Oct 15 (DM) Taking another step towards the declaration of a snap presidential election, the ruling UPFA has summoned its members of provincial councils and the local authorities for a discussion today, Daily Mirror learns. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa is reported to have announced this at a meeting he had with the staff members of the ministers and MPs on Monday. more..

Oct 15 (LBO) Shares gained on Wednesday with the positive price movements in banking and diversified stocks amid net foreign buying. All Share Price Index closed 83.36 points higher at 7,288.83, up 1.16%. The S&P SL20 closed 53.09 points higher at 4,064.84, up 1.32%. Turnover was 1.59 billion rupees, down from 1.60 billion rupees a day earlier with 167 stocks closed positive against 33 negative. Alufab Plc, an aluminum manufacturer who sold its 60.69% stake to Hayleys Plc to more..

Oct 15 (CT) “A clear contradiction in terms”, as any sane person would say. Since 1978 the Constitution which is the Supreme Law of Sri Lanka stipulated in Article 31(2) that: “No person who has been twice elected to the office of President by the People shall be qualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People.” In December 1999, Chandrika Kumaratunga (CBK) was elected to the office of President for the second time and by operation of Law, she incurred the penalty of more..

Oct 15 (LBO) Ceylon Chamber suggests balanced and appropriate amendments to the proposed Land bill in the national interest, the chamber said in a media release. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) appreciates the fact that land is an extremely scarce resource, especially in a small island such as Sri Lanka and it needs to be prudently and productively utilized for the overall well-being and benefit of the nation. more..

Oct 15 (CT) Afew days ago, the Minister of Culture and Arts, T.B. Ekanayake announced that the historic Elphinstone Theatre located at Maradana would be re-named as Gamini Fonseka Theatre after the ongoing reconstruction to the theatre was completed. Those who love, culture and films would certainly welcome the move by the minister. The legendary actor passed away ten years ago. So, it had taken a decade for the State to think of honouring him. more..

Oct 15 (Island) Rajapaksa regime was worse than the ‘Kalu Kada Mudalali’ (black marketeer), the UNP said. When a Kalu Kada Mudalali charged exorbitant prices he could be fined, Senior UNP MP Joseph Michael Perera noted, adding that the ruling UPFA had been fleecing the public with impunity. When the world market prices of infant milk food and crude oil dropped, it did not give the consumer any relief. In the case of gas, it had been periodically jacking up prices while reducing it marginally more..

Oct 15 (DM) DP Leader Sarath Fonseka today rejected claims that he would leave the country in 2017 and vowed he would even spend his last moments in Sri Lanka. “As I said when I first entered politics, I will do politics for at least 10 years. Unless someone attempted to kidnap me and forcibly take me away to another country, I won’t leave SL,” he said. Mr. Fonseka said he would continue to serve the people of this country. more..

Oct 15 (AD) One reported dead and at least 57 injured after a SLTB bus fell into 200m deep precipice in Teldeniya area in Rambukwella, this afternoon, the police said. The accident occurred on Kandy-Mahiyangana road at around 1.30 p.m. Ada Derana reporter said that the bus had veered off the road and fell into the precipice as the driver failed to negotiate a narrow bend of the road. The injured persons have been initially admitted to the Teldeniya Base hospital. more..

Oct 15 (Island) Minister S.B. Dissanayake received a warm welcome from the undergraduates the Eastern University had given a cordial welcome to the minister’s visit to their Trincomalee Campus on Sunday. Students also agreed to stop their lecture boycott following discussions with the minister who undertook to do everything in his power to solve their problems fast. Eastern University Students have been boycotting classes since July 28 in protest against removal their popular Rector more..

Oct 15 (CG) UNP today said it will support trade union action scheduled to be staged in Fort on Oct 21 by a few trade union groups. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe made the announcement after meeting a joint trade union consisting of unions from the Satte and private sector today. Joint trade unions are calling for action over 17 demands including the minimum salary of State sector employees to be increased to Rs. 10,000. more..

Oct 15 (ET) Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicle Division has launched its ULTRA trucks, part of its Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) range, in Sri Lanka. The Indian auto major had earlier launched the larger Prima trucks in the neighbouring country. Mr R T Wasan, Head International Business said "The launch of the Tata Ultra range of vehicles in Sri Lanka, is an important milestone in Tata Motors' continued expansion globally. The Ultra range is world-class in every sense, more..

Oct 15 (Island) Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that 450 children who did not go to school or had dropped out of school had been admitted to schools so far this year in the Colombo, Kalutara and Gampaha Districts. He said that he had launched a programme to provide education for all the children of school-going age in his capacity as the Western Province Education Minister. The programme by the Non-formal Education Unit of the Provincial Education more..

Oct 15 (DM) Security Forces who had already launched the process of returning identified gold jewellery, recovered earlier from the LTTE, to their rightful owners, today appealed remaining civilians who have still failed to claim their valuables after the war to reach Civil Coordinating Offices in the north, the military said. Accordingly, the military requested the northern civilians to come to the Civil Coordinating Offices in Wanni, Kilinochchi, more..

Oct 15 (Island) Acting on a tip-off, the Hettipola police seized a lorry and 86,480 kilos of refuse tea stored in a coir warehouse at Akarawatte, Munamaldeniya on Monday afternoon. The suspect who allegedly ran the storehouse was arrested yesterday morning and produced before the Hettipola Magistrate. He was released on bail. Two sureties standing bail of Rs. 200,000 each. The businessman and workers packing the tea had not been there at the time of the raid more..

Oct 15 (CG) Sri Lanka’s pioneering Christian television channel, Gospel Vision will present audiences in Sri Lanka the unique opportunity of witnessing visionary leader and speaker Dr. Bill Winston as he addresses two separate gatherings during his visit to the island. Dr. Bill Winston served for six years as a fighter pilot in the US Air Force, where his extraordinary achievement in aerial flight earned him The Distinguished Flying Cross, The Air Medal for performance in combat, more..

Oct 15 (Bernama) Malaysian manufacturers should use Sri Lanka as a springboard to penetrate markets in South Asia, said the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (NCCIM) Secretary General, Datuk Syed Hussien Al-Habshee. He said Malaysian investors should seize the opportunities offered by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and India, as well as with Pakistan to penetrate more..

Oct 15 (DN) A delegation of specialists from several countries have arrived in Sri Lanka to study strategies used by Sri Lanka to eliminate malaria, Health Ministry sources said. According to sources, the objective of the tour was the exchanging of experiences for the elimination of malaria. The sources said that a meeting was scheduled to be held in Negombo on the 14, between the delegation and Sri Lankan health authorities in connection with the subject. more..

Oct 15 (AM) Filing a writ application before Court of Appeal, a trade union attached to the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) alleged that the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has defaulted a payment of Rs.4000 million to the SLTB employees since May 2010. The four petitioners representing the Samastha Lanka Motor Sevaka Samithiya filed the writ petition urging the Court to issue a writ of mandamus against the Commissioner General of Labour, ordering to initiate legal proceedings more..

Oct 15 (Island) UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha said that the govt would offer more relief to the public within the next two weeks besides the fuel and power price reductions. He was addressing the commencement of road development in Kaduwela at a cost of about Rs. 190 million. Minister Premajayantha stressed that there was no legal barrier for President Rajapaksa to contest any number of presidential elections. more..

Oct 15 (CI) Marizanne Kapp fueled South Africa Women to a winning start in the ICC Women's Championship. She complemented an unbeaten 89 with a spell of 2 for 36 to keep Sri Lanka Women 54 runs short of their target of 226 in Colombo. South Africa, after opting to bat, found themselves 17 for 2 in the seventh over. Opener Lizelle Lee rallied with a composed 72 off 103 balls. She was part of two half-century partnerships with the middle order and Kapp ensured that period of stability was more..

Oct 15 (AAP) Steve O'Keefe says Sri Lanka's spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan has been invaluable in helping him work on his variations in a bid to push for Test selection in the upcoming series against Pakistan. Uncapped left-arm spinner O'Keefe claimed 3-76 off 23 overs on Wednesday in Pakistan A's first innings of 8-305 off 90 overs in Sharjah. Both sides have agreed on 90 overs per innings for the four-day game. Pakistan A captain Asad Shafiq, who has scored four Test hundreds, more..

Oct 15 (TS) As a “protected person,” Kogularamanan Arulanantham cannot be removed from Canada to Sri Lanka. As someone deemed “inadmissible” to Canada as an alleged member of the Tamil Tigers, the Brampton man cannot become a permanent resident and must renew his temporary permit to remain here every year – unless he is granted a reprieve from Public Safety Minister Steve Blaney. more..

Oct 15 (AM) Minister for Environment and Renewable Energy Susil Premajayath recently stated that climate change is one of the key issues that the world is facing today and while cutting down emissions is key to addressing this, adaptation should be part of the development process. He made these comments at the 4th Asia Pacific Adaptation Forum hosted by Malaysia recently. He explained key steps that Sri Lanka will take to engage actively in tackling climate change. more..

Oct 15 (DM) A Garuda Indonesian flight, carrying 375 passengers including Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia, had made a forced landing at the BIA Katunayake on Tuesday night due to a technical error, Airport officials said. The Duty Manager of the BIA said the aircraft suffered technical problems and was forced to land in Sri Lanka and was currently being repaired. Meanwhile, Indonesian media reports quoted a Garuda airways official as saying a replacement plane to more..

Oct 15 (AP) Sri Lanka will address European Commission concerns about its fishing industry to avert a possible import ban. Fisheries Ministry spokesman Narendra Rajapaksa said it is confident of being able to avoid the ban on fisheries products. The European Commission proposed the ban on Tuesday, saying Sri Lanka has not sufficiently addressed shortcomings in its fisheries control system. more..

Oct 16 (NS) The 14th death anniversary of the first woman Prime Minister of the world Sirimavo Bandaranaike fell on Oct 10. In early Sept, 1961, leaders of 25 nations met in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade to found the non-alignment movement. Among those who gathered were giants of world politics of the day, including Yugoslavia’s Marshal Josip Broz Tito, President of the United Arab Republic Gamal Abdel Nasser and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. more..

Oct 16 (CT) How many leaders are needed to run the UNP? Two – i.e., leader and deputy leader, which is the norm? Three – i.e., the leader, the deputy leader and the assistant leader? Four – i.e., the leader, the deputy leader, the assistant leader and the leader of the Leadership Council? Or even more, if you add the other members in the Leadership Council, including wannabees like Mangala Samaraweera etc? What is the limit? Where is it going to end? more..

Oct 16 (SO) In Sri Lanka, you can go to the remotest village in the middle of nowhere and still find an unmistakable sign of connectivity to the outside world - the Post Office. Long before today’s always-connected world became a reality, this was the only place that had a telephone; it was the only place where you could post a letter to someone living on the other side of the world. Times have indeed changed now. more..

Oct 16 (CT) In 2015 our government will only spend Rs.12,150 to educate the average primary or secondary school student for the entire year. This is because Sri Lanka’s education budget for 2015, which pays for all teachers’ salaries, school infrastructure, and any other money spent by the Ministry of Education, will only be 364 million dollars. For some context, Sri Lankan Airlines lost US$ 157 million in 2012 and building the Mattala airport cost US$ 209 million. more..

Oct 16 (Island) There would be significant implications for energy and water consumption in hotels, with the increasing number of tourist arrivals and guest nights, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Executive Director Dr. Saman Kelegama said. Speaking at a workshop titled `Environmental Management Practices in the Hotel Sector in Sri Lanka’, he said, therefore, it is important that the sector takes appropriate measures to manage water and energy sustainably. more..

Oct 16 (NS) Leader of the Democratic People’s Front (DPF), Mano Ganesan says that the results of the recently held Uva Provincial Council polls came as a shock to the Government. In an interview to The Nation, Ganesan added that his party was in the process of holding discussions with the United National Party (UNP) and opposition parties with regard to forging an alliance for the upcoming Presidential elections and beyond. more..

Oct 16 (CT) Suspect bowling actions seem to be the topic of the day on the lips of not just the administrators but the umpires, coaches and players too. It appears that suddenly the ICC has woken up from deep slumber and is looking to clean up the cricketing stable and the victims have been the modern off spinner! Coaches would tell you, that the off spinner of past used to bowl with the drift rather than spin and will not depend too much on turn. His role was more to contain than more..

Oct 16 (CT) Chinese submarines in Colombo, and the Tamil Diaspora entry to India were the surprising developments in India and Sri Lanka last week. The Indian Defence Secretary was in Sri Lanka last week to meet President Rajapaksa, who was in Kandy. Though it was not clear as to what was conveyed to Mahinda by the Indian Defence Secretary, there was no doubt that India expressed concern over the berthing of three Chinese submarines during the visit of the Chinese President. more..

Oct 16 (CT) Hirdaramani Group officially commenced construction work on a new apparel manufacturing facility in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu, with the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone. The company is currently running a training facility in Mullaitivu and the establishment of the factory is the next step in creating jobs and opportunities for the communities in the area. "As a Group we made the decision to invest in the North-East as part of our responsibility, more..

Oct 16 (NS) It’s raining. Hard. They say ‘bad weather’, but I think it would be ridiculous to describe Colombo on a rainless, hot afternoon as a city enjoying ‘good weather’. I don’t understand Meteorology lingo. Anyway, I distract myself. It’s nice weather for me, especially since I am just watching the rain and not getting drenched by it. Right now I am sitting in the verandah of a quaint little restaurant somewhere in a quaint old place called the Galle Fort. more..

Oct 16 (GV) By all accounts, President Rajapakse’s unprecedented and rather controversial third term re-election campaign, though unofficial, has begun in earnest. Last week he presented the Cabinet of Ministers with a proposal to increase communal harmony in the country and implement the LLRC proposals, though a few weeks earlier the defense establishment, had facilitated a convention of more..

Oct 16 (CT) Deshodaya Development Finance Company Ltd (DDFC) added yet another link to the chain of transformations which it has gone through from inception; Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, who was the Chairman from inception, handed over the reins of Chairmanship to the competent hands of Eastman Narangoda. Eastman Narangoda who is a well known figure in the financial sector of Sri Lanka obtained his education at Nalanda College where he was an exceptional student & an all rounder more..

Oct 16 (Island) The govt has decided to provide four million schoolchildren with midday meals free from harmful chemicals, as we reported on Tuesday. Medical experts have found agrochemical residues in urine samples taken from the children in areas where the chronic kidney disease is prevalent, according to our report. How effective the agrochemical-free midday meal scheme will be in tackling the kidney disease remains to be seen, but it is certainly welcome because more..

Oct 16 (FT) His popularity may be slightly dented. His electoral invincibility is finally shaken. The minority communities appear to have deserted him en masse. Even his nationalist allies are threatening to work towards his defeat. But to the polls President Rajapaksa will go, seeking a third term in office. For that is what the stars decree. And a fractured and incoherent opposition, rather than his own strengths, will be his best hope more..