Oct 6 (EN) Elephant House plans to sell its fizzy drinks in the UK and European countries through a bottling deal struck with a UK firm. UK bottler will produce Necto, Cream Soda and Orange Barley branded drinks in 1.5 litre plastic bottles. The initiative is backed by Universal Suppliers, firm's beverages distributor in Europe. Elephant House said it had been exporting drinks to the UK, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Denmark & Czech for 13 years. more..

Oct 6 (CT) The government hopes to use the same land that was allocated for the Sampur Coal Power Plant Project to set up an alternative power generation project, Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera told Parliament. He said the proposed coal power plant was shelved due to its potentially negative impacts on the environment. He made these remarks in response to a question raised by JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake. more..

Oct 6 (IL) Sri Lanka on Wednesday (5) became the 24th country to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. SL’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, handed over the instrument of accession to the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Dr. Francis Gurry, during the ongoing 56th Series of Meetings of more..

Oct 6 (DM) The entourage that accompanied the Big Boss to the UN in the land of Uncle Sam recently included a media consultant well known for his staying power unaffected by regime change. By the way, his name is also mentioned in connection with various business deals, they say. The authorities in the highest echelons have now ordered an inquiry into a complaint that this media consultant had brought discredit to the country by moving about half-naked in the high-end hotel more..

Oct 6 (CG) A discussion on the development work carried out in the Northern Province was held with the participation of the Minister D.M Swaminathan. The discussion was also attended by MPs Douglas Devananda, E. Saravanapavan, Sivasakthy Ananthan, Kader Masthan, S. Shritharan and Charles Nirmalanathan representing the Northern Province,  Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement today. more..

Oct 6 (Island) The military said yesterday that it was not aware of any secret operations that had been carried out against the media during the Rajapaksa govt. Military Spokesman Brigadier A.W.M.R. Seneviratne, when asked at Cabinet Press Briefing, to comment on the allegations that the Rajapaksas had used a particular unit in the army to monitor and carry out secret operations against journalists, replied that he was not aware of such a thing. "However, what I could tell you is that more..

Oct 6 (PTI) Sri Lankan Naval personnel allegedly attacked Tamil Nadu fishermen with stones besides ramming and sinking a mechanised boat and destroying fishing nets of several other vessels off Dhanushkodi, a Fishermen Association functionary said. Lankan naval personnel cut fishing nets of about 70 boats and pelted stones and bottles forcing more than 2,000 fishermen to flee and return to the shore here this morning, TN Mechanised Fishermen Association President P Sesuraja said. more..

Oct 6 (LBO) Central Bank has joined with immigration office to receive information in order to facilitate investigations and prosecutions on money laundering and terrorist financing. The bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit recently entered into a MoU with Immigration and Emigration Department in this regard in terms of Financial Transactions Reporting Act. “FIU has already entered into a similar MoU with Customs” more..

Oct 6 (CI) Asela Gunaratne followed up an impressive 38 with two top-order wickets to help Sri Lanka A close in on victory against West Indies A, who ended day three nine wickets down in their second innings and only 55 in front. Gunaratne first helped Sri Lanka stretch their overnight lead of 72 to 110, adding 49 for the ninth wicket with Lahiru Kumara. Then he took the wickets of Rajendra Chandrika, who failed to go past 5 for the fourth innings in a row, and more..

Oct 6 (DM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Indian President Pranab Mukherjee that President Sirisena had invited him to visit Sri Lanka in a move to further strengthen close ties between the two countries. He made this invitation during bilateral discussions held between the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Wickremesinghe at the Rashtrapati Bhavan last evening. Responding to the Premier’s comments, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said that he was pleased about more..

Oct 6 (DN) Court of Appeal today, fixed for support on Oct 13, the appeal filed by the Attorney General against the sentences imposed by the Colombo High Court, on the convicts of British aid worker Khuram Sheikh’s murder. Four convicts, including former Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Sampath Vidanapathirana, were sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment on July 18, 2014. The four were found guilty of more..

Oct 6 (UNI) Upset over the vicious attack on fishermen by the SL naval forces, the mechanized boat fishermen of Rameswaram today called for an indefinite strike. Leaders of 11 mechanised fishermen associations convened an urgent meeting here in the wake of cruel attack on Indian fishing boats and adopted resolutions to strike work from tomorrow. A mechanised fishing boat was sunk in mid sea after SL naval patrol vessel deliberately rammed into it and several Indian fishing more..

Oct 6 (HN) Former CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral appeared before the FCID this morning for a second time. Cabral was first summoned by the FCID on Oct 3, to record a statement with regard to a financial misappropriation. Cabral is alleged to have committed a financial misappropriation in the bidding for the Commonwealth Youth Sports Festival 2017 which is now scheduled to be held in the Bahamas. The complaint against Cabral states that 690 million rupees had been spent to win the bidding for more..

Oct 6 (WI) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is to undertake a major overhaul of its National Women’s Cricket Team, coaching staff and the selectors following a series of mediocre performances in recent months. SL Women’s Cricket Team have suffered heavily across the limited over formats losing all but four matches in their 29 outings since May 2015 which has forced SLC to rethink their strategy for the ladies game. more..

Oct 6 (AD) Owing to the controversial Treasury bond issue, interest rates in SL have started to go up, former Minister Basil Rajapaksa says. He pointed out that interest rates have increased to 12.35 per cent from 6.2% within a year after the new government came into the power. “This includes interest rates relating to housing loans, bank loans and gold pawning rates,” he added. He went on to say Treasury bond issue has resulted in a loss of Rs.5200 million annually as well. more..

Oct 6 (AD) Former Defence Secretary Gotabya Rajapaksa says that he never instructed state intelligence officers to carefully observe or gather information on politicians when he was serving as Secretary of the Defence Ministry. Rajapaksa said he only instructed them to look into terrorists who were a threat to the country. He said that if intelligence units are now attempting to look into where he is going about, they need not waste their time as he is willing to provide them with more..

Oct 6 (PTI) Amid simmering tension between India and Pakistan, Minister Malik Samarawickrama advocated the need for the two to find a way of working together if the SAARC is keen to create regional economic population. Stating that the SAARC accounts for just 5% of the total trade of the member countries, the minister said barriers like high cost of trading in the region and absence of regional value chain have hindered growth of more..

Oct 6 (AD) UPFA MP Janaka Wakkumbura says that the govt is attempting to increase the tax burden already placed on the people and therefore invited the women in the country to dash coconuts over this issue. The women in the country are prepared to dash coconuts next Wednesday in order to send the govt packing, he said, adding, that the first of a series of such events will take place in Modara. He invited women who identify grief very well to come to Modara on that day and more..

Oct 6 (NF) 21-year-old Viraj Supun Malshara from Akmeemana, Galle had flown to Malaysia on  Dec 15, 2015. He had been assigned to serve in a vessel at the internal port of Malaysia. However, it  is reported that he had died on Aug 15. The mother of the individual said that the agency called her on Aug 15 at around 9:30 a.m. to tell that her son had fallen off the steps in the ship and was admitted to hospital. She says that when she tried to telephone the number to ask for details, more..

Oct 6 (PTI) Emphasising the need to resolve the Tamil fishermen issue, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe today said unless a solution is found there will be a lot of problems for the country's fishermen who are being deprived of their catch. Wickremesinghe, who met PM Narendra Modi yesterday, said he has taken up the matter with his Indian counterpart and plans to arrange a meeting of ministers concerned in this regard. more..

Oct 7 (CT) After Mahinda lost the presidential election in 2015, and went to Medamulana, it was Wimal, Udaya Gammanpila and Dinesh who brought pressure to bear on Mahinda to continue in politics, because they were aware they have no political future without Mahinda. What Mahinda told them was to hold rallies across the Island and demand him to come back to politics, and Wimal, Gammanpila, Dinesh and Vasu organized these rallies on the theme Rise up with Mahinda. more..

Oct 7 (DM) On many occasions when the issue of homelands (traditional ones, that is) have come up, I have made the following observation: the current provincial boundaries (which are the basis for the Tamil chauvinists’ claims and demands for forms of regional autonomy ranging from augmentation of the 13th Amendment to a federal arrangement and to even a separate state) are lines arbitrarily drawn by some white man even as he played his part in the plunder of the island’s resources, more..

Oct 7 (ST) When the Sunday Times last met the team representing Sri Lanka at the World Youth Scrabble Championship, they were full of hopes for the world tournament in Lillie, France and their prospects of winning the Best Team title again this year. Those hopes and dreams were fulfilled and it was a happy group who shared the news of their win at the championship in late August. The World Youth Scrabble Championship more..

Oct 7 (CT) An industry or service depends on success and success, at the end of the day, is determined by how users see that industry or service. Every other consideration and factor is at best trivial in light of the way those users use the service provided. In other words, it's not a question of quality for the sake of quality, but quality for the sake of what's demanded by the people or customers and what will be needed in the light of changing demographics. more..

Oct 7 (Island) IMF Review Mission in September for the $ 1.5 Billion EFF to Sri Lanka (in 7 semi-annual instalments) started as a love fest on a familiar note under a well-known mission leader, and some ten days later, ended on an undiplomatic tone, with unfamiliar mission leaders throwing the book at Sri Lanka, in an overt, uncharacteristic display of interference in domestic policy, and threatening to delay further payments if IMF diktats were not complied with in a timely manner. more..

Oct 7 (DN) In an effort to honour and support those who are fighting against cancer, Jetwing Hotels once again partners with TRAIL, a journey made to raise funds for the establishment of a new cancer treatment facility in Galle. After seeing to a successful walk in 2011 with millions uniting for the worthy cause, once again TRAIL 2016 aims for bigger and better for cancer patients and survivors. Joining this worthy cause as more..

Oct 7 (GV) In The Island of 21 Sept 2016, Thivanka Perera posed the question How about the widows of the 600 policemen?. The rest of the article does not merit a response, but this question does. In the course of the decades of violent conflict in our island, there have been many terrible atrocities committed by several of the parties to the conflict, including the LTTE, the State and other militants. I will not attempt to assess the relative magnitude of the culpability of the different parties; more..

Oct 7 (DM) Since time immemorial, whether rural or urban, the basic amenities and services to the residents have been provided by the Local Authorities (LAs). A standard all over the world.  The Local Authority system in Sri Lanka from 50 years ago, was an accomplished system. The Chairman/Mayor of LAs was knowledgeable about the local laws, etc. He or she knew the local area dynamics. He had at his disposal the mambermahattaya and later nona. more..

Oct 7 (DN) Despite huge market potentials as a result of increased household incomes, expansion of urbanization and changing life styles the participation of the private sector for the development of agricultural sector remains very low although various intensives were granted in their favor. This is evident in diversification of food basket. In order to remove the supply side constrains in agricultural development it is proposed to set up agricultural graduate farms that more..

Oct 7 (Island) Those who are responsible for large scale corrupt deals have not been probed, Govt Spokesman and Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has, feigning surprise, lamented at a media briefing on Wednesday. He has sought to kill not just two but three birds with one stone. He pretends that the govt does not interfere in the state investigative outfits; he tries to cover up the govt’s failure to substantiate its pre-election allegations against its opponents. more..

Oct 7 (FT) The soon-to-be-released October edition of leading business magazine LMD reports that business confidence has spiked by 24 basis points, to reach 150. As the magazine points out, Business Confidence Index (BCI) has moved in a northerly direction, to settle at above its average (146) for the last 12 months. “The reversal (at the time of the survey) of the proposed increase in VAT and revival of large infrastructure more..

Oct 7 (ST) With rural Sri Lanka facing mounting challenges in development, govt is now planning to promote 24,000 youth entrepreneurships in all districts as a vehicle for economic growth and development in the country.  1,000 youths with innovative thinking and skills in each district are to be given training and financial assistance to start rural enterprises in all 24 districts and latter help them to enter the overseas market, Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim said. more..

Oct 7 (ST) Supreme Court refused leave to proceed in a Fundamental Rights application by C.N.S. Mendis – a depositor of Entrust Securities – against Central Bank (CB) to perform its duties and responsibilities by properly supervising this finance company to safeguard the investments of the petitioner.  Counsel for the petitioner submitted to Court that CB has done very little and too slow. The petitioner has invested in Govt-backed securities with a primary dealer – Entrust Securities. more..

Oct 7 (FT) Discord continued between estate workers and plantation owners yesterday despite the Govt brokering a compromise wage of Rs. 730 per day, with Regional Plantation Companies insisting any salary hike remains unfeasible given low international tea prices, prompting a top level meeting between all stakeholders today.  For over a week hundreds of estate workers have been sporadically striking in plantations demanding more..

Oct 7 (DM) A 27-year-old suspect wanted in connection with several murders in Welipenna, Ambalangoda and Uragaha areas was arrested by the police today. The suspect was identified as Sumudu Priyankara De Silva alias Madampe Sumudu from Ambalangoda. He was alleged to have shot a 37-year-old women in Welipenna, 49-year-old man in Ambalangoda and 45-year-old man in Uragaha within this year. The Nawagamuwa Police was conducting further investigations more..

Oct 7 (CT) CMC Health Unit gave early warnings of yet another outbreak of dengue in November, predicting that weather reports indicated an outbreak as severe as the one experienced last April island wide. Scattered monsoon rains which are expected from early next November will create conditions conducive for another dengue outbreak. He however assured every possible precaution would be taken in advance to mitigate its effects and prevent it reaching epidemic levels. more..

Oct 7 (DN) Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena revealed in Parliament that the govt would consider to release the vehicles that were imported by professionals through companies by opening LCs before the Tax was increased. He said the matter is being discussed with the President and other relevant parties and hope to come to a solution soon. JO member Dinesh Gunawardena requested the Acting Finance Minister to more..

Oct 7 (Island) Party Leaders decided that the Appropriation Bill would be presented to Parliament on Oct 20 and thereafter the Budget Speech would be delivered on Nov 10, sources revealed. Consequently, the House will convene on Oct 20 for the presentation of the Appropriation Bill. Party Leaders had agreed not to hold sessions during the fourth week of October as the sound system within the Chambers would be repaired. Accordingly, Sittings from 25 to 28 Oct will not be held.  more..

Oct 7 (Island) Minister Kabir Hashim told Parliament that a special investigation would be conducted against his ministry officials for giving false information to Parliament with regard to the number of loss making public institutions. The report of AG has mentioned in his report for the year 2014 that there are 72 loss making public sector organisations, but the officials of the Ministry of Public Enterprises have informed parliament that there are only 14 such loss making institutions. more..