Sep 30 (LBO) Sri Lanka's inflation rose 6.2% in Sept 2013 from a year earlier, slowing from 6.3% in August, data showed. The annual average inflation, which is a lagging indicator averaging across 24 months also fell to 7.8% from 8%. The index fell 0.2 percent during the month to 175.8 points from 176.2 points. The sub-index for food without alcoholic beverages and cigarettes fell 0.5% during the month and non foods fell 0.1%. more..

Sep 30 (Island) The govt has decided to extend the Deyata Kirula mobile services to all districts of the country from next year since the programme has been proved very successful in the Kegalle, Kurunegala and Puttalam Districts. The decision followed the strong positive public response to mobile services in 2149 grama seva divisions out of 2731 in the three districts where they were continuing parallel to the Deyata Kirula 2014 National Development Programme, more..

Sep 30 (Island) The police commandos attached to the Kurukkalpudukulam STF camp on Wednesday took into custody a vehicle transporting a herd of goats to a slaughter house in Katukeliyawa in Mihintale, for mutton to be sent to Colombo without a permit. Two suspects were arrested. The STF personnel nabbed them in Ihalagama, Mihintale. The value of the animals was estimated at Rs 400,000. The animals had been stacked into the vehicle and some had died due to suffocation, more..

Sep 30 (GDI) The BOI signed an agreement with Singapore Dialysis Medical Group, to develop and operate a specialized hospital for kidney dialysis. The Project with an estimated investment value of US$ 1.5 million, will be located in Kohuwala and create employment opportunities for 30 local and 7 foreign staff. The agreement was signed by Dr Lakshman Jayaweera, Chairman of the BOI. The Certification of Registrations was more..

Sep 30 (CT) A large number of independent contestants had led to the counting process being complicated, the Commissioner of Elections, Mahinda Deshapriya said. Commenting on the situation, he said: “A large number of independent candidates want to contest the election not with any personal desire to do so but simply to support various political parties. It makes the ballot paper very lengthy. As a result, the counting process also becomes complicated and difficult. more..

Sep 30 (CT) The Department of Measurement Units, Standards and Services had nabbed 201 traders, using weighing scales that were either faulty, banned or substandard, in their establishments this year. The traders arrested during special raids conducted by the Special Raids Unit of the Department, had been produced before Court and ordered to pay a fine. The OIC of the Special Raids Unit, Upul Bambarenda, said 89 fruit vendors from Pettah were arrested during the raids. more..

Sep 30 (Island) Although the govt hurriedly recommenced train operations on the northern track, up to Kilinochchi, targeting the PC election there, it had failed to provide essential facilities for the employees of those stations, a pro–JVP trade union alleged. President of the ACREGU S.P. Vithanage said that the operations from Omanthai to Kilinochchi began on Sept 14, but railway employees found it very difficult to do more..

Sep 30 (CT) General Secretary of the SLMC, M.T. Hassan Ali, requested the govt to respect the outcome of the NPC polls, and expedite the process to find a political solution to the Tamil question. He said, although the govt had taken the SLMC and the Muslims in the country for a ride, they could not do so with the Tamils in the North. “The govt must address the unresolved humanitarian problems in the North and implement the recommendations of the LLRC. more..

Sep 30 (TD) Not long ago the Northern Province of Sri Lanka was out of bounds for the rest of the country. It was entirely controlled by the insurgent group, the LTTE, a group which tolerates neither dissent nor democratic debate. Four years after the fall of the LTTE, the Tamil-dominated province held its first regional elections this month – a feat that seemed impossible not long ago. The winner in the first democratic elections of the last 25 years is the TNA, a Tamil ethnic party that more..

Sep 30 (USE) The U.S. Embassy Colombo is pleased to announce that the 2015 Diversity Visa Lottery Program, also known as the “Green Card Lottery,” will start accepting online applications from 9:30PM local Sri Lankan time on Oct 1, 2013, until 9:30PM on Nov 2, 2013. The Diversity Visa Lottery is an annual program that allows randomly selected applicants who were born in qualifying countries – including Sri Lanka and Maldives more..

Sep 30 (SM) The funeral of the deceased Berty Premalal Dissanayake had to be delayed for a nearly an hour as when the body of the deceased former North Central Chief Minister was taken to the Harischandra grounds, Anuradhapura for the last rites in the funeral motorcade, as supporters of the Dissanayake protested against Minister S.M. Chandrasena and his brother, the current North Central Chief Minister. The protest continued until Minister Chandrasena left the funeral. more..

Sep 30 (Island) Minister Maithripala Sirisena said that a human beings had to shoulder heavy responsibilities towards their fellow beings and those who took to medicine for a worthy cause could be regarded as gods on earth. He said the Medical profession was a noble one which was aimed at curing the sick and therefore the duties of any doctor should not be confined to a building. Some doctors had been serving in their hospitals with a sense of responsibility and dedication, more..

Sep 30 (PTI) A PIL petition seeking a direction to the Centre to cancel the proposed sale of two Naval warships to Sri Lanka has been filed in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. Petitioner K Stalin, a city-based advocate, submitted Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy had recently stated that India was in the process of supplying two warships to Sri Lanka. He alleged the Sri Lankan Navy killed 500 fishermen from Tamil Nadu more..