Oct 22 (AD) President Sirisena has instructed authorities to conduct an impartial inquiry into the death of two university students in Jaffna and report to courts.  The incident is believed to have taken place at around 11.30pm on Thursday when the two youths were traveling on a motorcycle towards Kokuvil. Two Tamil students of Jaffna University were allegedly shot dead on Thursday night near a police checkpoint at Kokuvil, more..

Oct 22 (CT) Once again it is contract renewal time at Sri Lanka Cricket and they have not been able to surprise the cricket enthusiasts of the country with offers made to their heroes yet. The only surprise is how their offer is going to stimulate the SL cricketers to better their performances without adequate mojo. While the race for salaries of the top three Asian cricket playing nations is led by India with the richest cricket board, with Pakistan running a close second, Sri Lanka has taken number three position. more..

Oct 22 (CT) Court of Appeal Justice A.H.M. Nawaz yesterday postponed the election petition filed by D.D. Somaweera Chandrasiri, of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, for 7 December. Chandrasiri states in his petition that he was recommended for appointment as a Member of Parliament and his name was included in the National List, but the authorities failed to appoint him as a Member of Parliament, although all others defeated in that election were so appointed. more..

Oct 22 (CT) Some civil activist groups are planning to go public with some startling revelations shortly, related to the brutal murder of late journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge seven years ago as well as in connection with the alleged abduction of cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda which occurred five years ago. These civil activists will reveal hitherto unknown facts lest they be relegated to a forgotten past to the benefit of those who more..

Oct 22 (GDI) Managing Director of Benetti which is a worldwide acclaimed Italian company of large scale Yacht and Marina construction, Nizar Tagi and Sujay Chohan from Ocean Blue, India visited Sri Lanka and met Minister Dilip Wedarachchi recently and consented to support marine tourism in Sri Lanka related to fisheries industry. Minister, briefed the two investors in detail regarding the proposed Blue Economy movement and the investors having been highly impressed by this concept more..

Oct 22 (CT) The police shooting and the killing of two Jaffna University students on the 21st should be condemned strongly, and the blatant killers should be brought to justice without delay. By shooting to the head of the motorcycle riders, it is very clear that it was done not to stop the vehicle, but to kill. If it were to stop the vehicle, then the shooting could have been done to the vehicle or the tires. Anyway, there is no apparent reason for police to stop and search vehicles in such a manner in Jaffna more..

Oct 22 (ST) It is the toil, sweat and tears of the humble paddy farmer in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka that puts the rice on our plates daily. It is this very same farmer, mainly in the North Central Province (NCP), who has been caught in the vice-like grip of a deadly, mysterious kidney disease. While many have been attempting to find the cause or causes of this Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) and the focus more..

Oct 22 (CT) Sandya Ekneligoda, wife of missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, has lodged a complaint with the Homagama Police that she had received anonymous telephone calls twice after four suspects were released on bail on 19 Sept. She had lodged the complaint on 7 Oct 2016. She said that on 21 Sept and 2 Oct she had received calls and the callers had inquired whether she was in Sri Lanka and whether she would be attending the next hearing in the Court. more..

Oct 22 (CT) President Sirisena has decided to submit a special paper to the Cabinet which seeks to establish a procedure by which elephants can be officially handed over to temples for use in pageants and other functions. President's initiative comes from a precedent in which several elephants including tuskers in temples and devales had been taken into custody by Wildlife Department officers acting on Court orders, leading to a crisis in the issue of the use of elephants for temple functions. more..

Oct 22 (ST) The delay in the second inter-monsoon of the year has prompted the Dept of Irrigation to postpone Maha cultivation season to November, with the risk of a reduced harvest. Second inter-monsoon normally starts during the beginning of October and is expected to be in full swing by the end of the month with Maha season normally starting by mid-Oct. Although rain fell last week there were no heavy showers and more..

Oct 22 (ST) There is an urgent need for Sri Lankans to beat the bulge to prevent them from slithering down the slippery slope to the depths of deadly non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is in this light that World Obesity Day was celebrated on Tuesday (Oc 11) with the theme Combating Childhood Obesity, for it is essential to catch them young to prevent the insidious build up of fat due to unhealthy lifestyles of junk food and lack of exercise, Sunday Times learns. more..

Oct 22 (DS) Thisara is a vital part of our team, and he still hasn’t come right in New Zealand. If we can have Thisara batting well and bowling well, he’s a match-winner. He has proven that with the amount of man-of-the-match awards he’s won. Right now he’s trying to find that form. Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena backed misfiring big hitter Thisara Perera to come out of his frustrating stint with the bat and the ball ahead of the concluded World Twenty20 in Feb 2015. more..

Oct 22 (NS) In light of the recent regulation of the prices of essential drugs coming into force, pharmacists pointed out that those who purchased drugs for medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and hypotension and asthma constituted at least 40% of the market share. Price revisions of 47 essential drugs were gazetted on Friday. Accordingly, the list of drugs included those which are used for the treatment of more..

Oct 22 (DN) The Health Ministry said it was able to save Rs. 2,000 million this year by stopping several corrupt transactions of the Ministry. "In the past some doctors had been given commissions for drug transactions. I stopped them by appointing relevant doctors for relevant subjects," Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said. According to Dr. Senaratne, all transactions without tenders have now been stopped and all transactions take place only through tenders. more..

Oct 22 (CT) MP Udaya Gammanpila says Party leaders of the JO have decided to carry out a subdued protest in Parliament on 26 Oct, when the govt is slated to submit the proposed VAT Amendment Bill for debate. He said JO protest in Parliament will be spearheaded by MPs Gamini Lokuge, Ranjith Soyza and Pavithra Wanniarachchi. Gammanpila added the JO has also decided to distribute leaflets among the public to make the people aware of the JO's opposition to more..

Oct 22 (PTI) The foremost place accorded to Sri Lanka's majority religion of Buddhism will be preserved in its new Constitution, President Sirisena has said. "Buddhism's position, coming since 1972, will not be changed," Sirisena told a religious gathering in Trincomalee. Dismissing the Opposition claims that Buddhism's position in the country is to be diluted in the new Constitution, he said: "We have not finalised anything yet." more..

Oct 22 (CT) Ministers Lakshman Kiriella and Dilan Perera yesterday declared open to the public new roads constructed in the Habaraduwa electorate and together laid foundation stones for the construction of more connecting roads. The Liyanagoda - Lunumodera road was declared open by Minister Lakshman Kiriella at the Uyangoda end at the invitation of Habaraduwa UNP Organizer Chandralal Abeygunawardena. Lunumodera end of the road was declared open by Minister Dilan Perera more..

Oct 22 (SLN) The Offshore Patrol Vessel SLNS Sayura and Fast Missile Vessel SLNS Suranimala of the Sri Lanka Navy, which are on a training and goodwill visit from 22nd to 28th Oct, left for India from the Port of Colombo today. Two ships are scheduled to make their port of call at Cochin in India tomorrow and take part in a series of training programmes. 304 SLN personnel including 20 Midshipmen undergoing their sea training, are scheduled to take part in the 7-day visit more..

Oct 22 (PTI) Tamils in Sri Lanka are feeling pessimistic due to lack of progress in reconciliation efforts by President Sirisena who had promised to reach out to the minority community more vigorously than his predecessor, a UK-based diaspora group said on Saturday. "Lack of urgency towards demilitarisation, normalisation in the North and East, insufficient effort to include all communities into the reconciliation processes more..

Oct 22 (AD) Sri Lanka’s two-fold bid to build economic momentum and improve investor sentiment on the back of a $1.5bn funding pledge from the IMF will be analysed in a report by the global publishing firm Oxford Business Group (OBG). The IMF expects Sri Lanka’s economy to expand by 5% in 2016, which would represent a 3-year high. Sri Lanka 2017 highlights the economic sectors that are expected to generate new growth, including tourism, ICT and transport. more..

Oct 22 (DN) The govt has taken measures to control iron and folate deficiency via food fortification. National Food Promotion Board Chairman Dhammika Peiris said that the iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia, which is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency in Sri Lanka. “Since several years back, the govt provides iron and folic acid supplements as a solution for the iron and folate deficiency which is highly prevalent among pregnant mothers and children. more..

Oct 22 (ST) The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and the Finance Ministry are on a collision course over raising funds from the CPC, after turning down a Treasury request to transfer Rs. 10 billion to the Consolidated Fund. The CPC, this week, through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development has responded to the Finance Ministry Secretary explaining its current weak financial position and made more..

Oct 22 (MNA) Presidents of Sri Lanka and Indonesia will visit Iran on separate trips in the next few months to expand relations with the Islamic Republic. President Maithripala Sirisena, is scheduled for a visit to Tehran late Nov or early Dec, while President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, will visit Iran in January 2017. According to some reports, presidents of Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Venezuela are also scheduled for a trip to Tehran during autumn or winter. more..

Oct 22 (GDI) 25 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, India are arriving in Sri Lanka under the UNHCR facilitated voluntary repatriation program on Tuesday. Govt has initiated action to encourage the voluntary refugee returnee programme and the current trend of increased refugee returnees is a sign of reconciliation and moving towards permanent peace said V. Sivagnanasothy, Secretary, Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs. more..

Oct 22 (DN) The Inter-agency Intelligence and Information Unit on Narcotics established by the Defence Ministry, Tri-Forces, Police and CSD has been set up to combat the illicit drug trade, Law and Order and Prison Reforms Ministry Secretary Jagath Wijeweera said. He said this unit meets regularly and coordinates with all agencies based on information gathered to conduct operations to nab drug dealers. more..

Oct 23 (CT) UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the then head of the UNHCR, began a three-day visit to SL, on 25 July 2006, the first such visit by a UNHCR head to the country, when the armed services had just begun to make inroads into Tamil Tiger terrorists held areas in the North and the East of the country. Now as head of the apex body, Guterres will preside over the destinies of SL when the UNHCR takes on the US resolution demanding a transparent & independent war crimes probe more..

Oct 23 (SO) None other than President Sirisena himself has asked the Police to ensure that a thorough and credible investigation is made into the deaths of two university students in Jaffna on Friday. Initial news reports indicated that two students of the University of Jaffna had died in the early hours of Friday and that the police had claimed that the deaths were the result of a motorcycle crash. Subsequently, however, a Govt statement, that seemingly contradicted more..

Oct 23 (SO) In a twist that takes the Journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga assassination into the realm of conspiracy fantasies, investigators will now ascertain whether the recent mystery death of an ex-intelligence agent is genuinely the remorseful suicide of the actual killer or, is a cynically deliberate murder by the real Lasantha assassins aimed at deflecting the ongoing probe. The assassination of editor of Sunday Leader more..

Oct 23 (SL) Most political analysts are still wondering about the reasons behind the outburst of the usually staid and placid President Sirisena on the three key investigative organisations probing political and financial crimes and bribery and corruption – the FCID, CID and the BC. This outburst sent a strong political tremor that hit the bottom of the piles propping up the political edifice of the Yahapalanaya govt and its aftershocks were being felt throughout the week. more..

Oct 23 (SO) The investigation into journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga’s death has become a severe indictment on the country’s former defence apparatus, which operated as a personal tool in the hands of political powers under the Rajapaksa administration. A retired officer attached to the military intelligence unit committed suicide last week claiming responsibility for the death of the senior journalist, who was highly critical of the heads of the defence establishment. more..

Oct 23 (CT) C.V. Wigneswaran, who is in the UK attending the signing ceremony to twin Kingston with Jaffna, were posed the following questions by Ceylon Today. Q: Has there been a threat to your life? Why is the security division talking about political motivations; and your thoughts on their refusal to give additional security? A: None should stoop to such low level in politics to transform a serious matter into a political gimmick. more..

Oct 23 (ST) My dear Dilrukshi, I thought I should write to you because it appears that the whole country is talking about you, your job and your resignation. It is disappointing that you had to leave in the way you did, but after Maithri made his statement about you and bribery commission, he didn’t leave you with much choice. Dilrukshi, I suppose you must be still confused as to why you were shown the door. There you were, merrily investigating many complaints that came your more..

Oct 23 (ST) The fallout from the Presidential bombshell ten days ago over the manner in which the Govt’s anti-corruption drive was being (mis)handled still reverberates. He lashed out that there was a political agenda being pursued and that he was kept out of the loop. The remarks opened a crack in the Govt of National Unity — and in a move to backtrack, the Media, the usual scapegoat when leaders blunder, is being blamed for misreporting and misquoting the President. more..

Oct 23 (ST) The new collective agreement reached between Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and estate unions would result in an additional cost of Rs.4 billion to the owners.  The new pact envisages raising the current wage of Rs. 620 to Rs. 730 effective October 15 for both tea and rubber. However with statutory dues it goes up to Rs. 805 against Rs. 687.50 earlier.  The additional cost for the RPCs as a result of the wage hike would be about Rs.4 billion, more..

Oct 23 (CT) Since the govt has not provided the long-suffering Rathugala Vedda community any common amenities, Vedda Chief Sudha Wannila Eththo said dejectedly they had no choice but to trek back to live in their traditional jungle habitats and try to eke out a living instead of this eternal wait in increasingly bitter disappointment. Forlorn Bibile Vedda leader said that they are now returning to their original place of birth in Dhanigala in Nilgala forest reserve to live out their lives as best more..

Oct 23 (CT) President Sirisena in a rare departure from his modest and judicious political conduct took the country by storm when he made several sensational public statements in quick succession on the eve of his departure for India to attend the BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach summit. The furore triggered by his controversial statements continued unabated during his absence from the country & situation took a turn for the worse more..

Oct 23 (TG) The opening sequence of Anuk Arudpragasam’s debut novel, in which a six-year-old child with a shrapnel-shredded arm is brought to an open-air operating theatre, feels horribly timely. The young man carrying the listless little boy finds a strange solace in discerning the child’s prospects: “Soon the doctor would arrive and the operation would be done, and in no time at all the arm would be as nicely healed as the already amputated thigh … According to the boy’s sister [that] injury more..

Oct 23 (CT) Gateway's rising star Sadeepa Henderson once again repeated her performance at the Sir John Tarbet Junior Athletics Championship at Embilipitiya when she won the Gold Medal for the long jump event with a record equalling feat of 5.32m. In the four-day championship which began yesterday under hot and humid conditions at a difficult venue, the Embilipitiya Mahaweli Ground, Sadeepa equalled the feat set by Prasadi Lakshani last year to win first Gold Medal of the meet. more..

Oct 23 (CT) We highlighted certain areas that needed attention such as teacher training, infrastructure, development of peripheral schools, and student welfare, but there is no systematic approach from the govt in this direction." FUTA president further noted that while the govt had made reductions in the allocations for education, they maintained finances regarding luxury vehicles for MPs. "They will have various justifications more..