Oct 11 (CG) The new Govt is banking on Chinese investment to revive a port project that became a symbol of the previous govt’s excesses bankrolled by China. Hambantota gained notoriety as a port without ships and was the butt of opposition criticism of then President Rajapaksa’s tendency to throw Chinese money at vanity projects in order to line his pockets. Following Rajapaksa’s ouster in January’s presidential election, more..

Oct 11 (CG) New Zealand has joined as a co-sponsor to the resolution on Sri Lanka adopted by the UNHRC recently. Resolution on SL submitted to the UNHRC and adopted without a vote now has 39 co-sponsors. The deadline for more co-sponsors to add their names to the list is October 16, according to the UNHRC Secretariat. Albania, Australia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, Macedonia, UK and Northern Ireland and US were the original sponsors more..

Oct 11 (DM) CID had informed former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province S Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan to report to the CID to record a statement in connection with the killing of former TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham. He was shot dead on Dec 25, 2005 while inside St. Michael's Church in Batticaloa. Police said the CID had visited the Pillayan house yesterday to record a statement, however, he was not at the house at the time, and therefore, the CID had informed him to be report to more..

Oct 11 (PTI) TN Chief Minister Jayalalithaa urged the PM to take up the arrest of the state's fishermen at a high political level with Sri Lanka and sought immediate release of 54 fishermen and their 34 boats, including 19 who were apprehended yesterday. "19 fishermen along with their two boats from TN from Nagapattinam were apprehended by the SL Navy yesterday," she said, adding this was the fifth instance of such recent arrests more..

Oct 11 (EN) Sri Lanka's vehicle registrations hit an all-time high of 63,687 in September 2015 with cars surging to 14,301 units from 9,107 units in August, as credit and import controls were slapped by authorities, an analysis of vehicle registry data shows. Maruti/Suzuki vehicles led the charge, surging to 7,789 unit in September from 4,259 units in August and 1,363 units in January, an analysis of Sri Lanka's vehicle registry data by JB Securities, a Colombo-based equities brokerage showed. more..

Oct 11 (CG) National Peace Council (NPC) says the majority of people are not aware of the significance of the resolution on Sri Lanka adopted by the UNHRC recently or the content of its recommendations. On Oct 1, UNHRC in Geneva passed a resolution on Sri Lanka titled Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. The resolution was passed unanimously which was in contrast to the four previous resolutions of the UNHRC on SL since 2009. more..

Oct 11 (AFP) The ICC has launched a probe into a top Sri Lankan official suspected of involvement in match-fixing, sport's local governing body said on Sunday. Jayananda Warnaweera, curator of the Galle International Stadium, is under investigation by the ICC's anti corruption unit, SLC secretary Prakash Shaffter said. Warnaweera, who resigned from the SLC's board last week, is barred from taking part in the Test match at more..

Oct 11 (DM) A prison guard had been arrested on charges of collecting ransom pretending to be a CID officer, the Police said. The Police said the suspect had phoned a man, who was resident at Kirillawa in Kadawatha, and said that an investigation had been launched by the CID into selling of a three-wheeler, a transaction that took place five years ago. According to the Police the suspect had told that the CID had found out that the documents belonging to the vehicle were forged and more..

Oct 11 (CT) The Opposition faction of the UPFA will soon stage what it called massive countrywide protests in which they will apprise the people of imminent dangers posed by the Geneva resolution. The parties involved in the campaign include the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Opposition faction), Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, National Freedom Front, Democratic Left Front, Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Sri Lanka Mahajana Party and the Communist Party. more..

Oct 11 (CG) The Attorney General’s Department today hit back at several allegations being raised against Attorney General Yuvanjana Wijayatilake. Deputy Solicitor General Sobhitha Rajakaruna said that there had been instances where the Court says AG advice has been sought in relation to some key cases but in reality the documents pertaining to those cases have not been received. Rajakaruna said that, who will retire more..

Oct 11 (Hindu) TMC president G.K.Vasan on Saturday urged the Central and State govts to take steps to secure the release of 19 fishermen belonging to Nagapattinam, who were captured by the Sri Lankan Navy. In a statement here, he said that such incidents caused apprehension among fishermen, who also face loss of livelihood as their boats and nets are damaged by the SL Navy. The Centre must ensure that until the talks between fishermen of both the countries come to more..

Oct 11 (DM) A speed limit 40 kmph has been introduced for the vehicles within the two lanes between 113km post and 114km post near Kokmaduwa and Imaduwa area of the Southern Expressway, RDA said. The two lanes from Matara to Colombo in the particular area were temporarily closed due to the ongoing activities, such as a process of horizontal drilling to remove water underneath the hill is being carried out by the NBRO due to the landslide threats. more..

Oct 11 (LT) The main Che Day commemoration was held at Tilco Hall in Jaffna this year organized by the Socialist Youth Union (SYU) on the 8th. National Organizer of SYU MP Bimal Rathnayaka, the General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva, Cuban Ambassador in Sri Lanka Florentino Batista Gonzales, JVP Organizer for Jaffna Ramalingam Chandrsekar, Senior Lecturer of Jaffna University Dr. Swaminathan Wimal, more..

Oct 11 (CI) New Zealand A claimed the unofficial ODI series against Sri Lanka A with a dominant 117-run victory in Lincoln. No. 3 batsman Will Young's 85 from 98 deliveries anchored the hosts' total of 302 for 9, while George Worker, Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne provided supporting innings. Sri Lanka A managed only 185 in response, and were all out in the 41st over. The hosts now lead the four-match series 3-0. Spinners Shehan Jayasuriya and Dhananjaya de Silva had made more..

Oct 11 (SL) The govt says Capital Punishment will not be scrapped, the moratorium on the death penalty will continue. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that the govt is not going to abolish Capital Punishment, but continue the moratorium. He added that Sri Lanka has had some commitments and over the last several years, the Government had voted for the moratorium on Capital Punishment. “Foreign Ministry is considering voting for the moratorium this year also. more..

Oct 11 (CG) Former Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathirai Chandrakanthan alias Pilayan was arrested by the CID today. Pillayan’s spokesman Azad Maulana said that the CID had gone to his house in Batticaloa last night with a warrant to arrest him. However he was not at home and as a result he visited the CID office today where he was arrested. Pillayan was arrested in connection to the murder of more..

Oct 11 (ST) A drive to recruit around 1,500 police constables from among the Tamil speaking youth in the Northern region was launched yesterday, a senior Police official said. SSP of the Vavuniya Division Wasantha Wickremasinghe told the Sunday Times that since there has been a dearth of Tamil speaking police officers in the department to carry out official work, the police has to fill these vacancies with immediate effect. “We are short of Tamil speaking officers in North, more..

Oct 11 (CI) Milinda Siriwardana's unbeaten 105 from 149 deliveries was the highlight of the third and final day of the West Indians' warm-up encounter at the SSC. Siriwardana is in line for a Test debut on Wednesday, when the first Test begins at Galle. Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI finished their first innings on 455 for 6, at which time the match was called off. The practice outing was a difficult one for the West Indians, who had earlier been bowled out for 209 in their first innings. more..

Oct 11 (DM) Minister Ravi Karunanayke said the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) had already agreed to extend unconditional support for Sri Lanka’s development initiatives. “This is a golden opportunity for Sri Lanka. They have been closely watching the success achieved in the political front. Hence the World Bank and IMF stand ready to extend finance assistance to revive the country’s economy. more..

Oct 12 (ST) When Dr Kasipillai Manoharan father of Manoharan Ragihar who, with all the trappings of a classic Greek tragedy, was shot along with four other friends at the Trincomalee beach front on 2nd Jan 2006 says that he has no confidence in domestic legal mechanisms to redress his anguish, this is not a claim made for cheap political advantage. This father went through the local justice process with all its pain, humiliation and hopelessness, including being relentlessly more..

Oct 12 (CT) Dear Vice Chancellor, I wish to draw your attention to the conferring of honorary doctorates in 2009 to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the University of Colombo. As you may know, I was the proposer of this motion at the Senate on the 29th of May 2009 which was carried unanimously and later approved by the Council of the University. The premise for that proposal was that both the President and more..

Oct 12 (SO) The All Party Conferences (APCs) had been a common phenomenon in Sri Lankan politics in dealing with the national question. However, all the APCs held so far have failed to solve the issue. Addressing the media on his return from the UN, President Maithripala Sirisena expressed his desire to convene an APC to hold an extensive dialogue on the recently adopted UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka and more..

Oct 12 (SO) Casually going through the comments under a featured item titled Civil Society Disgraced by Choice of CC Nominees, published in a popular website recently, I was surprised to see my name suggested by two readers for a post in the Constitutional Council. One of them was a stranger and the other was a class-mate who later entered the prestigious Foreign Service through the front door and ended up as our Ambassador in France. The purported nomination was not worth more..

Oct 12 (CT) It has been reported that the future of the controversial Colombo Port City project is to be decided on the findings of a fresh Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report due shortly, a senior official said. The EIA is being prepared by the Coast Conservation Department according to the news. We hope that this is not a ruse to try and subvert the EIA process. This move prompts a discussion as to what an EIA is and what areas of public concerns should be addressed in it. more..

Oct 12 (CT) Schoolboy Suranjan Seneviratne and the father of a child Kelum Attanayake were arrested initially over Seya Sadewmi's rape and murder. But they were released a few weeks ago by the Minuwangoda Magistrate as evidence proved that they had no connection to the rape and murder. Kelum Attanayake relates how he was tortured by Kotadeniyawa Police Officers with the knowledge of the OIC more..

Oct 12 (SO) Soon after the government came to power early this year, there was severe criticism that the anti-corruption investigations it initiated were selective and lopsided. Amid this criticism, law enforcement bodies, including the newly formed Police FCID launched inquiries into complaints against some top echelons of the previous govt. All parties in the governing alliance as well as Opposition parties such as the JVP supported the investigative process. more..

Oct 12 (ST) For the last four years, the month of September has been that time of the year when the Lankan Govt has been forced to undertake its diplomatic hajj; to make its annual pilgrimage to the Mecca of the UNHRC headquarters at Palais des Nations in Geneva and superficially grieve past sins done and seek atonement through penance before the one almighty gathering of nations. From 2012 to 2014, each ungodly visitation has been to pray for time in order to ward off the day of reckoning. more..

Oct 12 (SL) There is a multitude of opinions on the recent UNHRC resolution. While the govt of Sri Lanka hails it as a victory, some others expressed their views against the involvement of the Commonwealth and other foreign countries in the process. Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said Sri Lankan govt is quite confident of establishing a credible mechanism, but he said the issue has gone unaddressed too far more..

Oct 12 (Island) SC, on Thursday, rejected former Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera’s fundamental rights violation application challenging the legality of the appointment of some defeated UPFA candidates to Parliament via the National List. Deputy Solicitor General argued that the court could not revise an Act of Parliament. People’s franchise is not something to be trifled with as is evident from the SC ruling on J.R. Jayewardene’s shameful attempt to convert Kalawana into a 2-member electorate more..

Oct 12 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena worshipped Mahaweli Maha Seya in Kothmale today (11), thus becoming the first Head of State to visit this Buddhist monument. He visited the sacred place, after participating in the Vana Ropa National Tree Planting Ceremony held today in Kothmale. The President who arrived in the temple was warmly welcomed by the students of the Dhamma School of the temple. He had cordial discussions with the children and looked into the well-being of more..

Oct 12 (SL) Sri Lanka Land Reclamation Development Corporation (SLLRDC) is now facing a severe financial crisis. Sunday Leader exposed recently that SLLRDC has spent over Rs.83 million on renovating and constructing D.A. Rajapaksa tomb and memorial museum in Weeraketiya last year. SLLRDC sources, said that the employees are in fear of not getting their salaries from this month more..

Oct 12 (CT) The island's total foreign reserves, from a peak of US$ 9,185.64 million as at end August, 2014, has had fallen by 30% or by US$ 2,387.94 million by end September, 2015; Central Bank data showed. The reason for this includes CBSL's vain attempt to shore up the rupee amidst depreciative pressure, compounded by the fact that CBSL meets Govt of Sri Lanka's foreign debt servicing commitments from its foreign reserves so as not to upset the foreign exchange market. more..

Oct 12 (CT) On Tuesday evening 6 October the new partnership between Monash College and Eduko Lanka was launched at the OZO Hotel Colombo. Bob Kundanmal, Dr Harsha Alles and Zarif Munir of Eduko Lanka along with Ms. Jo Mithen, CEO of Monash College hosted an event to celebrate this new exclusive partnership. Tim Huggins, Deputy High Commissioner, Australian High Commission and Mohan Lal Grero, State Minister of University Education were the Guests of Honour. more..

Oct 12 (CT) Sri Lanka finished third in the final leg of the Asian Sevens Rugby series as they defeated Malaysia 45 (7-tries, 5-conversions) -12 (2-tries, 1-conversions) in the play off concluded in Colombo yesterday. Kandy's Anurudda Wilwara, Havelock flanker Sudarshana Muthuthanthri and the youngster from CR & FC, Kanchana Ramanayake, all scored twice while Srinath Sooriyabandara also contributed with a try in addition to three more..

Oct 12 (SL) Govt of Japan will provide food to the value of 240 million Japanese Yen (Rs. 275 million) through the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to support their ongoing emergency programme in Sri Lanka including the Schools Meals Program. The distribution of the food will be supervised by Govt of Sri Lanka. From 2012 to 2014, Govt of Japan provided food grant assistance amounting to 500 million Japanese Yen to Govt of Sri Lanka through the WFP to sustain Schools Meals Program. more..

Oct 12 (Island) The victory came for Sri Lanka rep Adithya Karunaratne, nicknamed Aadi, as was much expected and anticipated at the first week Girls Singles of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-18 yesterday, at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) clay courts, Colombo. The 13-year-old’s performances are eagerly watched by tennis lovers and the officials alike as she flew from her second home, Hong Kong, especially for this Under-18 Grade 5 junior international event more..

Oct 12 (EN) Govt borrowed Rs 61.8 billion from the banking system in July 2015, including Rs 31.9 billion of central bank credit (printed money) helping keep interest rates down and also boosting private credit. Private credit rose Rs 40.9 billion to Rs 3,004 billion in July rising 21% from a year earlier, picking up pace from 19.4% in June. Credit to govt rose Rs 61.8 billion to Rs 1,735 billion in July rising 23.8% from a year earlier. more..

Oct 12 (DN) Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau in partnership with SLITO and THASL has unveiled the first marketing plan for cruise tourism. The plan was presented to Minister John Amaratunga at the International Maritime Conference at Galadari Hotel in the presence of top global cruise experts. Cruise Tourism which is worth 21.7 million worldwide guests with Sri Lanka registering a number of fifty thousand plus for 2015 is targeting a 100,000 visitors by end 2016 given strong more..

Oct 12 (CT) The body of an unidentified woman was discovered in the Polwatta area off Pamunuwa Road Maharagama, on Sunday. The detection was made based on information received trough the police emergency hotline service yesterday. The body of the unidentified female was found abandoned in a paddy field in the Polwatte area in Maharagama. Cause of death is yet to be ascertained and the magisterial inquiry is expected to reveal if it was a death due to natural causes or murder. more..

Oct 12 (SL) The govt is to abolish the Missing Persons Commission and replace it with a new commission or system to continue procedures of the former. Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said ‘the international community have no confidence in the Missing Persons Commission, so it will be abolished'. “Even locally, most of the people are not happy with the Commission and they have no faith in its process. more..