Dec 10 (DM) How a bigwig in uniform drew attention on his department and on himself when he assured a high political authority that he would not allow the arrest of a certain bad guy is now public knowledge. Uniformed bigwig gave this assurance over the phone in response to a call he received at an event of historical significance to his department held in the city of gems. And the general opinion is this fact � the significance of the occasion - adds gravity to the indiscretion committed by him.� more..

Dec 10 (CT) While the import of cocaine hidden in sugar containers is still to be probed, and suspicions are rife that the stock of cocaine recovered recently by the Customs at the Colombo Port is directed to a wrong destination. Brazil is one of the major exporters of sugar to Sri Lanka. Brazil sells sugar at a low price. Most of the stocks ordered are already in ships. They are then directed to respective destinations. more..

Dec 10 (ST) Fisheries Ministry has requested the Navy and the Coast Guard to inspect all fishing vessels that are leaving or returning to port to check for plastic objects after a internal study found that nearly five tons of plastic waste are dumped in Lankan seas. Study which was carried out by Fisheries Department found that some 50,000 fishing vessels that engage in fishing activities in Lankan seas disposed of plastic objects weighing almost five tons � mainly water bottles. more..

Dec 10 (DM) Strong winds and heavy showers were expected in the sea areas off the Northern and Eastern coast of Sri Lanka until 12th December due to the influence of the cyclonic storm VARDAH, the Meteorology Department said today. It said the cyclonic storm VARDAH was now located around 800 km away from Trincomalee coast, to the north-east of SL and it was likely to intensify further and move north-westward. Due to the active cloudiness in the deep sea areas off the coast more..

Dec 10 (ST) National Lotteries Board (NLB) said the tender for printing and supplying instant/scratch lottery tickets which closed in April this year is yet to be awarded. NLB referring to a news item in the Sunday Times last week said that the tender is being evaluated by the Standing Cabinet Appointed (Special) Procurement Committee (SCAPC) chaired by Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy and other members. Technical Evaluation Committee has completed their evaluation more..

Dec 10 (Bernama) After being a stateless person for 60 years in Sri Lanka, Siti Fatimah Akbar has finally seen a glimmer of hope to return to her country of birth with assistance from the Malaysian govt. The 72-year-old woman is now jumping with joy that she will be able to set her foot in Malaysia, the beloved country that she left since she was 12. "I have been a stateless person over the past 60 years and my longing for Malaysia is just unbearable," she said when met at the official residence more..

Dec 10 (EN) Sri Lanka plans a Global Ceylon Tea Party, hosted by its diplomatic missions across the world, from key markets like Japan to new ones in Latin America, to mark 150 years of cultivation in the island next year. The celebratory events to coincide with the sesquicentennial anniversary, throughout 2017, are being organised by SL Tea Board, in collaboration with Colombo Tea Traders� Association. more..

Dec 10 (NR) Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya says it is important to implement the system of election petitions with the new electoral system. Mahinda Deshapriya said the law should be amended in a manner where a candidate who claims victory in a certain election can be deprived of his post if he or she is involved in a certain discrepancy. Mahinda Deshapriya said complaints will not be looked into following the conclusion of the election. more..

Dec 10 (NR) Minister of Agriculture of the Southern Provincial Council UDG Ariyatilaka has resigned from his post. UDG Ariyatilaka said he arrived at the decision after his Ministry budget was defeated at the vote of the 2017 Provincial Council. Accordingly, the expenditure heads of the Ministry under UDG Ariyatilaka which includes agriculture, irrigation, water Supply and water management, food supply and distribution and trade were defeated. 26 votes were against while 20 votes were in favour. more..

Dec 10 (DN) Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) conducting investigations into an incident where Malaka Silva, son of former Minister Mervyn Silva allegedly assaulted a Scottish couple at a nightclub in Colombo, informed Court that they sought the Attorney General�s advice regarding two counter cases. At a previous occasion, the Court decided to name Casserly as a suspect in the case. When the cases came up before more..

Dec 10 (DM) A buddy of this top team member in yahapalanaya wanted to secure a particular job in a key enterprise in the country. And the better half of the top team member is a top executive in this enterprise. So this job seeker sought the help of his friendly political bigwig to secure the job he wanted. Political bigwig immediately wrote a letter addressed to his wife asking her to comply with his buddy�s request. �You give this letter to my wife. She will do the needful,� he assured the job-seeker. more..

Dec 10 (Island) The jogging track reconstructed on either side of Kaluela, Wattala has become a death trap, the residents living around the place complain. Due to neglect the canals are covered with aquatic plants and infested with killer crocodiles. Part of the jogging track is overgrown with shrubs, but a private firm engaged in clearing the canals has volunteered to remove the weeds. The low lying land around Kaluaela used to act as a sponge trapping and releasing excess water during rains more..

Dec 10 (DM) Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who will be handed this year�s Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, says that although SL model was extensively studied they did not think it was the correct procedure for Colombia.�Beginning with a ceasefire agreement in early 2002, for almost 5 years a series of peace talks, facilitated by Norway, took place between SL govt & LTTE. more..

Dec 10 (Island) JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday in Parliament stressed the need to establish a special zone and authority for the estate Tamil community to resolve their problems and called on the govt to do so with immediate effect. Chief Opposition Whip noted that a separate zone for estate Tamils was crucial as they were a community that got he least govt attention. "PM offered an apology to the people in the North for the burning down Jaffna library. more..

Dec 10 (DN) A man who stepped on an electric wire set up around his coconut estate to kill wild boar, died of electrocution on Thursday night. The man had tapped electricity from the transformer on the main road to setup the electric fence. The deceased was identified as Iiriyagama Gedara Gunathilake, 62, of Pattipola, a father of seven. He worked as the security guard at the coconut estate. Investigations revealed that Gunathilake used to usually come home every day at 9.00 p.m. more..

Dec 10 (ENS) The Sri Lankan Navy on Saturday dispersed workers of the Hambantota harbour who had been holding a Japanese cargo ship to ransom for the past few days to protest against privatization of the harbour through a deal with a Chinese company. Navy spokesman Capt. Akram Alavi said that the detention of a ship in this way is tantamount to piracy under international law and the SL navy, which is by law designated as more..

Dec 10 (DN) Govt officials, politicians and the public are responsible for corruption, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said. He said enforcing laws related to election petitions is vital to uproot corruption through election campaign finance. He made these comments at the National Summit on Anti Corruption 2016 at the Taj Samudra yesterday. The National Summit on Anti Corruption 2016 was organised by the Law and Order Ministry in collaboration with Presidential Secretariat more..

Dec 10 (DN) Sri Lanka�s population is predicted to expand to an unprecedented 25 million by 2040, Colombo University Senior Professor of Demography Prof. Indralal de Silva said. �We had earlier predicted that it would peak at 22 million but given the increase in fertility rate, the population is on the rise,� he said. He was addressing the third in the series of UNFPA�s G2G dialogues, titled Shifting Demographics: Development Opportunities for Sri Lanka at Cinnamon Grand yesterday. more..

Dec 10 (EN) 2017 budget received its final approval in parliament with an overwhelming two thirds majority while four members, including former president Rajapaksa staying away from voting. Final stage of the budget cleared with 165 legislators voting for and 55 against. Vote exceed the 162� votes the govt mustered during the second reading of the budget on Nov 18. The committee stage debate of the budget ended more..

Dec 11 (SO) What more can be expected from those who imposed an over-large, over-expensive, artificial harbour in Hambantota, than the fanning of flames arising from the immensely damaging economic and human impact of this project? After all, their motives are the same - earlier it was personal gain and now it is survival. The situation in Hambantota port is complicated, to say the least. In the first place, the setting up of a large commercial port on southern coast, in addition to historic Galle port, more..

Dec 11 (CT) Govt of SL/Central Bank of SL skewed exchange rate policy may expose itself for litigation. For instance, foreign investors who are currently exiting from the govt securities market (GSM) in droves, find their local banks having to buy the required US dollars to service such exits at the current, discounted and administered spot rate of Rs 147/95 to the dollar in interbank trading, whereas individuals such as local students pursuing foreign courses/studying overseas, more..

Dec 11 (SO) Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara said, Govt has no plans whatsoever to curtail public service. He said, even at present recruitment is being made to the public sector. Govt will not make any attempt to curtail the public sector, but it is important to harness maximum benefits from the public sector, in the context of development. Sadly, there are some public servants who don�t have any duties at all, so that more..

Dec 11 (Island) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe recently apologised for the destruction of the Jaffna Library when the UNP was in power in 1981.� This was during the debate on the third reading of Budget 2017 when expenditure pertaining to the Ministry of Prisons, Rehabilitation and Resettlement was under discussion. �He claimed that by the time President Sirisena celebrates his second anniversary of assuming office, a massive amount of development work in the North would be completed more..

Dec 11 (SL) January marks the second year since the Rajapaksa regime was deposed of and the foundations of Govt for Good Governance was laid and completed in a remarkably short time. Pace of progress at which the govt was created, however, has not been matched in the near two years of its existence. It is time to take stock. Its initial efforts have been directed in trying to restore a rule based govt and dispense justice to those who are alleged to have looted country of its resources. more..

Dec 11 (SL) Leader of NUF Azad Sally alleges that today the country is in a greater mess that before and while the affluent few are enjoying�many ordinary people in the country can barely afford three square meals. As this is a two party govt this is like the railway line running parallel but without a meeting point in sight. He says the two major parties have their own methods and agendas and are not compromising and� more..

Dec 11 (ST) Hot on the heels of the death of a true friend of Sri Lanka in Cuba�s Fidel Castro came the passing away of TN Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram (JJ) � by no means a friend of Sri Lanka. A populist to the core, who distributed cash, gold, sewing machines, mobile phones and various other items at election time and had several welfare programmes for the poor, and enriching herself in the process, the Chief Minister may have been beloved in her southern Indian state but more..

Dec 11 (ST) My dear IGP, I thought of writing to you after hearing about you being in the news � or rather, hearing you on the telephone, making news � simply because you received a telephone call and someone overheard what you said. Who would have thought that a single telephone call would make such a great difference? All that happened was someone you addressed as sir called you about nilame�s matter. You told him that nilame will not be arrested. more..

Dec 11 (SL) The decision taken by the govt to include intelligence chief Sisira Mendis in Sri Lanka�s delegation to the recent session of the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva, has turned out to be a bad move. Mendis was part of the Sri Lankan delegation when the UN Committee Against Torture reviewed Sri Lanka last month. Last week the UN Committee issued its assessment on Sri Lanka and in that assessment it noted shock at Mendis being included in the delegation. more..

Dec 11 (SO) It is now clear that the SL President will get to meet two of the most powerful world leaders within the first three months of next year � a significant achievement for SL in the foreign policy front. When Retired DIG Sisira Mendis was appointed the head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) many termed it a wise move as he was known as an officer with a highly successful track record. On the other hand, the new govt felt the need to restructure the state intelligence apparatus more..

Dec 11 (CT) Rescinding a colonial-era British order naming 19 Kandyan chiefs as traitors did little to help momentary suppression of public outcry against the current govt for its failure to live up to the expectations of the people in it, soon after 8 Jan 2015. Instead, a strong undercurrent taking form within the govt is evidently pushing President to put his foot down firmly on the ground by taking the reins to his hand more..

Dec 11 (Island) Last week, there were three incidents related to the UNP, the main partner in the ruling coalition; three important developments which, together, may be an indication of things to come.� The first was the heat and fury generated at a meeting on Tuesday at the party headquarters where the former PS members and sitting provincial councillors of the UNP had given vent to their grievances against the party hierarchy.� The complaints themselves weren�t new. more..

Dec 11 (Island) If you were told to pick a batsman to save your life, most Sri Lankans would opt for either Sangakkara or Aravinda. The more levelheaded choice, however, would be Hashan Tillekeratne. Hashan maybe not fit to hold a candle to the two former greats when it comes to elegance and statistics, but in 35 years of Sri Lankan Test cricket, no other batsman put a higher value on his wicket. Earlier this week, SLC announced Hashan as their Batting Coach, a move in the right direction. more..

Dec 11 (ST) Since beating Australia three-nil at home and then comfortably overcoming the Zimbabwe challenge, young Lankans could no longer be tagged as greenhorns. Earlier they did have the apprentice curve where they lost the series to Pakistan and India at home and against England in England. But, what was evident was that they were seemingly improving after every bout. more..

Dec 11 (PM) It�s the long Diwali weekend, so of course, I�ve planned a family getaway from the smoke and cacophony that will undoubtedly takeover Mumbai. Mindful that I�m travelling with a three-year-old, a quick flight at a decent hour with short drives is the priority as is going to a destination that�s new to the family. SL is the unanimous choice, including the 3-year-old�s, whose only criteria was beach (mine was the same, with a little bit of local culture thrown in for good measure, more..

Dec 11 (ST) SL Aquatic Sports Union selected only 3 Swimmers for the short course FINA World Championships which ended today in Windsor ON, Canada. However, as Olympic Swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe was injured, only 2 Swimmers represented the country. It is a big difference when compared with the previous World Championships in 2014, when Sri Lanka fielded 6 Swimmers in the short course world meet held in Doha, Qatar, where the world�s 968 top Swimmers took part. more..

Dec 11 (ST) Trade unions, unhappy like many other groups that backed the govt and President Sirisena into office, are flexing their muscles over Sri Lanka�s application for the resumption of GSP + concessions, demanding that the country complies with ILO conventions prior to concessions being given. Local unions led by the FTZ&GSEU have joined an international trade union call for the intervention of European Union more..

Dec 11 (SO) Sri Lanka�s tea industry could expand market share and overcome the problem of high production costs and worker shortages by focusing on the high end of the market and producing only the finest quality teas, as Japan does, says Anslem Perera, chairman of Colombo Tea Traders� Association (CTTA). Branded tea exporters were exploring ways to market more value-added teas and are looking at products such as pyramid tea bags and RTDs (Ready-to-Drink) teas, more..

Dec 11 (ST) Employees� Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees� Trust Fund (ETF)�s suspension of investments in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) a year ago in the wake of the pump and dump era 3-4 years ago, has forced authorities to lobby the Treasury for both agencies to return to a lacklustre market. Sources said the reason for the pullout was believed to be because the EPF had incurred losses through the purchase of stocks in companies with artificially inflated share prices. more..

Dec 11 (SL) The govt will not investigate allegations raised against the head of intelligence Sisira Mendis despite calls to do so by a UN committee. State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said that he does not see any need to investigate Mendis as the allegations against him are baseless. However he said the govt will look into the concerns raised by the UN committee. UN Committee against torture last week issued govt a deadline to investigate more..