Jan 7 (DM) Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has decided to impose a sewerage disposal service charge from commercial and industrial companies within the city. It is expected to earn Rs.667 million revenue with the introduction of this scheme of revenue. CMC member Sharmila Gonawala said proposal to collect this revenue had been included in the CMC budget for the year 2019. The decision to levy sewerage disposal charge has been taken on the instructions by the ADB. more..

Jan 7 (Island) Former Education Minister and UPFA MP Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, insisted that students of international schools shouldn’t be considered for national rankings at the GCE A/L or O/L or any other public examination. Gunawardena said that he could be wrong though he reserved the right to oppose the recognition given to international schools. He slammed Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and the Examination Dept for more..

Jan 7 (FT) Govt is steaming ahead in developing three new export processing zones (EPZ), while introducing investor-friendly policies to bolster trade and attract fresh foreign direct investments. Minister Malik Samarawickrama said they were progressing with two zones, particularly in Millaniya and Bingiriya, in the near future. “Apart from Hambantota, we are working on developing two other zones in Millaniya and Bingiriya. We are still discussing and ironing out the land issues more..

Jan 7 (DM) There could be a Cabinet reshuffle soon after the Attorney General voice his opinion with regard to the number of members in the Cabinet in response to an inquiry made by the UNP leadership, Deputy Minister Ajith Mannaperuma said. He that opinion of the Attorney General has been sought on the number of Ministers in the cabinet. “The AG has been specifically asked as to whether the Prez and PM are counted when it comes to limiting the number of members in the Cabinet to 30. more..

Jan 7 (AN) An India-led project to modernize a northern Sri Lankan airport has been delayed because of political instability, according to media reports citing an unnamed aviation official. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has yet to give the green light for the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to press ahead with its proposed redesign of Palaly Airport as it is waiting for the political climate to settle, the reports said. SL was thrown into turmoil last October, more..

Jan 7 (DN) Sports Ministry has temporarily suspended the registration of the Sri Lanka Cricket under Section 32 and 33 of the Sports Law, No.25 of 1973, in an extraordinary gazette notification No. 2104/33. The temporary suspension shall remain until the office bearers are elected from the SLC election. As an interim arrangement, the Sports Ministry has appointed the Secretary to the Ministry of Telecom, Foreign Employment and Sports Chulananda Perera as Competent Authority more..

Jan 7 (SO) The Constitutional Council (CC) will meet today holding its first meeting for the year, during which it will consider and recommend the nomination sent by Prez Sirisena for the vacant posts in the Supreme Court. This appointment is for the vacancy that arose with the retirement of former Supreme Court Justice Eva Wanasundara. Constitutional Council members are irked that despite the Council forwarding nominations to Supreme Court & Court of Appeal, more..

Jan 7 (SO) SL’s former Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya is likely to be offered a proffer agreement by US federal prosecutors this week, to spill the beans on the Govt run by his cousin Mahinda Rajapaksa between 2005-2015, in exchange for leniency in money laundering and immigration fraud cases filed against him in Washington DC, Sunday Observer learns. He is expected to be offered a deal more..

Jan 7 (DM) Constitutional crisis which developed with the events of Oct 2018, has unfortunately not ended in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Court ruling, the Prez’s actions in dismissing his PM, appointing a new premier in his stead and dissolving parliament when the newly appointed premier could not prove his majority in parliament were unconstitutional. Since the re-swearing-in of Ranil Wickremasinghe as PM, the executive and legislative arms of govt have effectively more..

Jan 7 (DM) Kumar Ponnambalam’s gallant and heroic life in advancing the legitimate cause of the Tamils amidst all dangers, has earned him the respect and admiration of his people as a true Tamil patriot. Kumar was born into wealth and circumstances. Born and bred and stood first among the equal elites of Cinnamon Gardens, but his inheritance was that he was proud to say he was a Tamil. He had been proud and delighted in displaying it. Secondly, he being the son of more..

Jan 7 (ST) Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera has launched a new concept of community policing. The idea is to get the people to play a bigger role in helping the Police to maintain law and order and minimise crime. The move is laudable but the biggest threat to such an exercise appears to come from politicians. Then there is the question of some of his own men, like Police Station OICs, most of whom are often arrogant, anti-social and more..

Jan 7 (ST) Signboards telling people what to do if another tsunami washes over SL have been trashed and defaced with reckless disregard for saving lives even as fears of new tsunamis were felt this month around Asia. Sri Lanka marked the 14th anniversary of the Dec 26 tsunami, with religious ceremonies and almsgivings to remember the 36,000 people who were killed – but critical importance of saving lives in the event more..

Jan 7 (FT) Exporters last week hailed the Govt’s commitment towards encouraging new champions to international trade and facilitation to ensure Sri Lanka reaches its targets by end of this year whilst urging immediate action over some of the concerns. National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) Secretary General and CEO Shiham Marikar pointed out that the close relationship built between the Govt and more..

Jan 7 (FT) Mahanayakas of Buddhist nikayas commend the services rendered by President Sirisena for propagation of Buddha sasanaya. Prez Sirisena said that he has made the Tripitaka as a national heritage and he will work towards declaring it as a World Heritage. President also said that he will continue to mediate in making the Tripitaka as a World Heritage. The national ceremony to officially proclaim the sacred more..

Jan 7 (ST) Questions are being raised about the abrupt suspension of investigations by a committee to probe whether negligent provincial irrigation officials contributed to the recent floods in Kilinochchi. The committee, appointed by former Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray, was headed by Prof S.S. Sivakumar of the Jaffna University’s Engineering Faculty. Other members were Northern Province Engineering Services more..

Jan 7 (AD) The petition calling for a medical report on the President’s mental status has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The petitioner has also been ordered to pay an amount of Rs 100,000 as government legal costs. The consideration of the relevant petition, filed by Thakshila Lakmali Jayawardena, a resident in Colombo 12, was done today, before the Court of Appeal President Justice Preethi Padman more..

Jan 7 (Island) Examinations Chief Sanath Pujitha said that results of the GCE (A/L) students of international schools had been evaluated along with those of public and private schools as well as pirivenas since 2013. Pujitha said that since then a number of students studying at various international schools had received recognition by securing positions among the first ten students in different streams. more..

Jan 7 (CT) If there are issues and crises related to religious as well as ethnic co-existence in Sri Lanka, solutions can be solicited through the spiritual guidance taught in religions. Hence, any unwanted foreign involvement should be frowned upon, said Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith attending the launching ceremony of the biography of Ven. Banagala Upatissa Thera. The western countries that whine & grumble that more..

Jan 7 (GDI) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe had asked Cabinet Ministers to abide with the circular that was issued by Prez Sirisena with regard to the appointment of heads of govt and semi-govt institutions, sources from PM’s office said. PM had said the ministers should follow the circular issued by the President as it was a good concept to follow when appointing heads of such institutions. He gave this directive during more..

Jan 7 (Island) The country’s economy is collapsing and politics has become a lucrative business, says JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Addressing the Colombo District conference of the National Intellectuals’ Organisation, on Saturday, he said: "The Central Bank Governor has recently announced that the country has to pay loan installments amounting to USD 5.9 billion this year. more..

Jan 7 (FT) By the time the present Govt came to power in 2015, Sri Lanka was in a deep economic crisis. Its growth had slowed down from a peak of 9% in 2012 to 3.4% in 2013 before recovering temporarily to 5%, still a low rate, in 2014. Exports had been stagnant at around $ 10 billion during the five year period from 2010 to 2014, while imports had been on average at about $ 18 billion giving rise to a trade deficit of about $ 8 billion annually. Since the net amount of monies sent by Lankans more..

Jan 7 (CT) The firearm earns its place as one of the most decisive inventions in history. Conflict had existed since time immemorial; from rocks to clubs and from swords to catapults, humankind had killed each other head on until the gun was introduced and everything changed. After guns came into the picture, no longer did one require being inches close to an adversary or require strain to launch a projectile. Guns were a game changer because it was quick, fast and powerful; more..

Jan 7 (CT) Civil society activist Chandra Jayaratne today requested the Special Presidential Task Force on the Recovery of Assets to develop a Policy and Legislative Framework for the establishment of a Serious Financial & Organized Crimes Agency Act of Sri Lanka. Jayaratne, in his letter to the Task Force, said the Act should provide For the establishment and functions of a Serious Financial and Organized Crimes Agency that is merged with serious financial & organized crimes agency more..

Jan 7 (DN) Minister Rauff Hakeem said the drinking water problem could be solved by supplying water to the people in Kilinotchi and Jaffna from the Iranamadu Tank. The Minister further said, he got the idea about the Irannamadu tank occurred to him during his visit to flood - hit areas recently and felt the water crisis in Jaffna could be solved by using water from the Iranamadu Tank. He said, alternative ways of supplying water had also been brought to his notice but he would pursue the idea of more..

Jan 7 (CI) On Saturday, New Zealand dropped six catches - something that might happen to them once every 50 games, at most. A Sri Lanka player produced the batting performance of his life. And yet, such is the disparity between these teams that, a 21-run victory to New Zealand was nevertheless the result. The Sri Lanka attack's toothlessness through the middle overs - especially in the absence of suspended Akila more..

Jan 7 (DM) SLT recently announded the launch of Telehealth Insurance, a special medial insurance scheme, provided in collaboration with Ceylinco General Insurance Limited, the undisputed choice of Sri Lankans for their insurance needs. The agreement was signed by the two parties and the product was launched recently at a special function organized at SLT Auditorium. The registration of the first Telehealth Insurance customer also took place during the launch ceremony. more..

Jan 7 (EN) Colombo Stock Exchange said it has amended its listing rules to enable listing and trading of shares of foreign companies on its multi-currency board (MCB). A foreign firm can list its shares on the CSE’s multi-currency board denominated in a currency approved by the central bank of Sri Lanka, a CSE statement said. The stock exchange said it also changed its Automated Trading Rules and Central Depository System (CDS) rules to allow trading in shares of foreign firms. more..

Jan 7 (EN) SL's may face a shortage of milk powder as a collapsing currency and price controls have left distributors with losses forcing them to curtail imports, a media report said, showing the fallout of following illiberal economic policy. Some importers have halted imports as the rupee fell below 183 to the US dollar. Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration has followed most illiberal economic policies from last regime, more..

Jan 7 (Island) Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake has given the CID permission to ascertain whether any of the audio recordings, pertaining the alleged plot to assassinate Prez Sirsena and former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, matches the voice of IGP Pujith Jayasundara. Permission was granted following a request made by the CID to the court, on Friday. CID has obtained 24 audio recordings from the mobile phone of Director of Anti-Corruption Movement, Namal Kumara. more..

Jan 7 (DM) The proposed UNP-led political alliance, the Democratic National Front is to accommodate civil society organisations that primarily stood for the political change in 2015, it is learnt. The UNP has teamed up with political parties such as the JHU, SLMC and the TPA to stitch this alliance. A political source said the new front would ensure a role for civil society organisations and small political parties such as Nawa Samasamaja Party (NSSP). The source said the leaders of the new alliance more..

Jan 7 (NR) Cabinet has approved a proposal to include law in school syllabi. Cabinet paper in this regard was tabled by Minister Thalatha Athukorala. Minister said the inclusion of law in the school syllabi was a victory of the present administration. The aim of the move to include law in the school syllabi was mainly focused on familiarising students with the Constitution, fundamental law and the Penal Code, more..

Jan 7 (Island) The TNA would not resort to legal action to retain the post of Opposition Leader in parliament, its MP Mavai Senathiraja said, on Saturday. He said that his party would not legally contest the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa to the post of Opposition Leader which had been held by TNA MP R Sampanthan. However, TNA has pointed out to the Speaker and Leader of the House that the appointment of the Opposition Leader should be done in keeping with more..

Jan 7 (FT) Standard Chartered has appointed its first Sri Lankan CEO, Bingumal Thewarathanthri. This appointment came into effect from 1 Jan 2019. He took over from Jim McCabe, who has retired at the end of 2018 following a four-year tenure in SL since 2015. Bingumal, better known as Bingu, counts for more than 20 years’ experience within the banking and finance industry. Bingu joined Standard Chartered in 2004. Over the past 14 years, he has held several leadership positions in SL, more..

Jan 7 (AD) New governors appointed for three provinces have sworn in before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat this morning. Accordingly, the new governors were appointed for Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Northern provinces. Newly appointed governors are as follows: 1 Keerthi Tennakoon – Governor of Uva Province; 2 Senior Lecturer Dhamma Dissanayake – Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province; more..

Jan 7 (CT) In a sudden turn of events, National Police Commission (NPC) revoked the recent transfer orders given to 72 OICs who were transferred on 4 January with immediate effect. The revocation orders came yesterday following instructions issued by the Secretary of Defence, Hemasiri Fernando. inquired from Police Media Spokesperson, he said he was not aware of the reason for the transfers being suspended. “We received order yesterday (5) night to cancel more..

Jan 7 (AM) The Police were called in to quell a tense situation at the state-owned Independent Television Network (ITN) earlier today. A group of ITN workers have staged a protest against appointments by the new management of the state TV stations. A tense situation took place when a group of attempted to assault the Deputy General Manager - News, appointed by the current management, within the office premises today. The protesting workers are largely affiliated with the SLPP and more..

Jan 7 (CT) Constitutional Council today gave Prez Sirisena a slap in the face when it decided to re-confirm the appointments of Justice Gamini Amarasekera and Justice S. Thurairaja to the Supreme Court. The majority of CC members today decided to stick with the previous decision and disregard any new nominations by Prez Sirisena. Therefore, when the CC met this morning, it decided to stand its ground and re-confirms more..

Jan 7 (AD) A Sub Inspector of Police, who had been serving at the STF camp in Puttalam, has committed suicide by hanging himself. The body of the deceased has been found this morning inside an old garage located inside the premises of the STF camp in Sirambiadiya, Puttalam. The deceased was identified as a 49-year-old father of two, named K.B. Nimal Shantha, who had been a resident of Kurundugaha area in Elpitiya. The deceased Sub Inspector had also served as a security detail more..

Jan 7 (DM) A committee headed by Sate Minister Eran Wickramaratna was appointed by Prez Sirisena today to look into the restructuring of SriLankan Airlines. Committee included Professor D.B.P.H. Disa Bandara, Dr. Harsha De Silva, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Dr. Dharmaratne Herath, V. Kanagasabapathy, L.I.S. Jayaratne, Viraj Dayaratne, Mahen Gopallawa, Wasantha Kumarasiri, Ajith Amarasekara and Thisuri Wanniarachchi. Committee had been mandated to submit more..