Oct 16 (DM) Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga ahead of their second ODI against Pakistan in the capital accepted that batting collapses was a major worry for this side and are one batsman short for the ODI series. “This series when it started we spoke about batting because batting has let us down over the last few series. We tried to tell the players what is their role. All the players are aware of their roles. more..

Oct 16 (Island) Gone are the days when the govt protected banks against robbers; instead, today, those in power rob banks themselves, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva. Addressing the 19th annual convention of the Ceylon Teacher Service Union on Friday, Silva said those found guilty of petty theft were thrown behind bars while those who carried out mega frauds went scot free. Losses caused by the sil redi fraud more..

Oct 16 (Island) State Minister Eran Wickramaratne has said that those who stole public funds would continue to do so in spite of various counter mechanisms in place. State Minister Wickramaratne was responding to a question Faraz Shauketaly posed to him on Oct 10, the day after UNPer presented the Appropriation Bill in parliament. Wickramaratne has estimated the budget deficit at a staggering Rs 1,807 bn. more..

Oct 16 (FT) “At their leisure when their affairs will permit, they commonly meet at places built for strangers and way-faring men to lodge in, in their language called Amblomb, where they sit chewing betel, and looking one upon the other very gravely, solidly discoursing concerning the affairs of the court, between the King and the great men…” – Robert Knox. We are indebted to Robert Knox for recording his observations of 17 Century Sri Lanka, land in which he spent nearly 20 years more..

Oct 16 (CT) President Sirisena's visit to Jaffna was significant in several ways as he made a daredevil approach when he came across people there agitating over the issues of involuntary disappearances and Tamil prisoners held under the PTA. Amidst tight security, President Sirisena went ahead successfully with his Jaffna tour proving himself a bold leader by facing the people who had approached him to find remedial measures for their unresolved humanitarian issues. more..

Oct 16 (EN) Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera has urged the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to develop innovative financial tools to enable developing counries continued access to concessionary finance. Sri Lankan govt is keenly working on addressing significant regional growth and income disparities in the country through a well-focused development program, he told the annual meeting of the World Bank and IMF held in Washington. more..

Oct 16 (Island) Anuradhapura special anti-vice squad busted a brothel in a lodge at the Jaffna Junction there on Saturday night and nabbed three men and three women and also recovered two grams of heroin. The brothel was employing female drug addicts as sex workers, according to the police. The raid was conducted on a tip-off received by the HQI Anuradhapura. The men taken into custody were from Dangdagamuwa area in Kuliyapitiya. Heroin had been found in their possession. more..

Oct 16 (FT) This writer in March 2015 drew the attention of the Govt to the emerging catastrophe by noting that the bond explosion in 2015 caused far worse damage to the Central Bank than the bomb explosion of 1996. Immediately after the Treasury bond auction on 27 February 2015, the news of a massive impropriety that had taken place in the auction spread across the market like a wildfire. more..

Oct 16 (NR) A commuter has died after he was pushed out of a moving train in Ragama. Police said the deceased, aged between 45 and 50 years, was pushed out between the Ragama and Horape stations. The identity of the deceased has not been confirmed yet. The body is currently at the Colombo National Hospital. It was reported that there had been a clash inside the train between two commuters, resulting in one being pushed out of the moving train. more..

Oct 16 (NR) The PAFFREL says all independent election monitoring bodies are scheduled to hold a discussion with Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya tomorrow. Executive Director of PAFFREL Rohana Hettiarachchi said attention will be directed to the possibility of holding the LG Election. NewsRadio inquired if there could be a delay in the election due to the decision taken by the Ministry of Local Govt and Provincial Councils pertaining to the more..

Oct 16 (DM) PHU said TNA’s efforts and backing to get those who were arrested under terrorist charges released, showed their duplicity. PHU Leader MP Udaya Gammanpila said TNA wants action against soldiers for war crimes which they didn’t commit, but at the same time wants to get terrorists released. “There is no other group in the world which is more duplicitous than the TNA. It is with great responsibility we say that more..

Oct 16 (Island) An Indian footwear company has set up a factory in Sri Lanka much to the consternation of its local counterparts, who feel threatened. SL entrepreneurs say that other Indian manufactures may follow suit and fields such as local manufacturing and marketing of dairy products, confectioneries, ready-made garments and a range of consumer goods may be adversely affected. Board of Investment (BOI) has approved the Indian footwear manufacturing project more..

Oct 16 (NR) A suspect, arrested over the largest job fraud reported in the history of the Foreign Employment Bureau, has been remanded till Thursday. Order was issued by the Mahara Magistrate’s Court. The suspect had fraudulently obtained 40 million rupees by promising employment opportunities in Japan. However, the Ministry of Foreign Employment said more individuals who were subject to the fraud proceeded to file complaints. Amount fraudulently obtained more..

Oct 16 (DN) BBS General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thera said he didn’t intend to insult the judiciary with the remarks made inside the Homagama Magistrate’s Court in January 2016. Gnanasara Thera made this remarks as a defense witness regarding the contempt of court case filed against him. “I had no intention to insult the judiciary or any other person in court. The emotional feelings created subsequent to more..

Oct 16 (DN) Minister D. M. Swaminathan declared open the country’s first prison built in accordance with the highest international standards at Angunukolapelessa, Hambantota today. The prison, dubbed as Super Prison for its modern facilities was built at a cost of Rs. 9.5 billion on a 65-hectare piece of land and can accommodate about 1,500 inmates. The prison complex consists of a modern playground with a 400m track, prison hospital, vocational training center, more..

Oct 16 (NR) Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has called on all factions to support endeavours taken by the Ministry to reform the education sector. Addressing an event in Colombo the Minister said steps are underway to determine those who used students for personal political gain. He said in certain instances individuals received transfers within 5 years adding that however in this instance the govt formulated and processed transfers after 10 years. more..

Oct 16 (DM) President and PM should immediately respond to the Mahanayake Theras request of resolving the SAITM issue as soon as possible, GMOA said. GMOA Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda warned that the issue could be further aggravated if the two first citizens of the country remained silent on the matter.  He said that the Theras made the statement considering the inconvenience to public because of the issue. more..

Oct 16 (EN) In a remarkable reversal of roles, an Uber driver in Sri Lanka has called for domestic protectionism and lauded alleged regulatory capture, in a country where many businessmen lobby to exploit consumers with state interventions and import duties. Uber is destroying the taxi market in SL, proclaimed a blogpost on medium.com. Though not a new claim, but the post was not from an ordinary taxi driver, hit by cheaper and better services from the US ride-sharing service, more..

Oct 16 (Island) Provincial Council and Local Govt Ministry Secretary Kamal Pathmasiri said the minister in charge of those subjects, Faiszer Musthapha, couldn’t take any unilateral decision in respect of formation of new local authorities under any circumstances. Pathmasiri said so when The Island asked him whether PC and LG Minister Musthapha, PC, had given in to Minister Mano Ganeshan’s demand for the creation of a new Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Nuwara Eliya more..

Oct 16 (AD) Former President Rajapaksa today urged the govt to abandon its destructive proposal for a new constitution and to bring forward proposals to implement the original constitutional pledges they made.  He said that the govt has tabled in Parliament, proposals for a new constitution and that however the constitutional reform pledges made by the Yahapalana coalition at the last presidential election was restricted more..

Oct 16 (LBO) Fitch Ratings Lanka has published CEB National Long-Term Rating of AAA(lka) with a Stable Outlook. CEB is fully owned by the Sri Lanka sovereign (B+/Stable). CEB’s rating is equalised with that of the sovereign based on the strong linkages with its parent, in line with Fitch’s Parent and Subsidiary Rating Linkage criteria. The equalisation takes into consideration CEB’s strategic importance to SL in ensuring power security and supply of affordable electricity to the public. more..

Oct 16 (DN) A case filed against Litro Gas Former Chairman Shalila Moonasinghe for illegally obtaining electricity to his residence in Rajagiriya in 2014 was today fixed for trial by Colombo Chief Magistrate’s court. In this case Borella police alleged that suspect Shalila Moonasinghe had illegally obtained electricity by tampering with an electricity meter in 2014, causing a financial loss to the CEB. Welikada police along with CEB had carried out a raid over a complaint that Shalila had tampered more..

Oct 16 (EN) SL’s markets regulator said it has decided to adopt a more stringent policy of enforcement of listing rules with tougher regulations to be enforced from 1 Jan 2018. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has asked the CSE to incorporate several rules drafted in relation to violations of rules on corporate governance of listed companies. These include late submission or non-submission of interim financial statements more..

Oct 16 (DM) It has been reported that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) into the alleged irregularities that took place at the bond issue in February 2015 and March 2016 could be extended by a further three months after getting the permission of President, Maithripala Sirisena to do so. This was as it was thought that more time was needed to complete the investigations into the case before a final report could be handed over to the President in this regard. more..

Oct 16 (APP) Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua will be visiting Sri Lanka this week to take part in the 5th Round of Bilateral Political Consultations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. According to a message received here, Foreign Secretary will also call on President Maithripala Sirisena, PM Ranil Wickramasinghe and Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana during her stay from Oct 17 to 18. She will hold in-depth discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations more..

Oct 16 (CB) SL's limited-overs captain Upul Tharanga has pulled out of the scheduled T20 International in Lahore later this month owing to security concerns. Tharanga's decision to skip the Lahore game makes him ineligible to lead the side in the first two games of the series as well. SLC had earlier announced that one squad would be picked to play all three T20Is versus Pakistan. Cricbuzz has reliably learnt that more..

Oct 17 (ST) Sri Lanka’s parliament celebrated 70 years of parliamentary democracy on Oct 3 with a ceremonial sitting. The speeches made by parties representing all shades of political persuasions had plaudits as well as serious criticisms of the seven decades of parliamentary practice. This in itself is a tribute to democratic freedoms of a parliamentary democracy. However during these seven decades the ethnic conflict that was the most serious setback to the economy was no doubt more..

Oct 17 (CT) We often criticise the current development model due to its dependence on foreign sources of funding, expertise, potential for corruption and ideology that it creates, i.e. idea that we don’t have necessary intelligence to conceptualise the problems and solutions. We also criticise the govt leaders who rely on such a model to attract more loans, investments and expertise from abroad. This applies even to the fields of education & learning, medicine, construction, more..

Oct 17 (SO) The Sri Lanka Navy successfully conducted their 8th Galle Dialogue (8th International Maritime Conference) under the theme Greater Maritime Visibility for Enhanced Maritime Security. This year’s conference had more than 50 countries represented with maritime defence experts and academics. The event was held at the heritage embellished Galle Face Hotel on the 9th and 10th Oct. more..

Oct 17 (CT) The release of the Constitutional Assembly’s Steering Committee report on constitutional reform gave the hope that it would be the govt’s priority in the coming months. This calculation was buttressed by the govt’s repeated postponement of LG elections which became extended to the postponement of provincial council elections also. The problem facing the govt is that any local election would pit the coalition partners against each other, possibly to the detriment more..

Oct 17 (CT) With the term of the Presidential Commission on the alleged Treasury (T) Bonds scam covering the first 14 full months of the Yahapalana Govt, from Jan 2015 to Mar 2016, ending by the month end, only a fortnight away, Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe has indicated that he's willing to give evidence before the Commission. The PM's name was mentioned during earlier depositions including that of the former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. more..

Oct 17 (Roar) Veddas are SL’s indigenous people. Or as they call themselves, Wanniya-laeto or the Forest Dwellers. Once a proud and independent people, they are now often reduced to tourist attractions. In the face of encroaching influences from the outside world, they are struggling to preserve their traditions and culture. In Dayananda Binaragama’s book Balangoda Manawaya saha Ape Adiwasi, more..

Oct 17 (DN) Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General of New Delhi based autonomous policy research institute, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in an interview with the Daily News elaborates on RIS’ work programmes on South Asia, latest economic research based on Sri Lanka’s trade, investment and technology, prospects of Blue economy in the Indian Ocean and Sri Lanka’s role in Asia Africa Growth Corridor. more..

Oct 17 (DN) Ayurveda, the 5000 year old medical system, origin of which can be traced back to the Indian subcontinent focuses more on healthy living than treatment of diseases. Ayurveda is from two Sanskrit words, ayus (life) and veda (related to knowledge). The earliest concept of Ayurveda was put into writing by VedaVyasa, the sage and shaktavesha avatar of Vishnu, Dhanvantari in Atharvaveda, which is one of the four ancient books of Indian knowledge, wisdom and culture. more..

Oct 17 (ST) Those who followed the intense campaigns ahead of the two elections in 2015 to oust Rajapaksa’s govt from power will probably recall the promises made with gay abandon by those who sought change. Those who really believed the promised changes would come and clean govt installed, must surely be wondering now whatever happened to the good governance that was to replace the autocratic regime of Rajapaksa with the attendant ills of nepotism, cronyism and clannishness that characterised it. more..

Oct 17 (Island) The Steering Committee appointed by the Constitutional Assembly, established by a Parliamentary Resolution in 2016 has released its First Interim Report (FIR) in 2016, and the Second Interim Report (SIR) on 21.09.2017. The SIR has proposed new formulations on subjects included in the first two chapters of the existing Constitution, namely, 1) The People, The State and Sovereignty, and 2) Buddhism, and also on several other subjects including 1) Principles of devolution, more..

Oct 17 (DM) We have been taught that life inside prison is hell on earth. This saying from the past was proven wrong with the declaring open of the country’s first prison at Angunukolapelessa, Hambantota yesterday.   The facility has been built to meet present international standards. The congestion of inmates in the prison and the severe conditions in archaic prisons across the country were facts that troubled more..

Oct 17 (DM) Islamic Finance Forum for South Asia (IFFSA) 2017 under the theme Cooperation I Consolidation I Concentration organised by UTO EduConsult in conjunction with KPMG as Knowledge Partner and Adl Capital as Key Event Partner will be held on 24th Oct at the Ramada Colombo Hotel. The IFFSA Forum would be the second installment of an annual event focusing on the IBF industry in South Asia. With Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and even Sri Lanka, more..