June 25 (CI) The ICC's chief executives' committee has instructed Sri Lanka Cricket and the Bangladesh Cricket Board to incorporate and implement anti-corruption codes for domestic cricket in line with the ICC's international code. In the SLC's case, it must comply with the rules before the Sri Lanka Premier League in August this year. In October 2010, the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat had asked all ICC members more..

June 25 (LBO) Sri Lanka's interbank forex markets were paralyzed Monday with no active trading by late morning following heavy moral suasion by monetary authorities over deals made in the previous week, dealers said. The rupee was tentatively quoted around 133.15/40 but there were no firm bids, dealers said after regulators questioned some deals made last week. Sri Lanka's rupee has fallen from 110 to 133 rupees over the past year amid sterilized foreign exchange sales. more..

June 25 (AO) Maid agents are looking to Sri Lanka for maids in order to make up for the shortfall in supply from countries such as Indonesia. According to The Straits Times, the Sri Lanka High Commission will meet with representatives from the Associations of Employment Agencies (Singapore) and officials from the Foreign Employment Bureau in Sri Lanka to discuss plans about recruitment. more..

June 25 (LBO) A former financial sector professional has written Sri Lanka's main political parties to help citizens petition parliament over risks facing the island's banking sector following report by Standard and Poor's, a rating agency. S & P said Sri Lanka's banks faced high economic risks and regulatory conflicts, particularly after a retirement fund administered by the Central Bank started buying up bank stocks. more..

June 25 (AFP) Sri Lanka is deploying 10,000 troops to tackle areas of stagnant water and other mosquito-breeding grounds in an effort to contain the dengue virus, the island’s health minister said Monday. Maithripala Sirisena said the troops will join a clean-up operation this week to fight dengue, which is spread by mosquitoes, after 75 deaths from the disease this year. Stagnant water is a key breeding ground for mosquitoes and the authorities have begun more..

June 25 (AD) The Supreme Court today ordered the UGC to annul z-score calculation for 2011 GCE A/L exam and to recalculate for old and new syllabus separately. The judgment was delivered by Supreme Court bench chaired by Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake on the Fundamental Rights petition filed by a group of A/L students and the Ceylon Teachers’ Union against the formulation of the Z-Score for the 2011 A/L exam. more..

June 25 (DM) Theatres are for the performers and the audience. It is for them the stage is set. Not for white-clad politicians and their right-hands and left-hands. It is the audience that decides whether a play is good enough for an encore. And once a call comes from the gallery, a dramatist is honour-bound to keep performing, for it is the audience that breaks or makes them. Sadly though, here in the capital which hardly goes without one cultural event or the other, the drama-hungry crowds and the passionate performers more..

June 25 (LBO) Share prices closed down Monday, despite large trades in Madulsima, Balangoda Plantations lifting turnover levels to over a billion rupees, brokers said. The key All Share Price Index fell 37.67 points or 0.74 percent to close at 5,001.48, while the liquid Milanka Price Index dipped 30.33 points or 0.67 percent to end at 4,448.18. Monday’s turnover of 1.5 billion rupees was largely driven on deals in plantation stocks Madulsima and Balangoda, more..

June 25 (DM) UNP spokesperson Gayantha Karunathilake claimed that the Sri Lankan police are crippled and that the govt’s promise to stabilize the law of this country has been broken, pushing the country into turmoil. He said, “Everyone has come to realize that the crime rate of this country is increasing day by day. Although the police are capable of overcoming crime, they are crippled. The govt came into power by promising the public that more..

June 25 (F2F) Ranaviru Apparel industries at Alawwa and Yakkala, run by disabled personnel of the Sri Lankan Army, will be upgraded to international standards under a new modernization programme, which includes raising the quality of the apparel products. In early 2010, the world-wide accepted 5S practice was introduced at Yakkala Ranaviru Apparels in order to improve standards, productivity and efficiency. more..

June 25 (GDI) The Regional Development Bank opened its first Bank in the Northern Province. The Jaffna Branch of the Bank was declared opened this morning at the Stanley Road in Jaffna. The Bank has made arrangements to establish 25 branches in the Northern Province. The Regional Development Bank was established as a statutory body under the Pradheshiya Sanwardana Bank Act No.41 of 2008. The 100% Govt owned bank was set up with the objective of improving the more..

June 25 (DM) A team of surgeons attached to the National Hospital in Colombo successfully re-attached a 31-year-old man’s hand which had been severed near the wrist during a fight. Doctors who took just more than ten hours to perform the surgery, said they had done two similar surgeries through plastic surgery during this month alone. The man was admitted to the Kegalle hospital with his left arm severed and was transferred to more..

June 25 (GDI) The first batch of students from the University of Vienna who completed the inaugural Diploma in Buddhism was felicitated in Austria on Friday. The 15 Austrians were conferred with a Diploma after passing the examination conducted by the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka through the Academy of Buddhism and Christianity of the University of Vienna. In honour of the students who were awarded the Diploma, the Embassy of Sri Lanka more..

June 25 (CG) Over 20 capsules with heroin were recovered from the stomoche of a Pakistani national at the Negombo hospital, the police media unit said. The Pakistani national was arrested on suspicion at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Saturday after it was believed he was sumuggling heroin into the country. He had arrived in Sri Lanka on board a Sri Lankan airlines flight from Pakistan, the police media unit said. The Pakistani man was checked by doctors last evening and more..

June 25 (CI) For a year and a half after Muttiah Muralitharan's retirement, every match Sri Lanka played was accompanied by questions about their ability to be a top Test nation in the absence of the game's greatest wicket-taker. Those questions will be less frequent after Sri Lanka completed their third Test victory in five matches, and their largest win over Pakistan on the fourth day in Galle. The result also snapped Pakistan's winning streak, more..

June 25 (DM) The CID informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate that they would seek the assistance of the Interpol to record the statement from the businessman who exported the jewellery stolen from, 'Vorikas Jewellers' -Athens Greece, to Sri Lanka in a container, when the case was taken up for inquiry today before Colombo Chief Magistrate Rashmi Singappuli Counsel Nalinda Indatissa, Werasena Ranahewa and Deepika Hettimulla appearing for the suspects moved to more..

June 25 (DM) The employees of the Pulmodai mineral sands factory have embarked on a strike against a decision to privatise the factory. The employees feared, the factory which belongs to the Ceylon Mineral Sands Corporation, was to be handed over to a foreign investor, sources said. The workers had resorted to this trade union action as they feared the officials of the factory were in the process of entering into an agreement with a foreign investor. more..

June 25 (GDI) The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment( SLBFE) and the Cosmetics giant 'Dreamron' have joined hands to provide training to prospective migrant house maids, in personality development and style. The training programme aims to help maids develop a more presentable and cheerful personality and be service minded. The SLBFE believes that the programme will help maids to enhance career prospects while working abroad which in turn will ensure more..

June 25 (GDI) The Govt is to provide permanent employment to the 30,000 graduates who have been recruited as Trainees and who are undergoing training at present in various Departments, Projects, and Govt Institutions. This assurance was given by the Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology Ranjith Siyambalapitiya participating in the Sri Lanka Independent Graduates Union conference held in Colombo. Speaking in the function, the Minister said that more..

June 25 (PTI) A book on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader V Prabhakaran was on Monday released here by city-based historian S Muthiah. 'The Prabhakaran Saga - The Rise and Fall of an Eelam Warrior', authored by senior journalist S Murari, depicts how Prabhakaran built LTTE as an organisation through armed struggle, among other things. The first copy of the book, published by Sage publications, was received by journalist Malan. more..

June 25 (CI) Sri Lanka fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara has been ruled out of the ongoing three-Test series against Pakistan because of a torn shoulder muscle. Dilhara Fernando is likely to replace him in the squad for the second Test at the SSC, starting on June 30. Welegedara missed the first Test in Galle with a stiff shoulder and right-arm seamer Nuwan Pradeep played instead. "Welegedara has a muscle tear in his shoulder. We are waiting for an expert to more..

June 25 (PTI) A Tamil, who escaped alleged persecution in Sri Lanka and moved to the UK after gaining asylum in Germany in 1993, has died following a confrontation with a group of teenagers in the east Midlands town of Leicester. The local police have appealed for witnesses after launching a murder investigation into the death of Ponnuthurai Nimalaraja, 41, who died a week after he was found with serious head injuries sustained during the confrontation on June 9. more..

June 25 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's geographical location is reaping negative benefits as it becomes converted into a hub by drug traffickers, who are increasingly using the country as a transit point and tapping into a booming post-war tourism industry. Statistics released by Sri Lanka's Police show that in the first six months of this year over 19,000 people suspected of drug possession have been arrested in the country. more..

June 25 (LBO) State-run budget carrier Mihin Lanka, has made profits of 2.0 billion rupees before tax, on revenues of 4,576 million rupees in the nine months to December 2011. The firm had seen negligible finance charges of around 51 million rupees in the period. The profits before interest indicate remarkable gross margins of around 40 percent. In the year to March 2011 the firm had lost 940 million rupees on revenues of 3.14 billion rupees, down from 1.2 billion a year earlier. more..

June 25 (CI) The 209-run win was Sri Lanka's tenth against Pakistan and their first since the seven-wicket victory at the P Sara Oval in 2009. It was their fourth win against Pakistan in home Tests. The margin was the largest (in terms of runs) for Sri Lanka against Pakistan. It was also Sri Lanka's third Test victory since the retirement of Muralitharan in 2010. All three wins have come in the last five matches. Since Murali retired, Sri Lanka have lost seven and drawn ten tests. more..

June 25 (CI) Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, has praised his bowlers for dismissing Pakistan in tough conditions in Galle, and said he did not enforce the follow-on despite a 372-run lead because he wanted to give them a break. "You always think that you can take those remaining wickets and finish it off. But they [Pakistan] batted really well," Jayawardene said after Sri Lanka's 209-run win. "We had to be patient until we got those opportunities. more..

June 25 (SM) The Galle home of a man accused of giving lectures of distorted versions of Buddhist teachings came under attack yesterday. Two policemen who had tried to prevent the attack were injured and hospitalized, while six of the attackers have been arrested. According to SP Sajeewa Medawatte, a man named Siriwardena was the a target of the attack that followed a meeting against him at Wanduraba town by Bodu Bala Pavura led by Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera. more..

June 25 (AN) Damage to the marine ecosystem caused by Indian fishing vessels Indians, bays closed to fishing by the government for "security reasons", a ban on spear fishing: these are just some of the problems facing the fishing community in northern Sri Lanka. To try to resolve them, according to Fr. Sherad Jayawardene, a Catholic priest and head of the All Ceylon Small Scale Fisher People's Trade Union, "the communities of North and South must form more..

June 25 (LBO) Sri Lanka Cricket has received seven bids, each worth around 4.3 million dollars, to manage a franchise for the country’s first Twenty20 premier league tournament. The governing body said 17 parties picked up bidding documents, but only seven bids were submitted when the deadline closed on Monday. “I am pleased to be able to announce that bids were received in respect of all seven teams, at an average price of 4.3 million dollars per bid,” more..

June 25 (SM) The policy of the present regime is to answer through the bullet the people who raise a voice for their rights by way of peaceful protests, but it is not the policy of the UNP, said national organizer of the party, eastern provincial council opposition leader Daya Gamage. He was speaking at a function at St. Sebastian Church in Chilaw, where a handover of three fishing boats, educational scholarships up to university education and books more..

June 25 (MSNBC) When foodie friends come to visit me in New York City and they want to try "something new,” I suggest Sri Lankan food. Similar to Indian cuisine (understandable due to its geographic proximity to India), Sri Lankan fare is a bit lighter and has Thai flavors, thanks to the liberal use of coconut milk, especially in curries. And it is spicy. Sri Lankans use their share of hot chilies. Whenever I go to my favorite Sri Lankan restaurant more..

June 25 (LBO) Sri Lanka's energy sector is a key area of interest for US companies scouting for investment opportunities after the end of a three decades war, US ambassador Patricia Butenis said. "We've seen a lot of interest from American energy companies interested in help building oil refineries and developing natural gas," Butenis said. "The energy sector has been the biggest area of interest for US companies. I think that will remain," more..

June 26 (DM) The misconception that genes alone make Asians small-made will be busted in the days to come; for according to the World Bank Nutritionist Nkosi Mbuya, more than genes it is malnutrition that accounts for short statures of the people who live in the eastern side of the world. When the World Bank called on journalists across South Asia to take home the message of eliminating malnutrition during a two-day workshop and a knowledge forum, the revelations more..

June 26 (DM) They were to be expected. The hardline ‘Sinhala Nationalist Stand’ of JHU leader and Minister Champika Ranawaka’s statement on ‘...hundred more Mullivaikals...’, and the Tamil reaction to the same, that is. Yet, Champika’s position is as ‘qualified’ as the preceding Batticaloa speech of TNA leader Sampanthan. Confusing at best, contradicting otherwise, such statements have the potential to torpedo whatever is remaining of the peace process. more..

June 26 (SO) The Buddha, the Compassionate One, always encouraged a life free of violence, fear, hatred and therefore He earned the epithet A Sage at Peace, (Muni Santa). The Buddha's discourses reveal that His teachings are closely connected to peace. In reading the Pali Suttas carefully, you come across the words Sama (Calmness) Samatha (Tranquillity), Santutthi (Contentment), Ahimsa (harmlessness), Avihimsa (Non-violence) and more..

June 26 (CT) Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo, one time Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and former Secretary General of SAARC, delivering a memorial lecture at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies on Friday touched on a range of issues lying at the heart of foreign policy challenges faced by Sri Lanka today. The occasion was the commemoration of the second death anniversary of career diplomat Dr. Vernon L.B. Mendis. more..

June 26 (CT) Those who travel from Colombo to the north, be they nationals of Sri Lanka or foreigners, are likely to be impressed by the developments that they see when they travel by road. The view on the A9 Highway, once called the Highway of Death due to the scores of lives lost in fighting to control it, is a constantly improving one. The journey now takes around ten hours, down considerably from what it used to be. The well constructed roads make travel most more..

June 26 (DM) The Friday Forum comprises a group of concerned citizens who have come together to consider current issues of public interest with a view to making meaningful contributions towards peace, democracy, good governance and social justice in Sri Lanka. To pursue this objective, the Forum engages in regular discussions on matters of national interest, articulating its views and concerns. more..

June 26 (LB) The global economy deteriorated precipitately in the second quarter of 2012; there is a possibility of a catastrophic collapse worse than 2008 - not a certainty but a distinct possibility. European capitalism can soften the blow if Chancellor Angela Merkel throws the full force of the German economy into rescue mode; otherwise a possible worst case scenario looks like this: First Greece, then Spain, exit the Eurozone, then the Euro staggers wreaking economic carnage and wrecking the Union. more..