Aug 23 (SLA) Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage has been appointed as the 54th Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army, announced the Military Secretariat on Friday (23). He succeeded Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva who took office as the Commander of the Army a few days ago. Major General Liyanage of SL Armoured Corps, more popularly known as Sathyapriya Liyanage was serving as the Commandant of more..

Aug 23 (AD) During the past 49 days, 10,054 motorists were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. The island-wide raids to apprehend drunk drivers were launched on the 5th of July. A total amount of Rs 251 million has been collected from the arrestees thus far, police said further. Police patrols and search missions were carried out across the island, especially on the roads of Colombo, while police officers dressed in civilian clothing were also deployed for operations. more..

Aug 23 (NR) SLMC MPs Faizal Cassim and Ali Zahir Maulana, who resigned from their Ministerial posts following the incidents that unfolded following the Easter Sunday attacks, have been sworn in as State Ministers once again. The two took oath before President Sirisena this afternoon. Faizal Cassim was sworn in as State Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine while Ali Zahir Maulana took oath as State Minister of Primary Industries and Social Empowerment. more..

Aug 23 (AD) Secretary of Defence General (Retd) Shantha Kottegoda says that the state of emergency will not be extended in Sri Lanka once again. This brings to an end a four-month state of emergency declared after Easter suicide bombings by extremists that killed 258 people on April 21. President Maithripala Sirisena has been extending the emergency on the 22nd of each month since the Apr 21 attacks on 3 hotels and 3 churches. more..

Aug 23 (IT) An alert has been issued in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu after a group of six Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists have entered Tamil Nadu through Sri Lanka, according to an intel report. The alert, which has been issued in the city, says that the group consists of one Pakistan national and five SL Tamils. Based on this alert, Chennai has also increased it patrolling forces. The Coimbatore city police has released photographs of two possible suspects who have intruded Tamil Nadu. more..

Aug 23 (CT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has invited all UNP MPs for a special banquet at the Temple Trees tonight. UNP Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka noted that the Premier has organised this special banquet to mark the completion of four years since the setting up of the National Govt. However, sources from the Temple Trees confirmed that the banquet will only be open for UNP MPs. Meanwhile, the UNP MPs backing the candidature of Minister Sajith Premadasa for the next more..

Aug 23 (AD) AG Dappula de Livera has informed the Acting IGP to refrain from submitting inconclusive reports in respects to the high-profile cases including the murders of Wazim Thajudeen and Lasantha Wickramatunga. He stated this in a letter to Acting IGP C. Wickramaratne in connection to the reports submitted by SL Police to the AG’s Dept on several high-profile cases currently being more..

Aug 23 (CT) Matugama Chief Magistrate Hemamali Halpandeniya yesterday, ordered the Police to arrest and produce in Court Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma and a few other suspects. Thewarapperuma has been charged with obstructing the official duties of the Officer-in-Charge and posse of Policemen from the Thebuwana Police Station who had gone to carry out a Court Order, which had prohibited the burial of a corpse on a private land. Thebuwana Police OIC U. Arulananthan more..

Aug 23 (AD) Army Intelligence Sergeant Chamika Sumith Kumara has been arrested over the abduction of journalist Keith Noyahr. He was arrested by the CID on the directions of the Attorney General, says the Attorney General’s Coordinating Officer State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne. SP Ruwan Gunasekara said the arrest was made yesterday after summoning him to the CID for investigations on the case. He is to be produced before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court today, more..

Aug 23 (CI) Two double-wicket maidens by New Zealand's seam-bowling duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee headlined an opening session that left SL struggling on the second day of the second Test, but the rains that have plagued this match from the start came down at the lunch break and didn't let up, so there was no play possible for the rest of the day. In the morning, SL had resumed on a fairly steady 85 for 2 after overnight more..

Aug 23 (EN) SL is expecting to grow about 2% in the second quarter and 3.1% for the full year, CB Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. "Second quarter growth - tentatively - will be about 2%," he said. The official estimate would be released by the statistics office and the rate around 2% was based on currently available information. Full year growth may be about 3.1% he said. Easter Sunday bomb attacks had made people stay off activity but agriculture and major industries continued to more..

Aug 23 (DM) Police Headquarters has launched an investigation into the allegations levelled against the Nuwara Eliya Police Station, that it had not carried out a proper probe into Zaharan's training centre at Nuwara Eliya, despite complaints made against the training centre, Police Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said. The investigations that would be carried out by the special investigation unit of the Police Headquarters, would focus on whether the police had gone to the location where more..

Aug 23 (EN) Sri Lanka’s economic growth will slow sharply in the second quarter of this year after April’s suicide bombings with its growth momentum interrupted in 2019 before picking up the next year, Moody’s Investors Service said. “We expect Sri Lanka to face a marked cooling in Q2, reflecting a slump in tourism following the terrorist bombing in April,” rating agency said in a new report that lowered growth forecasts for more..

Aug 23 (EN) Sri Lanka will slap price controls on lending if rates do not fall quickly, CB Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. He said controls have already been put on deposit rates and banks have to follow. It took time for bank costs to fall, as old deposits had to be replaced with new deposits at lower rates, but the central bank was ready to control lending rates as well, if loan rates do not fall, he said. Average deposit rates have fallen about 259 basis points, officials said. more..

Aug 23 (AD) Supreme Court has concluded its hearing on the reference application by the President, seeking the opinion of the court on holding the PC election without the Report on Delimitation of Electorates. The Supreme Court will officially inform its decision to President Maithripala Sirisena in due time. The reference application was taken up before a five-judge bench of the SC consisting of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, more..

Aug 23 (AD) UNP deputy leader Sajith Premadasa today reiterated that he will definitely contest the upcoming Presidential Election. “No one should have any doubts in their hearts.” Sajith Premadasa will definitely contest the upcoming presidential election, the minister said, addressing the UNP’s rally in Matara. He stated that they will implement the Sri Lanka First programme which will prioritize the country over everything else. more..

Aug 24 (CT) A candidate who has recently announced his candidacy for the above position has been touted as a Strong Person. It is believed that many people, including the Mahanayaka of Asgiriya, yearn for a Strong President. In SL a politician is regarded as a strong person based on power, money and a big show. If one looks a little deeper one would see that, this power is commonly derived from corruption, intimidation, imparting fear through terror tactics & even elimination of enemies. more..

Aug 24 (CT) Forthcoming prez election is in many ways going to be an acid test for the two ethnic minorities, Tamils and Muslims, whose recent living experience had been nothing but traumatic. Given the communal make up of SL’s majoritarian democracy never will there be an opportunity in our lifetime for a Tamil or Muslim to become the president of SL. Having placed Buddhism as state religion it will be extremely difficult even for a Sinhalese Christian to compete for that position. more..

Aug 24 (Roar) The adolescent creature was fast asleep, its face shadowed by the concave structure at the centre of its enclosure, presumably built to mimic the lofty caves hidden in the depths of the Amazon rainforest where it is found in the wild. A man-made stream flows out to the edge of the enclosure, where a sheet of glass stretching vertically to the ceiling prevents flowing water from spilling over onto the public. more..

Aug 24 (SO) German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) provides a total sum of 4 Million Euros (approx. 800 Mn LKR) towards demining activities in affected areas of the Northern and Eastern Provinces in SL. The GFFO took this decision in the light of SL’s accession to the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, with the aim of assisting Sri Lanka to achieve the target of becoming a mine-impact free country by 2020. The implementation will be carried out by two NGOs, HALO Trust and more..

Aug 24 (Island) While data isn’t destiny, the study of how individuals capture attention on social media gives both indication and insight into their electoral prospects. Nearly a decade ago, in the sixth Presidential Election of SL, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka – the two leading candidates – each set up Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr accounts for their campaigns. Now dead, dormant or deleted, those accounts were a harbinger of what is now entrenched in electoral dynamics. more..

Aug 24 (CT) Minister Rajitha Senaratne acknowledges that Sajith Premadasa has support at the village level, and says, "But the prez election can't be won only with the UNP votes". Q: You too had a dream of becoming the prez candidate, are you still aspiring to it? A: I don't have that much of a presidential dream; in 2015, Ranil Wickremesinghe offered me the prez candidature, I declined and brought in Maithripala Sirisena. more..

Aug 24 (CT) Prez Sirisena appointed a three-member committee headed by Supreme Court Justice Vijith Malalgoda to probe the terror attacks and submit a report within two weeks, on 22 April, the day following the attacks. However, it was only on 10 June that the final report was handed over to the Prez. Previously, two interim reports were handed over by the Committee. Apart from sections of the interim reports that were leaked to the media, none of the findings were informed to public. more..

Aug 24 (DM) Today, of course, there’s no need for satire of that sort (the internet has since taken satire away from the confines of your TV screen.) As a character from a play I saw two years ago (Affair at Ward Place Hotel) put it, Politics is theatre, theatre politics. So long as this is true, there’s no need for parody; we see it every day, onstage, and onscreen. The battle lines between Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa, if things continue the way they are until Election Day 2019, more..

Aug 24 (SO) Ongoing research in the field of Immuno-genetics in Sri Lanka is striving to find effective treatment of severe dengue and colon cancer, two diseases with high fatality rates in the country, an international expert on Autoimmune disorders and Immunogenetics Prof. Suranjith Seneviratne said. He said the this speciality of medicine which is rather new to the country is being effectively used to combat cancer and other infectious diseases in the West. more..

Aug 24 (FT) Investor confidence in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) deteriorated during the previous Govt, which used funds of the EPF and ETF for shady transactions that shocked investors, State Minister Eran Wickremeratne held in Parliament yesterday. State Minister, responding to a supplementary question raised by UPFA lawmaker Bandula Gunawardena, said: “The former Prez, who was the Minister of Finance, and the former Governor of the CB are responsible for more..

Aug 24 (Island) Western World seems obsessed with the promotion of Lt. General Shavendra Silva as the Commander of SL Army. US Ambassador here, Aliana Teplitz, came with the first charge against him, regarding allegations of gross human rights violations documented by the UN and other organizations that are serious and credible. There is one thing that Ambassador Teplitz and the others from UN, Canada, EU too, must know. more..

Aug 24 (Island) Another suspect has been arrested over the abduction of The Nation Associate Editor Keith Noyahr. He is a military intelligence officer, we are told. The AG’s Department is reported to have said the CID made the arrest following the AG’s instructions. It was reported the other day that the state prosecutor had ordered that all emblematic cases be expedited. One is puzzled, though. Is it that the aforesaid intelligence officer would not have been arrested but for the AG’s instructions? more..

Aug 24 (Island) Despite all the brouhaha about sportsmanship and suchlike, when it comes to picking the perfect spoil sport of them all, the Brits are in a class of their own. By scheduling the finals of two of the finest sporting events on earth on the same day in the same city and at about the same time, they displayed the kind of mean streak that can only be described as sadistic. Poor relations such as us located thousands of miles away, were compelled to switch TV channels more often than would more..

Aug 24 (DN) US-based long distance runner Hiruni Wijayaratne is poised to become the next biggest Sri Lankan athletic star on the world stage after Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe going by the celebrity status accorded to her when she arrived in the island to participate in the 97th National Athletics Championships held at the Sugathadasa Stadium. First Sri Lankan to qualify for next month’s IAAF World Athletic C'ship, more..

Aug 24 (CT) Dhammika Prasad made his ODI debut in 2006 against Bangladesh. This pacer with aggressive energy was able to grab 2 wickets for 29 runs in a match that SL won by 78 runs. A back injury made him wait another 2 years before he could play red ball cricket. Test cap 110 made his debut against India on 8 Aug 2008, where this fast bowler was able to grab 3 wickets for 82 runs and 2 for 60 in the two innings'; a match bag of 5 for 142 including the wickets of more..

Aug 24 (CT) Rising tennis star Anjalika Kurera of Ave Maria Convent, Negombo continued her sensational progress in the 104th National Tennis Championship with another signature performance, defeating Savini Jayasuriya in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 to add the Girls' Under-18 Singles trophy and title to her growing list of laurels at the SLTA Courts yesterday. The long-anticipated girls' singles final was a heated no -holds barred clash between the two power hitters who strived to make more..

Aug 24 (FT) The Bohra Global Convention starting next week in Sri Lanka will be a great boost for tourism and consolidating interfaith harmony post Easter Sunday tragedy a top Minister said on Thursday. The first-ever carbon-neutral, Ashara Mubaraka is scheduled to be held from 1 to 10 September which will draw around 25,000 religious visitors from 40 countries, while the economic benefit to the country may well be more..

Aug 24 (Island) Non Cabinet Minister Harsha De Silva says that his new initiative would help reduce waste of crop yield during excessive harvest seasons and help both farmers and consumers. The minister's argument is that farmers get a low price for their fresh produce when there is oversupply. And so, a temperature and humidity controlled warehouse would help store their produce under right temperature conditions and release the items to the market when there is under-supply, more..

Aug 24 (EN) A drop in excess liquidity earlier in August around the time large scale money printing from lender of last resort windows at around the deposit rate came from a repayment of central bank credit by the Treasury, it has been revealed. On Aug 16, the stock of officially declared central bank Treasury bill holding came down to 77.8 billion rupees from 106.09 billion rupees, while the aggregate balance of the banking system dropped to 7.20 billion rupees from 34.61 billion rupees. more..

Aug 24 (DM) U.S. Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz, in an interactive discussion with a select group of journalists, responds to questions about the current controversy triggered by the US expressing concerns on the appointment of Army Commander Shavendra Silva. Also, she shed light on the process involved in the renunciation of U.S. citizenship. Here is the discussion presented in the form of an interview: more..

Aug 24 (FT) The second mobile service of Enterprise Sri Lanka which provides entrepreneurial loan at concessionary interest rates will be held at the Dambulla Pelwehera Agriculture School premises today and tomorrow. State Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne will participate as the Chief Guest at the opening of this mobile service that will be held from 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Ministry of Finance has organised this mobile service intending to accelerate more..

Aug 24 (DN) Enabling access to high quality urban housing will have a transformational impact in SL society and economy as a whole and policy focus should also be placed on stimulating development of multifamily, condominium housing which is accessible by the middle class. Speaking at a seminar on Future of Condominium Living in Sri Lanka, Nayana Mawilmada, Sector Head- John Keells Properties said that the private sector is best positioned to deliver on the nations’ more..

Aug 24 (CI) Pakistan will host their longest bilateral series in a decade after Sri Lanka agreed to play three ODIs and three T20s in Karachi and Lahore. This will mark the first international action in the country for 18 months, though it has meant that the two Tests scheduled between the sides for October - and which the PCB wanted to be played in Pakistan - have been postponed to December. Where they will be played is not yet clear, more..