Aug 29 (CT) Minister Rauff Hakeem has initiated a Rs 154 million water supply project for Karathota. 45% of the country's population has access to drinking pipe water facilities. The plan of the MCPWS is to provide drinking water for another 15% within the next two years. "This project will supply water from the Korathota Devale to Mahawela in Kaduwela- Homagama Road, and Rajasinghe Mawatha and its sub lanes. The length of the water pipe is 7.6 km, and more..

Aug 29 (CT) Former UPFA MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena yesterday appeared before the FCID to make a statement regarding an alleged financial fraud. Speaking to the media, he said that SriLankan Airlines had filed a complaint with the FCID about the manner in which several vehicles were purchased and used by Mihin Lanka. "Some of these allegations are not related to my term in Mihin Lanka. I only held the post of CEO of Mihin Lanka for 8 months. more..

Aug 29 (Island) When the Presidential Commission probing alleged bond scam resumed its sittings yesterday DSG Milinda Gunatillake told the Commission that 24 discrepancies had been found in the documents submitted to the Commission by Perpetual Treasuries Ltd seeking to counter the submissions made by the Central Bank. Gunatillake further told Commission that it was difficult to question more..

Aug 29 (DM) EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has been quoted by several print and electronic media institutions as saying that there is an unusual drop in the registration of voters this year in Colombo and its suburbs.  He said that only 60,000 new names had been registered while 76,000 names were removed from the voters’ register in areas such as Colombo, Dehiwala, Mt. Lavania, Moratuwa and Kotte because of the failure by the voters to enter their names in the electoral register. more..

Aug 29 (DM) Simmering fan dissatisfaction exploded in the Pallekele cricket grounds on Sunday night -- certainly it was not a pleasant thing to see. India-SL third ODI was disrupted by bottle-tossing cricket fans for more than 30 minutes and riot police were called in, when India was just eight runs needed to win in 40 balls. The match resumed later and India won by six wickets.   Sunday’s incident was a low point which does no good to the players, who have already hit the nadir of their confidence, more..

Aug 29 (DM) Veddas or the indigenous people in Sri Lanka are the living relict of a tribe whose ancestry dates back to over thousand years. Having mastered their skills from hunting to preparing medicine, the Veddas have a closer connection with the country and nature than anyone of us. As members of the Yaksha tribe, their rituals include offering alms to the spirits of the dead. Although we have heard about just one tribe, more..

Aug 29 (CT) A misalignment between a pillar and the bridge frame in the ongoing construction of the Rajagiriya Flyover has raised a few eyebrows among the concerned general public. The pillar in question is to the Nawala side of the bridge and is the first Y-shaped pillar from Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte Municipal Council starting at the end of the bridge. It is located close to Nawala Road-Sri J'pura Mawatha Intersection more..

Aug 29 (PTI) Stand-in skipper Chamara Kapugedara feels Sri Lankan have lost the art of winning matches and urged his team to take responsibility and work on their weakness ahead of the fourth ODI. "There are no outside problems. But I think that the winning formula has been forgotten," Kapugedara told reporters on Sunday after India took an unassailable 3-0 lead with a six-wicket victory in the third ODI. more..

Aug 29 (DM) President of  Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) U.R. de Silva in an interview, spoke on issues related to litigation, dealing with suspects in Police custody and the removal of MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe from the post of Justice Ministry. Q: In the aftermath of the removal of Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe from the post of Justice Minister and the appointment of a successor, how do you view this situation?    more..

Aug 29 (ST) Three months after torrential rains caused devastating floods and landslides, many victims still await compensation for damages. Authorities are faced with the challenge of identifying suitable lands to settle thousands of displaced families who have either lost their homes to the disaster or, have to be relocated from designated danger zones. Disaster Management Ministry says some 85,000 families more..

Aug 29 (Island) Minister Lakshman Kiriella said in Kandy on Monday, that the UNP would not allow the no-confidence motion against Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne to be tabled in Parliament. Minister Kiriella said that there were many legal deficiencies in the draft of the motion. "We will hand over to the Speaker a written request urging him not to accept the no-confidence motion when it is presented," he said. more..

Aug 29 (AD) Minister Sagala Ratnayake stated that Sri Lanka has become a transit point for major drug cartels as a consequent of the prolonged illicit activities conducted by the LTTE.  Speaking to the media today, Minister Sagala Ratnayake along with Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana was questioned on the importance of safeguarding national borders from narcotics and other illicit substances. more..

Aug 29 (AD) The Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya will sign the Local Authorities (Amendment) Bill on August 31 at the Speaker’s Office. The Speaker of Parliament confirmed his decision earlier today. Local Authorities Elections Bill was passed in Parliament with amendments, on Aug 25, 2017.  The bill was passed with 120 voting in favour and 44 abstaining while no votes were cast against the bill. more..

Aug 29 (AP) Human rights groups in South America are alleging war crimes violations in lawsuits filed against a former Sri Lankan general who is now his Asian nation's ambassador to Brazil and five other countries in Latin America. The suits against Jagath Jayasuriya are based on his role as a commander in the final phase of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009. They allege Jayasuriya oversaw military units that attacked hospitals more..

Aug 29 (PTI) President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Thilanga Sumathipala has refused to heed the call for resignation from the legendary captain Arjuna Ranatunga. "There is no need to resign, the administration is not at fault for the teams poor showing," Sumathipala said. Ranatunga, current minister of Petroleum, said he had written to both Prez and PM that they should intervene to put SL's cricketing fortunes back in order. more..

Aug 29 (Island) Newly-appointed Justice and Foreign Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorale on Sunday said that the Ministers now had the freedom to criticize the govt unlike in the previous govt. "That is what good governance is all about. We have that freedom even to criticise the govt. Any idea can be expressed. Minister Athukorale was sworn in as the new minister of Justice before President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday after the post fell vacant following more..

Aug 29 (DN) Sri Lanka has not still received an alert on the Influenza outbreak in India, Acting Director General of Health Services Dr. Jayasundara Bandara said. Meanwhile, Consultant Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige said that it is only the seasonal Influenza A (H1N1) and Sri Lanka experienced the same outbreak in April, May, June season. “Now, Sri Lanka has fully controlled it but the country’s surveillance system is in place all the time in order to track down a possible outbreak,” he said. more..

Aug 29 (CT) For the second time SL Cricket fans have shown their displeasure at the way the national team has been thrashed by the powerful Indian side. First at Dambulla they surrounded the team bus as they were leaving the grounds and now at Pallekelle some fans threw plastic bottles on to the playing area delaying India's inevitable win by half an hour. There is no doubt that fans are deeply disappointed by the way the team has performed in the past few months. more..

Aug 29 (FT) It has been some time now, me being an expat and understanding, swimming into the deep-end into a developed city and studying its transformation. As an expat, I personally have seen the potential development that my motherland can develop into. Digital marketing and strategy being my pet subject, I invested time in articulating some thoughts on how the Colombo City can be digitally transformed and cascade into other main cities such as Kandy and Galle. more..

Aug 29 (DM) ASG Dappula de Livera today informed the Bond Commission that Metropolitan Limited had inspected the recording system of PTL and submitted a report on Aug 28, 2017. Metropolitan had said that the recording system had been re-installed on July 6, 2017 without informing the service provider, Metropolitan, and also the backup had been re-installed on the same day. Metropolitan report also says that more..

Aug 29 (CI) Stand-in captain Chamara Kapugedera's participation in the fourth ODI has been thrown into doubt after he aggravated a back injury during the previous match, on Sunday. Kapugedera had been nursing a stiff back before the third ODI, but had batted and fielded in that game. He has not trained since, and a final decision on his availability will be taken over the next 24 hours. "I was talking to the physio and he hasn't been ruled out quite yet," Asanka Gurusinha said. more..

Aug 29 (NR) The draft bill on the 20th amendment, which enables granting power to hold all Provincial Council elections on the same day, has been defeated in the Southern Provincial Council. 27 councillors representing the JO utilised their vote against the draft bill. A group of members attached to the UNP and SLFP had left the chamber during the vote. A Southern Provincial Councillor said the mace was also damaged during the tense situation which broke out at the chamber. more..

Aug 29 (AD) Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan today urged the Govt to take action to bring the perpetrators before the law and ensure justice for the victims of enforced disappearances and to take all necessary steps to prevent them from taking place in future in Sri Lanka.   Issuing a statement to mark the Int'l Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, which falls tomorrow, he said that there are thousands of people who more..

Aug 29 (AD) The Colombo High Court sentenced a former principal of a prominent school in Panadura to 08 years in prison for accepting a bribe of Rs.25000 to admit a student to the primary section of the school she was serving.  The verdict was passed today following the hearing of the case. The court case was filed against the former principal by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption after a complaint was lodged against the former principal. more..

Aug 29 (DM) ICC Match Referee Andy Pycroft has reportedly sought security assurance from the Sri Lankan cricket board for the remainder of the limited-overs series against India following boorish fan behaviour during the third ODI in Pallekele on Sunday. Irate fans, angered by the Sri Lankan cricket team’s continued poor performances, threw water bottles into the ground as India reached within eight runs of winning the match and sealing the five-match series. more..

Aug 29 (CI) The Sri Lanka selection committee, headed by Sanath Jayasuriya, has decided to resign following the recent sequence of poor results. As they had already picked the squads for the last two ODIs and the only T20 international of the India tour, they will remain in force in case any additions need to be made. The committee will step down once the tour concludes, two months after they had been given more..

Aug 29 (CT) Resigned Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake has been appointed as the head of Rural Infrastructure Special Programme by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. According to a leaked letter this programme comes under Prime Minister’s Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs. Karunanayake who resigned two weeks ago is still using VIP security and vehicles like a powerful minster, sources close to Prime Minister’s office told Colombo Telegraph. more..

Aug 29 (Island) Army Commander Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake said that he had been hounded like a pickpocket by certain elements in the pre- January 2010 period, Lt Gen Senanayake,who assumed duties as the 22nd Commander of the Army in July, addressing a felicitation organised by the 75-80 Group of Old Anandians said, "It was a period of terror and the circumstances had forced me to be away from the country, leaving family and friends for five-years working in Iraq and Afghanisthan," more..

Aug 29 (Island) Construction work on the phase III of the Outer Circular Highway (OCH3) from Kadawatha to Kerawalapitiya had been expedited and it was expected to be completed and opened for the public by mid 2019. OCH 1 from Kottawa to Kaduwela was opened to the public in March 2014 with a major interchange at Kottawa and a smaller interchange at Kaduwela East (Kotalawala) and OCH 2 from Kaduwela more..

Aug 29 (CT) Joint Opposition (JO) met Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya yesterday to raise their objections regarding the 2017 voter registry. JO MP Dinesh Gunawardane told the media after meeting the Chairman, that there have been complaints across the country that a number of eligible voters have been excluded from the registry. "We want the Elections Commission to allow all eligible voters to be included in the registry before its closes on 06 Sept. more..

Aug 29 (CT) Following Sunday's exposure by Ceylon Today regarding the construction of a flyover in Rajagiriya, the former Mayor of the Sri Jaywardanepura Kotte Municipal Council, Janaka Ranawaka said he will write to President Sirisena regarding the matter. Ranawaka said that although there were concerns regarding a misalignment between a pillar and the bridge frame, construction company had ignored the warnings and repeatedly claimed that there is no issue. more..

Aug 29 (LBO) Microsoft Asia recently released regional findings from their global Security Intelligence Report which found that Asian countries, especially emerging ones, are most exposed to malicious programs. Out of the top locations across the globe most at risk of malware infection in the first quarter of 2017, most of them are developing economies from this region. Microsoft’s bi-annual Security Intelligence Report provides in-depth more..

Aug 29 (EN) Sri Lanka is planning call tenders for 170MegaWatts of wind and 100 MW of solar in the north of the island, Deputy Minister Ajith Perera said. Sri Lanka is setting up a hybrid renewable energy park in Pooneryn in the northern Jaffna district. Competitive bids will be called in a few month for the plants, he told parliament. Another tender for two 10MW plants are currently open, Perera said. Sri Lanka has received bids of 12.29 rupees a unit for two wind plants in the Jaffna peninsula more..

Aug 29 (Island) Doctors of the North Central Province (NCP) yesterday warned they would extend the ongoing continuous strike to Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital and the Polonnaruwa District General Hospital tomorrow if the NCP Council did not meet their demands including the payment of the stipulated Rs. 4,000 telecommunication allowance. GMOA Secretary, Dr Haritha Aluthge said a continuous strike had been launched yesterday morning in several more..

Aug 29 (CT) The fourth accused, in the schoolgirl Vithya Sivaloganathan murder trial, Mahalingam Sasinthra, in his evidence before the Trial-at- Bar said that he had been in remand for the past two and half years for a crime he had not committed. Vithya murder trial resumed, at the Jaffna High Court Complex yesterday, before the Trial-at- Bar Bench comprising High Court Judges Sasi Mahendran (Chairman) M. Ilanchelian more..

Aug 29 (ITN) The Govt has drawn its attention to the provision of a vaccine for the dengue disease. Health sectors claim that a reduction of dengue patients is now being witnessed. A special discussion was organized at the Health Ministry for the provision a vaccine for dengue. The discussion was held between Minister Rajitha Senaratne and a researcher on the dengue disease Prof. Scott B. Halstead. A special Committee has been appointed for the registration of the dengue vaccine. more..

Aug 29 (Island) Federation of Faculty of Medicine Teachers’ Association (FFMTA) yesterday urged the clergy and artistes to join hands in resolving the issue of the SAITM by carrying its message to the public. Addressing a Seminar at the SLFI on SAITM issue a fair solution, Dr Manuj Weerasinghe of the Colombo Medical Faculty said that several proposals had been submitted by them to the Minister Lakshman Kiriella at the beginning of this month to resolve the SAITM crisis. more..

Aug 29 (PSL) President Sirisena has reviewed the progress of the programmes implemented by the Govt to provide relief to the people affected by the drought prevailed in various parts of the country. The President inquired from the relevant officials about the progress of the programmes during a meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat, today.  At present, actions have been taken systematically to distribute dry rations among more..

Aug 29 (AD) Former Minister A. H. M. Azwer passed away a short while ago. Azwer, aged 80 years, had reportedly passed away at a private hospital where he had been admitted for the past few weeks, according to sources. The funeral proceedings will be held at his house. Address is as follows: No. 4, Bathiya Mawatha, Dehiwala. A.H.M. Azwer was a SL politician, and a Former National List MP of Sri Lanka. He was a member of SLFP, and had affiliations with the UNP prior to that. more..