Feb 3 (CT) One media station tagged the Bond Scam as the greatest financial loss inflicted on the nation since its independence. The million dollar question yet remaining unanswered however is, ‘will the truth, the extent of the scams, the long term impact on the nation and its citizens, the real culprits and recovery of proceeds of the crime be ever be transparently visible for society expectations of Justice to be delivered. Since 2015, beginning with analyst amber signals, media exposes and more..

Feb 3 (Island) I have written about this on a few occasions before. But this is the first time I am venturing to do so since Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President of SL. I reiterate, he was elected President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as five others have been before him. But none of the others have taken cognisance of a simple historical fact. That they have been elected as Presidents of a Republic; that SL, for the first time in its modern history, more..

Feb 3 (FT) A move to get Cabinet approval to allow 300 acres of land which comes within the Pidurutalagala Forest Reserve to come under private ownership by the Ministry of Lands and Land Development has been denounced by environmentalists who say this would cause serious damage to this important catchment area. A memorandum is expected to be presented to Cabinet next month by Minister t S.M. Chandrasena, Daily FT learns. more..

Feb 3 (ST) “Perseverance has its rewards. Your dedication to the game you so much love has its upsets in the past. So it was to be in the game last week. It was a battle of swinging fortune. Yet you were not un-nerved. With the skill of a Champion you potted the vital pink ball in the 15th and last frame, to beat a more experienced opponent and to enter the Hall of fame in the company of the memorable M.J.M. Lafir, the World Champion.” This tribute from MICH more..

Feb 3 (ST) The 2019/2020 inter-school cricket season will reach top gear before the all-important big matches with the first X1 matches in progress. All matches played in February have special significance to fine-tune their teams before going on to traditional big matches from the beginning of next month. At the same time, the race for the Observer-Mobitel Most Popular Schoolboy and Schoolgirl Cricketers of the Year contests too have attracted thousands of schoolchildren who support their favourite cricketers. more..

Feb 3 (TM) Despite a deadline being in place for Sri Lankan diplomats to return to the country in accordance with the new Got’s decision to recall all political appointees to the diplomatic service, SL’s former High Commissioner to Australia J.C. Weliamuna PC has failed to return to the island. Media Spokesperson to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the deadline for the political appointees to return to the country had been set for 31 Dec and had been extended till 15 Jan. more..

Feb 3 (SLA) The Navy managed to seize over half a ton of Kerala cannabis during successful operations conducted in northern seas during the past 36 hours. Accordingly, the Navy managed to take about 590kg of Kerala cannabis into custody during successful naval operations conducted in northern seas. Incidentally, during the past 36 hours, 191kg of Kerala cannabis has been seized in Madagalthurei, 99kg of Kerala cannabis in Mailadi and 300kg of Kerala cannabis in Punkudutivu, Jaffna. more..

Feb 3 (EN) State-run SriLankan Airlines said it will co-operate with any government agency that will probe going into a purchase of Airbuses after a UK probe said millions of dollars of bribes had been promised and paid. Court documents published in the UK said the wife of a SriLankan Airlines executive had been hired as an ‘agent’ and been promised 16 million dollars in payments over a large Airbus deal and at least two million dollars had been paid. more..

Feb 3 (Island) UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has agreed to provide technical assistance to Sri Lanka in drafting legislation during discussions with Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Law Reform Nimal Siripala de Silva. An OHCHR delegation comprising Mona Rishmawi, Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch in the UNHRC, Rory Mungoven, Francesca Marotta more..

Feb 3 (FT) Professor and California State University, Fresno Department of Mathematics Chair Dr. Rajee Amarasinghe has been honoured with this year’s prestigious California State University Wang Family Excellence Award. Teaching mathematics is a second career for Prof. Amarasinghe. The former SL Navy officer, after he was injured during his service has remembered the love he had for mathematics as a child and decided to pursue graduate studies in the subject, Fresno State News reported. more..

Feb 3 (Island) Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) recently signed a MoU with The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to further strengthen collaborative efforts. The MoU calls for cooperation on the exchange of information and paves the way for CSE to work together with CIMA on a number of strategic initiatives. MoU was signed at the Exchange by CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike and CIMA President and Chair of the Association of Int'l Certified Professional Accountants Amal Ratnayake FCMA, CGMA. more..

Feb 3 (DM) Kegalle ASP Kamal Perera, testifying before the Easter Sunday blast Commission said that he now suspected that there was political influence into the investigations carried out over vandalizing Buddha statues at Mawanella in 2018. He said during the investigation he had noticed that details of the investigation had been circulated to outside sources through politicians. Commissioners questioned witness on a phone conversation more..

Feb 3 (TM) Attempts by the Govt to convince plantation companies to offer plantation workers Rs. 1,000 as the daily wage from 1 March remain deadlocked. Chairman of Planters’ Association of Ceylon Lalith Obeyesekere said that they had not reached any agreement with the Government on the wage hike. The plantation companies have refused to agree to the wage hike, saying it would have a serious implications on their businesses. Minister Ramesh Pathirana said that another round of discussions on the matter more..

Feb 3 (Island) Sri Lanka will sign six Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) which had been pending for some time, to facilitate and encourage trade and investments, Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Commissioner General Nadun Guruge has said. The DTAAs will be signed with Ukraine, the Maldives, Hungary, Cyprus, Austria and the agreement with the UK will be renewed. "The preliminary work on the agreements will be finalised shortly the DTAA will be signed thereafter," more..

Feb 3 (FT) The Central Bank over the next few months is planning to reach out to as many as 20 finance companies that have been struggling financially to discuss solutions, including possible mergers, and may even take tough measures on those that have been in financial trouble for a number of years. During the press conference to discuss the monetary policy stance by the Central Bank last week, Deputy Governor H.A. Karunaratne told reporters that the license of more..

Feb 3 (CT) The second South Asian Cross Country Championship has been postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The Championship was to be held on 15 February at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Course and Sri Lanka was set to host the event for the first time. The first South Asian Cross Country was held in Bhutan in 2018. Meanwhile, Army Volunteer Forces cross country championship which was to be held on 5 Feb at the same venue has also been postponed due to the same reason. more..

Feb 3 (TM) Despite the price of crude oil falling in the world market, local fuel prices will remain unchanged, Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development stated. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the prices had been fluctuating throughout last month and therefore, the current low price in the world market would not impact local prices. He said that the price of a barrel of crude oil in the world market was at $ 62 on 1 Jan and rose to $ 67 on 6 Jan when the US and Iran conflict erupted. more..

Feb 3 (RI) The owner of a bread factory in the central Romania village of Ditrau, an area inhabited mainly by Hungarian ethnics, has decided to remove two Sri Lankans who worked as bakers in his factory after pressure from the local community. The factory owner’s decision to hire two workers from Sri Lanka had sparked outrage in the village and more than 2,000 locals signed a petition calling for a referendum to stop what they more..

Feb 3 (SO) The Army has launched a program to facilitate the purchase of paddy from paddy farmers through the Paddy Marketing Board to ensure a fair price for the produce. According to Army Commander Lt General Shavendra Silva, paddy will be purchased through District Secretariats. He said the new program has been implemented on the instruction of Prez Rajapaksa to eliminate the rice mafia in the country. The Army within three days repaired nearly 40 PMB warehouses more..

Feb 3 (CT) A 17-year-old youth was taken into custody in connection with the alleged rape of a Swedish woman at a guest house in Pottuvil, Ampara, late on Saturday (1) prompting the region to advise single female visitors to exercise extra caution when interacting with local men and boys. They said that the victim, who had arrived into the country some six months ago, was staying with her local companion, and that together the couple was planning to open a restaurant in the area. more..

Feb 3 (CT) Last week, 71 persons who were suspected to have contracted novel coronavirus were admitted to the IDH. MRI has confirmed that out of them, only one person (Chinese woman) had been infected, said the IDH Director, Dr. Hasitha Attanayake. "Specialists say that the admitted woman is recovering. It is a great achievement for us as a department. Nine patients are receiving treatment in the 'A' ward. more..

Feb 3 (FT) A day before the country celebrates her 72nd anniversary of independence, MP Mano Ganeshan made a final hour call to Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa to allow the National Anthem to be sung in both Sinhala and Tamil at Tuesday’s celebrations, to be held at Independence Square, Colombo. In a Twitter post, Ganeshan said the National Anthem in Tamil language is not just another song, but the Sri Lankan identity of the Tamil-speaking community, which is the need of the hour. more..

Feb 3 (EN) SriLankan Airlines said a rescue flight from Wuhan, China staffed by a 16 volunteer crew carrying students stranded in the locked down city, had landed at Mattala airport Saturday. The students were handed over to the care of health authorities and SL Air Force had sent its bio medical team to Mattala. Students are to be quarantined at a military base, before being released to their families. Flight UL1423 to Wuhan and back had been staffed by a 16-member crew who had volunteered. more..

Feb 3 (TM) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed relevant officials to launch an investigation into an alleged Airbus-SriLankan bribery deal. International reports yesterday (1) revealed that Airbus had bribed a wife of an executive of SriLankan Airlines to secure an aircraft deal. The scam is a part of Airbus’s massive scheme to offer and pay bribes to secure deals in many countries, disclosures in courts more..

Feb 3 (TM) CID is yet to unearth evidence to link UNP MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara to the recovery of counterfeit notes from one of his employees in Monaragala last week. Police said the CID had arrested one person with counterfeit notes and taken him into custody with a computer and a printing machine. “The CID is currently questioning the arrested person,” he added. However, SP Senaratne said there was no evidence to reveal links between Bandara and the incident. more..

Feb 3 (CT) Prez Rajapaksa has instructed Chairman of the UGC, Professor Sampath Amaratunga, to formulate a mechanism to give priority to the most skilled, knowledgeable and experienced candidates, to be selected as Vice Chancellors for the national uni system. Prez has instructed Prof. Amaratunga to select the suitable persons with the help of the uni administration boards, including senior officials of the private sector, retired officers of Civil Administration Service, and current officials. more..

Feb 3 (Island) UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday, told a media conference that the Parliament had failed in some of its primary obligations. Former member of the COPE said so when The Island asked him whether frauds perpetrated during 2010-2011 period as well as 2015-2016 as highlighted by costly Forensic Audits undertaken by the govt proved the failure on the part of govt as regards financial responsibilities. more..

Feb 3 (DM) The Fourth of February is a special day for all Sri Lankans. Most of us will eagerly take a break from our daily schedules, watch the Independence parade on TV, read a few feature stories about our Independence in the newspapers and, maybe, have a chitchat with friends about the current political scenario over dinner. But when all these things have ended, only a very few would have reflected upon where we are 72 years after the Independence. more..

Feb 3 (DM) Politics in many parts of the world today are polarised. The tremendous division with forces supporting and opposed to Trump in the US and the Brexit divide in the UK reflect such political polarisation. Is it also the case that Sri Lankan politics today is polarised? And what can we learn from our history about times of political change, polarisation and consolidation? There is a growing body of contemporary political science scholarship on political polarisation. more..

Feb 3 (DM) A Bond Scam in Sri Lanka is no longer a criminal act; the law was amended by yahapalanists to bring the legislation under Civil Procedure Code, because they loved their cronies, kith and kin more than the state coffers. Diyawanna authorities on Forensic Audit and Coronavirus are having field days. They who gave direct instructions to Public officials in the past, are now summoning media briefings to air their views on areas more..

Feb 3 (FT) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted the first national level consultation with representatives from the SL Govt ahead of the 35th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC 35). APRC is an official forum where ministers of agriculture and other high-ranking officials from all Member States in the region meet to address emerging trends and challenges more..

Feb 3 (ST) A proposal to provide increased pension benefits for those who retired after 2017 has been abandoned as the plan would cost the govt a staggering Rs 130 billion annually. A senior Treasury official said that instead of increasing the pensions, the Govt would come up with a revised scheme where the pensions of those who retired after Dec 31, 2017 would be calculated on the salary scales as at the end of 2017. more..

Feb 3 (EN) UNP MP S M Marikkar is saying that said that alleged corruption involved the Airbus purchase in 2013 is contributing to the losses that SriLankan Airlines is suffering. MP said that as the purchases were made at a high price and the lease amounts have become unbearable which they could not cover with their rates. “This is the reason why SriLankan Airlines with good service, quality and high rates is running under loss more..

Feb 3 (Island) Sri Lanka has been identified as a country at risk of conflict or escalation of violence in the International Crisis Group’s early-warning Watch List 2020. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict identifies up to ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence. more..

Feb 3 (EN) Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals dropped 7.4% from a year earlier to 226,094 and arrivals from China dropped 15% to 22,363. Arrivals from China had dropped to 22,263 in Jan 2020 from 26,414 visitors last year. There has been a small drop in arrivals from other destinations, she said. Sri Lanka is expecting a sharper slowdown in tourists in February after the island stopped giving on-arrival visas Chinese visitors. more..

Feb 3 (AD) General Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces of the Russian Federation, has arrived in Sri Lanka on an official visit. The General will engage in a five-day-long goodwill tour, at the invitation of Commander of SL Army Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, cementing the long-lasting ties between the two nations. His delegation includes Deputy Chief of the Main Land Forces Staff, more..

Feb 3 (DN) The accelerated National housing project Gamata Geyak - Ratata Hetak which will see the construction of 14022 houses within the next 60 days was launched under the auspices of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kurunegala on Saturday. Under the theme of A house for every village; a better future for the country it is envisioned that 14,022 houses which is to be constructed by the National Housing Development Authority more..

Feb 3 (AD) The Supreme Court today granted permission to personally name former President Maithripala Sirisena as a respondent in a fundamental rights petition filed by IGP Pujith Jayasundara seeking a court order declaring the decision to send him on compulsory leave is unconstitutional. The Fundamental Rights petition filed by the IGP was taken up by the three-member panel of judges comprising of CJ more..

Feb 3 (DM) Chinese ambassador Cheng Xueyuan said it was worrisome that some taxis, hotels and restaurants were refusing to entertain Chinese citizens, and asserted that true friendship could and must stand the test of difficulties. He said that his office understands the concerns of Sri Lanka public, but hope at the same time that they could feel China’s responsible attitude and see the forceful and effective measures taken by China. more..