Jul 10 (Island) President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva strongly disputed Constitutional Council member Attorney-at-law Javed Yusuf’s claim that the incumbent govt would have conducted parliamentary polls as originally scheduled for April 25 regardless of the threat posed by coronavirus if not for the timely intervention made by the Election Commission established in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, more..

Jul 10 (DN) Education Ministry has issued guidelines relating to teacher attendance for schools that opened on July 6. Under these guidelines, teachers, who have not been assigned for teaching are not required to report to schools until July 24. However all teachers must report for duty at their respective schools at 7.30 am as usual from July 27. The first phase of school opening for students is being carried out from July 6 to July 17 while the second phase will be carried out from July 20 to 24. more..

Jul 10 (FT) Despite the disagreements between Minister Prasanna Ranatuga and former Prez Maithripala Sirisena, former MP and SLPP Minister Prasanna Ranatuga Colombo District candidate Susil Premajayantha asserted that there was no division within the party or the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandhanaya (SLNPS), which will contest the forthcoming General Election under the flower bud symbol. Ranatunga expressed his displeasure about former Prez Sirisena contesting more..

Jul 10 (Island) Repeated attempts by the then Chief of National Intelligence (CNI), DIG Sisira Mendis to meet Defence Secretaries during the yahapalana administration, Kapila Waidyaratne and Hemasiri Fernando, to brief them on threats posed by radicalism, had failed as they were focused on other matters, a senior military intelligence officer who was attached to the Office of the Chief of CNI office yesterday told PCoI more..

Jul 10 (PO) Former SL cricketer Charith Senanayake has questioned the ICC policy of allowing England and West Indies cricketers going down on one knee to come in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign. Before the commencement of the first Test match between England and West Indies at the Ages Bowl (Southampton) on Wednesday players from both teams and match officials united in a poignant gesture to support the Black Lives Matter movement. more..

Jul 10 (Island) One of the prime reasons for attempts to revise Circular 5/2001 was to facilitate attempts to hand over 62,500 acres of land in Moneragala to a Singaporean company named Gazelle Ventures Ltd, a senior environmentalist alleged. Activist cum environmentalist Sajeewa Chamikara said that most of the above land area had come under the Forest Department in terms of the 5/2001 Circular. Another 15,000 acres were to be given to another foreign company more..

Jul 10 (DM) Over 35,000 SL migrant workers still remain stranded mainly in the Gulf countries, awaiting return to the country amid the job losses triggered by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the SL Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB). Around 9,000 migrant workers have been repatriated to the country since the COVID-19 outbreak. However, he noted that around 35,000 SL migrant workers still remain stranded, more..

Jul 10 (FT) Two madcap pioneers of the human psyche, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, cobbled together and co-created from multiple sources of inspiration (among them systems thinker Gregory Bateson, syntax innovator Noam Chomsky, the father of Gestalt Fritz Perls, family therapist Virginia Satir, hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, and others), a remarkable way of modelling human thinking and processing that came to be known as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). more..

Jul 10 (FT) The Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary can be considered the three main power centres in a democratic system of governance. The Legislature enacts laws and formulates policies while the Executive functions as the agency that implements them. The Judiciary is assigned the responsibility to investigate whether the Legislature and the Executive discharge the duties and responsibilities assigned them, in compliance with the Constitution. more..

Jul 10 (DM) The reopening of the Bandaranaike International Airport will be considered only after the repatriation process of Sri Lankans abroad is completed, a task that will take at least three more weeks, an official said yesterday. Airport and Aviation Services (SL) Ltd Chairman Maj.Gen (Retired) G.A. Chandrasiri said that it would take a minimum three weeks to complete the repatriation process. He said it might even take longer than that depending on the circumstances. more..

Jul 10 (TP) Sri Lanka has assured India that the high-profile Colombo Port project will remain with New Delhi despite opposition pressure to review the $500-million deal. An MoU for the project was signed between Sri Lanka and India and Japan, which is collaborating to build a container terminal in the port, in May 2019. Some of the opposition parties, especially the Leftist parties, want to take the project away from India because of concerns that New Delhi will drag its feet. more..

Jul 10 (NAR) SL's strong ties with neighboring India are being tested after Prez Rajapaksa announced that his govt is reviewing a port deal worth millions of dollars that was signed between the previous Sirisena govt and New Delhi. Political observers say the move is the latest effort by Rajapaksa to distance himself from grants and other funding offered by the Quad nations -- U.S., India, Japan and Australia -- which are trying to more..

Jul 10 (AD) Ministry of Health confirmed that one more patient infected with Covid-19 has completely recovered and was discharged from the hospital. This recovered patient is reported from the IDH. Accordingly, the total count of recoveries from Covid-19 has increased to 1,980. Following the detection of 196 more virus-positive patients from the Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in Kandakadu today, SL’s infections tally soared to 2,350. 359 of them are currently medical care at selected more..

Jul 10 (DN) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa told a party convention at Kurunegala that it has come to light that some Muslim leaders who held important ministerial posts in his govt apparently misled unsuspecting Muslim people to come to power. He said that a certain such a leader used to carry a bag by his side and he could notice that his bag was getting bigger and heavier. “And now I think that you all can guess what he was carrying inside that bag because that cat had jumped out of the bag” more..

Jul 10 (EN) A group of high-level govt officials allegedly in cohorts with the diesel and coal mafia are planning to reduce the unit cost of electricity offered to rooftop solar power, a collective of solar power industry representatives said. The move will immediately bring the solar rooftop industry to a standstill, resulting in a large number of job losses, and bring in major barriers to achieving govt’s policy of 80% renewables by 2030, more..

Jul 10 (AD) Four lorries, two vans and a luxury car belonging to two police officers attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) have been taken into custody from Pallewela, Gampaha. These PNB officers in question are currently under detention over the alleged links they had with drug dealers. The raid was carried out by the officers of the crimes investigation unit of Gampaha Police, under the supervision of SSP of the said police division, on a tip-off received by more..

Jul 10 (AD) Prez Rajapaksa has extended the term of PcoI probing the incidents of political victimization that have occurred between 8th Jan 2015 and 16th November 2019. Accordingly, the term of the Presidential Commission, which was set to expire on Thursday (9), has been given an extension of 4 months until the 9th of Nov 2020. The Commission was established by the President on the 9th of January this year, through the Notification published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2157/44. more..

Jul 10 (AD) Former Chairman of Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA) Tiran Alles and the three other defendants have been discharged from the Rs. 200 million fraud case. The acquittal order was delivered by Colombo High Court Judge Pradeep Hettiarachchi when the case was taken up today. Attorney General had filed the case against the former Chairman of RADA Tiran Alles, former Chief Operations Officer more..

Jul 10 (EN) Borrowers who had got a moratorium from banks and leasing companies can demand when the interest is charged, Deputy Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said. Under a debt moratorium borrower can defer up to six installments (principle and interest) on which a maximum of 7% interest could be charged according to a central bank direction. Under the moratorium extends the loan period is extended by the number of installments. more..

Jul 10 (AD) Three persons have been reported dead in a tragic head-on collision involving a lorry and a three-wheeler on the Wellawaya–Monaragala main road. The accident had occurred at around 10 am this morning in the area of Warunagama in Wellawaya. Another individual has sustained critical injuries in the accident, reports said. A three-wheeler had collided head-on with a lorry near the army camp in the area. Three persons who were traveling in the three-wheeler were rushed to more..

Jul 10 (Island) Prez Rajapaksa has given the Cabinet of Ministers two more weeks to submit their opinions on the Lalithasiri Gunaruwan report on the proposed controversial Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) agreement with the USA, Minister Bandula Gunawardane said. He said that the Prez had extended the deadline which was to be Wednesday, by another two weeks since only some Ministers had expressed their views on more..

Jul 10 (AD) Kandakadu Quarantine Centre (QC) has been converted into a hospital to treat the Covid-19 patients identified from the nearby Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre, says the Army Commander, Lt Gen Shavendra Silva. He stated that the close contacts of the Covid-19 patients identified from the rehabilitation center have already been directed to quarantine c enters and to self-quarantine. PCR tests will be carried out today as well on the inmates at rehabilitation center. more..

Jul 10 (AD) Police have arrested one of the main accomplices of notorious underworld figure Kosgoda Tharaka who is believed to have operated the latter’s widespread drug network. The suspect has identified as Rohan Pradeep alias Kalu Malli while the arrest was made in the area of Angoda. His bank account has revealed to have contained around Rs. 42.8 million, according to reports. The Police Headquarters stated that the arrest was made by a police team led by more..

Jul 10 (EN) Central Bank had complied with govt directions as permitted by available monetary law, central bank officials said, in the wake of a controversy caused by Prez Rajapaksa slamming the central bank after summoning the Governor to his office. SL’s central bank was ordered to engage in a series of quasi-fiscal activities which should have been performed by the Treasury by printing large volumes of money, more..

Jul 10 (AD) A photojournalist has filed a complaint with police accusing the former OIC of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) Inspector of Police Neomal Rangajeewa of manhandling him at the premises of the Colombo High Court. Akila Jayawardena, a photojournalist of a local newspaper, has made the complaint with the Police Post at the Colombo High Court. The photojournalist says that he had been at the court premises today in order to cover the proceeding of an ongoing court case. more..

Jul 10 (Island) The UNP has decided to expedite disciplinary inquiries against its members who are contesting the general election on the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) ticket. The decision was taken at the UNP Working Committee meeting held on Wednesday, after considering the failure of some of the 99 defectors to provide an explanation despite being noticed to do so and certain others wanting more time to explain the reasons for their conduct without approval, party sources said, more..

Jul 10 (AD) SL Police says that investigations regarding the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers arrested on drug trafficking charges have been expedited and that they intend to file indictments in the case as soon as possible and seek a High Court trial-at-bar. DIG Ajith Rohana said that these offences of drug trafficking leveled against the PNB officers in question are punishable by death sentence. more..

Jul 10 (AD) UNDP has provided COVID-19 protective and preventive equipment to 134 Local Government authorities across the Eastern, Northern, North-Central and Uva Provinces. The support to the Local Govt authorities comes under the Capacity Development of Local Govt Project (CDLG), which is a four-year project (2020-2023) funded by the European Union (EU). The project aims to strengthen the capacities of the selected Local Govt authorities to be inclusive, more..

Jul 10 (DM) State-owned commercial bank, People’s Bank yesterday entered into a partnership with the Industrial Development Board (IDB) to uplift micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. People’s Bank tied up with the IDB to kick off a programme that would help empower the MSMEs with the necessary knowledge and best practices. Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development Wimal Weerawansa graced the event. more..

Jul 10 (Island) Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) hadn’t used the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to prosecute Zahran Hashim and other extremists because the previous govt wasn’t happy about using the PTA, former Director of the TID, Nalaka de Silva told the PCoI. Earlier, a commissioner pointed out that Zahran had called upon his supporters to kill non-Muslims and asked Silva if it was not an act of terrorism. more..

Jul 10 (DM) Govt’s sudden policy decision to ban the cultivation of oil palm incurred a loss of Rs.75 million for Malwatte Valley Plantations PLC and Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) are pursuing litigation measures against the ban, which is based on a disputed report by the CEA. “The land we had prepared for the planting of 600 hectares of oil palm went back into secondary bush, due to the change of govt policy, which precluded us from planting the plants we had nurtured in our nurseries” more..

Jul 10 (NR) The number of COVID-19 positive cases recorded increased to 2,437 today after 283 new cases were identified from the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre. 87 more persons from the Centre were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 this evening. Accordingly, 283 new coronavirus patients were identified today. With the 56 coronavirus positive cases identified yesterday, a total of 339 persons at centre are now confirmed to have contracted more..

Jul 10 (AD) The gold price hit an-all time high on Thursday with the price of 24 -carat gold sovereign reaching Rs.100,000 for the first time in history. 24-carat gold sovereign was recorded at Rs. 100,000, 22 -carat gold sovereign was at Rs. 91,700 and 21-carat gold sovereign was recorded at Rs. 87,500. On Wednesday price of an ounce in the global market exceeded $1,800, with the precious metal benefitting from its haven status as more..

Jul 10 (CT) Suspended former Director of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), ex-DIG Nalaka de Silva said he ordered a probe into an allegation that a few PNB officers had alerted drug kingpin Wele Suda on raids to be conducted by PNB officers on illegal drug rackets. He was giving evidence on 8 July before the three-Judge Bench of the Colombo High Court (CHC) which is hearing the 2012 Welikada Prison riots case. Ex-DIG de Silva was summoned to give evidence for the prosecution, more..

Jul 10 (AD) Attorney General has filed two indictments with the Colombo High Court against former minister Champika Ranawaka and two others over the motor accident at Rajagiriya in 2016. AG’s Coordinating Secretary, Senior State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne, stated that the former minister has been charged with causing grievous injuries to a person by rash and negligent acts, among other charges. Meanwhile the other indictment has been filed against former OIC of Welikada Police more..

Jul 10 (AD) Head of the NOCPCO, Commander of the Army Lt Gen Shavendra Silva, today clarified the details pertaining to the latest situation following the detection of a new cluster of coronavirus cases. Speaking to reporter, he revealed that there are close to 1,150 inmates and staff members at these two drug rehabilitation centers in Kandakadu and Senapura in the Polonnaruwa District. more..

Jul 11 (CT) Let this column begin with a Disclaimer. It is only an analysis and the writer is not holding a brief to defend or protect the All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulema (ACJU). The ACJU has been functioning as an organisation for nearly 100 years. It was established circa 1924. As such it is not just another mushroom religious body and it consists of erudite persons with Islamic scholarship. It is interesting to note that there is no priesthood as such in Islam. Therefore, overlordship of man over man, more..

Jul 11 (CT) An event of remembrance was held on 9 July at the Navaly Church in Jaffna as it is 25 years since the massacre where bombs were dropped over the Navaly area, killing hundreds and injuring many more including at the Church. According to an account by human rights activist Ruki Fernando, the bombings took place on 9 July 1995 at around 4.30-5 p.m. when a Pucara airplane dropped eight to 10 bombs over Navaly. ‘Initially, the Catholic Bishop of Jaffna, Thomas Savundranayagam and more..

Jul 11 (CT) UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam is contesting the General Election from the Kuliyapitiya electorate in Kurnegala. He says no matter what the walk-out Party, SJB says about the UNP, the SJB is riding on the UNP brand and will only contribute to winning seats if at all they do. He says the current Govt’s position is getting weaker and weaker as people are frustrated over the economic crisis and cost of living. more..