Sep 7 (DM) 16 suspects have been arrested in connection with Bloemendhal shooting which killed a man, a woman and injured 11 others, CID said. It said investigations had revealed that the shooting was the result of gang rivalry and had no political undertones. ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said two underworld gangsters who were part of the group campaigning for Minister Ravi Karunanayake were targeted by a group of more..

Sep 8 (GV) Balendran Jeyakumari was arrested with her then 12 year old daughter in March 2014 on charges she possessed two stolen mine detectors. Lugged in remand prison for almost a year, she was allowed conditional bail in March, 2015. She had to report to the nearest police station every last Sunday of the month. Yet there are no charges filed against her with only a B Report holding her as an accused for over one and a half years. On 2 Sept there were reports, war affected families in Mannar more..

Sep 8 (CT) In the previous part published last Monday, it was shown how a society would start decaying when robbers and cheaters are worshipped by everyone as heroes. The good governance in such a society is to rob and cheat others. If someone refrains from cheating and robbing, he is considered as freak or odd. He is condemned and ridiculed as a person who is practising bad governance. One malady which a society should avoid, it was also mentioned, more..

Sep 8 (SO) Deyata Kirula exhibition was a money -spinner for Rajapaksa and his cohorts such as former Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and officials involved in organising the event, a complaint lodged at the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption revealed. According to the complaint the event set a bad precedent to public officials on the misuse of public funds in violation of govt's fiscal policy and more..

Sep 8 (CT) In the evolution of Indian unity, there has been a quantum leap in 2015. Through a strengthening of the states, Modi has set the pace for meaningful national integration. Not spending time playing on patriotic fervor, he has put his finger on the correct lever to move the economy and to touch on people’s materialistic aspirations. Investment of local financial resources further augmented by foreign inflows is the strategy. Such a mode was not unknown to his predecessors. more..

Sep 8 (ST) My August 16th column headlined Beware of Blair bearing fibs appeared two days after the Blair family– or some thereof — arrived in Sri Lanka for a two-week stay. In retrospect I think it would have been more accurate if I had said Blairs instead of Blair to include Cherie in the Blair bundle. The sales pitch she made while supposedly on a private holiday is admitted in an interview she gave. “I would always be delighted to help, particularly a country like SL,” wife of Tony Blair replied, more..

Sep 8 (CT) Director of Policy and Programmes at the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Asian Legal Resource Centre, Basil Fernando spoke to Ceylon Today about what the country needed to do in order to instil democracy, establish the rule of law and improve human rights. Q: With the change of the govt do you expect any changes in terms of the human rights situation in the country? more..

Sep 8 (ST) President’s inaugural address to parliament reiterated his commitment to good governance, national reconciliation, eradication of corruption, a compassionate and egalitarian society and environment protection. These are desirable objectives and have a bearing on economic performance. However, the presidential address was not a statement of economic policy, such as President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s policy statement of 1994 that affirmed govt’s more..

Sep 8 (FT) Pathfinder Foundation Founder Milinda Moragoda has had discussions with Corinna Zarek, Senior Advisor for open Govt at the Executive Office of the President of the United States, during her visit to Colombo. Prof. Zarek works from the President’s Office with US agencies to develop and implement open government initiatives, including work with the Global Open Government Partnership, and coordinates outreach with non-governmental stakeholders. more..

Sep 8 (CT) ITAK Chavakachcheri organizer and candidate at the Parliamentary elections, Kandiah Arunthavabalan said that he is disappointed with his party's decision on national list nominees. Arunthavabalan who did not secure victory at the recent elections said, "I understand that there had been irregularities in the counting of preferential votes. There had been manipulation with regard to the number of more..

Sep 8 (Island) Following the initial relief amongst those who wanted to see the change of govt that took place in January sustained, the aftermath of last month’s general election is not generating the euphoria that accompanied that of the presidential election earlier in the year. Presidential election saw an immediate change of govt, in terms of both personalities and policies. President Rajapaksa who had undermined systems of govt to impose his will on the polity was removed from power. more..

Sep 8 (Island) We carry in today’s edition a report on a compassionate bitch, Reina, who kept alive an abandoned, starving two-year-old Chilean boy by breastfeeding him until the police rescued him. The dog is called man’s best friend, but Reina, overflowing with milk of human, nay canine, kindness, has acted as a surrogate mother. The unfortunate boy’s biological mother, sozzled to the gills, later visited him in hospital, we are told. In this country, too, some mothers abandon more..

Sep 8 (FT) PHU alleged that PM Ranil Wickremesinghe had abused the powers of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. PHU Leader Udaya Gammanpila claimed that PM was unaware of standing orders & procedures of Parliament while being country’s senior politician. “According to parliamentary procedures only Speaker has the power to allow MPs to speak. When the Speaker nominates somebody, he or she can deliver speech. more..

Sep 8 (Island) Thiron Gamage, the jubilant coach of high jumper Roshan Ranatunga, who won a silver medal at the ongoing Commonwealth Youth Games, showered praise on his trainee for overcoming the set back suffered following the IAAF World Youth Championship. Despite being below his personal best, Roshan Ranatunga managed to win the silver medal of the boys high jump at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa on Monday as he cleared a height of 2.11 metres. more..

Sep 8 (Island) SL Air Force athlete Ishara Sandaruwan has cleared a height of 4.90 metres to shatter Sri Lanka’s long standing pole vault record at the on going Thailand Open Athletics Championship on Monday. He cleared the height on the second day of the championship where Aravinda Chathuranga and Nilani Ratnayake were the gold medal winners for Sri Lanka. Sandaruwan has however been placed fourth. A former Ratnayake Central, Walala athlete, more..

Sep 8 (DN) New Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said that he will solve all disputes in local sports law and sports' international governing bodies within a short period. "Sri Lanka is inside the world. The world is not inside SL. We should accept that. We should maintain a perfect balance between local sports law and law required by international governing bodies of various sports and International Olympic Committee. more..

Sep 8 (Island) The Young Members Forum of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Job and an Entrepreneurship Fair titled Careerlead at the Rajarata University on the 10th and 11th of this month. Forty five companies are expected to take part in this programme as potential recruiters, Mangala Yapa - CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said. The participating companies are looking to fill over 100 vacancies at present across a number of sectors, more..

Sep 8 (DN) As part of the capital restructuring process to unlock shareholder value, the subsidiaries of Resus Energy (REP) (formerly known as Hemas Power) has raised over Rs. 1 billion via a syndicated debt facility with the participation of National Development Bank and Sampath Bank. NDB Investment Bank NDBIB played a key role in this transaction as financial advisor and arranger for the debt facility and has been in the forefront in the restructuring process of REP group. more..

Sep 8 (CT) Central Bank (CB) is in a fresh initiative to restructure six ailing finance companies, a bank official said. Under the Supreme Court direction, the CBSL is also planning to appoint two Treasury officials to the Golden Key Credit Card Co board. Golden Key, which is now under the CBSL's liquidation process, will retain Priyantha Fernando as the Chairman. CB earlier abandoned financial sector consolidation process more..

Sep 8 (DN) Seven outstanding young professionals from Sri Lanka's advertising industry and two young students, have been selected to represent the country at the annual Young Spikes Competitions, Young Creative Academy and Spikes Asia Accounts Executive Academy, which will take place at the Spikes Asia Festival 2015 in Singapore from 9 to 11 September 2015. A local competition was conducted by Metal Factor in partnership with representatives from the industry. more..

Sep 8 (Island) A two-day seminar was organized by Academy of Financial Studies (AFS) with assistance by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at Miloda on Sept 3-4, inviting a group of leading economic professors from Japan and eminent panelists from foreign institutions and private sector. In the opening remark for the seminar, Kenichi Suganuma, ambassador of Japan said that the govt of Japan has a strong expectation towards, and is ready to continue to support more..

Sep 8 (DN) Sri Lanka tourism arrival figures in the past has not being calculated properly and actual arrival numbers were not correctly charged, said new Minister of Tourism and Religious Affairs John Amaratunge. He said that even passengers who changed flights in Colombo to take flights to the Maldives and Indian destinations (transit passengers) were counted as tourists visiting Sri Lanka. more..

Sep 8 (GV) Almost all major mainstream media outlets in Sri Lanka are now owned, or partially owned by individuals representing both business and political interests. This ownership simply treats media as a wing of a business conglomerate, and uses objectivity merely as an essential product feature without which the market for their news would erode. Strategies of media control, since the end of the war in 2009, have progressed far beyond the use of force and coercion to more..

Sep 8 (Island) Inspector General of Police (IGP) N. K. Illangakoon has transferred Officers-In-Charge (OIC) of eleven police stations with immediate effect. Police Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunsekara said that it was due to service exigencies. The police stations concerned are Sammanturai, Anamaduwa, Illippukadawei, Kotahena, Potuvil, Kuttigala, Ja-Ela, Meegahatenna, Kandy, Ankumbura and Wakarai. Eleven OIC’s transferred include six Inspectors and five Chief Inspectors (CI). more..

Sep 8 (CW) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday announced Jerome Jayaratne as the interim coach of the team following the resignation of Marvan Atapattu. The 49-year-old, Jayaratne, will be in charge of the Sri Lankan team for the upcoming home series against West Indies which begins on 14th Oct. Atapattu, who took over the coaching reigns from Paul Fabrace on Sept 2014, announced his resignation last week following more..

Sep 8 (Haveeru) Opposition aligned lawyer Mahfooz Saeed will travel to Sri Lanka on Monday to receive further treatment for injuries sustained in the recent stabbing, his family has said. Mahfooz, a member of former president Mohamed Nasheed's legal team, was stabbed in the left side of his head while he was on his motorbike on Friday in capital Male. The knife had missed his eye-socket by a few millimetres. He underwent a three-hour long surgery Saturday at the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, more..

Sep 8 (Island) A man, enraged by his wife’s failure to bring him any present from Kataragama, where she had been on pilgrimage, threw acid on her in Kalutara. The victim, employed overseas, had returned home last month and gone on pilgrimage to Kataragama with a group of her friends. She returned with some gifts for her two daughters and son. The husband had brought acid in a cup and thrown it on her face. The victim with serious injuries and had been to the Nagoda Hospital more..

Sep 8 (CT) Prasanna Wickramasuriya, the former head of the Airport and Aviation Services Limited is to be probed over gold, jewelery, gems and other valuable goods worth millions of rupees which had gone missing from a safe at the BIA during his tenure as its Chairman. Wickramasuriya, first cousin of former President Rajapaksa will come under the microscope of either CID or FCID on the above case shortly, more..

Sep 8 (CT) The mobile phone belonging to the deceased national ruggerite Wassim Thajudeen who died under suspicious circumstances was found in the possession of an individual in the Agarapatana area in Nuwara Eliya, police sources said. ASP Ruwan Gunasekara stated that the CID has recovered the phone from an individual who had picked up the phone from the accident back in 2012. The individual, who had worked as a servant at a reception hall, had picked up the phone from more..

Sep 8 (FT) Sri Lanka got a boost from the popular UK newspaper Sunday Times last week with the country promoted as the holiday destination of the year for Britons. Two promotional articles in the Sunday Times’ travel section gave pride of place to Sri Lanka. In an article titled Follow the sun this winter, the newspaper featured 10 destinations and Sri Lanka was tagged Destination of the Year for tea and sea. Sri Lanka received the accolade amidst a selection of countries and cities more..

Sep 8 (Island) Minister of Justice and Buddhasasana, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that the appointment of members to the Constitutional Council would be completed by next week, but they would have to wait until Parliament met on Sept 22 to get its approval for the civil society members of the CC. Rajapaksa said that the govt would effect some changes, through Parliament, to the permanent Commission to investigate more..

Sep 8 (DM) The swearing-in of State Ministers and Deputy Ministers of the National Unity Govt has been postponed for tomorrow, govt sources said. Of the 48 Cabinet Ministers in the National Unity Government, 43 have already been sworn in. The swearing-in of 45 State Ministers and Deputy Ministers was earlier scheduled to be held this morning. Twenty seven State and Deputy Ministers are to be appointed from the UNF while the rest would be appointed from the SLFP. more..

Sep 8 (AFP) Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara's superb century saw Surrey into the final of English county cricket's one-day cup as they saw off Nottinghamshire by four runs in a thrilling clash at The Oval on Monday. The veteran left-hander made 166 in 138 balls, the highest score in this season's tournament, and Surrey will now face Gloucestershire in the final at Lord's on Sept 19. Nottinghamshire, chasing 301 for victory, recovered after they declined to 16 for three, more..

Sep 8 (DN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed the authorities to apprise him of the progress in the investigations into the number of murders and abductions that took place during the previous regime. Premier has sought the details with regard to the progress of the investigations into the murders of Nadarajah Raviraj, Lasantha Wickrematunga and Wasim Thajudeen from IGP and directors of CID and TID. more..

Sep 8 (Island) The GNOA threatened to extend their four-day strike in the North Western Province to Chilaw Hospital if the Provincial Health Authorities failed to cancel their decision to transfer 378 nurses immediately. GNOA Chairman, Saman Ratnapriya said that nurses attached to 45 health institutions, including Kuliyapitiya, Nikaweratiya, Dambadeniya and Marawila Base Hospitals were on strike. He warned that the strike would spill over to other parts of the provinces if their demand was not met. more..

Sep 8 (DM) The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said today it had not decided to send a party delegation to attend the upcoming UNHRC sessions. Its spokesperson and MP M.A. Sumanthiran while confirming this to the Daily Mirror however said some members might go in their individual capacities. He was responding to a query about some TNA members of the Northern Provincial Council deciding to go to Geneva during the UNHRC sessions to lobby for an international probe. more..

Sep 8 (ENS) The TNA wants an international court to try cases of war crimes identified by the investigations conducted by the Office of the High Commissioner's Investigation for Human Rights on Sri Lanka (OISL) and not another international investigation, senior TNA leader, Mavai Senathirajah, clarified. Speaking about the popular Tamil demand for an international investigation, Jaffna district MP said that more..

Sep 8 (DM) A recurrent problem with the Sri Lankan politics is that it has continually failed to seize the opportunity even when it was knocking at the door. That failure dates back to Independence; if the then political leaders had the courage to forge ahead with the Banda-Chelva pact, or much later, Dudley-Chelva pact, we could have been saved from a ruinous civil war, that battered our economy and social fabric. On each occasion, it required decisive action and political will to make more..

Sep 8 (CT) Sirisena as the then common Opposition presidential candidate supported by Sri Lanka's largest political party the UNP, ousted the then incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the presidential poll on 8 January 2015. Sirisena speaking at "Sirikotha" said the last presidential election campaign was held at Maradana on 5 January 2015. But his security had allegedly refused to accompany him to Maradana saying that there was a threat to his life. more..

Sep 8 (SL) A new independent bribery commission is expected to be appointed after implementing the Constitutional Council. The latter will be appointed by next week in accordance with the 19th constitutional amendment. The tenure of the present commissioners will come to an end, since the chairman and some of the commissioners of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) seem to be dependent more..