Aug 11 (EN) Parliament Thursday approved a bill to set up a special office to trace thousands of people still missing seven years after the end of its ethnic war. The parliament unanimously approved the bill entitled -- Office on missing persons (establishment, administration and discharge of functions) -- despite members of the so called joint opposition trying to scuttle it. However, with no majority to defeat the bill, more..

Aug 11 (CT) M.H. Iqbal, an officer attached to the PM’s office, has been assigned to lead the PM’s media delegation to China. Colombo Telegraph learns that Iqbal has no media experience and, at one point, has functioned as Ranil Wickremesinghe‘s mobile phone operator. Iqbal currently functions as a Secretary attached to the Prime Minister Media Unit. PM’s office confirmed Colombo Telegraph that Iqbal would lead the PM’s media delegation to China. more..

Aug 11 (Island) Former secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket Nishantha Ranatunga yesterday withdrew the revision application he had earlier filed in the High Court asking for an order on the Kaduwela Magistrate to release his passport. High Court was told that the suspect wished to request the release of his passport from the Kaduwela Magistrate. The FCID has complained to the Magistrate that first suspect Yoshitha Rajapaksa and second suspect Nishantha Ranatunga were unable to explain more..

Aug 11 (DM) Minister Sarath Amunugama justified the govt’s decisions to purchase eight multirole fighter jets to upgrade the Sri Lanka Air Force fleet. He said the minimum number of eight fighter jets was a request made by the Air Force. “Some may say there is no requirement to purchase fighter jets at the moment. But I disagree. As one of three forces, Air Force must be combat ready and it is required to update the fleet to maintain more..

Aug 11 (EN) Asian Development Bank (ADB) is giving SL another loan of $128 million to fund safe water and waste water management in Colombo and suburbs. ADB loan agreement with govt of SL is the third tranche loan for phase three of the Greater Colombo Water and Wastewater Management Improvement Investment Program. It aims to “assist govt to achieve its goal of providing safe water and full sanitation coverage for Greater Colombo under its Development Policy Framework,” more..

Aug 11 (EN) SL's budget deficit for 2015 is supposed to be Rs829.5 billion or 7.4% of GDP. But there is a great deal of confusion around it. Central bank in its annual report said the budget deficit excludes restructuring bonds of Rs13 billion and Rs23.9 billion issued to National Water Supply and Drainage Board and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in 2015. Meanwhile, in Dec 2015, there was confusion about Rs50 billion of bonds apparently 'privately placed' by the debt office. more..

Aug 11 (PSL) President Sirisena stated that neither the Govts of Sri Lanka nor India held any discussion with regard to constructing a bridge from Talaimannar connecting India and Sri Lanka. President further said that the Govt in any way will not do such imprudent and unpatriotic acts and he also vehemently rejected such allegations spread with the intention of making the Govt unpopular. He made these remarks participating in more..

Aug 11 (CI) England's Under-19s received another harsh lesson from Sri Lanka as they were beaten by 108 runs in the first match of the Royal London One-Day Series at Wormsley. This was England's first chance to bounce back from the defeat they suffered in the second four-day match against the Sri Lankans in Northampton last week, albeit with a slightly different team. Instead they were dismissed for 149 after restricting the tourists to 257 for 7, losing their last eight wickets for 53 more..

Aug 11 (Island) Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) on instructions from its Chairman Hasitha Tillkeratne raided a coffee manufacturing factory in the Kolonnawa area and discovered that they had used colouring and other ingredients past the shelf life. CAA produced them before the Maligakanda Magistrate, who fined them. The authority has filed cases against over 50 supermarkets so far this year. The common violations are selling goods at higher prices, not indicating the prices, altering more..

Aug 11 (DM) CID has been given permission by the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate’s Court to analyze the bank accounts of 63 intelligence officials in connection with the assassination of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. The order was issued when the case was taken up for hearing before Additional Magistrate Sulochana Weerasinghe today. The account of the intelligence official who is already in custody will also be inspected. more..

Aug 11 (CT) Fort Magistrate yesterday released vocalist Rajiv Sebastian on surety bail in Rs 300,000. Sebastian was arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and produced before the Fort Magistrate on a charge of furnishing dud cheques after having purchased tickets to enplaned for Italy for a musical show. The suspect was released by the Magistrate after he promised to pay up the value of the dud cheques, on a monthly basis, to the tune of Rs. 100,000 to Court. more..

Aug 11 (Reuters) Shares on Thursday slipped from its more-than-10-week high, hit in the previous session, as foreign outflow dented investor sentiment while some investors booked profits in thin trade. Colombo stock index ended down 0.44%, 28.98 points, at 6,514.77. "Foreign selling was seen in some large caps, and that led to profit-taking," said Jaliya Wijeratne, CEO, First Capital Equities. Foreign investors were net sellers for the first time in 12 sessions. more..

Aug 11 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena emphasized that the Govt is bound by their policies to fulfill the responsibilities and duties towards the farming community who strengthen the national economy of the country with their tears and sweat. He made these remarks participating in a ceremony to present the award to the Mahaweli Maha Goviya as well as to present the award for the Best Mahaweli Farmer Organization, more..

Aug 11 (CI) Australia face another trial by spin in Colombo after the surface at the SSC was revealed to have been prepared along similar lines to the track in Galle. Two days out from the third Test, the pitch showed even less signs of moisture or grass than Galle's had done, meaning it is again set to turn significantly from day one, with natural variation to again test the awareness of the visiting batsmen. "If you look at the Galle wicket there was probably a little bit more grass on it at this stage," more..

Aug 11 (DM) Norwegian PM Erna Solberg, who is already in Sri Lanka on a private visit, will have an official Programme at the invitation of the Govt on Friday and Saturday. PM Solberg will be received at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday and accorded a guard of honour and gun salute following which she will hold bilateral discussions with President Sirisena. She will also meet PM Wickremesinghe, Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan. more..

Aug 11 (AD) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe today said that the solution to the acts of religious extremism being witnessed now in parts of the world, does not lie solely in security measures and intelligence systems. From time to time you will find extremism taking over amongst some people in some religions, sometimes in ethnic groups, he said. “We have gone through this in Sri Lanka,” he said, speaking at more..

Aug 11 (MoD) Sri Lanka Navy hosted the inaugural Operational Level Bilateral Defence Dialogue between the US Armed Forces and Sri Lanka Armed Forces at the Naval Headquarters recently (8th - 9th Aug). According to the Navy media sources, the US delegation was comprised of representatives from different formations of US Pacific Command. The local delegation included representatives from tri-services, Ministry Of Defence and Office of the Chief of Defence Staff. more..

Aug 11 (CG) Veteran journalist Elmo Fernando passed away at his residence early today. He was 75 years old. Fernando joined the SLBC in 1967 and displayed his talents as a popular announcer, a news caster and a programme producer as well as a news reporter. After leaving the SLBC in 1984, he joined the Veritas which is the catholic radio service of Philippines. In 1994 he joined the BBC Sinhala Service and served as the Colombo correspondent for more than 20 years. more..

Aug 11 (Wire) C.V. Wigneswaran, chief minister of Northern Province and member of TNA, says adopting federalism is the only way to assure transitional justice and provide a long-lasting solution to ethnic conflict. Sri Lanka has experienced some surprising political changes over the past 18 months. In Jan 2015, longtime President Rajapaksa lost his bid for what would have been an unprecedented third term in office. more..

Aug 11 (Hindu) Datsun is set to make a return to Sri Lanka after nearly six decades. It is now set to launch the redi-GO targeted at aspirational and young people ready to take the next step in their lives. The model was launched in India in early June this year. "The return of Datsun to Sri Lanka is a key element of our expansion in fast-growing markets where there is growing demand for personal mobility," said Vincent Cobee, Global Head of Datsun, in a press release. more..

Aug 11 (CG) Several files at the Foreign Ministry related to overseas tours by MPs and officials in the past have gone missing. This was revealed to Parliament by Minister Mangala Samaraweera today when he was responding to a question raised on foreign tours by Govt members and officials. Minister said that, for example, in 2006 a 142 member delegation had accompanied former President Rajapaksa on an overseas tour but details of only half of those who went with more..

Aug 11 (DM) In the wake of the Office of Missing Persons Bill being passed in Parliament, Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the Govt would go ahead with the setting up of a judicial mechanism to hear accountability issues. He said the new legislation would provide for the setting up of a Truth Commission next month to ascertain the circumstances under which people went missing. more..

Aug 12 (Island) The much heralded Pada Yathra or protest march by the Joint Opposition is now over and with the dust settling, the political impact and more lasting impact of the march on Sri Lanka’s political process should be accessed. Billed as the major initiative of the Joint Opposition for the mid-year, its organizers and JO theoreticians never meant it to be a regime changer of the Arab Spring variety, but rather as former President Rajapaksa himself described it, a rehearsal or more..

Aug 12 (CT) I conducted an interview with Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran—the PM of the Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam (TGTE). Mr. Rudrakumaran spoke in depth about the mission of the TGTE, viability of a separate homeland for the Tamil people, his work as the former legal advisor to the LTTE, and alleged human rights violations committed during the ethnic conflict. I asked Mr.Rudrakumaran, why a separatist solution, in the eyes of the TGTE, still remains most viable more..

Aug 12 (SO) The yellow and blue balloons, hung from the ceiling, paper decorations pasted on doors of the ceramic tiled office are still there. They are a reminder to all who enter the office of the GVK EMRI Lanka at Cotta Road, Rajagiriya, of the recent launch (July 29) of the new Indo- Sri Lanka ambulance service which those responsible for introducing it said, a landmark in the history of medicine in Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 12 (CT) Former British High Commissioner to SL David Gladstone, speaking to BBC related a wonderful story on 2 July 2008. "During the govt of President Premadasa, present President Mahinda was a very good friend of mine. He came often to meet me. On occasions he met me, he told me to influence the govt to search for youth who had gone missing in the North and the South. He told me that he would establish an association comprising parents and children of the missing persons more..

Aug 12 (CT) Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka was the Leader of the House in the last State Council. D.S. Senanayake was his second in command. Sir Baron Jayatilaka could be described as one of the leading freedom fighters along with the Senanayakes, E.W. Perera, Sir James Peries, and Dr. Marcus Fernando. They opposed the British rule and fought for freedom from the foreign yoke. Tamil leaders such as Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sri Arunachalam also fought for the freedom. more..

Aug 12 (CT) Politburo member of the JVP, President of the National Trade Union Centre, K. D. Lalkantha questions; also with the budget due in another two months, what is the use of a VAT Bill, now. Q: The VAT Bill which was due to be presented in Parliament this week was postponed. Has the heat regarding the opposition against VAT cooled down? A: We are against imposing of old or new taxes in any way, more..

Aug 12 (Island) Joint Opposition (JO) MPs yesterday staged a protest in Parliament against the Office on Missing Persons Bill (OMPB), which was originally scheduled to be put to the vote today. But, since no JO MPs spoke during the debate thereon, the govt made the most of the situation and rushed it through Parliament with some amendments. There has been a serious lapse on the part of the JO. Rajapaksa loyalists should have moved the judiciary and sought a judicial review of Bill at issue weeks ago. more..

Aug 12 (DN) Higher educational institutions, particularly the Universities seem to be in turmoil, if one judges by the street demonstrations and sit-in protests of students. Of late, both academic and non-academic staff of these institutions were also embroiled in a similar situation. Majority of the issues on which these agitations were based were long-standing. Hence it is fair to deduce that there should be certain fundamental structural and other deficiencies in the system itself. more..

Aug 12 (GV) The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) was appointed by the Prime Minister in January 2016 to conduct public consultations on the design of four mechanisms to advance truth, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. These four mechanisms are: 1.) an Office on Missing Persons, 2.) an Office for Reparations, 3.) a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel, and 4.) a Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence Commission. more..

Aug 12 (Island) The first article under the above title published in The Island on July 26, 2016 referred to the failures of the UN and its systems to prevent, and when started, to stop the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The report of the Independent Inquiry appointed by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, into the actions of the UN in Rwanda, states: "The international community did not prevent the genocide, nor did it stop the killing once the genocide had begun. more..

Aug 12 (FT) Expectations were high after the January and August elections last year. The incoming Govt promised a new era of political liberalism, good governance, ethnic reconciliation and a balanced foreign policy. Not least, it stirred hopes of a more market-oriented economic policy that would, finally, make Sri Lanka achieve its long-heralded potential. What has changed in the last year-and-a-half? To begin with credits: more..

Aug 12 (CT) I am neither surprised, nor overly worried about the Tamil students of the Jaffna Uni beating the Sinhala students. Intermittent inter-ethnic conflicts in various locations have occurred in the past and will continue to happen in the foreseeable future which is, hopefully, transiting from Nandikadal to a more rational and settled period of race relations. Of course, it all depends on whether the current indicators, which are seminal, would turn into a consolidated and irreversible trend. more..

Aug 12 (Island) The GMOA said it would write to President Maithripala Sirisena requesting an appointment with him to discuss the ongoing controversial structural changes being introduced to the Health Ministry. GMOA Secretary Dr Naveen de Zoysa said there had been changes introduced to the Health Ministry’s structure during the last two years. He said there was a move to introduce a non-medical Director General qualified in Accountancy to the Health Ministry. more..

Aug 12 (Hindu) Baskaran, now a father of two girls, has not forgotten the day in April 2006 when he had to abandon his beloved village, Sampur, along with his family members and hundreds of others. Located about 40 km from the Eastern Province’s capital of Trincomalee, the village was bombarded by Sri Lankan security forces, hours after an unsuccessful suicide bomb attack on the then Army Commander, more..

Aug 12 (DN) Niluka Karunaratne lost his opening men’s single group ‘P’ match of the XXX1st Olympic Games badminton completion to China’s Long Chen at Riocentro Pavilion Four here on Thursday. Chen took just 40 minutes to win in straight sets 2-0. The match got off to a surprisingly delayed start, which is rare in Olympic completion, as the previous matches of the scheduled court had taken a longer duration. Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s undisputed men’s single champion on 14 occasions could not more..

Aug 12 (Hindu) There is view held by many that the relationship between the security forces and internally-displaced persons (in a post-conflict situation) is not compatible. But Eastern Province’s Governor Austin Fernando, who had served as Defence Secretary, does not agree with this. He claims that the SL Navy has been carrying out constructive work for the benefit of the Sampur residents. [In Sampur, 1,125 acres, once occupied by Navy, were released between Aug 2015 more..

Aug 12 (FT) 12th edition of LMD’s Most Respected entities in Sri Lanka has been released, its publisher Media Services announced. “Headlining the admiration list is John Keells Holdings (JKH), which occupies the No. 1 spot of the Most Respected rankings for a record 11th time. It registered an aggregate medals tally of 424, compared to 404 in 2015,” the magazine notes. Commercial Bank retains its second place more..