Apr 3 (EN) Sri Lanka is prepared to pay 45 rupees per kilowatt to owners of generators who can synchronise their plants with the electricity grid, Power Minister Ravi Karunanayake said. He said there was an estimated 1538 MW of generators with various private sector firms, which can generate power. "This has not been successful so far," Karunanayake told parliament. "We will try for another two weeks. We plan to pay them 45 rupees a unit." more..

Apr 3 (CT) Worker remittances, SL’s largest foreign exchange earner, slipped 19.6% during the first two months of this year, to US$ 1.04 billion from US$ 1.3 billion a year ago. In Feb this year, worker remittances decreased 12.4% to US$ 500.5 million from US$ 571.5 million a year ago, making it the fourth consecutive month to post a decline. Worker remittances in Jan this year increased 25.2%, as migrant workers sent US$ 545.3 million, compared to US$ 729.4 million sent home during more..

Apr 3 (FT) For the second consecutive week the Power Ministry was in the centre of the discussion at the Cabinet meeting yesterday with Prez Sirisena demanding removal of officials in Public Utilities Commission. The exchange between Prez Sirisena, and Minister Ravi Karunanayake, centred on the conduct of PUCSL and the current crisis, with Minister Champika Ranawaka trying to bring in a different view regarding the issue, more..

Apr 3 (DN) Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, Dr. Suren Batagoda had been questioned nearly four hours by the Police unit of the PCoI to investigate and to inquire into serious acts of fraud, corruption and abuse of power, state resources and privileges occurred during the period of 15 Jan 2015 to 31 Dec 2018. Dr. Batagoda is said to have been questioned over details regarding procedures followed in power purchasing from private power plants and purchase of fuel for power plants. more..

Apr 3 (CT) Professor Malik Ranasinghe has been appointed as the new Chairman of Sampath Bank with effect from 2 April, 2019. The new appointment came after the early retirement of the former Chairman Channa Palansuriya. Professor Malik Ranasinghe joined the Board of Sampath Bank on 5 August 2010 as a non-independent and non-executive Director. He is an active academic leader with a strong sense and passion towards the development of knowledge economy in SL. more..

Apr 3 (Island) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, MP, yesterday said that they were ready for talks with political parties represented in parliament, including the TNA, in a bid to thwart attempts to bring in controversial counter terrorism law targeting legitimate political opposition. Rajapaksa alleged that the proposed law meant to replace the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in accordance with current more..

Apr 3 (DM) A 20-year-old youth and a degree holder were among the interviewees who had come for the interview for Hangman's Post yesterday. 79 candidates from the 102 applicants were selected for interviews for the Hangman's Post. The interviews were scheduled to be held on two days. There will be an interview today for the rest of 40 candidates. Prison official said only 19 candidates had come for the interview for the first day, although 39 candidates were called yesterday. more..

Apr 3 (FT) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa rested the knowledge of which election first to God, saying no one else knows. In response to a question Rajapaksa implied that all others are scared of Provincial, General and Presidential Elections, but “the Opposition is ready for any election”. Prof. G.L. Peiris, who was associated with Rajapaksa during the meeting, said that the term of six Provincial Councils have lapsed and two more (Southern and Western) will suffer the same fate by 20 April. more..

Apr 3 (CT) With the present power crisis expected to worsen, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) was summoned to appear before the Colombo Fort Magistrate next week for failing to provide necessary details on power supplies and interruptions to the Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL). In addition, Court of Appeal has ruled that the circular issued in 2014, which saw a massive salary increase to CEB engineers’ was illegal. more..

Apr 3 (DM) Millions of people are suffering and most are blaming the government for the current four-hour daily power cuts in most parts of the country. Difficult times or times of struggle are widely known to be the time when we should deeply ponder on what we have done or fail to do as responsible eco-friendly citizens in this era of global warming and climate change. For instance Pope Francis has called on world religious leaders to come together for this battle against global warming and more..

Apr 3 (DM) On April 5, 1971, a political movement known popularly then as the Che Guevara Group, made an unprecedented and unexpected attack on all the Police stations and other crucial state institutions in a bid to grab political power in a single night. Their leader was Rohana Wijeweera, who after a botched scholarship course at the Lumumba University in Russia had started a political movement later to become known as the JVP. He like many of his comrades, belonged to more..

Apr 3 (DM) Norwegian State Secretary (State Minister) Marianne Hagen, who was in Sri Lanka, shared her views about the latest development of bilateral relations between Norway and Sri Lanka. Norway played the facilitator role in peace talks between the Sri Lankan Govt and the LTTE during the ceasefire period between 2002 and 2006. In an interview, she said Norway’s focal point was now blue economy. more..

Apr 3 (DM) On March 15, Muslims, grouping in their dozens, protested in front of the Sri Lanka Navy Camp in Silavathurai- home to the highest number of Muslims in Northern Province-demanding the Navy to move out of their residential area. Their mission behind this long-standing protest is to reclaim the 36 acre land; the home for many generations of Muslims and occupied by the SL Navy. more..

Apr 3 (ST) Leading coconut arrack distiller, the Distilleries Company of SL, was not allowed to proceed with an appeal in the SC against the use of the trademark Extra Special Arrack by competitor Hingurana Distilleries (Pvt) Limited. Extra Special Arrack is commonly known as Gal Arakku. In a similar case 25 years ago, three leading lawyers appeared for W M Mendis & Co in an Extra Special Arrack trademark lawsuit against DCSL. more..

Apr 3 (Surfer) Shamali Sanjaya, a confident, 30-year-old mother and surfer from small SL town of Arugam Bay, serves as the president of the country's first all-female surf club. She leads group meetings, organizes beach cleanups and coordinates surf trips for the small-yet-growing group of 17 local women surfers. But just a few years ago, Shamali's experience as a surfer in Arugam Bay looked very different than it does today. more..

Apr 3 (EN) Board of Investment (BOI) has set up a one-stop service centre at the Hambantota Int'l Port (HIP) run by a Chinese port firm. It aims to provide investors in the port and related services with easy access to avail themselves of concessions open to them. HIPG whose principal shareholder is CMPort, one of the world’s leading port operators, is targeting port related activities within the 3.5 square km area allotted for port’s development. more..

Apr 3 (GI) “Society has a question: Why doesn’t the govt put anybody behind bars?” This is the struggle of Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Director General in the nation’s Institute of National Security Studies. He is using technology to crowdsource and track corruption in govt – and has twice been kicked out of senior roles because of this. He had previously tried to digitise foreign employment applications but was booted because more..

Apr 3 (FT) SLFP yesterday refuted attempts by Minister Vajira Abeywardena to blame the Opposition on the defeat of the Ministry expenditure heads, resulting in inability to pay salaries. Refusing the claims made by the Minister, SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara claimed that it was the responsibility of the Govt to ensure the smooth running of the system ensuring all finances needed are available. more..

Apr 3 (EN) Sri Lanka's state-run CEB needed a 40 billion rupee bailout from tax-payers now for fuel bought on credit amid an 89 billion rupee loss projected for 2019, Power Minister Ravi Karunanayake said. "We need 40 billion rupees to pay Ceylon Petroleum Corporation immediately," he told parliament. "The Treasury has projected a loss of 89 billion rupees for this year. But not a copper (thumber satheryuk) has been given. more..

Apr 3 (Island) The present govt had failed to attract significant foreign investment to the country during the last 4 years, UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa told Parliament. The economic gurus in the govt had failed to perform though they boasted of their capabilities in the beginning, Rajapaksa said. He said that the govt was misleading the public by fictitious assertions that it had attracted foreign investment to the tune of billions of dollars more..

Apr 3 (AD) The national pledge to eradicate the drug menace, Bak Maha Divuruma, has been inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena this morning. The event commenced at the Independence Square in Colombo at 8.15 a.m. today under the patronage of President Sirisena. Representatives of all religions, members of the govt and opposition members of the Parliament, governors of the provinces, more..

Apr 3 (Island) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa denied there had been an agreement among party leaders not to ask for vote on the expenditure heads of Ministers Champika Ranawaka and Vajira Abeywardena’s ministries. MP Rajapaksa said so when The Island sought his response to Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella’s repeated gripe in parliament that the UNP was betrayed by those who asked for votes after having promised to allow the passage of more..

Apr 3 (EN) Membership of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) in Sri Lanka grew 40% in 2018, helped by strong growth in student enrolment, its chairperson Gayani de Alwis said. “In the past 12 months, institute used creative interventions to reach out to their members to enhance the numbers while adding value to them,” she told the CILT’s 35th Annual General Meeting. Ten road shows were conducted with companies to drive membership with the institute being more..

Apr 3 (CT) Chairman Derana group of companies Dilith Jayaweera speaking at the opening of a book launch openly confessed that he took over the Chairman post of Derana to prevent himself from going to jail. A shocked member of the audience speaking to Colombo Telegraph questioned “Does it mean that there are conditions to prevent people from going to jail? I am confused. Does it mean media bosses are exonerated even though they break the law? Is it because politically more..

Apr 3 (CT) A first force in Sri Lanka politics: i.e. what the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is. Founded as late as Nov 2016, it swept the polls in its first electoral fling, the Feb 2018 Local Government (LG) Poll, in only 15 months since its founding, garnering 40% of the vote to the ruling UNP/UNF/UNFGG’s 29% and the SLFP/ UPFA’s 12%. The Govt is of the UNP/UNFGG headed by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, while the President, Maithripala Sirisena, is from the SLFP/UPFA. more..

Apr 3 (DM) The Department of Meteorology today issued a weather advisory for tomorrow, asking people in 14 districts to be extremely cautious of the hot weather. Districts are Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Monaragala, Batticaloa, Ampara and Hambantota. The department warned that those living in these areas should avoid more..

Apr 3 (AM) Presidential Secretariat today published a horrid advertisement in SL newspapers to promote President Sirisena's campaign against drugs. The advertisement which resembled the front page of a local newspaper was full of spelling and grammatical errors. Almost every headline featured in the advertisement was written in a seemingly nonsensical language without any cohesive meaning. The advertisement also referred to the Police Narcotics Bureau — more..

Apr 3 (AD) Supreme Court today ordered the UDA to take steps to demolish and remove the building housing the Royal Institute International School located at Chapel Road in Nugegoda, within the next 3 months. The court also ordered the Sri J'pura Kotte Municipal Council to annul the approval granted to the institution to operation at the location in question. This verdict was delivered by a 3-member judge bench comprising Justices Sisira de Abrew, Priyantha Jayawardena and more..

Apr 3 (AI) Executions will not end drug-related crime in Sri Lanka, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing, calling on the SL govt to halt plans to resume executions after more than four decades. The briefing, Sri Lanka: Halt Preparations to Resume Executions, highlights how the death penalty is being used in circumstances that violate international law and standards, has failed to act as a unique deterrent to crime in more..

Apr 3 (FT) One of the most important and most widely-used skills in marketing is brand and product promotion. This basic technique consists of corporate messages aimed to stimulate awareness of, interest in, and purchase of its products. Nowadays, however, it is not only companies that promote their products. Even a small grocery store makes an effort to get their product on the best-visible eye level shelves is in many respects similar to govts’ efforts to market their country in more..

Apr 3 (JP) A Garuda Indonesia aircraft serving flight number GA 972 with 338 people onboard made an emergency landing at BIA in Colombo at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday due to low cabin pressure in the middle of the flight. Airbus 330 departed from Aceh at 8:20 p.m. local time for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. However, in the middle of the flight, the crew detected low cabin pressure inside the cabin. Out of concern for safety and the passengers' comfort, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing more..

Apr 3 (Island) Parliament was informed yesterday 118 persons had died while on pilgrimage in India since the beginning of 2018. Answering a question raised by UNP Badulla District MP Chaminda Wijesiri, Chief Govt Whip Minister Gayantha Karunathilake said that it was not necessary for the Ministry of Buddhasasana and Wayamba Development to take any steps for the welfare of the families of the persons who had passed away during their pilgrimages to Dambadiwa. more..

Apr 3 (CT) Three Pakistani nationals have been arrested in a suspected cosmetic contraband raid by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) on the afternoon of Monday. The three suspects were arrested while they were handling an uncertified, unknown type of a cream to be sold in the market as skin care cream. They were packing the cream to small tubs when our officials raided, stated Minister Rishad Bathiudeen in a press release issued by the Ministry yesterday (2). more..

Apr 3 (AD) Minister Rishad Bathiudeen says that not just one million, even if 20 million signs against him, he will not give up the fight against the Wilpattu lie. He points out that people of the North suffered from the war and was driven away from their homes by terrorists. However, certain monks and so-called organizations see these people settling back at their homelands in the wrong way. “They are trying to set fire to this more..

Apr 3 (DM) More than 14,000 files out of the total of 15,000 that have been sent to the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) by Prez Sirisena, Non-Cabinet Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said. “President has sent 14,000 files to OMP although he is criticizing the UNHRC resolution which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka. Prez complains about Sri Lanka’s co-sponsoring of the resolution but he had sent most number of files to OMP which was set up in accordance with the same,” Dr De Silva said. more..

Apr 3 (DM) The govt would introduce a life insurance scheme for all Bhikkhus and monastics of other religions of Sri Lanka, a government source said yesterday. A proposal to insure Buddhist monks had been submitted by the Minister of Buddhasasana and Wayamba Development, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, to the mini-cabinet meeting on Wednesday last week. The meeting was held at the Temple Trees and chaired by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. Mr. Wickmesinghe endorsed the proposal more..

Apr 3 (DM) The govt will initiate the review process of the Free Trade Agreement between Singapore and SL in May. Minister Malik Samarawickrama said that the FTA agreement was in force. However, he said a review process would begin in May. The SL - Singapore Free Trade Agreement 2018 (SLSFTA) was signed in Jan 12, 2018 after six rounds of negotiations that started on July 13, 2016 a relatively short period. more..

(LBO) Australia has increased its support for humanitarian demining efforts in SL to mark International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on Thursday. Australia will provide more than 124 million rupees in assistance over the next two years through a partnership with the Mine Action Group (MAG) and SL organisation Devlon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH). “This increased funding will provide vital additional mine clearance capacity in Mannar/Vavuniya, more..