July 15 (CI) South Africa are sweating on the fitness of regular Test wicketkeeper AB de Villiers, who is suffering with a tight right hamstring and was unable to keep wicket during Monday's practice session. CSA said de Villiers is likely to play the first Test against Sri Lanka starting on Wednesday though there are doubts over whether he will keep. De Villiers' injury worry increases the chances of 21-year-old Quinton de Kock making a second Test appearance, five months after more..

July 15 (FT) The U.S. Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka held a hearing on July 9 in Washington, D.C. The caucus, created in 2013, is co-chaired by Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). It remains to be seen how effective this newly created group will be but -- given the recent developments in Sri Lanka -- there is no question that there was plenty to discuss at the gathering. Aside from the persistent ethnic and religious violence that more..

July 15 (CT) TNA will meet this week to discuss the re-appointment of former military-man, G.A. Chandrasiri, as the Governor of the Northern Province and work out the Party's response. TNA MP, Suresh Premachandran, said the Party will take a decision on the reappointment after the meeting. TNA sources however, hinted at the likelihood of CM C.V. Wigneswaran, resigning from his position after the discussion, more..

July 15 (DN) President Rajapaksa has decided to increase funds allocated for agricultural loans to farmers up to Rs. 4 billion. President made this decision at a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday in response to a request by members of farmer organisations. The funds will be released to the relevant banks to issue loans to the farmers. The meeting was called to obtain the views and ideas of farmer organisation and trade union representatives to prepare next year’s budget proposals. more..

July 15 (CG) President Mahinda Rajapaksa had telephoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed the situation in Gaza, the President’s office said. The President’s office said that Rajapaksa offered his condolences to the lives lost in Gaza. According to foreign media reports at least 166 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza in the seven days of conflict between the Israel and Palestine, while more than 1,000 have been injured. more..

July 15 (DM) Though Sri Lanka players and SLC officials have been making a big fuss over Sachithra Senanayake’s reporting for a suspected illegal action by ICC match officials during Sri Lanka’s recent tour of England, tests conducted by the ICC accredited laboratory in Cardiff has proved that the star spinner had extended his elbow as much as a whopping 43 degrees, way beyond the allowed legal limit of 15 degrees. more..

July 15 (DM) The Civil Society Collective (CSC), a coalition formed by NGOs said last Wednesday that the move by the National Secretariat which comes under the purview of the Defence Ministry to ban the NGOs from holding news conferences, workshops, training of the journalists and issuing media statements was illegal. Interestingly the only option left to the CSC to tell this to the world was also through a news conference, an activity banned by the authorities. more..

July 15 (DM) Dr. Vandana Shiva, a leading ecological agricultural specialist, environmentalist and rights activist from India delivered a lecture on ‘Right for Seed and Water; A Campaign for an alternative development model’ recently. The event was organised by the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR). At a time where there is a huge opposition building among farmers on the efforts of privatisation of seed and water resources in Sri Lanka, Dr. Shiva shared more..

July 15 (ICRC) The past conflict in Sri Lanka resulted in women having to become the bread winners for their families. Similarly, people who became disabled and other economically vulnerable people were left to fend for themselves or even support entire families. They had to find a way of earning a living without necessarily having the skills or experience. “The ICRC helps these people to find sustainable ways of generating income,” more..

July 15 (ST) There are three ways of dissenting with a govt sponsored vote in parliament, when a division is called (that is each MP’s vote is individually recorded). These three ways can be ranked in terms of the strength of dissent. The strongest is to vote against; next is to stay in the house and abstain. The weakest form is to be purposively absent from the house. On 18 June, the parliament voted on a motion that more..

July 15 (DN) Officials of the National Secretariat for NGOs launched investigations into several NGOs registered with it for failing to observe legal requirements applicable to them in functioning as NGOs in Sri Lanka. The Secretariat’s Director General D.M.S. Dissanayake said that they have launched investigations into three NGOs that have breached the regulations governing NGO activities in the country. more..

July 15 (Island) The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said it had resumed taking delivery of crude oil shipments. CPC MD, Susantha de Silva said they had already commenced unloading 90,000 MT of crude oil from the first ship that had been in Colombo since May 23. He said that soon they would begin unloading the next ship and expressed confidence that unloading would be completed within two weeks. more..

July 15 (SL) The Presidential Commission which was established to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons commenced its fifth round of public sittings in the Mullaitivu District last Saturday. Sittings were held at the Puthukkudiyiruppu Divisional Secretariat on July 5 and 6, 2014 and at the Maritimepattu Divisional Secretariat on July 7th and 8th. On the first day of the sittings, the Commission had invited more..

July 15 (Island) Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Medicine Rajarata University, Dr. Channa Jayasumana said that his University colleagues and he had been collecting documentary evidence to ask the CID to investigate anonymous SMS messages sent to doctors to discredit GMOA former President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya. Dr. Jayasumana said that the sponsors of the mud-slinging campaign against Dr. Padeniya were powerful more..

July 15 (CPJ) In a high-risk move, the Free Media Movement in Sri Lanka released a statement condemning the govt's ban on NGOs holding press conferences and issuing press releases. CPJ blogged about the govt's move last week. The Free Media Movement, on which CPJ relies to monitor press freedom abuses in Sri Lanka, did not mince words in its rejection of the govt's July 1 directive. "We stress that this circular is totally more..

July 15 (Xinhua) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday that it has approved loans totaling US$ 600 million for Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. The Manila-based lender said Sri Lanka will get a dual-tranche loan amounting to US$ 300 million. The loan will help boost Sri Lanka's use of clean energy and cut its reliance on petroleum oil. First US$ 150 million tranche will finance a 30- megawatt, run-of-the-river hydropower plant more..

July 15 (ENS) In a bid to boost bilateral military ties, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha will go on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka from Tuesday, a tour that could trigger political opposition from parties and groups in TN. During the visit, Raha is expected to meet with the political and military top brass in Sri Lanka, and also meet with the chiefs of the three armed forces of the island nation, apart from meeting President more..

July 15 (Island) The Supreme Court yesterday advised counsel to try and work out a settlement and restore goodwill between Chief Minister of the Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran, a retired Supreme Court judge and Chief Secretary of the Northern Province Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Ramesh. It should be done for the sake of good governance, the court said. Mrs. Ramesh has complained of an attempt to unlawfully remove her and more..

July 15 (CT) The rise of extremism and violence against minorities signals the threat to peace and harmony. Compromise has no place within the philosophy of religious extremism. The noble philosophy of the religious teachings are blind folded when extremism march towards its goal of destruction. Recent conflict between the Buddhist extremists and the Muslims in Sri Lanka have demonstrated that human values are fully ignored and the laws of jungles prevail with the more..

July 15 (LBO) Sri Lanka's stocks closed 0.43% higher with diversified stocks gaining despite strong foreign buying and selling. All Share Price Index closed 28.76 points higher at 6,727.79, up 0.43%. The S&P SL20 closed 29.03 points higher at 3,750.26, up 0.78%. Turnover was 2.19 billion rupees, up from 597.19 million rupees a day earlier with 107 stocks closed positive against 87 negative. Distilleries closed 80 cents higher at 205.00 rupees with two off-market transactions more..

July 15 (CT) Prabakaran's village, Valvettithurai, is eerily silent. During a recent tour we observed that the villagers did not like to break that silence. It is very difficult to decipher their feelings. The villagers are reserved and loath to initiate any conversation. The fish and dry fish traders are also silent. The residents are not rude, they will offer the visitor a glass of water to quench his thirst but on the whole remain silent. Why? more..

July 15 (CT) Once upon a time the refrain was nobody's child. But in a tragic twist of fate, it is the parents who are now being abandoned by their progeny in 21st century Sri Lanka, for reasons that are both covetous and callous. A page one story in last Friday's issue of this paper graphically illustrated this neoteric, albeit ugly, reality when it quoted the Director of the Department of Social Services as saying more than 250 complaints are received from elderly parents about progeny neglect and more..

July 15 (Island) Two persons including a woman were killed, 16 injured and 1245 displaced owing to gale force winds sweeping through eight districts of six provinces during the last few days, according to the Disaster Management Centre. DMC sources said the stormy weather had destroyed 52 houses and caused damage to 1,005 others while also displacing 356 families. They said that 214 persons of 55 families had been directed to safer places for temporary shelter. more..

July 15 (CI) For so much of Mahela Jayawardene's career, his cricket was ruled foremost by instinct. Where other batsmen would avoid playing the pull with a leg trap set, Jayawardene took the field on. Where other captains would formulate exhaustive plans and stand by them through duress, Jayawardene devised new strategies on his feet, with a finger to the pulse of the match, and a heart to innovate & attack. more..

July 15 (Reuters) The Sri Lankan rupee climbed to its highest in more than a year on Tuesday, as inflows from remittances and exporter dollar sales surpassed dollar demand from importers. State banks also lowered the dollar buying rate by two cents to curbed a sharp appreciation in the local currency. The rupee traded at 130.18/19 per dollar at 0530 GMT, its highest close since June 28, 2013 and firmer than Monday's close of 130.20/22. An official at the central bank told Reuters more..

July 15 (CT) Confirming reports that have been circulating over the depleting finances of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, local media has reported the establishment has obtained a bank loan of Rs. 900 million during the first quarter of 2014. It is reported that a loan of this nature has been borrowed by SLIC for the first time in its history – a reflection of sure signs of financial concerns within the institution. However, SLIC that disclosed its financial performance of 2013 recently, more..

July 15 (Telegraph) Sonali Deraniyagala has won the PEN/Ackerley Prize 2014 for Wave, her memoir recounting the loss of her parents, her husband and two young sons in the tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka in 2004. “The pleasure of receiving this wonderful prize makes me see that there is a beauty in struggle and a resting place in the eyes of others,” said Sonali, who was awarded the prize last night. more..

July 15 (Island) Medical Laboratory technologists (MLTs) and four other categories of professions supplementary to medicine, warned they would stage a 48-hour token strike from tomorrow unless the Health Ministry granted six of their demands including Class One promotions. General Secretary Professions Supplementary to Medicine, Saman Jayasekara said that class one promotions had been delayed for nearly nine years while Special Grade (Administrative Grade) promotions more..

July 15 (CI) "As a leader, and a team man, there is no one you would rather have around than Mahela. Even when he's not captain, he's the leader of that Sri Lanka team, and I think Angie [Angelo Mathews] has learned a lot from him over the past few months. Everything he does is always for the team and for Sri Lankan cricket. There is not a selfish bone in his body. For any overseas coach he's your go-to guy, because he's thinking about everyone in the team - the seniors, the juniors, more..

July 15 (CI) For almost 20 years, Mahela Jayawardene has captured the Sri Lankan public's imagination. Of the schoolboy cricketers over the last 30 years, Jayawardene was perhaps the only player to match the island-wide fame Arjuna Ranatunga had achieved in the early 1980s. Angelo Mathews would have been making his first forays into the sport when Jayawardene was still playing for Nalanda College, and he would almost more..

July 15 (Island) More than 250 teachers in the Eastern Province suffered from mental disorders and the education authorities did not know what to do with them, Eastern Province Director of Education M.T.M. Nizam, said at the Education Development Committee meeting chaired by Batticaloa GA P.S.M. Charles at the Batticaloa District Secretariat. He said that most of the principals were interested only in obtaining more infrastructure facilities for their schools and more..

July 15 (DM) Popular film star Sabitha Perera and her husband were today ordered to be present in the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on October 27 to answer charges in a case where a cheque issued to a construction company by a company belonging to the film star and her husband had been dishonoured. Colombo Additional Magistrate Chandima Liyanage issued summons on the defendants Janaki Sabitha Perera and her husband Upali Jayasinghe who are alleged to more..

July 15 (AM) Chairman of Dehiowita Pradeshiya Sabha, Amila Ruwan Kandearchchi and an accomplice have been arrested by Police over charges of robbery. He was needed for forcefully taking back a bus seized by officials off a finance company and was absconding for a few days. The Chairman has surrendered willingly to the Dehiowita Police when he got to know about the police investigation. more..

July 15 (Island) The Fraud Bureau has arrested an ex-police constable who has sold lands belonging to Sri Lankans living abroad by preparing false deeds and thereby obtaining about Rs. 50 million. Two of his confederates had also been arrested, a senior officer of the Fraud Bureau said. The suspect is alleged to have sold two lands in Colombo 03 after prepareing bogus deeds. They are owned by a Sri Lankan living abroad. Police arrested the suspect by deploying decoys who pretended more..

July 15 (GDI) First phase of building 210 bridges under a programme to construct 1210 rural bridges island-wide is now almost nearing the target. Already work on 100 of these has been fully completed under Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s direction. These bridges will reduce the gap between towns and villages thus opening the doors for rapid rural development in accordance with the Mahinda Chinthana Vision. The bridges will benefit over six million people in 15,000 villages more..

July 15 (PTI) Deploring the status of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka, NDA constituent MDMK today urged the Modi Govt to take 'appropriate steps' to ensure their well-being and opposed deepening commercial and economic relations between India and Sri Lanka. Party founder Vaiko in a letter to PM Narendra Modi said a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs had reportedly justified India abstaining from voting on a more..

July 15 (Island) Sri Lanka’s poorest province was Uva where the situation was far worse that in the war-torn Northern and Eastern Provinces, the JVP said on Sunday.. JVP MP Vijitha Herath said that President Rajapaksa’s nephew had been appointed the Uva Chief Minister in 2009, but there had been no development. "According to govt statistics, the poorest four Divisional Secretariat areas of the country are in the Badulla and Moneragala Districts," MP Hearth said. more..

July 15 (ANI) The Indian Govt has reiterated that it is against sending an UN investigation team to Sri Lanka to probe human rights violations allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan security forces during the decades-long war. The previous UPA Govt of India abstained from voting on the UN resolution adopted in March this year at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva mandating the investigation to be led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. more..

July 15 (DM) BBS urged the govt to expel Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem from the govt over the recent statements he had made against what he called “Buddhist extremism and the need to control it.” “We are ashamed of the President and govt because Hakeem had condemned the Buddhists and the monks who brought the President into power,” BBS Secretary General Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera said. more..

July 15 (Island) The Police will file a plaint against four suspects alleged to have assaulted Leonard Fonseka in Kuliyapitiya town last Friday and attempted to abduct him. The suspects are said to be close associates of North Western Province Chief Minister, Dayasiri Jayasekara. SSP Ajith Rohana said that Kulipyapitiya police had arrested four suspects over the alleged incident the same evening after the complaint had been made and they had been released by the Kuliyapitiya Magistrate more..