Sep 5 (DM) Ms. Yasmin Sooka of International Truth and Justice Project SL (ITJPSL) has reportedly apologised to Brigadier Ravindra Dias of SL Army for wrongfully using his picture to portray the same as that of Major General Suresh Salley, incumbent Director of Sri Lanka State Intelligence Service. Brigadier Ravindra Dias through his Attorney at Law Nilanga Perera, has sent a letter of demand dated 06/07/2020 to Ms. Yasmin Sooka and ITJPSL for wrongfully using his picture. more..

Sep 5 (DM) SJB MP and Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader Mano Ganesan yesterday said there were aspects of the 20th Amendment which he cannot agree with, but would agree with the clause under which those with dual citizenship are allowed to come into Parliament. “There are some aspects of the 20th Amendment which I don’t agree to but there is nothing wrong in the clause under which, those who hold dual citizenship are allowed to come into Parliament,” he said. more..

Sep 5 (AD) The blaze that erupted in Panama-registered oil tanker MT New Diamond has been brought under control, says SL Navy. Its spokesperson noted that steps are now being taken to tow the vessel to deeper seas. SL Navy, SL Air Force, SLPA, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard were engaged in a joint effort to control the fire raging in the oil tanker, which was caused by an explosion of a boiler in the main engine room. more..

Sep 5 (DM) There is a risk of youth who were graduating from Arabic colleges as Moulavis in the country being unemployed due to the limited availability of standard Madrasa schools and mosques to employ them, it was informed at the PCoI. Director of DMRCA Adam Bawa Mohammed Ashroff said that the Arabic colleges in the country face a multitude of challenges in preparing students to suit the rapidly modernising societies and emerging globalised economies. more..

Sep 5 (CT) Govt is in the process of instituting legal action against the company that owns the fuel tanker, which caught fire on 3 September off SL’s eastern coast. Director General of CEA, Hemantha Jayasinghe said, they were collaboratively working with other global companies to take legal action against the company owning the vessel. Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera has already instructed the CEA to file charges against the company for negligence. more..

Sep 5 (CT) The owners of the crude oil tanker MT New Diamond, which was engulfed by flames on Thursday off SL, have handed over the vessel to an international salvage company. A team of the company is set to arrive in SL on Monday, the chairperson of the MEPA said. At around 8.30 am on Thursday, the oil tanker, carrying 270,000 metric tons of crude oil, had been sailing 38 nautical miles off Sangamankanda Point east of SL seas, more..

Sep 5 (FT) Compared to our competitors in Asia, that we have clearly struggled right through the years to attract sufficient investments, both foreign and local. Although, we like to talk about encouraging businesses big and small, at a ground level, in actual fact, there is only indifference, the entrepreneur facing only barriers and endless charges. Without a doubt, a good amount of the blame for this self-defeating system should go to its creators, our bureaucracy; slow, rigid, more..

Sep 5 (DM) Govt is to go ahead with the construction of the Ruwanpura Expressway (E06), with instructions being given by the Minister of Highways Johnston Fernando, to expedite the commencement of its work. The expressway will begin from the Kahatuduwa exit point of the Southern Expressway to Pelmadulla and will he 73.9km long. First phase from Kahatuduwa to Ingiriya will be 23.4km while the second phase will from Ingiriya to Ratnapura and more..

Sep 5 (FT) The proposed 20th Amendment is set to restore all the Executive powers of the Prez which were scaled down by the 19th Amendment. For example replacing the Constitutional Council with a weakened Parliamentary Council, allowing dual citizens to sit in Parliament, the Prez’s powers to dissolve Parliament after one year of its election, which was increased to four and half years under the 19th Amendment (19A), and lifting restrictions on the number of Cabinet and junior ministers. more..

Sep 5 (Island) Leader of the SLMC Rauff Hakeem is expected to testify on Monday (07) before the PCoI investigating the Easter Sunday attacks. Hakeem arrived at the Police unit attached to the PCoI yesterday (4) at 9 a.m. and made a statement for nearly six hours. Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has also been summoned to visit the police unit on September 07, while State Minister Dilum Amunugama is expected to make a statement on Sept 8. more..

Sep 5 (CT) Former MP Mangala Samaraweera has written to UNESCO on the danger faced by the Sinharaja Forest Reserve due to the construction of a road from Lankagama to Neluwa through the Sinharaja Forest. Sinharaja was identified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Samaraweera said, there were several attempts to construct roads bordering the Forest Reserve on previous occasions too, which were halted more..

Sep 5 (AD) Showers or thundershowers will occur at most parts of the island. Fairly heavy showers above 50 mm are likely at some places, says the Dept of Meteorology. The public has been requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity and localized strong winds during thundershowers. The showery and windy conditions over the island, is expected to enhance tomorrow. Heavy rainfall above 100 mm are likely at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa and more..

Sep 5 (FT) Cabinet gave approval to a proposal by Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella to obtain provisions for essential recurrent expenditure of three State-run media institutions from the Treasury for a period of four months, from September to December. The allocations from the Treasury are for the recurrent expenditure of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corpo-ration (SLRC), Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) & Independent Television Network (ITN). more..

Sep 5 (AD) The distressed oil tanker MT New Diamond has been taken 40 nautical miles (about 74 km) away from the shore by the ALP Winger tug. In its latest update on the situation, the Navy said the Panama-flagged oil tanker had reached about 20 nautical miles shoreward yesterday at 6 pm and the fire that was raging in the vessel has been contained with continuous efforts of all relevant stakeholders. more..

Sep 5 (DN) Galle Chief Magistrate issued warrants on Galle District SJB MP Manusha Nanayakkara for not being present in the Galle Magistrate’s Court to give evidence in a case. MP had been cited as the first witness of a case against a person who had allegedly defrauded money from youths promising jobs in Japan through MP Manusha Nanayakkara who had been served summons to be present in the Court yesterday. He did not appear in Courts to give evidence in the said case. more..

Sep 5 (EN) SL tea prices eased with only a few high and medium grown teas seeing gains in the first auction for September, brokers said. SL sold 6.2 million kg of tea, selling 0.75 million kg in Ex-Estate teas (teas sold while in the factory itself to retain quality) while selling 2.6 million kg in Low Grown (Leafy/Tippy) teas. SL sold 6.2 million kg of tea in the auction held in the previous week. Last week the Low Grown tea sale average was 669.53 rupees up down by 62 cents from a week earlier. more..

Sep 5 (DM) SL Customs yesterday handed over a large stock of illicit cigarettes worth Rs.133.6 million which was smuggled into the country last year, to be destroyed at the Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) crushers. A large container load of counterfeit cigarettes allegedly smuggled into the country in the latter part of 2019, was destroyed publicly in the sophisticated crushers at the CTC head office in Kotahena, in the presence of more..

Sep 5 (ST) The wildlife department has instructed its office in Puttalam to once again restore almost two acres of mangroves in the Anawilundawa sanctuary that had been illegally cleared overnight on Tuesday to make way for a prawn farm. Anawilundawa is a Ramsar wetland falling deemed of international importance under the UNESCO Ramsar Convention. Six out of 2,331 Ramsar wetlands worldwide are in Sri Lanka according to a 2018 report, and Anawilundawa is one of them. more..

Sep 5 (AD) A close associate of the notorious gangster Keselwatte Dinuka has been arrested last night, in the area of Enderamulla. Acting on a tip-off received, a team of the Police Special Task Force had launched a raid to apprehend the suspect, identified as Keselwatte Kasun. The investigating officers have found 6g of heroin and several sharp weapons on the suspect. In addition, a lorry and 03 motorcycles, which he had purchased using ill-gotten money, were also taken into custody. more..

Sep 5 (CT) Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) noted that there is no requirement to legalise the cultivation of cannabis. They said this was because permission has been granted for the use of cannabis as a component of some Ayurvedic medicines and because there is an established system in place for cannabis to be provided to licensed Ayurvedic practitioners by the Ayurvedic Department. more..

Sep 5 (NR) Three more arrivals tested positive for COVID-19 in the country today. Accordingly, total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen to 3,118. One arrival each from India, Bahrain and Qatar tested positive today. Meanwhile, 11 more coronavirus infected persons in Sri Lanka have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals. The number of COVID-19 recoveries has risen to 2,918. Five patients had been discharged from the IDH, four from the Iranawila hospital and more..

Sep 5 (CT) Around 350,000 newborn deaths (baby less than one month of age) occur annually in SL, said Consultant Neonatologist at the Sri J'pura General Hospital, Dr. Medha Weerasekera. She noted that according to the latest data, 90% of deaths happen during the first week after birth, while around 20% of them die due to infections. She also noted that newborns who are born premature are more susceptible to infections than babies born at term and other older children. more..

Sep 5 (ST) Supreme Court has held that the fundamental rights of three people had been violated by the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) by not allowing them to sit for the local examination that would make them eligible to become medical practitioners in SL. The council was ordered to allow the petitioners to sit the Exam for Registration to Practise Medicine (ERPM). The petitioners had graduated from universities in Georgia, more..

Sep 5 (AD) Prez Rajapaksa has expressed his gratitude to the SL Navy, SL Air Force, SLPA and the Indian Defence Forces for their joint effort in curbing the fire raging in the crude oil tanker MT New Diamond. In a Twitter message, the Prez appreciated their contribution in conserving oceanic biodiversity by preventing a disastrous situation out in the ocean. The tanker MT New Diamond had been sailing 38 nautical miles off Sangamankanda Point east of SL seas at around 8.30 am more..

Sep 5 (CT) A member of the Expert Committee tasked with formulating the preliminary drafts for a fresh Constitution said, other than 12 Articles in the present Constitution, all other clauses should be done away with. He said, details pertaining to Articles concerning the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, Buddhism, the National Anthem and the National Flag would be retained in the new Constitution. He noted that to change or amend the other Articles in the present Constitution, more..

Sep 5 (ST) When her resignation as Human Rights Commission (HRC) Chair became public two days before the Aug 5 Parliamentary election, it was speculated that Deepika Udagama had quit under pressure. “I want to say upfront that, when people ask me whether I was leaving because I succumbed to intimidation or threat, I feel personally insulted because I’m not that sort of person,” said Dr Udagama. more..

Sep 5 (CT) Minister of Trade, Dr. Bandula Gunawardana, said the attention of the Cost of Living (CoL) Sub-Committee has been drawn to supply fish at subsidised prices to consumers, through economic centres. He said this new measure would be put into effect as part of a programme formulated by the Cost of Living Sub-Committee, shortly. He said to monitor the constant fluctuations of fish prices as a first step in this exercise, he, along with State Ministers more..

Sep 5 (CT) National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection (NMCRP) in a letter, to Prez Rajapaksa, has drawn his attention to the issue of granting approval to five firms to import granite at a time when the Govt had decided to temporary defer its import. They have stated that in this situation the Prez should intervene and issue an order to the relevant officers to conduct an impartial probe into allowing five firms to import granite flouting the import orders imposed against it by the Govt. more..

Sep 5 (ST) Not just one but two, dealing a double whammy to 56-year-old Jayanthi Silva from Mutwal, Col 15. Then major and complex keyhole surgery lasting seven hours – a bilateral adrenalectomy to deal with life-threatening Cushing Syndrome! Two tumours, non-cancerous neoplasms, which usually are a rarity, were affecting both Jayanthi’s adrenal glands causing Cushing Syndrome and the only option was surgery. more..

Sep 5 (ST) Nuwara Eliya Magistrate Pamoda Jayasekara ordered that the case against the 3 Russian suspects responsible for the country’s largest ever bio-piracy be called on Oct 10, 2020. The three Russians were arrested while trying to steal a large number of plant species removed from the Horton Plains National Park in February. Range Officer at Giritale Training Unit, A P K Jayawardane was requested by court to prepare a report on the four mobiles, pendrive and soil types which more..

Sep 5 (DN) Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said a critical evaluation is required to ascertain whether the present methods of teaching have achieved the objectives of education. The Education Minister was of that special focus should be made on two areas namely the method of teaching and the school curriculum. “The child today has resorted to rote learning aimed at examinations. It will never help unearth a child’s intuitive creativity & talents” more..

Sep 5 (DM) Central Environment Authority (CEA) has decided to give its last warning to the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Uni Hospital (KDUH) in Boralesgamuwa over continuous complaints from residents in Seelawathi Perera Mawatha, Werahera, Boralesgamuwa over health risks they have been facing due to the incinerator of KDUH. They complained that they did not have fresh air due to the disgusting smoke coming from more..

Sep 6 (SO) It was generally agreed, even by the very architects of the 19th Amendment, that it contained many shortcomings and ambiguities. Even though only one MP – present State Minister Sarath Weerasekara opposed it at that time, it soon became obvious to everyone that the 19th Amendment could lead to chaos in respect of governance, despite a number of positive features. And it did, before long. This was of course exacerbated by the rivalry between more..

Sep 6 (CT) The draft 20th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of the 2nd Republic of SL, in its current form, lifts the existing restriction on Sri Lankans with dual citizenship holding elected office. This is a laudable decision, and also a long overdue one. In an increasingly interconnected and globalised world, it simply does not make sense to prevent suitably qualified people from accessing opportunities based on criteria of this nature. Preventing citizens with dual citizenship from accessing high office more..

Sep 6 (SO) Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that 19th Amendment introduced by the former Yahapalana Govt failed to fulfill the aspirations of the people as it wanted to cater to the interests of minority parties such as the TNA with the aim of consolidating their power. He said that the 19th Amendment didn’t reflect the will of the majority of the people. The majority of the proposals in the 19th Amendment were designed to more..

Sep 6 (CT) The pictures that have been circulating as part of the unfolding Sinharaja saga say more about the power-status of the Executive Presidency than all the protestations about the alleged fetters of the 19th Amendment on the presidency. The pictures and the news reports tell a different story as well. It is the total absence of anything technically environmental or engineering informing the presidential visit. The omnipresent Prez landed on Lankagama, newly storied village more..

Sep 6 (Island) The 20th Amendment to SL’s Constitution is now done and dusted and given the comfortable majority, though technically not the required two thirds by a whisker, it has all the support it needs for comfortable passage. Since its gazetting on Friday, a period of two weeks must elapse before it can be included in the parliamentary order paper. A legal challenge can also be mounted against it in the short term. But given the scale of the massive victories scored by incumbent govt, more..

Sep 6 (SO) Q: Your inaugural speech in Parliament last week is still making news. At the end of your five year term as an MP how do you want your people to remember you, is it as a news maker or someone who delivered on his promises? A: As someone who delivered on his promises. Q: What are your plans to serve your people? Will you be confined to addressing issues of people in the North and the East only? more..

Sep 6 (ST) The 20th Amendment (20A) to the Constitution approved by the Cabinet this week revisits the 1978 Junius Richard Jayewardene Constitution, and goes even beyond. It strengthens the Executive Presidency that was long vilified by those who called the Gaullist Constitution more Napoleonic, and its architect Junius Caesar. Nowadays, there are no better converts to the 1978 Constitution than those very antagonists of yesteryear who have become the greatest more..