Aug 31 (Island) Cabinet of Ministers had not been informed of the decision to cancel four Airbus A350-900 leases in 2016, Secretary to the Cabinet of Ministers, Sumith Abeysinghe told the PCoI. Abeysinghe said the Cabinet had been informed of the decision to terminate the agreement in 2016, but further developments had not been communicated. "I am not aware of the specifics of the outcome of the termination," he said. more..

Aug 31 (DM) Sri Lanka was made a one of the taking points by India’s External Affairs Minister Susma Swaraj at the 3rd edition of the Indian Ocean Conference held in Hanoi, Vietnam. Sri Lanka is always a hot topic when discussions take place regarding the security aspects in the Indian Ocean. India has its concerns over China’s influence in Sri Lanka and it wouldn’t have come as a surprise when Swaraj met SL Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe on the sidelines of the conference. more..

Aug 31 (DM) On Monday, United Nations behaving like Popeye the Sailor after a spinach drink, fired from all cylinders at Myanmar. A damning report by a UN probe team recommended that Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing and several other military leaders should be investigated for genocide, and that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Give a big applause to the UN probe team, which included familiar figures like human rights lawyer Marzuki Darsuman more..

Aug 31 (DM) The Office on the Missing Persons (OMP) was established by the Govt of Sri Lanka in order to end the suffering of victims and their families. Mirak Raheem, one of the commissioners of OMP, said that OMP possesses significant power and that it is open to the advice of others. However, he said that the number one challenge the council faces is the lack of trust people have in this organisation. more..

Aug 31 (CT) Distributors of liquefied petroleum (LP) gas yesterday called for an increase in the transport charges, warning that there would be an acute shortage of supply, since they would have to downsize their operations by some 65% owing to the increase in overheads. They therefore called on the relevant authorities to address the matter at the very earliest. The pricing formula, endorsed by the state-owned Litro Gas since 2007, more..

Aug 31 (ST) A regulatory mechanism will be established for three-wheelers once Parliament passes an Act to transform the National Council for Road Safety (NCRS) into a Commission, a top official said. NCRS Chairman Dr Sisira Kodagoda said that the new commission will coordinate with Provincial Councils (PCs) to streamline the regulation of all transport services, including buses, trains, three-wheelers and school vans. more..

Aug 31 (AD) A resolution to request UNHRC to establish a special court in Sri Lanka to probe cases related to war crimes and human right violations in the North during the war, has been passed at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC). The TNA representatives of the Provincial Council have unanimously approved the resolution yesterday during the 130th session of NPC held in Kaithady, Jaffna at the PC premises. more..

Aug 31 (Island) Cabinet had approved a decision taken by the Treasury to provide comfort letters as securities to loans SriLankan had taken from state banks instead of Treasury Guarantees, Secretary to the Cabinet, Sumith Abeysinghe told the PCoI. A comfort letter is a written statement issued by an outside auditor, stating that there is no inaccurate or misleading information in the prospectus of an entity that is issuing securities. more..

Aug 31 (DM) PM Office said the hall adjoining Temple Trees given out for MP Chatura Senaratne’s wedding was paid for by him according to standard procedure and not given free of charge, as such it was in no way a misappropriation of public funds as claimed by certain parties. Rejecting certain media reports that the hall was given free of charge the MPs wedding, the statement said his wedding was held in a hall adjoining the PM’s more..

Aug 31 (CT) The World Bank (WB) is aiding the Govt of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to transform the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) operations in Colombo into a public-private partnership (PPP). The WB, posting on its website said earlier this week that one of several models which they are looking into is the operation of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), where the BMTC procured 1,500 clean natural gas buses more..

Aug 31 (DM) Former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who kept away from mainstream politics so far, said today that would not remain silent when the country was heading towards disaster and would join Wednesday's Jana Balaya protest organised by the joint opposition (JO). He said Sri Lanka has never before fallen into the political, social and economic depths such as that seen in recent times and added that more..

Aug 31 (PMD) The Chairmanship of the 5th Summit of the BIMSTEC handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena. The 4th Summit of the BIMSTEC commenced yesterday in Kathmandu, Nepal and today during the conclusion of the summit the new Chairmanship of it was handed over to the SL President. Accordingly, the 5th Summit of the BIMSTEC will be held in SL. BIMSTEC is a regional organization comprising 7 member States more..

Aug 31 (TG) A Sri Lankan man employed by a Sydney university has been charged over a document that police allege contained plans for terrorism attacks. Mohamed Nizamdeen, 25, was arrested by counter-terrorism officers at the University of NSW in Kensington on Thursday, police said. It followed a tip-off from a worker at the university, who police said found a notebook that allegedly contained the names of several more..