Jan 18 (Island) TNA MP and party spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran issuing a statement in Jaffna on accused the media of being "intent on reporting deliberately false and misleading news" on the proposed new Constitution. Following is the full text: The media is busy reporting on what various individuals say about the draft Constitution, but don’t look at what the draft itself says. The media is intent on reporting deliberately false more..

Jan 18 (Island) UPFA MP Shehan Semasinghe challenged the UNP to explain the status of the drafting of the new constitution. Semasinghe said that the UNP owed an explanation as its leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe was on record as having said that neither a new Constitution nor a draft of it had been prepared. MP alleged that the UNP and its allies, the TNA and the JVP had been making contrary statements more..

Jan 18 (CT) Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin claims that principals of several upcountry schools are extorting money, in the form of donations, from parents, to transfer their children, from primary schools in estates, to secondary schools in towns, and also asking students to purchase uniform material and shoes, using govt vouchers, from shops where they have struck a deal. more..

Jan 18 (CT) Trade unions attached to the Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC) have requested Minister Kabir Hashim to intervene in the protection of the China Bay Oil Tank Farm in Trincomalee, as it has come to light that a sizeable number of such tanks have allegedly been sold as scrap iron. They have said that as it is nothing less than a crime to allow the country’s national resources and economic nerve centres to be allowed to decay and more..

Jan 18 (AFP) Sri Lanka's police seized a haul of high explosives stashed near a wildlife sanctuary following the arrest of four men from a newly formed radical Muslim group, officials said Friday. Elite police commandos and detectives stumbled on the explosives which included some 100 detonators from a make-shift warehouse near the Wilpattu national park, police said. Official sources said the discovery was made during investigations more..

Jan 18 (AD) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has assumed duties at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo this morning (18), said Ada Derana reporter. Chairman of SLPP G.L. Peiris, MP Susil Premajayantha, MP Gamini Lokuge and several other parliamentarians had joined this event held at the Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 07. According to political sources, former Opposition Leader TNA more..

Jan 18 (CI) An X-ray has cleared Kusal Mendis of any serious injury, after he had taken a fierce blow while fielding at short leg on the first day of the tour game against the Cricket Australia XI, in Hobart.* A powerful sweep from Jake Doran hit Mendis during the middle session of the day-night match and having been in considerable pain, he quickly left the field for treatment. He spent the rest of the day icing the injury to his more..

Jan 18 (Reuters) Human rights groups expressed alarm at SL's leader on Friday for praising Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his bloody war on drugs as an example to the whole world. Despite international condemnation of a crackdown that has killed thousands of Filipinos, visiting SL President Maithripala Sirisena told Duterte during a banquet this week that he wanted to follow your footsteps to control this hazard. more..

Jan 19 (CT) Newspapers of 16 Jan 2019 report Indian Poachers turning on our Navy. An earlier incident of 23 Dec. where poachers really used violence was hardly reported. All this mis- and non-reporting raise questions of the veracity of our Navy and the irresponsibility of our press to us reader. These newspapers have become willing propaganda tools of the Navy, spreading falsehoods that shield the Navy from any culpability. This article reports my best reconstruction of events. more..

Jan 19 (CT) The rupee is crumbling and ordinary citizens are taxed to the hilt in consumer goods, fuel and services. At the same time, what is squeezed from the common man is supporting expenses for the kith and kin of powerful politicians for sojourns abroad. The presidential entourage to New York last year is a case in point where 63 people joined the bandwagon for merry making in New York. By contrast, the husband of the New Zealand PM personally paid for his air travel since more..

Jan 19 (SO) Chithra Devi, 45, holds her cracked fingers over the oil lamp which is otherwise lit to pay homage to gods and goddesses. It is around 4.00 in the evening. Devi just returned from the shed near her line room where tea leaves are weighed before being transported to a factory. She spent over eight hours plucking tea leaves that day at a plantation in Siripagama- a village 24km from Ratnapura town. more..

Jan 19 (DN) Although it is high time to put the recent unprecedented constitutional crisis behind us without brooding over it too much, yet it would be useful to probe into the lessons we can learn as a country from that sad episode. Was it a result of defective legal advice? Did it precipitate due to sheer force of circumstances beyond one’s control? Was it triggered by personal vested interest? Or, was it mere fancy and folly? A gloomy fifty-one day recent drama in our motherland witnessed more..

Jan 19 (DN) In continuation of the policy of friendship with all, President Maithripala Sirisena currently on a State visit to the Philippines with the intention of strengthening cooperation with the South East Asian neighbour, who is an important member of the ASEAN. Marking the first visit to Manila by a SL Head of State, President Sirisena held highly successful bilateral talks with the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte at the Malacañang Palace in Manila. more..

Jan 19 (CI) On day two in the day-night tour match in Hobart, virtually everyone in contention to play the Test next week had a modest outing, with the exception of legspinning-allrounder Marnus Labuschagne. Most in the SL top order got starts, but could not quite get themselves to 50, while openers Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns - both in the Australia squad - were unable to impose themselves on the game either, falling for 10 and more..

Jan 19 (FT) Bribery and corruption can be regarded as a malicious cancer that has penetrated into almost every strata of Sri Lankan state. It can be considered a major factor affecting SL’s poverty, backwardness and indebtedness. Abuse of power by those who rule the country to accumulate wealth illegally and dishonestly for their personal gains has become a permanent feature in the rule of SL from 1977 to the present. And for this reason alone, elimination of bribery more..

Jan 19 (FT) In an age of stark contradictions, we live in a world where the exclusive 1% enjoy access to an abundance of wealth and resources but also a world where a billion people scarcely have enough to eat and have limited access to health and education. While economic progress of the elitist countries is thus conventionally measured in numbers, its population slowly succumbs to obesity, smoking, stress and depression. Great sages and philosophers like Aristotle and Lord Buddha more..

Jan 19 (DM) Minister of Agriculture should resign as he and his govt had failed to control the ‘Sena’ caterpillar which has spread to all parts of the country, MP Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said. He told a media conference after Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed duties as the Opposition Leader that ‘Sena’ had already destroyed more than thousand acres of maize cultivation. “When it was first reported from the Ampara District, what should have been done was to prevent maize being more..

Jan 19 (Island) The Court of Appeal yesterday gave the Attorney General time till Feb. 5 to file written submissions, pertaining to an appeal filed by Lalith Weeratunga, against the High Court judgment in the sil redi case. He was found guilty of the abuse of Rs. 600 million, belonging to the Sri Lanka Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission for the distribution of sil redi in the run-up to the presidential election of 08 January, 2015. Arguments were fixed for March 8. more..

Jan 19 (PMD) President Maithripala Sirisena says that he will take the necessary future steps to increase the welfare of Sri Lankans living in the Philippines while resolving their issues, with the assistance of further strengthened Sri Lanka- Philippines relations as a result of his state visit to the Philippines. The President, who is on a state visit to the Philippines at the invitation of the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, more..

Jan 19 (AT) The more than three-decade armed conflict between the Sinhala majority govt of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) came to an end with the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. However, the international political struggle to establish an autonomous Tamil state in the Northern and Eastern Provinces continues unabated. Internationally backed efforts to change the foremost place that the Sri Lankan constitution gives to Buddhism, religion of the Sinhala majority, more..

Jan 19 (Island) President Sirisena has appointed another presidential commission of inquiry, mandated to probe malpractices in state institutions, from Jan. 2015 to Dec. 31, 2018. It is required to submit its final report within six months. This probe will hurt the UNP more than any other party because it has been in power during the entire period, save about 50 days. What’s up the President’s sleeve? The general consensus is that bribery and corruption under the UNP-led yahapalana govt more..

Jan 19 (PMD) The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines says that the Parliament of the Philippines will extend fulest support to implement the programmes for development cooperation with Sri Lanka proposed by the Philippines President, with the aim of assisting Sri Lanka. The Speaker and the former President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made these remarks when more..

Jan 19 (Island) Lack of maintenance staff at SriLankan Airlines had caused serious difficulties in returning aircraft to the lessors in keeping with agreements, Amila Waidyaratna, Technical Services Engineer at SriLankan said. Due to the lack of staff they had found it difficult to complete refurbishing of aircraft within the allocated time. "We ground aircraft at times, hoping to effect refurbishment, but due to the lack of staff and coordination among various depts we fail to finish the work in time." more..

Jan 19 (Island) Looking for quotes on retribution I came across the above. You will soon know why I was having retribution in mind. But first of all the definition of retribution. "Punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act." Synonyms: punishment, penalty, nemesis, doom, one’s just deserts, due/just reward, The quote came to mind when I read on Monday in The Island a red squared prominent news item: JVP ready to reveal to court assets of Weerawansa. more..

Jan 19 (Island) Many an eyebrow has been raised in legal circles over the presidential warrant appointing 25 President’s Counsel, who took oaths at a ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court, yesterday. A non-existent Article of the Constitution was cited therein, legal experts say. The warrant said that, in making those appointments, the President had acted under Article 33 (CC). This Article was repealed by 19th Amendment more..

Jan 19 (Island) Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswami said on Thursday that he had shown Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had been the PM and Finance Minister in the recent short-lived administration, three key graphs on the state of the economy which depicted where the country stood in terms of govt revenue as a percentage to GDP, the depleted share of concessional loans against non-concessional loans of Sri Lanka, and its current urgency for financing external debt dynamics. more..

Jan 19 (Island) SriLankan Airlines wishes to clarify its position with regard to the utilization of one of its Airbus A330-200 aircraft bearing the serial number MSN-1008 and CAASL registration number 4R ALS. This aircraft was acquired in 2017 as part of the conditions agreed to between the previous management of the airline and aircraft lessor Aercap, as a settlement against the cancellation of the order of four new Airbus A350-900 aircraft. However, cabin configuration of this aircraft, more..

Jan 19 (FT) SriLankan Airlines said an Airbus A330-200 that was acquired in 2016 was grounded and its engine fixed to another aircraft after it was found that the aircraft did not fit the current business model of the National Carrier. The aircraft bears the serial number MSN-1008 and CAASL registration number 4R ALS and was leased by the airline in 2016 after the Govt cancelled the leases for 4 new Airbus A350-900 aircraft. more..

Jan 19 (DM) The Opposition Leader’s office was previously used to represent a particular group of people and a region, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said today. He expressed these views after assuming duties as the Opposition Leader at the Opposition Leader’s office at No 30, Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 07. “We were prevented from having the official opposition in parliament on numerous occasions. However, I am of the opinion that it was a great victory more..

Jan 19 (AD) Northern Province Governor Suren Raghavan has undertaken an observation visit to the Iranamadu Tank today (18). The purpose of this observation visit was to look into the current condition of Iranamadu Tank and implementation of the decisions taken during a previous observation visit at the tank on January 10. The chief irrigation engineer and other officials who had joined the visit informed the governor that the repairs to the tank can be completed by the 31st of January. more..

Jan 19 (DN) TMahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter Most Ven Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddartha Sumangala Thera ysaid that the Constitutional making process has been continuing for the past three years and claims from some quarters that this process is being hurried, is unsubstantiated. However, Chief Prelate noted that it would be better to proceed on the new Constitution after the end of all pending elections, more..

Jan 19 (Island) Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka yesterday said that it would issue recommendations in respect of the assault on prisoners at the ‘Angunakolapalessa Closed Prison.’ HRCSL Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama issued the following statement yesterday: The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has noted media reports and the release of videos on the assault of prisoners at the Angunakolapalessa Closed Prison on 22 Nov 2018. more..

Jan 19 (CT) On Thursday (17), night some who oppose TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran’s political stance disfigured pictures of him with red paint, sparing the pictures of the President and the Prime Minister on two hoardings. Sumanthiran’s pictures and posters were covered in red paint protesting over his involvement with the Gamperaliya and Enterprise Sri Lanka Programmes that were introduced in the North. The incident took place on Wednesday (16). more..

Jan 19 (FT) British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris on Thursday assured local exporters the UK would extend the same preferential tariff rates to countries which were currently beneficiaries of the GSP of the European Union to ensure there would be minimal impact to their exports post-Brexit. Delivering the keynote address at the 24th Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Exporters, more..

Jan 19 (DN) SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera urged the govt to hold the Provincial Council election under the old system by bringing a motion to that effect in Parliament as per the Cabinet decision taken by the previous 52-day govt on November 13, last year. Considering the need of conducting Provincial Council Election immediately, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal On November last year to prepare bills to conduct provincial council election, more..

Jan 19 (DN) The Competent Authority of Sri Lanka Cricket Chulananda Perera assured that the ICC will not suspend Sri Lanka although the scheduled date to hold elections has been postponed from February 7 to 21. “The Ministry had discussions with the ICC last week and it was confirmed that the ICC committee meeting is due to be held on 28 February and the SLC elections should be held before that date and the names of the elected officials be submitted as early as possible,” more..

Jan 19 (CT) The Interim committees won’t do any betterment to Sri Lanka cricket, ICC does not accept interim committees, said former Minister for Sports, Dayasiri Jayasekara. He claims that Sri Lanka cricket (SLC) issues have been created due to problems in school cricket and cricket clubs and those should be corrected. He went on to state that when Faiszer Mustapha was Minister of Sports he allowed 59 cricket clubs to present their more..

Jan 19 (FT) It has been reported to the Central Bank that a phishing attempt has been initiated, targeting mainly the financial institutions of Sri Lanka, it said in a statement. Issuing a public notice the Central Bank said the phishing emails appear to be sent from the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Department of CB with the subject Notice from Central Bank of Sri Lanka EPF. The content of the email was reported to be with links to malicious websites and downloadable malicious software. more..

Jan 19 (CT) The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Government yesterday (18), inked a comprehensive work plan to advance Sri Lanka’s rice self-sufficiency goals through joint research for development projects in the country in the next five years. The IRRI’s Deputy Director General for Research, Jacqueline Hughes and Additional Secretary for Bilateral Affairs of the Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sumith Nakandala were the signatories to the plan. more..