Oct 15 (Island) Bruised and battered repeatedly in 2017, there was a sigh of relief in the faces of SL cricketers earlier this week as they completed a historic series-win here in UAE. Watching Sri Lankan cricket has been never so painful as the team hit new lows this year having been whitewashed by India and South Africa and then losing to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Beating Pakistan has been a tedious task. They had not lost a home series in the last ten years and more..

Oct 15 (ST) Mutual respect, confidence and continuity are the key words of former SL fast bowler Graeme Labrooy who has taken upon the unlikely challenge of Chief Selector of SLC, at a time when national cricket is going through turbulent times. He said he had declined this challenge on four previous occasions, but is more than happy to accept the challenge now. He explains how he also manages to keep his more..

Oct 15 (CT) A head coach for the Sri Lankan National team will be selected by December, a highly placed source at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) told Ceylon Today. Currently South African Nic Pothas is acting as the interim head coach of the team. However SLC is in discussion with three potential head coaches and the final decision will be made by the end of this year. He added that the highest echelons of the SLC are interested in former Sri Lankan Cricketer Chandika Hathurusingha, more..

Oct 15 (ST) It was a routine exhibition of art by children for a competition organized by the Funday Times newspaper at a Colombo venue. Nothing fancy, the usual stuff. Visiting an exhibition of this nature after many years and walking around, however, I was intrigued by the expressions of what children brought out in their paintings under the theme Our world in colour. It was an expression of fun, frolic, laughter, joy, excitement, warmth, animals and play. more..

Oct 15 (ST) Sri Lanka is to change its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy moving away from an over-dependence on tax holidays and other duty concessions on imports of raw material and machinery, Finance Ministry sources disclosed. A greater focus will be on maximising the country’s competitive advantages in location, skills base, and ongoing preparation work of free trade agreements with both developed and emerging markets. more..

Oct 15 (ST) Maris Stella College Negombo and A. Rathnayake MMV were in the lead in boys’ and girls’ category respectively at the end of day four of the All Island School Games Athletics Championships at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex in Diyagama yesterday. Maris Stella College Negombo were in the lead with 81 points. St. Benedict’s College Kotahena (75 points) and A. Ratnayake MMV Walalla (68 points) in the boys senior championships. more..

Oct 15 (ST) Rising indebtedness in Sri Lanka’s former-war wrecked northern region has been caused by unscrupulous micro finance companies, some charging penal interest rates as high as 300 per cent, as poverty-stricken residents struggle to pay off loans. While one woman, unable to repay the loan and accumulated high interest, committed suicide in Vavuniya, others are suicidal and families have broken up from the social unrest arising out of the inability to repay loans. more..

Oct 15 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena addressing the National Tamil Language Day ceremony held at Jaffna Hindu College, today (14) said that the language should be used as a bridge which link the people, but not as a tool to divide the people. Even though some people are of the view that language should be used to make division among the people, as true human beings who value the humanity, must respect all the languages more..

Oct 15 (Island) Chairman of a foreign-based company in the renewable energy business here has slammed Sri Lanka’s inconsistent policies for hydro and solar power and said they are "compelled to divert our investments into countries such as Australia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and other developing countries which promote green energy initiatives through govt policies." Writing in the annual report of Lotus Hydro Power (formerly Browns Hydro Power) for 2016/2017, more..

Oct 15 (ST) SriLankan Airlines said its recent Partner Flies Free promotion to celebrate its 38th anniversary was successful with 1,000 tickets being given away free.The airline said its targets were achieved and its customers enjoyed the benefits of free tickets to 14 cities in completion run in partnership with the Visa card. The tickets were offered to flights from Colombo to Melbourne, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Gan Island, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, more..

Oct 15 (BN) Central bank doesn’t see any pressure to tighten policy even as inflation accelerates on the back of a severe drought and poor weather, Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said in an interview. “We feel our monetary policy stance at the moment is OK,” Coomaraswamy said in Washington. “There is no demand side pressure that we see.” Central bank on Sept. 26 kept interest rates unchanged more..

Oct 15 (CT) Following a request made by Gateway College to assist the students to overcome time loss due to traffic congestion down Parliament Road, Planning & Business Development Division of the SL Land Reclamation & Development Corporation (SLLRDC) with the assistance of SL Navy has initiated a ferry service from Diyatha Uyana to the school in Rajagiriya. SLLRDC and the SL Navy, will manage and operate the boat service for a fee that can either be paid termly or monthly. more..

Oct 15 (CI) West Indies' spinners, led by legspinner Afy Fletcher, sparkled again to skittle Sri Lanka for 162 and set up a series-clinching seven-wicket victory at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba. Fletcher, Anisa Mohammed, and Stafanie Taylor claimed combined figures of 29-3-71-7 to slice through Sri Lanka's batting line-up, after which West Indies chased down the target in 39.4 overs. Sri Lanka had collapsed from 63 for 1 to 136 all out in the series opener. more..

Oct 15 (EN) SL is mulling alternatives to scaling back military business, amid warnings that milibiz not only stifles private entrepreneurs but that it has been a slippery slope to authoritarianism in other countries. Sri Lanka's military runs an airline, restaurants, and even a whale watching ship, following the expansion of armed forces into civilian space during the last administration. more..

Oct 15 (ST) The govt is looking at increasing productivity on the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) by encouraging re-planting and soil conservation while linking this to the revenue sharing model will make them greener. “We are trying to develop some productivity improvements like encouraging re-planting and soil conservation,” Plantations Ministry Secretary J.A. Ranjith said. He noted that they want to focus on these because the state cannot increase the extent of land but more..

Oct 15 (CT) President Sirisena will be the first high profile dignitary to visit Jaffna Hindu College after late Indian President and renowned nuclear scientist Abdul Kalam visited the prestigious educational institution in January 2012. Jaffna Hindu College, Alma Mater of two Chief Justices the late Justice S.Sharvananda and of Justice K.Sripavan, the school will be the venue for the National Tamil Day festival to be held today (14) with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena. more..

Oct 15 (CT) "If you stage protests against me and I am weakened, the devil will get an opportunity," President Maithripala Sirisena told a gathering in Jaffna. The cryptic unscripted comment, which led to speculation as to who he referred to as the devil, was made by the President when he addressed the National Tamil Language celebrations held at the Jaffna Hindu College yesterday. Jaffna was in lockdown on Friday, more..

Oct 15 (AT) Sri Lanka under the unity govt headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe is poised to leapfrog the economy after long years of conflict and political instability. The Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangla Samaraweera told the Vice President of the World Bank Ms. Annette Dixon, when he met the latter in Washington on the sideline to the WB/IMF annual conference currently held in Washington. WB Vice President Ms. Annette Dixon more..

Oct 15 (SO) Sri Lanka will be able to fast track trade transactions with the introduction of e-signatures which will be known as digital signatures. “We are in the process of obtaining the approval for the digital signature from the Attorney General. When the regulations are ready we will immediately launch the paperless process for the 47 companies that are listed as green channel companies,” a senior Custom official said. The digital signature will enable trade to take place much more effectively more..

Oct 15 (ST) A team from Taiwan’s Criminal Investigations Bureau arrived in Colombo this week as part of a probe into an international multi-million US dollar hacking scam of a Taipei-based bank where two businessmen with foreign passports have been taken into custody in Colombo. Litro Gas Chairman Shahlila Moonesinghe, a British passport holder of Sri Lankan descent, and J.C. Nammuni, a businessman who owns a metal quarry more..

Oct 15 (TOI) Recalling Indian Army's immense contribution towards annhilation of the LTTE in Sri Lanka in early 90s, a senior army officer from Sri Lanka said on Friday that India had extended military and diplomatic support to fight the deadliest terrorist organisation at that time. Brigadier AP Pallawela was speaking at the opening ceremony of the fifth edition of joint military exercise Mitra Shakti here at the Aundh Military station. He said, India, being a regional and a world power more..

Oct 15 (CT) Northern Province Governor Reginold Cooray told students and visitors gathered at the National Tamil Day celebration held at Hindu College that if there did not exist something called language then there would be no mention of culture or history. Speaking for about seven minutes in Tamil he conveyed his message while struggling to pronounce some words. He noted language is the identity of the ethnicity and that has to be protected and cared for at all cost. more..

Oct 15 (ST) President Maithripala Sirisena threw the gauntlet at his detractors in the SLFP just weeks ahead of elections to local govt institutions. The politically significant move, where he replaced senior, long-standing feuding SLFPers as electoral organisers, laid to rest any immediate rapprochement with the dissident group supporting former President Rajapaksa. As SLFP leader, he will now field the highest number of candidates more..

Oct 15 (Island) Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of the first ceremonial sitting of Sri Lanka’s first parliament on 14 Oct 1947. The govt has had its official celebration in parliament; editorials and commentaries have been written to mark the occasion. What was said in parliament differed from what has been written outside in their commemorative assessments. The speeches in parliament effused satisfaction about SL’s parliamentary glass being more than half-full more..

Oct 15 (Island) Interim Report of the Steering Committee (IRSC) offers a selection of options on some Articles of the Constitution and provides a view of plausible future directions that SL constitution drafters hope to take. This article is an attempt to analyze a few of the key contents of the Report for purposes of enhancing public discussion. English language version of the IRSC surprisingly uses aekiya rajya/ orumiththa nadu to describe the nature of the State of Sri Lanka more..

Oct 15 (Island) Turn on the news programme on television. There is a burly ASP delivering a blow with full force on the right ear of a skimpy young man. Doctors have diagnosed severe damage to his inner ear. A week earlier there was an attack by a group of people on a small group seeking refuge from mayhem in Myanmar, no matter what religion they professed, who had done us no wrong but accidentally sought temporary more..

Oct 15 (ST) It’s the case of a state enterprise losing more money under closure than when it is operational. The Cabinet decided only months earlier to shut down Mihin Lanka – which has been swallowing up public funds since it was set up on October 27, 2006 by the previous Rajapaksa administration. Just this month, however, the Cabinet decided to recommend that the two state owned banks – the Bank of Ceylon and more..

Oct 15 (NS) Expounding upon the maxim, justice delayed is justice denied, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the US, Warren Earl Burger outlined that if the people came to believe that inefficiency and delay would drain even a just judgment of its value, that courts could not vindicate their legal rights when they became victims of injustice and that the law could not fulfill its primary function of protecting more..

Oct 15 (CT) SL is a small island where many minority communities live contributing to its cultural and ethnic diversity. The gypsies or the nomadic community is a minority ethnic group that enriches the cultural diversity of SL. As the term suggests, gypsies live a nomadic lifestyle moving from one place to another to engage in their livelihood. Locally, they are known as Ahikuntika, Kuthadi, Kuravaor Nayi Panikkiya. more..

Oct 15 (ST) Off the road from Jaffna to Karainagar, in the sleepy village of Moolai, stands a distinctive cream-coloured edifice that the World Health Organisation says is the first non-profit co-operative hospital in all of Southeast Asia. In its heyday, the Co-operative Hospital Moolai was bustling. Today, it is far quieter. With many patients choosing to go to the Karainagar Divisional Hospital across the causeway, this institution now more..

Oct 15 (SO) All residents of the Ethul Kotte Angampitiya New Housing Complex have been evacuated to temporary shelters pending a full report by NBRO regarding the condition and stability of the houses. According to Kotte Municipal Commissioner Vasantha Ratnapala, 12 families have been relocated to the Angampitiya Medical Health Clinic while the remaining 12 families are being housed at Mahindarama gym. more..

Oct 15 (Island) After the Brexit vote, there are fears that the National Health Service (NHS) in Britain could suffer a shortage of nurses of up to 42,000 by 2026. NHS has now turned to Asian countries to fill the nursing vacancies created by the European Union nurses, who cannot be recruited to work in Britain after 2019. Nurses from India, Nepal and the Philippines have already started seeking nursing jobs in the UK. more..

Oct 15 (Island) A move to procure another consignment of 2,500 vials of the controversial Russian-made oncology (cancer) drug Trastuzumab (Herticad) at a staggering cost of over Rs. 360 million, despite a competitor offering a more competitive price for a time-tested, FDA (Food & Drug Administration of USA) approved product, has triggered shock waves through medical circles. Despite the SL College of Oncologists more..

Oct 15 (ST) The TNA yesterday boycotted a state festival presided over by President Maithripala Sirisena in Jaffna in protest over the failure to resolve an going issue over Tamil prisoners in custody. The boycott came after Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan wrote to President Sirisena on Thursday seeking the release of prisoners held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. President was in the North to take part in more..

Oct 15 (CT) President Sirisena took his security detail by surprise after he threw caution to the wind and abruptly alighted from his official vehicle to confront a group of protesters in Jaffna yesterday. President was in Jaffna to inaugurate National Tamil Language Day celebrations at Jaffna Hindu College when the incident took place. According to eyewitnesses Prez had calmly walked up to the black flag waving protesters more..

Oct 16 (CT) The new Constitution, currently being considered, is accused by many of being a project of Tamil separatists. It is not true. It is the project of regime destabilizers. They have done it elsewhere in the world and Sri Lanka's past or present experiences are certainly not unique. Initially Project Destabilizing Sri Lanka was India's, but with time neo-colonialists of the West, Tamil diaspora and various vested interest NGOs came to be driving partners as well. more..

Oct 16 (Island) It is curious how obsessed the political class is today on how best to handle the long standing Ceylon Tamil issue. The facts indicate that the Ceylon Tamil population, currently a tad over 11% of the total population in the country, has declined, is declining and will continue to decline as a proportion of the total population. All the anecdotal evidence suggests that the youth of Jaffna wish to get the hell out of the country to white-ruled countries where a critical mass of more..

Oct 16 (CT) Since its inception, Medical Faculty of the SAITM never failed to create news on a regular basis. Even after numerous trade union action and protest marches, the main stakeholders are yet to find a solution to the issue. At the moment, steps have been taken to stop fresh enrolment and awarding of degrees at the SAITM Medical Faculty and a Court decision on the institute will be taken next month. more..

Oct 16 (ST) Juvenal’s beautifully scornful castigation of the people being diverted by bread and circuses (panem et circenses), has a specific application in the present day. That cynical tactic served the Roman emperors well in turning the attention of bored plebians away from pressing national issues and civic duties. Sri Lanka has had its fair share of diversions through the decades since we embarked on our less than distinguished expedition of gaining independence from colonial rulers and more..

Oct 16 (ST) The JRJ constitution, passed with a five sixth majority in 1978, has been used, since the late 1990s, as a convenient scapegoat for politicians on both sides of the political divide to pile upon its back the blame for their own political failures to deliver the goods promised to the nation. Two presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa had mounted the beast of burden and had thoroughly enjoyed the ride whilst, at the same time joining in the chorus and giving more..