Oct 15 (CT) Some one asked: Do you think the Tamil Ethnic question would ever be solved and all Sri Lankans could travel along a common path to peace and prosperity? My response was: Yes of course! The time is ripe now for the resolving of the so called ethnic question. A mystic in Jaffna told me in the 1980s that the Bandaranaike name after SWRD Bandaranaike would last only for 50 years from 1956. By 2006 I believe the name lost its political significance. Chandrika is not Bandaranaike. more..

Oct 15 (CT) Gateway College, which has built a strong reputation as a pioneer in the field of technology and education, extended its pioneering spirit to the sports arena with the opening of their newest swimming pool, compatible with international standards, at Gateway College, Negombo, yesterday. The pool was ceremonially declared open by Gateway's first swimming coach Julian Bolling, midst a distinguished gathering that included the Chairman of Gateway Group Dr. Harsha more..

Oct 15 (TM) On a road leading to Anuradhapura town, Chandrakumara Dissanayake was busy selling fruits under a street umbrella. A visibly tired Dissanayake waits in hope for customers to buy his fruits so that he may earn a living and support his family. The Sunday Morning spoke to the 37-year-old fruit vendor last Tuesday (8), just a day after nominations were accepted for the upcoming prez election. “This is all I can do now,” more..

Oct 15 (Island) Having lashed out at all earthly powers across the globe and apparently run out of terrestrial targets to take on, the JVP is now training its propaganda guns on celestial beings, who must be wondering why on earth (or heaven?) they should be dragged into mundane affairs in the land like no other. The JVP takes pride in describing itself as a Marxist outfit, but does not look down upon mainstream religions unlike the dyed-in-the-wool Marxists, some of whom even reject religion more..

Oct 15 (Island) Following a series of setbacks, SL cricket fans are on a high after their team completed a 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in their own backyard last week. Pakistan Cricket Board must be congratulated for putting up a splendid show as the six games in Lahore and Karachi were played in front of packed houses. A nation that has great admiration for the sport is overjoyed as international cricket is gradually returning to the country. Sri Lanka’s cricketers who were in Pakistan got more..

Oct 15 (SO) It is almost 20 years since Susanthika Jayasinghe won a medal at an Olympic Games and ever since Sydney 2000, Sri Lanka continues to miss out on a medal, a long time to say the least with no sign of any athlete repeating the performance in the near future. Jayasinghe has now been made the director of the High Performance program at the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and is determined to produce another more..

Oct 15 (DN) Sri Lanka will take on Lebanon today in a second round match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 & AFC Asia Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification match at the Race Course ground at 7.30 p.m. Both captains and their coaches addressed the media yesterday at Football House Auditorium. Lebanese coach Livu Cribotarive speaking at the media conference said that his team is confident of winning the game as it is of great importance for them to make their way to the next round. more..

Oct 15 (AFP) Cricket chiefs readmitted Zimbabwe as an International Cricket Council member on Monday following a three-month suspension over political interference. An ICC statement said the move followed a meeting in Dubai involving the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani and sports minister, Kirsty Coventry. "I would like to thank the Zimbabwe sports minister for her commitment to the reinstatement of Zimbabwe Cricket," said ICC chairman Shashank Manohar. more..

Oct 15 (TM) Govt is in the process of introducing a new Excise Act by the end of this year which will be an amalgamation of the existing 100-year-old Excise Ordinance and Tobacco Tax Act, with a completely digitalised platform. Under this revamp, Excise Ordinance along with 1020 Excise notifications and 2,500 circulars would be updated to cater to modern-day requirements and be merged with the Tobacco Tax Act. more..

Oct 15 (EN) Promises made by SL’s two main contenders for upcoming Prez elections is set to drive up govt spending, as well as debt which has been by successive increases in state sector wages and monetary instability. Gotabaya Rajapaska, from the SLPP kicked off his inaugural rally in A'pura, a farming district. Rajapaksa promised free fertilizer, which is already mostly subsidized, commodity price support and loan sweeping loan write-offs, the cost of which is not known. more..

Oct 15 (ST) Kakolya Silva, a student of Royal College Colombo, represented SL at the Commonwealth Power-lifting Championship 2019, which was held in Canada from Sept 15 to 21. He competed in the Sub Junior 105kg category and managed to bring glory to the country bagging many medals. Silva won nine gold medals and a silver medal, and also met his personal best in Bench Press and Deadlift. Silva was the tallest Deadlifter among all Sub Junior category lifters. more..

Oct 15 (FT) Sri Lanka is being represented by a low-key team at the 2019 World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings beginning this week in Washington D.C. Sans Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera or State Minister Eran Wickramaratne, who are busy with next month’s Prez Election campaign, the Lankan delegation includes Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Treasury Dy Secretary more..

Oct 15 (Island) Understanding the challenges and the long felt need of foreign migrant workers in connecting with their loved ones, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) joined hands with Mobitel on Sept 16 to launch Ran Piyapath, a novel concept devised to empower both the migrant workers and their families back home by providing an accessible and affordable communication solution. Over the years, nearly 1 million people have migrated for work, bringing in more..

Oct 15 (DM) UNP will have a fresh outlook with the infusion of new blood if Minister Sajith Premadasa wins the prez election, though some have floated different names to certain posts, MP Nalin Bandara Jayamaha said. “We hear that such and such person will still be calling the shots after the election, but I would like to make it clear that there will be a host of new faces under the presidency of Mr. Premadasa. The party will get a different outlook. None will be able to shake a UNP-led Govt if our more..

Oct 15 (FT) SL’s trade deficit contracted by $ 2.3 billion to $ 4.8 billion during the first 8 months of this year, Central Bank said, with August seeing an import decline of 16.6% while exports declined by 0.4%. Deficit in the trade account contracted by $ 2,386 million to $ 4,854 million during the first 8 months of 2019, in comparison to $ 7,240 million in the corresponding period of 2018, CB said in its latest External more..

Oct 15 (Island) SriLankan Cares, the CSR arm of SriLankan Airlines, collaborated with Galle Face Hotel and Ebert Silva Holidays to celebrate World Children’s Day on Oct 1 with more than a hundred children of Katuwapitiya in Negombo who were directly affected by the devastating Easter Sunday bombings. The three leading corporate organisations, which often work in partnership for the benefit of society, provided 115 children with a full day of educational entertainment and more..

Oct 15 (TM) Forging ahead with the sharing of its breakthrough green-charcoaling technique with local suppliers across the island, activated carbon multi-national Haycarb PLC has announced plans to establish another 15 units of Haritha Angara by the end of the year. Working in partnership with the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) and an extended network of small and medium supplier partners across the country, the next phase of the Haritha Angara initiative will increase more..

Oct 15 (DN) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has promised to give leadership to the new movement to protect the SLFP that has arisen after the current leadership signed and alliance with the SLPP. In a public statement former Prez called on all SLFPers to use their vote rationally in the forthcoming prez election. “All efforts should be taken to prevent the attempts by a set of conspirators to destroy the party which more..

Oct 15 (DM) Elections Commission (EC) recently thwarted a move by Galle District UNP MP Wijepala Hettiarachchi to donate Rs.50,000 each as housing aid among selected families in his constituency under the Gamperaliya programme, following the declaration of the prez election, an official said. The UNP MP had sent letters to selected individuals requesting them to attend the UNP Bala Mandala meeting held last Sunday in the Akmeemana electorate to collect the donations. more..

Oct 15 (FT) The World Bank yesterday revealed that Sri Lanka’s economy was forecast to grow by 2.7% in 2019, the slowest within South Asia, and above 3% over the next two years. Only Afghanistan is expected to grow slower than Sri Lanka in the region, with Bangladesh the fastest-growing at 8.1%. India will grow by 6% this year and Pakistan by 3.3%. Other smaller nations such as the Maldives Nepal and Bhutan are projected to witness better growth than Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 15 (CT) Shamil Perera, PC, private lawyer for the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, yesterday, submitted 34 documents, along with affidavits, which had been signed, with witness statements, by the Cardinal, to the new 5-member PCoI appointed by Prez Sirisena, to probe the 21 April, Easter Sunday, carnage. Sources said, the documents submitted to the Commission by the private lawyer for the Cardinal, more..

Oct 15 (CG) Popular social media presenter Ashen Senarathna claims he has received death threats after a dispute with music producer Iraj Weeraratne escalated. Senarathna said that Weeraratne had shared his contact details on Facebook and instigated a hate campaign against him. Senarathna said that Weeraratne had accused him of being part of the election campaign of UNF Prez candidate Sajith Premadasa. Weeraratne has said that the young social media presenter best known for more..

Oct 15 (TM) State Trading Corporation of Bhutan Limited (STCBL), arising from a competitive international pitch, have selected MTI Consulting to help re-structure the organization via an assignment on Organizational Development. An international team of MTI Consultants will be in Thimphu from next week, which includes Ms. Rajika Sangakkara (Director of MTI SL) who was responsible for successfully leading the MTI pitch, Ms. Ugyen Lham – MTI’s Bhutan-based Associate and more..

Oct 15 (Island) Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), yesterday, lodged a complaint with the Elections Commission (EC) against SLPP prez candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa for using the image of present Army Commander, Lt. Gen Shavendra Silva and a quote the latter made in 2009 praising the former. National Coordinator of CMEV, Manjula Gajanayake said that they wanted the NEC to make an immediate directive more..

Oct 15 (TM) Prez candidate Venerable Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero has lodged a complaint with the CaFFE against fake posts shared on social media about the thero’s manifesto. “This seems to be a deliberate ploy by an organized group to embarrass my party,” the CaFFE quoted the thero as saying. “These social media posts have become extremely popular and now its almost impossible for the party to inform the people of their real policies,” CaFFE Acting Exec. Director, Manas Makeen said. more..

Oct 15 (DM) It was good to handover responsibilities relating to national security to Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, NPM prez candidate and former Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake said. He said this responding to a question raised by a journalist with reference to remarks made by NDF prez candidate Sajith Premadasa that he would give the highest possible responsibilities to Sarath Fonseka. He said that he had come forward as a prez candidate in order to safeguard country which is in turmoil. more..

Oct 15 (DN) NPP Prez candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake pointed out that education needs to be considered as the central theme in the current election process. At present many candidates on the campaign trail are resorting to a mudslinging campaign instead of following a policy campaign. “Education is the only weapon for us to move forward as a country. We do not posses many commercial resources within Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 15 (DM) Deputy Leader of the UNP and Prez Candidate of the UNF coalition, Sajith Premadasa who is contesting under the Swan symbol of the NDF promised at his maiden election campaign rally at the Galle Face Green- among other things- to appoint former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as the Law and Order Minister under his future Presidency. His main rival, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is the SLPP’s Prez hopeful during his first more..

Oct 15 (DM) According to the Marxist theory of the state, the army is the chief component of state power. Whoever wants to seize and retain state power must have a strong army. SL state had a strong Army, Navy and Air Force led by a strong Three Forces Commanders, managed by strong Defence Secretary and backed by strong Political Leadership. These leadership levels along with sacrifices made by patriotic soldiers of our armed forces immensely contributed to totally defeat more..

Oct 15 (DM) During the weekend, Malaysia’s Special Counter-terrorism Unit arrested 12 suspects, including two lawmakers of the ruling coalition over alleged links to the LTTE. Subsequent investigations have uncovered a trail of financial transactions among the suspects, allegedly to fund the LTTE related activities, according to the Malaysian Police. Assemblymen G. Saminathan and P. Gunasekaran who are currently held more..

Oct 15 (TM) With election fever taking its hold on SL, human rights seem to have taken a backseat. However, the international community is keeping its eye on Sri Lanka and its commitments on the human rights issue. The German Ambassador to SL Jörn Rohde, said that Sri Lanka had made considerable progress on the human rights issue since 2015 and Germany hopes the process moves forward. more..

Oct 15 (RN) Uncoordinated and unorganized methods of mitigating the Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC), has resulted in increasing the conflict rather than providing a solution, one of SL’s foremost elephant experts Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando said. He pointed out how mitigation methods such as elephant translocation, elephant drives, holding grounds, electric fences and elephant thunders which Sri Lanka more..

Oct 15 (ST) SL this week levelled stinging criticism at UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO) over its unilateral decision to reduce deployments of SL troops on missions under its command. Calling it a matter of questionable procedure, Kshenuka Senewiratne, SL’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, said SL had experienced unjust treatment at the hands of UN Secretariat with the DPO. more..

Oct 15 (AD) The Special High Court has decided to take up the trial of D.A. Rajapaksa Museum case on the 9th of January, stated Ada Derana reporter. This decision was taken over the stay order issued by the Supreme Court on the Permanent High Court at Bar preventing the trial. The case was taken up today before the three-judge bench comprising Sampath Abhayakoon, Sampath Wijeyeratne, and Champa Janaki Rajaratne. more..

Oct 15 (AD) The accused in the double murder of a mother and daughter in Kotakethana in 2012 has been sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court today. Lokugam Hewage Dharshana, also known as Raju, was found guilty over the stabbing to death of a mother and her daughter in Kotakethana, Kahawatte in 2012, a gruesome double murder that sparked widespread outrage in the country. more..

Oct 15 (Island) The PCoI investigating corruption in the current administration, asked former Chairman of the People’s Bank Hemasiri Fernando to appear before it on Oct 18. Commission is investigating an allegation that the bank suffered a considerable loss due to its digitization project in 2016. Chamali Indika, an official of the AG Department, who did an audit query on the digitization operation, said that more..

Oct 15 (DM) The Court of Appeal today accepted arguments of Romesh de Silva PC and Gamini Marapana PC that the writ application filed disputing Gotabaya Rajapaksa's citizenship was filed for collateral purposes and not a genuine Public Interest litigation by the petitioners as public-spirited citizens concerned to see that the law is obeyed in the interest of all. Delivering the reasons for the order given on writ application more..

Oct 15 (TM) Election law violations and violence, in the run-up to the prez election, have been steadily increasing with the Election Commission (EC) receiving over 150 complaints thus far. EC on Friday (11) said that it had received 113 complaints in a 24-hour period between 4.30 p.m. on Wed (9) and 4.30 p.m. on Thur (10). Of the 113, two complaints were pertaining to election violence and 109 to election law violations. more..

Oct 15 (TM) SLPP Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa today dismissed allegations that many went missing after surrendering to the military during the end of the war. Gotabaya Rajapaksa hosted his maiden press conference at the Shangri La Hotel in Colombo today after being nominated as the SLPP Prez candidate. Asked what happened to the people who surrendered to the army during the war, Rajapaksa said, more..