Jun 11 (EN) Sri Lanka's state regulated buses are losing more passengers to other modes of transport after a 12.5% fare hike demanded by a section of bus owners was made the regulated tariff, the head of an industry association said. Gemunu Wijeratne, head of the Lanka Private Bus Operators Association said there was a visible drop of commuters on many routes. "Many people have shifted to trains, which are cheaper," more..

Jun 11 (FT) Ten vibrant nations with an affluent population of 630 million and a GDP of $ 2.25 trillion constitute Sri Lanka’s next big opportunity and today a Daily FT co-initiated dialogue will put this compelling case under the spotlight in Colombo. Organised in partnership with the Uni of Colombo MBA Alumni Association, together with the strategic partnership of global banking giant HSBC, the topic of ASEAN: Sri Lanka’s Next Big Opportunity will be discussed two separate more..

Jun 11 (FT) SL Country Manager of the newly-established Bank of China, Chuan Wong, last week revealed that there were 62 state-owned Chinese companies that had investments or businesses in SL and of them 26 had made SL their regional headquarters. “This is why we chose SL to be one of our headquarters in South Asia. This branch will also cover Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal for our business operations,” said the official from the Bank of China, world’s fourth largest more..

Jun 11 (DM) Holding elections on time is vital to protect democracy, franchise and people’s sovereignty in a country and delay in holding elections had resulted in destruction, the Chairman of Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya said. He stressed the importance of election at a seminar under the theme True democracy depends on the right to vote held to mark Voters’ Day by the Anuradhapura District Secretariat and more..

Jun 11 (FT) Sri Lanka is planning to draw up a China market entry strategy with the help of a specialist global consultancy firm to boost exports. The strategy according to EDB Market Development Director Anoma Premathilaka will be to enhance the exports of pre-identified products. At present Lankan exports to China comprise apparel, tea, rubber, coconut and spices. Last year China emerged as the sixth largest market for Lankan exports with a record value of $ 415 million, up $ 108% from 2016. more..

Jun 11 (Island) The former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran must be brought back to the country immediately because he alone could reveal who masterminded the Treasury Bond scam in 2015 and 2016, former President Rajapaksa said. He said that everyone was talking about Aloysius and those who had got money from his companies. "They should be probed, but it is Mahendran who can reveal who got the bond scams carried out." He said Mahendran had to be brought back for questioning. more..

Jun 11 (Island) It has been revealed that State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe accepted three cheques to the tune of Rs. 3 million from W. M. Mendis & Company, belonging to Arjun Aloysius, after the 2015 general election. The last parliamentary election was held on August 17, 2015. The first cheque for one million rupees, issued from W. M. Mendis Company’s Bank of Ceylon account, to Senasinghe was dated Aug 24, 2015. more..

Jun 11 (Island) Minister Sarath Amunugama visited the National School of Business Management’s Green Uni Town last week. He was greeted by the new Chairman of NSBM P. Ranepura and the vice Chancellor Dr. E.A. Weerasinghe. Progress of the NSBM Project was presented to the Minister by Dr. E.A. Weerasinghe. NSBM Green University Town also presented the Chathur Widha Man peth an all-island programme for the development of school children to suit the 21st Century. more..

Jun 11 (DM) JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa says he would take legal action against Maithri Gunarathna, who had stated that he had obtained money from Perpetual Treasuries, Arjun Alloysius through Mr Mahesh Senanayaka. In a Facebook post he says that Gunarathna's statement was malicious towards him. He states throughout the past few days, those who had taken money from Aloysius and have been exposed, with proof, were attempting to mislead the public by pointing their fingers at others. more..

Jun 11 (CT) Two senior SLFP Ministers assured that they would remain with the Unity Govt until end 2019, thus refuting speculation that they would quit after the SLFP reforms. This follows UPFA MP Dayasiri Jayasekera telling this newspaper last week that the SLFP Ministers in Govt would quit the Govt soon after the reforms, a point stressed by former Minister S.B. Dissanayake to this newspaper last Tuesday. more..

Jun 11 (NR) Police has arrested 3,666 individuals, including 998 suspects with warrants against them, during a special 11-hour operation. The special raid was carried out between 9 last night and 8 this morning. 17,682 police personnel were deployed during the raid. Police Media Unit said cases were also filed against 6,012 persons. Meanwhile, 648 persons were apprehended for driving under the influence. Police has apprehended 1,090 persons for various other offences, more..

Jun 11 (NR) Six backbenchers of the UNP are scheduled be sworn-in as Deputy Ministers. Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said the group will be sworn-in before President Sirisena this morning. He noted that the proposed appointments have been ratified by party leader PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. Accordingly, Deputy Ministers will be appointed for the Ministries of Public Administration and Management, Law and Order, Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure & Community Dev, more..

Jun 11 (DN) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who established a world record by obtaining massive foreign loans when in power has pledged to reduce taxes by 20% if elected to power again. But, he should disclose the ways and means he will devise to bring down taxes by such an amount, if the promise is genuine, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said. PM said SL’s foreign debt ran into Rs.7,391 billion during Rajapaksa rule. more..

Jun 11 (GDI) Sri Lanka is making steady progress towards the goal of mine free status and remains hopeful of completing mine action by 2020, SL Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez said. Addressing the forum on individualized approach on the sidelines of the Intersessional Meeting of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention on Friday in Geneva, he recounted how SL achieved success in what was considered a perilous task in 2009. more..

Jun 11 (PTI) A senior leader of Prez Maithripala Sirisena's SLFP warned the party against continuing in the unity govt, saying the longer it stays in the ruling coalition led by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, the more it would suffer. The remark by SLFP leader and MP Chandima Weerakkody comes amidst widening gulf between gulf between the leaders of Sirisena's SLFP and Wickremesinghe's UNP. "The longer we stay in the govt, the more damaging it will be for the party," Weerakkody said. more..

Jun 11 (Island) Member of the CIAOBOC Neville Guruge said the commission would soon examine a complaint that MP Dayasiri Jayasekera had received Rs. 1 mn from Walt and Row Associates in the run-up to August 2015 parliamentary polls. He said so when asked him whether the CIABOC had received a complaint from a person, named D.D.W. Chandradewa, that Jayasekera had received campaign funds more..

Jun 11 (DM) News that US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will hold a summit meeting at a venue in Singapore on June 12 this year were confirmed by the White House spokesperson. The on-again-off again summit was given a new lease of life after Trump hosted Kim’s representative who brought with him a personal letter from Kim to the US leader. US personnel are already in Singapore finalising arrangements. They will remain in place the statement added until the summit. more..

Jun 11 (DM) All the signs are that the 2015 liberal political program that was spearheaded by a broad coalition of social and political forces cutting across various divisions in society is disintegrating fast and the aspirations of a large majority of people in the country will remain unfulfilled or worse. The newly elected govt could not get its act together and embark upon a clear and co-ordinated programme of economic, political and social renewal due to both economic challenges arising from more..

Jun 11 (CT) The world has suddenly awakened from a deep slumber to clean up, all plastic and garbage pollution globally, despite having heard screams for years from nature lovers and environmentalists to shun it at once. On seeing the devastating plastic pollution, on the lands and seas around the world like never before, even the UN identified that by 2050; there will be more plastic waste in the sea than fish. more..

Jun 11 (ST) Don’t panic – it’s the flu. Take precautions to prevent catching the flu and if you have the flu take steps not to spread it to others. This is the strong advice on how to combat influenza from Consultant Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige. Confirming that the flu doing the rounds now has been identified predominantly as Influenza A by the MRI through numerous samples collected from the south, he dispels more..

Jun 11 (EN) An urban elitist tax imposed suddenly has hit carbonated soft drink sales of a domestic producer, who lost market share to foreign manufacturers which were already in Western nations where the regressive fad originated. Ceylon Cold Stores said the tax pushed up prices of carbonated soft drinks by 33%, leading to a collapse in demand, on top of a currency collapse which led to an economic downturn. more..

Jun 11 (CT) Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa participated in an Ifthar celebration on Friday at a leading Colombo hotel. “Over the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to attend another Ifthar ceremony in Beruwala, while Basil Rajapaksa attended one in Galle, and Former Presiden Rajapaksa hosted one at his official residence in Colombo,” he said adding that Mahinda Rajapaksa was a long-standing friend of more..

Jun 11 (CT) The UNP is currently conducting a probe in connection with its MPs who allegedly had received money from Arjun Aloysius, said Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake. He was speaking in connection with the accusations levelled at Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe, that he had received funding from Aloysius to further his election campaign. He went on to say that he is grateful to the good governance Govt which more..

Jun 11 (DM) Exactly 731 days after duo Johann Peiris and Jayanthi Kuru-Uthumpala put Sri Lanka on the world map of mountaineering by conquering Mount Everest on May 21, 2016, Peiris, like Jayanthi two years ago, summitted the mountain on May 22, 2018, at 5.55 am (Nepal time). He became the second Sri Lankan to accomplish this arduous mountaineering mission, having failed to reach the summit on his first attempt, in 2016, more..

Jun 11 (SL) Former President Rajapaksa says public calls for his brother to be considered as the Presidential candidate of the joint opposition at the next Presidential elections, is being considered. Responding to a question posed by this journalist over the growing public support for former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to be Presidential candidate, former Prez Rajapaksa said that he was aware of the support Gotabaya more..

Jun 11 (Island) Politicians and academics warn the govt against circumventing the country’s laws and regulations in the face of China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) Ltd.’s demand for permission to set up an artificial entertainment zone on reclaimed land in the Hambantota Port. The CMPort has withheld the last tranche of US$ 585 million to Sri Lanka over this issue. more..

Jun 11 (SL) Presidential Commission investigating allegations surrounding SriLankan Airlines, Mihin Lanka and SriLankan Catering, has found that the first board of Directors for Mihin Lanka was appointed without written approval from the Govt. Prez Commission appointed to investigate financial irregularities at SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering (Pvt.) Limited and Mihin Lanka, commenced recording evidence last week. more..

Jun 11 (Island) Civil society groups which campaigned for common candidate Maithripala Sirisena and the UNP at the 2015 presidential and parliamentary polls, respectively, accused the Mahinda Rajapaksa camp of propagating a lie that they had links to the tainted primary dealer, Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) or its subsidiaries, Walt and Row Associates and W.M. Mendis & Company Limited. more..

Jun 11 (EN) Laugfs Gas group, which supplies liquid petroleum gas, is considering a tie-up with a strategic partner with similar interests and assets, following its restructuring last year. Group chairman W K H Wegapitiya has said the firm is confident the new structure will drive growth of the energy group to new heights as it set sights on growth in the region, with the group expanding to Bangladesh. The restructuring of Laugfs Gas group in March 2017 brought its core LPG assets under more..

Jun 11 (FT) Tamara Kunanayakam, formerly a UN official and Diplomat and presently, civil and human rights activist cum public voice maker, presented last week a well-researched paper on the theme Dynamic Inter-relationships among Economic Policy, International Relations And National Sovereignty before a fully-packed audience in Colombo. The event had jointly been organised by the newly formed Sri Lanka Association for Political Economy (SLAPE), Colombo Uni’s Economics Dept more..

Jun 11 (CT) Sixteen close associates of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe as well as their families are to be targeted in a special program with the intention of crippling the UNP leader politically ahead of a possible run for the Presidency in 2020, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns. The move is part of an overall political strategy that would have Maithripala Sirisena winning a second term supported by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for whom the Prime Minister’s post has been earmarked. more..

Jun 11 (CT) The CID sleuths probing into the Treasury Bonds scam have come under pressure of continuing with free and fair investigation. In the backdrop of former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran, who is the prime suspect in the Treasury Bonds scam, evading arrest and is in Singapore, it is a pity to note the law enforcement officials continuing with their probe into the massive scandalous affair have been ordered, in a manner, to protect the politicians who have been identified with the scandal. more..

Jun 11 (DM) Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe today said the presenting of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution on abolishing the executive presidency at a time such as this could pose a major problem. After a visit to the Colombo Arts Gallery, he told the media that if the executive presidency was abolished at a time when even the local govt bodies were unstable, the country would end up in anarchy. more..

Jun 11 (DM) The annual performance report of the Justice Ministry for the year 2017 which was presented to Parliament last week said 705,075 cases have been pending in the year 2017. Report said 4,033 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, 4,932 in the Court of Appeal, 6,097 in Commercial High Courts, 5,833 in Civil Appellate Courts, 17,552 in the High Court, 190,803 in District Courts, 474,552 in Magistrate’s Courts and 1,282 in the Children’s Magistrate’s Courts were more..

Jun 11 (AD) The media has treated him unfairly and he won’t let that happen to anyone else says, former Minister MP Ravi Karunanayake. He says that the media put him in an uncomfortable position when inquiring about the Bond scam and MPs who received money from Perpetual Treasuries and he will not allow that to happen to anyone else. However, the media has been constantly publishing gossip and it is a huge obstacle for the development of the country, he further stated. more..

Jun 11 (NR) Postal Trade Union Collective has launched an indefinite strike at the Central Mail Exchange and at more than 23,000 post offices across the island. Convenor of the Collective Chinthaka Bandara said the indefinite strike was launched in protest of the recruitment procedure. Bandara said postal employees are faced with severe injustice due to the lack of an effective recruitment process. more..

Jun 11 (CB) South Africa's faith in Dale Steyn to return to peak fitness and form in int'l cricket was restated on Monday when the fast bowler was named in the 15-man Test squad for next month's tour of SL. Steyn's last appearance for the Proteas came in the first Test against India at Newlands at the start of the year, which he was unable to complete when he limped out of the second innings with a heel injury. At the time, specialists suggested that fast bowler could return in just 6 weeks. more..

Jun 11 (NR) State Minister Ajith P Perera has vehemently rejected allegations that he obtained money from Perpetual Treasuries Limited. Speaking to media he said the allegations levelled are completely baseless. State Minister stated if any MP has obtained money from Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) it should be proven through stringent investigations. He stressed he is not affiliated with the owner of PTL Arjun Aloysius adding neither has he met or spoken with him. more..

Jun 11 (AD) SLFP cannot be build by just changing the positions, says former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is not practical run an anti-govt campaign while staying in a UNP govt and firstly, they should leave the UNP govt, stated the former President. Today, the President blames the PM and the PM blames the President in public, he said. The leaders of the country acting like this have become a pest to the country, he added. more..