Apr 18 (Island) There seems to be no end in sight to problems in the education and higher education sectors. No sooner had the university non-academic workers called off their crippling strike, which lasted over one month, than schoolteachers threatened to resort to trade union action. This time around, they are not demanding pay hikes or the rectification of salary anomalies. Teachers’ trade unions are on the warpath over the reinstatement of Uva Chief Minister Sampath Dassanayake as more..

Apr 18 (CT) I refer to Mr. Kelum Bandara’s Interview with Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR), which appeared in the Daily Mirror of 10th April, prominently under large bold heading People want Non-Traditional Politicians. Although it covered diverse matters of interest, I was amused by his response to the question, How would you fit into the shoes of a politician. He answered by saying that people want non- traditional Politicians. His statement is reflective of his super ego to be the more..

Apr 18 (Island) Professional Manager is a biannual publication of the Postgraduate Institute of Management, the Nation’s Management Mentor. It had its origin in 2008 and, to quote from the editorial of its first issue, "Its ambitious, yet compelling intent t is to disseminate cutting-edge know-what, and importantly, do-how knowledge on best management thinking and practices. It attempts to do so, because the PIM believes that its central mission is to transform management more..

Apr 18 (CT) Precisely a year ago, during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations where loud bangs of firecrackers filled the air marking auspicious times, residents living by the Meethotamulla garbage dump in Kolonnawa heard something different – the sound of an explosion followed by the collapse of an almost 300-foot section of the garbage dump. According to the report Meethotamulla Municipal Solid Waste Dump more..

Apr 18 (DN) Govt is entrusted with billions of rupees of public funds, collected from the people. It has a duty to account for them and use them in accordance with the wishes of Parliament, without excess, extravagance or waste. Ensuring the money is properly used is the responsibility of Parliament which works through two Committees, the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises. COPA scrutinises the Govt, its Ministries, Departments, PCs more..

Apr 18 (CT) A three-member Bench, presided by Chief Justice Priyasath Dep turned down a Leave to Proceed application, submitted to the Supreme Court by Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of SL (TRCSL), objecting the establishment of a Digital Television Broadcasting Network by Television & Radio Network (TRN). TV broadcasting station TRN, which operated the popular TV Lanka channel in SL and worldwide since 2000 was closed down by the CID and more..

Apr 18 (EN) SL's vehicle purchases rose 6.5% in March 2018 from a year earlier, with car registration up 107% to 5,968 units with Suzuki Wagon-R becoming the market leader after a tax change, data shows. In March 2,380 Wagon-Rs were registered up from only 626 a year earlier. Indian-made Maruti vehicles were market leaders before Mercantilist crackdown on car imports after the central bank triggered more..

Apr 18 (DM) Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran is hoping to form a new political party as an alternative to the ITAK to contest the upcoming provincial council elections, a source close to him said yesterday. He contested the 2013 elections under the banner of the ITAK-led TNA though however, he fell out with the ITAK leaders later. Source said the chief minister would form a new party move for a broad political alliance as an alternative to TNA to contest the elections. more..

Apr 18 (CT) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in a bid to popularize women’s cricket in the country decided to support the big matches of 30 identified Girls’ Schools during the year 2018. SLC will provide a grant of Rs 100,000 for each game and in addition will also provide cricketing equipment for Girls Schools taking part in the big matches and pay the fees of the Umpires and Scorers covering the respective big matches. Latest move, which is being done with the guidance of SLC President more..

Apr 18 (LBO) Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU), of the state owned electricity supplier CEB is to take a trade union action from 20th April against its regulator Public Utilities Commission of SL demanding the approval CEB’s power generation plan. The regulator amended and approved the power generation plan in July 2017 after having wider stakeholder consultation. The amended plan has replaced coal power more..

Apr 18 (DN) Angry, disappointed, dejected, furious are just some of the words one can use to describe the performance of the Sri Lanka Sevens rugby team at the XXIst Commonwealth Games concluded at Gold Coast, Australia. Sri Lanka made an early exit from the Games suffering three consecutive defeats. They were routed by the Fijians 63/5 in the opening match, thrashed 42/12 by Wales in the second game and finally humiliated 33/12 by Uganda in the final match. more..

Apr 18 (FT) City Planning and Water Supply Minister Rauff Hakeem held a meeting with Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, to discuss opportunities for mutual cooperation on water, sanitation and climate change. The bilateral meeting was convened on the side lines of the 7th South Asian Conference on Sanitation organised in Islamabad. Over 700 international and national delegations from eight South Asian countries attended conference. more..

Apr 18 (DN) With the latest release of lands in Thelippalai recently, 50% of those currently in IDP centres would be able to return to their rightful lands, Commander, Security Force–Jaffna, Major General Darshana Hettiarrachchi said. SL Army, in keeping with govt’s policy of returning lands held by the military to its rightful owners, released another 683 acres of land to 964 families (3309 members), at a ceremony presided over by more..

Apr 18 (DM) Road Development Authority says that a revenue of Rs.105 million was generated from the Southern Expressway during the New Year Season from April 10 to 16. An RDA official said that more than 372, 000 vehicles used the Southern Expressway during this period. Accordingly, Rs.23 million has been generated from over 79, 700 vehicles that travelled on Sunday (15) while Rs.14 million was generated from over 50,000 vehicles that travelled on Saturday (14). more..

Apr 18 (Island) Sri Lanka Cricket and Fielding Coach Nic Pothas have mutually agreed to part ways with four more months left in his contract. The former South African wicketkeeper batsman was hired by Sri Lanka in 2016 and was named interim Head Coach in June last year after his mentor Graham Ford decided to quit. Pothas was at the helm for six months and oversaw the home series against Zimbabwe and India and away tours against Pakistan and India. more..

Apr 18 (Island) Department of Homeland Security has prevented Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, 57, from leaving the US to face court proceedings in Colombo in respect of alleged embezzlement of funds to the tune of USD 322,027.35 during his tenure as the Ambassador. Wickramasuriya served as Sri Lanka’s top envoy in Washington from July 2008 to May 2014. more..

Apr 18 (SLA) A 17-member delegation of the United States Land Forces in the Pacific Command, including four US Embassy officials who arrived in Sri Lanka for participation in Land Forces Pacific Programme sessions, had a courtesy meeting with Major General Dampath Fernando, Chief of Staff of the Army representing the Commander of the Army on Monday (16) at the Army Headquarters. Major General Roger J. Noble of Australian Army who has served as more..

Apr 18 (FT) Sri Lankan dry zone’s Cascaded Tank-Village System (CTVS) will tomorrow be designated as one of the 14 new globally important agricultural heritage systems by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN at a ceremony in Rome, Italy. CTVS is a connected series of tanks organised within a micro-catchment of the dry zone landscape, storing, conveying and utilising water from an ephemeral rivulet. It is an ancient, widely used & unique traditional agriculture system more..

Apr 18 (AD) SL’s Local Govt Election held on the 10th Feb while being the largest election held ever in the country was also unique in the fact that it tried out a new hybrid method, doing away with the old and controversial preference system. In the mixed electoral system 60% of the members are selected through First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting system and 40% through the Closed List Proportional Representation. more..

Apr 18 (PTI) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is constitutionally barred from contesting again to become President, has opted to support a proposal to abolish the executive presidency. Under executive presidency, head of the state possesses all relevant executive powers. Bandula Gunawardena, chairperson of Mr. Rajapaksa’s JO, said that Mr. Rajapaksa has conveyed this to JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who has given the proposal to abolish executive presidency. more..

Apr 18 (FT) State Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne in a statement has categorically denied claims that the Govt is mulling amending the Companies Act to send the details of persons having 25% of shares in public limited companies (PLCs) to the CID. He pointed out that the amendment was a measure taken against money laundering and terrorism financing and not to provide wider powers to the CID to question directors or shareholders of private companies. more..

Apr 18 (CT) The JVP yesterday said that they would submit the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution, to abolish the Executive Presidency, at the commencement of the Second Session of the Eighth Parliament. JVP had previously planned to submit the Amendment on 19 April. However, the submission of the proposal had to be postponed due to the President proroguing the First Session of the 8th Parliament on 12 April. more..

Apr 18 (CT) Sri Lanka has long identified the risk of financial crime as a priority area, given the country’s history in battling a sophisticated terror organization. A number of measures were taken over the years and the govt is currently working on bringing on necessary amendments to some of the existing regulations with the objective of preventing financial crimes. Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera made these remarks at a roundtable discussion on more..

Apr 18 (DM) Prices of some imported goods including petroleum products, fertilizer, gas and chemicals would rise further because of the depreciation of the rupee, MP Bandula Gunawardana said. He said that the govt's mismanagement of the economy had resulted in plunging the country's into the doldrums. “Prices of imported goods are linked to World Market prices. As the value of the SL rupee has depreciated to Rs.158 against US dollar, prices of certain more..

Apr 18 (CT) Teachers’ trade unions threatened to take action against the reappointment of Uva Province Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake, who in his capacity as the Provincial Minister of Education allegedly forced a female school principal to kneel before him. The incident in which Dassanayake reportedly summoned the principal of the Tamil Girls’ Maha Vidyalaya, Badulla to his residence and more..

Apr 18 (FT) Board of Directors of the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), the apex ICT organisation under the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, has been reconstituted. It is now headed by Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, former Director General of the TRC who contributed to the design of the e-Sri Lanka initiative that the ICTA implemented from 2003. He served on the ICTA Board during the organisation’s formative period. more..

Apr 18 (DN) The country’s primary healthcare system was held up as an example of what consistent dedication can achieve at this year’s CHOGM. Microsoft Corporation Founder Bill Gates asked the Commonwealth to look to SL to know what high quality primary healthcare meant. Bangladesh and SL have developed very high quality primary healthcare systems staffed primarily by women healthcare workers, which model other countries are following, he said, more..

Apr 18 (FT) The Govt yesterday promised to ensure the safety of tourists, with new measures put in place after the recent assault on a group of foreign visitors to Weligama. “We are very sorry that this has happened. We apologise to those tourists for the harassment that they had to face and we assure all tourists who come to Sri Lanka in the future that we will guarantee their absolute safety with the support of the Police,” more..

Apr 18 (DM) In this era when we appear to be on the verge of a cyber war if not a direct battle with Russia on one side, the US and its Western allies on the other and with hundreds of diplomats being expelled from each other’s countries, most analysts believe poverty alleviation or the gap between the rich and the poor is one of the root causes of this possible catastrophe. Reports on Monday said Russia had launched a full-scale and malicious cyber war against Western targets including nuclear more..

Apr 18 (DM) The no-confidence motion is now a thing in the past. Everyone, especially Ranil Wickremasinghe, the Leader of the UNP, would like to think so. However, in the wake of its defeat on April 4, a very significant development took place in the UNP. Election of a so-called Politburo cannot be regarded as an inconsequential development. Politburo is a term usually associated with Communist Parties. Yet after the collapse of Red Power in the Soviet Union & Eastern Europe, more..

Apr 18 (DM) Disgruntled in the UNP – their vocal majority – largest number of votes UNP obtained were from Sinhala Buddhist homes. It is not true, not their signature party in the lifetime of Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW). Worked relentlessly with the SLFP to eliminate terrorism; as persons of good faith did not fall into the traps weaved by purportedly UNP friendly NGOs - gained respect for their objectivity; toiled hard with like minded forces to effect more..

Apr 18 (CT) Former Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera says if the Govt continues to work like this it will not be able to stop Mahinda Rajapaksa from coming to power again. Q: It is said that the defeat of the no-confidence motion brought against the PM ruined the Joint Opposition as well as the SLFP faction? A: Being defeated at the no-confidence motion and the allegations against PM should be considered separately. more..

Apr 18 (BN) Each year roughly 60,000 ships vital to the global economy sail through the Indian Ocean past a Chinese-operated port on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Almost none of them stop to unload cargo. The eight-year-old Hambantota port -- with almost no container traffic and trampled fences that elephants traverse with ease -- has become a prime example of what can go wrong for countries involved in President Xi more..

Apr 18 (Island) Sri Lanka’s white ball captain Angelo Mathews will return to cricket over the weekend when he leads Kandy against Galle in the Inter-Provincial First Class competition at Suriyawewa. Mathews has played just one game this year as a series of hamstring and calf injuries has kept him out from both international and domestic cricket. Mathews will play the four day game as a specialist batsman only as he has been more..

Apr 18 (ST) Sri Lanka was the cynosure of all eyes as Global World Health Day 2018 was celebrated last Saturday at Nelum Pokuna in Colombo, with the participation of high-level leaders not only of the country but also the World Health Organisation (WHO). The commitment of Sri Lanka to health was seen when President Sirisena, PM Wickremesinghe and Minister Rajitha Senaratne along with WHO Director-General more..

Apr 18 (DN) United States govt’s bilateral economic assistance to Sri Lanka is conditional on certain transitional justice mechanisms being established, according to the U.S. spending bill passed last month. In an explanatory statement attached to the spending bill, Congress said that the USD 35 million would be allocated to Sri Lanka “provided, that such funds shall be made available for programmes to assist in the identification more..

Apr 18 (ET) Muttiah Muralitharan is a soft-spoken man, not one to get agitated easily. It was a rare sight to see him lose his cool when asked about Sri Lankan cricket’s downfall. In a conversation with ET, the Sri Lankan legend talks about what is wrong with Sri Lankan cricket, why wrist spinners offer better dividends in good batting conditions (referring to Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal) and more. more..

Apr 18 (NR) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe says the govts future steps will be announced once President Sirisena returns to the country from the UK. PM said the Mahanayaka Thera were informed of the future plans today. He stated during the last year the govt faced several crises, including natural disasters. PM expressed his views after calling on the Chief Prelates and paying homage at the Temple of the Tooth Relic this morning. more..

Apr 18 (FT) Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said Sri Lanka had long identified the risk of financial crime as a priority area given the country’s history of battling a sophisticated terrorist organisation and the Govt was currently working on bringing necessary amendments to existing regulation combatting financial crime. Samaraweera made these remarks at a roundtable discussion titled more..