and a host of digital services by simply opting purchases to their Post-Paid phone bill or Pre-Paid number. �Today, we see that the technological growth more..

Sep 28 (AD) Minister of Justice Ali Sabry says that the 13th Amendment or the 1987 Bilateral Accord will not be looked into when forming the newly proposed 20th Amendment. He said that forming a constitution is an internal affair of the country and that there is no undue concern with regard to the 13th Amendment. �We should be able to do what we want�, he added. Commenting on time-consuming legal processes, more..

Sep 28 (AD) The thirteen officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) who were arrested for their alleged links with drug dealers have been further remanded. They were ordered to be remanded until October 12, when the case was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne today (28). However, the suspects were not produced before the court today due to the COVID-19 pandemic precautions. Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, appearing on behalf of CID, more..

Sep 28 (DM) A special police team in Negombo had arrested three persons including a tuition teacher who were transporting a stock of Kerala ganja and heroin worth more than Rs.5 million, in a motor car, on Saturday. Two of the arrested suspects were pupils of the tuition teacher. At the time of the arrest, they had in their possession 152 grammes heroin and 5 kilos of Kerala ganja. According to information Police received, the teacher was a 40-year-old resident of Mattakkuliya more..

Sep 28 (CI) Bangladesh's three-Test tour of Sri Lanka has been postponed yet again following a stalemate between the BCB and SLC over quarantine requirements, with weeks of negotiation failing to yield an agreement between the two boards. The length of the quarantine, which the Sri Lankan health authorities had insisted be 14 days, with the players' movement strictly limited to their hotel rooms, was the main proposal more..

Sep 28 (AD) The next Bishop of Colombo will be Fr Dushantha Rodrigo, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announced today. Archbishop Justin was asked by the Diocesan Council to select its next Diocesan bishop in accordance with its constitution, when they found themselves unable to do so last month. He did this in his capacity as Metropolitan of the Church of Ceylon. The Archbishop of Canterbury said: �I am pleased to announce that Fr Dushantha is to be the next Bishop of Colombo. more..

Sep 28 (TM) PM Mahinda Rajapaksha today stated that govt funds should be allocated to provide financial assistance to all underdeveloped temples throughout the country in the future, in order to prevent govt funding from being limited to developed temples. PM gave these instructions in view of the fact that millions of rupees have been provided to developed temples through the recent govt financial assistance programs and no funds have been allocated for development of rural temples. more..

Sep 28 (CT) CID officers led by former CID Director Shani Abeysekera acted maliciously to make sure former MP Duminda Silva was executed, and even overstepped their duties, former Chief of Staff of the Army, Major General Amal Karunasekera said, adding that this is apparent from voice tapes between MP Ranjan Ramanayake and CID officers. He said so while testifying before the PCoI probing political victimisation, on Saturday (26). more..

Sep 28 (CT) Five more unlicensed drones with cameras were found in a house in Kothalawala, Kaduwela, belonging to the person who had brought a drone with a camera to drop flowers on the grave of Ratmalane Lansiya, at the Mount Lavinia Public Cemetery on Saturday, Dehiwala Police said. Police said the value of the cameras was about Rs 2 million. The suspect has been identified as Manjula Kumaratunga (28). Of the five drones that were seized, 3 of them had cameras fixed on them. more..

Sep 28 (CT) The COVID-19 control Task Force has issued a fresh reminder to airlines and hotels to strictly adhere to the guidelines when taking in guests, aimed at preventing a reoccurrence of last week�s incident in Matara. �We met up with several representatives from both the airline and hotel industry and briefed them on the steps that must be taken when registering foreign crew members from both aircraft and ships,� Head of Task Force, Army Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva said. more..

Sep 28 (AD) 21 more petitions have been filed today before the Supreme Court challenging the proposed 20th Amendment, bringing the total number of applications filed against the draft bill thus far to 39. Election Commission member Prof Ratnajeevan Hoole, UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene, SJB Youth Wing Chairman Mayantha Dissanayake more..

Sep 28 (DM) Clarifying on a fear prevailing in society that the Coronavirus could be transmitted via food imported from foreign countries, Chief Epidemiologist of the Epidemiology Unit, Dr Sudath Samaraweera said there was no risk of the virus spreading via imported food items. �One gets infected with the virus only when it enters the respiratory system,� he said. �Virus spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, mouth� more..

Sep 28 (NR) Prez Rajapaksa has instructed officials to take steps to increase local production of national and Buddhist flags within the country. Prez issued these directives during an observational tour of the Dankotuwa, Kandana and Wattala industrial zones. Prez Rajapaksa called for steps to be taken to ensure the demand and supply of the products are met locally. Prez also inquired into the possibility of assigning a greater percentage of responsibility of supplying textiles more..

Sep 28 (Island) Former Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman Asantha de Mel yesterday (27) said that Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila should make a genuine effort to enter the lucrative LPG (liquid petroleum gas) market. Minister Gammanpila, who is also an attorney-at-law, could find out who had prevented state owned Litro (formerly Shell) to undertake the project without further delay, De Mel said. more..

Sep 28 (DM) New Head of the National Movement for Social Justice, former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday said he has no plans to form a political party affiliated to the movement founded by the Late Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera into a political party. Mr. Jayasuriya said in a statement that the National Movement for Social Justice will be continued as a movement which is committed towards ensuring justice, safeguarding the rights of the people and creating a just society. more..

Sep 28 (DM) A survey for updates on all traffic light signals would be carried out aiming to reduce traffic congestion in Colombo, Traffic and Road Safety Director SSP Indika Hapugoda said. He said the joint survey would be carried out by the SL Police, RDA and CMC. �The green signal countdown time on traffic lights will be increased on roads where most vehicles were travelling while the countdown time will be reduced when there were fewer vehicles, following the survey, he said. more..

Sep 28 (AD) Colombo Chief Magistrate has imposed a travel ban on the Captain of the oil tanker MT New Diamond. The Captain had been issued notices to appear before the court today and according he arrived at the court this morning. Magistrate rejected the request of the Attorney General to remand the Captain of the tanker, when the case was taken up. Instead, Chief Magistrate ordered the Controller General of more..