May 6 (CG) Fishermen of Karaikal in Puducherry, India, have decided to boycott the Assembly elections in protest over several issues, including the failure by the Indian Govt to free Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody. At a meeting held at Karaikalmedu, Karaikal fishermen decided to boycott the polls in support of their demands. They wanted the fishermen to be included in the list of most backward community by the Union Territory of Puducherry. more..

May 6 (Island) Former Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has written to all Ambassadors and High Commissioners regarding the govt’s decision to replace former President Mahinda Rajapaksa security contingent provided by the Army with the Police. The following is the full text of the letter dated May 4: "I am writing to bring to your notice the potentially grave consequences arising from the Govt’s decision to withdraw more..

May 6 (SJP) The Center for Sustainability (CFS) attached to Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri J'pura in collaboration with Unilever Lipton Ceylon, aims to conduct a high impact program for uplifting sustainability and productivity levels of tea small holder farmers in Sri Lanka. Dr. Priyan Perera. Coordinating Director and Senior Lecturer at Department of Forestry and Environmental Science said that, this will be done through more..

May 6 (SS) Sri Lanka have touched down in England as they look to back up their Test-series victory over Alastair Cook's side in 2014 - but can Angelo Mathews' team win again? Sky Sports' Dominic Cork has his doubts. This Sri Lanka team is different to the one of two years ago, with quite a lot of senior members retired or injured. They're led quite well by Angelo Mathews, who has had to step up with Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan all gone. more..

May 6 (Island) Members of the sub committees of the Constitutional Assembly were appointed when the Assembly met yesterday for its second day at 9.30 am with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya presiding. Uresha Fernando had been appointed the additional secretary of the Constitutional Assembly. he also announced members of six sub committees namely Fundamental Rights, Judiciary, Finance, Public Service, Law and Order, Centre-Periphery. more..

May 6 (FT) Commercial High Court of Colombo extended the Enjoining Order against Liberty Commodities Ltd of UK. The litigation filed by the Lanka Coal Company against the Liberty Commodities Ltd came up before High Court Judge E.R. Amarasekere. Lanka Coal Company, a fully owned govt concern and the monopoly holder to import coal for the use in electricity generation obtained an Enjoining Order against inter alia, Liberty Commodities of UK from encashing more..

May 6 (Island) Five students of Kelaniya University were arrested yesterday for ragging a fresher. First year student of the Kelaniya University had lodged a complaint with the Kiribathgoda police station on April 25 that she had been assaulted and ragged by senior students. The complainant, who is from Kohuwala, had given ten names of undergraduates who had ragged her. Respective police stations had arrested five of them and another five were to be arrested soon, police said. more..

May 6 (Island) The Joint Opposition yesterday called for the immediate resignation of Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake after a recount of a vote taken at the end of yesterday’s debate to give approval for a supplementary estimate of Rs 55 mn for the govt revealed original result had been distorted. Joint Opposition said that the Secretary General of Parliament had assured a recount. more..

May 6 (DM) During this World Media Freedom Week, President and PM have reiterated their commitment to the vision of media rights and responsibilities. But it seems that in the high level bureaucracy some sections are still on the old regime’s mode of authoritarianism and cover up of corruption, with little transparency or accountability. President reiterated his commitment to media freedom when he presided at an event where proposals to establish a righteous media more..

May 6 (DM) The May Day poster of the UNP had an interesting caption: Kepakarapu janathavage maidina raeliya. Kanishka Goonewardena, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Toronto, who was with me as we drove past a wall covered with this poster, was amused by the caption. 'Kepakarapu? Doesn’t that mean Condemned?’ he asked. A May Day rally of the Condemned then? The word condemn refers to complete disapproval of something or more..

May 6 (DM) A physical altercation, coupled with verbal abuses, took place in the well of the House on Tuesday over the reduction of Army security provided to former President Rajapaksa. The disturbance took place at a time when a Code of Conduct was being considered by parliamentary authorities for adoption to maintain dignity and decorum of the House. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, in early April, tabled the copies of more..

May 6 (DN) Major-General Sumith Manawadu who was admitted to the National Hospital after being critically injured on 4 May passed away this morning. Earlier, Major-General Sumith Manawadu sustained life threatening injuries after a wooden beam suddenly collapsed on him at a construction site .He was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital. Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera said that this incident occurred at more..

May 6 (ST) For Fayaz Buhari manoeuvring the rough terrain of Trincomalee in his pickup truck is just another day at the office. It’s no small fry for this young man of 24 years on his first job at a tinned fish farming company. Fresh and armed with a BSc degree in Fisheries and Management from the Ocean University in Tangalle, this Kalmunai native is just 10 months into his job as nursery manager at Oceanpick (Pvt) Ltd, more..

May 6 (LBO) Sri Lanka wants more power generation from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), because natural gas is attractively priced in international markets, and will rely less on coal. “It is a very compelling case to start gasifying Sri Lanka using, initially, imported LNG, and then at some point in the future, when it’s technically available, phasing into domestic gas,” Saliya Wickramasuriya, director general of Petroleum Resources more..

May 6 (Island) Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told Parliament that Opposition MPs should evinced the same enthusiasm and vigour they had displayed during Tuesday’s fracas, when attending to the parliamentary affairs. Opposition MPs came to Parliament in their numbers only if there was a fight but did not come to raise questions on behalf of the people during the question time, he said. more..

May 6 (Island) Action against SLFP MPs who attended the Jt. Opposition May Day rally at Kirulapone at the expense of the party’s rally in Galle would be taken at the Central Committee meeting of the SLFP, Minister of Petroleum and Petroleum Gas Chandima Weerakkody said. Addressing the media Weerakkody said that it was still not too late for their MPs in the Joint Opposition to join forces with the SLFP leadership to form a future govt. more..

May 6 (EN) The new IGP Pujith Jayasundara has disclosed how he influenced the Constitutional Council and secured the highest position in the police - by holding poojas for 35 consecutive days. Jayasundara told a felicitation ceremony in Kandy on Wednesday that he sacrificed his constitutional morning exercise regime and instead paid homage at Gangaramaya temple. As his predecessor was about to retire, more..

May 6 (DM) State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said the govt’s decision to withdraw the army from the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s security division and deploy only the police would not be changed under any circumstance. He told the media during his visit to the Mihintale Raja Maha Vihara yesterday that it was a decision taken by the Security Council Headed by the President and the Prime Minister. more..

May 6 (Island) President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday said that there had been a far more serious incident in Parliament during 1992 than Tuesday’s fracas. He was referring to fisticuffs between some members of the UNP Parliamentary Group and the Joint Opposition over a controversial decision to replace former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa’s army bodyguards with police personnel. more..

May 6 (GDI) An agreement has been signed between Sri Lanka and a United States company to provide job opportunities for more than 3,000 local nurses in U.S. hospitals. Karma Services, LLC, a Michigan, USA- based global health care recruitment provider, signed the agreement with the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau on 3rd May in the presence of Minister of Foreign Employment Thalatha Athukorala. more..

May 6 (CT) Reward and punishment are potent modulators of human behaviour as they influence the learning of specific behaviours. For a long time Sri Lankan politicians have been behaving badly outside Parliament, almost every day, without any repercussions. Buoyed by a universe that does not seem to punish transgressions, these MPs have been increasingly misbehaving badly in Parliament. UNP MP, Palitha Thewarapperuma and UPFA MP Prasanna Ranaweera, who had been more..

May 6 (Reuters) Shares rose for a second straight session on Friday to hit their highest close in about four months, led by telecom stocks amid foreign investors' buying. However, the gains were capped as investors were worried that the govt's move to increase the VAT and impose new taxes effective from Monday would hit the bottom lines of companies. Stock index rose 0.21% to 6,592.45, its highest closing level since Jan. 11. For the week, it gained 1.2%, its 5th straight weekly rise. more..

May 6 (CT) Dr. W.A. Wijewardena pointed out that the Central Bank made losses in the year 2015. In a recent article, former deputy Governor of Central Bank Dr. W.A. Wijewardena insisted that such losses made by the Central Bank are economic landmines that could explode at any time. Should I agree or should I disagree with his assertion? First, I do not agree with the present wisdom of CBSL including its Board known as Monetary Board. If economy is broken and is not functioning well more..

May 6 (Island) Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court fined two Manning Market traders Rs. 35,000 for selling contaminated and low quality spices and ghee. Acting Food Inspector, M.B. Lal Kumara of the Public Health Department of the CMC yesterday said following raid at the Manning Market last week legal action had been instituted against one of the two vendors after he had been found to be retailing contaminated ghee, chilli powder mixed with flour and chilli flakes mixed with table salt. more..

May 6 (AD) Minister Malik Samarawickrama says that the govt is now in the process of reversing the legacy of a policy framework which disproportionately favored producing for Sri Lanka’s small domestic market as against selling to regional or global markets. “We have clearly had a deeply misguided set of policies when one considers that SL’s domestic market amounts to only about 20 million people,” more..

May 6 (CNBC) HSBC is turning positive on Sri Lanka as a frontier market pick, but it's lowering exposure to Vietnam after the recent rally. HSBC's upgrade of Sri Lanka's upgrade to positive from negative may surprise some. The country only reached an agreement with the IMF for a $1.5 billion bailout last month after foreign exchange reserves dwindled amid a slump in exports. While HSBC acknowledges Sri Lanka's rising fiscal and external vulnerabilities, it believes all the negative more..

May 6 (Island) Supreme Court directed its registrar to obtain three JMO reports regarding the police assault on Gamage Lasantha, Gamage Vasantha and Pathmasiri Mendis in Embilipitiya on January 4, 2016. Sumith Prasanna, one of the persons who had been present at a party, during which the police assault had allegedly occurred, received fatal injuries due to allegedly falling from a balcony. The wife of the deceased had also filed a fundamental rights violation petition complaining of more..

May 6 (CG) Parliament erupted today as the opposition and Govt exchanged words over the supplementary estimates submitted yesterday. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya was forced to suspend sitting for a party leaders meeting to discuss the issue. The opposition accused the Government of misleading the House by giving Rs. 55 million as the supplementary estimate. Opposition MP Dinesh Gunawardena said more..

May 6 (LBO) Cabinet has decided to approve a planning review to be done to develop Trincomalee and surrounding cities in the islands east. ”Trincomalee area has been identified as major zone that could be developed as agricultural and energy hubs under the development program of the present govt,” a statement on approved cabinet decisions said. “Therefore, to cater for changing needs of the area, a planning review has to be done in order to prepare a concept plan and a detailed more..

May 6 (CI) Energy company Lanka IOC has signed a three-year deal worth 18 million rupees to sponsor Sri Lanka's A team. The A team is scheduled to take part in nine tours - both home and away - with Lanka IOC sponsorship. "I'm delighted that IOC has come forward to sponsor the A team, and they will also be the official lubricant partner for Sri Lanka Cricket," SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said. "We are not looking at developing the cricket just to have a good national team. more..

May 6 (CG) The joint opposition today called for the removal of the Parliament Secretary General over the results of the vote on the supplementary estimates yesterday. MP Wimal Weerawansa said that Parliament cannot work with someone like the current Parliament Secretary General if he had misled Parliament and announced the wrong results on the vote. The supplementary estimate was passed by a majority vote but the opposition said the actual result was a tie. more..

May 6 (LT) The govt has deceived the farmer community and if funds needed to buy fertilizer are not credited to the relevant bank accounts within the next week the farmer community will definitely encircle the Parliament states All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation. This was stated at a press conference held today (5). The National Organizer of the Federation Namal Karunaratne said the govt, after slashing the fertilizer subsidy, promised farmers money to buy fertilizer. more..

May 6 (Janes) United States govt has eased long-standing military trade restrictions imposed on Sri Lanka, the US Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) has announced. DDTC confirmed on 4 May that licensing restrictions on defence exports to Sri Lanka had been lifted and that it will now review licence applications on a case-by-case basis. The sanctions previously imposed on Sri Lanka more..

May 6 (DM) Ramanna Nikaya Mahanayake Ven. Napana Premasiri Thera requested President to provide former president Mahinda Rajapaksa with military security as provided earlier. Ven. Premasiri Thera said in a letter to the President that the attempts to divide the country had not been completely eliminated and no assurance could be given that there was no threat to Mr. Rajapaksa’s life. Thera said everyone including Buddhist monks commended Mr. Rajapaksa for his actions to more..

May 6 (AM) Yoshitha Rajapaksa was today barred from undertaking a foreign trip by the Kaduwela Magistrate. Rajapaksa's lawyers requested his travel ban to be lifted for a week to visit Uganda with his father. The former President has been invited for an event in that country, the court was informed. The Magistrate refused the request and directed it to be made to the High Court if necessary. Yoshitha Rajapaksa was arrested on January 30 over alleged fraud at CSN. more..

May 6 (Island) President of SL Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (SLNSS), Bandula Saman Kumara, who was interdicted on May 4, claimed that the Chairman and Managing Director of Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC) T.G. Jayasinghe was acting arbitrarily according to instructions given by a driver of the Corporation, who had been interdicted several times earlier and reinstated. Driver had been arrested by Dompe police a few years back more..

May 6 (Island) National Joint Committee (NJC) urged govt to ensure that a regulatory and quality assurance mechanism would be in place before signing yet another bilateral agreement with India. Dr Lalithasiri Gunaruwan said Sri Lanka was unprepared and incapable of preventing an eventual flow of low quality service providers from India that would enter the country once the doors were thrown opened to them with the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA). more..

May 6 (EN) Safeguarding Sri Lanka’s water resources is a top priority for the govt, Udaya Senevirathne, Secretary to the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, said. The island has over 30,000 small lakes, 130 big lakes, and 103 rivers and water sources, he said. “Safeguarding and managing our water resources remain a priority for the President, who oversee this portfolio,” Senevirathne told a news conference held to announce an international water conference more..