Oct 16 (ST) Slowly and surely this spectre is gaining a stranglehold on the world and Sri Lanka too is not spared. As its vice-like grip tightens, it leaves in its wake not only disease but also early death. It is the spectre of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases. NCDs are no respecters of people, be it men, women or children. more..

Oct 16 (EN) Sri Lanka's bloated public service and the expanding elected ruling class is taking home more of the taxes collected from the people as salaries and pensions, data shows. In 2013 salaries and pensions made up 516 billion rupees out of 1,005 billion rupees in total taxes or 51 cents out of every tax rupee collected from the people. Over the latter stage of the Rajapaksa administration, fiscal policy improved with the overall budget deficit more..

Oct 16 (LBO) Minister for the Megapolis, Champika Ranawaka, has big plans in mind for the region that spans the Western Province. A new transport plan will be unveiled in the next 2-3 weeks, while a Port City design has been included in the Megapolis infrastructure, he said. Commenting on transportation, he said it is important to get the sector right. “We have identified seven corridors that should be addressed in a more..

Oct 16 (Island) Govt Pharmacists Union (GPU) said that there was a pressing need for at least 500 more pharmacists. President of GPU, Athula Amarasena, said that recently established Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) required approximately 85 of them. He said that there was also a requirement for at least 120 Drug Inspectors at the DRA. Amarasena said there were about 1,500 qualified pharmacists at present. more..

Oct 16 (Island) The Navy headquarters has alleged that an attempt is being made to mislead the public regarding operations undertaken by the Coast Guard with the backing of the navy to discourage Tamil Nadu fishing fleet from poaching in Sri Lanka waters. Commander Indika Silva said that detections made well within Sri Lankan waters was reported in a section of the media as arrests made near Kachchativu close to the IMBL. more..

Oct 16 (Island) The govt is to enact new laws on fishing in conformity with international standards, to overcome the ban imposed by the European Union on Sri Lankan fish products. The EU sanctions came into effect in January this year. Minister Rajtiha Senaratne, yesterday said that in keeping with the action plan being implemented to convince the EU of the need to lift the ban it had imposed, Fisheries Minister more..

Oct 16 (CG) PRECIFAC questioned former UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayanth today on the unpaid bills to ITN for the last Presidential election. Former President Rajapaksa was also present during the hearing after the Commission had rejected the objections raised by his lawyers over the composition of the Commission. Rajapaksa’s lawyers had yesterday objected to sitting judges of the Supreme Court from more..

Oct 16 (CT) Novelist Alan Moore wrote, "The people of the country shouldn't be afraid of their govt. Govts should be afraid of their people." That is what we have heard and learnt. However, we cannot say the same of what V Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman meant, when he blatantly challenged the Yahapalana Govt to arrest him, if they were to find any allegations against him. Karuna Amman had bravely challenged the authorities to try and arrest him; which was followed by him saying more..

Oct 16 (CT) Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya’s letter on the incompetent education system in our country should be an eye-opener to those in the education administration. The entire system is corrupt to the core and it is worthwhile to examine the reasons for this deterioration. The colonial educational system which we inherited from the British has not been reformed to suit our own needs and has not changed according to the global changes in education. Instead of completely overhauling more..

Oct 16 (CT) Former UPFA MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena after agreeing to become a witness for the state in the investigations carried against former President Rajapaksa, has been provided with a team of Ministerial Security Division (MSD) officers for his protection. Gunewardana’s Borella residence currently is akin to a heavily guarded fort with MSD officers along with his private security guarding the location. more..

Oct 16 (Reuters) Shares fell for a fourth straight session and closed at their lowest level in more than three months on Friday as investors waited for clues from govt policies and budget. The main stock index ended 0.14%, or 9.71 points, weaker at 7,020.74, its lowest close since July 13. Analysts said a govt move to implement a budget proposal of a retrospective tax targeting corporate is the main concern for investors. "Bad stories about the budget are dragging the market lower more..

Oct 16 (DM) A 17-year-old school girl has drowned after falling into a wayside drain which was overflowing with rain water at Nittawela in Kandy today, Police said. They said the girl, who was accompanied by four of her friends, had fallen into the drain while on her way home. The Police had recovered her body some 800 meters away near the Elephant Bathing spot at Katugastota. The victim, identified as Sahabdeen Fathima Azraa, was a resident of Mosque Road in Katugastota. more..

Oct 16 (CI) Rangana Herath bowled Sri Lanka into a formidable position in the Galle Test, picking up a six-wicket haul to force West Indies to follow on before striking late in the final session to end a promising innings from Kraigg Brathwaite. At stumps on day three, West Indies were two down for 67, still trailing by 166. West Indies had lost Shai Hope in the tenth over of their second innings, the opener playing on while more..

Oct 16 (GG) The Supreme Court has restored the bail of a Sri Lankan man and criticised senior magistrate Judith Pusey for revoking it. In her decision today, Justice Georgiana Fraser, said Pusey had no good reason to revoke the bail of 58-year-old accountant Godffrey Fernando. Fernando, who is charged with overstaying, was remanded when he appeared before magistrate Pusey this week. She ordered him remanded until a trial that's set to start on October 27. more..

Oct 16 (Island) The Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (PHD-CMC) said that legal action had been taken against three canteens fat the Hulftsdorp Chief Magistrate court following complaints of unhygienic conditions there. Acting Food Inspector, M.B. Lal Kumara said that Maligakanda Chief Magistrate, Jayaki de Alwis had given a severe warning to the owners of the three canteens. Lal Kumara said that the canteen owners had been ordered to effect improvements to more..

Oct 16 (DM) Opposition Leader is not paying attention to the concerns of the people unless they were related to the North or East, UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila said. “It seems the Opposition Leader is only concerned about the whats happening in the N&E though he is responsible for taking up matters connected to the whole country. It is clear that he is not going address these issues even in the future,” he said. more..

Oct 16 (Island) Court of Appeal issued notice returnable on Nov 18, 2015 on the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic, Jagath Chandrasiri, Minister of Transport Nimal Siripala de Silva, the IGP and a few other connected respondents in respect of a Writ Application filed by the Western Province Three wheeler Drivers’ and Owners Co-operative Society. The petitioner association wants a Writ of Mandamus to compel the respondents, to implement a mechanism to endorse the more..

Oct 16 (Island) An international symposium on Public –Private Partnership Towards Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development, was held in Jaffna recently). Over 150 Delegates from Korea, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Phillipines in addition to participants from the Sri Lankan private sector took part in the symposium. District Secretary Jaffna V. Vethanyagam was the Chief Guest at the event, while DG DMC, Major General L.B.R. Mark was more..

Oct 16 (EN) Sri Lanka's attorney general may have failed to prosecute Avant Garde Maritime Services over the controversial floating armoury discovered in Galle, but SL's navy has provided new evidence of criminal activity. Deputy Chief naval commander southern area, Nilantha Heenatigala, has found undeclared automatic weapons and over 200,000 rounds of live ammunition aboard a second vessel of Avant Garde near Galle. more..

Oct 16 (CT) CID which is carrying out investigations into the disappearance of Journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda has inspected the places at the Giritale Army Camp where he was supposed to have been detained. The probe team is preparing a report of their probe. ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that this on-site investigation was conducted last week on the instructions of the Attorney General subsequent to obtaining permission from Court by taking 11 suspects of Army personnel including more..

Oct 16 (EN) Sierra Construction has won five of nine projects for improving rural roads in Sri Lanka’s central province funded by the Asian Development Bank, the govt said. Two contracts have gone to Edward & Christie, and one each to CML – MTD Construction and K.D. Ebert & Sons Holdings, according to the Highways Ministry. The contracts were for rehabilitation of 222km of roads in Kandy District, 181km of roads in Nuwara Eliya District, and 195km of roads in Matale District, more..

Oct 16 (DM) Minister Faizer Mustapha said the govt was making every effort to hold the elections to the local govt by March next year under first-past-the-post system. He said there wasn’t much more to be done with regard to the finalizing of the election process now that the delimitation report had also been submitted to the President. EC also had said that it was possible to hold LG elections under the new system. more..

Oct 16 (AD) The Department of Railways has decided to impose a ban on begging inside trains with effect from November 01. Railways Commercial Superintendent Wijaya Samarasinghe said that the decision was taken after taking into consideration the problems faced by commuters due to beggars and pickpockets. He stated that individuals who disregard the decision and continue to engage in begging inside train carriages will be handed over to the police. more..

Oct 16 (CG) The Govt has decided to set-up a system to crackdown on corruption within local bodies, the Minister Faizer Mustapha said today. He said that a new unit will be established in his Ministry to fast-track action against corruption in local bodies. He said that while there is a system in place to take complaints from the public on corruption, he has obtained approval from the President and the Prime Minister to launch a system where the investigations are fast tracked. more..

Oct 16 (AD) Three customs officers arrested by the Bribery Commission yesterday while accepting a bribe of Rs. 125 million have been remanded until Oct 30 by the Colombo Magistrate Courts. This is the largest ever recorded bribe nabbed by the Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption. Customs Superintendent Sujeewa Parakrama Jinadasa, Deputy Customs Superintendent Jagath Gunathilake and more..

Oct 16 (DM) Security Forces Commander-West, Major General Ubaya Medawela has been appointed as the Military Adviser at the Office of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York. He is to assume duties in his new post at month's end. Accordingly, Major General Medawela has relinquished duties as Security Forces Commander-West and Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps and been attached to the Army Headquarters from October 17. more..

Oct 16 (CI) 8: Number of five-wicket hauls Rangana Herath has taken in Galle. Only one other bowler has taken more five-fors at a venue: Muralitharan took 14 such hauls at the SSC and 11 each in Kandy and Galle. Ian Botham also took eight five-wicket hauls at Lord's. Herath has taken 75 wickets in Galle at an average of 24.46. Overall, this was Herath's 23rd five-wicket haul in Tests. 6: Number of times Herath has taken six or more wickets in an innings in Galle including more..

Oct 16 (ENS) A group of young entrepreneurs from TN who visited Tamil-speaking Northern SL recently to scout for trade and investment opportunities, have set for themselves a parallel goal – to uplift, through their investments, the condition of the youth and women, especially young war widows. “We were moved by the plight of the 70,000 war widows in North & East. They can be helped by our investments in the agricultural, garment more..

Oct 16 (DM) Narahenpitiya Police today informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Pieris that former minister Mervyn Silva had in a police complaint said somebody unknown to him had phoned him threatening him with death. Police told the Magistrate that Mr.Silva had given them the telephone number from which the threatening call had originated. They sought a court order directing the mobile phone company to provide details of the telephone conversation. more..

Oct 16 (UCAN) After four contentious resolutions on Sri Lanka, the UNHRC in Geneva on Oct. 1 adopted a consensus resolution for foreign judges and prosecutors to help Sri Lanka try those accused of serious crimes during the decades-long civil war. This resolution came as a response to a report by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which the previous Sri Lankan govt had aggressively opposed — going to the extent of threatening, intimidating and arresting more..

Oct 16 (LT) National Convention of the Socialist Students’ Union (SSU) was held at the S. de S. Jayasinghe Hall at Dehiwela on Wednesday. General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva, former Nataional Organizer of SSU Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the General Secretary of Lanka Teacher services Union Mahinda Jayasinghe, Renowned artist Gihan Fernando, the Secretary of Young Journalists Union Tharindu Uduwara, more..

Oct 16 (LBO) Central Bank is expected to hold interest rates unchanged at the monthly monetary policy announcement on Tuesday, market participants said. A poll of 13 market participants showed 12 expected no change in policy interest rates, while one expected a 25 to 50 basis point hike or a tightening of the Statutory Reserve Ratio. “There is no need to change at the moment,” a primary dealer said, referring to low inflation and a continuation of recent central bank policy. more..

Oct 16 (DN) Supreme Court Judge Sarath de Abrew has sent in retirement papers. The CID, three months ago, filed charges against Justice Abrew at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate's Court for sexually harassing his domestic aide. He was later released by the Mount Lavinia Magistrate on personal bail of Rs. 500,000. Subsequent to the case, Sri Lanka Bar Association requested the Chief Justice to prevent Abrew from sitting and carrying out functions as a Supreme Court judge. more..

Oct 16 (CG) Avant Garde Maritime Services today slammed what it termed as a downright betrayal following allegations raised over one of its ships which docked at the Galle harbor recently. The company said that the Ministry of Defence had given the approval for the ship to dock in Galle but the SL Navy boarded the ship and assumed command. Avant Garde said that the actions of the Navy is shocking adding that more..

Oct 17 (CT) National Pensioners’ Day – 2015 was celebrated on Oct 08th. My attention was particularly drawn to the event theme and the symposium held after the official ceremony. Theme of this event is very interesting and is important as well. The caption of this article Towards National Pension Framework was the theme of this year’s National Pensioners’ Day. From the event theme it intimates that pension planning is not a job done already; instead there is something more to do. more..

Oct 17 (CT) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has told a delegation of civil society activists of March-12 movement that much awaited Right to Information (RTI) bill will be presented to Parliament before the end of this month, a sigh of relief for many its campaigners who have been waiting for this good news for the past many years. Speaker himself has this subject in his DNA as he fought for this law, even through a private member motion under trying circumstances several years ago. more..

Oct 17 (SO) The once quiet and serene village of Kotakethana in Kahawatta, has again witnessed a murder. Since 2008, Kahawatta was drawn into a fear psychosis, as 17 women have been slain in a manner and style that indicates a lone killer, who operates after stalking the victims and maybe on a few occasions, did it on impulse when an opportunity presented itself. There is also a mild possibility that the deranged suspect has more..

Oct 17 (NS) Sirisena Dictionary: Having submitted to the dictates of the US, Maithripala Sirisena screams, Victory! and adds that he saved the war heroes. Did someone mutter, victory my foot!? Now if a resounding defeat warrants celebration that costs taxpayers tens of millions of rupees, what would the President have done had he been in charge of defeating terrorism, one wonders. Following the leader: If it is good for the big boss of Yahapalanaya then it is good for his followers. more..

Oct 17 (NS) FCCU seeks clarification from White: Dr. Eliyantha White, physician to the Rajapaksa Court was called in for questioning by the Financial Crimes Creation Unit (FCCU). According to the FCCU, there must have been financial misdeeds involved for parents to name their child Eliyantha White. Dr. White has been asked to submit a written explanation notarized by an astrologer. Protecting edible wildlife: Wildlife officers formerly attached to ex-Minister Mervyn Silva’s security detail more..

Oct 17 (CT) UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that though they have raised objections against PM Ranil Wickremesinghe's behaviour in Parliament with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker continued to excuse PM's behaviour even when the latter violated Standing Orders and Parliamentary procedure. Q: You have formed a new Alliance. What is the purpose of introducing a new Alliance at this stage? more..