Apr 6 (Island) UPFA MP and former Minister Dallas Alahapperuma has expressed his concern about a graduate seeking a job as an executioner, in the current search for one to resume the death penalty. Come on Mr. Dullas, why are you worried about this? Have you not sworn or affirmed the Bakmaha Divuruma – that major push by President Sirisena to eradicate the drug menace from the country? more..

Apr 6 (CT) Britain’s high profile MPs have expressed their concerns over Sri Lanka expediting the process to implement the UNHRC resolution despite Westminster presently entangled in a tussle over the Brexit issue which has thrown a challenge to PM Theresa May over Britain leaving the European Union (EU). Following the withdrawal of the US from the UNHRC, UK’s Mission to the UN in Geneva led a core group aligned with the countries Canada, Germany, Macedonia and Montenegro to more..

Apr 6 (CT) You have read editorials like this before, on how Parliament is the foremost institution of our country’s democracy and legislature and how representatives should behave appropriately, engaging in civilised debate so that it benefits the people. But things get heated in the Chamber. Fiery MPs often make passionate statements on behalf of the downtrodden (Who does the treading?), which can come off somewhat un-elegant. Oh how these MPs are forced to fling the basest vulgarities more..

Apr 6 (CT) Sprinter Himasha Eashan and quarter miler Nadeesha Ramanayaka caught the eye with their dazzling performances as Eashan returned to an easy-looking 10.37 seconds while Nadeesha clocked 53.33 seconds during the Army Volunteer Forces Inter-Regiment Championship concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. Competing in their last domestic competition prior to the Asian Championship 2019 which will begin in more..

Apr 6 (DN) It is a fact that professional athletes of all kinds use weight training (bodybuilding) to improve their strength and performance at their sport. Not all bodybuilders are good athletes, but most good athletes are bodybuilders to a greater or lesser degree. Bodybuilding is more than just a sport or hobby for a veteran athlete who is finally reaping the rewards for pursuing a lifetime passion. A fitness fanatic, Nishantha Perera was an all-round sportsman as a student at Royal College more..

Apr 6 (AD) Students who complete 13 years of education with vocational training will be offered the internationally recognized NVQ certificate in addition to the GCE A/L Certificate, stated Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam. He pointed out that this would ensure a child entering the workforce after the school education will not be lacking when searching for employment. By next year, every child in the country will have the opportunity to sit for the GCE A/L exam irrespective of their result at the O/L exam, more..

Apr 6 (Island) National Election Commission (NEC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has informed Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in writing that the Commission would be compelled to take legal action if the necessary amendments to the election laws were not presented to Parliament urgently. UPFA MP Dullas Alahapperuma told the House that Speaker presented NEC Chairman’s letter at the last Party Leaders’ Meeting more..

Apr 6 (EN) Softlogic Holdings said it is opening mini format Glomark supermarkets in its hospitals chain to make best use of links between group units and larger format outlets in densely populated suburbs. Two Glomark Essentials outlets have been opened at Asiri Central Hospitals in Colombo and Asiri Hospital in Kandy in the central hills. The strategy to have the big format Softlogic Glomark along with the new mini format Glomark Essentials is part of Softlogic’s plans for more..

Apr 6 (CT) Dambulla’s top order, including batsmen contending for places in the World Cup squad who crumbled in their opening match against Colombo in the face of fiery spells from Suranga Lakmal and Asitha Fernando, now face the challenge of in-form Galle captain Lasith Malinga in their second game of the Super Provincial Limited Overs tournament at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium today. Dambulla’s opening batsmen Danushka Gunathilake and Niroshan Dickwella were dismissed for 3 & 6 more..

Apr 6 (Xinhua) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved its first two projects in Sri Lanka with a loan of US$ 280 million to improve living conditions for those most in need in the country. A US$ 200 million loan will improve housing conditions for low-income communities in Colombo by constructing affordable housing and redeveloping land, while another loan of US$ 80 million will be used to reduce more..

Apr 6 (ST) Despite Sri Lanka’s disastrous outing at the recently concluded AFC Under (U)-23 Qualification Round Football Tournament held in Bahrain, the coaching staff is still echoing the usual mantra of, “We gained a lot of experience”, rather than fact-finding or exploring a constructive remedy. The SL U-23 side, slotted in Group ‘B’, alongside Palestine, hosts Bahrain and Bangladesh, conceded 20 goals, while failing to score even 1 goal, in the 3 matches they played. more..

Apr 6 (PHC) Govt of Pakistan through its High Commission has presented 15 computers and printers to newly established Peace Keeping Training Centre of SL Army. High Commissioner of Pakistan, Maj. Gen. (R) Dr. Shahid Ahmad Hashmat handed over the computers and printers to the Sri Lankan Army Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake at a ceremony held at Army Headquarters on April 5. On the occasion, High Commissioner of Pakistan appreciated more..

Apr 6 (Island) Supreme Court has declared that the police violated the fundamental rights of workers by assaulting them on May 30, 2011 at Katunayale Free Trade Zone and ordered the police to pay compensation to the victims. Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union, yesterday welcomed the Supreme Court decision. On behalf of 13 victims, it had filed 13 FR cases before the SC. more..

Apr 6 (AD) MP R. Sampanthan was nominated to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of MP Chamal Rajapaksa from the membership of the Constitutional Council (CC), at the Council meeting today (5). The CC met this evening in the Parliament chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. The Chairman of the Council Speaker Jayasuriya informed the Council on the discussion he held with the National Police Commission (NPC) at the parliament. He stated that the NPC, along with more..

Apr 6 (FT) Following two months of healthy gains, the LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) fell by a massive 25 basis points to register 90 in March, according to the latest edition of LMD, which notes that the survey was conducted before Budget 2019 was presented in Parliament. The leading business magazine also points out that this marks the steepest decline since December 2016, leaving it below its 12 month average of 98 and 27 notches short of where it stood a year ago. more..

Apr 6 (CT) Heated arguments were the order of the day during the second half of the final day of Budget 2019 debate yesterday, when State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake and UPFA MP Nimal Lanza locked horns over Ramanayake’s allegations that Lanza was involved in distributing narcotics. Ramanayake on 4 April blamed Lanza in Parliament saying that it was Opposition Leader and then Prez Rajapaksa who rescued Lanza from being more..

Apr 6 (CT) Revealing the latest details regarding the prevailing drought and hot weather, Minister Ranjith Maddumabandara stated that 12 Districts have been affected by the dry weather and that temperature in these areas has increased by four degrees Celsius. “Over 75,412 families have been affected due to the absence of rainfall,” he said. He added that in Districts such as Trinco, temperature has increased by four degrees Celsius, while in Districts such as Nuwara Eliya too, it has increased by 2C. more..

Apr 6 (MFA) Sri Lanka will be hosting the Third meeting of the Asia-Europe Political Forum (AEPF) and the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Colombo from 5 to 7 April 2019. Approximately 90 participants representing political parties in Asia and Europe are expected to be in attendance at this International Conference. Launched in Manila, Philippines in September 2000, ICAPP is a forum of political parties of Asia-Oceania countries. more..

Apr 6 (CT) JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti yesterday, criticised Uva Province Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake saying that the latter’s arbitrary behaviour has put the entire administrative service in the Province into disrepute. Handunnetti participating in the Committee Stage Debate of the Appropriation Day 2019 on the Expenditure Heads of the Ministry of Finance said Dassanayake’s unruly behaviour as Provincial CM was notorious. more..

Apr 6 (DN) JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti told Parliament that the govt is whining that there is no revenue while they themselves have failed in streamlining the public sector revenue collecting mechanism. He said, “Inland Revenue Department is the main institution collecting govt revenue and it has been rendered aimless for seven months without appointing a Commissioner General.” “To the best of my knowledge, the trade unions of the department went before courts and more..

Apr 6 (Hindu) The Coast Guard personnel on Thursday rescued 11 Sri Lankan fishermen after their boats drifted towards the shore between Cuddalore and Puducherry due to rough sea conditions. According to sources, five fishermen from Trincomalee had set sail on a fibreglass boat on March 27. The boat developed a technical snag and was adrift in the sea. The fishermen alerted their counterparts who arrived in another boat and attempted to tow it back to Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 6 (Island) The govt is to purchase private land to re-settle IDPs, in the wake of it being granted a two year extension to address accountability issues arising from the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka, which was re-adopted at the Councils 40th Session in Geneva recently. A proposal to this effect presented by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to secure funds to purchase lands from private owners based on Chief Valuer’s valuation, was approved more..

Apr 6 (DM) Provincial Council elections had to be postponed because the opposition insisted that the polls should be held under the mixed electoral system, House Leader and Minister, Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament yesterday. He said this when this matter was discussed in Parliament. “The UNP wanted the polls held according to the PR system. The opposition wanted it held under the new system. The new system has several issues. Only part of it has been approved. more..

Apr 6 (Island) A probe committee, appointed by the Western Province Governor Azath Salley, into the allegedly irregular sale of land, owned by the Wattala-Mabola Urban Council, submitted its report, on Wednesday. The committee findings have revealed some irregularities in the transaction. A statement from the Governor’s office said: "Sequel to the report submitted by the board of inquiry, the Governor’s office is in the process of holding preliminary investigation to find out more..

Apr 6 (FT) JVP lawmaker questioned govt decision to grant free visas valid for up to 6 months to tourists from select countries amidst reports of an increase in drug trafficking, bio-piracy, and financial frauds along with other criminal activities by foreign nationals. Govt announced recently that the free visa facility will apply to nationals of Thailand, UK, Australia, South Korea, Canada, US, Singapore, Malaysia, NZ & EU passport holders. more..

Apr 6 (DM) A MoU was signed on April 1, 2019, between the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and the Kadijah Foundation’s Fight Cancer Team with plans to purchase Tomotherapy and LINAC (Linear Particle Accelerator) machines for Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama. Minister Rajitha Senarathne, State Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous medicine Faizal Cassim, Director General of the Ministry of Health Dr. Anil Jayasinghe, more..

Apr 6 (DM) Yesterday was the 100th birth anniversary of Sri Lanka’s legendary filmmaker Lester James Peries and to mark the event the govt conferred on him a rare honour by declaring April 5 as the National Cinema Day. To mark the historic occasion, Cultural Affairs Minister Sajith Premadasa presided at an event held at the National Film Corporation head office and announced that Rs. 15 million had been allocated to build a Lester James Peries archives and library. more..

Apr 6 (ST) More than a million families are in deep debt, having borrowed at loan shark rates from micro finance companies. Many have committed suicide. In one instance, a Batticaloa family headed by a woman, who had borrowed heavily from multiple lenders, was guided by local govt officials to get out of the debt hole. Local officials advised her to borrow from the state-owned Samurdhi Bank. The woman borrowed Rs 475,000, and was able to settle some more..

Apr 6 (DM) Nowadays schoolchildren and university students pay more attention on innovations and are willing to develop novel things which can be used to solve current problems in our day-to-day lives. Our new education system also highly contributes to improve students’ technological knowledge other than theoretical knowledge by introducing new technical subjects and technology facilities. Innovate Sri Lanka 2019 exhibition was a good example. more..

Apr 6 (ST) The govt’s proposal to scrap the Grade 5 scholarship exam has support but many educationists and researchers warned the country was not yet ready for the move. They say with no proper mechanism to substitute for the exams, doing away with the test will only deprive rural students of a chance to enter popular urban schools. It is also argued the only opportunity a rural student has of gaining entry into the national schools more..

Apr 6 (EN) Sri Lanka's tourism arrivals rose 4.7% in March 2019 from a year earlier to 244,328 helped by visitors from the Russian Federation, United States, India and China, while Western Europe dropped. Visitors from Russia grew 39% to 12,448 while American arrivals grew 29% to 12,543. India grew 5.6% to 34,812 slowing from last year while Australia grew 28% to 11,441. Chinese arrivals grew 12.6% to 23,759. more..

Apr 6 (AD) The strike action launched by doctors and staff at govt hospitals across the Uva Province has come to an end from today after the Chief Minister of the province had expressed his regret over the incident which led to the trade union action. Uva Province Chief Minister Chamara Dassanayake had allegedly verbally abused the Badulla Director of Health Services over an incident pertaining to the construction of a road more..

Apr 6 (DM) A wife who beat her control freak husband to death with a wooden pole after he treated her like a servant has been jailed for two years and four months. Packiam Ramanathan, 73, went into a trance and battered her disabled husband Kanagusabi Ramanathan, 76, in his bed in Newham, east London after he threw a stick at her, a court heard. The Old Bailey was told how Mr Ramanathan had treated his wife more..

Apr 6 (Island) The govt kept on complaining that it did not have enough revenue while undermining the public sector revenue collecting mechanism, JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti told Parliament. "The Department of Inland Revenue is the main institution collecting govt revenue and it has been rendered rudderless for seven months without appointing a Commissioner General," MP said, participating in the third reading stage more..

Apr 6 (SLA) Major General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army this morning (5) assumed duties as Colonel of the Regiment, Commando Regiment (CR) during a simple ceremony at Ganemulla CR Headquarters. Amid religious observances, the new Colonel of the Regiment placed his signature for an official document to signify the acceptance of the new office. more..

Apr 6 (Island) Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told House of Commons that there would never be lasting peace in SL unless there was justice and accountability for the things that went wrong. Hunt was responding to a query raised by Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Coop). GT: The rules-based int'l order would be strengthened if countries were seen to be held accountable for adhering to the conclusions of the UNHRC. more..

Apr 6 (Island) The TNA, on Thursday, questioned the rationale behind the massive allocations for the Ministry of Defence in this year’s budget. Joining the Committee Stage debate when the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment was taken up for debate, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said that the defence allocations should not be so big as there was no war. more..

Apr 7 (SO) Landmark judgments in protection of citizens’ rights by the Supreme Court last week signalled the higher judiciary’s continued activist posture in favour of the Citizen and society’s interests. While all courts of our judiciary do have a record of upholding citizens’ rights, it is in recent years as other apex institutions of the Republic, such as the legislature and presidency were locked in crises, that the top judiciary firmly remained the bulwark of the People’s sovereignty. more..

Apr 7 (CT) SLPP Chairman, Emeritus Professor G.L. Peiris on April Fools’ Day implied that if the SLFP abstained or were not present at voting at the Third Reading of the Budget on Friday (5), there then was no need for the SLPP to continue talks with them to form an alliance against the UNP/UNF/UNFGG, with the next round of talks due this Wednesday (10). – Last Tuesday’s Ceylon Today. SLPP leader is former President and present SLFP/UPFA MP Mahinda Rajapaksa. more..

Apr 7 (SO) The CID this week further strengthen its case against SL’s top military chief, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne after he was linked to the now famous case of 11 missing youth believed to have been abducted by a Navy abduction for ransom gang between 2008 - 2009. Arrested by the CID and now out on bail, Wijegunaratne has been further implicated in the gruesome case through recent revelations more..