Jun 15 (GDI) The govt is planning to obtain US$ 48.67 million from Standard Chartered Band upon the aid of Canada Exports Development Institute to purchase 12 railway engines to service the upcountry railway line. Cabinet has granted approval earlier to purchase 12 locomotives for the SL Railway Department in order to improve the operational capacity of the upcountry railway line. The train engines will be procured from the General Electric Company in the US more..

Jun 15 (CB) Spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has turned down an offer by Minister of Sports to help the game by joining in as a consultant. Issuing a statement, Muralitharan said that it was an insincere move to use the good name of reputed cricketers without sincere hopes of revamping the sport. On Thursday, Minister of Sports Faizer Musthapaha had appealed to former captains Aravinda, Mahanama, Mahela, Sangakkara and Murali to join SLC as consultants. more..

Jun 15 (AD) Main suspect in the recent murder of the Deputy Chairman of the Karandeniya PS has been arrested in Weragoda, Meetiyagoda. The suspect is believed to be an accomplice of the underworld leader Kosgoda Sujee. He was arrested while in hiding at Kahawa, Weragoda. Dy Chairman of Karandeniya PS, Donald Sampath Ranaweera, a member of the SLPP was shot dead at Korakena in Uragasmanhandiya on June 8. Victim was travelling in an SUV when he was shot at by two gunmen on a motorcycle. more..

Jun 15 (NR) An appeals petition has been filed for the termination of the prison sentence and the acquittal of the General Secretary of the BBS Galagodaththe Gnanasara thera. Gnanasara thera's attorneys filed the appeals petition before the Homagama High Court. Gnanasara thera was sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment for threatening the wife of missing journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, Sandhya. The sentencing was issued by Homagama Chief Magistrate Udesh Ranatunga yesterday. more..

Jun 15 (Island) SL�s Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake was among a host of reputed military leaders who gathered at the recent US Army�s LANPAC Symposium and Exposition organised by the Institute of Land Warfare in Honolulu, Hawaii. The annual world-class forum of military intellectuals which highlighted the role of land forces in the Indo-Pacific theatre and its contribution to the joint force in war and peace during extensive three-day more..

Jun 15 (AD) A thirteen-year-old girl from a school in Ranna who was hospitalised after she suddenly fell at school later shockingly found out that she was in fact 8 months pregnant. The school girl, a Grade 9 student, was admitted to the Tangalle Base Hospital by her stepmother after being notified by teachers that she had fallen ill on June 11. Only then was it uncovered that the underage girl was 8 month pregnant, hospital sources said. As the girl�s condition was critical, doctors at more..

Jun 15 (NR) Traffic restricted along Colombo Kotahena Road from 9pm Vehicular movement along the Colombo Kotahena Road will be restricted from 9pm today till 5am tomorrow. Accordingly vehicular movement will be restricted from 6th lane, K Cyril Perera Road, Kotahena till Wasala Road Junction in order to lay pipelines. Motorists travelling towards Muttuwal are advised to resort to George R De Silva Road through Hettiyawatta Junction and the New Road. more..

Jun 15 (DN) A vast number of progressive proposals that can make a real change in people�s lives will be missed if the Constitutional reforms process was stalled, Constitutional Assembly Secretariat Additional Secretary Yuresha Fernando said. She was speaking at a panel discussion organised by the USAID and Internews at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute on Wednesday. The event was to mark the launch of a report on Right to Information, Anti-Corruption and Bribery, more..

Jun 15 (DM) Nalin Bandara Jayamaha who assumed duties yesterday as the Deputy Minister of Law and Order and Public Administration and Management, is to give a statement at the FCID today. The FCID summoned the Deputy Minister to record a statement over a complaint which he lodged with the FCID in July in 2016 in connection with an alleged financial misappropriation that occurred when purchasing two ships from the Shipping Corporation during the previous regime. more..

Jun 15 (EN) Sri Lanka will strengthen its environmental law to enabe more affective action against growing industria pollution, urban waste disposal and illegal buildings. Minister Gayantha Karunathileka said the National Environment Act is to be amended to enabe authorities better cope with anticipated pollution problems in future. The law provides the legal framework for the coordination of all sectors related to the environment at national level and is implemented by the CEA. more..

Jun 15 (EN) National Water Supply and Drainage Board, is investing US$ 1.2 billion to increase access to safe drinking water, but high borrowing costs, leaky pipes, and volatile weather may require more alternative financing. The Water Board provides pipe-born safe drinking water to less than half the Sri Lankan population and has several projects worth around US$ 1.2 billion (190 billion rupees) to increase its coverage to 100% of the population by 2025, more..

Jun 15 (NR) The Colombo Grand Mosque says Muslims will celebrate the Eid Festival tomorrow as the new moon has been sighted. Ramadan is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. Muslims in Sri Lanka began the Ramadan Fast on the 18th of May, while a majority of the Muslims the world over began their fast on the 17th of May. more..

Jun 15 (NR) JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution is mostly advantageous to former President Rajapaksa. He said that under the present Constitution if the presidency becomes vacant, PM gets the opportunity to become President. But if Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes Prime Minister, he will lose the opportunity to become President, he said. However, under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, Mahinda Rajapaksa gets the chance to become a powerful PM. more..

Jun 15 (EN) Sri Lanka is developing seafront infrastructure and regulations to promote boat building and nautical tourism, Minister Malik Samarawickrama said. �The boat building industry is a billion-dollar industry and SL should take full advantage of this emerging trend,� he told a news conference to announce the launch of the island�s boat show. Boat Show Sri Lanka 2018, which this year will also include a boating festival, more..

Jun 16 (CT) As usual the Muslim world is split in celebrating the Eid, one quarter feasted on Friday and the other is feasting on Saturday. This is a perennial problem that is creating unwanted disunity within the so called umma, only because of the inconsistency of the mullahs in accepting science. Regarding the beginning and end of the fasting month there is the saying of the Prophet, �do not start fasting until you see the moon and do not end fasting until you see it. more..

Jun 16 (SO) Colombo is currently experiencing a construction boom, with new buildings mushrooming all over the city. Construction sites are so common, with cranes overhanging them, that nobody gives them a second thought. However, these cranes hover over public roads at times and carry a deadly hazard to the safety of those passing beneath it, a fact that the majority ignore or remain ignorant of. There is a possibility of these cranes collapsing on the public & causing serious injury or death. more..

Jun 16 (CT) Former Minister and Member of the SLFP group of 16 who crossed over to the Opposition from the Unity Govt, Chandima Weerakkody believes that the SLFP will not be able to win the hearts of the people or undergo radical changes by 2 Sept, as long as some SLFP members continue to remain in the Unity Govt with the UNP. Q: The SLFP group of 16 crossed over abruptly, but you haven�t been able to achieve anything so far. more..

Jun 16 (DN) The politics of division bothering the governing coalition made worse by the two key politicians associated with questionable donations from Perpetual Treasuries and its associate companies, the focus of political debate in the past three weeks, has been pushed back by the reports of the US Ambassador Atul Keshap�s reported critical comments on the possibility of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa being a candidate for, and possibly the next Executive President of Sri Lanka. more..

Jun 16 (DN) We have learnt that Sustainable Development and Wildlife Deputy Minister has instructed the Department of Wildlife to capture and relocate two wild elephants living in Sinharaja to Horowpothana elephant holding ground without any scientific assessment made whether these wet zone elephants can survive in that harsh dry zone conditions. According to the eminent conservationist and Researchers of the calibre of Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando and Jagath Gunawardana, more..

Jun 16 (CT) Members of four environmental organizations are appalled that a political decision has been made to capture and relocate the last two elephants remaining in the Sinharaja Rainforest, a World Heritage Site. The decision to relocate the last two remaining adult male elephants came about after one animal killed a villager at night recently. �A villager living along the border of the forest went out of his home in the middle of more..

Jun 16 (CT) Although it is an open secret that the service personnel in powerful countries in the world such as the US and the UK have committed many war crimes, most of which have gone unpunished, these countries with the assistance of the UN at the behest of the Tamil Diaspora aggravated by the demise of the LTTE in Sri Lanka have consistently accused the heroic Sri Lankan armed forces to have allegedly committed grave war crimes including genocide. more..

Jun 16 (Island) JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has apparently missed his vocation�he should have been a salesman. Had he done so, he would have been able to build his business empire by now like a la some ex-sales reps who have become tycoons. A glib talker, he can even sell hot water showers to drought-hit people. All former revolutionaries possess this attribute. They stretch the truth as if to the manner born. Dissanayake has gone into a long spiel about more..

Jun 16 (CT) Man�s pain arises from his relations with man. The greatest of the pains for man is the one caused through injustice and oppression. This is a universal truth. Advancement in science and technology or economic progress alone cannot benefit man. Every man is endowed with the natural characteristic of spirituality in him. It is, therefore, important that whatever advancement or progress man has made is matched with the development of the basic human values. more..

Jun 16 (Island) The holy month Ramazan is sacred as mentioned in details in the Quran and Hadith. This is the third pillar of the five basic principles of Islam and is better known for its fasting during the entire month every year, and it is also the month in which the holy Quran was revealed. The Quran: sura Al Baqarah verse 2:183. O you who believe ! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious . Now Fasting is obligatory upon every Muslim, more..

Jun 16 (Island) Just as President Donald Trump appears to have got over his fire and fury fighting with North Korea�s Rocket Man Kim Jong Un, the US Ambassador Atul Keshap appears to have started a presidential battle issue in SL or the Gotabhaya Game Dispute or Gota Keliya Aragalaya. Many have seen the reported Keshap comments to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, about his brother Gotabhaya�s plans or more..

Jun 16 (CT) Sri Lanka has a memorable record of the game of cricket. Prior to 1972, cricket was restricted to matches played by combined Ceylon teams, in overseas countries. Game was structured to enable inter-club first-class tournaments in 1937, known as the Daily News Trophy. Seemingly, over the years, when Sri Lankan cricketers began to demonstrate their skills with willow on leather, SL Board of Cricket was established on 30 June 1975, as a national sports body. more..

Jun 16 (ST) A major battle is brewing between the National Olympic Committee and SL�s ex-Olympians over rival events they have organised to mark the Olympic Day Run. Sri Lanka Olympians (SLO), an organisation that bring together SL athletes who have taken part in Olymic games, has scheduled its run for June 22 in Kandy � an event which the National Olympic Committee sees as an event that rivals its Olympic Day Run on June 25. On the face of it, the Kandy run appears to be a gigantic more..

Jun 16 (CI) Lahiru Kumara delivered 13.3 hostile overs, and Kasun Rajitha was probing on Test debut, but a half-century from Devon Smith drove West Indies foreward on a rain-hit second day. They stand only 135 runs behind SL, with eight wickets still in hand. Only 42.3 overs were delivered in the day, the rain arriving during lunch to wash out much of the afternoon and evening sessions, before stumps were eventually drawn more..

Jun 16 (Island) Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) announced the following changes in S&P Sri Lanka 20 index constituents made by S&P Dow Jones Indices at the 2018 mid�]year index rebalance. A revision of the S&P SL 20 methodology in March 2017 established the practice of a semiannual rebalance of the index (previously conducted annually). The rebalance of the index now takes place during the months of June and December each year. more..

Jun 16 (SLN) Sri Lanka Navy Ship Sayurala, while patrolling in the northern seas, yesterday (14) rescued 05 fishermen stranded at sea off Point Pedro due to an engine failure of their fishing vessel. The fishing vessel named �Tharanga 1� which had left the Cod Bay fisheries harbour in Trincomalee on 13 June, faced this unfortunate incident while at sea after the unexpected engine trouble. Immediately upon receipt of information in this regard, the Naval Headquarters directed more..

Jun 16 (ST) Over a one-third of the membership of the National Olympic Committee of SL have collectively made a request through a letter to the Auditor General (AG), urging a more detailed inspection on audits of accounts for seven years, since 2010. The four-page letter goes on to say that accounts for seven years of 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 have not been submitted for audit in due time by more..

Jun 16 (EN) President Maithripala Sirisena had called for higher taxes on imported fruits to make it difficult for less affluent people to eat them, soon after businessmen lobbied to raise taxes on toilets, hitting consumers at both ends of the digestive tract. President Maithripala Sirisena, addressing a crowd at Thalawila, an agricultural area, had promised to raise taxes on imported to fruits in the near future to protect the local farmers to give bigger profits to farmers. more..

Jun 16 (Island) CEB Engineers� Union (CEBEU) had called off its work-to-rule campaign but it would not cooperate with the Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL), CEBEU President Saumya Kumarawadu said. The CEBEU Executive Committee that met this week decided to call off the work-to-rule campaign after the PUCSL had approved the CEB�s base case plan subject to the accommodation of already Cabinet approved 'govt to govt power plants' and the latest govt �policy�. more..

Jun 16 (Island) Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) sleuths seized a stock of heroin with a street value of more than Rs 250 million from a house at Piliyandala on Thursday night. The stock of heroin belonged to drug kingpin Wele Suda, who is in the Welikada Prison for heroin offences, police said. It was the second largest heroin stock seized so far this year, police said, adding that they had also taken into custody an associate of Wele Suda more..

Jun 16 (CT) The two biggest negative features in environment protection is the lack of environmental lawyers in the country and the ignorance of environmental laws by the law enforcement authorities, UNDP sources, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday (14). There is a particular kind of a river fish called Bandula Barb which is not only endemic to Sri Lanka, but is found only in a small stream, just 1.5 kilometres in length at Kegalle, they said. more..

Jun 16 (Island) Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, assured immediate action to control environmental pollution caused by the Norochcholai coal-fired power plant. He claimed that mitigation efforts were being carried out with the help of the CEA. Minister said that the Norochcholai Power Plant was one of the most important electricity producers in the country and, therefore, it was important to mitigate the environmental pollution and to continue the power plant. more..

Jun 16 (CT) The NFF led by MP Wimal Weerawansa, sought the intervention of President Sirisena to ensure that General Secretary of BBS, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera serve his prison term in robes. Thera was sentenced to six months imprisonment on 14 June, after being convicted on charges of criminal harassment and criminal intimidation. NFF MP Jayantha Samaraweera in a letter to Prez had stated that stripping more..

Jun 16 (GT) Eid is a time for celebration with family but how do most expatriate families in Abu Dhabi celebrate far away from their loved ones? �This is my second Eid celebrations in UAE and it�s a time for many firsts for me,� said SL housewife Zaroofa Hisham, in the Capital. �In order not to miss my family around and yet keep the SL atmosphere, my festival breakfast includes string hoppers, mutton curry complete with the dessert Watalappam as the 3 main items for our simple morning meal. more..

Jun 16 (NR) Two school children have been reported missing while bathing in the sea off Eththukala, Kochchikade. Police said two friends of those reported missing, who engaged in rescue efforts, have been admitted to the Negombo General Hospital after being found unconscious. The missing is aged 16 years and are residents of Kochchikade. It was reported that the two children may have drowned while bathing with a group of friends in rough seas. more..