Sep 12 (Island) State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Parliament that the govt had not yet discussed with MCC on revising its clauses based on the recommendations made by a review Committee. Responding to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on the proposed agreement with the MCC, Minister Cabraal said the govt had been able to identify all adverse clauses of the agreement through more..

Sep 12 (DM) The UNP is likely to announce a new leader by mid next week after senior members and the key contenders to the leadership post held successful meetings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, a senior member said. "We have held successful meetings and moved steps forward. We are now reaching towards an amicable compromise, which is being seen after a long time," senior source said. Discussions held over the week have also revolved around a complete transformation more..

Sep 12 (EN) The body of a 31-year old Sri Lankan maid who has allegedly been tortured to death is to be repatriated to Sri Lanka. The young woman died in the early hours of Thursday morning at the Amiri Hospital in Kuwait, these officials said. The local Security Officials in Kuwait are investigating as the housemaid was brought to the hospital in critical condition with traces of burns, cuts and wounds on her body. She was admitted to Intensive Care but did not survive. more..

SSep 12 (CT) Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners urged the relevant authorities, including the Govt and the Prisons Dept, to heed to the grievances aired by a group of prisoners detained at the Boossa Prison, who are currently engaged in a hunger strike. A group of around 40 prisoners is currently on a hunger strike over several unaddressed concerns, one of which concerns the monthly allowance afforded more..

Sep 12 (NR) Another minor tremor, 1.79 on the Richter scale has been reported in Digana and Teldeniya areas in Kandy. Senior Director of NBRO Udaya De Silva said the tremor was reported at around 8.30 last night. He confirmed that the tremor was not a result of an earthquake, as no earthquake was recorded in the area at the time. This is the third occasion that tremors were reported in Kandy. Several teams were appointed previously to investigate the frequent tremors reported in more..

Sep 12 (AD) A person has been arrested in Puttalam early this morning while in possession of 75g of heroin. According to reports, the heroin haul is estimated to be worth nearly Rs. 1.5 million. The police said Rs. 262,150 in cash, suspected to have earned from drug dealing, was seized during the raid carried out at around 7.30pm last night. The arrest was made acting on the information received by the officers of Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) attached to the Puttalam branch. more..

SSep 12 (AD) Notorious drug kingpin and underworld ring leader Mohommad Najim Imran alias Kanjipani Imran, who was engaging in a hunger strike along with several other inmates of the Boossa Prison, was transferred to the Navy Hospital in Boossa. He was subsequently transported back to the Boossa Prison following several medical tests including an electrocardiogram (ECG) on Friday (12). more..

Sep 12 (FT) Govt and Opposition members agreed in Parliament to reduce the large quantity of printed material and Compact Discs (CDs) given to MPs and instead use electronic forms of documents so in order to be more environmentally friendly. A proposal to this effect was made by SJB MP Buddhika Pathirana, who said that various documents including annual reports and performance reports of ministries and statutory bodies were provided to the MPs on CDs while large files of books and more..

Sep 12 (EN) MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar is proposing that the govt prioritize the return of more than 50,000 SL migrant workers who are without work and facing a daily struggle to live in foreign lands. In his first speech in this Parliament made yesterday, he said that Parliament, without dividing themselves along party lines, should appeal to the govt to take action in this regard. He read out parts of a letter sent by a migrant worker who claims to be very sick, which appealed for help. more..

Sep 12 (ST) Misuse of state resources and improper conduct of state employees were the main complaints of election law violations received by the Election Commission. Among the total number of 8, 683 complaints received by the Commission, at least 1,500 complaints are related to the misuse of state resources, in addition to other complaints over improper conduct by state employees while on duty and misuse of state development projects more..

Sep 12 (FT) Chinese Embassy in SL Chargé d’ Affaires Hu Wei invited State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, together with a big team of senior diplomats from Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry for a field visit to the Lotus Tower and the Colombo Port City on 8 September. After a breath-taking bird-view of grand Colombo area and all the mega projects from the 356-meter high Lotus Tower, which is the highest in South Asia, the delegation headed towards the Colombo Port City, more..

Sep 12 (ST) Claims from overseas that SL pepper is substandard are bedevilling the Govt’s election pledge to obtain a fair price on world markets for local cultivators. Talks are underway to convince importing countries to continue buying black pepper from Sri Lanka at the agreed price of Rs. 450 a kilogram. Along with that, traders are being prevented from mixing substandard pepper with SL pepper for the export market, the Ministry of Trade’s Commerce Dept’s Acting Director-General, more..

SSep 12 (FT) The Govt has pushed back the re-opening of the BIA for incoming leisure and business travellers indefinitely. Previously, the authorities expected to reopen the BIA in mid-August, but due to the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases within the country in July, it was pushed back further to September. “No final timeline or decision has been taken by the Govt on the reopening of the airport. We can only resume operations when more..

Sep 12 (AD) The Govt has taken a policy decision to recommence oil and gas exploration, minister Udaya Gammanpila stated. “Govt has taken a policy decision to restart oil and gas exploration. This had been abandoned for many years. Accordingly, a policy on natural gas has been formulated. It is an essential factor in attracting investors. At this week cabinet’s meeting, it was decided to appoint Mr. Surath Ovitigama, as the Director-General of Petroleum Resources Dev. Secretariat more..

Sep 12 (CB) Bangladesh Cricket Board, on Saturday, said that SLC had informed them of a seven-day quarantine ahead of their upcoming 3-match Test series against in SL. Earlier, Cricbuzz had reported that the future of the tour was in danger after the health and security agencies of SL suggested a 14-day quarantine for the visitors. However, according to BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, now the host board has conveyed that 7-day quarantine would be stuck to. more..

SSep 12 (ST) The driver responsible for the deaths of three people including a top CB official this week had heroin in his blood, investigators found, as police reported increasing drug use by drivers. Blood tests show 28-year-old Gayan Sankalpa Karunaratne had used heroin within six days of Wednsday’s accident in Mattakkuliya. He also lacked a driver’s licence. Carrying eggs in his lorry on a run from Modara to Wattala more..

Sep 12 (DM) There is a slight decline of incidents in the Human-Elephant Conflicts (HEC) this year (2020) when compared to the previous year (2019),senior official of the Wildlife Conservation Dept said. He said that people being confined to their homes due to lockdown regulations following the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, had caused a decline of the HEC. 59 people were killed by August this year while 85 people were killed in the corresponding period last year (2019). more..

Sep 12 (AD) The total number of positive cases confirmed in the country reached 3,173 as four new COVID-19 patients were detected today. The latest cases include 1 arrival from the UAE and 3 from Qatar. In the meantime, the number of recoveries from the disease in Sri Lanka moved up to 2,983 as 14 more persons infected with the virus were discharged from hospitals earlier today. The Epidemiology Unit says that 178 active cases are currently under medical care. more..

Sep 12 (ST) Residents of Mannar are aggrieved at being left out of a recent meeting on wildlife issues at the Presidential Secretariat even though they in particular, and others in the Northern Province, which has the country’s greatest jungle cover, suffer the most from wild animal attacks. Elephants, bears, leopards and serpents cause the most injuries and, as villagers ward off attacks, the animals too suffer: last year saw more..

Sep 12 (DN) Court of Appeal has set aside an order made by Homagama High Court and Kesbewa Magistrate’s Court over a motor accident following a situation where an Attorney-at-Law who had appeared for the accused had pleaded guilty without the instructions of his client. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal two-judge-Bench comprising Kumuduni Wickremasinghe and Devika Abayratne ordered the discharge of the accused from charges levelled against him. Kitnan Rajendran of Hatton more..

Sep 12 (DM) Although the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and the State Intelligence Service (SIS) submitted details on six Islamic extremist groups which operated within the country to be banned, former CNI Sisira Mendis and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando had only sent a list of three groups to former President Maithripala Sirisena after the Easter Sunday blasts, it was yesterday informed at the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks, yesterday. more..

SSep 12 (MoD) Public Administration, Planning Services, Accounting Service, Tri-Forces, Police, Prisons Customs etc. should be integrated into a unique govt mechanism system while eliminating corruption in the system, Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said. While emphasising on creating a clear govt administrative mechanism he said people’s expectations must be achieved efficiently and more..

Sep 13 (ST) The chairman of the ruling party told the media this week that the Govt has no issue with the Opposition going before the Supreme Court to test the legality of the proposed 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution. The law professor turned politician rests his argument on the AG giving his opinion that 20A only needed a two-thirds majority of Parliament, which the Govt boasts it has. Coinciding with that claim, a court in Hulftsdorp rejected AG’s submissions that a MP convicted of murder more..

Sep 13 (CT) The foreign powers relevant to SL’s predicament, in order of involvement are India, China, the US, and Pakistan to a lesser degree. Japan, Australia and the UK will bestir themselves to the extent that the US compels them. To India the island is so critical that a threat to its security such as setting up a hostile military base will provoke a hard militarised response. US military interest is to backup India and deny China military facilities, but its economic forebodings are deeper and more..

Sep 13 (SO) Minister Johnston Fernando said the SJB or the UNP has no moral right to talk of the independence of the judiciary. He said the audio clips of some SJB MPs have proved how they connived with the Police officers to imprison their political opponents and the Maha Sangha. Minister said the people gave a two-thirds majority to the Govt to change the present Constitution and introduce a new one. more..

Sep 13 (CT) The govt’s rush to pass the 20th Amendment soon after the election is understandable given the political toing and froing of the last decade. What is mystifying is the desire to create a whole new constitution, and the appointment of an extra-parliamentary Experts Committee (thankfully, not a military Task Force) to produce a draft for it. The 1947, 1972 and 1978 constitutions had a pathbreaking purpose each. Is there such a purpose for the current SLPP more..

Sep 13 (SO) Govt and Opposition lawmakers engaged in heated arguments in Parliament on Tuesday, Sept 8 over the swearing-in of SLPP Ratnapura district MP Premalal Jayasekara, a death row convict. Opposition MPs from the SJB argued in the House over the precedent that is being set by allowing death row convicts to enter Parliament. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena defended his decision to allow Jayasekara to take oaths saying he is abiding by the Order of the Court of Appeal more..

Sep 13 (SO) The SJB National Organiser and one time UNP firebrand Tissa Attanayake said they call upon the UNP leadership to open a path to bring these two parties together heeding the call of the party supporters. Adding that, the UNP leaders are still oblivious to the reality, Attanayake said they were ready to speak to a moderate leader who will succeed Ranil Wickremesinghe and salvage the great old party. more..

Sep 13 (CT) Jaffna District MP C.V. Wigneswaran, a former Judge in Colombo, after his retirement turned politician in Jaffna, made a provocative speech at the inaugural ceremony of the new Parliament that raised many eyebrows. Some MPs considered his speech a tongue-in-cheek style of verbal diarrhoea, particularly his lawyer colleagues who remembered him on the Bench. C.V. Wigneswaran lives in Colombo intermingling with the Colombo Sinhala elite society. Both his daughters are more..

Sep 13 (ST) My dear Choka malli, I thought I must write to you to congratulate you on being sworn in as a Member of the House by the Diyawanna Oya, despite some people trying to prevent you from doing so. You may not realise it, but this is a great achievement that will go down in history and will be talked about for years to come. That is, of course, not surprising for us citizens of Paradise. Why, 60 years ago, we gave the world its first woman Prime Minister, that gracious lady, Mrs B, more..

Sep 13 (SO) There are many lessons to be learnt from the saga involving the VLCC Crude Oil carrier MT New Diamond. But first, all Sri Lankans have to be grateful to SL Navy, SL Air Force and Indian Coastguard whose personnel worked day and night to douse the fire on board the MT New Diamond, (though it ignited again on a smaller scale) to prevent a massive oil leak from the crude oil storage area. Ship was carrying 260,000 MT of Crude. One can only imagine the scale of the disaster more..

Sep 13 (ST) Regulated and unregulated micro-finance companies, unregulated leasing companies, regulated and unregulated finance companies – all have issues; all have problems. And despite repeated warnings by the CB urging depositors to be wary of unregulated finance companies, people invest in these dubious firms desperate for high interest income or take loans from unregulated micro-finance companies often without any collateral. more..

Sep 13 (CT) The agitation against 20th Amendment, deforestation in Anavilundawa and Sinharaja took back stage, with a mere verbal proposal made by PM Mahinda Rajapaksa to SLPP Parliamentary Group Meeting to ban cattle slaughter taking centre stage. PM has taken this decision in his capacity as the Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious & Cultural Affairs. He explained that society is concerned about cattle slaughter more..

Sep 13 (ST) Founded in 1874 by the Rev. Daniel Henry Pereira in the environs of Dam Street in Pettah, Wesley College Colombo, a Methodist school, today stands as a monument along Baseline Road, in memory of one of its greatest Principals, Rev. Henry Highfield, who contributed immensely towards uplifting and improving education both at Wesley and also in the country. As a gesture of gratitude to his service in uplifting the standard of education in Ceylon, Rev. Henry Highfield more..

Sep 13 (SO) Several foreigners from some 2000 of them reported to be stranded in Sri Lanka due to the Covid-19 virus are expected to take part in the Open and National Surfing championship that will be held in Arugam Bay on September 26 and 27. This championship is organized by Lanka Sportreizen and sponsored by Mobitel and Lin Asia Holdings that will have an Open event where the foreigners can participate and the Nationals where only local surfers will contest. more..

Sep 13 (CT) NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Tuesday used a clever tactic to silence Govt MPs who started to disturb him when he began to speak about the swearing-in of SLPP MP Premalal Jayasekara. He mentioned about allegations levelled against MPs who got up to raise Points of Order during his speech saying that he would come out with more allegations. Dissanayake started to speak about more..

Sep 13 (SO) The land leased out to the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) for its headquarters and courts at Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 7 is under threat of being reclaimed by the Colombo Municipal Council, the Sunday Observer learns. The land was leased out on a tax basis for a few decades. The SLTA headquarters is spread over nearly five acres of land which has a very high value and the CMC had attempted to take it back on a few previous occasions and failed. more..

Sep 13 (SO) Schoolboys and schoolgirls identified with sporting talents and living in less privileged regions in the country will have their cherished dream of enrolling at sporting schools in Colombo following a directive by Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa in association with Minister GL Peiris. The budding sports-oriented students will be selected once they reach Grade Eight or 13 years and will be assured of showcasing their talents as one of the steps taken by Minister Rajapaksa more..

Sep 13 (ST) Tony Opatha, arguably SL’s finest new-ball bowler of the 1970s, passed away at the age of 73 after a brief illness. Playing during the pre-Test era, Opatha was a regular feature in the national team of the time and played league cricket in Britain. But he will be remembered more for masterminding the 1982 rebel tour to South Africa. Having represented his alma mater St. Peter’s College in the late 60s and 70s, more..