Jul 10 (NB) Bangladesh A team made a disappointing start in their third and final four-day match against ther Sri Lankan counterparts as they were bowled out for 167 runs in 62.3 overs in their first innings at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Sri Lanka also had a similar start in their first innings as they made 78-3 at stumps on the first day’s play after Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Nayeem Hasan bagged one wicket each for the hosts. more..

Jul 10 (DM) A decision has been taken to increase fuel prices of CEYPETCO outlets from tonight, Minister Rajitha Senaratne said. Accordingly, Petrol (Octane 92) will be increased by Rs.8 to Rs.145, Petrol (Octane 95) will be increased by Rs.7 to Rs.155, One litre of Auto Diesel increased by Rs.9 to Rs.118 and One litre of Super Diesel will be increased by Rs.10 to Rs.129, price of Kerosene will remain at Rs.70. more..

Jul 10 (DM) Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Deputy Minister of Law and Order Nalin Bandara Jayamaha and IGP Pujith Jayasundara are to visit North on Thursday to defuse the pro-LTTE mindset in the area. Deputy Minister Jayamaha said that he will visit North together with Minister Madduma Bandara and JGP Jayaundara to look into the recent violent incidence in the area and to defuse the pro LTTE mindset among the people in the area. more..

Jul 10 (DM) Minister of Buddhasasana Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said today the cabinet of Ministers had decided to implement the death sentence for drug traffickers including those who were already being sentenced to death in prisons. He said the decision of implementing the death sentence could have been carried out during the past fifteen years. The cabinet of ministers had taken this collective decision considering the recent deaths and a large amount of drug imports more..

Jul 10 (EN) Sri Lanka is set to implement a fuel price hike by formula, which was reportedly scuttled by Prez Maithripala Sirisena last week, in a development that can help improve long term economic and currency stability. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera implemented the price formula after detailed discussions and gaining cabinet approval and not through an arbitrary policy. Market pricing fuel is a policy advancement more..

Jul 11 (ST) Today marks three and a half years of the coalition govt. Although there have been significant gains in democratic governance and political freedom, it has been a period of economic disappointment of below 5% economic growth. Since the present regime took office on Jan 8, 2015, economic growth has been declining. The economy grew by only 4.8% in 2015, 4.5% in 2016 and 3.1% in 2017. This year’s first quarter’s growth was only 3.2%. IMF expects economy to grow by 4% more..

Jul 11 (CT) Party politics and power politics are the twin scourges the SL Muslims are faced with in what the Muslim society sees as the hegemonic display of strengths of some group (s) over the others contrary to the teachings of Islam. Ramadhan fasting (any fasting for that matter) has two sanctioned events, one at the start of the fast each day (taking of the pre-dawn meal) and the other is the time of breaking the fast known as Iftar which is done by taking date fruits plus water first followed by khanji more..

Jul 11 (SO) The drastic rise in the number of politically-motivated trolls and bots in SL’s online social media space has demonstrated a potential capacity to undermine democratic electoral processes by influencing voters at a future election, digital media analysts opine. According to a Jan 2018 report by Groundviews, this presents unique challenges for, amongst others, election monitoring bodies, which are traditionally geared to more..

Jul 11 (CT) Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara writes that After the 2015 Presidential elections, for reasons better known to DJ, he approached GR and joined Viyath Maga. That’s a blatant lie. As Dullas Alahapperuma and Matale mayor Mohammed Hilmy will attest, “After the 2015 presidential election” I met ex-President Rajapaksa at Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa’s residence of January 10th and rolled out a recovery strategy centered on Dinesh Gunawardena in Parliament. more..

Jul 11 (Island) Reading Ms Vijayakala Maheswaran’s statement at a public meeting in Jaffna on 2nd July 2018 reminded me of two popular aphorisms on history and the past. They deal with humanity’s propensity to not learn from the past. In the first of these, Margaret MacMillan observes, "we can learn from history, but we can also deceive ourselves when we selectively take evidence from the past to justify what we have already made up our minds to do." The second, often attributed to more..

Jul 11 (CT) JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa says that this Govt should be sent home very soon. Q: Whatever problems there are in the country, the main topic now is who will be the next Presidential Candidate. Is the JVP procrastinating so that once the perahera is gone they can support someone who will be contesting? A: According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the Prez Election will be held in 5 years’ time. more..

Jul 11 (DN) On that fateful night of December 5, 1906, 22-year-old Francis Dixon Artygalle, one of the wealthiest men in the island, heir to lion’s share of the Artygalle inheritance, was talking to a visitor at the Pettah residence of C P Dias, Principal of Wesley College and City Father. A gunman standing behind shot him at point-blank range. Being rushed to hospital in a critical condition, causing great public interest and excitement he succumbed to injuries on the following day. more..

Jul 11 (Island) The UNP is calling for a probe into The New York Times (NYT) story that China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), funded Mahinda Rajapaksa’s last presidential election campaign. It has also demanded a parliamentary debate on the issue. It has got hold of something to bludgeon the JO/SLPP with. Ironically, the UNP, which tried to sweep the bond scams under the carpet in spite of the availability of irrefutable evidence, is now demanding a probe into more..

Jul 11 (DN) During the past few weeks, we have seen comments from both the North and South yearning for a more authoritarian govt to regulate the country’s law and order. Former State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran created an uproar among Southern politicians when she asked that the LTTE be brought back to ensure the safety of women and children in the North and East. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya referred the matter of Maheswaran’s statement to the Attorney-General and more..

Jul 11 (GV) On July 2, 2018, Hiru TV aired footage from two press conferences hosted by the SLPP during its 6:55 pm broadcast. During the press conference, the members of the JO reacted to a story run by the New York Times, which focused on the deal around the Hambantota Port to illustrate the argument that China’s Belt and Road initiative was exploitative and left countries like SL struggling with debt. (Belt and Road initiative involves China underwriting infrastructure investment more..

Jul 11 (Roar) There are little shops in Fort and Pettah in Colombo which often go unnoticed, for most of these shops are hidden between much larger and newer establishments. Trust Watch Works on Sri Baron Jayathilake Mawatha in Fort, is one such place. The shop is run by Lenus Peiris, and he has made a living for himself and his family over the past ten years by making, selling, and repairing antique & modern clocks more..

Jul 11 (Island) Have you ever heard of a country changing its Constitution to attract foreign investment? We were recently told how a new Constitution could bring in fresh investment and receive more economic benefits if it adopted a new Constitution. Thanks to a statement issued by the four-party TNA soon after the outgoing US Ambassador Atul Keshap met TNA leader and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan last Thursday, the diplomat’s advice is in the public domain. more..

Jul 11 (Island) In 1989, the year in which the events portrayed in this film took place in Sri Lanka, the country became literally the bloodiest place on earth. Its estimated murder rate was over 100 per 100,000 of its population. The rage for murder was generated and fueled by several interrelated conflicts. There were conflicts between ethnic groups; between haves and have-nots and between political rival groups. Involvement of paramilitary groups contributed to the mayhem. more..

Jul 11 (CT) SL’s leading pace spearhead Lasith Malinga is mulling retirement from the international scene following the ongoing Global T20 Canada series. 34-year old Malinga is leading the Montreal Tigers in the ongoing Canadian T20 series and is currently leading the wicket tally with 12 wickets in five matches at an average of 11 and economy rate of 6.60. Malinga believes he will be selected to represent SL during the home more..

Jul 11 (Island) Kuliyapitiya Central athlete Parami Wasanthi continued her impressive run as she established a new Sri Lanka Junior record in the heats of the 3,000 metres steeplechase on day one of the IAAF World Under-20 Championships in Tempere, Finland on Tuesday. Wasanthi, who clocked a world leading time in the Youth category in winning the Under-18 2,000 metres steeplechase at the Asian Qualifying meet for the Youth Olympics last week, returned a time of 10m20.12s more..

Jul 11 (DM) A clash that broke out between two groups of second year students of the Engineering Faculty of the Polgolla Open University over a SMS was broken up by the Katugastota Police. The contents of a message sent by a second year student of the faculty to a fellow student had been interpreted as a threat and and argument that had ensued had escalated into a brawl, police sources said. The security unit situated at the university had been unable to intervene in the brawl. more..

Jul 11 (Island) SL’s white ball skipper Angelo Mathews is expecting a stiff challenge from the South Africans with the bilateral series between the two teams getting underway tomorrow. Galle Int'l Stadium will host the first of the two Tests and the Proteas have an impressive record against SL. They won the last Test match in Galle by 153 runs in 2014. This year marks the 25th anniversary of bilateral cricket between the two nations. more..

Jul 11 (CT) Steeple Chase runner Parami Wasanthi Marisstella impressed by setting a new personal best and a National junior record when she finished fifth in 10 minutes 20.12 seconds in the 3000m Steeple Chase heat at the IAAF World Junior Championship which started at Tampere, Finland yesterday. Parami the 17–year-old Asian Junior and Youth Champion competed with the Under 20 athletes in an int'l field as it would give her good exposure ahead of Youth Olympic Games. more..

Jul 11 (CT) Worker remittances declined for the second month this year in May to US$ 580.4 million, according to the Central Bank, which highlighted that the foreign exchange earnings from the sector during the first five months had slowed down to 3.3%. Worker remittances declined in February for the first time this year, as migrant workers only sent US$ 571.5 million to Sri Lanka, down 4.45% compared to US$ 598.1 million sent home during the same month last year. more..

Jul 11 (FT) The National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry has announced that the Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee has recommended Lazard Asia Ltd., Singapore in association with MTI Consulting to be awarded the contract to act as an international transaction advisor for the sale of State-owned Hilton and Grand Hyatt Hotels. Public Enterprise Development Ministry called for Request for more..

Jul 11 (DM) Authorised tour guides in Sigiriya expressed concern about constant clashes between them and the Chinese touts, and they requested the govt to save the SL tour guides from touts. They pointed out that they obtained the tour guide licence from the Minister of Tourism after a formal training under the ministry and the Central Provincial Council. They said a member of the Sigiriya Tour Guide Association Hashan Dilruk (28) was injured in a clash between the SL Tour Guides more..

Jul 11 (Island) A delegation led by British High Commissioner to SL, James Dauris visited London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) SL at the Group’s facility in Trace Expert City, Colombo 10. High Commissioner was welcomed by Dee Liyanwela, Head of LSEG Sri Lanka along with members of the leadership team. This was the High Commissioner’s first visit to the UK-based Group’s facility in Colombo, where he was briefed on LSEG’s SL business & contribution to the economy. more..

Jul 11 (FT) Colombo Int'l Financial City (CIFC) project is expected to take a step forward in the next two months when laws drafted to govern and lay the groundwork for the venture are presented to Cabinet, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe told a business forum in Singapore. PM outlined the investment expected from CIFC, more commonly known as Port City project, at a business forum organised for potential investors in S'pore. more..

Jul 11 (FT) According to the latest edition of business magazine LMD, the LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) declined by four basis points to 102 in June, yet again falling short of its 12-month average of 115. As for the reasons behind the recent drop, in the July issue of LMD, Nielsen’s Managing Director Sharang Pant states that “while inflation has been steadily coming down, there is a fear of it moving up again on account of an increase in fuel prices”. more..

Jul 11 (FT) Central Bank said that it has instructed Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFSP) to immediately begin repayment of 10% of deposit liabilities. Monetary Board of the Central Bank, having considered the requests of the depositors, instructed SFSP to pay urgently 10% of deposit liabilities of SFSP commencing from Tuesday, the monetary authority said in a statement. “The details of the payment plan will be informed to depositors by SFSP shortly. more..

Jul 11 (EN) Less than 7% of 1.1 million public sector workforce have university degrees in commerce, management or science related areas, while 35% passed their A/Ls. Dept of Census & Statics released final report on the Public and Semi-Govt Sector Employment Census conducted in 2016. "One in four of public sector employees hold degrees. Of the roughly 290,000 degree holders, more than half have arts degrees, more..

Jul 11 (Island) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said on Monday that his shift from the corporate world to politics was a shift from collective discipline and responsibility to one of fragmentation and cross currents. The Speaker said so while speaking as chief guest at a corporate event where Uswatte Confectionery Works forayed into the biscuits market with the launch of Uswatte Golden Biscuits. "I was pleased to see the teamwork and enthusiasm among Uswatte Confectionery's staff more..

Jul 11 (EN) Corrupt practices are is still prevalent in the shipping sector which, along with govt policies favouring influential corporate and voter bases discourage foreign investors, SL Shippers’ Council chairman Chrisso de Mel said. “We may have the best ideas and strategies to grow exports and be successful in int'l trade but unless we have discipline, trust and respect for human life and nature we will not have a future,” he said. “It is time we learnt from the past & make necessary more..

Jul 11 (Island) UPFA MP Shehan Semasinghe says a comprehensive inquiry is needed to ascertain US funding made available to some party/parties in the run-up to Jan 2015 prez election. He said so in response to UNP backbenchers’ call for presidential probe on recent New York Times report that alleged China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) funded Rajapaksa’s 2015 re-election bid to the tune of USD 7.6 mn. more..

Jul 11 (AD) Officer in Charge of the Kalkudah Police Administrative Unit has been arrested while accepting a bribe of Rs 300,000, stated the Bribery Commission. The arrest has been made this morning (10)at the Koralai Pattu Provincial Council in Valaichchenai when the said OIC was receiving the bribe. The bribe had been asked to produce a police report needed to obtain a valuation report from the Central Environmental Authority to build a brick factory in Kalkudah. more..

Jul 11 (AD) The victim’s wife and her alleged paramour have been arrested by police in connection with the murder of a three-wheeler driver at Nahena, Kiribathgoda. Body of a man stabbed to death with a sharp object was found inside a three-wheeler in Nahena, Kiribathgoda yesterday (9). The murder had occurred at around 3.30 am while the deceased was identified as a 40 year old three-wheeler driver named Danushka Tharanga Gunaratne, living in Matthew Houses, more..

Jul 11 (CT) The Academy of Health Professionals (AHPs) warned the Ministry of Health against giving into the demand of the Govt Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), to remove the Acting Deputy Director of the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) without a proper probe into the allegations against him. AHPs President, Ravi Kumudesh warned the Ministry that his Union and several other health service unions, more..

Jul 11 (ET) After China, now Russia plans on a defence agreement with Sri Lanka. Russia intends to sign an inter-governmental agreement on defence cooperation with Sri Lanka. According to Govt of Russian Federation, Ministry of Defense is instructed to hold negotiations with Sri Lanka and sign an agreement on defence cooperation. Russian draft document states that military cooperation between Russia and Sri Lanka will contribute to strengthening peace & international security. more..

Jul 11 (Island) The verdict on the national cricket team’s top management and captain Dinesh Chandimal for bringing the game into disrepute is expected to be delivered tonight ahead of the first Test match against South Africa in Galle on Thursday. Along with Chandimal, Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha and Manager Asanka Gurusinha face suspension from two Test matches after being charged with conduct that is contrary to the Spirit of the Game. more..