Aug 20 (Island) The Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray has denied allegations that he was planning to construct two Buddhist temples in one-time LTTE stronghold Kilinochchi soon after the dissolution of the TNA run Northern Provincial Council later this year. Cooray, a former MP said so in response to Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran’s recent declaration in Jaffna print media that the Governor’s Office was more..

Aug 20 (SO) Glyphosate, which is currently a subject of fierce controversy world over will once again be in use in the plantation sector as the preferred weed killer with the first batch of imports expected in October since the ban on the weedicide was lifted mid this year, a top official of the CPC said. CPC Agro Chemical Manager Suranga Perera said around half a million litres of Glyphosate will be imported by end of next month or early October for tea and rubber plantations. more..

Aug 20 (CT) Railway fares are to be increased for the first time in over a decade. The fares will go up by 15% with the next month, according to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Secretary to the Ministry G.S. Vithanage said that the proposal to increase the fares were in discussion for the last two to three months. He noted however that a final conclusion has not yet been reached. According to him, the fare increase would likely be imposed by Sept and implemented by Oct. more..

Aug 20 (DN) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is not qualified to contest the upcoming Presidential election, Higher Education Minister Wijeyedasa Rajapakshe said. He said that according to the provisions of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, a former President is barred from contesting any Presidential election. The provisions stipulate that no President can hold the Executive Presidency for more than two terms. more..

Aug 20 (DM) Twenty-two years ago Pakistan’s flamboyant world cup winning cricket captain Imran Khan exchanged his cricketing flannels for the rough and tumble of Pakistani politics. On Saturday the former cricket-star turned politician took his oaths as PM of his country after leading his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to electoral victory. In his capacity as captain of the Pakistan national team Imran Khan was able to mould Pakistan’s individually brilliant, but more..

Aug 20 (DM) From Gramashakthi to Gamperaliya, major rural investment over the next few years is now Government priority. What does the idea of rural development – abandoned globally in the decades of liberalization, including under an open economy since 1977 in Sri Lanka – mean today? Will rural development merely serve as a fig leaf for expansion of political patronage, or is there rural capacity to shift such investment towards progressive social and economic change? more..

Aug 20 (EN) Sales of unregistered cars slowed to a crawl last week following strong indications from PM Ranil Wickremesinghe that the SL will reverse the tax increase on small cars and even mid-sized sedans will become cheaper later this year. Buying interest had all but evaporated last week and dealers with large fleets of cars imported prior to the tax increase were at pains to explain they were still selling at the old duty rate. more..

Aug 20 (DM) Some Officers in the Ministry of Prisons had received death threats after the Minister took steps to rid the prisons of corruption and drugs, Prison Reforms Minister Ms Thalatha Atukorale said, Speaking to the media after a function held in Ratnapura, the Minister said she would take any decision that was needed to transform the prisons into correctional centres despite such threats. more..

Aug 20 (CT) Thalaimannar- the most picturesque area of the northwestern coast of Mannar Island of Sri Lanka, which boasts of mythical encounters of Rama, Hanuman and Adam, still remains untouched with no strategic development despite the fact that India constructed the railway line from Madawachchiya to the tip of Thalaimannar called the Thalaimannar Pier at a cost of USD 245 million. The daily ticket sale at more..

Aug 20 (ST) While the international media gave wide publicity to China’s foreign currency printing contracts with countries in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Sri Lanka, the Government has still not issued an official clarification despite unofficial denials from Finance Ministry and CB officials. A report published in the South China Morning Post this week quoted a top Chinese official as saying that more..

Aug 20 (DN) Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said the Gazette Notification announcing the price reduction of another 25 medicines, including 10 cancer drugs will be issued within the next two weeks. He made this announcement addressing the council meeting of the Non Communicable Disease Unit at the Health Ministry. 95% of cancer drugs are purchased by the govt and the private sector sells about 5%. more..

Aug 20 (EN) Sri Lanka’s import tax exemption schemes are not transparent, subject to undue official discretion and prone to abuse, a study by the Verité Research think-tank has found. Called Wading Through Murky Waters, the think-tank said its findings were a case study of regulatory ineffectiveness in Sri Lanka. “The predictability, efficiency and openness of regulatory procedures are critical to enhance their effectiveness. more..

Aug 20 (DM) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa could file a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition in the Supreme Court to obtain its opinion whether he could contest or not at the Presidential Election, PHU leader, MP Udaya Gammanpila said. There is speculation in political circles that according to the opinion of some legal experts, former Prez Rajapaksa is not debarred from contesting the Prez Election for a 3rd time. more..

Aug 20 (AD) Eight prison officers and 3 female inmates have been injured in a clash at Welikada Prison, stated the Prisons Department. Fifty-two inmates have been transferred to other prisons as the situation remains tense. A group of female inmates at Welikada prison had commenced a protest on top of the roof of Welikada Prison today. The protest was against the transfer of several inmates, who were involved in drug more..

Aug 21 (CT) One of the declared objectives of the Govt in introducing the Bill for the 19th Amendment was to restore the provision that no person who had been twice elected to the office of President by the People shall be qualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People. That provision in the 1978 Constitution had been repealed in 2010 by the 18th Amendment. Did Parliament achieve the objective of reviving that disqualification? It would appear that that endeavour failed. Why? more..

Aug 21 (CT) There is speculation that Sajith Premadasa, UNP Deputy Leader will move to Colombo District from Hambantota District for the next General Election. If this is the case, there is reason to believe this is a wise move from his personal political perspective if he is to assert himself within the murky machinations within the UNP. To place matters in perspective, he has proved he is no pushover in some areas of Hambantota District considered a Rajapaksa bastion. more..

Aug 21 (SO) Harindra, a mother of two, settled down in Sri Lanka after spending 10 years in the UK. She returned to SL in 2005, with her two sons, after her husband passed away, and immediately thereafter, applied for SL citizenship, as she had ceased to be a SL citizen when she obtained British citizenship. At the time of her return her sons were 9 and 7 years. According to the officials of the Department of Immigration and Emigration her sons cannot become SL citizens, more..

Aug 21 (ST) How very considerate of the chief minister of the Western Provincial Council. This chief minister Isuru Devapriya wants his fellow councillors to park their sensitive bottoms on comfortable seats during council sittings. Otherwise, one might reasonably conclude, grandiose ideas will not enter their heads and the council will end up as a repository of verbal garbage of little use to man or beast. Unlike the one-time development theory of a top-down process, our worthies in the WPC have reversed it. more..

Aug 21 (ST) While the National Export Strategy (NES) to enhance exports in information technology services, boat building, tourism, new manufactures and several agricultural exports is commendable, the neglect of the three traditional agricultural exports would be a serious flaw in an export increasing strategy. The enhancement of tea, rubber and coconut production for export is also essential to boost exports. The country’s comparative advantage in agricultural exports must be exploited by more..

Aug 21 (CT) Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne says if everyone gets together and select me for the fight against the Opposition, I will come forward. Q: Are you ready for the suggestion made by the President regarding the next common candidate? A: The thing is there is a President right now and there is a Prime Minister. Leaders of both Parties are in the battle. But if it becomes necessary, I will come forward for that battle. more..

Aug 21 (DN) Our foreign policy was crafted and implemented by diplomats under the guidance of the Head of State or Govt for a long time after independence. Though the radical Left was vocal on foreign affairs as on other subjects the majority of the population kept aloof from engaging in any public debate on foreign policy. Today the situation is quite different. In a welcome development foreign policy has become the topic of public discourse. However, it has its own negative consequences such as more..

Aug 21 (DN) Local social media has been giving huge publicity to a recent San Francisco Federal court judgement in favour of a plaint filed by a groundskeeper, Dewayne Johnson in California claiming that his illness, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a cancer, was caused by glyphosate. He had been regularly applying the weed killer, in school playgrounds. A govt toxicologist, Dr Charles W. Jameson was a key witness for the prosecution. He gave evidence supporting Johnson and his testimony was that more..

Aug 21 (Island) Mahinda has set the cat among the pigeons, as is his wont. He has got his backers in the JO to say he can run for President again. This argument is not of recent origin, though. It has been there since the introduction of the 19th Amendment. Some JO legal experts have held that the term limit therein cannot have retroactive effect, and Mahinda can contest a prez election again. However, this is the first time the JO has gone public with its contention. more..

Aug 21 (Island) When I saw the above news item and your valuable editorial on 14th August in your newspaper, I recollected two incidents that I experienced in 1970 in the Home Ministry. I was a CAS cadet officer attached there for training under the Senior Asst. Secretary, A.I. Mohideen, former GA., Matara and Puttalam. He was in charge of all the GAs in the Island but sat on a wooden chair. At a leisure time, with his permission, I stepped into the Hon. Minister’s room with the peon. more..

Aug 21 (DM) It was reported that the Maritime Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) would request the Ministry of Environment to discuss with the Indian HC to urge India to prevent clinical waste from India being released towards SL. MEPA had started collecting and sorting the waste that had been washed ashore on the coastal areas off Puttalam. The India Today reported that the waste included a large stock of expired drugs, manufactured in India. more..

Aug 21 (FT) SL’s tea output fell 7.3% in July from a year earlier, the State-run Tea Board said on Monday, and brokers attributed the fall to adverse weather conditions. “There was excessive rain and overcast conditions, especially at higher elevations, resulting in lower high-grown crop due to excess rain. Other areas were also hit by adverse weather,” Anil Cooke of brokers Forbes & Walker said. “But now excess rain conditions are easing, and we expect a better crop in the rest of the year.” more..

Aug 21 (Island) The domestic T-20 league will get underway today with a double header at R. Premadasa Stadium. Colombo will take on Galle in the curtain-raiser at 2pm while Kandy will play Dambulla in the second encounter under lights starting at 7pm. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga will feature in the second game representing Kandy playing under Angelo Mathews. SL Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that the door for Malinga to make an int'l comeback is open, more..

Aug 21 (CT) Sri Lanka men’s and women’s Kabaddi teams had a glorious day recording three wins at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang yesterday. The women’s team had to compete without their skipper, but that was not a deterrent as they registered two wins, beating Indonesia and then Japan within a span of three hours. Skipper Madushani Chaturika suffered a knee injury during their first outing on Sunday against Thailand, which SL lost 41-15. more..

Aug 21 (FT) The Central Bank yesterday said the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has taken steps to evaluate the fund’s share value of Weligama Hotel Properties ahead of a potential sale to a Singaporean company. The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Department received a letter from the Chairman of Weligama Hotel Properties Ltd. (WHPL) in June 2018 to sell its stake to HPL Properties Group. “Subsequently, the EPF Department held several discussions with WHPL in this regard. more..

Aug 21 (FT) The Committee on Public Finance (COPF) is set to hold three public meetings to obtain views and opinions of the public before the budget, COPF Chairman M. A. Sumanthiran said. Committee decided yesterday to hold three public meetings outside of Colombo. The first of the meetings will be held in Kandy on 2 Sept, while the second meeting is scheduled for 3 September. A third meeting is to be held in Matara, however the date has not been finalised yet, Sumanthiran said. more..

Aug 21 (FT) Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he would make his dissenting views known at today’s Cabinet meeting regarding the proposal to impose a mandatory age limit for three-wheeler drivers, insisting that concerns over safety could be addressed by alternative means but acknowledged a regulatory body for the industry may be needed. Proposals to regulate three-wheelers that include a limitation to allow only people 35 years and above to drive them have been around before for some time. more..

Aug 21 (Island) The Chief Operating Officer of the Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) Tissa Wickramasinghe says that development of the Hambantota Port was not somebody’s dream ,but based on a feasibility study conducted in 2003. Hesaid that Ramboll - a leading independent Swedish consultancy firm , had according to its findings advised the Sri Lankan authorities in 2003, that the Hambantota Port could be turned into a good container facility. more..

Aug 21 (FT) The 11 fishermen who went missing after their boat capsized in rough seas off the southern coast yesterday have been rescued and brought ashore today. The fishermen were rescued by a boat from Galle Harbour and were brought to the Harbour at around 10.15 a.m. today. Two of the fishermen have been admitted to the hospital. The boat with the 11 fishermen had left the Ambalangoda Fisheries Harbour around 10.30 a.m. on Sunday. The vessel had capsized near Hikkaduwa and more..

Aug 21 (EN) Sri Lanka's fresh coconuts dropped to an average 30% to 30,793 rupees for 1,000 nuts at the latest auction in August 2018 from a month earlier, amid a global fall in commodity prices and weak demand from desiccated coconut producers. An export ban on fresh coconuts may be lifted to help boost farm gate prices. In July the average price for coconuts were about 45,000 rupees. At the auction on August 16, 1.3 million nuts were sold at the Colombo auction, more..

Aug 21 (DM) In what could be only termed as a ‘desperate’ move, the govt is said to have enquired from the country’s banking sector of the possibility of increasing the pawning loans by at least half a trillion rupees, Mirror Business reliably learns. The government has also asked the banks to join its much-hyped ‘Gamperaliya’ rural development programme and to provide concessionary loans to rural entrepreneurship under its ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ programme. more..

Aug 21 (CT) The Govt has allocated a sum of Rs 32 billion till the end of the year for the Gamperaliya programme, with Rs 200 million set aside per electorate, according to Minister Mangala Samaraweera. He was speaking at a Finance Ministry press conference called yesterday to launch the Enterprise Sri Lanka exhibition, scheduled to begin on 29 August in the Monaragala District. Regarding how the Gamperaliya programme would receive these funds, Samaraweera said, more..

Aug 21 (Island) SLPP Chairman Prof. G. L. Peiris will soon move the District Court, seeking a clarification as regards President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eligibility to contest the 2019 presidential election. Former External Affairs Minister Peiris said in terms of the Article 125 of the Constitution, the District Court could refer the matter to the Supreme Court for a ruling. According to him, SC will have to make its ruling known to the District Court within two months. more..

Aug 21 (Island) Some constituents of the yahapalana coalition have decided to vote against the delimitation report on the provincial council elections, scheduled to be taken up for debate next Friday. Ministers Rauff Hakeem, Mano Ganesan and Rishad Bathiudeen and some political leaders in the ruling coalition have said that they are against the new electoral system and they will reject the delimitation report. Some of the UNP MPs and ministers also have informed Prime Minister more..

Aug 21 (Island) Drivers who ignore railway crossing signals would be soon fined Rs. 25,000, Minister of Transport, Nimal Siripala de Silva said on Sunday at Hikkaduwa. Silva said that laws had already been drafted to impose this fine. Ministry of Transport was modernizing the railway signalling system across the country. Minister Silva said: "We will install 200 new bell and light systems at a cost us USD 6.4 million. The project is implemented by a company affiliated to the Moratuwa University more..