Oct 11 (FT) Fear of repercussions led to some ministers, including himself, following a tight-mouthed policy during the Rajapaksa regime when many State assets were given without following procedures and led to building of an incomplete airport in Mattala, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. Revealing the dynamic which led the Govt to go in search for investors for Mattala Airport, he said: “In 2013 there were 574 workers at Mattala Airport & number of passengers was 1,451. more..

Oct 11 (Island) National Mobile Service Provider Mobitel, in collaboration with the University of Kelaniya and Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, is launching two interactive mobile apps for stoma care and breast cancer care. As the first phase, it will be these two cancer types with plans to expand further into different cancers according to the need. The necessary medical input, including the content and its accuracy, validity and terminology will be provided and more..

Oct 11 (DN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finland’s PM Juha Sipilä agreed that a concrete pilot project would be initiated in the field of wave energy in Sri Lanka. At a meeting held at the residence of the PM of Finland in Helsinki, PMs discussed about their common commitment to strengthening ties between the two countries in the field of energy with a forward looking and a business- minded approach. more..

Oct 11 (Island) The women participation in the workplace is painfully low in Sri Lanka. According to the ILO statistics (2015) while the employment rate of men in proportion to the population is 72.46%, it is only 32.46% for women, despite women constituting 52 % of Sri Lanka’s population. The archaic labour laws and employment practices, bureaucratic red tape and cultural norms hinder many skilled women becoming partners of the national economic growth. Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has more..

Oct 11 (DN) National Audit Bill has to go though more reforms before it is to be implemented, said Secretary of the UPFA, Duminda Dissanayake. General Secretary of the UNP, Minister Kabir Hashim said that the implementation of the Audit bill had delayed due to red tape while Propaganda Secretary JVP Vijitha Herath said that the Act has already being drafted and the two and half year delay was not acceptable. These sentiments came in to light at the Manthri.lk discussion event more..

Oct 11 (FT) Weekly Cabinet meeting held yesterday heated up as two ministers opposed the proposed Central Highway, with the President finally intervening to promise a separate discussion to decide the fate of the project. A Cabinet paper presented by Minister Lakshman Kiriella quickly led to an argument between three key ministers. Kiriella presented to Cabinet a proposal to pay a consultation fee more..

Oct 11 (DM) Unilever SL initiated a partnership with the Sri Lanka Federation of Tea Smallholders and Dialog Axiata PLC to support the over 400,000 smallholder tea farmers. This comes at a time when the nation is celebrating 150 years of Ceylon Tea. Often following a multi crop model on average land holdings of less than an acre, smallholder farmers account for over 70% of the tea leaves grown in the country. Unilever, the Federation and Dialog will be working together with the Govt and more..

Oct 11 (DN) Golden Crown Hotel Ltd, which is owned and operated by Serene Holdings, has invested Rs. 2.6 billion to build three additional hotels in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. Two of the hotels would be five star while the third would first City Hotel in Kandy. The family owned Hotel Company’s first five star hotel, Serene Golden Crown Hotel 2 km away from Kandy would open in the first week of November. Hotel has 90 Rooms including 72 Deluxe Rooms, 10 Junior Suites, 6 Premium Suites, more..

Oct 11 (FT) Proceedings at the PCoI heated up yesterday as former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran was cross-examined aggressively by the AG’s Department. Mahendran denied any knowledge of meetings said to have been called by former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake where the latter had allegedly instructed the chairmen of 3 state banks to bid at lower-than-market yield rates at Treasury bond auctions held in March 2016. more..

Oct 11 (CT) Minister Rishad Bathiudeen regrets that the Muslim Community in Sri Lanka had been neglected whenever they were in need of assistance. "Our so called Muslim Leaders remain silent instead of fighting for our rights. They speak up only when elections are around the corner," he said. Minister delivered a speech at the inauguration ceremony of a housing scheme in Pottuvil. Fifty houses with all amenities will be built with the assistance of the Dubai Charity Association more..

Oct 11 (FT) Jean-Marin Schuh, Ambassador of France, bestowed the honorary distinction of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour), upon Prof. Mohan Munasinghe at the French Ambassador’s residence. Légion d’Honneur is the first and highest national order and distinction of Frence, coming directly under the purview of President of France.  Prof. Munasinghe is a leading world authority on sustainable development, economics, energy & environment. more..

Oct 11 (FT) Building on a global upswing, the IMF yesterday gave Sri Lanka an optimistic growth projection of 4.7% in 2017 and 4.8% in 2018 despite the Central Bank adjusting growth to be below 4.5% this year on prolonged natural disasters and lagging reforms. The IMF’s flagship World Economic Outlook launched in Washington on Tuesday upgraded its global growth projections to 3.6% for this year and 3.7% for next year more..

Oct 11 (Island) Former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendra, testifying before the presidential commission of inquiry probing alleged bond scams, yesterday, said he could not speak for PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. He said so when Senior Additional Solicitor General (SASG) Dappula de Livera, PC asked him some questions, based on a statement the PM had made in Parliament on March 17, 2017. The SASG produced extracts of the PM’s speech while questioning Mahendran. more..

Oct 11 (WB) The World Bank today released the following statement concerning erroneous reporting in Sri Lanka: There are allegations in the media in Sri Lanka referring to the announcement on September 28 by the World Bank of the debarment of SMEC International Pty. Ltd., a subsidiary of SMEC Holdings Pty. Ltd., for 12 months. These allegations are not based on any statements from the World Bank and falsely use the World Bank’s name as a source for these allegations. more..

Oct 11 (CT) Former Governor of CB Arjuna Mahendran told the PCoI, that he took over the Central Bank, commenced Treasury Bonds auction and took various decisions regarding the EPF and other matters, according to instructions given to him by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, under whom the Central Bank was. Therefore, the former Governor said, the PM should be summoned and inquiries made from him. more..

Oct 11 (DM) It is thought that at least 10,000 living species are becoming extinct each year, and it may well be many more. There is a striking correlation between the rate at which the world’s human population is increasing and the rate at which other species are becoming extinct. Phenomena like climate change and pollution, both of which drive habitat loss, play their part. So too does the illegal wildlife trade and the trade in animal products. The illegal wildlife trade is more..

Oct 11 (DM) The 21st Congress of the Communist Party was held on Sept 29 at the Shalika Hall, Narahenpita. Former Minister and the General Secretary of Communist Party D.E.W. Gunasekera delivered the keynote address. Excerpts: The rise of the Asian economy after a period of 500 years was the central factor which brought about the decisive turn in the balance of world economic powers.   Its ability and potentiality to cope up with challenges posed by the 4th Industrial Revolution, more..

Oct 11 (ST) An identification parade will be conducted tomorrow at the Mt Lavinia Magistrate’s courts to identify the suspects involved in the intimidation of the Rohingya refugees — amid allegations about the rape of a refugee and inaction by some police officers. Six suspects have been taken into custody and remanded until tomorrow. The refugees were accommodated in a two-storey house and the owner had lodged more..

Oct 11 (DM) Will the mandate of the PCoI into the Alleged Central Bank Bond scam be allowed to lapse without key witnesses being called?  This is arguably one of the largest financial scams to have taken place in the post-independence history of Sri Lanka. For sheer impunity and involvement of powerful politicians in collusion with a section of the corporate sector and regulatory authorities it is hard to beat. more..

Oct 11 (DM) “My question to all people’s representatives in the legislature and key public officials is this. Was the legislation, referred to by the former Minister, brought to Parliament? Was it passed? If not what statutory measures exist through either the existing codes or specific statutes-, which will act as a deterrent to the type of actions and resultant risks to the country? In lighter vein, the money wasted on this project could have funded more..

Oct 11 (SL) The housing problems of the displaced are yet to be resolved and some of these displaced persons are still either in temporary shelters or live as IDPs. Hence the govt is currently in the process of once again addressing their housing concerns are planning on constructing another 50,000 houses for them. This endeavour will be carried out under the purview of PM and tenders have already been called for the construction more..

Oct 11 (DM) Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT|CC) said it had received several complaints from mobile phone users claiming that their phone numbers had used to create fake smartphone messaging applications. CERT|CC Chief Engineer Roshan Chandragupta said mobile users have received calls from people requesting to send them verification codes for applications such as Viber, WhatsApp & imo. more..

Oct 11 (AD) Minister Malik Samarawickrama says that Perpetual Treasuries, the controversial primary dealer at the centre of the Central Bank bond scam, or its members did not fund the UNP. The Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, who is also the current UNP Chairman, made this statement while testifying before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating treasury bond issuance. more..

Oct 11 (DM) References have also been made to Sri Lanka in foreign media reports on the massive corruption scandal rocking the world’s second largest aircraft manufacturer, Airbus. Spiegel Online, one of the most widely read English language news websites in Germany, says suspicious cases have begun popping up around the world, including in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China, Tunisia, Kazakhstan and Mali. more..

Oct 11 (DM) Additional Solicitor General Dappula De Livera yesterday pointing out that the two events where Minister Ravi Karunanayake held the state banks meeting asking them to bid at a lower rate and the Minister’s family coming to reside at a Penthouse apartment, had happened in the same month, suggested that Arjun Aloysius had fixed the March 29 & 31 auctions with the assistance of former Finance Minister. more..

Oct 11 (DM) The joint opposition said today it would inform the World Bank (WB), the IMF and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) next week about funds amounting to Rs.792 billion remaining unused from the 2016 Budgetary allocations. JO MP Bandula Gunawardena said Rs.3,898 billion was allocated through the 2016 Appropriation Bill, but only Rs.3106 billion had been spent during that year. more..

Oct 11 (LBO) Cabinet has approved the highly anticipated national audit bill on Tuesday after receiving the go ahead from cabinet sub committee. Committee inquired into the amendments of the bill headed by Minister Sarath Amunugama presented the final draft bill to the cabinet for approval last week. Introduction of the new bill was one of the election promises made by the govt to crackdown the corruption in the state sector. more..

Oct 11 (CT) US Rear Admiral Don Gabrielson, Commander Logistics Group Western Pacific and Task Force 73, who is now in SL for the Galle Dialogue, said that Sri Lanka should be thoughtful when making deals with China because it tends not to be always transparent in its intentions. Gabrielson added that Sri Lanka must be thoughtful in making new deals with China and take a serious look at where projects like One Belt One Road (OBOR) are going & who will benefit from such a project. more..

Oct 11 (FT) Very recently, my Ministry successfully passed an amendment to the Provincial Councils Election Act. Ever since then, reasonable concerns were raised in respect of the manner in which it was passed. I believe some of these concerns ought to be dispelled before the positive nature of the amendment falls into question. It is first and foremost important to note the crucial changes to the Act. Firstly, there shall be a quota allocating a guaranteed 25% of the seats to women more..

Oct 11 (DM) Cabinet meeting held yesterday became very tense owing to a clash that erupted between Ministers Lakshman Kiriella and Dayasiri Jayasekera. Sources revealed that an argument arose between these two ministers on the construction of the section from Pothuhera to Kandy of Central Expressway led to this tense situation. Minister Jayasekera had pointed out to Minister Kiriella to refrain from obtaining a loan at a very high interest for the construction of this section more..

Oct 11 (EN) In parallel to the worldwide release of the annual Economic Freedom of the world Report by Canada's Fraser Institute, Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based think tank said it is kicking off a forum in a bid to boost economic freedom in Sri Lanka. Advocata is partnering with Canada's Fraser Institute, the publishers of the Economic Freedom of the World Report, and Atlas network, an international network of free-market think tanks. Roundtable discussions to bring together more..

Oct 11 (AD) Ministry of Public Enterprise Development has directed Chairman of SL Insurance Corporation to remove Mr Shalila Moonesinghe from the post of Chairman of Litro Gas Lanka Limited. Statement issued by the ministry today said that Secretary of the Public Enterprise Development Ministry, Mr Ravindra Hewavitharana, has directed Insurance Corporation chairman Hemaka Amarasuriya to immediately remove more..

Oct 11 (DM) While condemning yesterday’s police attack on anti-SAITM protesters, SAITM Virodhi Jana Pawura member Mahinda Jayasinghe said that they would complain to the SL Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) about the alleged violation of International Mob Control Laws. He said the attack was one of the most shameful seen in recent history and therefore would seek legal assistance over the violent behavior of the police. Responding to the allegations, Police Spokesman told more..

Oct 11 (Island) Chairman of SL Podu Jana Peramuna and former UPFA Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said that instead of arresting the ASP who had slapped the journalist while performing his legitimate duty, the National Police Commission was awaiting a report from the IGP on the incident, which was hilarious. Prof. Pieris asked, if the National Police Commission was independent why it would want a report from the IGP to an incident to which the whole country was a witness and added that more..

Oct 11 (DM) Govts are not bound by the advice or recommendations of UN Special Rapporteurs, but can avail of the expert knowledge and experience of Special Rapporteurs who are available to Govts as a resource, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. Issuing a statement, the Ministry said some media reports connected to the visit of UN Expert on Transitional Justice Pablo de Greiff, had given erroneous and more..

Oct 11 (DN) The case against six members of SL Tawheed Jamath (SLTJ) for allegedly making derogatory remarks on the Buddha and hurting the sentiments of the Sinhala-Buddhist community in the country has been referred to the Attorney General for his advice. Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) conducting investigation into the incident informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara that the extracts of the investigations have been forwarded to the Attorney General. more..

Oct 11 (AD) SLBC Chairman Sudarshana Gunawardena has been appointed as the Acting Director General of govt Information department today. Appointment was made following the vacancy which prevailed in the position after the resignation of Dr Ranga Kalansooriya, from his position as the Director General on Sept 29. Sudarshana Gunawardena was appointed as the Chairman of SLBC earlier June, this year. He is a lawyer by profession and was appointed as an advisor more..

Oct 11 (NK) In part due to the DPRK’s continued missile and nuclear tests, several govts have recently expelled North Korean ambassadors and diplomats from their countries. This is not a new phenomenon. North Korean diplomats have a long history of being thrown out of their host countries, with one of the most egregious examples of DPRK diplomacy taking place on the small South Asian island nation more..

Oct 11 (LBO) Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is finalising plans to launch a dollar trading board, part of a broader strategy to develop Sri Lanka’s bourse into a regional capital markets centre and boost the inflow of foreign funds, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) said. In mid-July Ray Abeywardena, chairman of the CSE, announced that the exchange had received regulatory approval to launch a dollar trading board for foreign investors by the end of the year. more..