Oct 4 (AD) The Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Ranel Wijesinha noted that the Commission has taken some important initiatives to demutualize the stock exchange. “Will be seeking suitors from all parts of the world and will be taking only the best," he said and added, “We think already the CSE is one among the best.” “We are not just an Exchange living in SL in South Asia.” Wijesinha said while participating at a bell-ringing ceremony of CSE. more..

Oct 4 (AD) All leave of railway employees have been cancelled and they are urged to report to work immediately, says the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways. He added that this measure is being taken owing to the Extraordinary Gazette notification issued with effect from last night (03) declaring railways as an essential service. The Extraordinary Gazette notification declaring the railways an Essential Service was issued with effect from midnight yesterday (03). more..

Oct 4 (CI) Less than 15 months ago, Danushka Gunathilaka found himself banned from all forms of cricket, further action pending following the results of a SL police inquiry. He had been suspended for breaching curfew during the middle of a Test, but far more gravely, the offence was linked to an incident of alleged sexual assault by an individual known to the batsman. While he was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, more..

Oct 4 (DN) Around 3,000 to 3,500 new cases of breast cancer are being detected in SL every year. The annual detection shows an increase, Consultant Oncologists attached to the National Cancer Control Programme said. The upward trend has been noticed in SL for the last two-and-a-half decades. According to the latest findings, breast cancer has become the most common cancer among SL women, while thyroid cancer is second and cervical cancer is third, Consultant Oncologists said. more..

Oct 4 (DM) Special Investigation Unit of the Police Headquarters has launched an investigation into a letter circulating on social media which was addressed to several hotels in Colombo concerning a security matter. Police said the letter had been issued to several hotels in Colombo on Wednesday (2) with the signature of the OIC of the Fort Police. They said the letter was issued without any confirmation from the intelligence unit. “Therefore, the probe was launched to determine more..

Oct 4 (DM) Counsel Suren Fernando appearing for the petitioners today concluded the oral submissions by rebutting respondent's arguments. He said the core issue the petitioners were referring to was based on the fact that 'whether the then-prez had executive powers vested in the Cabinet of ministers to authorise Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s citizenship certificate on Nov 21, 2005, by exercising his powers in a ministerial capacity more..

Oct 4 (NR) Sri Lanka Police say around 1,700 police officers will be deployed in and around the Election Secretariat on Monday. Nominations for the 2019 Prez Election will be accepted between 9.00am and 11.00 am on Monday at the Election Secretariat in Rajagiriya. Speaking during a media briefing at the Secretariat, Police Media Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara said STF personnel will also be deployed for protection. Meanwhile all processions and rallied have been banned on Monday. more..

Oct 4 (AD) Sri Lanka has highlighted the importance of education, a fundamental human right that lies at the core of the 2030 Development Agenda, in the promotion and protection of human rights of children and youth and the transformative power it entails. This was stated by the delegation of Sri Lanka, speaking at the 2019 Social Forum of the Human Rights Council on 1st Oct, in Geneva. At the multi stakeholder meeting, which brought together Govt representatives, intergovernmental organizations, more..

Oct 4 (CT) Attorney-at-Law Nagananda Kodituwakku has proposed, in Constitutional amendments to the Executive, that there be an elected Executive PM who is to also be the Head of State, the 20-Member Cabinet of Ministers, and the Govt, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Cabinet is to be appointed by the Premier, he has further proposed. In a document released to the public domain, named as the fifth version of a proposed Constitution containing more..

Oct 14 (TM) With election fever hitting the nation like a storm, all parties are engaged in an intense battle, with the 2019 presidential election to be held in almost a month’s time. While the UNP, SLPP, SLFP, and JVP are all engaged in campaigning, the results of the Elpitiya local govt election held on Friday has sent several political messages. The SLPP won the Elpitiya local govt body sending 17 members to the council after polling 56.5% of the votes. UNP polled 24.3% of the votes winning seven seats more..

Oct 14 (Island) Ministry of Development Strategies and Int'l Trade (MODSIT) together with the USAID-SAIL project hosted a Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on Global Trade for businessman in the Kurunegala District recently at Hotel Kamrel in Kurunegala. The event, titled, Kurunegala in the Global Economy – How can the district maximize benefits and minimize risks?, was the third in a series of district-level PPDs being held to increase the general awareness & understanding of trade, more..

Oct 14 (ST) As SL athletes facing doping bans await justice with questions over the credibility of the test results following the suspension of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited New Delhi-based testing laboratory, renowned lawyer PC Dinal Philips says the adverse findings must be declared null and void. “If there’s credibility in doubt, you can’t act on their reports,” said PC Dinal Philips–the Counsel appearing more..

Oct 14 (CT) A fearful revelation has been made by the CAA in its interim report presented to Parliament on imported milk powder including it in the category of High Risk food items, recently. As Sri Lankans have distanced themselves from consuming milk from domestic cows and goats as well as depending on the country's own farm products from long ago, imported milk powder has posed a new threat to the consumers and it has been categorised as high risk by the CAA. more..

Oct 14 (ST) The Nationalised Services Badminton Association (NSBA) will have the honour of becoming the first affiliation of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) to conduct its Open Tournament on 10 playing courts, as competitions are held internationally. This was revealed by Parakrama Basnayake, the Vice President of SLB at the launch of the NSBA Open Badminton Tournament, which will begin tomorrow at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo. The annual Level 1 Ranking Tournament, more..

Oct 14 (TM) The Govt and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) have cast serious doubt on the accuracy of Sri Lanka’s economic indicators compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). As a result, Govt has set up task forces to identify weaknesses, which mainly stem from a lack of human and technological resources. This was disclosed by CBSL Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy during more..

Oct 14 (ST) SL’s key tourism promotion agency head believes that an increased public private partnership at the organisation needs to be promoted to ensure efficiency and faster delivery as required by the private sector. SL Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes faced with a number of challenges in resurrecting an industry hit by recent Easter Sunday bombings is a keen promoter of the idea that the establishment needs to function under a public private partnership more..

Oct 14 (DM) An organised scam was conducted by a group of racketeers’ through social media to collect money, the police warned the general public today. The police said they had received information about the gang of racketeers using social media to deceive people by using social networks to build trust and confidence. Accordingly, they deceived people with the aim of collecting money by claiming that they have won lotteries in many countries, donating material and financial aid from NGOs and more..

Oct 14 (CT) The CAA in its interim report presented to Parliament on imported milk powder recently, has put imported milk powder in the category of High Risk food items. This interim report, on the issues that have arisen in relation to the quality of the milk powder imported to SL, was prepared by the CAA following a request made by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, after several discussions rose in Parliament regarding the matter. more..

Oct 14 (TM) Organised by the SLASSCOM Quality Forum for the fourth time, the SLASSCOM Quality & Business Excellence Summit 2019 will be held today at the Shangri-La Colombo. The conference will focus on the importance of enhancing quality across organisations through quality engineering and business excellence and revolve around the theme Accelerate End User Experience through Quality Engineering. The objective of the summit is to bring together CXOs and quality practitioners to more..

Oct 14 (DN) Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara - two of the most iconic cricketers produced by the country has come on board as SL’s Brand Ambassadors for Expo 2020 Dubai, organized by the SL Export Development Board (EDB) as apublic private cooperation project. Both Mahela and Kumar, outstanding cricketers having captained the SL team has amply demonstrated their Leadership, team spirit and enterprising qualities beyond the cricket field, expanding to the business world. more..

Oct 14 (FT) Climbing inflation, currency pressures, and impact from reducing interest rates as the Prez Elections move closer promoted the Central Bank to keep policy rates unchanged, CB Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said, but he warned that possible fiscal slippage could push the Central Bank to tighten policy rates. He said that the global economic slowdown, slow private sector credit growth, and salary increases tagged for more..

Oct 14 (FT) Latest LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence (BCI) poll reveals that sentiment surrounding the economy remained largely unchanged in Sept with 25% (versus 24% in the previous month) of respondents expecting conditions to improve in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, 29% of those consulted feel that economic conditions will remain the same while 46% expect conditions to deteriorate over the same period. A corporate executive remarks: more..

Oct 14 (MFA) Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha has assured the UN High Representative on Disarmament Izumi Nakamitsu Sri Lanka’s practical support in New York, Geneva and Vienna in furthering the global Disarmament Agenda. The Foreign Secretary who was in New York leading the SL delegation to the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly, gave this assurance when he met with the High Representative on the sidelines of the UNGA on 7 Oct. more..

Oct 14 (FT) Govt this week announced the opening of Batticaloa, Jaffna and Ratmalana Airports for operation of regional commercial flights as it readies to welcome the first flight into the newly-declared Jaffna International Airport (JIA) on Thursday (17). The first aircraft to land at the JIA will be an Alliance Air flight which will arrive from Chennai with invitees from the aviation industry in India. more..

Oct 14 (SO) Shamila Liyanaarachchi, wife of Senarath Liyanaarachchi, a key eye witness of the Welikada Prison Massacre case claims the life of her husband is now at risk due to the decision made by Prison authorities to transfer him to the Magazine Prison once headed by a key suspect of the case. She said the move could lead to her husband being threatened or intimidated by former subordinates of key suspect, Former Prisons Commissioner Emil Lamahewa which could have an adverse more..

Oct 14 (Island) Tea plantations should be afforded relief in the short-term on a priority basis as the industry is in dire straits with the sharp drop in tea prices, Sunil Poholiyadde, Chairman, Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) said last week. Three years ago, tea fetched an average of around Rs. 600 per kilo, but price levels have now dipped substantially resulting in costs exceeding sales averages, he complained. Addressing the 165th Annual General Meeting of the PA, more..

Oct 14 (Bernama) Malaysian Police disclosed that financial transactions involving huge sum of money have been carried out, believed to activate the LTTE group in the country. Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division (E8) said the financial transactions were detected in the accounts of individuals detained in the operations carried out on Thursday and Saturday over their alleged involvement in LTTE. more..

Oct 14 (Island) Top SLPP spokesman Dullus Alahapperuma, said that an attempt was being to undermine Gotabaya Rajapaksa's prez election campaign by alleging that former MP M.L.A.M. Hisbullah was contesting the Nov 16, 2019 presidential poll in support of the former Defence Secretary. That claim was baseless, Alahapperuma stressed. The MP also denied a claim that a person named Razik, who had insulted Buddhism was also involved in the Rajapaksa's campaign. more..

Oct 14 (DM) 25 youths, including four girls, who were engaging in illicit behaviour were arrested during a raid on a party organised through Facebook at a hotel in Thambiliyana in Avissawella last night. Police said they recovered 1,315 milligrams of heroin, 250 milligrams of ice and 10 grams of cannabis from the arrested suspects. They were identified as residents of Embilipitiya, Dehiowita, Kosgoda, Colombo, Galle and Matara. The suspects would be produced in the Avissawella MC. more..

Oct 14 (TM) A group of dissident electoral organisers of the SLFP are to form a separate political front in order to support the prez candidature of NDF candidate Sajith Premadasa. Head of the Organisation for the Protection of the SLFP Rajika Kodituwakku said the dissident organisers would form a political front under the name SL Freedom Democratic Front, which would sign a MoU with NDF candidate Premadasa more..

Oct 14 (MFA) The First Meeting of the Mangrove Ecosystems and Livelihood Action Group (MELAG) Under the Commonwealth Blue Charter, was held from 7 to 9 Oct in Negombo. During the Commonwealth Heads of Govt meeting 2018 held in London, realizing the importance of mangroves, at a time when Sri Lanka is ranked as No. 2 in the Global Climate Risk Index, Sri Lanka committed to champion the MELAG of the Commonwealth Blue Charter. more..

Oct 14 (FT) Cabinet last week approved the allocation of 10% of the agreed contract value amounting to $ 9,048,225.92 (Rs. 162,293,621.11) to the Chinese consortium which has been awarded the contract for the design, supply and installation/construction of the Municipal Solid Waste Sanitary Landfill Disposal Facility at Aruwakkalu. The 10% contract value is paid to meet the contingencies arising during the construction, operation and maintenance period. more..

Oct 14 (AD) Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former defense secretary and a front-runner in the prez election, said Sunday that he would empower the state’s intelligence sector with necessary legal cover to help secure the country in the aftermath of the deadly Easter Sunday bomb blasts. Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared in his first election rally last week that he will release all military personnel under detention if he comes to power. more..

Oct 14 (AD) CWC has pledged their support to the SLPP in the prez election. The decision has been made at a meeting of the CWC leaders’ today (13). Accordingly, CWC, led by Arumugam Thondaman will be supporting SLPP Prez Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa at Prez Election. Thondaman said CWC had discussions with prez candidates Sajith Premadasa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on issues affecting the plantation sector and then came to the stance of backing Mr Rajapaksa. more..

Oct 14 (Island) Electricity production through hydro generation had reached nearly 50%, CEB said. The first coal fired 300MW plant is in for annual maintenance. Mahaweli Hydro Complex yesterday contributed 26.31% or 9.12GWh, Laxapana Complex Hydro 21.49% or 7.45 Gwh, Kukule 5.4% or 1.87 Gwh and Samanalawewa 0.94% or 2.7 Gwh. Castlereigh and Wimalasurendra reservoirs are overflowing. Almost all reservoirs including Mousakelle had reached spill level. more..

Oct 14 (CT) Election Commission (EC) has, for the first time, decided on the date for the Prez election, as the 19th Amendment has given the Commission the power to do so, JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti said. Speaking at a media briefing, he added, at this election, the public has the opportunity to vote with some kind of freedom and they should assist the officials in charge of election affairs and the Police in carrying out their duties. more..

Oct 14 (Island) The SLPP is cock-a-hoop, having won the Elpitiya PS election. It has gone to the extent of claiming that it will win the upcoming prez election hands down. The govt has sought to downplay the SLPP’s impressive win, claiming that it will have no impact whatsoever on the presidential contest. Both of them have failed to assess the ground reality properly. It will be a mistake for the SLPP to be lulled into a false sense of complacency, having bagged the Elpitiya PS. more..

Oct 14 (DM) In the aftermath of US President Trump okaying the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, Kurds are in the news. The Kurds, an Iranian ethnic group native to a mountainous region of Western Asia known as Kurdistan, spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria. After World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres. more..

Oct 14 (DM) The political spectacle Ekwa Idiriyata (Forward Together) that unfolded on Oct 10 at Galle Face Green has elevated the morale of the green party to ecstatic heights. A mammoth crowd -- estimated by some of being in the range of six digits – gathered on the shores of the Indian ocean to see, hear and cheer the UNP leaders. A festive mood was much in the air as DNF’s prez candidate Sajith Premadasa launched more..

Oct 14 (Hindu) No international actor will try to interfere in SL’s approaching prez election, said Basil Rajapaksa, chief strategist of his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s prez bid. “Ethically, that is how it should be,” he told The Hindu alluding to a shift in the international community’s role in Sri Lanka’s national politics. His comments, coming a month before the prez election, revealed a more obvious shift in the Rajapaksas’ thinking. more..