Oct 14 (DM) TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran today said that he wouldn’t be surprised if former Minister Douglas Devananda or former Deputy Minister V Muralitharan were arrested in the wake of the arrest of Former Eastern Province Chief Minister S Chandrakanthan on Sunday. Chandrakanthan (aka Pillaiyan) was arrested by the CID on Sunday in connection with the killing of former TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham, more..

Oct 14 (DN) Minister Susil Premajayantha said the country will experience massive development through the development of the technological and science fields. "Under this programme, a five- year science and technology sector development plan will be implemented," he said. He was speaking at the launch of the Vidya magazine at a ceremony held at Lake House yesterday. Vidya magazine is issued free with the Dinamina newspaper, which is the oldest Sinhala newspaper in the country. more..

Oct 14 (CG) March 12th Movement says it remains committed to work with dedication to collaborate with the public to bring forth more positive changes in the political culture in Sri Lanka. “Whilst acknowledging and offering our sincere gratitude to all civil society organizations, political parties, the media, the govt institutions, and the proactive citizenry of our country in general, for their unstinting support extended towards the March 12th movement which was crafted with the active participation of more..

Oct 14 (DM) DP leader and former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said today they would take legal action against the Attorney General over his disrespect for the law of the country. He said the Attorney General had obtained an interim order preventing the arrest of former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and an official of Rakna Lanka Pvt Ltd. despite their involvement in a massive fraud. more..

Oct 15 (NS) Unless sincere and committed efforts are made to understand issues, they shall remain to grow into cancerous proportions, and that way become major problems going beyond control. They are matters which clearly stand out and also are maladies that can start growing. If measures are taken for temporary relief, without understanding the root causes such would not only cause the waste of valuable time and resources but also would leave behind negative legacies for the future. more..

Oct 15 (CT) Preambular Paragraph 3 of the October 2015 resolution says that the resolutions of 2012, 2013 and 2014 formed the basis of the resolution of 2015. The 2015 Resolution flows directly from the 2014 Resolution which mandated the Office of the High Commissioner’s investigation on Sri Lanka. What is important is to note that the US resolution of 2015 makes no mention whatsoever of the resolution of 2009. This is because 2009 was an outright victory for SL and left no residue more..

Oct 15 (CT) This govt has a long and difficult path ahead and it would be interesting to see whether diverse groups that constitutes the govt can work together for the greater good, UPFA MP Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, currently one of the most senior MPs, tells Ceylon Today during an interview in which he talks about diverse issues ranging from the UNHRC resolution to the crisis in agriculture. more..

Oct 15 (CT) When good behaviour and etiquette is an expected norm from all, Parliament proves to be an exceptional place where all kinds of behaviour are excused. Cat-calling, rioting, protests and foul language make the order of the day as its Members colour the legislature with vulgar anecdotes and descriptions. Not much has been inspired from this hallowed Chamber of legislature and democracy. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, thus, in a step to bring back discipline and decorum to Parliament more..

Oct 15 (NS) Casually going through the comments under the featured news item, ‘Civil Society Disgraced by Choice of CC Nominees’, published in the Colombo Telegraph on September 23, 2015, 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 classmate who later entered the prestigious Foreign Service through the front door and ended up as our Ambassador in France. more..

Oct 15 (CT) Milinda Siriwardana, the 29-year-old all-rounder from Badureliya CC, wanted to emulate his heroes Arjuna and Aravinda, and his consistency in the domestic arena over the years caught the eye of the selectors. He has represented the country in coloured clothing and now has been included in the SL squad to face West Indies in the two match Test series. Q: What is your full name? A: Tissa Appuhamilage Milinda Siriwardena. more..

Oct 15 (CT) 22 containers with 3,154 firearms and 745,859 rounds of ammunition detected at Galle Port: 8.1.2015, CID commences investigations on the order of the IGP: 9.1.2015 Court impounds the ship owner's passport: 23.1.2015. Prohibition on ship owner's passport lifted and passport released on the recommendation of the Attorney General: 7.7.2015. 'We have evidence that approval had been granted to release the passport of floating armoury Avant Garde owner': Anura Kumara more..

Oct 15 (CT) Has there been a phenomenal impact of film stars on the Sri Lankan political scene? It's more a matter to wonder as we've seen a few of them in the Parliament Chamber over the past quarter century. Their presence must be assessed from a social & political perspective. Since independence, we had a few actors in that Chamber but they were not professional actors. First professional actor to be elected to Parliament was doyen of Sinhala silver screen Gamini Fonseka. more..

Oct 15 (SO) With the Ministry of Education deciding to monitor and register international schools to bring them directly under its purview international schools are back in the limelight and not too happy to be there, as being monitored by a Ministry is not something they want. However, Minister of Education, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam is determined to regulate international schools to improve quality of education in these schools. more..

Oct 15 (CT) I take the train to work. Like a lot of people, I wake up every morning and cast a bleary eye on the clock. There’s a train at 8:10. Good. I can reach the station at 7:50 AM, enough time to buy a ticket and realize that there’s nowhere for me to sit. All is normal. Sri Lankan trains are divided into Express and Slow variants. The difference is that the express trains only stop at designated major stations, like Gampaha, Ragama, Dematagoda, Maradana and Colombo Fort. more..

Oct 15 (CI) 2: Centuries by Dimuth Karunaratne in Tests before this match. Karunaratne has made 1406 runs at an average of 36.05, and has six fifties in addition to his three Test hundreds. 120: The previous highest by a Sri Lanka opener against West Indies in Tests, scored by Malinda Warnapura in Guyana in 2008. Karunaratne's 135* in this innings is now the highest. Karunaratne's century is only the third by a Sri Lanka opener against West Indies, previous one being Warnapura's ton. more..

Oct 15 (CI) In the decade gone by, Sri Lanka had set down a foolproof method of operation in Galle. They would bring the visiting teams south at the start of the tour, show them the ocean, feed them some seafood, lead them to the top of the fort, then hurl them brutally off it. It was the done thing in the Murali-Sanga-Mahela days. Sri Lanka had big, bruising wins at the venue, and the touring side spent the rest of the series more..

Oct 15 (DM) On Friday last week the Vijitha Herath M.P., opened the first ever debate in Parliament on the challenges facing the Sri Lankan govt as it continues to grapple with the thorny issue of persistent illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing by Indian fishing vessels in Sri Lankan waters. In the clearest terms yet the JVP national list MP from Gampaha contextualised the issue in terms of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, jurisprudence and foreign policy. more..

Oct 15 (EN) Sri Lanka's power tariffs for large householders are the highest in Asia along with Korea, but for industry prices are sharply lower than Hong Kong, Philippines, some parts of India and Singapore, an intra-regional analysis shows. RMA Energy, a SL-based consultancy headed also found that tariffs for industry in the country was broadly comparable to China, Thailand. Large households in Sri Lanka (over 600 units) are charged 38.67 rupees a unit compared to 38.67 rupees for Korea, more..

Oct 15 (FT) Marking probably the most important milestone in the history of the company, Derana recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with on air and off air excitement & pageantry. This celebration was symbolic of the channel’s rapid growth towards the top since its inception in 2005. Every index researched and tabulated by media research agencies illustrate the brand’s growth potential & standing at present. more..

Oct 15 (LBO) National Development Bank and MasterCard said that they will bring the MasterCard Purchase Control solution to Sri Lanka, which combines an integrated pre-approval process with secure virtual account numbers to deliver enhanced global controls and increased transaction security thereby reducing their exposure to fraud and employee misuse. “As Sri Lankan enterprises grow beyond their current horizons, they require payment solutions that do away with traditional more..

Oct 15 (CT) Desperate attempt by SL Badminton Association to release the ban which was imposed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has been rejected. In reply to the letter sent by SLBA on 8 Oct to get the ban imposed on them lifted, the world body stated that only if consideration is given to two points the ban could be lifted. Two points stated are: that another special meeting is conducted and constitutional revisions made with consent of the majority; and elections should be conducted more..

Oct 15 (DN) Club cricketers in Sri Lanka have been told to turn their backs on contracts in England and Australia and instead look to swelling their bank accounts by playing in the domestic Premier League and Zonal tournaments that will now be offering players a minimum payment of Rs. 1 million each for a season. SLC attributes the increase in payments at local tournaments to a revision in dole-outs for first class cricketers. more..

Oct 15 (ST) Trade unions will be holding a Delegates Conference on October 18 to draw up a roadmap to regain GSP + trade concessions from the European Union (EU) and establish a tripartite body involving all stakeholders. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe had agreed to the establishment of the tripartite body involving employers, workers and unions and the state representation from the Labour Department, Board of Investment (BOI) and the Foreign Ministry, Free Trade Zone and more..

Oct 15 (ST) Periodically we do take up this subject from various angles; yet unlike any other tug-of-war, this battle for the local cricket election has its own intrigue. Over and over again we have discussed how the game of cricket’s governance declined since 1996, and thus the game slithered into a political soup. As a game, yes, the game of cricket did have its own flourish, where Sri Lanka transformed itself from an inconspicuous minnow to a well-recognised mid-level cricketing power. more..

Oct 15 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena invited university lecturers to get together with commitment to serve the country with their knowledge, understanding and professional experience, irrespective of political divisions. He made this appeal during a special meeting he had with university lecturers at the President’s Official Residence. Meeting was organized with the aim of obtaining assistance of university lecturers more..

Oct 15 (GDI) The initial action is being taken to issue new National Identity Cards to all before end of 2017. In accordance with the new method, all citizens will be issued with a new NIC with a new number. According to the new methodology there will be no room to issue two identity cards under a particular number. Although the Cabinet approval has already been granted to establish the National Register of Persons and to issue an Electronic National Identity Card, more..

Oct 15 (DM) Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF), the most comprehensive multi product exhibition in the North, will be held for the seventh consecutive year from January 29 to 31, 2016 at the Municipal Grounds in Jaffna. The exhibition, which was the first of the kind to be held in the Northern region of the country, has throughout the years been renowned as the best and most potent platform for the meeting of investors, businesses and the masses in the region. more..

Oct 15 (AP) The International Olympic Committee has given Sri Lanka until the end of the year to revise its sports legislation or face possible suspension. The IOC says it held constructive and fruitful meetings in Lausanne with a Sri Lankan delegation led by Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. Talks were aimed at ensuring that Sri Lanka's sports law "is compatible with the basic principles and rules that govern Olympic Movement." more..

Oct 15 (DN) Supreme Court directed the Attorney General to inform Court whether the govt would take action to solve the hardships faced by the people due to the Uma Oya multi-purpose project, within one week. Supreme Court made this direction sequent to a fundamental rights petition filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice and four individuals, including M.D.P. Manatunga, residents of the Bandarawela area who have been victimized due to Uma Oya multi purpose project. more..

Oct 15 (CT) Akkaraipattu Magistrate and Additional District Judge Mohamed Faseel yesterday discharged all 15 students who were allegedly involved in damaging the university property and convening an illegal meeting. These 15 undergraduates along with another two were served with an Out of Bounds letter by the university administration on Wednesday. It may be noted that South Eastern University Students numbering to 13 who were arrested on suspicion and more..

Oct 15 (DM) Minister Mano Ganesan visited the ex-LTTE cadres who began a hunger strike on Monday at Magazine Prison. He said a discussion would be held after a committee meeting on the 20th, regarding the strike. “I asked the prisoners to end their hunger strike. I didn’t go to the prison to force them to stop. I only suggested it. It is up to them to decide,” he said. “I have protested in front of prison calling for justice for people. more..

Oct 15 (DM) French Ambassador Jean-Marin Schuh is scheduled to declare open the French Consulate in Kandy on the invitation of the recently appointed Honorary Consul for France in the Kandy District. Focus of the honorary consul is primarily to serve French citizens who live and come as tourists, in their hour of need. Honorary Consul Ravana Wijeyeratne, who is also the Managing Director of Sinhaputhra Finance, commented that it is a great honour for him to receive this appointment. more..

Oct 15 (FT) The latest islandwide survey conducted by TNS Lanka for business magazine LMD finds that over three-quarters of those polled observe a nexus between the corporate sphere and politics before further noting that this kind of 'connection' is often a prerequisite to establishing and developing a business in the country. In December 2014, Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index placed Sri Lanka at a lowly 85, among 175 countries. more..

Oct 15 (PTI) TN Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urged PM Narendra Modi to take up at the highest political level the arrest of fishermen from the state by Sri Lanka and said the number of those apprehended has now gone up to 87 besides their 39 boats. Close on the heels of the arrest of 24 fishermen from TN with their 4 boats on Oct 12, nine more fishermen from Nagapattinam have been apprehended today along with their boat by more..

Oct 15 (DN) President Sirisena has promised to look into the issues faced by a group of Tamil prisoners who are currently on a hunger strike, after Minister Mano Ganeshan raised the issue at the cabinet meeting yesterday. Following this the President has said that PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, Law and Order Minister Tilak Marapana and Minister Geneshan should meet the Attorney General and discuss the issue. President has also requested a report on the matter following discussions with the AG. more..

Oct 15 (DM) Colombo District MP Hirunika Premachandra said she could not complete some of the work she had initiated because the funds allocated for it by the Western Provincial Council were blocked by the then Chief Minister after she decided to support President Maithripala Sirisena at the last Presidential Election. Ms. Premachandra said she hoped that the present Chief Minister would release the funds allocated for her so that she could complete the work she had initiated. more..

Oct 15 (FT) PRECIFAC, has summoned former President Rajapaksa for questioning today. His Media Secretary Rohan Weliwita revealed that Rajapaksa would arrive at BMICH at 9 a.m. and presumably be questioned over his alleged failure to compensate the ITN for telecasting his presidential campaign advertisements. Public complaint received by the Commission states that Rajapaksa has yet to pay Rs. 115 mil to ITN more..

Oct 15 (CT) Former Batticaloa district TNA MP, P. Ariyannethran said at Ampilanthurai that his party would capture all local authorities in the North and East at the forthcoming Local Govt election scheduled to be held in next year. He added that all local authorities had been dissolved and defunct. The govt is in a mess to decide the procedure of holding local govt election. But however, the local government election in the North and East would be in favour of the TNA. more..

Oct 15 (DM) The Police had released yesterday morning a seventy-year-old man living in an empty poultry run in a backyard of a house at the Kuruppu Junction in Polonnaruwa. He has been living in the cage for eight years, when the Police released him. The Police said the elderly man had been forced to live in the cage by a nephew as revealed in the preliminary investigations following a tip off to 119. During the investigation, the inmates of the house had told the Police that more..

Oct 15 (DN) Minuwangoda Magistrate yesterday declared that the DNA samples of Saman Jayalath (36) who was arrested over the rape and murder of five-year-old Seya Sadewmi in Kotadeniyawa, matched with the samples recovered from the body of the murdered victim. Genetech conducted all DNA tests related to the case and they handed over the last report of all their tests to Minuwangoda Magistrate through the CID. more..