Jan 21 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena says school children are the most realistic messengers in the process of fulfilling the social responsibility and duties to attain the sustainable development.    He made these remarks participating in the inauguration ceremony of the establishing of Sustainable Development School Societies, held at Kengalla Maha Vidyalaya in Digana, today. more..

Jan 21 (ST) Bank of Ceylon’s (BOC) controversial reversal of a 7.5% stake in the private Seylan Bank has raised questions amongst certain quarters over how the BOC will list this stake under the financial investments available for sale entry in the annual report. Authorities have made it clear that in order to facilitate industry consolidation, govt won’t dilute state holdings in banks. Seylan stake acquired in 2009 is shown in BOC Report (over many years) as financial investments available for sale. more..

Jan 21 (CT) A man, who had solicited bribes to the tune of Rs 3 million, to get children admitted to numerous schools, has been arrested by the Police. He had told his victims he could get their children admitted to popular schools. An investigation was immediately launched and the suspect was arrested following a complaint lodged with the Colombo Fraud Investigations Bureau. The suspect, 52, from Kotahena, will be produced before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate's Court today. more..

Jan 21 (ENS) SL govt continues to be divided on a proposal by Lakshmi Mittal’s company ArcelorMittal to build 65,000 prefabricated houses made of steel and PVC in N&E for the war-displaced families. While Minister D.M. Swaminathan, who mooted the project, is certain that it is on, Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran, told parliament, that it is not on, and that only brick houses will be built. more..

Jan 21 (FT) President declared 8-14 January every year as National Integration and Reconciliation Week with the concurrence of the Cabinet. This is the first time after independence such a  National Integration and Reconciliation Week has been declared to bring unity, harmony, brotherhood, reconciliation and sustainable and permanent peace among, ethnic, religious, cultural and regional communities and societies and is considered as a land mark initiative to strengthen Sri Lanka more..

Jan 21 (Island) World renowned tennis coach and the father of the highly successful concept of grooming top international players through Tennis Academies, Nick Bollettieri of USA will be here in Sri Lanka next week on a short visit. He will be conducting tennis coaching lessons for three consecutive days, from Jan 22 to 24, at the Queen’s Club, Colombo, from 7 am to 11 am and 3 pm to 6 pm. He is scheduled to address the media on Jan 23, at 1 pm at Sports Ministry Auditorium. more..

Jan 21 (Island) President Sirisena has directed that proposed National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (NHRAP) shouldn’t in any way be an obstacle to imposition of Emergency Regulations. President had instructed that a controversial clause pertaining to the declaration of Emergency be removed forthwith. Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe called NHRAP as 2nd such report since SL’s victory over LTTE. more..

Jan 21 (ST) While tuk-tuk and motorbikes accidents are on the rise, one of the root cause for road accidents is the impatience of drivers on roads. The hurry to overtake a vehicle ahead and impatience to wait for oncoming vehicles to take the turn first, have been highlighted as accidents that has led to many deaths. Also on one side while the number of tuk-tuks on roads and accidents are increasing, the need for a retirement insurance plan has also arisen. Amana Takaful Insurance introduced more..

Jan 21 (DN) Asian Packaging Federation has appointed Rohan Victoria as a Vice President to its Board of administration for the fourth time in its fifty years of existence. The APF, the only Int'l Packaging Organization representing the Asian Packaging Industry was founded in 1967 in Kyoto, Japan with 5 countries as founder members comprising China, India, Japan, Korea and Philippines. One nationally recognized leading Packaging organization from each country in Asia Pacific Region more..

Jan 21 (Island) If graduates from Malabe Private Medical College (PMC) was authorised to practice medicine, Sri Lanka would be the only country in the world to officially permit doctors from an unrecognised institution, GMOA said. GMOA said Sri Lanka Medical Council was the sole authority for maintaining, standards of medical education in the country, but the SLMC had not given approval to the PMC. more..

Jan 21 (CT) The govt's attention has been drawn to the setting aside of currently operational High Courts to examine cases related to large-scale fraud and misuse of State property during the last regime. Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama recently submitted a proposal to Cabinet seeking to appoint a special tribunal to hear cases involving MPs of the previous regime. Sources said Cabinet has now decided to submit Dr. Amunugama's proposal to the Attorney General (AG) for his comments. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Court of Appeal fixed for argument on 7 Nov the Appeal filed by Attorney General against the judgment of the Colombo High Court which acquitted Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero and two Buddhist monks as well as 10 other laymen who had been indicted for the alleged attack on Calvary Church at Araliya Uyana in Talahena. Bench comprised Justices Rohini Walgama and Kumudhini Wickramasinghe. Death certificate of first accused Athula Seneviratne was produced. more..

Jan 21 (ENS) Indian official sources denied Minister Sarath Fonseka’s contention that Sri Lanka and India are in talks for developing the Trincomalee harbor in the Eastern coast. Fonseka had made the claim on the sidelines of a conference in New Delhi earlier this week, touching off adverse comments in Sri Lanka on the dangers of trying to balance China and India and making Sri Lanka an arena of big power politics. more..

Jan 21 (FT) President of Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard has commended Govt’s commitment to democracy and good governance to make the country more peaceful and prosperous through sustainable peace and the national economic plan to establish economic stability. Meeting with PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and his delegation in Davos, President Leuthard said Switzerland is ready to provide utmost support to Sri Lanka to reach its goals strengthening the bilateral relationship more..

Jan 21 (DN) Speaking at a special meeting of the Presidential Task Force appointed to provide relief to the people who would be affected by prevailing drought spell in the country, A kilogram of imported rice should not be sold beyond Rs. 76 in the open market, said President Maithripala Sirisena. The President said that private traders and rice mill owners should not be allowed to increase prices of rice at their will and inconvenience the ordinary people. more..

Jan 21 (DN) UNP backbenchers expressed their dissatisfaction at the pace with which investigations are carried on by FCID and BC on the COPE report on 19 public enterprises tabled in Parliament last August 9, 2016. They also demanded swift investigations into these public enterprises, while questioning the autonomy of the independent bodies responsible to conduct investigations in this regard. more..

Jan 21 (DM) Govt has identified a US-based company to share in the SriLankan airlines equity under the proposed Private Public Partnership (PPP) model, Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne said. Initially, govt had short-listed three prospective investors for this project. He said a committee comprising ministry secretaries had identified one of the companies for further engagement. However, deputy minister said the selected company was not a traditional airline operator. more..

Jan 21 (CT) Northern CM C.V. Wigneswaran returned to Colombo on Monday (16) after a hectic one week's tour in Canada. Before heading to the airport, he addressed a public meeting attended by nearly 600 SL Tamil expatriates at Scarborough University Pan Am stadium. Wigneswaran, in the last lap of his tour in Canada, which is under freezing conditions these days, was coughing while addressing the gathering and said that his restless hectic tour was the reason for his cough. more..

Jan 21 (DN) Report on the 3 bidders for SriLankan Airlines has been submitted to PM and he is to make a decision on it in the next two to three weeks, Minister Kabir Hashim said. “At present, we are looking into whether the companies have adequate and reliable funding for the proposals,” he added. It was imperative that debt ridden airline finds a bidder soon. “Treasury has said they would soon stop supporting recurrent expenditure more..

Jan 22 (DM) With Sri Lanka facing one of its worst ever droughts, largely due to climate change consequences, the national govt has thankfully planned ahead for this and is implementing urgent and effective ways to overcome the crisis. In the latest step yesterday, President Maithripala Sirisena, who is leading the countrywide battle against the drought, urged private sector institutions to join the power saving campaign by switching off promotional and decorative electric lights. more..

Jan 22 (CT) Donald Trump, 45th President of the US, sent negative vibrations coursing over the entire world, but especially across Europe where NATO heads, Asia, and Pacific region leaders would have grimaced at his inauguration statement on foreign (military/security) policy with his criticism of Obama subsidizing the armies of foreign countries while allowing the depletion of our own military. It's this very subsidizing by Obama that helped push back terrorism the world over, more..

Jan 22 (DBS) History was made 70 years ago when the film Kadawunu Poronduwa (Broken Promise) premiered at the Kingsley Theatre in Colombo on 21 Jan 1947. The Chief Guest was D.S. Senanayake, Minister of Agriculture and Lands under the State Council system of governance during the penultimate stages of British rule. Senanayake went on to become the first PM of independent Ceylon as SL was known then, more..

Jan 22 (DM) Grade 1 schools admissions and Royal College were featured on 12 January in a DM Online news report based on what Education Minister Kariyawasam briefed the media on Thursday of the previous week. Minister Kariyawasam had said, admission to Grade 1 of Royal College was temporarily suspended on complaints received. Investigations had revealed, 31 out of 147 applications looked into had fraudulent documents on addresses given.  more..

Jan 22 (SO) Chairman of Lanka Coal Company is former UNP Provincial Councilor Maithri Gunaratne who now leads a political organization named Jathika Pawura, which even strongly criticized the UNP and its leadership at one point. Gunaratne also made news recently for criticizing the govt, especially, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. Gunaratne’s removal from the LCC however, had nothing to do with his political affiliations: It is the culmination of a prolonged battle among various stakeholders more..

Jan 22 (ST) Fines of up to Rs 25,000 are being proposed by the Govt in a desparate attempt to contain the dengue menace, cases of which have rocketed to a record 54,727 compared with 29,777 patients in 2015. Health officials expect bigger penalties will push the public to clean up mosquito breeding sites. But scientists have also said activities such as spraying of insecticide destroy insects such as dragon flies, natural more..

Jan 22 (SO) Every four years, like clockwork, our readers’ thoughts turn to an event in the United States of America that could affect our own lives and the well-being of our nation. That is, the US presidential election and the prospects for our country and our neighbourhood, depending on who gets elected (or, re-elected) as the President of that country. Why are we so concerned about a political process in a country that is located on the far side of the Earth? more..

Jan 22 (SL) Members of the so called Joint Opposition and some of the Laptop Journalists of the former regime take much delight in riling govt MPs about the slow progress made towards the declared intention of their leaders in making Sri Lanka another Singapore. True, there has been little progress beyond the blue-print stage but govt MPs should not be hesitant in giving the reason loudly and clearly: Because of you – the Opposition. Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore was not built with more..

Jan 22 (CI) A week ago, Sri Lanka were humiliated in Johannesburg, where they lost 16 wickets and succumbed to their biggest defeat of the three-Test series. It may be too soon for them to return but they will be pleasantly surprised at the transformation in conditions for limited-overs cricket. The green mamba will be tamed and should be far more batting-friendly, presenting the visitors a chance to exorcise ghosts of the Test match. They need to take it because unless they win at Wanderers, more..

Jan 22 (ST) Whether one likes it or not, the advent of a new President of US always has global significance. That is why one of the many ironies of the world is that only the people of America get to vote for the holder of that office, despite that nation wanting to be the policeman of the world. Friday’s induction of the 45th President of the USA now known as the Disunited States of America, is a plunge into the unknown. It seemed the unfortunate Americans had dilemma of closing their nose more..

Jan 22 (SL) The rise of unemployment in the country has been a widely discussed topic in recent times. While bringing down the unemployment figures has also been a popular slogan on the election arena from time to time, no visible progress has been made in that regard so far. The govt recently stated that there are over 32,000 unemployed graduates in the country. However, after coming into office, govt has taken steps more..

Jan 22 (Island) Last week, as Sri Lanka continued to thrash around in a political and economic quagmire of its own making, grand events were taking place in the world with Donald Trump being sworn in as the 45th President of the US and PM Theresa May of Britain announcing a definitive plan to leave the EU. In the meantime the beaten liberal-globalist establishment was meeting in Davos and according to reporters, main topic of discussion among participants was the swearing in more..

Jan 22 (Island) SriLankan Airlines and its predecessors, Airlanka and Air Ceylon, have throughout their history had various collaboration arrangements with reputed international carriers including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Singapore Airlines. More recently, Dubai-based Emirates bought a 40% stake in the airline, later increased it to slightly over 43%, and assumed management control. Former President Rajapaksa who had appointed his brother-in-law, Nishantha more..

Jan 22 (Island) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), has said that a proposal had been submitted to the Education Ministry to include reconciliation as a subject in the School curriculum. She was speaking at an event organised by the State Ministry for National Integration and Reconciliation to mark National Integration more..

Jan 22 (NR) President Maithripala Sirisena has extended his congratulations to President Donald Trump on his inauguration as the 45th President of the US. The Head of State on his official twitter handle said “Congratulations on your inauguration as the 45th @POTUS. Looking forward to working with you to strengthen the US-#SriLanka partnership”. Donald Trump became the 45th President of the US last night, pledging to drain power from Washington elites & always put“ more..

Jan 22 (Island) CodeGen International, integrated the first Cloud Smart Classroom in partnership with the Education Ministry on January 13 at the J'pura Kotte Boys School, with the participation of Minister Akila VirajKariyawasam and Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva. CodeGen’s Cloud Smart School technology was recognized by the Ministry of Education, and under the guidance of the ministry, the Cloud Smart Classroom was launched successfully as a pilot project. more..

Jan 22 (CT) The so-called beginning of the change of world's political geography started last Friday with business tycoon Donald John Trump swearing-in as the 45th President of the US. His inauguration featured smaller crowds and more subdued ceremony than previous inaugurations – but still ushers in a transformative shift in the country's leadership. Trump, the oldest politicians to be elected to the post (70), was administered more..

Jan 22 (NS) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos has disclosed the govt’s plans for playing a significant role in integrating trade in the Asian region by getting into a number of trade agreements. He has said that negotiations are already under way to sign such special trade agreements with India, China and the European Union while there are plans to start negotiations with Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and the ASEAN. more..

Jan 22 (ST) A drubbing at the hands of a new-look South African side in the series opener on Friday ruined Sri Lanka’s plans to kick start the limited- overs leg on a winning note. The team now faces the embarrassment of a series defeat when the second T20 takes place at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg this afternoon. Sri Lanka fell short by 19 runs while chasing a massive total of 127 in 10 overs at an opener shortened by rain at the Super Sports Park in Centurion. more..

Jan 22 (CT) Former Chairman of Lanka Coal (Pvt.) Ltd Maithri Gunerathna said, "Just a week ago Lanka Coal (PVT) Ltd (LCL) floated the tender to purchase 2.2 million tons of coal for 2017. It was obvious that keeping me in the position would cause a serious effect on their income. So I was sacked". Q: You were removed from the chairmanship of Lanka Coal (PVT) Ltd (LCL) last week. What were the reasons behind this drastic decision? more..