May 15 (DM) The GMOA has requested President Sirisena to inform the Attorney General or the High Court, govt's stance on the SAITM. GMOA Secretary Naveen De Zoysa said that govt had changed its stance on the SAITM from time to time. “The govt’s stance keep changing. Nothing has been finalised yet and we cannot depend on the govt's statements,” he said. Dr. De Zoysa said Minister Rajitha Senaratne had informed Appeal Court more..

May 15 (DM) SAITM will be closed down if it fails to maintain the required standards, Deputy Minister Ajith P Perera said. He said it would be decided upon by the committee to be set up soon to monitor educational institutions. The deputy minister said this at a media briefing held this afternoon to explain the govt's official stand on SAITM. He said this committee would monitor all private educational institutions including those which were to be set up in the future. more..

May 15 (DN) Minister D.M. Swaminathan, has ordered the Secretary to the Ministry W.M.P.G. Wickramasinghe to transfer with immediate effect, Kalutara Prison Commissioner. Minister had further instructed that an independent inquiry is held regarding the prison bus shooting incident that occurred on Feb 27, and several other matters. The information provided by 3-member Committee regarding the shooting incident on Feb 27 and other factors were taken into consideration more..

May 15 (AD) Supreme Court has extended the suspension of Appeal Court judgement on MP Geetha Kumarasinghe’s MP post until final determination of the case. SC has too decided to go ahead with the petition filed by Kumarasinghe. Deputy Solicitor General has said, according to information received by the Immigration and Emigration Department the MP still holds the citizenship of Switzerland. more..

May 15 (CT) President Maithripala Sirisena recently stressed that there is a severe shortage of health professionals due to the large number of doctors and nurses leaving the country. Addressing a ceremony held on Saturday, in Colombo, to mark the International Nurses' Day President Sirisena said, the number of nurses as well as doctors has not increased despite the expansion of the infrastructure in the health sector. "New hospitals have been built in many areas. more..

May 15 (EN) Pallbearers jumped into a grave in Sri Lanka's tea-growing central region to escape a wasp attack, but were stung badly and required hospitalisation. Eight people, including a child, were admitted to two hospitals in the region after Friday's attack on mourners carrying the coffin of a 79-year-old man at a tea plantation. The swarm descended on a funeral procession near the town of Pussellawa on the same day Indian PM Narendra Modi visited the region to address tea workers more..

May 15 (PTI) Sri Lanka has blamed the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora for backing the genocide charge against the govt as the country prepares to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the end of the three-decade long civil war. On May 12, Tamil nationalists started a week long commemoration of what they termed the genocide of Tamils. Northern Provincial Council members held events in parts of the North to remember the victims of more..

May 15 (PO) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board president Thilanga Sumathipala has appealed to the Indian PM Narendra Modi to allow the resumption of cricket between India and Pakistani teams. He made this appeal to the PM during his recent visit to Sri Lanka. Speaking from Colombo, the SLC board chief said, “I met Mr. Narendra Modi at BMICH and conveyed the message to him to consider playing against Pakistan”. Sumathipala is also the Deputy Speaker of Sri Lanka parliament. more..

May 15 (CT) A group of people from rape victim Sivaloganathan Vithya‘s native village Punguditivu, Jaffna has written to Chief Justice urging him to hold the trial-at-bar of murder and rape case before Tamil speaking judges instead of in Colombo before Sinhala speaking judges. A group of people from rape victim Vithya‘s native village Punguditivu, Jaffna has written to Chief Justice urging him to hold the trial-at-bar of murder and rape case before Tamil speaking judges more..

May 15 (AD) I express my sincere thanks to Narendra Modi for revealing the bitter truth about Indo-Lanka relations that the rulers of our country struggled to hide, UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila stated. He also said that Sri Lanka had already become a state partially under the Indian supremacy. He said that although the leaders of our govt assured that Modi’s visit was solely for the purpose of attending the UN Vesak Day more..

May 16 (ST) This is no tribute to the late unlamented Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein who predicted a mother of battles as the invading forces approached Baghdad. It never happened and he was eventually deposited in the dust heap of history. His colourful phrase has joined the burgeoning bag of clichés. But what is trite and commonplace is not necessarily false or untrue. It is simply a weathered phrase. In fact it is very true of next month’s parliamentary elections in UK more..

May 16 (CT) The stark contrast in the approach to the long-running North-South crisis, plagued with political and military confrontations, is seen clearly in the S.J.V. Chelvanayakam Memorial lecture delivered by Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health, on 26th April 2017. In it he lauds Chelva, the Father of Tamil separatism, to stratospheric heights as if he was the God-granted saviour of the Tamils and, by extension, the nation as well. His objective undoubtedly is to win Tamil votes and more..

May 16 (SO) Julius Caesar, Archduke Fransz Ferdinand, Indira Gandhi, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Mahathma Gandhi, all shared one common element in life- they were brutally assassinated, despite having a close protection unit, or as we say, a team of body guards. How does one guarantee the safety of a person often classified as a VIP? Since the invention of the sword & shield which were primary weapons, more..

May 16 (SO) The legend chronicled in the Mahavamsa says that Prince Vijaya landed in Lanka on the Vesak day that the Buddha died – generally accepted as the full moon day of the year 503 BC. Vijaya was treated extremely well by Kuveni who reigned in the area he landed – Thambapanni, near the present day Chilaw. She saw to it that his 700 accompanying men were given food, shelter and clothing. She is said to have presented herself as a very beautiful young girl, the craft of witches more..

May 16 (NS) Sri Lanka is riding the crest of an unprecedented crime wave that is threatening to sweep the nation precipitously into the rocky reefs of anarchy. And while we flounder helplessly in the maelstrom of lawlessness and disorder, some of our politicians and policemen appear to have succeeded in turning the criminal justice system on its head. For several years the country’s capital and its suburbs have begun to resemble the 1930s Chicago era of Al Capone with rival underworld gangs more..

May 16 (NS) Deputy Minister of Transport & Civil Aviation and Member of COPE, Ashok Abeysinghe spoke to the Nation regarding the latest situation with regard to the state of affairs concerning the SriLankan Airlines (SLA). Q: Last year, there was a loss of approximately Rs 6.49 billion which constitutes a Rs 2.9 billion increase from 2015. In the last quarter of 2016, runway resurfacing project at BIA, had an impact on the revenue. more..

May 16 (ST) Earnings from tourism have become very significant to the balance of payments. Last year, tourist earnings of US$3.7 billion offset 41% of the trade deficit of US$9.1 billion. They were one third the value of total merchandise export earnings and exceeded export earnings from total agricultural exports and all industrial export items except garments. While earnings from tourism could become an even more significant support to the balance of payments, industry could face more..

May 16 (CT) There was some uncertainty whether Indian PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka to join the country in its celebration of the International Day of Vesak would turn embarrassing to the host government. Prior to his visit nationalist politicians and nationalist civil society leaders from the ethnic majority community called for black flag protests. This was against what they called Indian intervention. Two controversial matters currently being negotiated between the two countries more..

May 16 (Island) World Bank (WB) has decided to give a 100-million-dollar cash injection into the fund-starved higher education sector of this country in a bid to help ‘increase enrolment in priority disciplines, improve the quality of degree programmes and promote research and innovation’. Most Sri Lankans, like their counterparts in other parts of the developing world, tend to view WB assistance with suspicion. Financial assistance from the Bretton Woods twins never come without more..

May 16 (Island) A Fundamental Rights Petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the legitimacy of the present Govt to have a Cabinet of Ministers in excess of 30 and for the number of Ministers who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers and Deputy Ministers not to exceed 40 as per Article 46 (1) of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution. The grounds for filing the Petition were that the present formation of the Govt did not meet the criteria of a National Govt as set out in more..

May 16 (Island) Govt recently announced that the economic growth for 2016 was 4.4%. Considering the steadily deteriorating macro-fundamentals throughout 2015 and 2016, many were surprised about this officially reported growth figure, since such figure did not seem to be in sync with the country’s other connected macro-indicators. With the release of Central Bank Annual Report for 2016 (AR 16), supporting data and more..

May 16 (FT) Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has made a characteristically robust start to 2017, reporting solid income and profit growth for the three months ending 31 March 2017 and weathering a further reduction in margins and a substantial increase in taxation. The bank reported profit of Rs. 6.341 billion before VAT and NBT, reflecting growth of 17.93% over the first quarter of 2016, while VAT and NBT for the three months reviewed increased by 40.33% to Rs. 1.119 billion due to more..

May 16 (FT) Sri Lanka Telecom yesterday announced that during the first quarter 2017 the Group reported a revenue of Rs. 18.7 billion, up 1.4% from a year earlier. It said tax changes made by the Government had an adverse impact on the Group’s revenue growth. The reduction in revenue growth had an impact on profitability as well.  The Group’s operating expenditure increased by 2.7% to Rs. 13.1 billion in line with business expansions and external factors. more..

May 16 (Roar) While the whole country is no doubt happy to see the back of the torturous April heatwave, it is worth reminding ourselves that the southwest monsoon is just around the corner. Torrential rains wreaked havoc around this time last year, leading to massive floods and a landslide that left hundreds of families destitute. We’re halfway into May now; what are the chances of there being a repeat of the unmitigated more..

May 16 (FT) HNB continued its growth momentum during the first quarter of 2017 with Group PAT growing by 16.4% yoy to surpass Rs 4 billion while Bank PAT grew by 18.1% yoy to be recorded at Rs 3.65 billion. Growth in advances coupled with the rise in interest rates enabled interest income growth in excess of 45% yoy to Rs 22.6 billion. While interest expenses were also higher on account of funds moving into higher yielding deposits, Bank’s substantial CASA base of Rs 228 billion more..

May 16 (DN) Dervin Perera, former president of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka and veteran coach passed away yesterday at a private hospital in Colombo aged 67. Perera, one of the most successful athletic coaches produced by Sri Lanka was elected uncontested as AASL president in 2005. Among his distinguished achievements as coach was guiding Susanthika Jayasinghe to win Sri Lanka’s first and only IAAF World Championship medal (a silver in women’s 200m) more..

May 16 (DN) Lasith Malinga, a key figure in captain Angelo Mathews’ plans towards winning the ICC Champions Trophy in England. Mathews stated that if his team was to go anywhere in next month’s ICC Champions Trophy in England they will have to start the tournament in an aggressive and positive manner. “With all eight teams capable of winning the title and equally strong there is no chance of a comeback in the tournament if more..

May 16 (FT) With reference to Daily FT article titled NDB noose hangs over whistleblower CFO despite serious allegations the NDB has sent the following statement. “We wish to express our disappointment that a publication of the standing of the Daily FT published such an article which contains numerous factual errors and baseless assumptions without even requesting a clarification or comment from the Bank. While we reject the contents of the said article unequivocally, we would be grateful if more..

May 16 (ST) The Indian Cultural Centre, High Commission of India, Colombo will be organizing The Yoga Road Show as a curtain raiser to 3rd International Day of Yoga from   May 20 - 25, 2017 island wide in Sri Lanka in association with Astanga Yoga Mandir and Institute of Human Excellence. Yoga Road Show is supported by Ministry of Internal Affairs Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs, United Students Front, National Youth Services Council, Ayum Kriya Babaji Yoga Aranyam, more..

May 16 (FT) In a shocking development, NDB is on the verge of firing its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for blowing the whistle late, though he did so within the stipulated timeframe. CFO Faizan Ozman in a memo sent to the NDB Board in January had alleged serious misconduct by a senior management personnel over a year ago. Revelation had come two months after the high senior management member concerned had left the bank. more..

May 16 (FT) Sri Lanka has achieved economically to a stable level under the performance of the current administration of Good Governance during the last two years, American Congress Member Bill Johnson said. During a meeting with Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday held at the Ministry of Finance, Johnson remarked that he sees ruling the country by two main political parties as a unique situation. Following a tour of the North, Congressman Johnson told Minister more..

May 16 (CT) The police have sought assistance of the international organization in the US, which combats drugs and drug related crimes, in an effort to apprehend noted underworld criminal Makandure Madush, sources said. Madush, who is believed to be operating from overseas, is alleged to have been behind several high-profile crimes committed in the South in the recent past. The latest of such attacks was the one directed at two Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) officials including more..

May 16 (EN) Sri Lanka is committed to protecting the freedom of parents and children gain a higher education with their own efforts, at a time when China and Vietnam are expanding private education rapidly, Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne said. He said not everyone had an opportunity to enter a tax payer funded university. "Others also have a freedom to get a higher education," he said. more..

May 16 (DN) A case filed against former Minister Basil Rajapaksa and former Divi Neguma Department Director General Kithsiri Ranawaka for allegedly misappropriating Rs.36.5 million belonging to the Divi Neguma Department, was yesterday fixed for July 26 by the Colombo High Court. The Attorney General had filed indictments against the former Minister and the former Divi Neguma Department Director General in the Colombo High Court for allegedly misappropriating Rs.36.5 million more..

May 16 (DM) The official website of the Galle District Secretariat (www.galle.dist.gov.lk) is reported to have been hacked by an alleged group identifying itself as the Pakistani Cyber Team Experts. The attackers had however entered the official website and posted a message hailing their success saying Pakistan Zindabad, Islam Zindabad, Muslims Zindabad ,Pakistan Army Zindabad, Pakistan ISI Zindabad and #Free Kashmir #Free Syria #Free Palestine. more..

May 16 (DM) A significant change appears to have taken place in the boardroom of the state-controlled Lanka Hospitals Corporation (LHCL). LHCL disclosed to CSE that all of its local independent non-executive directors, except for two, had resigned with effect from May 9. Public Enterprise Development Ministry Coordinating Secretary Thanuja Weeratne & Thiniyawala Palitha Thera, were the only 2 local directors to not to resign more..

May 16 (DN) Centre for Indo-Lanka initiatives (CILI) of the Pathfinder Foundation (PF) will conduct a two-day round table discussion on the Blue Economy with the Vivekananda International Foundation, in New Delhi on May 16 and 17. The focus of the discussion will be guided by the theme, Sustainable Exploitation of Marine Resources. The panellists will examine aspects of sustainable exploitation of aquatic living resources like fish and other life forms in one session. more..

May 16 (Island) Health Minister, Dr Rajitha Senaratne will participate at the 70th WHO summit in Geneva Switzerland from Monday (22). It ends on May 31. Spokesman for the Health Ministry, Nipun Ekanayake yesterday said the Minister was scheduled to give a lecture and address the Commonwealth Health Ministers meeting during this period. Dr Senaratne would also present the Colombo Declaration, announced during last year’s Commonwealth Health Ministers’ summit. more..

May 16 (Island) A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court yesterday by a majority decision granted leave to appeal with the Application of Appeal filed by Geetha Kumarasinghe against the Court of Appeal judgement of Jan. 31, 2017. Supreme Court extended the interim relief granted earlier in favour of the appellant Kumarasinghe. The interim relief suspended the operation of the Court of Appeal Judgement dated Jan 31, which disqualified more..