Sept 3 (DM) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga says her father late PM SWRD Bandaranaike brought the Sinhala Only Act to give the country back to its people after centuries of colonial rule. She should sincerely be believing so, so do a sizeable portion of the Sinhalese majority who think the late PM was genuine. She vouches that her father�s move was not racist, though she now wishes that both languages should have been made official languages. more..

Sept 3 (Island) Don�t you think it is a great anniversary gift? What anniversary and what gift? Surely, everyone (or so we are told) is talking about the SLFP�s 65th anniversary � you couldn�t have missed that. OK, but what gift? Great, the party has done 65 and I thought it was an anniversary tussle at Kurunegala � where the clash couple is in a leadership dance with knives drawn. Well, the leadership dance will take place later, with much political blood spilt on the scene. more..

Sept 3 (Island) Having emerged from many conflicts and the resultant years of oppression and suffering, Sri Lanka knows only too well the value of peace. Perhaps, for the first time, we are in a position whereby we can look to a prosperous and peaceful future from a point of stability, hope and opportunity. Sustaining peace is, and must be, the number one priority. The new govt took office with a commitment to securing long term peace and more..

Sept 3 (Roar) Or at least, that�s what Physics says. European Space Agency�s (ESA) 4.5 year Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission aimed to shed light on what makes up the Earth beneath the surface, by tracking the Earth�s varying surface gravity. What was found, amongst other things, was that the Earth is actually lighter in some places than others. And where on earth can we find the least gravity? At a point in the Indian Ocean just south of SL. more..

Sept 3 (SLE) An inter-sessional meeting of the U.S.-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting was held on Sept 1, 2016 in Colombo. The meeting was Co-Chaired by Minister Malik Samarawickrama and Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South & Central Asia Michael J. Delaney, representing the govts of SL and the US, respectively. U.S. Ambassador to SL Atul Keshap and Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary more..

Sept 3 (NS) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has allocated Rs. 200 million for the establishment of two new cricket grounds in the Northern and North Central Provinces and construction work is set to commence by the end of the year. Secretary of SLC Mohan de Silva said that the two grounds would be established in Jaffna and Polonnaruwa. �We hope to allocate Rs. 100 million for each ground,� he said. Accordingly, both stadiums would be used to more..

Sept 3 (DN) The young Sri Lanka sevens team led by former St. Peter�s College captain cum speedy centre Danushka Ranjan secured a place in today�s semi-finals against top seed China despite losing last group match to Asian giants and second ranked Hong Kong 22-0 in the Asian Rugby Sevens Series 1st Leg in Hong Kong yesterday. Hong Kong opened scoring in the very first minute through winger Lee Jones who touched down for an unconverted try to go into 5-nil lead. more..

Sept 3 (DM) Sri Lanka�s youth are often viewed as firebrands. It isn�t surprising considering the riots of �83 to the almost monthly protests by university students, our youth have been at the centre of quite a number of violent events in the country�s history. But that�s mostly what we have read or seen in media reports. Little has been said about the positive work of the youth. Since the �83 riots, the armed conflict, post-war reconciliation and even disaster relief efforts, more..

Sept 3 (NS) Sri Lanka Athletics Associations (SLAA) while vehemently condemning the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for permitting 46 officials to accompany nine members of the Sri Lankan Olympic contingent has bemoaned the lack of a national sports policy. President of SLAA Sugath Tillekeratne said that approval should never have been granted for such a large number of officials to go on a joy ride to Rio in Brazil more..

Sept 3 (Island) A senior SLTB official said over 3,400 employees of the SLTB had applied for voluntary retirement. Those applicants would be given the chance to retire in two phases. In the first phase 1,077 would be given the opportunity to retire from the service with compensation. They would be given a compensation package ranging from Rs 1.2 million to Rs 3 million and gratuity, he said. Transport Deputy Minister Ashok Abeysinghe, contacted for comment, said that more..

Sept 3 (Island) Softlogic Capital, financial services holding company of the Softlogic Group, crossed the billion rupee profit mark and reported Profit after Tax (PAT) for the Sector of Rs. 1.1 billion for the financial year ended March 2016. The result was a substantial increase of 45% compared with the previous year�s PAT of Rs. 782 Million. Turnover for the sector after consolidation was Rs. 11.1 Billion, an increase of 12% compared with the previous year. more..

Sept 3 (DN) Inter-Sessional meetings of the 12th US- SL Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to complete the work-plan under US-Sri Lanka Joint Action Plan finalised on April 28 in Washington DC opened in Colombo yesterday to further give great impetus to historic Sri Lanka-US trade ties. The visiting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South Asia, Michael J. Delaney speaking at the TIFA more..

Sept 3 (CI) Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has said that the one-day specialists and seamers in the side countered Sri Lanka's spinners by adapting really well on some of the toughest ODI pitches, helping the visitors seal the ODI series after a 3-0 whitewash in the Tests. "We have had the advantage, the one-day players getting the advantage to see what the Test pitches have played like and coming here with a clear gameplan," Wade said. "Myself and George Bailey and more..

Sept 3 (Island) Turkish Airlines General Manager, Colombo Ozgur Suucak said yesterday that economic ties between Sri Lanka and Turkey will be further strengthened in the coming months with the visit of a high profile business delegation from Turkey to Sri Lanka, led by a highly influential politician. Suucak expressed confidence that the conflict situation in his country will be brought under control soon and expected tourist traffic to Turkey to gradually increase. more..

Sept 3 (AD) Police revealed that the main suspect in the abduction and murder of the businessman from Bambalapitiya was an employee of the victim and that the abductors had not planned on killing Mohamed Sulaiman. Briefing reporters regarding the investigation, DIG Ajith Rohana said that five individuals were involved the abduction that night and that they had arrived from Mattakkuliya in a rented car. more..

Sept 3 (Hindu) A day after launching indefinite strike, more than 300 fishermen, including leaders of various fishermen associations staged a protest demonstration after entering to the sea, demanding peaceful solution to their vexatious issue and release of fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan navy and boats confiscated by it. Aggrieved that there was stalemate after they participated in the internal stakeholders meeting chaired by Minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi on July 29, more..

Sept 3 (NS) As an initiative to promote healthy lifestyle among the general public, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will launch a special exercise programme titled Be the Change from September 5 to 9 in Colombo. The programme would be launched alongside the WHO Regional Committee meeting. The programme is the first ever in Sri Lanka that would practically demonstrate the necessity to carry out at least 150 minutes of exercises per week in order to maintain health. more..

Sept 3 (TG) The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told the TNA in a meeting on Friday in Jaffna that he fully realises the Tamil people's expectation of justice and that it must include international involvement, TNA's spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran told reporters after the meeting. "Today the TNA met with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon at the Jaffna public library and had lengthy discussions," Mr Sumanthiran said. more..

Sept 3 (FT) Health Ministers of the 11 Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region are meeting in Colombo, from 5-9 Sept to set health priorities for the region, home to nearly a quarter of the world�s population. Noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, which kill nearly 8.5 million people every year and are the leading cause of deaths in the Region, will be a key agenda at 69th WHO Regional Committee meeting, more..

Sept 3 (Island) Despite being hindered by both the absence of electronic timing and substandard track at Diyagama, SL Schools Athletics Association (SLSAA) pledged to conduct Sir John Tarbet Senior Athletics Championship to the best of their ability. Premier championship of SLSAA will commence on Sept 13. Substandard tracks at Rajapaksa Stadium and Sugathadasa Stadium and the absence of electronic timing equipment has hindered track and field sports since of late. more..

Sept 3 (ENS) The visiting UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has not committed himself explicitly to the UNHRC�s demand that Sri Lanka should incorporate foreign judges in the Judicial Mechanism to be set up to try war crimes cases. Asked pointedly on his stand on the issue, Ban said that the nature of the Judicial Mechanism will be decided jointly by the UN and SL govt. He added that the gap between the two, which was large during more..

Sept 3 (CT) Voice Against Corruption (VAC) has charged that a powerful minister in the current govt had reportedly set aside a sum of Rs 8 million through a department under his purview, to celebrate his birthday lavishly. VAC Convener and JVP politburo member Wasantha Samarasinghe said the chairman of the department is also a close ally of the minister concerned. Samarasinghe also charged that most of employees of the department are also working at the minister's residence. more..

Sept 3 (CT) The construction of the longest flyover in Sri Lanka is currently underway. This flyover which is 558 metres long and costing around Rs 5 billion will be completed by the end of 2017, Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva said. "This flyover is being constructed with a concessionary loan given by Spain. We receive 70% according to the concessionary loan and we have to pay the rest of the 30% at a very small interest of 1.85%. We expect to pay back this loan within 13 years. more..

Sept 3 (UN) In his first visit to Sri Lanka since the end of its civil war seven years ago, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the country�s steps towards peace and reconciliation, while also highlighting the importance of and need for more progress with human rights and sustainable development for that progress. �This is my first visit to Sri Lanka since 2009, when I saw great suffering and hardship. more..

Sept 3 (DM) Ven. Mapitigama Buddharakkita Thera, the first accused in PM assassination case laid the foundation for elimination of SWRD at the famous Kurunegala convention of the party held under divisive politics and factional struggles. Troubles brewed commencing at the beginning of 1958. Though the SLFP was formed by a breakaway group of UNP stalwarts, led by its second in command, SWRD Bandaranaike, it drew its major portion of membership from the left-oriented more..

Sept 3 (DM) Next Thursday (8) is the golden jubilee of the International Literacy Day proclaimed by the UNESCO. The theme of this gold-letter day is, Reading the Past, Writing the Future. According to UNESCO, this event celebrates and honours the past five decades of national and international engagement, efforts and progress made to increase literacy rates around the world. It also addresses current challenges and looks to innovative solutions to further boost literacy in the future. more..

Sept 3 (FT) Disappearances, resettlement and detentions under the country�s draconian anti-terror legislation � all lingering issues from a 26 year civil war - took centre stage yesterday as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the formerly embattled Northern Province for the first time since 2009. During his four hour tour of the North, Ban met with Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray, a delegation of TNA MPs more..

Sept 3 (Hindu) After a three-hour-long bus ride from Vavuniya, Padmarani Thuraisingham stood in front of the Jaffna Public Library for at least two hours on Friday. It was little past noon and the sun right over us. With a cotton hand towel covering her head she stood quietly, holding a pixelated photograph close to her chest. It was a picture of her missing husband Chinnathurai Thuraisingham. �This is from a passport photo he had taken when he was 45, say in 2002 or 2003.� more..

Sept 3 (Reuters) Sri Lanka has revised down its inflation figure for August after finding a calculation error, the country�s statistics office said. Central Bank�s tight monetary policy has set the island nation�s inflation on a gradually falling trend after it hit a peak in mid-2016. �As soon as we noticed the error, we corrected it,� A.J. Satharasinghe, Director General of Dept of Census and Statistics, said. �This is purely a calculation error. This is the first time it has happened.� more..

Sept 3 (DBS) Dharussalam meaning abode or house of peace is the name given to the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) headquarters at 53 Vauxhall lane in Slave Island or Colombo 2. The impressive seven storey structure was constructed mainly through the untiring efforts of M.H.M. Ashraff the legendary leader of the SLMC. Dharussalam was officially declared open on October 23rd 1998. Ashraff formed a trust on July 23rd 1999 and more..

Sept 3 (ST) The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development is extremely surprised and disappointed at the gross inaccuracies contained in the article written by Dr. Palitha Ekanayake under the above heading last week and therefore compelled to exercise its legitimate right to respond with our point of view. It is evident that the writer has failed to understand the fundamental features of the Port City project, more..

Sept 3 (MO) For the second day in a row, Indian Malaysians demonstrated against former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa outside the Putra World Trade Centre here. Numbering roughly 50 people, the non-governmental group calling itself Protest lobbied for the immediate deportation of Rajapaksa who was visiting in conjunction of the 9th International Conference of Asian Political Parties. more..

Sept 3 (SL) Sri Lanka which has faced many a political and socio-economic upheaval in the past, is at the threshold of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, effects of which the Indian Ocean Island economy cannot simply shrug off. This week saw, Minister Malik Samarawickrama delivering his keynote address as the chief guest at the inauguration of the CIMA Business Leaders Summit, stressing that the Fourth Industrial Revolution more..

Sept 3 (DM) The defeat in 2009 of the LTTE which had overrun many huge military bases in the north and the east for over two decades would definitely have puzzled many in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries. It was an organisation that had overrun the Elephant Pass Army camp complex killing the majority of its 11,000 soldiers in April 2001. Only around 250 out of around 1,500 soldiers were able to escape more..

Sept 3 (NS) When Tillekeratne Dilshan was just 14 years old he had the makings of a professional and that he went on to clout a century in all three formats of the game (Test, ODI and T20), score more than 17,000 international runs and bow out as the only captain to win a Test in South Africa was proof of the player he was to become. That was the unique side of Dilshan. But what makes him a commoner among more..

Sept 3 (CI) Australia have lost three of the four tosses, lost players to injury, and put their captain on a flight home, and yet have eased to a series win, with their most dominant performance coming in the previous match. SL have had the dusty tracks they prefer, had rowdy crowds cheering for them from overflowing stands, and had their first-choice top order available through the series, and yet have consistently failed with the bat. more..

Sept 3 (CI) Substantial crowd trouble marred both Dambulla ODIs, as several thousand ticket-holders were either unable to take their seats, or - in some cases - even enter the ground. SLC has issued an apology, and condemned the actions of spectators who forced their way into the venue. This is the first series in which SLC has sold its tickets through BookMyShow - a ticket distributor of Indian origin. Tickets were sold at outlets in many more..

Sept 3 (Island) Even though the SAITM private medical college was introduced by the previous regime, current govt would not close it down as there were around 600 students currently studying there, Minister Lakshman Kiriella said. He was addressing the launching of a road rehabilitation project under the iRoad Project at Galgamuwa Electorate. The 57.4km road is expected to be rehabilitated at a cost of Rs. 1237.4 million. more..

Sept 3 (DM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe met US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal in Singapore where they discussed about current political, economic and social developments in South Asian region. They have also discussed about the current situation in SL and its challenges. The duo further discussed about Colombo-Kandy-Hambantota corridor development and also more..

Sept 3 (CT) It is no secret that the change of name from Sri Lanka Board of Control for Cricket to SL Cricket which sounds better on something wanting to be a private organization. That is exactly the explanation given to the public by then President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Thilanga Sumathipala, who said that cricket would be run as a business. It has been run since under many heads that took charge of this organization, which now has hit bottom rung financially and is on borrowed funds. more..