Oct 17 (DM) The SLPP said it was not aware of the recent newspaper advertisement which said several army officers had pledged their support to SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa at this year’s presidential election . In response to questions raised by journalists on this advertisement, SLPP prez candidate spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said, “We are not using anybody for political campaigns, but if some individual has made a comment that has to be dealt by the EC. more..

Oct 17 (AD) Chairman of Avant-Garde Maritime Services Nissanka Senadhipathi has been remanded until the 8th of November as per an order of the Colombo High Court. Senadhipathi was produced before the Colombo High Court today, after being arrested over over a case pertaining to the Avant-Garde arms trafficking incident. The Chairman of Avant-Garde Maritime Services Nissanka Senadhipathi was arrested at BIA more..

Oct 17 (USE) The U.S. Embassy will bring together young inventors and innovators from across Sri Lanka at its second Maker Fair on Oct 20 at Trace Expert City. This engineering-centered exhibition is free of charge and open to visitors of all ages. It will include innovation workshops for youth and panel discussions led by leading tech experts and academics. The Maker Fair will also feature, with the support of Uva Wellasa University, Sri Lanka’s largest-ever robot battle. more..

Oct 17 (AD) An unidentified person has opened gunfire at a house belonging to a businessman in Dematagaha area in Elpitiya at around 8.00 pm last night (16). Elpitiya Police suspects that the person responsible for the gunfire had been demanding a ransom from the businessman for some time now. The shooting is said to have been carried out to scare the businessman with the intention of acquiring the said ransom. Police have recovered parts of several rounds of ammunition fired more..

Oct 17 (RN) The Women and Media Collective, a group of women’s rights activists presented a manifesto to candidates at the upcoming Prez elections today, on behalf of all women in Sri Lanka. A key demand in the manifesto is at least 25% women representation in the Cabinet and all other govt policymaking institutions. Programme Director of the Women and Media Collective Kumudini Samuel said that the manifesto includes more..

Oct 17 (RN) Businessman turned Prez Candidate Rohan Pallewatte is in discussions with NPM led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake to form a joint platform. Pallewatte who is the candidate for the Abhiman Lanka front, said that “discussions are going on, but there is no final decision.” He said that he has had several discussions with JVP leader. “When you are a candidate you belong to the people who proposed your candidacy, you can’t take an individual decision, it has to be a group decision” more..

Oct 17 (AD) The presidential candidate of National Movement for People’s Power Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that a new culture must be established in order to protect the environment. He stated this addressing an event held at Udawalawa to launch an environmental policy. “Our country needs a govt that protects the environment and the connection that the people have towards nature,” he said. Dissanayake pledged to establish such exemplary administration in the country. more..

Oct 17 (DM) Chairman of Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya warned that he will reveal the names of prez candidates who field puppet candidates in order to get more facilities than they are entitled to during elections. He said that applications sent by four candidates for the placement of officers had come from one single address. He added that one candidate had fielded five other candidates for his support - more..

Oct 18 (DN) The contest for the prez election due on Nov 16 has intensified with both the UNP and its contesting alliance, NDF as well as SLPP switching their campaigns in to top gear and several key events dominating the headlines this week. Among them was the mini election to the Elpitiya PS. Elections were not held to this local council in Feb 2018 following a stay order by the Supreme Court in Jan 2018 after objections were raised by DUNF against rejection of their nomination papers. more..

Oct 18 (DN) It is highly unlikely that any candidate will secure over fifty present of votes at the next presidential election and, therefore, this election will be a milestone in the political annals in the country since second preference is likely to play an important role in it. If so, the billion rupee question is who of all the candidates will throw his net to gather the highest number of votes for the second preference. Will it be Sajith, Gotabaya, Anura or any other candidate? more..

Oct 18 (CT) Despite being home to 50% of the 1.3 million people in the Northern Province, Jaffna still stands as the only District that does not have a proper rainwater collection system for agrarian purposes. The province is divided into two distinct geographic areas: The Jaffna Peninsula and Vanni. The Jaffna Peninsula is irrigated by underground aquifers under the four main aquifer systems: Chunnakam (Valikamam area), more..

Oct 18 (FT) During the past two years, there is a marked increase in the export revenue as indicated in table 1. The export earnings from Jan to July 2019 also grew by 2.8% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, despite the uncertainties caused by Easter Sunday attacks in April. However, there is no room for complacency as the country’s export revenue remains low as a percentage of GDP and also considering macroeconomic challenges such as decrease of remittances by migrant more..

Oct 18 (GV) Meera Srinivasan, the Hindu correspondent in SL, at the first press conference with Prez candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked him what happened to the LTTE cadres and others who surrendered to the army during the last days of war, and who have thereafter disappeared. She raised it in the context of a series of questions posed by the journalists who spoke before her on accountability for war-related human rights abuses and the fate of UN Resolutions co-sponsored by present more..

Oct 18 (SO) On May 21, 2009 Rajiv Naganathan had made one final call to his mother Sarojini. The 19-year old Naganathan was abducted on Sept 17, 2008, one of 11 young boy victims at the centre of an abduction for ransom racket allegedly run by SL Navy personnel and busted by the CID. Rajiv Naganathan and four of his friends were abducted on their way to celebrate Rajiv’s impending departure to university in the UK. more..

Oct 18 (CT) In the Northern town of Vaddukoddai, where the radical Tamil Political Declaration of Independence was made in 1976, there is now hardly any criticism of militants or the Armed Forces. Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, it was involved in armed clashes against the SL forces and by the late 1980s was the dominant Tamil militant group in SL. The escalation of intermittent conflict into a full-scale nationalist insurgency however, did not commence before more..

Oct 18 (CT) In a simple, rural village, no one missed a meal, because there were enough solutions, other than the traditional rice. Paddy being a crop that requires fairly intensive processes, in the form of stages in cultivation activities, and by its very nature, it requires a large number of people to tend to a variety of aspects which demand simultaneous attention. It is not just a coincidence that the world's most populous areas are the rice or paddy growing regions. more..

Oct 18 (Island) Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya is reported to have banned politicians from using the war victory in election related propaganda. The war victory does not belong to any particular political party, he has reportedly said, adding that it belongs to all Sri Lankans alike. What is the law the Polls Chief has invoked to declare the war victory a public property, as it were. Are we to gather that the war victory also belongs to those who opposed military more..

Oct 18 (Island) On Thursday (10) afternoon, Cassandra had a jubilant call from an almost housebound friend who had served as a volunteer army officer. She thought he had won one of the several wasanawas that are touted weekly if not daily, with TV ads promising you will win as if the wasanawas were free handouts. Next, I assumed his doctor had declared a clean bill of health and no more capsules and tests. Very soon, after my joy at his wellbeing and his joyous cries of more..

Oct 18 (FT) Popular food delivery app Uber Eats is savouring its success as it completes one year and plans to further expand investment in the country, improve quality and encourage more women to join its ranks. Uber Eats this week said it delivered over three million meals in its first year of operations, currently limited to Colombo and Kandy. The single largest order from Uber Eats was worth Rs. 51,000 while more..

Oct 18 (Island) Yahapalana activists Gamini Viyangoda and Prof. Chandraguptha Thenuwara filed an application with the Court of Appeal, seeking a writ of Certiorari to annul Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s dual citizenship certificate and an interim order preventing him from acting on the basis that he is a citizen of Sri Lanka. Their argument was that if GR’s Dual Citizenship Certificate was invalid, his Sri Lankan Passport and National Identity Card were also invalid. more..

Oct 18 (Island) In response to Govt’s islandwide programme-Wana Ropa to add 2,889 hectares to the national forest cover and also to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Bank, Bank of Ceylon has committed itself to restore hundred hectares of degraded forest in Hurulu Conservation Forest as BOC Haritha Arana. The ceremony marking the beginning of this massive project was held on Saturday October 12 at a land stretch close to Habarana Morakanda attached to the Hurulu more..

Oct 18 (RN) Playwright Malaka Devapriya, who was summoned to the Organised Crimes Prevention Division (OCPD) of the Police this morning over a radio drama he had written directed, was released a short while ago. His lawyer said that Devapriya was let go as the OCPD was satisfied with his statement. The award-winning dramatist, radio playwright, film producer and director was summoned to the department more..

Oct 18 (LBO) SriLankan Airlines, National Carrier of Sri Lanka, coinciding with the second anniversary of its operations to Melbourne, successfully concluded SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon event at the Melbourne Marathon Festival for the third consecutive year. The 2019 event in its 42 year-long Festival history attracted a total of 37,185 athletes for five events, making it Australia’s largest ever Marathon, with SriLankan Airlines Half Marathon event recording a sellout. more..

Oct 18 (FT) Even though Sri Lanka has made significant strides in improving its cyber security environment, more funding, legislation, policy initiatives and awareness are needed, a group of top experts said this week, pointing out that such Govt-led efforts could also result in more foreign investment inflows. They expressed these sentiments at the 12th Annual National Conference on Cyber Security, which was organised by the SL Computer Emergency Response Team more..

Oct 18 (DN) Of the ten players who opted out of the tour to Pakistan only three have made it to the 16-member squad picked for the three-match T20 International series in Australia later this month as the national selectors kept faith in the players who performed out of the box to seal a historic 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in the T20I series early this month. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga returns as captain replacing Dasun Shanaka more..

Oct 18 (DM) SL’s favourite urban neighbourhood retail, leisure, and dining destination, K Zone, has announced the lucky winners of its exclusive K Zone Millionaire and K Zone Grand Giveaway promotion at their Ja-Ela and Moratuwa shopping malls respectively. Customers were given the opportunity to win a whopping Rs 1 million from K Zone Ja-ela and another grand prize worth Rs 500,000 from K Zone Moratuwa. Visitors to the everything-under-one-roof K Zone shopping malls more..

Oct 18 (FT) The IMF and WB yesterday in Washington DC separately called on countries, especially those developing, to aggressively pursue structural reforms to spur inclusive higher growth, which remains a challenge globally. “Broad-based growth is still possible for countries. With the right mix of policies and structural reforms, countries can unleash growth that’s broadly shared across all segments of society,” World Bank Group President David Malpass told journalists during more..

Oct 18 (CT) Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, a SL Diplomat and the former SL Defence Attaché of SL High Commission in London, is to face a fresh trial at the Westminster Magistrates Court today for threatening to kill the protesters by making repeated slit throat gestures outside the High Commission in London. Incident which forms the basis of the charges against Brigadier Fernando occurred on 4th Feb 2018 when more..

Oct 18 (DN) The official launch of the SL’s participation at the Expo 2020 Dubai was held yesterday at the SL Export Development Board Auditorium with the presence of UAE Ambassador Ahmed Ali Ibrahim Al Mualla, Deputy Minister of Development Strategies and Int'l Trade Nalin Bandara, heads of trade chambers and products associations and other distinguished guests. In line with the official launch, official website of the SL’s participation at Expo was also launched. more..

Oct 18 (SMH) One Nation MLC Mark Latham has settled a defamation suit with a Uni of NSW student he accused of plotting to kill senior federal MPs. PhD student Mohamed Nizamdeen, 26, was suing Mr Latham in the Federal Court over multiple tweets from the former Labor leader in August last year that he alleged were defamatory. Mr Nizamdeen had been charged with terrorism offences following the discovery of a notebook containing potential plans to attack Sydney landmarks and plots to kill more..

Oct 18 (CT) At a Press Conference on 15 Oct 2019, Prez Candidate of the SLPP, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, dismissed Sri Lanka’s commitments to our citizens on human rights, rule of law, and processes for truth-seeking, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence including Resolution 30/1. He also dismissed the need to address the grievances of families from all parts of our country whose loved ones including more..

Oct 18 (DM) The govt will present a vote on account in parliament on October 23 to allocate govt expenses for the first quarter of next year, the Speaker’s Office said yesterday. The vote on account to be presented by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera for the period from January 1 to April 30 will seek approval for Rs. 1,474 billion. The vote on account will also seek approval to limit obtaining of loans to Rs. 721 billion during the first quarter of next year. more..

Oct 18 (FT) Sri Lanka is likely to miss its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) target of $ 3 billion this year, a top official said yesterday. Sources close to Board of Investment expressed the view that 2019’s FDI numbers would be similar to what was seen last year. “FDI would be more in line with what was achieved last year, if there are no more hiccups towards the end of the year. We are definitely not going to achieve the $ 3 billion FDI target originally set,” he told the Daily FT. more..

Oct 18 (CT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe will not come before the PCoI probing corruption of the current administration today, to testify over the decision to store paddy at the Mattala Airport in 2015. Wickremesinghe has written to the Commission on 16 Oct that he could not come before the PCoI until the Prez Election is over. Summons were issued on 14 Oct to Wickremesinghe to appear before PCoI today more..

Oct 18 (CT) Measures have been taken to provide special security to the four main candidates contesting in the Prez Election, stated the Ministry of Law and Order. Reportedly, intelligence units have informed Police and Elections Commission to provide special security to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and Mahesh Senanayake. The new security coordinating officers have been assigned to relevant candidates on the instructions of the Acting IGP, more..

Oct 18 (Island) Minister Daya Gamage is to appear before the PCoI, today, to testify on the decision to store paddy at the Mattala International Airport in 2015. PCoI, on Tuesday, asked PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and Daya Gamage to appear before it, on Oct 18, to be questioned on the decision to store paddy at the Mattala Airport, in 2015. Wickremesighe has however informed the Commission that he is unable to present himself before it until the election is over. more..

Oct 18 (CT) The STF arrested four suspects along with 683 grams of heroin of which 400 grams were found hidden in the Dehiwala Zoo. The main suspect is said to be employed at the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens. Acting on a tip-off STF officers on 16 Oct arrested a suspect possessing 100 grams of heroin. The 34-year-old suspect, Kasun Kaluwitharana, is a resident of both the Badowita & Kawdana areas in Dehiwala, more..

Oct 18 (FT) Security for the official residence of the SL High Commissioner and the Chancery premises in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has been strengthened. Royal Malaysian Police have alerted the Kuala Lumpur Police to strengthen security at both diplomatic premises in the wake of the recent arrests by Malaysian authorities of close to a dozen individuals who are suspected of having links to the LTTE. Two lawmakers from ruling Democratic Action Party were among those apprehended. more..

Oct 18 (DM) Opposition MP Bandula Gunawardana asked under what laws the Elections Commission has said that it was prohibited to use war victory and slogans in the election campaigns. He said as a member of the Constitutionality, he cannot figure out under what laws or regulations that the EC has said campaigners can’t use war victory. He said the LTTE could not be defeated by any of the previous commandants-in-chief because they did not have a defence secretary like Gotabaya Rajapaksa. more..