Jan 19 (CT) Every now and then Sri Lanka breaks the internet. We don't do it often as one would expect (with everything that's going on) but when we do, it's glorious. Sri Lankans are notorious for trending hashtags all over Twitter, and then making them into internet memes that have us all in stitches. When the Travelling Chaos duo ventured over to the social media platforms in the hopes of finding the latest fad, we came across some hilarious, at times questionable or even cringeworthy more..

Jan 19 (CT) TULF Leader V. Anandasangaree said PM Ranil Wickremesinghe refused to meet him when he made attempts to discuss current issues, and went on to blame the TNA for influencing the PM. "When I tried to meet the PM to discuss these issues, he is running away. The PM is depending entirely on Sampanthan and Sampanthan was never honest in his dealings. He is the one who said by more..

Jan 19 (FT) Report of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms was handed over to former President Chandrika Kumaratunga by Task Force Chairperson Manouri Muttetuwegama on 3 Jan. Consultation Task Force (CTF) had Zonal Task Forces operating in all the districts, gathered views from the people and prepared a detailed report elaborating on the Office of Reparations; Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-Recurrence Commission; Office of Missing Persons; more..

Jan 19 (FT) Life without limbs yet without limits; changing obstacles into opportunities. The only person keeping us from reaching our full potential is our own self as False Evidence Appearing Real manifests FEAR to hold us back. These are words of wisdom that have inspired me to pen this lines. Nicholas Vujicic (pronounced Voo-yee-cheech) is an Australian (35), born in Melbourne to Serbian orthodox emigrant parents from Yugoslavia. Janis McDavid is a German (25), born in Hamburg. more..

Jan 19 (Island) Govt had not fulfilled its pre-election promises and what the masses should do is not to topple the govt, but to make it fulfill its pledges by striving to bring about a radical change in the country politically, economically and socially, which had lacked for decades. Both the previous and the incumbent govt should take the responsibility for these critical blunders. It appears that the govt is incapable of arriving at a consensus on a single major crucial policy. more..

Jan 19 (Island) Sri Lanka’s moment of truth is fast approaching. The expectation is that significant initiatives will be taken this year towards addressing the two issues that are vitally important to the Tamil people – a political resolution and accountability for war-time violations. What is equally important is to maintain a consistent, discernible and sustained momentum towards reconciliation, bolstered by actions that make practical difference to the day to day life of the people and more..

Jan 19 (FT) The JVP has written three letters urging CB Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy to commence a probe into the controversial bond scam, accuses him of having a hand in the massive fraud which has incurred a loss of Rs. 145 billion. “He has been avoiding answering queries and requests for a probe into this biggest-ever financial crime. But over 2.47 million members of the workers of EPF need to know about more..

Jan 19 (Island) A Colombian scribe, in a discussion on media freedom, once, said that in his country a journalist was free to write anything. While others were staring at him in total disbelief, he added with a grin, "And, anyone else is free to kill him for writing that!" We were reminded of this wisecrack, on receiving news of the sacking of Lanka Coal Company (LCC) Chairman Maithri Gunaratne, who recently raked his political masters and their bureaucratic lackeys over more..

Jan 19 (Island) Mahaveli Reach waited for us that evening /night to host us till thy kingdom come. They welcomed us in  true Kandyan style. The hotel has a Trinity connection with Panabokkes and Mahir Didi from Maldives having shares. Didi is a  joyful man with a big heart. He   refuses to get old and  is still the fun loving Sri Lankan/Maldivian/Kandyan.  We all were at home because it was home and home. Some of us decided to take a swim in the pool looking at the great River Mahaveli. more..

Jan 19 (DM) The GMOA urged Minister Rajitha Senaratne to intervene in the implementation of the directives on annual transfers of govt doctors. GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda said that a certain director who had been removed from the transfer board was sabotaging the annual transfers of govt doctors. “Health Minister had removed this individual from the transfer board some time ago. more..

Jan 19 (EN) SriLankan Cargo said cargo volumes rose 12.9% to a new high of 239,636 tonnes in 2016 from a year ago, with transhipment volumes doubling and its facility at BIA nearing capacity. SriLankan Cargo, freight handling arm of SriLankan Airlines, handles cargo of all airlines that operate at BIA, including imports, exports and transhipments. “Total in 2016 included 39,842 tonnes of transhipment cargo, a rapid increase over 35,877 tonnes handled during the previous year” more..

Jan 19 (CT) Sri Lankan girls continued to dominate week 2 of the ITF Asia 14 & Under Tennis championship currently being held at the LTAT courts in Thailand. Both Neyara Weerawansa of British School in Colombo and Anjalika Kurera of Ave Maria Convent Negombo secured a place in the semi finals. Neyara won against Htet Htet Wai of Myanmar 6-3, 6-3 while Anjalika beat the bottom seed Maria Breidy 6-4, 6-3 in their respective quarter final matches yesterday. more..

Jan 19 (ENS) 100th birth anniversary of M.G. Ramachandran, who dominated the Tamil film world as well as TN politics like a colossus till his death in Dec 1987, was observed in Jaffna with the Indian Consul General, A.Natarajan, as the Chief Guest. Solemn function organised at the MGR statue by Suntharalingam, an associate of MGR’s from the time the actor-politician was shot at and injured by fellow actor/political rival M.R. Radha in 1967. more..

Jan 19 (Strafor) Sri Lanka's raucous political scene is poised to become even more tumultuous in the coming year. Once notorious as the home of the LTTE, a militant group better known as the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka resolved its decadeslong civil war in 2009. But in the years since the govt's victory over the Tamil Tigers, the underlying tension between Sri Lanka's Buddhist ethnic Sinhalese majority (75% of the country's population) and the Hindu ethnic Tamil minority has persisted. more..

Jan 19 (NR) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe today held an open discussion with the Chairman of the World Economic Forum Professor Klaus Schwab at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Professor Schwab highlighted a proposal tabled by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, who suggested that a high level summit of European and Asian Trade Ministers be organised for the year 2018. Professor Schwab noted that the World Economic Forum will participate and help organise the event. more..

Jan 19 (DM) While stating that no decision had been made in the constitutional process regarding the unitary character or devolution of power, mimister Lakshman Kiriella said the final decision on these matters will be made by Parliament. He said that the steering committee had not come up with any proposal yet. “The steering committee of the constitutional assembly has not prepared a draft constitution yet. more..

Jan 19 (DN) Iconic Developments of India will invest around US$ 90 million within the next three years in Sri Lanka for luxury apartments in Colombo and in the South. Indian property developer has already invested US dollars 30 million for their first project, 110 Parliament Road, apartments in Rajagiriya opened in 2008. Iconic Developments Managing Director Rohan Parikh said that they see a great demand from Sri Lankans for the project. “Given the current booming real estate industry, more..

Jan 19 (CT) Three leading global micro finance lenders have agreed to inject over Rs 3.3B to SANASA Development Bank (SDB) to boost its tier 1, 2 capitals and strengthen the bank capital adequacy requirements, SDB announced. Bank proposes to issue Rs 1.46B worth of 10.3M or 19.88% ordinary voting shares of the Bank at a price of Rs 140 to three leading global micro finance lenders namely FMO or Netherlands Development Finance Company more..

Jan 19 (Hindu) Sri Lanka is in talks to offer the port of Trincomalee to India. Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue here, Minister Sarath Fonseka, said that the decision on offering the port to India will be taken soon. “Talks are at present going on between India and Sri Lanka and we hope to offer the Trincomalee port, which is one of the best deep sea ports in the world, to India,” said Mr. Fonseka. more..

Jan 19 (DN) Nearly 220 million children of South Asia breathe toxic air in the most polluted regions in the world including India, deepening worries over health of minors in several parts of the country, report by UNICEF released in third quarter of last year showed. SL is excluded from this list. Experts attribute SL’s low air pollution to the stringent vehicle emission testing program the island nation initiated in 2008 resulting in a higher quality of air compared to its neighbours. more..

Jan 19 (DN) The three- day annual EDEX Expo- 2017, Sri Lanka's largest education exhibition and job fair, conducted by Royal College Union (RCU) will commenc at BMICH, Colombo tomorrow. Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva will be the chief guest at the occasion on the invitation of Royal College Principal B.A. Abeyratne and EDEX Chairman Mahinda Galagedara. The exhibition and job fair will be open for public from 10 am on the opening day and from 9am from Jan 21 and 22. more..

Jan 19 (DM) The Joint Opposition lodged a complaint with the BC and CID against Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim, management of the SriLankan Airline and Prime Minister's Advisor Charitha Ratwatte. In its complaint, the JO alleged that the govt had incurred a loss of Rs. 150 billion when cancelling an order to purchase three Airbuses for SriLankan Airlines from the AerCap Company. more..

Jan 19 (FT) Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process and bilateral relations were in the centre of discussions when Minister Mangala Samaraweera met Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström Tuesday in Stockholm. Foreign Minister is visiting Sweden from 17-18 Jan at the invitation of his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallström. “Good discussions today with FM Samaraweera on SL’s reconciliation process, bilateral cooperation, regional issues and much more,” more..

Jan 19 (CT) Though most cricket fans were quick to lay the blame for SL's 3-0 series whitewash to South Africa at the feet of head coach Graeme Ford and High Performance Manager Simon Willis, Chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya offered a different perspective to the debacle and stated that the batsmen have to bear the brunt of the flak for the crushing losses. "There is no use in blaming all and sundry for these defeats. Our batsmen failed to post totals in excess of 300 in any of their innings. more..

Jan 19 (Island) JHU has requested Ven. Athureliya Rathana thera to give up his National List seat. A senior party spokesperson said that the party expected Ven. Rathana to quit in the wake of his controversial decision to function as an independent MP. Asked whether the Ven thera had consulted party regarding his move, spokesperson said that UNP had accommodated him on National List in accordance with an agreement signed more..

Jan 19 (CT) There is no truth in reports that the Omanthai Army Camp has been removed, Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne said. He added that 18 acres of land near the camp were handed over to the Vavuniya District Secretary. "These areas include 10 acres to the west of the Omanthai checkpoint," he said. However the camp will remain, Seneviratne said. Vavuniya District Secretary said some lands were handed over last Tuesday to families which originally had their homes there. more..

Jan 19 (CG) Sri Lanka passport has been ranked 93 in the world, behind countries like Bangladesh, Sudan, Nepal and Congo. Germany take first place with a visa-free score of 157, closely followed by Singapore and Sweden which were both ranked second with a visa-free score of 156. Passport Index devised by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital looks at three factors: The country’s visa-free score – which includes visa-free and visa on arrival; the visa-free portion of more..

Jan 19 (Island) Anti-Corruption Front has alleged that those who invested both here and abroad on behalf of the Rajapaksas during the previous administration were now working with Yahapalana govt. The front, which vigorously campaigned for the Maithripala-Wickremesinghe combine at Jan. 2015 presidential and Aug 2015 parliamentary polls said that yahapalana was certainly not a reality. Having successfully campaigned on a platform more..

Jan 19 (FT) Cabinet yesterday approved the reformulated National Human Resource and Employment Policy (NHREP) that aims to increase productivity and encourage private sector participation in the workforce. NHREP is expected to implement the policy in collaboration with the relevant 28 line ministries and the private sector to provide full, decent and productive employment to all Sri Lankans, the Cabinet paper submitted by Labour Minister W.D.J Seneviratne said.  more..

Jan 19 (CT) A protest demonstration was held yesterday, opposite the Vavuniya main bus depot, by the villagers of Bogasweva, Bogasweva 2, Nandimithragama, Selalihinigama and Namalgama in the Vavuniya South Divisional Secretariat, against plans to divide the Divisional Secretariat into five as per the report compiled by the Delimitation Committee. According to the villagers, the report compiled by the Delimitation Committee, proposing linking these five villages to more..

Jan 19 (DN) Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with China, Singapore and India will be finalized before June this year, Minister Malik Samarawickrama revealed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said the tripartite agreements would give Sri Lanka market access to over 2.5 billion people. Infrastructure to support industry and trade will fall in place within the next two to three years, Minister said: more..

Jan 19 (DM) Former Minister and NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa was remanded on charges of misusing State vehicles causing a Rs. 90-million loss to the State. Reports said he had been allowed to get his food and a mattress from home. These facilities for the former revolutionary JVP front-liner are an extension of similar facilities recently awarded to almost all VIPs in remand custody and those convicted and jailed.  One should not envy the former ministers, deputy ministers, more..

Jan 19 (DM) The enlightened people entrusted with the grave task of recommending changes to the constitution have sought to turn Sri Lanka into an official secular state. Although the Final Report of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF) doesn’t mention it, this particular recommendation clearly seeks to do away with Article 9 of the Constitution. Article 9 reads thus:    Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly more..

Jan 19 (DM) President’s Counsel Kushan D’ Alwis, who served the Public Representation Committee that deliberated with people on Constitution making, says there is lack of transparency in the whole Constitution making process. In an interview with Daily Mirror, he says strong unitary features are needed in the Constitution. Q: As a President’s Counsel who served the Public Representation Committee, how do you see more..

Jan 19 (ST) On Dec 28, Aingkaran Kugathasan accompanied a friend to the Jaffna police station to lodge a complaint. It was around 10.40 a.m. and there was a long queue. But even after one hour, the line did not move. “When we inquired, we were told there was only one policeman conversant in Tamil and that he had been summoned by a senior police officer for an urgent matter,” Mr. Kugathasan, an attorney-at-law, said. more..

Jan 19 (DM) Coalition to Protect Our National Heritage said if former Minister Wimal Weerawansa was remanded for misusing state vehicles, politicians and govt servants who were behind the deforestation of the Wilpattu National Park should also be brought before the FCID and CID. Environmental activist Nayanaka Ranwella said the devastators of the environment should have been in prison for causing an irreparable loss more..

Jan 19 (SL) General Secretary of the SLFP, Minister Duminda Dissanayake, during a meeting of SLFP ministers recently proposed that the existing provisions in the Constitution with regard to the presidency be retained. However, Good Governance regime succeeded in defeating the previous regime primarily on the promise of bringing corrupt politicians to book and the abolition of the Executive Presidency. more..

Jan 19 (FT) After almost a decade of an isolationist foreign policy, Sri Lanka is now changing its course to re-engage with the West, a move welcomed by the European Union (EU). The new Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka Tung-Lai Margue spoke about the renewed relationship with the country and the EU, appreciating the progress made in areas of human rights and reconciliation.  more..

Jan 19 (APP) Pakistan PM Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan wishes to see SAARC a vibrant regional organization. In a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe on the sidelines of World Economic Forum here, the Prime Minister said Pakistan and Sri Lanka could collaborate for the achievement of objectives of SAARC. more..