Sep 7 (LBO) Sri Lanka is expecting 45 billion rupees additional tax revenue through the new Inland Revenue Bill, finance minister said, speaking at the debate in Parliament. The multitude of tax rates prevailing in the current law have been rationalized into a three band income tax structure of 28% standard corporate income tax, 14% for thrust industries and 40% higher rate for liquor, tobacco and gaming. more..

Sep 7 (PHC) To commemorate the ultimate sacrifices rendered by valiant Pakistan�s Armed Forces during the 1965 war, the High Commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka celebrated Pakistan�s 52nd Defence Day in Colombo, last evening. Defence Advisor of Pakistan, Col. Sajjad Ali in his welcome address highlighted the role of Armed forces in largely eliminating the scourge of extremism and terrorism from the soil of Pakistan and bringing peace and stability in the country. more..

Sep 7 (Island) Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said that it was planning to file an application in Supreme Court next Monday, to start committal proceedings against Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake for contempt of court. BASL President U.R De Silva said that the necessary legal documents had already been prepared by the BASL and the views of the senior lawyers had been sought this week and most probably the documents would be ready by tomorrow and if so the complaint more..

Sep 7 (DN) A joint island-wide strike will be launched by the GMOA along with the Anti-SAITM People's Barricade (ASPB) on Sept 21 if the Govt fails to offer a real solution to the SAITM issue, GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said. He said that the GMOA along with the anti SAITM organization requested the President and the Prime Minister to offer a practical solution for the SAITM issue that is acceptable to the entire country more..

Sep 7 (SLA) Hundreds of Army troops on the directions of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake have rushed to island-wide vulnerable areas to provide relief and engage in rescue operations, if necessary in the wake of worsening weather conditions due to heavy rains in the past 48 hours. By Thursday afternoon, troops of the Security Force Headquarters � West (SFHQ-West) have been mobilized to the areas, like Kegalle, more..

Sep 7 (AD) The term of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC) has been extended by 2 months with effect from Sept 3.�As the Official term of the Presidential Commission came to an end on Sept 3, officials of the Commission requested a further 6 month time period from President Sirisena, to clear all the cases that are currently under investigation.� more..

Sep 7 (PTI) President Sirisena has come under intense pressure from his own party members to withdraw from the ruling unity coalition formed with the UNP. At the SLFP central committee meeting held last night, some members of the party had criticised the govt�s direction to remain with the coalition. It has been speculated for some months now that at least seven SLFP members holding positions in the unity govt may leave to join more..

Sep 7 (Island) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Chief Organiser of Senkadagala electorate and former Mayor of Kandy, Sena Dissanayake, condemned a proposal by State Minister Karunartne Paranawithana to sell Sri Lankan elephants to foreign countries at a time when there was a scarcity of elephants for the cultural pageants and Bhikkhus were prosecuted for keeping elephants at temples. "This govt is ready to sell anything on earth to make money as it is so bankrupt," he said. more..

Sep 7 (PMD) Providing of pension for senior male and female singers, who are over the age of 65, was held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday. The event was organized by the Sri Lanka Singers Association and the President handed over the cheques and certificates for first 40 pension beneficiaries. A number of programmes have been launched under the guidance of President Sirisena for the benefit of the artistes. more..

Sep 7 (DN) Former MP Rosy Senanayake, in a statement released to the media this evening, denied having given out any information or documents relating to COPE investigations. �I have never given out information or documents to any party during the time I have served in the COPE,� the former MP said. �It is a total misrepresentation by the media of a recorded conversation by two parties that had no substance. more..

Sep 7 (DN) Police have taken steps to warn a three-wheel driver who had a sticker depicting violence against women on the back of his three-wheeler to refrain from inciting violence against women in that manner. Police had educated the three-wheel driver, a resident of Haldamulla, on the graver consequences of the sticker - that depicted a man kicking a woman - and also of the laws protecting women in society. Police said they would not hesitate to implement the law against more..

Sep 7 (GDI) As Sri Lanka-Bangladesh trade continued its steady climb, a top Bangladeshi Minister has recently� called for a speedier Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka, to conclude as early as next year. And� yet another SL-B�desh Working Group on Trade is also to take place in Colombo -anytime. �Our present bilateral trade has been on the increase but the volumes are not so great� stressed Commerce Minister of Bangladesh Tofail Ahmed� in Colombo. more..

Sep 7 (PMD) President Sirisena says the battle of the national food production will be carried out, by declaring the week from 5th to 11th Oct, as the National Farmers Week. President further said that this initiative will be implemented as a comprehensive national programme, with the joint participation of all the Ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Ministry of Irrigation. more..

Sep 7 (DM) Residents in several areas in Ratnapura District including Getangama, Muduwa and Ratnapura town were evacuated due to floods, the DMC Assistant Director Pradeep Kodippili said. Meanwhile, the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) issued a red warning to residents of Eheliyagoda, Ayagama, Ratnapura, Elapatha, Kuruwita and Pelmadulla Divisional Secretariats and advised them to evacuate to safer areas if the rains to continue. more..

Sep 7 (PSL) The inaugural ceremony of the National Program: Let�s Protect Children being launched by the Presidential Secretariat as conceptualized by President Maithripala Sirisena with the aim of protecting children �and to create �a better environment conducive to their physical and mental development will be held under the distinguished patronage of the President, at the Provincial Sports Complex Digana, Kandy at 9 a.m., tomorrow. Ending Child Labour, preventing child abuse more..

Sep 7 (DM) Perpetual Treasuries owner Arjun Aloysius, reported to the CID office at the PCoI today and recorded his statement. He was summoned by the Commission on Tuesday to record a statement in the wake of the breakthrough made by AG�s Department that he had received inside information on price sensitive details in bond trading. This came to light after AG Department officials listened to PTL's phone recordings more..

Sep 7 (Island) UNP General Secretary and Minister Kabir Hashim yesterday said the party Working Committee would decide on disciplinary action in respect of former minister Ravi Karunanayake at the conclusion of the Presidential Commission proceedings into alleged Central Bank-Perpetual Treasuries bond scams. Hashim briefly explained what had taken place since the appointment of Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into alleged bond scams in Feb 2015 and March 2016. more..

Sep 7 (CG) Canada is to promote its universities to Sri Lankan students through events to be held in Colombo over the next two months. Nine of Canada�s leading universities are visiting Sri Lanka from September 9 to 11, 2017 to meet with Sri Lankan students and schools to showcase Canada as a destination of choice for higher education. Interested students and parents are invited to attend an info session on Sunday September 10 from 2:00-4:00 at the Taj Samudra. more..

Sep 7 (AD) Former Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and former Director General of the TRC Anusha Palpita have been found guilty by the Colombo High Court in the Sil Cloth case. �Palpita and Weeratunga were charged in a case filed alleging that the TRC had spent Rs.600 million to distribute Sil Cloth to the people as part of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa�s election campaign in 2015. � more..

Sep 8 (CT) The proposal to establish a National Economic Council (NEC) is a welcome move. It should rightfully be the apex body to assist in the formulation of forward-looking and innovative Govt policies taking into consideration the emerging development priorities. Lessons of the past as well as an understanding of the positive experience gained by countries in the region would provide useful insights. Countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines have a proven more..

Sep 8 (CT) I refer to the two diametrically opposite statements made by: 1. Former Army Commander, Field Marshall� General Sarath Fonseka and now a Minister in the Govt, has said as reported in the front page of the Daily Mirror of the 2nd Sept headlined, I am ready to give evidence against General Jagath Jayasuriya, and 2. President�s statement in the Daily Mirror of 4th Sept, under the front page headline that I won�t allow War Crimes charges against General Jagath Jayasuriya more..

Sep 8 (CT) The UPFA MP Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena says Mahinda Rajapaksa carried out development work while the war was being fought. "He ended the war and carried out massive development projects. He built ports, airports, and expressways. If Rajapaksa had not built them, yahapalana govt would have sold the people as slaves". Q: How is the new party? A: It is still being talked about. Let's see what will happen more..

Sep 8 (DN) The event was chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena and attended by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former PM D. M. Jayaratne. Conspicuous by his absence was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose invitation had been handed over to him personally. Rajapaksa was to explain his absence saying that he would not attend such events as long as the SLFP was in govt with the UNP. In as much as being an anniversary, it was also an event more..

Sep 8 (DN) Dance, drama and films are considered as some of the most influential tools for the modern youth. In recent years the entertainment industry has come up with some extraordinary and highly inspiring female characters. These characters define how every modern-age girl should be in today�s world. It seems that the world has always had a bias for male characters. Recent times have brought about a transformation. You get more women-centric productions & female characters that inspire more..

Sep 8 (CT) A new trajectory has been carved leading into the already existing list of war crimes allegations against the Sri Lankan Army that seeks to reroute the investigations to hold Sri Lanka as a whole accountable. The war crimes charges were filed by South America based International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) in Brazil and Columbia against General Jagath Jayasuriya who was the Ambassador of more..

Sep 8 (SO) In hopes of making an adventure out of an otherwise mundane weekend spent in Colombo, a few Lake House journalists decided to venture out to Devil�s Staircase � a hiking (or driving) trail that spans from Ohiya to Kalupahana and is considered one of the most scenic routes in Sri Lanka. We arrived in Ohiya early on a Saturday morning, after taking the night mail train destined for Badulla from the Colombo Fort Station. Our exhaustion upon our arrival was palpable. more..

Sep 8 (Island) No sooner had incriminating evidence of insider trading emerged before the presidential commission of inquiry probing the bond scams against Perpetual Treasuries bigwigs than the High Court judgment in the sil redi case was delivered on Thursday. Former Secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and ex-Chairman of the TRC Lalith Weeratunga and former TRC Director General Anusha Pelpita were sentenced to three years RI and fined. more..

Sep 8 (Island) Amid pandemonium over finding who is the real culprit for SL cricket�s downfall, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has said he too is responsible for the game�s predicament. "Wrong selections in the national school cricket structure over the years have been one reason for Sri Lanka cricket team�s recent streak of defeats," Kariyawasam observed at a meeting yesterday with the officials of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA), more..

Sep 8 (Island) Today, the issue of abortion is much discussed and debated. Abortion by the millions are taking place around the world. In Sri Lanka, it is estimated, there are over one thousand abortions every day. Abortions are due to unwanted pregnancies. Pregnancies turn out to be unwanted within and outside marriage. Those not wanting to bring the child to birth set about aborting it. Abortion is terminating the life of an innocent and helpless human being. more..

Sep 8 (EN) Sri Lanka jailing the country's top civil servant on a criminal misappropriation charge has sparked a battle among watch dog organisations claiming credit for the land mark prosecution. CaFFE for the first off the blocks to thank many involved in exposing what they saw as an election malpractice by distributing textiles among voters along with Mahinda Rajapaksa's propaganda material. more..

Sep 8 (DN) The end of the 30-year civil war saw the use of rapid road construction as a catalyst to economic development and post-war transformation in Sri Lanka. This course witnessed a massive influx of international loans to fund road building alongside national initiatives and nation building claims of increasing access and mobility by rehabilitating and expanding roads. In the Northern Province, all main roads have been reconstructed and carpeted as part of the development project more..

Sep 8 (FT) Interbrand has announced the introduction of its Best Sri Lankan Brands table in 2017, which will identify the best performing Sri Lankan brands and is modelled on Interbrand�s prestigious annual Best Global Brands report, the definitive guide to the world�s 100 most valuable brands.��We believe the SL market is quite ready now, having coming out of the strife that extended for a long time and seeing stability now in political context, there's a lot of pent-up growth. more..

Sep 8 (GN) SL Consul-General Charitha Yattogoda said his office is extending help to the next of kin of the family who police said committed suicide in a hotel apartment in Sharjah. SL man jumped to his death on Aug 29, which led to the discovery of the remains of his wife and son who died in an apparent family suicide bid in a hotel apartment. Two sisters, relatives of the dead, were also involved in suicide attempt but they survived more..

Sep 8 (WB) At the launch of the Sri Lanka Development Update (SLDU), our Twitter chat #SLDU2017: Environmental Benefits of Economic Management set out to explore how Sri Lanka could meet the twin challenges of increasing its physical and financial resilience. The panel comprised experts from the World Bank - Country Director for Sri Lanka, Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough; Senior Economist Ralph van Doorn and senior environmental specialist Darshani De Silva more..

Sep 8 (Island) "With the re-granting of GSP+ we could export more than 6000 items to the EU countries on a duty free basis but Sri Lanka has not looked at those items in a serious manner, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said at the Colombo Dockyard PLC� keel laying ceremony for the biggest shipbuilding contract for the company. It has been tasked to build a cable laying vessel for Kokusai Cable Ship Company in Japan. Event was held at Colombo Dockyard premises within the Port. more..

Sep 8 (DM) JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti said today everyone in the country had been taxed under the new Inland Revenue Bill which was formulated to satisfy the IMF for the purpose of obtaining an IMF loan. He said tax concessions granted to medium scale businessmen, senior citizens, semi-govt schools and artistes had been removed from the new Bill and even the govt claim to reduce the gap between direct and indirect tax is not evident. "The govt introduced direct taxation on mansions, more..

Sep 8 (EN) Sri Lankan tea prices rose sharply in August this year from a year ago, helped by demand from oil producing countries after a recovery in oil prices. Colombo tea auction average for August 2017 of Rs 606.86 a kilo was up Rs133.08 or 28 percent from Rs 473.78 in August 2016, Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers said. �Global oil prices often have an impact on Sri Lanka tea prices, with almost 7% of Sri Lanka's tea exporters being absorbed by these oil rich countries,� they said in a report. more..

Sep 8 (DC) Sri Lankan naval ships Sayura and Sagara entered Visakhapatnam harbour on Thursday to participate in the fifth edition of SLINEX 2017, a bilateral naval exercise between India and SL, from Sept 7 to 14. The exercise will be conducted in two phases, with the harbour phase from Sept 7 to 10 at Visakhapatnam and the sea phase that will be from Sept 11 to 14 in the Bay of Bengal. Two SL naval ships Sayura & Sagara more..