Nov 4 (Island) The media and the public always express their displeasure at Parliament and its members. They allege incompetence, corruption and immorality of the MPs. This loss of confidence reached its climax on 21st September 2017, when Parliament passed an amendment to the Provincial Council Elections Act which is an ordinary statute including the provisions for the postponement of Provincial Council elections, indirectly disobeying and deviating from the determination of SC more..

Nov 4 (DN) On the opening day of the 6th annual regatta of SL Schools Rowing Association Thomians Daraka Peiris and Kavindu Mediwake booked a berth in the second round of the boys under 20 qualifying event. The 3-day regatta that is being held at the Colombo Rowing Club commenced with the opening ceremony attended by chief guest Col Manjula Kariyawasam, Director of Sports, Ministry of Education. First day saw the heats being worked out with around 200 rowers from 16 schools more..

Nov 4 (Island) The Minister for Poll Delays has given the country a Ball Game. At a time when the country is trying to forget about cricket amidst all the records of whitewash defeats, he has thrown the Poll Ball to the field for us to play the game. It is the launch of the Local Govt Ball Game that will take place by end January next year, if the political weather is good for play – for the Yahapalana manipulators of the game. more..

Nov 4 (NS) Anthony Bourdain returns to Sri Lanka for this week’s Parts Unknown for the first time since 2008, and there’s been at least one major change since: the end of the country’s civil war. Sri Lanka Press Institute member Kumar Lopez sums it up at a local curry joint. When Bourdain asks how life is different now, he answers, the fact that you are able to eat without even thinking that there could be a bomb that could go off at any moment. Nine years ago, Bourdain remembers, more..

Nov 4 (Island) Anjalika Kurera & Chathurya Nilaweera clinched the respective titles, and with them the coveted gold medal, beating compatriots, Oneli Perera & Nelaka Dissanayake, in yesterday’s finals of the girls and boys Asian Tennis Federation Under-14 Tournament at the SLTA. Top-seeded Kurera beat third-seed Perera 6-0, 6-3 while Nilaweera cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 thumping over Dissanayake, showing notable dominance over their respective opponents, in girls’/boys’ finals. more..

Nov 4 (ST) SL’s sports medicine authority is still in a quandary with regard to measures aimed at regulating Performance Enhancing Drugs. According to Dr Seevali Jayawickreme, Consultant Physician of Sports and Exercise Medicine, the authorities still have not brought any proper measures to regulate the sale of performance enhancing drugs. It was said that, as a result, there is a high instance of young athletes being more..

Nov 4 (EN) It is official: Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull has had the tastiest breakfast during a brief stop-over in Sri Lanka on Thursday. The reference to a gourmet breakfast came in a Sinhalese-language statement issued by the office of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe who hosted the meal at his official Temple Trees residence in Colombo. "PM Wickremesinghe hosted breakfast for Prime Minister Turnbull who said it was the tastiest breakfast he has ever had," the statement said. more..

Nov 4 (FT) Humanitarian and relief agency World Vision Lanka launched its campaign – It takes a Nation to End Physical and Sexual Violence Against Children on its 40th anniversary celebrations in Colombo. The campaign has a specific focus on ending child sexual abuse and combating severe and humiliating punishment of children. Minister Chandrani Bandara was a special guest of honour, State Minister Eran Wickramaratne delivered the keynote address and more..

Nov 4 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena vested the new four-storied Aesthetic Education Unit building at  Dharmashoka Vidyalaya in Ambalangoda, with students yesterday. The building was built at a cost of Rs.40 million and the financial assistance was given by the Past Pupils Association of the school. The President who opened the new building by unveiling the plaque observed the new Unit. more..

Nov 4 (Island) Murtaza Tajbhoy, Chief Strategy Officer of Leo Burnett Sri Lanka was awarded the IAA Champion award. He is the first Sri Lankan to win this prestigious accolade. International Advertising Association (IAA) selected Murtaza as one of five global leaders in the marketing communications industry to receive this honour. Murtaza received the IAA Champion award recently at IAA's 2017 Global Conference held in Bucharest, Romania where more than 600 delegates more..

Nov 4 (FT) High Commission of Sri Lanka in London celebrated Deepavali on 20 Oct amidst a large gathering of the Sri Lankan community in the UK at the High Commission premises. Event commenced with blessings being invoked by Rev. Ramanada Kurukkal. Addressing the gathering, Rev. Kurukkal commenced the High Commissioner’s efforts in organising the event to celebrate this important Hindu cultural festival. Welcoming the guests, SL’s High Commissioner to the UK more..

Nov 4 (NR) Sri Lanka has been placed a lowly 109th in the latest Global Gender Gap Index on Gender Equality released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). WEF report places Sri Lanka 109th out of 144 countries globally. With an average remaining gender gap of 34%, South Asia is the second-lowest scoring region on this year’s index, ahead of the Middle East and North Africa and behind Sub-Saharan Africa. more..

Nov 4 (DM) Petroleum Ministry allayed fears of any petrol shortage, insisting that people should not panic unnecessarily as the CPC would be issuing 750 metric tonnes of petrol to filling stations from Saturday. 40,000 metric tonnes of petrol stocks were expected on Monday while stressing that the CPC also had sufficient petrol stocks reserved for use in case of an emergency. She said all measures would be taken to prevent any inconveniences caused to the people. more..

Nov 4 (DM) Supporters of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) yesterday staged a protest in the Kotagala town against changing the name of the Thondaman Vocational Training Centre and the playground in Hatton, which had been named after the late Minister Saumya Murthi Thondaman. Business establishments in the town put up shutters to show their support for the protest. The protesters marched from the Hatton-Kotagala-Nuwara-Eliya Pradheshiya Sabha office to Kotagala town. more..

Nov 4 (CT) Two officers attached to the STF camp in Jaffna were arrested by the CID yesterday in connection with the 22 Oct killing of a 24-year-old at Ariyalai. Suspects were identified as Sub Inspector Pradeep Nishantha and Constable Indika Pushpa Kumara. They were produced before the Jaffna Magistrate for an identification parade on the same day. 24-year-old Don Bosco Rikman, fisherman of Ariyalai East, more..

Nov 4 (DN) Former President’s Chief of Staff Gamini Sedara Senarath and two others have filed three Fundamental Rights petitions in the Supreme Court. They are seeking an order preventing the FCID from arresting them over a magisterial inquiries under the Public Property Act. They have been named as suspects in a case for allegedly misusing Rs.4 billion in govt funds by Colombo Fort Magistrate. Following a FCID request, Magistrate had also issued an order preventing them from leaving the country. more..

Nov 4 (NR) Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam says the country can eliminate racism and religious intolerance and move forward only through education. He said good education will lead to a healthy society. Minister said he gained much experience throughout these three years that he held office as the Minister of Education on the narrow mindedness of certain individuals. He said it was disappointing to see racist sentiments in certain people adding certain individuals more..

Nov 4 (CT) It has been revealed that the seemingly startling phone call records, recently publicised by Voice Against Corruption (VAC), had been submitted to the PCoI investigating into the issuance of Treasury bonds, several months ago. The supposed phone call records documenting conversations between the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL), officers of State banks, and CB's Public Debt Department & Tender Board, more..

Nov 4 (TS) The recent appointment of Robert Mugabe as the World Health Organization (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador sent shock waves across the globe. Zimbabwean dictator oppressed his people while dismantling his country’s health care system. The outrage was near universal. PM Justin Trudeau wondered if this was a bad April Fool’s joke. British called the appointment surprising and disappointing. Perhaps the only one surprised by the outcry was the embattled head of the WHO, more..

Nov 4 (Island) UPFA MP Geetha Kumarasinghe, who has been unseated by the Supreme Court on the grounds that she held dual citizenship at the time of being elected an MP said that an organised group was behind her ouster from Parliament. She said she wouldn’t be deterred by the loss of her seat and she would continue to support Mahinda Rajapaksa. Kumarasinghe said she had polled more than 65,000 votes from the Galle District, especially from the Benthara-Elpitiya electorate and more..

Nov 4 (DM) Long queues were reported outside filling stations in several areas both in Colombo and the outstations due to an apparent shortfall of stocks in filling stations run by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). CPC Trade Unions said that one shipment of 30,000 metric tonnes of petrol brought down by the Indian Oil Company (IOC) had been rejected due to an issue relating to its standard after some iron dust was found more..

Nov 4 (DM) The UNP has already finalised its nomination lists of candidates in view of the upcoming local authorities’ elections. Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that the party found enough and more people to contest at the election. “We have finalised our lists. They have been approved by the party headquarters as well,” he said. The elections will be conducted on a date towards the end of January. The Elections Commission will start accepting nominations from political parties more..

Nov 4 (Island) Certain influential sections in the govt are promoting the idea of appointing one of their own MPs as the Chairman of the COPE to replace its incumbent head JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti, according to reliable sources. They said as part of this political coup this group of govt MPs aiming for the ouster of the JVPer as Chairman of COPE were making moves to ask President Sirisena to prorogue parliament after the budget debate. And once the parliament was summoned more..

Nov 4 (DM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said the present education system needs to be revitalised. He pointed out that the present school system has lost its momentum to a certain degree where as a large number of tuition classes and international schools have taken over the education system. PM warranted innovative thinking as a part of the revitalisation process of education system. more..

Nov 4 (USDS) Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon will visit Bangladesh and SL, Nov 5–7. While in Dhaka, Nov 5–6, Under Secretary Shannon will co-lead US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue and discuss bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the Rohingya crisis, with govt and non-govt officials. Under Secretary Shannon will then travel to Colombo on Nov 6, where he will co-lead the US-SL Partnership Dialogue & meet with govt/non-govt officials. more..

Nov 4 (Reuters) Thousands of Sri Lankan motorists queued for fuel on Friday after the state-run fuel retailer limited supplies following a delay in a fuel shipment and a rejection of another shipment due to the wrong specification. Minister Rajitha Senarthne, said supplies would return to normal on Tuesday as a shipment ordered by state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is expected on Monday. “Supply has been limited because there is a delay in the shipment ordered by the CPC,” he said. more..

Nov 4 (Island) GMOA said the govt and education authorities would have to work according to a timeframe and, thereby, assure the protesting medical students that it was serious about carrying out its pledge to abolish SAITM.  GMOA Secretary Dr Haritha Aluthge said his union had met President Sirisena yesterday to discuss  last Sunday’s (29) govt declaration that SAITM would be abolished and a non-profit institution set up. more..

Nov 4 (DM) With war and violence, fraud and corruption, drug addiction and sex addiction and the latest vice of fake news—which was chosen by Collins dictionary as the word of 2017—the media spotlight is more on negative factors instead of the positives. Thus society to a large extent has become negative. Most people’s lives are clouded by despair and anxiety if not depression. Therefore it is an urgent and important mission for media to spotlight more positive news & in this perspective, more..

Nov 4 (DM) It is disheartening to note many people coming forward to defend NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa who threatened to bomb the Parliament if it adopted a Constitution based on the interim report of the Steering Committee appointed under the Constitutional Assembly that has been entrusted to draft a new Constitution.  The first person to defend Weerawansa was his deputy MP Jayantha Samaraweera who unlike Werawansa carefully used the words to say that bombs more..

Nov 4 (SL) A new legal and tax system is being drafted by the PM’s office for the Port City (Financial City) to be enacted once the project is completed. A new company will also be formed to manage the Port City once it is completed, along with  the Colombo Municipal Council while another company will be formed to provide utilities, like water and electricity. Port City will be formally declared as part of SL once reclamation work is completed, more..

Nov 4 (SL) There would be small changes to the number of provincial councils, according to the new electoral system. Accordingly the number of members in each Provincial Council (PC) will double. This will create another issue which is that there would not be sufficient space to accommodate all the members. The number of members at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) will increase from 53 to 110. more..

Nov 4 (ST) Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA) stressed that SL should remain a unitary State and there be no devolution of powers beyond the present devolution provided under the 13th Amendment. Views were expressed in setting out the MLA’s stance on the Interim Report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly. In an outline of its views on the interim report, MLA also notes SL should be a unitary State more..

Nov 4 (ST) Every one of us has a reason to prevent stroke. This, the theme of the World Stroke Day celebrated today (29), is the earnest plea of the Secretary of the National Stroke Association of Sri Lanka, Dr. Gamini Pathirana, who points the way how each and everyone could do this. To the query, Why, 1 in 6 will have a stroke or brain attackin his/her lifetime. Every 2 seconds someone is having a stroke somewhere in the world. more..

Nov 4 (DM) Popular Sinhala movie actress Geetha Kumarasinghe, who was elected MP from the Galle electoral District on the UPFA ticket in August 2015 has been unseated as an MP by rulings of the Judiciary. A 5-judge bench of SC had on Nov 2nd ruled unanimously that MP Geetha Kumarasinghe was not qualified to be elected as a MP since she was holding dual citizenship at the time of election. more..

Nov 4 (SLA) The first two Sri Lanka Army female Officers selected to serve in the Central African Republic as Military Observers (MILOBS) in UN Peace Keeping Mission in Central Africa (MINUSCA) called at the Army Headquarters this morning and received blessings of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake on the eve of their departure for Central African Republic. more..

Nov 4 (DM) No one spoke of forming an alliance with the SLFP to contest at the local Govt election as Minister Rajitha Senaratne only talked about trying to figure out a common list only in Beruwala UNP said. This sentiment was expressed by Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka and MP Ajith Mannaperuma. “Minister Senaratne only spoke about trying out a figure out a common list only in Beruwala and never spoke of forming more..

Nov 4 (DM) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga said at a recent function that a small group of extremist Buddhist monks, under the cover of their robes, were sowing discord, racism and religious fanaticism among the people. She expressed these views at an event held at the BMICH on Wednesday to award prizes to the winners of the All-Island School Art and Essay Competition organised by more..

Nov 4 (DN) Sri Lankan transport professionals are lobbying for rail transport priority, saying the govt was wasting tax payer money by building an expressway to the hill country Kandy city at high cost when upgrading rail links was more viable and cheaper. Rail travel from the capital Colombo was even now faster than travelling by the clogged artery to Kandy with traffic jams in both cities only set to increase as more vehicles more..

Nov 4 (DN) National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights seeks to include the Right to Life as a Fundamental Right (FR) in the Fundamental Rights Chapter of the new Constitution. Action Plan denotes that there needs to be a review and consideration of the the definition and scope of the right to life adopted in Int'l Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and European Convention on Human Rights. more..