Oct 31 (CT) The politics of renaming and baptizing anew was not invented by our Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe. But his recent actions, as well as his past ones, goes to show that he acts in a way that he himself invented the tactic. His recent actions ring a familiar bell with his past during the height of the peace negotiations of the Sri Lanka Govt and the LTTE in Norway. The 2002 Ceasefire Agreement which accented on doing away with the majority oppression of the minorities more..

Oct 31 (AD) Cabinet have approved the proposal to establish four new Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Nuwara Eliya District, Minister Mano Ganeshan said. The proposal was submitted to the Cabinet by Minister Faiszer Musthapha. Pradeshiya Sabhas will be created for Norwood, Maskeliya, Agrapathana and Kotagala with the recent Amendment in Local Authorities Elections Act 4. District currently has two Pradeshiya Sabhas, namely Nuwara Eliya and Ambagamuwa which will now be divided into more..

Oct 31 (IOL) Sri Lanka plan to send more teams to Pakistan after playing a Twenty20 match in Lahore for the first time since a gun attack eight years ago, a top official said Tuesday. Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said the national team were impressed with the extraordinary level of security for the match at the Gaddafi stadium on Sunday. "They delivered the security they promised and we were very satisfied with all the arrangements," de Silva said. more..

Oct 31 (DN) A programme to digitize 300 state hospitals by 2019 will commence from the Horana Base Hospital, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said. He said that in 2014, expired drugs worth Rs. 350 million were destroyed because there was no proper drug distribution system in the country at that time. He said this while addressing a ceremony held to hand over seven mobile dental units and 50 computers to state hospitals at the Family Health Bureau in Colombo recently. more..

Oct 31 (EN) Consumer inflation in Colombo rose to 7.8 percent in October from a year ago, the highest in eight months, according to data from the Department of Census and Statistics. The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) rose 0.9% in October, compared with a rise of 0.8% in September. The year-on-year inflation of the Food Group increased from 10.4% in September to 12.6% in October 2017 and that of the Non]food Group increased from 5.5% to 5.8% during this period. more..

Oct 31 (DN) Shanil Nethicumara, who is involved in his family business run under the name of SALAKA, has filed a Fundamental Rights Petition in the Supreme Court seeking an Interim Order preventing CID from arresting him over an allegation that he posed a death threat to Wijith Wijesuriya over Anika Wijesuriya giving evidence at the Bond Commission against Minister Ravi Karunanayake. more..

Oct 31 (AD) Academic activities at three faculties of the University of Jaffna have been suspended indefinitely by the administration, after students decided to boycott classes in protest demanding the release of Tamil political prisoners. Deans of Faculties had met with the Vice Chancellor and discussed the “prevailing abnormal situation” in the University main premises of the University of Jaffna. Based on the discussion, it is decided that academic activities of more..

Oct 31 (DN) The CID conducting investigations against former Deputy Minister Sarath Kumara Gunaratne and five others for allegedly misappropriating Rs.12 million of public funds allocated for the Negombo Lagoon Development Project today informed Court that the Attorney General is expecting to file indictments in the High Court against the suspects. When the case came up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Bandara, CID informed court that they have sought more..

Oct 31 (AD) Dr.Neville Fernando responded to the stance taken by the GMOA on the ruling of the govt to abolish the shareholding and management structure of the SAITM. In his statement, Dr. Fernando stated that he is indeed pleased that the GMOA was satisfied by the decision of the govt on the SAITM issue. He further stated that it is the dream of any medical student to complete their undergraduate education to more..

Oct 31 (Island) Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne has announced that new taxes would be introduced to further control the sugar content in soft drinks. Dr. Senaratne, speaking at a nurses’ diploma awarding ceremony on Sunday at Temple Trees said regulations would be introduced to tax sugary and fizzy drinks which contained more than six grams of sugar. Each excess gram would incur an extra one rupee tax, he said, noting that the move had been sanctioned by the WHO. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Buddhism's place as the primary religion in the country would be safeguarded by including the same clauses regarding Buddhism that are part of the current Constitution, in the new Constitution, Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella said yesterday. Minister made these observations, while participating in the debate on the interim report of the Steering Committee on Constitutional Reforms, during the session of the Constitutional Assembly. more..

Oct 31 (AD) Toddy tapping from Coconut and Palmyrah trees has been brought under license with amendment proposed to Section 15 of Excise Ordinance (Chapter 52) by Ministry of Finance. Cabinet approval has been granted for this amendment. Though the license is required for toddy tapping   under Excise Ordinance it was later amended in 2013 by exempting Kithul, Palmyrah & Coconut trees from licensing system. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Discussions are presently being held with the families of the 27 prisoners, who were killed during the 2012 Welikada Prison Massacre, which the Got claims was a riot, to urge the authorities to apprehend the suspects behind the said murders. National Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners is conducting discussions with the view of deciding on what action, besides the ongoing Court of Appeal case, could be taken in this regard by or on 9 Nov, date which marks 5th anniversary more..

Oct 31 (Reuters) Sri Lanka is keen to reach agreement soon on a free trade deal with China, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, describing Beijing as a close friend and ally, despite strong local opposition to some major Chinese-invested schemes. In July, Sri Lanka signed a long-delayed $1.1 billion deal to lease its Hambantota port to China, ignoring an appeal by opposition parties to debate the pact in parliament. The $1.5-billion port, close to the main shipping route more..

Oct 31 (AD) Chief Minister of Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran has written a letter to former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Chairperson of Office of national Unity and Reconciliation, seeking her earnest consideration to the plight of the fasting prisoners at Anuradhapura Prison. He claims that it appears that the State is interested in the case of the fasting prisoners to obtain a conviction with regard more..

Oct 31 (DM) Minister Dilan Perera said he preferred the draft constitution which was presented to Parliament by Chandrika Kumaratunga govt in 2000 rather than the interim report presented by the Steering Committee. The state minister said this during the constitution assembly debate on the Steering Committee report. "Although I prefer the constitution drafted in 2000 I will support the interim report because of the need to fall in line with the decision of my party," more..

Oct 31 (DN) Sri Lanka should come up with a long-term policy on foreigners working in the island, said Anthony Watson, Country Manager, Sri Lanka, Visa Worldwide (Pte) Limited. He said that the tax on their earnings keeps on changing and this is not good. “We need a clear and long-term policy not only on earnings of foreigners, but also on other matters relating to work visas, work permits, income tax and other matters. We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.” more..

Oct 31 (DM) The joint opposition (JO) today said some of its MPs would visit the Inter-Parliamentary Union while some others would visit the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to complain about the intimidation of JO MPs and the delaying of polls. JO MP Bandula Gunawardana said a group of MPs led by JO MP, Dullas Alahapperuma would visit IPU head office in Geneva this week. more..

Oct 31 (PTI) Former President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa today met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his official residence Varsha here and held talks over a host of issues. Rajapaksa is on a tour of Maharashtra and as part of it, he visited Ajanta and Ellora caves (in Aurangabad) and gave his inputs to Fadnavis. "A lot of Sri Lankan tourists visit the Ajanta-Ellora caves every year. The state govt will make arrangements at Ajanta as suggested by the former president," more..

Oct 31 (CB) Former captain Angelo Mathews is finally set to return when Sri Lanka visit India for three Tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals in November. Till recently, Mathews, who has been in the news more for his injuries in the past twelve months, had been nursing a grade one tear to his calf muscle which ruled him out of the two-Test series against Pakistan. Kusal Perera and Asela Gunaratne who had been out with hamstring and thumb injuries respectively, more..

Oct 31 (AFP) SL's surprise two-match Test cricket win against Pakistan this month was down to witchcraft, captain Dinesh Chandimal said, drawing mockery on social media. Chandimal told reporters he had received a special blessing from a meyni, or sorcerer, ahead of the two-match series in the UAE. "I am always ready to accept the blessings of anyone – whether it is a meyni or any clergy," Chandimal told reporters more..