Mar 11 (DN) Openers Rasmika Opatha (124) and Yohan Mendis (64) shattered an 80-year-old record for the first wicket as S.Thomas' College took opening day's honours in their 137th Battle of the Blues three-day cricket encounter against Royal which began at the SSC grounds, yesterday. The duo shared a magnificent 197-run partnership for the first wicket after Royal captain Geeshath Panditharatne had won an important toss and elected to field first. more..

Mar 11 (FT) Sri Lanka’s economy would have experienced a worse downturn if Mahinda Rajapaksa had been re-elected, State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said. He pointed out that had Rajapaksa won the election, his Govt would not have been successful in managing the economy amidst a global economic derailment. “Working with the UNP is not easy. But we (SLFP) are doing our level best. more..

Mar 11 (FT) The return of business leader and market mover Dhammika Perera for a new acquisition was good enough to boost an otherwise-negative Colombo Bourse, which also got a fillip from positive vibes over the imminent strengthening of China-Sri Lanka ties. With the market having lost over Rs. 450 billion in value since start of 2016 and 14% negative return until yesterday, Dhammika Perera stepped in and bought a 22% stake in Nawaloka Hospitals for Rs. 1.2 billion. more..

Mar 11 (LBO) This is the best time to invest in Sri Lanka, Minister Ravi Karunanayake urged at the successful Investment and Business Conclave 2016 organised by CCC, raising the question Why is it the best time to invest in Sri Lanka? Admitting that everything is not hunky-dory, Ranjith Fernando of the UDA said though Sri Lanka is still struggling, international community is ready to help make changes, and the govt is on the right track with Yahapalanaya which translates to a just govt. more..

Mar 11 (FT) South East Asia’s second largest economy officially called for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with SL to support efforts to triple bilateral trade by 2020. Thai Deputy PM Somkid Jatusripitak was addressing the Business Forum arranged by the EDB with representatives from many top Lankan businesses and exporters. “Thailand is proposing a FTA with Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 11 (BN) Sri Lanka has had peace for seven years, and a new president and prime minister have been in office for the past 15 months, but the much-awaited dividend from an end to more than two decades of civil war seems to have disappeared somewhere in the South Asian island's sandy beaches. The tea- and tourism-driven economy is heading for a rescue by the International Monetary Fund, and its top companies are struggling to earn the cost of now-expensive capital: more..

Mar 11 (FT) The Bank of Ceylon, the Sri Lankan banking giant, has scored its second trillion by its deposit base reaching over Rs. 1 trillion. With this achievement the bank has created history by being the first and the only bank in Sri Lanka to pass this milestone. The bank’s historic first trillion was achieved in 2012 by earning a Rs. 1 trillion asset base, which was the first time any corporate entity had achieved a Rs. 1 trillion balance sheet in Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 11 (CI) Already he had hit the second-fastest fifty in Twenty20 against them. That was in January and Sri Lanka had not forgotten Colin Munro. In Auckland, Munro had bludgeoned the Sri Lankan bowlers on his way to the 14-ball fifty. On Thursday evening in Mumbai, Munro provided a few thousand spectators another treat, this time to a 21-ball fifty which included six sixes. He had walked to the crease in the early part of the match after more..

Mar 11 (Island) Fitch Ratings' downgrading of Sri Lanka’s Long Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings one notch to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-‘ will have a negative impact on the entire Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), its chairman Vajira Kulatilaka said. "This is going to have a negative impact when attracting foreign investors to the CSE, because many investors before investing here look at country risk. Further, a negative outlook has been assigned to the Issuer Default Ratings (IDR). more..

Mar 11 (DN) Disciplinary action will be taken against SLFP MPs participating in the so called protest rally at Hyde Park on March 17 without permission from the party, Minister S.B. Dissanayake said. He said the SLFP will definitely take disciplinary action against SLFP MPs who participate in the March 17 rally. "SLFP Central Committee has taken a decision that no SLFP member should participate in a meeting or rally organised by other parties other than SLFP without prior permission more..

Mar 11 (DN) Newly appointed UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera said he would initially build a cordial rapport with all parties under the UPFA banner aiming to create a broader alliance. He said so while participating in the first media briefing after being appointed the UPFA General Secretary. "My initial aim is to strengthen the UPFA. Discussions will be held mainly with parties which are in the UPFA more..

Mar 11 (E24|7) A Sri Lankan manager with other four compatriots allegedly kidnapped and confined a woman to force her resume her friendship with him, the Dubai Criminal Court heard. At around 5am on Jan 22, AD, 37, manager, NS, 26, cook, RS, 43 driver, SM, 37 salesman, and AM, 32, waiter, broke the door of the house of WJ where she was staying. They used knives and wooden bars to break the door of the room where the woman and her friend lived. The manager AD beat her up and more..

Mar 11 (UCAN) Rights campaigners have urged the Sri Lankan govt to expedite judicial processes for cases of sexual violence against women and children. "The govt should announce that sexual abuse against women and children as a national problem," said Charity Sister Nichola Emmanuel, repeating demands made in a petition addressed to President Sirisena. "Women have urged that a group of lawyers be formed to help expedite cases stalled in the attorney general's department," more..

Mar 11 (Hindu) Acknowledging that social indicators of the one-million-strong plantation community in Sri Lanka are well below the national standards, govt on Thursday unveiled a five-year action plan, which seeks to improve the plight of the community in various sectors and envisages an investment of around $690 million. Pointing out that around 1.6 lakh houses are required to be built to replace line rooms of more..

Mar 11 (DN) Lak Sathosa operated by the Industry and Commerce Ministry has taken a massive Rs. 844 million drop in sales for the month of Feb 2016 in comparison to the previous year. According to accounts from the Industry and Commerce Ministry, institution's 2015 turnover was Rs. 2,809,891,171 million and in last month the figure has depressed to 1,965,458,280 million in February 2015 indicating a customer base loss. Despite these losses Lak Sathosa is in a major expansion drive. more..

Mar 11 (CT) JVP Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that if the accident which caused a life-threatening injury to Sandeep Gunawardene at Rajagiriya late last month was caused by a minister of the current regime, then he should be arrested forthwith irrespective of his status or rank in the Cabinet. Dissanayake said all MPs were bound to cooperate with the law and that no one was above it. Therefore, since the accident was of a serious nature, justice has to be meted out to the more..

Mar 11 (FT) Signalling a shining return to stronger relations with China, Cabinet approved the recommencement of Chinese-funded $ 1.4 billion Port City project and kicked off acquiring land for the second phase of Hambantota Port project. Land reclamation, which ran into trouble last year when the new Govt came into power, is expected to recommence this month after several amendments are made to original agreement, more..

Mar 11 (Island) Govt Dental Surgeon’s Association (GDSA) accused the present govt of discouraging public servants through non-benevolent budget proposals in the Budget 2016. GDSA accused the govt of trying to sign Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which would have a drastic health and social impact on SL. Health Ministry had promised to grant clinical facilities at state-run hospitals to the students of SAITM, Malambe for a fee of Rs. 50,000 each. more..

Mar 11 (DN) Colombo Commercial High Court permitted the SLTB to file an amended plaint on June 23 against former President Rajapaksa and six others in connection with defaulting Rs.142 million owed to the SLTB, whose buses were used to transport people to election rallies during the 2015-Presidential Election campaign. Commercial High Court Judge Shiran Gunaratne made this order following a request by plaintiff that SLTB be allowed to amend the plaint since it wants to amend more..

Mar 11 (ITN) PM Ranil Wickremasinghe has said that a no confidence motion can be table after the present inquiries are completed and that the person who is doing so is now sitting in Parliament. PM said so at a function organized to launch the five year plan to upgrade the living standards of the plantation fraternity. He revealed that the previous Govt had stolen 1000 billion rupees. He said that attempts are being made to bring in more..

Mar 11 (LBO) The legal act for Sri Lanka govt’s hallmark Megapolis development is now drafted and will be presented in parliament soon, a senior official said. “We hope to bring the Megapolis Act to the legislature in the next two months,” Ranjith Fernando, chairman of the Urban Development Authority said. “This act will designate the Western region including Colombo into a separate Authority which will separate it from the UDA which will handle the rest of the country.” more..

Mar 11 (Hindu) Minister and former Commander of SL Army Sarath Fonseka told Parliament that in May 2009, the then President Mahinda Rajpakasa had declared that the Eelam War-IV had been won even when chief of the LTTE, V. Prabhakaran, was alive. Mr. Fonseka said he came to know the death of the LTTE leader only after Mr. Rajapaksa informed the House about the end of the War. Mr. Fonseka reiterated his call for the involvement of of foreign observers in the investigation and maintained more..

Mar 11 (Island) Ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, Yoshitha, during his 100 month service in the Sri Lanka Navy had been on 27 foreign trips, Parliament was told. Minister Ruwan Wijewardene responding to a question raised by JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that Yoshitha had visited the US, the UK, Ukraine, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia, Singapore and New Zealand. more..

Mar 11 (DM) The mutilated eagle’s picture which went viral on social media websites is one of the most harrowing examples of cruelty to animals. The eagle, with all its feathers plucked, is standing on what looks like a stone slab. Its claws, hacked off from the feet, are visible in front of it. A hand wielding a knife is in the foreground and the blade is pointed at the hapless creature. There are five men in the picture. Three have their faces towards the camera. They are smiling smugly. more..

Mar 11 (DM) Hand-foot-and-mouth disease rampant among pre-school children these days causes distress in anxious parents. An extremely contagious condition caused most often by a cocksackie virus, which is a virus of the enterovirus family, the outbreaks of it largely occur at this time of the year here at home. In the West, the outbreaks are witnessed in summer and fall. Although the condition sends panic waves among parents and pre-school teachers, proper management of it by parents more..

Mar 11 (ST) Sampur’s residents, who are yet to resettle in the recently released lands, staged a protest this week against the proposed Sampur Coal Power Plant. They said if the project was implemented, it would pose a threat to the surrounding environment. People’s Movement Against Coal Power Plant and Green Trincomallee, an organisation consisting of people from neighboring villages, held the protest more..

Mar 11 (AD) Venerable Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero, who was arrested and subsequently remanded for the alleged illegal possession of an elephant calf, has been granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court. Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris ordered that he be released on three personal bails of Rs 3 million each after lawyers presented a motion seeking bail on the basis that prominent more..

Mar 11 (SL) During recent times, many concerns were raised over a possible fertiliser shortage in the country which was said to result in a significant fertiliser price hike. Many farmers’ associations and agriculture sector trade unions took to media and made sentiments on a possible fertiliser shortage which could end up in a significant price hike. The organisations applied much pressure on govt to intervene and provide a solution more..

Mar 11 (Island) The date of enrolment for all state universities will be July 01 from 2019, State Minister of Higher Education Mohan Lal Grero said. University admissions were done haphazardly at present and students had to wait nearly one and a half years to gain university admission, Minister Grero said. "We had a meeting with Deans, Rectors and Directors of all universities and decided to advance the enrolment date," more..

Mar 11 (AAP) The future for a Sri Lankan asylum-seeker in Australia is unknown despite him being cleared of indecently attacking a sleeping university student. Daxchan Selvarajah was found not guilty by a Sydney District Court jury on Friday of attacking the Macquarie University student in her bed. The 24-year-old had been accused of ripping through a flyscreen door at the student's home at Macquarie University more..

Mar 11 (Island) A payment amounting to Rs. 5 mn made in 2013 to US hip hop artistes to perform in Colombo has been investigated by the FCID. A case also been filed. Grammy and Brit Award winner Taio Cruz, Billboard Award winner Sean Kingston and Big Reeno performed at the Carlton Rugby Sevens. Tharunyata Hetak had obtained Rs. 5 mn from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for more..

Mar 11 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today said the Centre should not treat the International Maritime Boundary Line with the island nation as a settled issue as the constitutionality of the 1974 and 1976 agreements have been challenged in the Supreme Court. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she noted that Tamil Nadu fishermen who were in traditional waters of Palk Bay were apprehended by more..

Mar 11 (DN) Former MP Duminda Silva had informed the Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya, that he wants to plead guilty in three corruption cases filed against him by Bribery Commission for not declaring assets. The Colombo Magistrate's Court on January 13 released Former UPFA MP Duminda Silva on bail over three cases filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. more..

Mar 11 (DM) Minister Sarath Fonseka, war time commander of SL Army, said in Parliament that an international probe should be conducted as stipulated in the Geneva resolution. Mr. Fonseka, in his first parliamentary address after nomination as an MP, said he endorsed it as the commander who the led the military at that time. “We should not shy away from any investigation. We should not resent foreign participation,” more..

Mar 11 (Island) The JVP told PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign from politics if he did not know the actual borrowings of the previous govt. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said PM had told Parliament that the govt had to introduce tax revisions to pay back the loans obtained by Rajapaksa govt and he got to know of it after presenting the budget. Dissanayake said it was also laughable that govt was seeking IMF advice more..

Mar 11 (Island) Petroleum Resources Development Minister Chandima Weerakkody told Parliament that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) earned a profit of Rs 17 per litre of diesel and suffered a loss of Rs. 22 per litre of petrol. He said the cost of a petrol litre with taxes was Rs. 138 but in the local market the price of a petrol litre was Rs 117. If taxes were removed a profit of Rs. 32 per litre of diesel and Rs. 43 per litre of petrol could be earned, he said. more..

Mar 11 (PTI) Swashbuckling Kiwi batsman Corey Anderson says New Zealand have a fair idea of how to beat Sri Lanka if they face them in the semifinals of the World Twenty20. New Zealand scored a resounding 74-run win over struggling Sri Lanka in a warm-up game, here last night. "We do not face them in the pool game but if we face them in the semi final, we know how to beat them. Look it was a good game, we put on lot of runs, bowling wise, we restricted them to 150," Anderson said. more..

Mar 11 (Reuters) Shares gained for a second straight session on Friday as investors bought beaten-down stocks, with the index touching its technical resistance level of 6,000 points. However, foreign investors were net sellers for the first time in 10 sessions. The benchmark share index ended 1.21% up at 6,019.95. The index had lost 3.2% in the two sessions through Wednesday as a govt move to hike value added tax (VAT) and reintroduce capital gains tax to break out of a debt trap more..

Mar 11 (News) OVER the past few years, yoga holidays have become synonymous with luxury. Fluffy throne-like beds, temperature-controlled rooms and infinity pools are part and parcel. But Ulpotha, an eco-retreat in the heart of Sri Lanka, is not for the faint-hearted nor the perpetually pampered. It’s 8am on a Monday and the mighty jungle has woken. Obliviously, monkeys shake the trees overhead with an arrogance that only animals and adolescents can get away with. more..