Mar 11 (CT) Rihai Police Station of Kuwait received a phone call last month from an unknown person, who informed of a decomposed dead body near their apartment complex. Police immediately arrived at the place and recovered the body. Investigations revealed that the body was of a Sri Lankan, who worked as a driver cum sales representative at a cargo service company. Deceased was identified as Ranjith Perera of Ambalangoda, who had been working in Kuwait for more than 20 years. more..

Mar 11 (GV) When I heard that the NPC had passed a resolution on Genocide, I put my head in my hands again- something I did often during the previous regime. I asked myself, have we gone back to the beginning after all this violence and heartbreak? Tamil politics led by lawyers (I am a lawyer so this is not said in contempt) has always emphasized legal concepts and theories even if they are far removed from the reality that more..

Mar 11 (CT) Disorganized Sabaragamuwa University officials may have cut short a once in a life time opportunity for Asian Junior gold medalist Shivanthi Rathnayake as she wasn't informed about selection trials for World University Games 2015, held last month at Diyagama. Rathnayake who excelled in both sports and education qualified for the Sabaragamuwa University through a Sports Science and Management degree after her A/L exams and she filled all of her sports more..

Mar 11 (DN) The NDB Bank aims to introduce Wealth and Asset Management to their existing operations in Bangladesh. CEO, NDB, Rajendra Thiyagarajah speaking at the NDB Bank investment Forum held yesterday at Kingsbury Colombo, said that he was happy with their robust performance in Bangladesh. “We have helped secure over US$ 100 million worth of deals to customers. They were mainly in the power steel and manufacturing sectors.” more..

Mar 11 (FT) Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday reassured senior citizens that the special high 15% interest rate scheme for their qualifying fixed deposits would be strictly implemented by all licensed commercial banks. He said that there were several reports alleging that the 15% special interest rate schemes for senior citizens was not being followed by the banks despite guidelines being issued by the Central Bank. more..

Mar 11 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s blue sapphire should be re positioned to its original Sapphire hub status by creating global awareness through value addition, senior official said. “Sri Lanka lays claim to over 70 coloured gemstones out of 200 found globally including the best blue sapphire of the world, but are we branding our selves properly and getting the benefits of this?” Bandula Egodage, Chairman EDB asked. “Sri Lanka needs to be re-positioned as the original Sapphire hub. more..

Mar 11 (FT) Business leader Hemaka Amarasuriya will be retiring from Singer (Sri Lanka) from 31 March after a long and illustrious career spanning 36 years in the local entity of the multinational. Amarasuriya has been Non-Executive Chairman since 1 July 2010. After joining the Singer SL Board in Apr 1979, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director in Aug 1983 and Country Manager in 2004, Managing Director of the SL entity in Jan 1985 and as Chairman in Nov 1986. more..

Mar 11 (FT) The following were comments received in the BT email poll: On whether 100 days is enough to resolve all these issues: - After making an election promise, it is up to the public to decide or not whether 100 days is enough. - Yes. Unfortunately no action has been taken with regard to corruption apart from recording statements. It’s highly unlikely any action will be taken to mete out justice to the real culprits. more..

Mar 11 (Hindu) Slamming Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe for his recent comments on the fishermen issue, the Congress on Tuesday urged PM Narendra Modi to cancel his scheduled visit to Sri Lanka on March 13. TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan said Mr. Wickremesinghe’s remarks that there was nothing wrong in acting against TN fishermen who violate the maritime border was condemnable. Already, Sri Lanka had not bothered to implement the 13th amendment more..

Mar 11 (Hindu) Indo-SL relations have seen a marked upturn in recent weeks after a new administration took over in Colombo. Last month, during the visit of President Maithripala Sirisena, four substantive agreements were signed. There are also indications that India’s sensitivities regarding Colombo’s relations with Beijing are being addressed. PM Narendra Modi is set to visit Sri Lanka this week, the first such bilateral visit at the prime ministerial level from India in years. more..

Mar 11 (DM) Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera said that no use could be made of the two super luxury coaches found abandoned in the Ministry premises. “Those two coaches were not brought for the use of the Foreign Ministry and we intend to sell these in the open market for a good price. But there was a difficulty in finding persons who could use these coaches” he said. The present govt and other officials cannot more..

Mar 11 (SLT) Overall tourism arrivals spiking up by 16.7% to 165,541 arrivals in Feb 2015 with India growing by 14.1% and China by a staggering 165%, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau with some innovative and sharp marketing initiatives have decided to power the saught after event Colombo Fashion Week on the theme Celebrate Colombo. The Sri Lanka Promotions Bureau Chairman Rohantha Athukorala commenting on same mentioned "The logic of the sponsorship more..

Mar 11 (LT) A protest march under the theme ‘No false price increase, Legalize guaranteed price for paddy!’ organized by All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation was held in Colombo today (9). Farmers in loin clothes marched from V.D. Sirisena Grounds at Maligawatta to Colombo Fort Railway Station where an agitation was held. National Organizer of All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation Namal Karunaratna addressing the media after the agitation said, “The govt has announced that more..

Mar 11 (ENS) Vocal Lankan Tamil leader MK Shivajilingam urged PM Narendra Modi, who will be visiting Sri Lanka, to take steps for a permanent political solution to the ethnic issue jointly facilitated, mediated, and underwritten by India, EU, US, and the UN. He also urged Modi to help provide immediate relief to the Tamils by persuading Colombo to demilitarise North-East and return all the land forcibly taken from Tamils. more..

Mar 11 (CT) Leader of JVP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said a special interview will be granted to Sunday's Mawbima on the corrupt Avant Garde deal as well as regarding a person who attempted to suppress investigation into that incident. Although Mawbima had decided to publish two interviews on this incident, one with Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and other with Anura Kumara Dissanayake, only the interview with Minister Rajapakshe was published last week. more..

Mar 11 (AN) Tourism is booming in the pearl isle of Sri Lanka. Achieving another remarkable milestone in the country’s flourishing tourism industry, SLTPB, welcomed the arrival of its 1,000,000th tourist in 2014 at the BIA on Aug. 28 last year. Joshua Gladstein and Sophie Nathan who arrived via UL 504 Sri Lankan Airlines flight from London as the one millionth tourist to Sri Lanka were accorded a red carpet welcome at the Colombo airport by the tourism board officials. more..

Mar 11 (Hindu) As many as 50 of the 87 trawlers detained in Sri Lankan since June last are either fully or partly damaged and the salvage operation is likely to begin only after PM Narendra Modi completes his two-day visit to Colombo on March 14. Though SL President Sirisena had ordered the release of the boats in early February, ahead of his India visit, the boats could not be salvaged as the Lankan Navy was busy with more..

Mar 11 (DN) The truth with regard to the Treasury bond issue will be revealed soon as there is an ongoing investigation into the matter, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said responding to questions during an interactive meeting with state bank heads and the media at the ministry premises yesterday. Commenting on the controversy surrounding the issue of Treasury bonds, Karunanayake said to the best of his knowledge, there was no truth to the allegations of deceit. more..

Mar 11 (CT) Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, said India should take the responsibility of pressuring the Sri Lanka Govt into fully implementing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He added, if there are any changes to be made to the amendment, it is the role of India to ensure that such changes are introduced. Wigneswaran further said he would urge Indian PM Narendra Modi to take steps to ensure the 13th Amendment is fully implemented. more..

Mar 11 (CT) Academics of the Colombo University suspended union action, after the Chairman of the UGC agreed to take all necessary steps to remove Vice Chancellor of Colombo University, Dr. Kumara Hirimburegama. Representatives of FUTA met the Chairman and other officials of UGC yesterday morning after academics took over the College House on Monday demanding the removal of Hirimburegama. more..

Mar 11 (ST) COSMOS Aviation Services on Friday said that its former Director Sajin De Vaas Gunawardena is no longer on the board but fell short of disclosing the owner of the said company. When contacted COSMOS Aviation, a company official stated that Mr. Gunawardena was not on the board but did not wish to disclose details of the owners of the flying school. CAA Director General however said that according to information made available to them Mr. Gunawardena was still on the board more..

Mar 11 (DM) The Anti Corruption Front (ACF) today charged that the present govt was no second to the former govt considering the frauds and corruption that had occurred during the first 59 days of 100 days programme. The ACF insisted on a fully-fledged inquiry into an alleged insider dealing that had taken place during the financial bonds issue by the Central Bank. There were reports of alleged deals made by Perpetual Treasuries, a firm with connections to Arjun Aloysius, more..

Mar 11 (UN) Following elections, a historic opportunity has now presented itself for Sri Lanka to set up a domestic process that is credible, accountable and up to par with international norms and standards for the benefit of the country's people, with the help of the wider international community, the United Nations political chief said. Back from his visit to the nation, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, more..

Mar 11 (PN) A Sri Lankan cricket fan waved a sign branding Australian cricketer Glen Maxwell a fag during a Cricket World Cup match. Australia faced off against Sri Lanka at SCG yesterday – scooping a victory to reach the quarter finals. However, Sri Lankan social media has moved to condemn a man snapped holding a sign at the game, which brands cricket star Glenn Maxwell with a homophobic slur. The sign reads Maxwell Ponnaya – which roughly translates as Maxwell is a fag. more..

Mar 11 (ENS) Congress workers, who on Tuesday marched towards the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission office here and tried to besiege it in protest against the provocative remarks by PM Ranil Wickremasinghe, were stopped by police. A large number of policemen were placed around the embassy soon after the Congress announced their decision to besiege the building. When police stopped the protesters heading towards Lankan embassy, Congress workers raised slogans more..

Mar 11 (DN) Director General of Bribery Commission, Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasingha, said that preliminary investigations of Bribery and Corruption allegations could at least take 2 to 3 years. She made this remark when asked about the delay on the part of Bribery Commission when conducting investigations into complaints received by the commission. “For example, when the information is received, more..

Mar 11 (DM) David Cameron has spoken. He’s said a lot about Sri Lanka. It is not the first time that the British Prime Minister has taken time off his busy job of taking care of his country to address matters pertaining to a country at the other end of the world. There’s a difference, though. Whereas his earlier speeches were full of despair and foreboding, laced with dismay and criticism and marked by veiled threats to move or support moves in certain influential quarters in international community more..

Mar 11 (DM) We must get to the root of the larger matter. The larger matter is the political dynamics of this island: the dialectics of Sri Lankan politics as it were. These dialectics have, in the Socratic-Hegelian sense, a thesis, an anti-thesis and could yield a synthesis. What is the thesis, the pre-existing starting point? I submit that the record shows the emergence of a hardline Tamil political consciousness in the political mainstream. Speaking as far back as 1922, more..

Mar 11 (ST) A proposal to have a glass cover as protection for the famed Mirror Wall in the Sigiriya rock fortress has sparked debate, with some claiming it could destroy the wall. A string of incidents in recent years has prompted authorities to reconsider the proposal of putting up a glass guard over the wall that carries a treasure-trove of jotted graffiti verse written over eight centuries by visitors to the citadel. more..

Mar 11 (Hindu) Peeping out of a square opening on the brick wall of her home, Jayakumari Satish handed over a packet of biscuits to her first customer that afternoon. "90 rupees," she said, smiling widely at the sight of her seven-year-old son, who was just returning from the neighbouring block. "I have to work hard for his sake.” Ever since her husband went missing during the final stages of SL’s protracted civil war, more..

Mar 11 (CT) The train services from Madhu Road to Talaimannar Pier will be declared open and dedicated to people of Sri Lanka by Indian PM Narendra Modi on 14 March. The inauguration ceremony to be held at Talaimannar Pier Station, will be attended by Ministers Ranjit Madduma Bandara and Rishad Bathiudeen. The trial run on the newly constructed railway track between Madhu Road and Talaimannar Pier (63 kms) more..

Mar 11 (Island) After delivering a warship to Mauritius for the first time, India will export two warships to Sri Lanka, Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said in Kolkata. "From Sri Lanka, we have received an order to build two off-shore patrol vehicles (OPV) and they are under construction in the Goa Shipyard," the minister said on the sidelines of the ceremonial delivery of warship CGS Barracuda to the Mauritian Coast Guard. more..

Mar 11 (C4) Writing in the UK-based Tamil Guardian on Tuesday, Mr Cameron said the Sri Lankan govt had taken "encouraging steps" but added that he would call on President Sirisena to keep up the pace. "Strengthening respect for human rights, eradicating corruption, improving political accountability and ensuring the freedom of the press," he wrote. "These are all essential elements of a democratic, fair and functioning state." more..

Mar 11 (SL) Investigations into the assassination of founding Editor of Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge has been re-opened under a new team of CID officers, Minister John Amaratunge said. He said that he was unhappy the way the investigation into Wickrematunge’s suspicious murder was handled by the CID during the previous regime and added that under new CID team that was appointed recently, more..

Mar 11 (AM) UPFA MPs Mahinda Amaraweera and Jagath Pushpakumara lodged a complaint at Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption against Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran over the controversial Treasury bonds issue. Controversy began when allegations were made against a company which was involved in this transaction. It was alleged that this company has connections to more..

Mar 11 (IL) British PM David Cameron welcomed Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena this afternoon (10) during his first visit to the UK. The two leaders met each other in front of the famous door of the Prime Minister’s official residence at No: 10, Downing Street. Following the bilateral discussions between the two leaders, a Downing Street spokesman said: President Sirisena set out the actions his govt has already more..

Mar 11 (Island) Placards carrying pro-LTTE activists protested near Westminster Abbey on Monday afternoon (9) demanding that a UNHRC war crimes report on Sri Lanka be released forthwith. There were about 300 protesters though the organisers expected a far larger number. Some of the protesters shouted anti-Sri Lanka slogans as President Maithripala Sirisena’s motorcade passed them on its way to Westminster Abbey, more..

Mar 11 (Island) Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the priority of the President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe administration would be post-war national reconciliation process. He was responding to a query after having met British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Monday. "We discussed proposed constitutional reforms and ways and means of expediting reconciliation process." more..

Mar 11 (CI) 4: Number of consecutive hundreds scored by Kumar Sangakkara, the first batsman to do so in ODI history. Six batsmen have previously scored hundreds in three successive ODIs. 1: Sangakkara is the only batsman to score four hundreds in a single World Cup. Mark Waugh, Matthew Hayden and Sourav Ganguly have scored three hundreds each in the World Cup, while no other batsman has scored more than two. 14: Wickets taken by Scotland's Josh Davey in more..

Mar 11 (CT) The response begins by calling names. In the very first sentence, Dr. Siri Gamage is called “an expatriate academic critic.” This is in nationalistic terms and not on academic credentials, perhaps to find ‘enemies’ like Carl Schmitt did. I am here referring to Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s “The New Political Mission is Essentially the Old One,” in a defensive reply to Siri Gamage. That is excusable when compared to his xenophobic outrage against the Tamils. more..