July 14 (SO) After months of negotiation and show of strength, former President Rajapaksa was finally given a ticket to contest by the SLFP which is part of the UPFA, a conglomerate of around 16 parties. Few of its constituents had left UPFA before the presidential election. General Secretary of the UPFA, Susil Premajayantha, who is also a supporter of Rajapaksa, said that President Sirisena has finally approved his candidature to contest the election from Hambantota constituency and more..

July 14 (SL) Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya needs to be congratulated for requesting/directing the police not to interrogate Western Province CM Prasanna Ranatunga in a scam ahead of the latter working on finalising the SLFP-UPFA nominations list for the August 17, parliamentary polls. Deshapriya has indicated that such interrogation would interfere with the election process, and that Ranatunga could be interrogated after nominations closed on July 13. more..

July 14 (SL) After defecting to the UNP, former Treasurer of the SLFP, senior Minister S B Nawinna said that several others, including him, wanted to leave the SLFP, during the last election, as they were disappointed with the Rajapaksa regime. Nawinna claimed they were prevented from taking such an action as they could not let the party down. His decision had to made as Mahinda Rajapaksa had returned to party. more..

July 14 (SO) One does not need Einstein’s brains to understand that Susil Premajayantha and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, the General Secretaries of the UPFA and the SLFP respectively, played into the hands of Rajapaksa when it came to the election nominations. Although President Sirisena did not want to give nominations to nearly 20 ex-MPs of the party, Premajayantha and Yapa, worked hard to ensure nominations for the dirty and the corrupt. Amid the heat of the nomination crisis, more..

July 14 (Island) President Sirisena’s decision to nominate his arch rival former President Rajapaksa to contest the general elections from his party came as a major shock especially to the president’s closest supporters. To make matters worse for them, the president also gave in to the demand that the former president’s allies also be given nomination despite the poor reputations most of them suffer from on account of their conduct during the previous ten years of their period of govt. more..

July 14 (CT) Joint Secretary of the Domestic Workers Union (DWU) Ananthi Sivasubramaniam spoke about the plight faced by the domestic workers, the lack of legal protection for domestics, the govt's ignorance of the ground realities faced by them and most importantly the need for a legal framework encompassing a system of contracts involving the employer, the employee and the Labour Department whilst expanding more..

July 14 (Island) Battle lines have been drawn and election campaigns are now underway. The UPFA has already started screaming blue murder about the UNP misusing public assets, especially state-owned vehicles for electioneering purposes and giving election bribes in the form of price reductions. The same allegations were levelled against the Rajapaksa govt before the Jan. 08 presidential election: the boot is now on the other foot! Election laws are sure to be flouted as more..

July 14 (SL) The Roman Empire was plagued by coups, conspiracies and wars nevertheless it was the most formidable Empire in Europe. Julius Caesar became one of the most decorated war heroes after defeating the slave leader Spartacus and his slave army that had caused much humiliation to the Roman Empire, and was later on crowned as the Empire of Rome. Caesar formed a political alliance with Crassus and Pompey which dominated Roman politics for several years. more..

July 14 (CT) JVP-led All Ceylon Estate Workers' Union (ACEWU) Leader Ramalingam Chandrasekaran said, it is time for the plantation community to remain vigilant to bring about a change in the estates through the upcoming General Elections. "Now the people of the plantations have united to struggle against injustice. Similarly, they should struggle to bring in a change in the plantations too," he said. more..

July 14 (Island) Sri Lanka Institute of Architects will launch the Architect 2016 exhibition programme and the 33rd Annual Sessions of SLIA at a grand ceremony on July 23. This was disclosed at a special meeting in which the veteran architects and officials of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects and the Architect 2016 Exhibition Organizing Committee attended. Following the tremendous success at the Exhibition and the 32rd Annual Sessions which took place at the BMICH from Feb 17 to 22 more..

July 14 (CT) There is nothing better that shows Sri Lankan sports ministry has politicised sport, than a recent news item. The news is about the sport of aquatics. The Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union under its existing committee appointed on 15 May 2015 according to sports law of the country, has not got the nod from FINA. The water monitor flesh is poisonous; the smaller version of it, the land variety, is not; however, old saying goes, when you want to eat its flesh, you'll eat it even if it's poisonous. more..

July 14 (CT) It's a privilege to have coached an under-privileged team, was how consultant coach of Science College rugby team Colin Denish described the emotion in the aftermath of his team clinching the Milo President's Trophy knock-out title for the first time in their history. Science proved the pundits wrong and delivered a fabulous performance to edge out title-holders Isipathana 21-18 in a pulsating final more..

July 14 (GDI) Dimbulagala Aranya Senasanadhipathi Ven. Maldeniye Jinalankara Nayaka Thera (87) passed away at his Senasana. He was ailing for some time. He was the chief Sangha Nayaka of the North and East Sri Lanka and a well known social worker who assisted to develop the Dimbulagala area. Ven. Thera was the successor to late Ven. Kithalagama Seelalankara Nayaka Thera who took the lead to protect the lives of the people in the border villagers more..

July 14 (Island) Sri Lanka needs to follow good practice which is being pursued by an increasing number of countries around the world. All hand- outs, subsidies and other welfare measures included in the manifestos should be costed and specific measures should be identified for financing the incremental costs involved. This will enable the voters to assess the financial viability of the promises made by various political parties and to make a clean break from the more..

July 14 (ST) President Maithripala Sirisena has failed the people and ruined his own political future, and the UNP is likely to win power since the former President is returning with many undesirables — were among a range of comments received in the recently-concluded joint poll by the Business Times and the Research and Consultancy Bureau. It was conducted on email and through face-to-face street interviews. more..

July 14 (CT) Cricket will move on to Pallekele at the Hill Capital for the second ODI tomorrow, which will be home coming for veteran all-rounder, Thilakaratne Dilshan, as he has mysterious magic with him whenever he plays there. Dilshan and Pallekele always has something special, as he had even asked from the selectors as well as his skipper, to organize more matches there following another magical performance last year. His ODI figures are just miraculous as he averages 87.10, more..

July 14 (Hindu) Four fishermen belonging to Pushpavanam near Vedaranyam sustained injuries in a mid-sea attack allegedly by unknown persons suspected to be from Sri Lanka on Sunday. The fishermen, Panneer, Anand, Rajeswaran and Ramasamy had ventured into the sea on a fibre boat on Saturday. The incident reportedly occurred when they were fishing off Kodiakarai. A Fisheries official quoting the complaint said that the accused persons, who were onboard a country craft that more..

July 14 (EN) A future administration by the UNP will develop policy by open discussion, where everyone including opposition politicians can contribute, Deputy Economic Development Minister Harsha de Silva said. He said a white paper on policy was being developed to back the concept of a social market economy, which will be tabled in parliament and opened for wider discussion among professionals and others. more..

July 14 (FT) Würth Lanka Ltd., the leader in motor vehicle and construction industry aftermarket products and solutions launched its state-of-the-art safety equipment range of solutions for personal protection recently. Würth’s Personal Protection Equipment ranges from protective work clothing, equipment, respiratory, eye, fall, hearing, hand and skin protection equipment and solutions to safety shoes. “Unknowingly and most often unintentionally, workers and employees in factories, more..

July 14 (CT) An application for a Patent takes an inordinate time to get regularized here in Sri Lanka largely due to the severe staff shortages that the division has suffered for the last twenty years. The division struggling to cope with the- ever increasing number of applications received still sees no solution in sight. There are around 700 patent application pending approval now . The delay is largely caused due to the acute shortage of staff officers. To clear these arrears and carry out more..

July 14 (FT) Abans Sri Lanka together with SilverNeedle Hospitality of Singapore have completed piling operations for the construction of a 47 storey 1,000,000 sq. ft. mixed lifestyle centre consisting of a shopping mall, apartment complex and hotel, at the former CCC site opposite the scenic Beira Lake at Sir James Pieris Mawatha, Colombo 02, to be called Colombo City Centre. more..

July 14 (DM) United National Front for Good Governance General Secretary Champika Ranawaka said they would decide independently in a future parliament though contesting on the UNP ticket. He said this at the District Secretariat after handing over nominations. “A real and effective change was brought about because of the political decisions we made in the past. We were able to re-establish democracy in the country while upholding its unitary character,” minister said. more..

July 14 (DM) UNP said they would secure a landslide victory at the parliamentary election similar to the UNP election victory in 1977. Colombo District candidate and Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said they have a huge advantage at the election because of the nature of the candidates fielded by the UPFA. “UPFA has fielded a number of rapists, drug peddlers and fraudsters from their nomination list and it is a huge advantage for our party,” he said after handing over the party nominations. more..

July 14 (DN) A major drama took place at former Minister Felix Perera’s house at Keppetipola Mawatha, Colombo, on Sunday, over some UPFA politicians whose applications for nominations were turned down by the party. Former President Rajapaksa had visited Perera’s house on Sunday night where a meeting was scheduled to take place between Rajapaksa and some members of nominations committee, more..

July 14 (Island) NSB’s new Pitakotte Branch was ceremonially opened recently, marking the addition of branch number 241 to its island wide network. Deputy Minister of Policy Planning, Economic Affairs, Child, Youth and Cultural Affairs, Hon. Dr Harsha De Silva attended the branch opening as the Guest of Honour and Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake was the Chief Guest of the opening ceremony held at the new branch location at E W Perera Mawatha, Pitakotte. more..

July 14 (GDI) President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the officials to complete the Polonnaruwa District Development Project within next five years. The Project was implemented to provide benefits of development for the people in Pulatisipura who were neglected for so many years. He made these observations participating in the Polonnaruwa District Development Committee meeting. President Sirisena further said that during the first two years of the project special attention more..

July 14 (EN) Sri Lanka has started to generate more jobs in the first quarter of 2015, but unemployment rate has edged up to 4.7% from 4.4% in December quarter. There was an increase in the labour force participation rate to 53.6% from 53.4% during the quarter. Total employed had risen to 8.502 million in the first quarter of 2015 from 8.395 million in first quarter of 2014, indicating the creation of about 100,000 new jobs more..

July 14 (EN) A host of Buddhist monks and murder suspects are among over 6,000 candidates seeking election to the 225-seat parliament where members enjoy perquisits, power and pensions. Among the venerable priests seeking an honourable title before their names is Galagodaaththe Gnanasara of the BBS which former president Rajapaksa blames for his Jan 8 defeat. Former deputy minister Premalal Jayaratne who is in remand custody in connection with killing of a supporter of Prez Sirisena more..

July 14 (Island) A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court by two petitioners against the construction of a power station by Sapta Kanya Hydro Power Private Limited in allegedly close proximity to Seven Hills, Adam’s Peak and Lakshapana Falls. The petition has said that the construction of a power station in the Lakshapana area will disturb the environment and be detrimental to the fauna and flora in the area. It says that the impending construction is in violation of more..

July 14 (EN) Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa who is the UPFA team leader in Kurunegala has dropped minority Tamils and Muslims from his list of candidates to head a Sinhala-only team. He was not present at the Kurunegala district secretariat to submit nomination forms leaving the menial task to his deputy Anura Priyadharshana Yapa. Kurunegala with a vote base of 1.26 million has a 7% Muslim population. more..

July 14 (CT) The Medical Faculty Students' Action Committee (MFSAC) yesterday protested in front of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) over the Council's sudden decision to inspect the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). Convener of the MFSAC Ryan Jayalath said that the SLMC had previously on several occasions, based on information gathered through reports requested for and procured from the SAITM, that the SAITM was not suitable for even inspection. more..

July 14 (GDI) The govt is of the view that one of the steps to be taken for strengthening the civil administration after ending the conflicts of the war is widening the Police Stations and govt offices. Accordingly, the govt plans to expedite the building of two Police Stations in the war ravaged Jaffna. Cabinet has given approval to expeditiously build Police Stations in Jaffna and Point Pedro by increasing the estimated expenditure from Rs. 294.8 Million to Rs. 484.1 Million more..

July 14 (FT) The 17 August Parliamentary election officially kicked off after nominations closed at noon yesterday, with all major political parties throwing their hat in the ring to win seats in Sri Lanka’s 15th Parliament. According to the nomination lists handed over at the district secretariats by noon yesterday, 6,151 candidates will compete for 196 seats in the country’s 225-member Legislature next month. more..

July 14 (DM) Amid tension and turmoil, conflicts within conflicts and crisis within crisis nominations for the crucial General Elections on August 17 were closed at noon yesterday with no major incidents or violation of election laws reported. Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya acting boldly, reminded candidates that organising of public processions or vehicle parades before, during or after nominations were illegal. Commissioner warned that if any such activities took place more..

July 14 (DM) It was quite evident from the very beginning that the campaign by a group of Mahinda Rajapaksa acolytes to nominate the ex-president as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the SLFP/UPFA was self-seeking and opportunistic. It was a campaign that sought to draw on from the Rajapaksa cult that the ex-president carefully cultivated during his tenure. Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva and et al bolstered by generous financing by a coterie of nouveau rich businessmen, more..

July 14 (DM) Evidence based National Policies that are long termed and goal oriented are the best way forward to establish political, economical and socio cultural stability in the country. Convener for the Campaign for Sound National Policies and Head of Dept of Sociology, Uni of Colombo Prof. Siri Hettige explained the significance of the national policy frameworks in the context of the brewing socio political and economic more..

July 14 (DN) Notwithstanding the emergence as a candidate at the forthcoming general election, the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is entitled to enjoy his Presidential retirement benefits, privileges and other perks of office. However, he cannot use theses facilities for election- related activities or propaganda as per the 19 th Amendment, legal experts told the Daily News yesterday. more..

July 14 (SL) As the Govt closes shop and prepares to face what is likely to be a hard fought battle at the Parliament election, the Tamils in the North will be looking back at the past six months to see what President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe have done for them before deciding on their vote on August 17. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition Govt had promised to improve lives of the people who had suffered more..

July 14 (ST) Hard on the heels of calling for nominations, the Elections Department has so far received 73 complaints of granting jobs, promotions and cases of transfers ahead of the polls, monitors said. Over 700 arbitrary appointments made by the Education Ministry of the North Central Province has been referred to the Elections Commissioner, while arresting an attempt to transfer a number of top officials at provincial level, more..

July 14 (DN) The problem of unemployment is more acute in the case of educated females compared to educated males, a survey reveals. SL’s economically active population is about 8.9 million in the first quarter 2015. Of which 63.3% are males and 36.7% are females. Out of the economically inactive population 25.9% are males & 74.1% are females. Male participation to the labour force is always higher than that of females. more..