Oct 19 (LBO) Sri Lanka is to introduce an industry-wide and real-time IT solution to integrate functions associated with tea in order to improve productivity and quality across the industry. The proposed IT backbone will acquire, store, analyze and report on industry-related data and will integrate the entire value chain with efficient monitoring and regulation. The cabinet nod has also been given to allocate 220 million rupees for this project through the upcoming 2017 budget. more..

Oct 19 (PRW) Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) is leading a trade mission to Australia in the week of 24 October 2016. The tour is to promote Sri Lanka as the ideal sourcing destination for Australian companies for IT and business process management (BPM). “Sri Lanka’s profile as a sourcing destination is very attractive for Australian companies,” said Arunesh Peter, ICTA’s Director of Projects, who will be leading the trade delegation. more..

Oct 19 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka, one of the countries hardest-hit by climate change, said it will prepare its third national communication report on the matter while implementing integrated solutions to environment issues. SL ratified UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1993. Under the Convention, UN member states should provide a communication report consisting of information on climate change and more..

Oct 19 (CB) R Ashwin hasn't put a foot wrong in the last 12 months. Ashwin's purple patch commenced during the three-Test series in Sri Lanka where he returned with 21 scalps. Ashwin then went on to fox South Africa at home, weave a web over West Indies at the Caribbean and outdo NZ in India. Muttiah Muralitharan, who has played alongside Ashwin during their time with Chennai Super Kings, feels the offie always sported the qualities needed to be the kind of bowler he is at the moment. more..

Oct 19 (AD) The Joint Opposition urged the govt not to increase the proposed 15% VAT hike. MP Bandula Gunawardena made the observation while speaking at a press conference held in Colombo this afternoon. He also pointed out that as the VAT remains at 11% at the moment, the public should be reimbursed for the additional amount they actually spent on the tax since May 2. “I’ve also written a book with over 1000 pages against the decision to increase the VAT,” he added. more..

Oct 19 (EN) President Maithripala Sirisena has tried to defuse tensions triggered by his public outburst against the country's main anti-graft bodies, but hinted at risks from a restless military. Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters that President Sirisena discounted reports of a serious chasm between him and the unity govt led by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. "Reports of the govt imploding are wildly exaggerated," he said. more..

Oct 19 (DM) The cabinet had approved the establishment of a radial and solid tyre plant in the Horana area with the investment of US$ 75 million, within the next four years, Minister Gayantha Karunathilake said. Establishing of the plant, Govt plans to export 60$ of its total production, while creating more than 1,000 jobs. The proposal was made by Minister Malik Samarawickrama. The tyre plant would be facilitated by an investor through the Sri Lankan Investment Board, he said. more..

Oct 19 (EN) Sri Lanka is to change its petroleum law to bring the state-owned refiner and retailer Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) under the regulation of Public Utilities Commission and supply agrochemicals and alternative fuels. Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka said CPC Act No. 28 of 1961 is to be amended to allow the changes. “Govt has noted the importance of transferring Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to the regulatory scope of the Public Utilities Commission of SL” he said. more..

Oct 19 (AD) Owing to several reasons, transparency on the corruption probes into the activities of the former govt is uncertain, Minister Rajitha Senaratne says. Senaratne also went on to say the investigation to locate money that was secretly transferred to accounts in Dubai by figures close to the administration of former President has come to an end. Earlier, he claimed that more than $10 billion, more than SL’s foreign reserves, more..

Oct 20 (CT) What happened on the 24th of Sept 2016, was a magnificent exercise in democracy, more profoundly a mobilisation of people for a higher purpose, a dynamic display of people power, with a tempo raising, awe-inspiring slogan, EzhukaTamil (AriseTamil) – now seen as the new reality and what must, and is, and will be the oh so confident and convincing pathway for Tamils in attaining their aspirations for equal rights and self governance in the island once called Ceylon, more..

Oct 20 (CT) Serialization in CT of Rajan Hoole’s Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power is, of course a must read for any of us interested in understanding the way we transitioned from an immediate post-colonial period of much to be proud of, to one of extreme decadence in which we inflicted upon our fellow citizens immense sufferings. We are all guilty of lending active or passive support to particular lines of political thinking that shamed the value systems we were supposed to celebrate. more..

Oct 20 (SO) Launch of Sinhala cinema’s controversial first docu-drama critical of the justice system and its swift temporary ban by a court has sparked public debate over the role of the media and the judiciary system. Public launch screening of this historic first docu-drama film, made by award-winning film-maker Prasanna Vithanage took place in Colombo on Oct 4 and stirred the audience with its forthright depiction of a real-life case of more..

Oct 20 (Island) Western Province Chief Minister, Isura Devapriya, has, speaking at a school function, defended President Maithripala Sirisena to the hilt over the latter’s recent swipe at the FCID, the CIABOC and the CID. Devapriya, who is beholden to the President for his appointment as the CM, has also claimed there is a conspiracy to destroy the SLFP. Politicians usually see more devils than vast hell can hold! The SLFP is being destroyed from within and not from without. more..

Oct 20 (DM)  Certain lands said to belong to National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) are not owned by the Board. In fact some of these lands are still said to belong to the Land Reform Commission. Despite directives to hand them over to the livestock development board, it has been alleged that no handover has taken place. In addition lands that belong to the Land Reform Commission too are being used by the NLDB. 1033.5 hectares are presently used by more..

Oct 20 (CT) Minister Dilan Perera commended PM for his efforts with regard to steering Constitutional Reforms into exercising inclusivity. Perera, a vociferous politician who has been critical of the Premier in the past, also said, that the PM had sacrificed key UNP members in favour of members from the Joint Opposition in the instance of making appointments to the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms. more..

Oct 20 (DN)  Forest biodiversity and ecosystems provide a broad array of both tangible and intangible services and goods. They include the most obvious ones like the food we eat (mushrooms and wild fruits like Divul, Hal, Himbutu), fresh water we drink and clean air we breathe, essentially the primary life-support systems. Then we obtain plant materials such as fire-wood, medicinals (Weni wel, Kothala himbutu etc.) and aromatics (Walla patta of recent fame) and other forest raw materials for more..

Oct 20 (Island) The late Thamilini Jeyakumaran, born in Paranthan, was the leader of the LTTE’s political wing. She joined the LTTE on 29th July 1991 and surrendered to SL Army on 16th May 2009 when the LTTE was defeated. She wrote her memoirs (now published in Sinhala as Thiunu Aspitha Yata) while she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Her last wish was to donate part of the proceedings of her book to the children’s ward of the Cancer Hospital. more..

Oct 20 (DN) In an unexpected and unprecedented turn of events, Dilrukshi Dias Wickremasinghe, dynamic Director General of the Bribery Commissioner, tendered her resignation on Monday, without citing reason. The closest reason for the Bribery Commission Director General’s resignation was the controversial speech made by President Sirisena at a military welfare event, last week. In his speech, the President criticised FCID, CID and BC, saying they had followed a political agenda more..

Oct 20 (DM)  Vote to Regret - be it North or South. Blame attaches to the Vote, tailed by regret,directed at the candidate that succeeds in picking your vote. Time for jubilation was short as the expectations were too high: fallout was rapid.  Did you fault yourself in voting for a regime change or otherwise, overthrowing a regime that was corrupt to the rim and brought another to office, corrupt to the edge? Watched, in vain, your vote that courageously dispatched home, over-baked MPs: more..

Oct 20 (FT) When Maithripala Sirisena decided to contest against Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Jan 2015 presidential poll, he took his life in his hands. He was not the only one, but as Rajapaksa’s direct challenger, Sirisena would be most-hated, and therefore, most at risk.  With the fate of Rajapaksa’s last challenger still fresh in Opposition memory, precautions were taken to protect the Common Candidate from more..

Oct 20 (CT) Malaka de Silva, the first XI Cricket Coach of St. Aloysius' College, Galle, has been asked to vacate his position by the school principal effective from tomorrow, without a valid reason. De Silva has been an excellent coach for St. Aloysius during the past two years, and the school received an award for the best disciplined team during last year's School Cricket Awards Ceremony. St. Aloysius was also the runner up team in last year's T20 tournament, where they were beaten more..

Oct 20 (CT) Cabinet has approved the proposal to amend the Act of the Sugathadasa National Sports Complex Authority. Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera had submitted a proposal to the Cabinet seeking approval to amend the Sugathadasa National Sports Complex Authority Act No.17 of 1999. At present the administrative and maintenance activities of Sugathadasa indoor/outdoor stadiums, Sugathadasa Swimming Pool, Bogambara outdoor stadium in Kandy, Racecourse in Nuwara Eliya more..

Oct 20 (CT) Sri Lanka won 6 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals on the second day of the inaugural South Asian Aquatic Championship 2016 continued at Sugathadasa Swimming Complex yesterday. 13 year old Ramudi Samarakoon opened the meet with a gold medal for Sri Lanka in the U-15 Girls 200m Breaststroke, and her time of 2:46.54 secs is a new national age group record and less than a second off Mayumi Raheem's record more..

Oct 20 (Island) 19-year-old Guyanese top order batsman Shimron Hetmyer scored a fine 94 as West Indies ‘A’ reached 183 for four in reply to Sri Lanka ‘A’ total of 318 all out at stumps on day two of the third and final unofficial Test at Dambulla yesterday. The tourists trail by 135 runs with six wickets in hand. Sri Lanka ‘A’ resumed their innings on 272 for seven and added a further 46 runs before being bowled out. Left-arm quick Delron Johnson was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 4 wickets. more..

Oct 20 (NS) The drought situation in several parts of the country has compelled the government to restrict water supply. State Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, Sudarshini Fernandopulle said the scarcity of drinking water was severe while adding that the country needed a long-term strategy to manage such situations in future. She also said that the Ministry hoped to commence a massive campaign to promote tree planting island-wide as part of the long-term strategy. more..

Oct 20 (DM) Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) which signed the Rs. 730 daily wage tripartite agreement with the plantation trade unions and govt, said that the agreement was not sustainable, and stressed that a completely different model would be hammered out during the next wage negotiations in 2 years time. With statutory payments, total wages under the new agreement will be at Rs. 805 per day. more..

Oct 20 (DN) At the request and invitation of SL Rugby Football Union Director Coaching Inthi Marikar, Super Rugby champion Wellington Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd will arrive in Sri Lanka to conduct a Q and A (question and answer) session for local coaches at the Kingsbury Hotel on October 28 from 3-6 pm. The presentation by Boyd will be on how they won the Super Rugby championship this year, which had eluded them since the inception of Super Rugby. more..

Oct 20 (Island) Central Bank has announced plans to repay Rs. 16.5 billion owed to nearly 12,000 depositors of four insolvent financial institutions, before liquidating them. This will not have an instant impact on the national economy, Assistant Governor of CB, Asoka Handagama said. "This money will be distributed over eight years, he said. He said that this repayment package will help to keep banking sector stability, "if not the repercussions will be severe for the entire banking sector." more..

Oct 20 (DN) Plans are underway to increase sugarcane cultivation with the setting up of 15 new manufacturing plants. The project will be implemented under two stages. A long term project will be implemented under the first stage while a middle term project will be introduced under the second stage. Under the first stage project, country expects to manufacture 50% of its sugar requirement locally by 2020, more..

Oct 20 (FT) Entrepreneurship is about taking a new idea to a market, emphasised a top Indian trade expert yesterday highlighting the importance of filtering down entrepreneurship from the national level to the individual level. Apeejay Surrendra Family Business and Entrepreneurship Chair and academic at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Prof. K. Kumar, delivering the keynote address at the 37th National Conference of the Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, more..

Oct 20 (Island) Sri Lanka Telecom, the country's telecom giant, recruits 121 outsourced employees attached to its Human Capital Solutions (HCS) subsidiary to the permanent cadre of SLT. These employees have received necessary qualifications under the Staff Recruitment & Promotions Scheme (SRPS) of SLT adhering to the recruitment process and policy of SLT. Appointment letters were handed over to them at a special ceremony held at the SLT Auditorium in the presence of Minister Harin more..

Oct 20 (EN) Sri Lanka is to urgently enact anti-dumping laws, on which legislators have dawdled for 10 years, as it seeks to pacify business lobbies concerned over govt moves to strike free trade deals with China and India. Two bills drafted on anti-dumping and countervailing and on safeguard measures have been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers this week. The new laws were a joint proposal made by Ministers more..

Oct 20 (FT) Transport Ministry is to order 163 new engine kits from Ashok Leyland along with 20 carrier wagons and 30 fuel tank wagons to refurbish the railway system at an estimated cost of $ 5.5 million or Rs. 797 million under an Indian Line of Credit.  The proposals, which received Cabinet approval this week, were made by Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. According to the Cabinet paper, each of the engine kits from Ashok Leyland will cost $ 11,550. more..

Oct 20 (FT) The upcoming festive season will be one to look forward to with the Ministry of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs making plans to attract both foreign and local tourists to the city of Colombo. This year’s edition of Tourism Fest 2016 will be a major fillip for event-based tourism conceptualised by Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga. Tourism Fest 2016 will take place from the 20 to 23 December at the Independence Arcade in Colombo. more..

Oct 20 (Hindu) A month after Sri Lanka decided to scrap a coal power project involving the NTPC, in Trincomalee, India has offered to build a solar power plant in the port town. PM Narendra Modi brought up the matter in his recent meeting with President Sirisena in Goa, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. In Sept, SL’s Ministry of Power and Energy told the Supreme Court that it had decided to drop the plan to more..

Oct 20 (FW) Etihad Cargo has signed a $20 million contract with fashion forwarder Trinity Logistics to operate a weekly B747 or B777 freighter service from Colombo, to Rickenbacker airport, Ohio with a return via East Midlands airport, UK. The deal follows several charter flights by Etihad Cargo this summer and is designed to deliver the latest fashion from Sri Lanka for big box retailers in the U.S. in support of the country's clothing industry. Apparel exports exceeded US$ 4.5 billion last year, more..

Oct 20 (DN) Three senior officials of Mihin Lanka Airlines were taken hostage by a group of its employees yesterday leading to a tense situation at its office in Kollupitiya. It is reported that the Human Resources Manager, Head of Finance and Head of Administration were taken hostage by the workers over an issue of payment of allowances. The workers complained that even though Mihin Lanka is to be joined with SriLankan airlines by Oct 30, no steps had been taken so far to recruit them to more..

Oct 20 (FT) The 2016 Nation Brand Report released by Brand Finance in London on Tuesday has established that Sri Lanka has moved up in its position relative to last year, by strengthening all of its measurable indicators. Sri Lanka is now ranked 55 having moved two places up from last year’s 57th position, with a brand value of $ 73.9 billion, an increase of 9%. The global report which is available on Brand Finance more..

Oct 20 (CT) Visumpaya, one of the most well known and historic official residences of govt of Sri Lanka, is to be soon converted into a boutique hotel. Visumpaya, also known as Acland House, was initially built as the Officer's Mess of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment. It was sold to the Colombo Commercial Company in the late nineteenth century. Sirimavo Bandaranaike govt took over the building in 1971 under its nationalizing scheme, under the Business (Acquisition) Act No. 35 of 1971. more..