Oct 3 (CT) Discussions, which mainly centred on Muslim lands occupied by the Forces and the Forest Department in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and focused on Muslims forcefully evacuated from the Northern Province and living in various places, were held between UNP Prez candidate Sajith Premadasa and SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem yesterday, at the official residence of the latter. SLMC Members also stressed on the importance in finding solutions to Aruwakkalu Garbage more..

Oct 3 (Island) Over the past six decades, SL has focused on building the human capital of its people, and today, the country leads its South Asian neighbors on health and education. World Bank is indeed proud to have been a steadfast partner with SL as it moved along this commendable journey. But will achieving primacy in the region be enough for SL to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving knowledge economy? As you know, technology and automation are radically changing the very nature of work more..

Oct 3 (FT) Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has vested the Jaffna International Airport (JIA) with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ahead of the commencement of regional commercial operations in mid-October. The runway and the runway strip of JIA and the whole portion of the airport land located northwards abutting the runway has been vested with the CAA under the Civil Aviation Authority Act with immediate effect. more..

Oct 3 (CT) The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) announced that, in association with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), it recently engaged the business community based in the Eastern Province to create awareness on capital raising options available to entrepreneurs through a stock exchange listing. The event marked the first occasion, a forum on stock exchange listings has been hosted in the Eastern Province. The event, which was held in Batticaloa, more..

Oct 3 (IPS) Executive Director of the IPS, Dushni Weerakoon, called on South Asia to act with urgency to make use of the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). “We need to understand what the intersection of technology, economics and politics means for a diversity of issues from growth, equity to privacy and ethics in South Asia,” she noted. Dr. Weerakoon made these remarks, inaugurating the 12th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES XII) in Colombo more..

Oct 3 (DM) Inflation as measured by Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) recorded a sharp increase in Sept from a year ago, as the prices of food items rose notably while the base effects too contributed adversely. Headline inflation rose by 5% in Sept from the same month last year as the August inflation was 3.4% year-on-year (YoY). Meanwhile, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis the headline inflation rose by 0.8%, more..

Oct 3 (Island) SL ambassador to Bahrain, Pradeepa Saram called on the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy PM of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, at the Riffa Palace. During the meeting, Crown Prince underscored the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries and highlighted that it is opportune to expand already existing collaborations into diversified sectors, particularly in the spheres of trade, commercial activities, investment, tourism, more..

Oct 3 (FT) First time in 35 years of its existence, Galadari Hotel is investing $ 15 million to refurbish the property completely by 2021, with plans to introduce green concepts. The refurbishment of 450-room hotel will be done in two phases. The second phase of the refurbishment includes the lobby, reception, shops and the restaurants, which the management believes will commence by February 2020 and be completed by the latter part of March 2021. more..

Oct 3 (MFA) Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha who is presently leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 74th Session of the UNGA, met with Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General, Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT) and his team and Ms. Michéle Coninsx, Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG) and Executive Director of the Counter- Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) more..

Oct 3 (DN) Addressing the first ever API Asia Conference at the Shangri-La Colombo yesterday, Sachin Seth, Partner - Digital, Fintech & Tech. Transformation Leader EY Advisory (Africa, India & Middle East) stressed on the importance of SL moving towards digital transformation across industries. In his session, referring to global examples where new business innovations had caused disruptions in multiple industries such as transportation, lodging, communication more..

Oct 3 (CT) Sri Lankan construction companies participated at the 16th Ethio-Con International Construction Exhibition held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 24-27 Sept, where they secured new business opportunities in the African Continent. The int'l exhibition, which attracted over 125 African construction companies, was inaugurated by Ethiopian Minister of Construction and Urban Development, Aisha Mohammed Mussa. Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Minister highlighted more..

Oct 3 (AT) The UNESCO expressed its interest to help secure SLs Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) on 26 Sept, while issuing a warning that Sri Lanka is fast losing the prized practices as they are fading away rapidly. "There is extraordinary value to Sri Lanka’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. With all your unique rites and traditions, performing arts, weaving practices and much more, you are sitting on a gold mine and possibilities are endless” more..

Oct 3 (CT) Zipline, a USA-based company that delivers medicine through drones, expects to launch operations in SL in early 2020. This was revealed at a media roundtable discussion held recently in Colombo with the participation of Zipline Global Business Development Lead, Yaniv Gelnick and Colombo South Teaching Hospital Trainee, Dr. Naveen Udawella, alongside Zipline local business dealers and media personnel. This life-saving technology is focused on implementation more..

Oct 3 (Island) India says bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka have seen many positive developments in recent times. High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, said that India stands ready to partner with Sri Lanka in its onward journey based on Sri Lanka’s own developmental priorities. The Sri Lanka India Society (SLIS) held its AGM in Colombo on Monday. Patron of the Society, High Commissioner of India to SL Taranjit Singh Sandhu was the chief guest. more..

Oct 3 (EN) Presidential hopeful Sajith Premadasa said that, if elected to office, he will continue to follow the constitutional reform trajectory of the current UNP-led govt, amendments to the executive presidency included. Premadasa said that the process will continue, but stopped short of confirming that the executive presidency will definitely be abolished at some point in his tenure as President. more..

Oct 3 (Island) Chairman of the RDA, Nihal Sooriarachchi, said that adverse weather had hampered work on section II of the Southern Expressway extension and 30 days of dry weather was needed to complete it. Section II from Beliatta to Wetiya is 26km in length. The other sections of the expressway extension have been completed and can be commissioned by November as planned or even ahead of the schedule. Southern Expressway extension, which is 96km in length, more..

Oct 3 (Island) The govt had decided to suspend the dumping of garbage at the Aruwakkalu landfill, in Puttalam, pending its sanitisation process. Officials said that a special team had been deployed to carry out the task to get rid of the stench emanating therefrom. According to the Megalopolis Ministry, Secretary, Nihal Rupasinghe the site would be sanitised for a week by spraying a chemical thereon. Ministry had to act following a protest staged by hundreds of residents who said more..

Oct 3 (DM) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said he called for a parliamentary level committee to probe the allegations made by Solicitor General Dilrukshi Dias Wickremesinghe and former Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath over political influence. He said the attention had been drawn to interdict one Solicitor General and to remove the other over the allegations they had made. But no attention has been drawn to more..

Oct 3 (CT) UPFA MP Faiszer Musthapha requested Muslim Ministers and MPs in the govt to present the amended Draft of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) to Parliament and enact it before the Prez Election 2019. If they fail to do so, it would be a betrayal to the entire Muslim community, he added. Musthapha also said some shortcomings in the MMDA which was enacted in 1951 has brought many an injustice to Muslim women and has also seized some of their basic rights from them. more..

Oct 3 (EN) Cabinet had cleared a draft law aimed at ending controls on land ownership imposed on listed companies with foreign ownership. In 2014, barely three years after expropriating several domestic and foreign companies, and undermining FDI landscape, Sri Lanka brought new legislation to further block foreign investors from owning land in SL amid rising nationalism. Land Amendment Bill, ended full freehold of SL citizens, by ending their right to sell land to anyone they wished. more..

Oct 3 (Island) Former Chairman of Lanka Sathosa, Kiran Atapattu, told the PCoI, that Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and his public relations officer, Abdullah had applied pressure on him to make an illegal payment of Rs. 549 million to Liverpool Navigation Ltd in July 2015. The owner of Liverpool Navigation is a close personal friend of Bathiudeen, Atapattu said. Atapattu said that a large quantity of rice was imported, in April 2015, more..

Oct 3 (DM) The torrential rains that unleashed their fury on Sri Lanka during the past couple of weeks are gradually abating in most parts of Sri Lanka though thunder showers have been reported from some others. The torrential rains, the resultant floods and overflowing rivers affected some 150,000 people with tens of thousands displaced and housed in temporary shelters with health officials warning people to take precautions to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases, such as more..

Oct 3 (DM) Hats off to Sajith Premadasa! To paraphrase a much clichéd quote: He came, he saw and he conquered, no question. Drive and determination and raw ambition, the three fundamental elements essential for achievement of desired results in any field were amply manifest in the personality of Sajith. Added to that was an army of fellow travelers whose lot is invariably woven into the main protagonist’s ambitious political journey. A delicate tapestry was woven and into more..

Oct 3 (DM) Minister Harsha De Silva expressed his views on several matters at hand while responding to questions posed by the public. Q: The UNP seems to have had a democratic method in selecting its Prez Candidate. What was your role in this process? A: We are a Democratic Party. In the 1940’s when we established this Party when D.S Senanayake was the founder, we had Sinhala, Muslim, Malay, Burgher and all these people more..

Oct 3 (Island) The police headquarters was yesterday instructed to deploy riot squads today (3) to face any eventuality in view of the Court of Appeal ruling on SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s eligibility to contest the Nov 16, 2019 prez poll. Police received instructions for full deployment as the Court of Appeal heard the petition filed by civil society activists Gamini Viyangoda of Purawesi Balaya and more..

Oct 3 (DM) Immigration and Emigration Department Officers’ (IEDO) Trade Union President K.A.S. Kanugala said they would take action at airports, ports and other places where its members were employed if the govt failed to resolve their problems within the next 48 hours. “Relevant authorities have failed to address the pressing issues faced by immigration and emigration officers. When IEDO resorted to trade union action more..

Oct 3 (AD) The mantra to tame Prez Candidate Minister Sajith Premadasa is with President Maithripala Sirisena, says Wasantha Samarasinghe, the convener of the Inter-Company Employees Union. Samarasinghe charges that Prez Sirisena withheld 106 pages of the Commission report of PCoI appointed to probe corruption. “Arjuna Aloysius has said that he gave Rs 75 million to PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Oct 3 (ST) The National Election Commission (NEC) said last week that structures set up on roads and public places by political parties advertising their candidates will be stripped off once nominations for the presidential election closes next week. Additional Director Saman Ratnayake said from October 8 all posters, hoardings and cutouts will be removed in keeping with the election law. He said although the law stipulates more..

Oct 3 (Island) Virakesari journalist Sivalingam Sivakumaran on Tuesday flayed the Presidential Secretariat for failing to properly implement the much touted Right to Information Act (RTI) in spite of it being enacted a law over three years ago. Sivakumaran questioned as to why the political leadership couldn’t take remedial measures. Alleging that the Presidential Secretariat (PS) lacked proper mechanism to respond to issues more..

Oct 3 (Island) The Power and Energy Ministry had ignored a Cabinet decision to purchase three privately owned power plants, including ACE Power Embilipitiya (Pvt) Ltd owned by Aitken Spence, during the power crisis, in 2016, the PCoI on Tuesday. Former Power and Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that the officials at CEB insisted that it was more profitable for the CEB to purchase power from them. more..

Oct 3 (AD) Eighty banks and financial institutions have been ordered to submit account details of IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando to the CID. The order has been issued by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne when the case was taken up today. Magistrate further ordered several telecommunication companies to submit a report on the phone calls of Jayasundara and more..

Oct 3 (AD) State Minister Ashok Abeysinghe says the gazette notification declaring the railways an Essential Service will be issued today. The documents pertaining to this have been directed to the Secretary to the Prez and the Prez himself agreed to ink the said documents. The railway service resorted to indefinite strike action from midnight on Sept 25th inconveniencing a massive number of commuters. more..

Oct 3 (AD) UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa’s name has been officially been approved as the Prez Candidate of the United National Front (UNF) during the UNP’s special party convention in Colombo today. UNP leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was accompanied on stage by Sajith’s mother and former First Lady Hema Premadasa, announced to the gathering that the convention proposes to put forward more..

Oct 3 (CT) Does one man's success become your downfall? Does his failure become your success? Does your success make him a failure, or does your failure make it his success? One grenade, one bullet could have killed or maimed him permanently. Out there in the field against the LTTE, no one asked him for his visas. His birth certificate was all that mattered. The blood in his veins was there on sale, as he went ahead with others against the enemy at Elephant Pass and elsewhere. more..

Oct 3 (FT) Most of us think of voting as the cornerstone of a true democracy. When any country in the developing world moves towards democracy, we tend to judge its initial success by how soon it is able to hold free and fair elections. We rejoice in this coming of age. Indeed, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights presents voting as one of our fundamental rights: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of govt; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections more..

Oct 3 (AD) A special discussion between the presidential candidate of SLPP, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and three MPs of SLFP is scheduled to be held tonight, says SLFP Media Spokesperson MP Weerakumara Dissanayake. SLFP PMs Mahinda Amaraweera, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Lasantha Alagiyawanna will attend the meeting with the SLPP prez hopeful. Meanwhile, MP Mahinda Amaraweera also confirmed the impending meeting speaking at more..

Oct 3 (RN) Amid speculation that the controversial Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) may be looking to form a coalition of like-minded groups in the run-up to the next parliamentary election, the Sinhala Buddhist nationalist organisation held a discussion yesterday on forming an alliance with at least one such group. BBS Chief Executive Officer Dilanthe Withanage confirmedthis today that a meeting was held in this regard yesterday, but did not elaborate on the particulars of the discussion. more..

Oct 3 (DM) The Elections Commission (EC) today stopped the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) live broadcast of the UNP annual convention being held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, EC Director General Saman Sri Ratnayake said a while ago. The UNP annual convention commenced this morning at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium under the patronage of party’s leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and party officials. more..

Oct 3 (WB) In Sri Lanka, one of the world’s largest tea companies has become carbon neutral. From late 2018, Dilmah Tea, a family firm with a market presence in over a hundred countries, began to offer a complete range of carbon-neutral products. Furthermore, Sri Lankan Airlines, the country’s national carrier, has become one of only six airlines globally to be accredited for its Flygreen program. Other companies are hoping to follow. So, what has Sri Lanka done to make this happen? more..