June 30 (CT) The Foreign Ministry will shortly establish a separate treaty section so that it will be easier for anyone to obtain information about treaties that Sri Lanka has entered into and their legal implications, Sashikala Premawardhane, Acting Director General, at the Ministry said. "Sri Lanka recognizes the importance of treaty laws for Sri Lanka and the Foreign Ministry will soon establish a separate treaty section. Right now our records are a bit rudimentary," more..

June 30 (CT) The fate of the national carrier will be decided in another month's time with the Govt yesterday deciding to take a final decision on the continuity of SriLankan Airlines by that time. According to Govt sources, the IMF has also asked the Govt to inform it about the future course of action the Govt plans with regard to the national carrier which has been a major burden on the country's economy for several years. more..

June 30 (EN) SL’s energy regulator has asked the electricity utility to consider a broader range of generation options and develop 12 new scenarios that include cost of externalities like social and environmental costs. Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) said it asked the CEB to submit the 12 scenarios which will provide different power plant combinations by 07th of July 2017. PUCSL will announce the decision on proposed least cost long term generation expansion plan 2018-2037 more..

June 30 (DN) Revenue of the Rangiri Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya earned through the issue of tickets to tourists from 1996 to 2016 was estimated to be between Rs.7,300 million and Rs.10,095 million and it was not credited to either Central Cultural Fund or to Archeological Department, Deputy Minister Ajith P.Perera said. Referring to the complaint made by the Rangiri Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Godagama Sri Mangala Thera to Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, more..

June 30 (Island) Deputy Solicitor General Melinda Gunatillake, told the Presidential Commission that primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries could only clear its name by producing its own witnesses before the Commission. Gunatillake was responding to Perpetual Treasuries representative Nihal Fernando. DSG Gunatillake emphasised that Perpetual Treasuries couldn’t use Central Bank witness to clear its name. more..

June 30 (Island) Chairman of the SAITM Dr. Neville Fernando said that the institute would admit new students again in September. He said right now admission of students to the institute had been suspended. He said though certain elements were against the functioning of SAITM, many wanted the institute to continue. Reminiscing of the good old days Dr. Fernando said when he entered the medical profession there was decorum among doctors and today it was much to be desired. more..

June 30 (CT) Environmentalists have voiced concerns about a decision taken by the Sustainable Development and Wildlife Ministry to shift the head office and the Dehiwela Zoo Director General to Wattegedara, Maharagama in July 2017. "What is the point of shifting the head office of the Dehiwala zoo to Maharagama when all these years the office was within the Dehiwala Zoo premises? Zoo officials will have to pay rent for the new building and this is an additional expenditure for the zoo. more..

June 30 (DM) Functions of Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat (ACCS), which determines the nature of the complaints of major corruption cases to be probed, will cease to exist from tomorrow as no Cabinet nod had been received to date validating its existence. Commission was established in 2015 after Yahapalana Govt came into being, to observe public complaints on massive frauds & corruption cases of previous regime more..

June 30 (DM) Although there are laws to victims of racketeers who are out to make a quick buck any which way they can, the police are often not given the opportunity to take action against these persons as victims of these crimes hardly report them to the police. Speaking of rackets in which pedestrians deliberately throw themselves in front of vehicles in order to demand money from gullible motorists, SP Ruwan Gunasekara said such cases were often resolved by the victims paying up. more..

June 30 (DM) Indian High Commissioner Taranjith Singh Sandhu, in his first visit to Jaffna, is reported to have said at a meeting that unity among the political leadership in the North was important to realize economic and infrastructure development and the political aspirations of the Tamil people. He said this in the wake of a crisis at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) resulting in the removal of two ministers. Ambassador visited the North for the first time yesterday after his posting to SL. more..

June 30 (FT) The GMOA yesterday threatened to launch a continuous strike on short notice if the Govt refuses to include it in ongoing SAITM negotiations. GMOA announced that its Central Committee had taken a decision to launch a fresh continuous strike if the Govt was serious about Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s recent declaration that GMOA’s views would no longer be considered if and when the matter was taken up. more..

June 30 (DM) About 50 years ago, the then Finance Minister Dr. N.M. Perera proposed that SL should grow its own nutritious food and the people should cultivate their own home gardens instead of showing a preference for imported food. He said he saw the dim light of a distant dawn but pro-capitalist forces scoffed at him and his dream. They conspired to create food-shortages such as today’s rice shortage, which is not entirely caused by climate change but is aggravated by a powerful paddy mafia. more..

June 30 (DM) “Today, words like progress and development have become interchangeable with economic reforms, deregulation and privatization. Freedom has come to mean choice…… This theft of language, this technique of usurping words and deploying them like weapons, of using them to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant, has been one of the most brilliant strategic victories of the tsars of the new dispensation. more..

June 30 (DM) Professor Siri Hettige secured his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Monash University, Australia in 1980. He functioned as the Head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Colombo for nearly ten years, since 1987. After the establishment of the current govt in 2015, he was appointed as the Chairman of the National Police Commission, but he tendered his resignation in January, 2017. more..

June 30 (SL) Sri Lanka’s electricity sector faces a crisis situation due to the lack of proper planning and implementation of the Long term generation expansion plan (LTGP), electricity generation plan, renowned energy expert Dr Thilak Siyabalapitiya, stressed. He compared the 2018-2037 LCLTGEP with the 2015-2034 plan and said, the energy sector regulator Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) and CEB are more..

June 30 (ST) Detection of a massive number of star tortoises on a fishing boat off Kalpitiya has raised fears that smugglers are plundering Sri Lanka’s reptiles from the wild for the illegal trade. Recently, two suspects were held with 2,089 star tortoises from India in a fishing boat intercepted by the navy last Sunday at five nautical miles off Kalpitiya during a patrol. 21 of the star tortoises are now dead and the rest are in the care of facility more..

June 30 (LBO) Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a grant agreement with Sri Lanka to establish a Doppler Weather Radar Network in the country. Agreement was signed between Treasury Secretary R.H. Samaratunga and Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office Fusato Tanaka on Friday with a view to provide the system to Department of Meteorology. It entails the procurement, installation of more..

June 30 (NR) The Ministry of Posts and Postal Services has decided to implement a special programme to distribute letters that have accumulated at post offices due to the strike conducted over a period of three days. When inquired Deputy Minister of Posts Dulip Wijesekara said attention is being paid to the requests tabled by postal workers. He added postal services are functioning as per usual from today. more..

June 30 (DN) Information Systems and Management Director of Parliament Mahesh Perera said that a new features will be added to Parliament official website to enable users to analyze the performances of MPs.  He said that this initiative was taken under the open Parliament concept adopted by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. As the first step the attendance of MPs on regular Parliament sittings and committees will be accessible more..

June 30 (Island) There is no alternative to the nationalisation of the SAITM and govt had pluck up courage to do so without having university students attackd," Prof. R. M. Mudiyanse, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya said yesterday (28). Addressing the media, Prof. Mudiyanse urged the govt to find a meaningful solution to the SAITM issue and to produce truly qualified doctors to serve the public. more..

June 30 (CT) Joint Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC) Trade Union has once more warned the Govt that if it fails to give the Unions an opportunity to discuss the handing over of the China Bay Oil Tank Farm in Trincomalee to the CPC, within a week, they will not hesitate to go back to mass trade union strike action to press their demands. Joint CPC Trade Union has stressed this point in a letter to President as well as to PM, on 28 June. more..

June 30 (DM) The sole authority in the administration of Buddhist Temples rests in the hands of the chief prelates of these temples and hence neither the State nor any State institution has any right to interfere in their administration or to intervene in their affairs in any way, said Minister of Buddha Sasana and Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe when he spoke on Wednesday at the Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya. more..

June 30 (Island) Gevindu Kumaratunga of the National Joint Committee (NJC) said those who were responsible for transferring the Trinco Oil Farm to Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) which was previously owned by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) in 2003 should be brought before the law. Kumaratunga was expressing his views to the Public Commission on National Policy on International Trade Agreement organised by more..

June 30 (DN) Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera met the Chamber of Provincial Entrepreneurs representatives at the Finance Ministry to hold discussions to resolve difficulties faced by them. The representatives briefed Minister on issues faced by them especially with regard to the calculation of taxes. They also stressed on issues regarding VAT and other taxes paid by small time business entrepreneurs. Minister stated that the Treasury intends to rectify more..

June 30 (CT) The year 2004 was one of the most crucial periods in the history of SL. Lot of tragic events had taken place before 2004 and many followed after that. But 2004 becomes a land mark in our history. A Golden opportunity that came on our way, to ease the prevailing tense situation in the country and to find a solution, was regrettably missed due to mishandling of the opportunity that came to us. It now appears as if TNA is a curse that had befallen on our country & our people. more..

June 30 (EN) Sri Lankan companies that violate transfer pricing rules can be fined up to two percent of the total value of transactions between related parties in case of non-disclosure of any required information under the new tax law. The new law also provides for the Commissioner-General of Inland Revenue to impose a penalty of up to one percent of the total value of transactions with associated enterprises where required documents have not been maintained. more..

June 30 (CT) SL's current interests as opposed to historical interests, reconciliation and respect for the law as a pivot to wealth and security respectively, for small States were three key takes at a Sri Lanka Foreign Policy Forum organized by the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS). Additional Foreign Ministry Secretary, M.M. Jaffeer, in his speech underscored the importance of current interests over historical interests, more..

June 30 (Roar) Out on the roads, without the least flinch of self-respect at the congregating pests or the trampling tyres, the selfishness of our people appears to be on naked display. Bin bags disgorging week-old lunches, puddles of black slime, little hammocks of garbage nailed to walls, and bonfires in backyards—how did Colombo get the looks of an anarchist dystopia? When the Meethotamulla garbage mountain killed 32 more..

June 30 (AD) Colombo Magistrate’s Court today issued an order suspending the diplomatic passport and another passport issued to Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, by the Department of Immigration and Emigration. FCID had filed a case against Weeratunga accusing him of committing financial fraud during the purchase of several MiG Aircrafts from Ukraine for the Sri Lanka Air Force in 2009. An international warrant was also issued in October last year more..

June 30 (DN) Colombo Chief Magistrate commenced the trial against former Development Lottery Board (DLB) Chairman Dr. Chandrawansa Pathiraja for allegedly causing a sum of Rs.23 million unlawful loss to the DLB when awarding promotional activities pertaining to several lottery tickets to three private companies contrary to the accepted tender procedure. When the cases came up before Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara, defence counsel Kalinga Indatissa PC more..

June 30 (DN) A UNP delegation led by General Secretary Minister Kabeer Hashim is currently touring in China, on the invitation of the international department central committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Commencing the tour today, the SL delegation visited Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Province. Upon arrival the delegation were welcomed by Luo Huining, party secretary of CPC Shanxi Provincial committee more..

June 30 (DN) A clash between students, parents and teachers at the Kotagala Tamil Cambridge College in Nuwara Eliya put the school under Police surveillance today. According to reports the clash occurred during an inquiry into an incident in which it was alleged a schoolteacher had beaten female students with an iron pole. Parents of the affected students who were called into the school for an inquiry had clashed with the teacher and the resulting altercation had left many injured. more..

June 30 (DM) Eleven police officers including two Deputy Inspector General of police (DIGs) were transferred with immediate effect, Police Headquarters said today. Nine Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASPs) were among the officers transferred. The officers have been transferred by the Police Chief based on service requirements with the approval of the National Police Commission. The transferred police DIGs and ASPs are as follows, DIG R.L Kodithuwakku - more..

June 30 (DM) Supreme Court dismissed Fundamental Rights petition filed by MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara seeking an order to nullify the Framework Agreement entered into by the Govt with two Chinese companies to lease out the Hambantota Harbour. Three Judge Bench comprised of Judge Buwaneka Aluvihare PC, Judge Sisira De Abrew and Judge Anil Gunaratne inquired into the petition and dismissed observing more..

June 30 (DN) LSSP Leader Tissa Vitharana said that they request President Sirisena to go ahead with his plan to solve the garbage issue in the country without giving in to Minister Champika Ranawaka’s idea. He said that the President planned to use the bio-technical method to solve the garbage issue while Megapolis Minister planed to solve the issue by transporting garbage to Puttalam and dumping in pits. According him, president's method saves money while more..

June 30 (EN) The fiscal risk posed by Sri Lankan government Treasury guarantees to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), especially those without stable revenue streams, has increased, the World Bank has warned in its latest development update. “Treasury guarantees primarily granted to SOEs and state agencies to borrow from domestic and foreign financial institutions also showed a significant increase in 2016 although the utilization remained relatively low,” it said. more..

June 30 (DM) About 1,200 individuals had been arrested for dumping garbage in a haphazard manner in the Western Province. The individuals were arrested between June 18 and 27. The highest numbers of individuals were arrested from Gampaha, while Kalutara reported the lowest number of arrests. “250 were arrested from Gampaha, 215 from Central Colombo, 169 from Colombo North, 153 from Kelaniya, more..

June 30 (Hindu) VCK partymen are disenchanted with the police in the district after they were reportedly denied permission on Wednesday to meet Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the settlement in Bhavani Sagar. Party functionaries led by its State deputy general secretary Vanniarasu had gone to meet the refugees who had represented to VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan that they were hounded by functionaries of mainstream political parties when the team was not only denied permission, more..

June 30 (NR) UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila says the former UPFA govt led by Former President Rajapaksa did not consent to the SAITM. He said developed countries do not have private universities. MP said Mahinda Rajapaksa led govt never granted approval to establish SAITM adding it can be considered a fraudulent body. He noted as a solution to this issue, a number of conditions were issued in order to grant approval that is cited in a gazette issued in 2011 August. more..