Oct 10 (CI) Like waves breaking upon a cliff, Sri Lanka's bowlers kept coming at Pakistan, until eventually, the hosts cracked and splintered. So tantalisingly had the match been poised overnight, perhaps the ending was even a little anticlimactic. Sri Lanka's margin of victory was 68 runs - a comfortable win by most standards. Though Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq had begun confidently, visitors needed only 5.5 overs more..

Oct 10 (Island) Former General Secretary of UNP Tissa Attanayake has said in Kandy that the govt should hold elections to test its popularity. Addressing the media in Kandy after calling on the Mahanayake Theras of Malwatte and Asgiriya on Sunday, Attanayake said there was a demand for elections and polls must be held. Attanayake said those in power at present had accused the previous rulers of bribery, corruption and other forms of malpractices and illegal more..

Oct 10 (NR) Venerable Akmeemana Dayarathana thera arrested and remanded for behaving in an unruly manner during the recent protest against Rohingya refugees who arrived from Myanmar has been released on bail. The thera was released on three surety bails of 500,000 rupees each. The case against Thera will be taken up for hearing once again on the 16th of Oct. Colombo Crimes Division arrested Dayarathana thera after the thera arrived at the CCD to record a statement more..

Oct 10 (GN) Sir Richard Hadlee, first Test cricketer to achieve 400 Test wickets, has advised the veteran SL bowler Rangana Herath to continue playing as along as he enjoys the game. Herath became the latest bowler to reach the 400 wickets mark at the age of 39 years in the first Test against Pakistan last week. Incidentally, Herath has broken the record of New Zealand all-rounder Hadlee, who was only marginally younger when more..

Oct 10 (DM) UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila invited MP Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne for an open debate in order to clarify some contradictions emerged in the interim report to the proposed New Constitution. He stressed that one of the leading members of the Constitutional Steering Committee, Dr. Wickramaratne had misinterpreted the word Unitary. “According to Dr. Wickramaratne the word Unitary means one govt but it really conveys not one govt but one nation. more..

Oct 10 (AD) A visiting top official from World Trade Organization (WTO) said that no less than two thirds of annual imports to SL will enter the country duty free when the FTAs with China and Singapore are wrapped up. “At present over half of SL’s imports at 51% are from MFN sources at zero import duty. Assuming both China and Singapore FTAs are successfully formulated, and with zero duty rates, the total volume of duty free imports to SL will be 75% of the country’s annual imports,” more..

Oct 10 (Roar) Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, is coming back to Sri Lanka. Seedstars is back in Colombo, and it has opened the doors for startups in Sri Lanka to apply for the chance to receive $1 million in equity investment. The event will see the eight best startups make a five minute pitch on the day of the event, with the winning startup more..

Oct 10 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena today met the student B.D. Dulanjali Premarathna of Pahala Diggala Primary School belonging to the Galewala Education Zone, who became the first ever student succeeds in Grade 5 Scholarship Examination from that school. She met the President at the Presidential Secreatriat, today. President praised the educational talents of Dulanjali Premarathna who gained 168 marks, passing the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination 2017, more..

Oct 10 (EN) Relief has been sought in Sri Lanka's highest court against at attempt by the Department of Registration of Persons to build a central database with comprehensive data, profiling every citizen, containing entire family trees and giving virtually unrestricted access to any information concerning any citizen recorded with any public authority. The petitioner said the regulations were unreasonable, capricious arbitrary and breached the reasonableness, more..

Oct 10 (CT) Sri Lanka's complexed political environment could delay important reform implementation in competitiveness and governance, the World Bank (WB) in a report released on Sunday warned. Nonetheless, the island's fiscal deficit is expected to fall by 0.2 percentage points to 5.2% of GDP this year (2017), from 5.4% of GDP experienced last year, supported by the implementation of revenue measures, more..

Oct 10 (CB) SL's 2-0 Test series victory against Pakistan has helped them move up in the ICC Test rankings by one spot. They now occupy the sixth position with 94 points, gaining four points as a result of their two victorious outings in UAE. The Dinesh Chandimal-led side now trail Australia, ranked fifth in the Test rankings for teams, by three points. Australia and fourth-placed New Zealand both have 97 points each with New Zealand edging ahead on decimal calculation. more..

Oct 10 (NR) FCID has informed Court that a special inquiry has been launched into charges against State Minister TB Ekanayake pertaining to the misuse of state vehicles. FCID produced facts before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Bandara this afternoon. State Minister TB Ekanayake previously held the post of Minister of Cultural Affairs during the term of the UPFA led govt. FCID informed Court that a complaint had been lodged against State Minister for misusing a vehicle more..

Oct 10 (AD) Police officers used tear gas to disperse university students protesting against SAITM at Kollupitiya Junction. Riot police resorted to using tear gas as the protesters hindered traffic movement and also attempted to pass through barricades blocking the road towards Galle Face Roundabout which was closed due to the protest. Trident unions including the IUSF and IUBF staged the protest in Colombo demanding that more..

Oct 10 (DM) Parliament will spend nearly Rs.2.9 billion in 2018 when compared to Rs.2.05 billion allocated for this year, according to the Appropriation Bill presented in the House on Monday. Bill states that Parliament is one spending unit for which the capital expenditure allocation has been increased. As such Parliament is expected to spend Rs.646.6 million in 2018 as capital expenditure compared to Rs.130.8 million allocated for this year. more..

Oct 10 (AD) The first flag of the Flag’s Sales Week, organized to mark International White Cane Day was pinned to President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, today. President of Sri Lanka Council of Visually Handicapped Graduates, Mr. Sarath Madugaswaththa pinned the first flag on President Sirisena and the President, marking the White Cane Day, presented a white cane. At this event, it was discussed in detail regarding the issues faced by them more..

Oct 10 (AFP) SL skipper Dinesh Chandimal praised the fighting spirit and ability to learn from mistakes which lifted his players to a series whitewash over Pakistan in Dubai on Tuesday. Barely two months ago the Sri Lankan team was routed 3-0 at home by world No 1 Test team India, but Chandimal said his players and management switched gears both on and off the field. We are over the moon, said Chandimal, more..

Oct 10 (AD) The Vice President of the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi, has stated that he felt bad when he saw the body of slain LTTE leader V Prabhakaran, who ordered the assassination of his father – former PM of India Rajiv Gandhi. He said his family has Mahatma Gandhi’s values and he felt bad when he saw the body of his father Rajiv Gandhi’s assailant. “My family has Gandhi Ji’s values. I felt bad when I saw the body of my father’s killer Prabhakaran. more..

Oct 10 (CI) Coming off a 3-0 whitewash at home against India, SL sealed a sensational 2-0 victory against Pakistan in the UAE. Not involving series' against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, this is only the third time SL have won two Tests in a series away from home. All those series wins have come against Pakistan. They had won 2-1 in 1995-1996 and 1999-2000. The series win in UAE is SL's fifth away from home, out of 42 series' of two or more Tests (excluding Bangladesh & Zimbabwe). more..

Oct 10 (DM) MPs Namal Rajapaksa, D.V. Chanaka, Prassanna Ranaweera and three others were arrested by the Hambantota police in connection with the recent protest in Hambantota. They were summoned by the Hambantota police to record a statement in connection with the incident this afternoon. Provincial Councillors Upali Kodikara, Sampath Athukorala & Ajith Prasanna were among those arrested. more..

Oct 11 (DN) The genres denoted as profiles, memoirs, pen-portraits, character sketches, biographies and autobiographies have played a vital role in the moulding of a creative living tradition of writing in the world. The world of letters where the truth is stranger than fiction is by and large centres round a person worthy of honour transpiring a serene sense of persuasion and mindfulness as an exemplary living entity. When one person, as a scribe, presents the living experience of more..

Oct 11 (DN) We are indebted to Robert Knox for recording his observations of 17 Century Sri Lanka, the land in which he spent nearly 20 years as a willy-nilly guest of the Kandyan king. By the time Knox marooned himself here, the island had been exposed to European influences in various forms, mainly of the seafaring Portuguese and Dutch, for more than two centuries. (In comparison, we have been independent for 70 years now). The first European to have put on paper, more..

Oct 11 (SO) Jan 13, 2017 was the beginning of the first Cloud Smart Classroom in SL when CEO at Codegen, Dr Harsha Subasinghe together with Deputy Minister Dr Harsha de Silva launched this interesting initiative at the Sri J'pura Maha Vidyalaya, Kotte. Backed by the Education Ministry, Smart Classroom was set up with Codegen assuming the role of technology solution provider for both software and hardware. more..

Oct 11 (CT) While I thank Mr. Rusiripala Tennakoon for raising 17 questions with regard to the tender procedure on Central Expressway (Colombo Telegraph – Sept 28), I must correct him on factual issues.  Question 1: Is it true that the tenders have to be called only from the Japanese Contractors instead of calling public tenders, as the Japanese Govt gives assistance? Answer: When we obtain loans from the banks operated in foreign countries usually there is a condition that more..

Oct 11 (Island) Since breaking the yoke of colonialism, Sri Lanka has shown an undue interest in playing around with constitutions. With the exception of the 16 May 1972 constitution that officially proclaimed independence as a republic, such manoeuvres have been motivated by cynical political objectives portrayed as burning national need. It is widely agreed that the objective of the much despised 1978 edition was to help the personal need of J. R. Jayewardene to more..

Oct 11 (CT) China should be more transparent with its intentions and countries like Sri Lanka must be cautious when coming into agreements like One Belt One Road initiative, US Rear Admiral Don Gabrielson, Commander Logistics Group Western Pacific and Task Force 73, who is in Sri Lanka for the Galle Dialogue, said. Q: You are in Sri Lanka to take part in Galle Dialogue: International Maritime Conference. more..

Oct 11 (CT) Amongst the more endearing explanations offered by Ranil's friends for his involvement in the Bond Scam is that he was taken for a ride. The response then to the question why he defended Mahendran so vociferously is that Mahendran also was taken for a ride. Then the answer to the question why Mahendran went down to bully the Public Debt Department was that he was following instructions. I presume the same answer would have been given to the question why more..

Oct 11 (CT) There is a need to get all private buses under one controlling body, like the SL Transport Board (SLTB), to ensure a quality service and address a number of issues faced by private bus operators, president of Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijeratne has said, as reported. "Currently the National Transport Commission gives route permits for the long distance buses; meanwhile, Provincial Councils give permits for the buses that ply shorter routes. more..

Oct 11 (CT) A couple of weeks ago, the PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe, tabled in the Parliament the recommendations of the steering committee on constitutional reforms. Prior to that six committee reports were tabled. It is good that all these documents in all three languages are now available in the web so that people who are interested in the subject can consult them. This article by any means does aim at a comprehensive analysis of these reports although such an effort would be more..

Oct 11 (CI) The UAE had been Pakistan's desert oasis, their home away from home, since well before it was forced to become their actual home. It had begun to feel that way since one April evening in Sharjah - when Javed Miandad's last-ball six secured their most famous win against India - and continued right through the next two decades. Their win percentage in the UAE, until the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore meant it became their long-term home, was 68.3% more..

Oct 11 (CT) Former Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva has grown more and more politically inclined over the years, but his take on the PC Elections (Amendment) Act raises a little more than a few eyebrows. While the enactment itself is largely positive, the manner in which the Bill was passed has definitely shocked many people including those who endorsed the contents of the enactment. more..

Oct 11 (ST) Are stiff barriers breaking down in West Asia, the land of El Dorado for many men and women from Sri Lankan rural communities? Most civil society activists engaged in working for the rights of migrant workers are likely to disagree. However, there seem to be positive moves in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other West Asian nations towards providing a more decent and safer work environment for migrant workers, especially women engaged in domestic work. more..

Oct 11 (Island) Time was when this country was known the world over as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean and the Granary of the East. No longer are such monikers used. Today, it has earned notoriety as a rogues’ paradise. Many thought the 2015 regime change would pave the way for a meritocracy. How mistaken they were! What we see at present is a mere extension of the same rotten kleptocracy which people were fed up with. The yahapalana grandees have apparently more..

Oct 11 (CI) Dinesh Chandimal officially stepped into the captaincy about 48 hours before the beginning of a Test, and his team very nearly lost it, against Zimbabwe. Then, as he was preparing for the biggest home series this year, against India, Chandimal contracted pneumonia, and was out for the first Test. Nominally, he was the captain, of course. He turned up to the press conferences, strode out to the toss, and made all the usual more..

Oct 11 (CT) Commonwealth Games Federation confirmed that the Games Queen baton will arrive in Sri Lanka on 12 Oct and a three day ceremony will be held hosted by the Commonwealth Association of SL. This was officially revealed at Commonwealth Games Federation executive meeting held in Colombo. President of the SL Commonwealth Games Association, Hemasiri Fernando, said: "Our city, country and region will proudly provide the backdrop for the latest gathering more..

Oct 11 (CT) Sri Lanka Rugby will honour former greats and life members on Sunday 15 October at the Asia Rugby 7's Championship finals to be held at the Race Course Stadium. Special awards will be presented - and posthumously - to some outstanding personalities who contributed immensely to the game and country. A host of International dignitaries will join the President and Executive Committee in honouring these outstanding gentlemen. Japan Rugby Union Chairman Sakamoto, more..

Oct 11 (FT) In a major boost to streamline trade, SL Customs will allow custom clearances to go paperless from next year, with the implementation of a digital signature, single window and trade information portal. SL Customs Additional Director General S. Rajendran insisted that the department has embarked on several major trade reforms to fast-track trading in the country. He pointed that of the 36 measures 11 have more..

Oct 11 (CT) The SL hockey team who were set to participate in the forthcoming Asian Hockey Championship to be held from 25 Nov – 3 Dec 2017 at Yangon, Myanmar, has not been approved by Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. The same team members, including coaches and managers, have been participating in international tournaments since 2015. In 2015 there was an election to elect new office bearers and out of the two parties contesting one party was rejected by the minister: more..

Oct 11 (FT) According to statistics at the Mental Health Unit of Health Ministry, one in five public sector employees suffers from stress, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said. He said the number of those who receive treatment for mental illness has also increased. He said the mental stress and mental disorders among workers have increased due to the busy and competitive lifestyle and the problems at workplace and at home also contributed to the situation. more..

Oct 11 (SLA) Sri Lanka Army, the saviour of the Nation, and now, the most-sought service provider at all levels, commemorated its 68th Anniversary and the Army Day Tuesday morning during a fitting colourful parade at Panagoda Army Cantonment grounds. Tuesday’s ceremony is the climax of a series of commemorative anniversary ceremonies that got underway beginning the final week of September. more..