Sep 6 (ST) Several local and foreign investors who subscribed to the Urban Development Authority’s (UDA) debenture issue five years ago are in a quandary as to whether they would be able to redeem their bonds on maturity although there was a Treasury guarantee due to current cash flow problems of the authority. These bonds issued to fund the housing project five years ago are maturing next month and UDA has to repay more..

Sep 6 (Island) A move by Lanka Thriposha to procure one million kilos of soya bean and three million kilos of maize at a cost of Rs. 271 million outside tender procedure has sent shockwaves through the industry, with officials asserting that other players in the business have been left out in the cold. With the soya harvesting season now in progress, farmers are selling a kilo at Rs. 85, but the price quoted by this particular supplier is Rs. 130 per kilo, which translates into more..

Sep 6 (SO) Responding to declaration made by the Attorney General’s Department that there was no substantial evidence to prosecute Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, the former chief procurer for the LTTE and considered its international face, former Army Commander, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said there was enough evidence to commit him for trial. Fonseka who called the AG’s statement treacherous said: “I am prepared to share information with the AG on this. more..

Sep 6 (ST) Partners of the National Govt are to reach common ground on issues before the UNHRC sessions later this month. That will include the formal response to the report on Investigations on SL and matters relating to the domestic inquiry mechanism the Govt wants to adopt. This will be one of the highlights of an extended MoU which UNP and SLFP will agree upon, UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema said. more..

Sep 6 (SL) The govt’s decision to use the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) stores to stock paddy is an attempt taken to insult former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, UPFA MP Dullas Alahapperuma said. He said that though the govt is trying to sling mud at Mahinda Rajapaksa for constructing an international airport in an isolated location in his constituency, they will realise what an asset the MRIA for the country is, sooner than later. “Earlier, the same group when they were more..

Sep 6 (ST) Sri Lanka Cricket in its bid to broadbase the game will be equipping several of their International Stadiums with gymnasiums. SLC’s Interim Committee Chairman Sidath Wettimuny said “We are hoping to balance the gym facilities that we have. At the moment we have such facilities only at the Max Academy at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Within the next two and a half months gym facilities will be provided for the stadiums at Pallekele, Dambulla and Galle. more..

Sep 6 (Island) Despite the UNP and SLFP forming a National Govt, some SLFP MPs who are not happy with the arrangement are planning to function as the Opposition. An SLFP’er who was appointed a Minister said that all was not well in the SLFP camp with the dissident group led by former President Rajapaksa canvassing support among disgruntled MP’s to stage a coup d’etat of sorts to function as the Opposition in direct violation more..

Sep 6 (HT) Chinese tourist footfall in Sri Lanka may have spiked in the last two years and overtaken the number of Indian tourists for the first time this July but Beijing’s influence in the emerald nation may be on the wane after former President Rajapaksa’s defeat. After January 2015’s presidential polls—otherwise known as the Rainbow Revolution—that ousted friend of China Rajapaksa, Beijing’s influence over Colombo was said to be gradually receding from the sandy shores of more..

Sep 6 (Island) With the aim of improving consumer food hygiene, a Direction under Section 12(2) of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No 09 of 2003 will be coming into operation with effect from Jan 1, 2017. Accordingly, no trader, caterer, supplier of processed food and/or any other person/persons shall engage in the business of mass catering and/or outdoor catering or other similar or connected activity/activities unless they obtain the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) process more..

Sep 6 (ST) Like the pithy Sinhala proverb, for UPFA, it was a case of being gored by a bull after a fall from a tree. It failed to win the Aug 17 elections. It trailed by 11 seats against its main rival, UNP which secured 106 seats. Thus the formation of a Govt was not within the UPFA’s reach. So while for some, joining a National Govt and continuing to be cabinet ministers was an attractive proposition, for others, next choice was to remain in Opposition. more..

Sep 6 (Island) The new parliament and the new govt are sending mixed signals. Some are good, others are disconcerting. But overall Sri Lankans should feel reasonably satisfied for things could have been far worse. For sober perspective, reflect for a moment on the colossal human tragedy of refugees fleeing from the Middle East and Africa looking for safe haven in an officially uninviting Europe. For comparative context, consider the good fortune of Sri Lanka’s location in the world that more..

Sep 6 (Island) His Holiness Younus AlGohar, CEO of the Messiah Foundation International (MFI), was in Sri Lanka last week on a visit from UK. He was named an Ambassador for Peace by Universal Peace Federation in 2005. He studied at the Karachi University, and Manchester and Cambridge Universities. He authored two books in 2007 and 2010. Younus AlGohar is a strong advocate of the strength of the spiritual influence of love that transcends religious teachings. more..

Sep 6 (ST) Is Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York getting ready for another jumbo sized delegation to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) sessions? So the preparations seem to suggest. An advertisement in the mission’s official website has called for quotations for hiring of vehicles from Sept 20 to Oct 4. Among the fleet the mission is seeking are: Luxury sedans (four seater/black), Lincoln more..

Sep 6 (UCAN) Activists in Sri Lanka are urging the govt to ratify a key international convention on enforced disappearances and to investigate thousands of unsolved cases that have haunted the island nation through decades of conflict. Catholic Church officials say the issue is especially vital in Sri Lanka. Father Nandana Manathunga said Sri Lanka has the second-highest number of disappearances in the world. more..

Sep 6 (TT) Sidath Wettimuny, the soft-spoken chairman of the interim committee running Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), spoke to The Telegraph few days ago. The interview took place in Sidath's ultra-spacious office at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), where SLC is headquartered. All three Wettimuny brothers - Sunil and Mithra being the other two - have, incidentally, played for Lanka, making the family very special. more..

Sep 6 (Hindu) Former SL president Chandrika Kumaratunga is in India for her first visit since the surprise defeat of her successor Mahinda Rajapaksa, a man who was once a close associate and now a political enemy whose regime she was instrumental in overturning. She spoke for the first time to a group of Indian journalists about how the opposition and Mr. Rajapaksa’s own party members were united. more..

Sep 6 (SO) Former Chief Executive of the Deyata Kirula Secretariat, Kanthi Gunawardana, has filed two complaints with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), accusing the former Deyata Kirula Exhibition Committee including Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and high ranking public officials of alleged misuse and misappropriation of public funds amounting to Rs.500 million. more..

Sep 6 (SO) President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe met with Ministers of External Affairs and Justice, and Tri-forces commanders last week to discuss an acceptable format for the proposed domestic mechanism to address accountability issues. A senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs, describing last week’s discussion as an initiation said the high level officials will, more..

Sep 6 (Island) Sri Lankan star ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen breathed his last inside a burning vehicle. Or did he? If he had died inside such an enclosed space, which was burning and into which Carbon Monoxide was being released as a result of the ongoing partial combustion, his body should bear evidence of CO toxicity. The Judicial Medical Officer did indeed find evidence of CO toxicity during the post mortem examination. more..

Sep 6 (ST) Authorities will crack down on the transportation and sale of foreign liquor as large stocks are flooding the open market depriving the state of billions of rupees in revenue, a senior official said. He said foreign liquor, cleverly hidden among various merchandise, are smuggled into the country through the entry ports. These are later sold at slashed prices in licensed liquor outlets hurting the sale of local products. more..

Sep 6 (Island) The second phase of reimbursements to Golden Key (GK) depositors was scheduled to begin last week in terms of the repayment formula, but the process could not get off the ground as the Treasury has still not transferred funds to meet the commitment. Around Rs. 4 billion is required to repay 2,739 depositors with holdings ranging from Rs. 2 – 10 million. They are due to receive 41% of their credit balances minus more..

Sep 6 (ST) Lanka Coal Company (LCC) has made a spot purchase of 165,000 tons of coal after a separate multibillion rupee tender ran into controversy in July. Consignment has been ordered to tide over the immediate requirement for coal at the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai. Open tenders were called for the spot purchases, resulting in a company called Liberty Commodities Ltd securing the contract. more..

Sep 6 (Island) I read with interest the perceptive article by Gnana Munasinghe 'O’ That Way, Madness Lies; Let Me Shun It. She dealt with some of the issues that are confronting the President and the PM in forming a new govt. Let me make three suggestions, which some might consider eccentric, in improving the current systems of governance in the country: 1. MPs should be paid more than cabinet ministers and junior ministers of all kinds. The current arrangements could be reversed, more..

Sep 6 (CT) In a week of exciting political activities on the centre stage, President Maithripala Sirisena had his day in the formation of a National Govt. Despite objections raised by some sections in the UPFA, TNA Leader R. Sampanthan emerged as the Leader of the Opposition, while JVP's Anura Kumara Dissanayake was made the Chief Opposition Whip. Hence, sections in the UPFA opposed to the concept of a National Govt lost grip of trying to pressurize the National Govt more..

Sep 6 (CT) Department of Police was established on 3 Sept 1866. It will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. It is the third oldest department in the country after the Customs Dept and Surveyor General's Dept. To mark the event a series of ceremonies, including a photographic exhibition, were held at the Lionel Wendt on 2 and 3 Sept. Although the LTTE has been militarily defeated, court imposed a more..

Sep 6 (DM) In the wake of the two main parties agreeing to form the national unity govt, some UPFA MPs are hoping to inform Speaker Karu Jayasuriya that they would function as part of the opposition, a party leader said. UPFA and UNP which agreed to form the national govt had also agreed to share Cabinet portfolios. Against this background, the UPFA MPs who are opposed to the formation of a national unity govt are preparing a petition to be sent to the Speaker. more..

Sep 6 (DM) Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has started a programme to provide water on a daily basis to the people in drought stricken areas including six districts of the Northern Province. According to the DMC, more than 250,000 civilians belonging to 80,000 families living in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Chilaw, Ampara, Kilinochchi and Polonnaruwa had been hit by dry weather. DMC Media Deputy Director Sarath Lal Kumara said that potable water was being daily supplied to more..

Sep 6 (CG) Govt hopes to make Kandy the first smart city in Sri Lanka and cabinet approval will be sought for this. Minister Rauff Hakeem said that funding will be sought for the project from foreign donor agencies. “We will later expand that to Galle, Colombo and other areas,” Minister told reporters in Kandy. He said the project will not be very costly and the Govt will be able to implement it with USD 10-15 million. more..

Sep 6 (EN) The proposed power sharing deal and submarine link between Sri Lanka and India will help the island meet peak generation shortages in future although having excess base load supply, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said. The link may account for 7–15% of Sri Lankan annual energy requirement – mostly during peak, the ADB, which could help fund the project, said in a new report on the economic and reliability benefits of electricity trading among the countries in South Asia. more..

Sep 6 (CG) Chennai Judicial Magistrate, Alandur, P Vidhya, began investigation into a Sri Lankan Tamil person’s death from injuries allegedly sustained while in custody with the Chennai city police. Various political outfits including VCK and MDMK have demanded that the police inspector be booked under murder charges. On Friday, K Mohan, (45), a SL Tamil refugee and resident of Ram Garden, Medavakkam, died in a private hospital after custodial interrogation at more..

Sep 6 (ST) Annual animal sacrifice that takes place at Munneswaran Kovil did not take place this year, which animal rights groups say is a boost to their prolonged legal battle to put an end to the cruel practice. Animal sacrifice was scheduled to take place on Aug 30, but did not go ahead as the Temple authorities had not applied for the necessary permit for the ritual slaughter from the Chilaw PS as per court order. more..

Sep 6 (Island) Dubai Bikers Charity Ride kick started on Aug 22 after a brief launch at the Jetwing Blue Hotel in Negombo. Eighteen Harley Davidson bikers revved off on an island wide tour from August 22-28 riding in aid of the Home in Galle. Post two successful rides the last two years, the riders returned to Sri Lanka for the third time for yet another exciting county wide tour led by the legendary Sri Lankan rider Leonard Pali, who has been a passionate biker for past 10 years. more..

Sep 6 (Philly) Sri Lanka. Even the name sounds exotic, conjuring images of mystical journeys, long-ago kingdoms, and towering temples. But the country, where I recently spent four weeks on vacation and business, is also very much of our modern age. That contrast is at the heart of Sri Lanka's charm and rhythm, and can be felt everywhere in this island nation of 20 million. Take Sigiriya. On a glorious mid-June morning, I walked the 1,200-or-so steps to the top of this more..

Sep 6 (TNA) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for enhanced relations between Iran and Sri Lanka following a final nuclear agreement reached between Tehran and six world powers and the ensuing lifting of anti-Iran sanctions. Speaking with SL’s new ambassador to Iran, Rohana Jeet, President Rouhani stressed that Tehran and Colombo should boost their bilateral ties with the improved conditions that would be more..

Sep 6 (Hindu) As a mark of protest against the U.S. supporting Sri Lanka in war crime probe, a group of members from Ilaiya Thalaimurai Koottamaippu, an outfit comprising youngsters, threw rotten chicken waste into a KFC outlet in Ashok Nagar on Saturday. The group also attempted to stage a protest outside the U.S. Consulate here. The group had earlier submitted a petition to the Consulate last month and gave 100 hours time for the U.S. govt to change its stand on on the investigation more..

Sep 6 (HT) After the end of her presidency in 2005, Chandrika Kumaratunga was living a life of semi-retirement in Sri Lanka. She had made it clear she was not interested in formal political power. Her party rival, Mahinda Rajapaksa consolidated his grip over the state, defeated the LTTE in a brutal war, expanded his family’s control, won the presidential and parliamentary elections and looked invincible. Kumaratunga’s isolation was not merely self-imposed. more..

Sep 6 (CT) The discussion on asbestos came to the fore again, recently, since President Sirisena wanted to ban the production and importation of asbestos from 2018. Pressure groups, environmental activists and health experts have been locking horns over the use of asbestos as the people are sailing close to the wind with these cheap roofing sheets; where all forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans. more..

Sep 6 (CG) Four people who had been deported to Sri Lanka from three countries, were arrested at the BIA. A Sri Lankan man who was deported from Qatar was arrested at the BIA on his arrival to Sri Lanka, the police media unit said. The police said that the man had been on his way to Germany using forged travel documents when he was arrested at the Qatar airport. He was subsequently deported to Sri Lanka by the Qatar authorities and was arrested by the CID at the BIA. more..

Sep 6 (CG) The NFF, a coalition partner of the UPFA, raised concerns over the state of National security. NFF spokesman Mohammed Muzammil claimed that the appointment of TNA leader R. Sampanthan as the opposition leader, removing the Omanthai security post and releasing of several former LTTE cadres was a threat to National security. He also accused President Sirisena of giving key posts in Parliament to those who supported him at last Presidential election. more..

Sep 6 (CG) A delegation from the TNA is expected to leave for Geneva this month to hold discussions with UN Human Rights officials and the international community to gather their support for an international war crimes probe. The visit will take place ahead of the release of the report on Sri Lanka by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights during the 30th session of the UNHRC in Geneva. more..