July 31 (DM) Cabin crew members aboard SriLankan flight en route to Colombo from Kochi on Sunday had managed to successfully avert a major incident which is believed to have been caused by the ignition of a lithium battery pack or mobile phones in a passenger’s hand luggage, the Airline said. Cabin crew members noticed smoke appearing from an overhead luggage bin. “The aft cabin crew members rapidly more..

July 31 (DN) "Govt will take all measures to develop the tourism sector in the Eastern Province and provide investment opportunities to the local businessperson who are eager to promote the sector," PM Ranil Wicremesinghe said. He was speaking at a meeting held in the Batticaloa district on the initiative of Eastern Province Chief Minister Nazeer Ahamed to discuss the development of the district. PM said the Eastern Province was a very popular tourist destination after the conflict. more..

July 31 (DN) The FCID of the Police conducting investigations against MP Namal Rajapaksa concerning a misappropriation of Rs.70 million belonging to Krrish Company today informed Court that they have sought Attorney General’s advice regarding possible future legal action into the matter. Accordingly, Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne sent a reminder to the Attorney General directing him to expedite his advice regarding the case. Case will be taken up again on Dec 15. more..

July 31 (DN) LPBOA President Gemunu Wijeyratne has said he would take the issue of illegal tenders at the Southern Expressway to President and PM if the Bribery Commission took inadequate action in this regard. He said the issue was a longstanding one: "This has been going on from the time of the previous govt,” he explained, adding that the loss incurred to the govt from the issuing of illegal tenders was Rs. 20 million. more..

July 31 (DN) UNP General Secretary, Public Enterprises Development Minister Kabir Hashim said the UNP would protect Ravi Karunanayake if a no-confidence motion was brought against him without any concrete accusations. Addressing a press conference at Sirikotha this afternoon the UNP General Secretary said the continuity of the national unity government was the main objective of the UNP and that the bond between two main parties would not be weakened. more..

July 31 (DN) Colombo High Court today ordered the temporary release of former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s passport in order to obtain US visa. MP sought Court’s permission to travel to United States between August 8 and 23. High Court Judge Sampath Wijeratne made this order following a request by defence counsel. At a previous occasion, the Colombo High Court had served indictments on MP in connection with an indictment filed against him by Attorney General more..

July 31 (DN) Minimum standards of medical education will be gazetted within the next two weeks, Minister Rajitha Senaratne said, adding that it was currently at Legal Draftsman's Department. Addressing an audience after laying the foundation stone for the proposed nurse training school in Galle, he said the quality of medical education in SL would not be lowered. "The minimum standards of medical education were formulated after more..

July 31 (DM) IGP Pujith Jayasundare who is on a visit to Jaffna today said that the main suspect involved in the attack on two police constables in Kopay was a former LTTE member. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Jaffna Senior DIG Roshan Fernando was leading the investigations while the security in the area was tightened following the incident. The gangsters who arrived on four motorcycles had attacked police constables Surendra and Dhammika of more..

July 31 (EN) Inflation slowed to 4.8% in July 2017 from 6.1 percent in June, with the Colombo Consumer Price Index also falling during the month, data from the state statistics office said. Colombo Consumer Price Index fell 0.6% to 119.4 points during July from 120.1 at the end of June, with food prices falling. Sri Lanka's bank credit has started to ease and the central bank is now sterilizing forex purchases, in contrast to printing money in 2015 and 2016. more..

July 31 (DM) While declaring Aug 2 as the National Protest Day against SAITM, SAITM Virodi Jana Pawra (SVJP) said that protests and black band campaigns will be held across the island. It was learnt that the professionals, political parties, trade unions, civil societies and uni students and their parents had pledged their support to the move, to show their displeasure to the govt. SVJP organizers said the employees more..

July 31 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's deal with China to develop the Hambantota Port in southern Sri Lanka will boost Sri Lanka's foreign-exchange reserves and help bolster investors confidence, rating agency Moody's said Monday. Moody's said in its latest report that earnings from the Hambantota Port stake sale will feed into the Sri Lankan central bank's foreign-exchange reserves, which will help bolster investors confidence and encourage future portfolio inflows. more..

July 31 (DM) Minister Kabir Hashim said UNP had no issues in securing parliamentary majority but their aim was to continue to function as a Unity Govt to find solutions to national issues faced by Sri Lanka. “UNP would have had an advantage if it formed a UNP govt. But we believed that the best way to resolve national issues was through a unity govt concept,” he said. When asked by journalists whether the UNP hoped to join the TNA to form a govt if some SLFP members quit the govt more..

July 31 (DN) President’s Counsel Anuja Premaratne, appearing for Arjun Aloysius today informed the PCoI that according to his instructions Mr. Aloysius has forgotten the password of his Apple Account. PC Premaratne is appearing for Mr. Aloysius in the wake of President's Counsel Kalinga Indatissa’s withdrawal. PC Premaratne sought PCoI’s indulgence to get back the Mr. Aloysius' SIM card handed over to the CID more..

July 31 (DN) Sri Lanka has reached a 6.8 million motor vehicle population in 2016, an 8% increase from 6.3 million registered in 2015 according to the latest edition of an annual report on the country’s vehicle market.  Report, compiled by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce shows that during 2016, the country’s expenditure on motor vehicle imports declined by 32% to Rs.194 billion compared to 2015 where Sri Lanka spent the highest ever expenditure for motor vehicle imports of Rs.288 billion. more..

July 31 (Hindu) Sri Lankan Parliament unanimously passed an Amendment to the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act on July 6 that declared the method of fishing by bottom trawling an offence. It is aimed at curbing local trawlers as well as deterring trawlers from Tamil Nadu. Here’s an explainer on bottom trawling and deep-sea fishing, and the impact of the ban on fishermen from Tamil Nadu. Bottom trawling, an ecologically destructive practice, involves trawlers dragging weighted nets more..

July 31 (PMD) President Maithripala Sirisena says though some groups are dreaming of changing the numbers in the parliament and capture power to form a govt, everybody should keep in their minds that his blessing is essential to form a new govt. Commenting on a statement by an opposition MPs as well as a former minister who said the power of the govt and the Presidency will be over after winning the support of 113 MPs, more..