Aug 7 (CT) President Sirisena yesterday, claimed that he refused to sign a document granting an allowance of Rs 200,000 to MPs. He mentioned this while addressing the launch of the national guidelines proposed for electoral candidates in Colombo. “I believe that the privileges given to MPs are excessive. Even today I had an argument with them regarding an allowance of Rs 200,000 which they wanted me to approve. more..

Aug 7 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka will soon ban colored plastic water bottles and plastic wrappers on drinking water bottles in order to protect the environment, State Minister Ajith Mannapperuma said. The govt information department, quoting the statement, said that the govt had received a positive response from water bottle manufacturers to suspend the manufacture of blue-coloured plastic water bottles and plastic wrappers as it would help protect the nation's environment. more..

Aug 7 (DM) Prez Sirisena is reported to have asked Minister Ravi Karunanayake to submit proof that the Attorney General and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) had approved the purchase of electricity from two barge-mounted power plants. The minister had submitted a Cabinet memorandum seeking approval to sign the power purchasing agreement with the Turkish Company that owns these floating power plants. However, Prez stressed the need to have the approval of AG & PUC more..

Aug 7 (Island) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, yesterday, said that the entire govt and Cabinet of ministers were responsible for the mistakes and lapses that permitted the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Testifying before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), the PM said: "Certainly, there had been a lapse. We are now in transitional period and we intend to find measures to prevent them." more..

Aug 7 (DM) What is the main criterion of a Presidential candidate? Ask the main political parties in the country that are prepared to field their candidates for the forthcoming Presidential election which is to be held most probably in December this year. They have already announced the main criterion of their candidates. They unabashedly say We would field a candidate who can win the election. The candidate’s vision for the country, his or her education qualification or experience, more..

Aug 7 (DM) There are, at present, no threats to SL sovereignty in any part of our boundaries; at least, not in the traditional way that threat has been defined for most of recent history. Why then are some Sri Lankans, including Opposition politicians and some Buddhist priests so focused on the notion of sovereignty? Why has so much been spoken and written about it? What are these threats they are talking about? To find answers, let us start from the beginning. more..

Aug 7 (ST) A 20-year-old student was killed by an alleged sex attacker days before she sat next week’s A/L examination. She fell prey to a trap set by her attacker. He had sought her help to reunite with his girlfriend. Her body was found in a hotel room in Melsiripura (between Kurunegala and Galewela) last Tuesday. Investigations led by Gokarella Police Chief Lasantha Buddhika revealed that the student had been strangled. more..

Aug 7 (DM) Prestige comes when you feel you have done something well, but Honour comes when others feel you have done something well!!! This is so relevant in the context of today’s living when we are looking at elections ahead, turmoil in our lives, division among our Heads of State, unsolved murders, conspiracies and drug abuse cases, bond scam perpetrators walking free, it just never ends!!! In the midst of it all, more..

Aug 7 (PMD) The prevailing legal framework and certain defects and lapses in the Constitution and the election laws, act as roadblocks to create a virtuous society, President Maithripala Sirisena said. Addressing the national ceremony to hand over the proposed recommendations for a new ethical political culture to all the political leaders at the BMICH today (6) President said he does not believe in granting additional perks and more..

Aug 7 (DM) Eight Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs), including W.S.E. Jayasundara, the Director of the Terrorists Investigation Division (TID), had been transferred, Police said. DIG Jayasundara had been transferred to the Police Headquarters as the Chief of Staff of the IGP. Police said DIG K.V.D.A.J. Karavita who was the Director of PM's Security Division (PMSD) had been transferred to the PM’s Security Range. more..

Aug 7 (Island) Minister Ravi Karunanayake has neither endorsed nor opposed a request by Minister Rishad Bathiudeen to release a section of land demarcated for a 100 MW wind farm project in Mannar, according to sources. Minister Karunanayake is expected to consult CEB engineers in this regard and it is also understood that he is not keen to part with anything that comes under the purview of the CEB. more..

Aug 7 (AD) The Special Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to probe the Easter Sunday attacks is looking into extending the term of the panel by another month, says Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ananda Kumarasiri. If the committee is unable to prepare its report on the terror attacks by the time its term is due to expire, the members will discuss the matter with Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, more..

Aug 7 (PMD) On an invitation extended by the Govt of Cambodia, President Maithripala Sirisena began his four-day state visit to the Southeast Asian nation today with the aim of further strengthening bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Upon the arrival at the Phnom Penh International Airport, President Sirisena was warmly welcomed by Samdech Chaufea Veang Kong Sam Ol, Deputy Prime Minister more..

Aug 7 (NR) The Colombo High Court has decided to recall the order of arrest issued on the 2 of August for the Chairman of Avant Garde Nissanka Senadhipathi and Retired Major General Palitha Fernando. The order was issued by Colombo High Court judge Shashi Mahendran. All bail bondsmen of the defendants were present in Court when the case was taken up for hearing today. The attorneys of the first defendant Retired Major General more..

Aug 7 (AD) Former Commander of SL Navy Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and former Commander of SL Air Force Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunathileke have been awarded the highest honorary military ranks. Prez Sirisena announced this issuing an extraordinary gazette notification yesterday. Accordingly, Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, who served as the Commander of Navy from 2005 to 2009, more..

Aug 7 (RN) Attorney General has indicted former Colombo Chief Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. Ananda Samarasekara, for allegedly tampering with evidence in the death of rugger player, Wasim Thajudeen. Dr. Samarasekara has been under investigation after body parts of the dead Rugby star were allegedly found in a laboratory at the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine where he also worked. more..

Aug 7 (FT) The SL economy grew at an annual average rate of 5.4% over the past 10 years from 2009 to 2018. The country reached a milestone in its economic progress with the graduation to an upper middle-income economy in July 2019. This is an opportune time to reflect on the journey ahead and put in place a plan to make further progress towards a high income country. In the five-year period from 2009 to 2013, which was the period immediately after the end of the 26-year civil war, more..

Aug 7 (CT) Ranil Wickremesinghe would by far prefer being in charge of the UNP than being in charge of the massive U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) marine theatre alone, where things are arranged by the minute and not by a day. That's what dealing with an algorithm is all about: A Chinese algorithm at that. That's how fast China's actions to act or not to act can affect all sorts of counter measures. All of this needs very extremely dovetailed plans by INDOPACOM, more..

Aug 7 (Island) Dialog Broadband Networks (Pvt.) Limited, a subsidiary of Dialog Axiata PLC, announced a range of game changing Per Day Home Broadband packages, in line with the company’s vision of delivering affordable and accessible world-class internet services to all Sri Lankans. Customers are now able to enjoy the lowest data rates in the market, along with an offer of additional 20GB absolutely free, with every new Per Day Home Broadband connection. more..

Aug 7 (EN) The People's Bank of China mopped up excess liquidity in money markets to prop up its now unstable flexible exchange rate while fending off false accusations by US Mercantilists that it was manipulating the currency to get a trade advantage. Global financial media jumped on the US bandwagon claiming that China was undervaluing the currency to compensate for US import taxes, while the People's Bank of China mopped up excess liquidity to prop up the rupee. more..

Aug 7 (RN) MP Prof Ashu Marasinghe told Parliament today that the AG's Department is of the opinion that M.L.A.M Hizbullah is not suitable to be an MP in the future because he signed contracts related to the Batticaloa campus (Pvt) Ltd. Marasinghe who is the Chairman of the Oversight Committee on Education and Human Resources Development said the AG found that there was a conflict of interest when Hizbullah signed more..

Aug 7 (AD) A petition has been filed at the Supreme Court seeking a ruling that the Private Member’s Bill presented to the parliament by MP Bandulal Banadarigoda on the abolishment of the death penalty is not unconstitutional. The Attorney General has been named the respondent of this petition file by Prof. C. Gunaratne from Nugegoda. On August 01, MP Bandulal Bandarigoda tabled a Private Member’s Motion at the parliament containing provisions to abolish the death penalty. more..

Aug 7 (RN) Minister of Primary Industries and Social Empowerment Daya Gamage said that former Govts gave the people Samurdhi but they did not try to empower them so that they could stop depending on the govt. He said that some accuse us that by giving 600,000 people Samurdhi it shows that this govt had increased the poverty in the country, “but we only give them Samurdhi for a limited period of 2 years with the intention empowering them to stand up on their own,” he added. more..

Aug 7 (CI) Dinesh Chandimal and spinners Akila Dananjaya and Dilruwan Perera are contending for a return to SL's Test squad, after being picked in the 22-man preliminary squad for the upcoming home series against NZ. Opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka and fast bowler Lahiru Kumara also earned recalls with two uncapped players - batting allrounder Shehan Jayasuriya and fast bowler Asitha Fernando more..

Aug 7 (RN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has offered his condolences on the passing away of former Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj calling her a true friend and neighbor of Sri Lanka. In a letter sent to Indian PM Narendra Modi, Wickremesinghe recalled that Swaraj nurtured the region’s aspirations in various multilateral fora. Swaraj, 67, died last night after suffering a massive heart attack. She served as the Leader of the Opposition as well as more..

Aug 7 (AD) Three more members of the banned organization, Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI), who had allegedly received training from terrorist leader Zahran Hashim in Nuwara Eliya, have been arrested in Ampara. The first suspect is a resident of Kaduruwela area in Polonnaruwa by the name Mohideen Bawa Mohamed Ram under the alias Abu Akran. The second suspect is named Mohamed Riyal Mohamed Sajid alias Abu Salman hailing from Danagama area in Mawanella. more..

Aug 7 (EN) Sri Lanka is planning talks with India to relax a minimum import price for pepper, a non-tariff barrier erected by India which has slashed exports of the spice by the island. "I will be travelling within the next 10 days together with two members of The Spice Council to meet India's Minister of Agriculture," Minister Daya Gamage said. "I will also meet Indian spice processors, and as a govt will sign an agreement with them to sell more..

Aug 7 (CT) UNP MP Palitha Range Bandara said President Maithripala Sirisena had violated the Constitution by refusing to appoint him and MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as Ministers. Bandara further said the President had powers to appoint Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister in terms of Article 43 and the President was continuously refusing to appoint Bandara and Fonseka as Ministers even though they were recommended by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Aug 7 (Island) Management of the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) started paying Castle Street Hospital, for the services of 39 nurses that had been seconded to it, only after the PCoI investigating corruption in the current administration started looking into it, it was revealed. Nabana Badalge Ariyasena, Accountant at the Castle Street Hospital said that although nurses from the hospital had been deployed at NFTH from late 2017, the first payment arrived only in May 15, 2019. more..

Aug 7 (EN) Workers in Sri Lanka's information communications technology (ICT) sector is expected to grow 16.9% in 2019 to 146,089 from 124,873 in 2018, a survey by Sri Lanka's ICT Agency has found. The workforce has grown 50.7% since the 82,854 in last survey in 2014. "As per my knowledge the only industry can improve the quality of life of the people in this country," Minister Ajith Perera said. more..

Aug 7 (Island) Members of Kalmunai Muslim community praised the Leader of ACMC on August 5 for his efforts to solve the Kalmunai Divisional Secretariat issue peacefully. ACMC leader meanwhile urged the Kalmunai representatives to work for an amicable and sustainable solution, rather than rushing for quick answers, a communiqué issued by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said. It said "ACMC has been calling for a peaceful solution to Kalmunai issue more..

Aug 7 (AD) UPFA MP Shantha Bandara has resigned as a National List MP. This decision has been made in order for Bandara to fill in the vacancy created by the death of MP Salinda Dissanayake. He stated that he took this decision, as per a proposal by the UPFA, to be elected to the parliament through the people’s vote. He stated that he has a hope to return to the parliament via the preferential votes list to honor the trust placed on him by the Kurunegala public at the last more..

Aug 7 (Forbes) Legendary billionaire investor George Soros famously observed that the most money is made when things go from terribly awful to just awful. Coincidentally, this is also the time when hardly anyone wants to invest. Few markets in the region probably embody that adage more than SL. Currently classified as an Asian frontier market in the same company as Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Kazakhstan more..

Aug 7 (Island) It was very unlikely for the govt to proceed with Seethawaka hydro power plant if there was opposition from the people, fearing possible floods and landslides due to its construction, an official of the Ministry of Power and Energy said. The official said that former Minister Power and Renewable Energy Ranjith Siyambalapitiya had met Minister Ravi Karunanayake to discuss the final large scale hydro power plant at an estimated cost of USD 60 million. more..

Aug 7 (JS) Leading Sri-Lankan apparel manufacturer Brandix is to work with consultancy Accenture to transform its manufacturing, supply chain, finance and human resources operations to set the stage for the company's digital future. Accenture will help Brandix develop innovative solutions that focus on process excellence, productivity improvement, data-driven analytics and the internet of things – all while driving end-to-end integrated solutions. more..

Aug 7 (CT) Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation is to draft a Cabinet Paper to restart the BIA second phase following ongoing discussions with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japanese Embassy, Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said. He said that this was a much needed development that will enable BIA to facilitate an additional nine million passengers annually, while Ratmalana, Batticaloa and Palaly Airports more..

Aug 7 (DM) CID officials today informed the Gampaha High Court that the AG’s Department has no plans to take legal action against six military officers including Major Prabhath Bulathwatta, in connection with the assault on former Rivira Newspaper Editor, Upali Tennakoon and his wife. The AG has filed indictments against Warrant Officer Premananda Udalagama and Army Intelligence Officer Lalith Rajapaksha in the Gampaha High Court for conspiracy for causing grievous more..

Aug 7 (AD) The Lotus Road in Colombo has been temporarily closed off for traffic from the Galle Face entrance road due to a protest. The protest has been organized by the students following the Higher National Diploma (HND) course at the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education. The police had resorted to using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesting students, stated Ada Derana reporter. more..

Aug 7 (AFP) Sri Lankan cricket authorities Wednesday suspended head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and appointed a temporary replacement for the upcoming New Zealand series. Cricket board chairman Shammi Silva said former Sri Lanka fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake was made interim coach pending a final decision on the status of Hathurusingha. "Hathurusingha will not be involved in this (New Zealand) series," more..