July 19 (CI) Hashim Amla gave Sri Lanka four sessions to chase 370 and the hosts began strongly, knocking 110 off the target with Kumar Sangakkara's unbeaten fifty. Sharp turn and bounce finally made an appearance when South Africa batted, but they rode on a 163-run first-innings cushion to score at more than four an over to set up the declaration. The South African spinners were not consistent enough again to be a more..

July 19 (ST) Parents in Haputale are blaming a vaccine administered by Badulla District Medical Officer of Health (MoH) for their three-year-old son’s death. The last time John David saw his son, three-year-old David Rosario alive, he was sleeping soundly snuggled against him. The following morning, on July 6, Rosario was dead. Rosario lived with his father, an Ayurveda resort attendant, his mother, K. Pushpalatha, an estate tea plucker, and his five-year-old elder sister more..

July 19 (CG) DCD or dicyandiamide has been found in ice cream sold in the market, Minister Champika Ranawaka said. He said that traces of DCD had been found through tests conducted on ice cream sold in Colombo during Poson Poya Day. “Tests conducted by the ITI institute found that the ice cream was made using milk which contains DCD,” the Minister said. He said that results from the tests showed that milk powder or other products with DCD are still being sold in the market despite more..

July 19 (CI) The unpredictable nature of sport is the reason why many of us are drawn to it. Almost anything can happen once without arousing suspicion. But when something unusual happens more than once, we speak of it with wonder. Twice is like once, just double. This is the third time in the last nine months South Africa have been associated with ball-tampering and we are now forced to look at it more critically. more..

July 19 (ST) Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has once again decided to pour money into another round of their reality-TV show “Rata Viruwo Talent Star” (or “Overseas Heroes Talent Star.”) The Bureau is now publishing advertisements requesting sales quotations for “judges,” “compères,” “stage set ups,” “music bands,” and “recording of episodes.” The show was held last year for the first time where Sri Lankans working in Middle Eastern countries more..

July 19 (ST) Western Province school principals have been directed to take steps to ensure that their students obtain better results at the GCE (O/L) exam this year as projections show three other provinces might come out with better results, a senior official said. Western Province Acting Education Director Wimal Gunaratne, said schools had been told to have additional classes of two and half hours for O/L students. The education authorities would meet principals to discuss ways of improving more..

July 19 (AM) After debating over the matter for years if not decades, the Sri Lankan govt has finally taken measures to legalize "limited abortion", sources of the Child Development and Women's Affairs Ministry said. A consultative committee is now working on the mechanism to legalize "limited abortion" in Sri Lanka as a way of addressing issues faced by women who have been victimized by rape and other similar problems. more..

July 19 (Island) The Wildlife Conservation Department succeeded in capturing a monkey which had attacked a student of Thurstan College on Thursday. Vice Principal of Thurstan College, said that the monkey had jumped over the school wall and chased after the student before attacking him. The monkey had been hanging around the Grades Six and Seven classes, he said. He said that a student had been attacked previously as well. Students from Royal College, too, more..

July 19 (CG) The Govt today sought public support against attempts by some foreign countries to interfere in Sri Lanka’s domestic affairs. External Affairs Minister, Professor G.L Peiris said that some countries are looking at taking away the rights of the local public to decide on the future of Sri Lanka. Speaking in Kandy today the Minister noted that similar intervention in other countries had led to those countries being virtually destroyed with a damaged economy. more..

July 19 (CG) Three of the four suspected senior leaders of the LTTE who were detained in multiple raids in Malaysia this month, have been brought to Sri Lanka, the police media unit said. The police said that Edmond Sinharajah alias Sasi, Indika Sanjeewa and Abdul Saleem were brought to Sri Lanka last night and are being questioned by the TID. The suspected leaders of the LTTE were apprehended by the Bukit Aman more..

July 19 (CT) Nine organizations representing Sri Lankan Muslims living in Australia have issued a joint statement urging the Australian govt to reconsider their decision to allow BBS General Secretary, Galagoda Atte Gnanasara to visit the country. The Collective of organizations representing Sri Lankan Muslims living in Australia, in a letter to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Australian Minister of Immigration more..

July 19 (Island) Minister Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa called for the expulsion from the SLFP of Tangalle PS Chairman Sampath Chandrapushpa Vidana Pathirane who was found guilty of killing British tourist Khuram Shaikh and raping his Russian girlfriend Victoria Alexadrovna and sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment by Colombo High Court Judge Rohini Walgama. "The party hierarchy should punish wrongdoers irrespective of their position, loyalty or seniority," he said. more..

July 19 (AI) The brother of a Red Cross worker murdered after confronting a violent mob of rapists in Sri Lanka has said he can finally grieve properly after four killers, including a politician, were jailed. Khuram Shaikh, 32, was shot and stabbed in the early hours of Christmas Day 2011 after trying to stop a group of armed, drunken men who gang raped a woman. The aid worker, from Rochdale, who had been working in Gaza more..

July 19 (PRIU) President Rajapaksa said that teachers should have a positive mentality to provide a better education to the children. As such he instructed the Education Minister and the Provincial Chief Ministers to implement a streamlined programme to upgrade the welfare of the teachers. President gave these instructions at a special discussion with Chief Ministers at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (17). President attributed the dearth of teachers in certain Provinces to more..

July 19 (ST) An amendment to the Prescription Ordinance will be taken up for debate in Parliament on July 24. The amendment seeks to enable those who were displaced during the 30-year-war to reclaim their properties they were forced to abandon. The Bill seeks to provide relief to people who were displaced during the war and are unable to reclaim their properties due to the restrictions in place due to provisions of the Prescription Ordinance. more..

July 19 (HT) The popular Tamil language service of the BBC is to be moved from London to India, where it will be relocated with the BBC Hindi service, according to new plans announced to cut costs until 2017. A BBC World Service spokesperson told HT: “In India, BBC Tamil has a growing audience and we believe that relocating the team with BBC Hindi – which successfully relocated to Delhi and has more..

July 19 (AM) Chairman of the State Trading Corporation Pradeep Gunawardena has been appointed as the SLFP Organizer for Colombo - East electorate by President Rajapaksa. Gunawardena accepted his letter of appointment from the President at Temple Trees a few days ago. Pradeep Gunawaedena has been working as the Chairman of the State Trading Corporation since 2008. Previously he was the Sri Lankan Consul General to the California state in US. more..

July 19 (SLA) Recent deployment of random ‘surveillance team’ of the Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police (SLCMP), intent on curbing any irregularities, corruption and malpractices and minimizing wastages or abuse if any, taking place in military formations, consequent upon strict directives, given by Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, Commander of the Army himself, arrested a few soldiers, attempting to sell off a stock of rice and other dry rations of a camp to an outside more..

July 19 (CI) South Africa either need to become more discreet in their management of the match ball or stop trying to manipulate it to their advantage. That was the message from coach Russell Domingo in the aftermath of the Vernon Philander ball-tampering episode. "I'm sure other sides are probably a little bit better at doing it than we are and it's maybe something that we cut out completely," Domingo said after play on more..

July 19 (LT) Another of the series of seminars held throughout the island to present ‘Our Vision’, the policy framework adopted unanimously at the 7th National Convention of the JVP was held at Arundathy Hotel in Vavuniya today. The keynote address was delivered by the Leader of the JVP Anura Dissanayaka. A large number of people including the President of JVP ‘Balamandalaya’ at Vavuniya Upali Samarasinghe, the Organizer of the JVP at Killinochchi S. Rajendran, more..

July 19 (CI) 110: The largest first-innings deficit for Sri Lanka in Tests which they've ended up winning. There've been only two instances of Sri Lanka turning around 100-plus run deficits into wins, and both were in matches when they batted first and got out cheaply: against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1995 they were all out for 223 and conceded a lead of 110, but won by 42 runs, while against England at Headingley last month they were bowled out for 257 and conceded a lead of 108, but won by 100 more..

July 20 (SO) UNP won the July 1977 general election with a landslide, reducing SLFP, to a mere 8 seats. SLFP was relegated to the third place and the TULF leader A. Amirthalingam became the Opposition leader. UNP's 5/6th majority was a carte blanche cheque to the new PM J.R. Jayewardene to do anything and everything, except to make man a woman and vice versa. He changed the Constitution and introduced the Executive Presidency and the preferential voting system. more..

July 20 (SL) The appointment of three well known international prosecutors – who probed war crimes that caused global revulsion – to advise the Maxwell Pranayama Commission investigating reportedly missing persons in the North and East, is President Rajapaksa’s response to continuous allegations made against him since the end of the conflict. The main allegation made against the Rajapaksa govt has been that of a cover-up of human rights violations by the armed forces during more..

July 20 (SO) Minister W.D.J. Senewiratne said whoever is fielded by the UNP will not become the Chief Minister of the Uva PC, as the UPFA has a formidable team of candidates. Minister said that the Govt is certain of victory at the upcoming Uva PC polls due to the infrastructure facilities provided and the enormous economic development in the province. Education and health services in the area have improved significantly. more..

July 20 (NS) Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that if national unity is to be obtained then the primacy of the law has to be protected. He has made the further point that the collapse of law and order has not only caused anxiety among Muslims and Tamils but has impacted everyone. He is correct. While Wickremesinghe has taken pains to cite specific instances where the behavior of law enforcement authorities have been suspicious and more..

July 20 (CT) In 2011, a year after the Presidential and parliamentary elections were held, President Mahinda Rajapaksa met a group of representatives from an international donor agency at Temple Trees. The previous year, that is, in 2010, Sri Lanka had overshot its budgetary deficit target by 1.3 percentage points of GDP to 7.9% of GDP, from the original target of 6.6% of GDP. According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the island's GDP in 2010 was US$ 49.6 billion. more..

July 20 (SL) While many have been criticising the govt for the economic path it has taken leading country into debt, some have pointed out that UNP should take part of the blame for the certain economic decisions taken during the UNP govt. UNP MP Harsha De Silva said that the UNP take credit for the economic decisions made during their time, whereas the present govt has not been able to build on the economy they introduced. more..

July 20 (ST) Details contained in the report of the Public Service Commission — the body responsible for the disciplinary conduct of public servants or now known as government servants — are published in this issue on Page 4 today. Set up during the pre-Independence era, today’s Sri Lanka Administrative Service was formerly known as the Ceylon Civil Service. The Public Service Commission (PSC) was then the insurance public officials had against politicians. more..

July 20 (ST) My Dear Dayasiri, I thought of writing to you when I heard you were in the news again — after a long time. I wrote to you last nearly one year ago when you surprised many people by leaving the Green camp and joining Mahinda maama and the Blues just before contesting the Wayamba provincial council elections. This time, though, what I heard was slightly surprising. You had allegedly assaulted young Harin during a television talk show. Perhaps you watched too much World Cup football, more..

July 20 (SL) Governor of Central Bank, Ajith Nivaard Cabraal maintains that the high level of investment has supported higher growth activities, and led to the realization of benign macro-fundamentals. ‘Those outcomes, in turn, have enabled our inflation levels to remain low and the low interest rate environment to continue. In that background, it is our view that we could now consider current conditions as being sustainable,’ more..

July 20 (ST) Sri Lanka Telecom recently entered into a MoU with the Sri Dalada Maligawa to be the exclusive Official Telecommunication Partner for the temple. MoU was signed at the temple with Chinthaka Wijesooriya, Chief Regional Officer of SLT signing on behalf of the company and Krishantha Hiswella, Director-Media and Special Projects signing on behalf of the Sri Dalada Maligawa. Under the agreement, the company will be providing consistent, uninterrupted more..

July 20 (SL) When the UNP launched its “gaweshana charika” programme three and a half months ago, the party never thought that it would create some important “PR opportunities” for the opposition. Their main intention was to visit controversial development projects of the govt, and present separate reports to Parliament on key issues concerning the projects. UNP only wanted to expose the major loopholes in the much vaunted large scale projects initiated by UPFA govt. more..

July 20 (SL) Five years have elapsed since the war ended. Despite roads and other infrastructure development that have come up in all parts of the country, the economic path and decisions related to the country’s economy that the govt has taken are being scoffed at by opposition politicians. Speaking to The Sunday Leader, several politicians criticized the govt’s lack of economic vision and policies. more..

July 20 (NS) He was at one time the foremost Tamil leader espousing the Eelam cause, a man who fired the separatist imagination of a generation of Tamil youth, a man who went from being referred to ‘Thalapathy’ (Commander/General) by admiring supporters to ‘Thurogi’ (traitor) by the very same one-time admirers and later killed by forces he himself unleashed. He was assassinated on July 13, 1989. Only the inimitable D.B.S. Jeyaraj, provider of the above information, more..

July 20 (ST) National head coach Marvan Atapattu’s term has been extended till the end of the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka next month before Sri Lanka Cricket would advertise the position, it is learned. However, the assistant coach’s position currently held by Ruwan Kalpage will go under hammer immediately after the present South African tour. Atapattu who took over the Lankan reins after the sudden departure of Paul Farbrace who jumped camp to the England dressing room was more..

July 20 (CI) Former Sri Lanka coaches have often spoken of the team's thrill for a fight, particularly from poor positions. As the man currently in that job, Marvan Atapattu delivered a fighting talk of his own, after the fourth day in Galle. Sri Lanka remain 260 runs adrift on a wearing surface, and although the hosts would have to score the highest-ever fourth innings total at the venue as well as break their own record for the highest more..

July 20 (TT) Five Sri Lankan fishermen, who were earlier held on infiltration charges, have been repatriated to their homeland following intervention by the Union govt. The five fishermen — Damika Parsanna, K. Pranithi, Duleep, Madhusan and Gudika — were set free yesterday. They were arrested off Paradip coast on April 30 and were subsequently handed over to Coast Guard. The Coast Guard personnel later escorted them to Sri Lankan water territory for their voyage back more..

July 20 (NS) On July 13, 2014 the majestic Arcade Independence Square was formally declared open by President Rajapaksa amongst a galaxy of dignitaries, which included Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, state ministers and MPs. The Arcade Independence Square is the most recent of a series of amazing restorations of colonial architecture and heritage sites undertaken by the UDA in a massive development drive to beautify the city of Colombo. more..

July 20 (CI) January. Sharjah. Days 4 and 5. Sri Lanka are 1-0 up in the series and have a 87-run first-innings lead. In his first major assignment as Test captain, Angelo Mathews orders his troops to pull the steel shutters down. They score at a crawl towards the end of 4th day, hitting only 45 runs in one session, on a flat surface. Next morning they are wiped out and Pakistan launch a famous chase, charging to victory in the gloom. more..