June 14 (ST) Private hospitals will be compelled to issue detailed bills to in-house patients from Nov 1, the Govt has decided. Failing to issue detailed bills will enable the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to file action against the hospital, CAA Director General J.M.A. Douglas said. Mr. Douglas said that a gazette notification vesting the CAA with power to take legal action against hospitals which do not provide a comprehensive bill to its patients was issued on Thursday. more..

June 14 (Island) Despite a consensus forged between the UNP and SLFP in Cabinet on Friday  to increase the number of seats in Parliament to 237, the dispute over the electoral system under which the next General Election should be held continued. Meanwhile, the smaller parties numbering 18  including those representing Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims,  have called for the voters to be issued two ballot papers so that more..

June 14 (Island) Colombo Municipal Council Commissioner, V.K. Anura and Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni have been noticed to appear before the Court of Appeal on Thursday for contempt of court for failing to pay two months� salary to Dr. Anna Kariyawasam and for continuing with the preliminary investigation against her despite the Stay Order by Court. Court of Appeal on March 27 issued a Stay Order against the interdiction of Dr. Kariyawasam on March 13, 2015. more..

June 14 (DT) Pakistan's bold move to leave Saeed Ajmal out of the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka gives the hosts an edge, believes the home team's head coach Marvan Atapattu. Pakistan's decision to drop Ajmal was based on his unsuccessful return after serving a ban for suspect action. He couldn't weave the same magic with a remodelled action in the series against Bangladesh. "The major change that I see in this Pakistan side is that Saeed Ajmal is not there," Atapattu said. more..

June 14 (CG) Head of Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) V Rudrakumaran says there is nothing new about political entities becoming involved in official or unofficial talks pertaining to the Tamil National Question as well as the urgent and immediate needs of the Tamil people. He said that as a legal advisor to the LTTE, he has taken part in many rounds of talks in the past and he is also well aware of the duplicitous drama staged by more..

June 14 (SK) Mahela Jayawardene has backed Kevin Pietersen (KP) for his return to the England national squad. The two will be clashing tomorrow in NatWest T20 Blast tournament as Sussex take on Surrey. Former SL great thinks KP is at his highest level and England should not waste the chance to pick a talent like him. �I haven�t played against Kevin for quite a while so I am looking forward to it. He is a fantastic player and it is unfortunate he is not playing for England anymore," Jayawardene said. more..

June 14 (CG) The UNP says former President Mahinda Rajapaksa seems scared for the political future of his son Namal Rajapaksa. UNP Parliamentarian and Minister Rosy Senanayake said that Mahinda Rajapaksa had gone to the venue of a rally held in his support at Matara yesterday but did not get on stage. Senanayake said that Mahinda Rajapaksa was avoiding getting on stage out of fear his son will not get nominations to contest the polls from the SLFP. more..

June 14 (CT) A five-fold increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages in 2013, in the Jaffna Peninsula, underscores the higher level of alcoholism gripping the North. There has possibly been a two to three-fold increase in alcoholism according to estimates at the beginning of this year alone. R. Jeyasegaran, President of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce, said alcohol consumption was rapidly increasing more..

June 14 (Hindu) Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Friday clarified that there was no discussion on the issue of lifting of ban on the LTTE during the recent meeting between the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in London. Mr. Samaraweera, who was present in the meeting, gave the clarification in response to questions raised by Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Nimal Siripala De Silva, on the floor of the House. more..

June 14 (ST) Taking a tough stand against wrongdoing in the past by traders that went unchecked or was covered up, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to make the use of a telephone recording system for stock brokers mandatory. Though this was incorporated into the stockbroker rules in August 2012 by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) which stipulates that brokering houses use a telephone recording system to record clients� order instructions and more..

June 14 (ST) 156-day old presidency is still not running smoothly in some respects. Last Tuesday morning, President Sirisena�s security detail escorted him to the Parliament complex. He had been told that the meeting with his MPs was to take place at a Committee Room in the Parliament Complex that sits in the middle of the Diyawanna Oya. There, he found UPFA MPs had not turned up for the scheduled meeting with him. more..

June 14 (CT) Sri Lanka's Cabinet decisions are a mass of contradictions. The electoral system is being carved out time and time again like a butcher carving out a joint of beef, according to the whims and fancies of the Cabinet. Cabinet has approved the 20A on the condition that it would comprise 125 elected under the previous first-past-the-post system (FPPS), 75 under the existing proportional representation system (PRS) and the balance 25 under the national list, making a total of 225 more..

June 14 (Island) I settled on the title for today�s article before hearing about the UNP-SLFP cabinet consensus on the total number of seats the reformed parliament will have � 237, a compromise between for Champika�s insistent 255 and Ranil�s take-it-or-leave-it 225. The title might seem tad negative when a sigh of relief might be in order since another amendment showdown seems to have been averted. But the seemingly benign ending does not easily wash away the bitter taste our MPs more..

June 14 (ST) Disabled soldiers, some lacking arms or legs, have for the past 15 years often been forced to carry their daily water needs uphill from kilometres away because the housing scheme they are settled in has uncertain water supply and lies at the end of an unmade road. The 13 families of these disabled heroes, who are living in the Govinna Rana Viru of Horana are courageously pursuing their lives even though they say local governing bodies more..

June 14 (CT) TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran admitted that they did not disclose to other Tamil parties and Tamil politicos about their informal meeting in London last week with Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and former peace envoy Erik Solheim claiming that the talks had been leaked to the public. When asked why it wasn't disclosed to politicians like TNA Spokesperson Suresh Premachandran nor more..

June 14 (Island) The no-confidence motion against the PM is a clear attempt by a group of UPFA MPs led by the opposition leader to derail the electoral reforms process, UNP Working Committee said in a statement yesterday. It was with deep commitment that the UNP took the initiative to push through these parliamentary electoral reforms and adopted a flexible attitude by respecting the views of all other political parties, it said. more..

June 14 (ST) Prices of essential consumer items including dhal, rice, tinned fish and large onions have risen with the rupee�s depreciation against the dollar. The rises come despite government efforts to keep prices low. Wholesale traders in Colombo warned of more increases in coming weeks. �Due to the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar we are left with reduced profits,� a wholesale trader in Pettah said. more..

June 14 (Island) Whether one likes it or not, gambling has to be introduced to tourist resorts of the East to better position the product, says Eastern Province Governor, Austin Fernando. "Since the region was affected by conflict, it is true that many development areas have to be addressed systematically. There are some areas where there had been some systematic planning like in tourism infrastructure development. more..

June 14 (Island) The retail prices of all imported pharmaceutical products are bound to witness a drastic drop with the implementation of a new formula now being finalized by the CAA. In terms of the proposed mechanism, pharmaceutical companies will be restricted to a maximum pricing structure of up to 85% of the CIF value of the products. "The computation will be worked out on the basis of a 0%-85% scale", more..

June 14 (ST) There has been a sharp decline in women leaving for overseas employment, mainly to West Asia, while their male counterparts are steadily increasing, recent statistics reveal. Central Bank figures show female migrant workers of all categories declined by 138,312 in 2012 to 118,033 in 2013 and 110,489 in 2014. There was also a sharp decrease of local housemaids to the Middle East. more..

June 14 (SL) The unused properties under the Board of Investment (BOI) by the investors are to be seized, BOI Chairman, Upul Jayasuriya said. He said that investors who have failed to make use of land given to them under BOI deals at Export Processing Zones (EPZ) have been asked to release lands. �There is a dearth of land at the Export Processing Zones and unless we take them back we are blocking opportunities for other more..

June 14 (SL) The Ministry of Finance and Planning has failed to pay back Rs. 309 billion owed by the Treasury to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), which has created a grave financial impasse affecting the day-to-day running of the Corporation, Power and Energy Ministry sources revealed. The accumulated losses which have amounted to Rs 338 billion by the end of 2014, was further aggravated with the new regime�s more..

June 14 (DM) Responding to a question posed by a journalist, Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said he would not enter politics in the future. He made the remark after attending a religious event at a temple in Udumulla, Padukka yesterday with several politicians. Rajapakse stated that as the previous Defence Secretary, he had ensured people live in peace and freedom without fear. more..

June 14 (Island) The nightmarish story of a young girl gang-raped and murdered, not by strangers but by neighbours and acquaintances; the insane tale of a young man starved to death by his parents on the advice of an exorcist: in confluence they indicate a country imperilled by the demon of unbridled violence and the demon of unadulterated superstition. When Vithya Sivaloganathan failed to come home from school, her family sought police assistance. more..

June 14 (Island) Para Commandos of the Indian army have carried out two surgical operations deep inside Myanmar crossing from border points in Nagaland and Manipur in the early hours of Tuesday, killing around scores of NSCN (K) insurgents supposedly in retaliation to the killing of some 30 Indian soldiers in recent weeks. India and Myanmar reportedly has an agreement to allow their soldiers into each other�s countries for anti-terrorist operations with prior consent. more..

June 14 (Island) Mr. Gomin Dayasri has opted not to receive any remuneration as a director or the DFCC Bank to which he was appointed in March 2010 and designated as senior director in June 2014, the directors of the bank have said in DFCC�s annual report. "The directors record their appreciation for the honorary services provided by Mr. Dayasri," they said. During the year ended March 31, 2015, the bank had held 17 board meetings. more..

June 14 (SO) Seventy five houses will be constructed in Poonagala for families displaced in the Meeriyabedda landslide. The Army has been deployed in the construction work. Construction work on four model houses has already been completed. Land development work for 15 more houses have also reached the final stages, Plantation Infrastructure Development Ministry Secretary, V. Sivagnanasothy said. more..

June 14 (FT) Leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Mano Ganesan says it is not acceptable to cause severe damage to minority representations by reducing the First Pass the Post electorates to 125. In an email interview, Ganesan notes that the minority parties have arrived at a consensus position on a system which will do justice to the mandate received by President Sirisena and to the aspirations of more..

June 14 (SO) The Jathika Uruma Trust, headed by Kumarasiri Hettige, the former Parliamentary Co-ordinating Secretary (PCS) to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is now in the eye of a storm, with an audit query requiring an explanation about financial irregularities amounting to Rs. 18 million, released by the Central Cultural Fund to the said Trust, to build a national heritage museum in Matara. The money unaccounted for totals Rs. 18,811,046. According to the audit query, more..

June 14 (SO) Two additional commissioners will be included to the Presidential Commission probing disappearances in Sri Lanka, to help clear the thousands of complaints and complete the final report by the stipulatet deadline. Missing Persons Commission Chairman retired Justice Maxwell Paranagama said that President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to appoint a retired judge and a retired senior officer from the administrative service within this week. more..

June 14 (ENS) Former Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, will keep off electoral politics for the time being in order to achieve the immediate and larger objective of bringing back his brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to power through the forthcoming parliamentary elections, sources close to him told Express. Gotabaya had told newspersons on Saturday, that he would not enter politics. more..

June 14 (ST) A war among fishermen is sure to dent Negombo�s reputation as the Fishing Capital of the Western Province. The rot began to set in with villagers prohibiting fish caught in other areas from being dried on Negombo beaches. Following this ban, only fisherman from Negombo are now allowed to dry their salted fish on these beaches. Overnight, yards and yards of silver fish glistening on the yellow beaches vanished and the Negombo beaches became desolate and empty. more..

June 14 (ENS) Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa alleged that 59 Lankan army camps in the Tamil majority Northern Province were shut down by his successor Maithripala-Ranil govt. In a letter addressed to participants in a Bring Back Mahinda Rally at Matara, Rajapaksa said he was shocked by the development. Rajapaksa charged that the withdrawal had taken place at a time when Eelam flags had reappeared in the North, indicating a possible revival of terrorism. more..

June 14 (EN) MTV Channel (Pvt) Ltd, a terrestrial broadcaster which is a unit of Sri Lanka's Maharaja group will be awarded a direct-to-home satellite licence, island's telecom regulator has said, as the industry is going through technological changes. The TRC said in a public notice that it is considering recommending to the President of Sri Lanka to issue a DTH license to MTV Channel for five years. more..

June 14 (AD) The govt on Sunday dismissed allegations that 59 army camps in the Tamil majority Northern Province were shut down after the election victory at the last presidential election. Issuing a statement, Minister Kabir Hashim said that these army camps were shutdown during the previous govt. However, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday alleged that 59 Lankan army camps were shut down by his successor Maithripala-Ranil govt. more..

June 14 (ST) Vihanga Perera was awarded the prestigious Gratiaen Prize 2014 on Friday (2) for his collection of poetry �Love and Protest�. The Gratiaen Prize founded by Michael Ondaatje in 1992 is awarded every year for outstanding literature in English written by a resident of Sri Lanka. A judging panel chaired by Dr. Sonali Deraniyagala, comprising also Dinali Fernando and Jehan Aloysius chose Perera�s book as the winning entry from a shortlisted group of four. more..

June 14 (AJ) Although SL's civil war ended in 2009, an entire generation remains scarred by the conflict. Many children grew up knowing nothing but the trauma of war, which pitted the majority Sinhalese against the minority Tamil ethnic group. In 2012, as the country was struggling with reconciliation, a privately funded group called the Music Project was launched. It aims to bring together children of different ethnicities more..

June 14 (GDI) The funeral of Noel Ranasinghe, will be held at 5pm today (14) at the Boella General Cemetery. Noel Raasinghe who played a pioneering role in introducing calypso music to Sri Lanka, passed away on Friday at the age of 74. Noel was the man who introduced the sarong, straw hat, cloth hat, garlands, waist band and barefoot performance to stage. This trend set by Noel caught like wild fire and it came to stay as the style of Sri Lankan Calypso music. more..

June 14 (ST) A family of two women and three men were taken into custody yesterday in connection with a daring day-light heist on a private finance house in Panadura that took place earlier this year, police said. They said the suspects were apprehended at a safe house in Kosgoda-Balapitiya, about three months after the heist. Two pistols and two hand grenades were also recovered from the suspect-family of a mother, her three sons and daughter-in-law, according to police. more..