Jul 3 (EN) The Sri Lankan economy is a victim of politics, where basic principles have been disregarded for expediency at a cost to the people, participants at an economic forum said. �Thomas Sowell, the American economist said, the first lesson of economics is scarcity,� Wickremesinghe said at a conference held in memory of Saman Kelegama, a top economist who was head of Sri Lanka�s Institute of Policy Studies, a think tank. more..

Jul 3 (Island) Chairman of UNFF Maithri Gunaratne has written to the Minister Kabir Hashim, demanding to know what role the latter played in UGC investing one billion rupees in the Treasury Bonds, during the 2015 bond scam. "The first bond scam took place on Feb 27, 2018. Hashim was present when the now infamous breakfast meeting between Malik Samarawickrama, Ravi Karunanayake and Arjuna Mahendran more..

Jul 3 (Island) Former CEO of SriLankan Airlines Kapila Chandrasena in 2012 instructed officials to award Phoenix Lanka Private Limited, the concessionaire for inflight duty free services for SriLankan and the tender to supply wine and champagne for the consumption of passengers, Gihan de Silva, Senior Manager of Commercial Procurement of the Airline said. He said so before the PCoI probing irregularities more..

Jul 3 (PMD) A special discussion was held under the patronage of President Sirisena at the Prez�s Official Residence yesterday, regarding steps that should be taken to protect local fruit farmers. During this meeting, attention focused on the challenges faced by local fruit farmers as a result of the importation of fruits into the country, and further discussed about the methods which should be followed in this regard. more..

Jul 3 (CT) Ministry of Education said it would continue the process of giving promotions to employees of the State education sector, who were victims of political revenge during the regime of former President Rajapaksa. Ministry opined that the proposed strike of the teacher unions, scheduled for tomorrow was neither just nor fair. Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said that the promotions would be given according to more..

Jul 3 (NR) The ICC has agreed to allow a representative of the Sri Lankan Sports Minister to sit as an observer to the ICC Board and Full Council, but has requested that elections for Sri Lanka Cricket are held within six months, failing which SLC�s Membership status would be considered. The ICC yesterday concluded its five-day Annual Conference in Dublin with strong support for strengthening the ICC Code of Conduct more..

Jul 3 (ST) For 18 months, haggling by powerful parties backed by political interests has held up an urgent electricity project that should have been up and running by January next year. The well-publicised showdown over the 300mw Kerawalapitiya power plant offers an insight into how tender processes in SL, even when they are open competitive bids, are blatantly manipulated. The contest has narrowed down to two parties more..

Jul 3 (AD) The New York Times says that politicians allied with former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa are engaged in an intimidation campaign against SL journalists who had provided assistance to its investigation into the Hambantota port. �A group of SL MPs allied with the former president Rajapaksa, held a news conference to publicly criticize two journalists who contributed logistical assistance to a rigorously reported and accurate more..

Jul 3 (CT) In recent months the number of killings that have taken place on our streets has been unusually high. Underworld gang-wars are not new to SL. In the late 1970s, there were frequent battles with high casualties on the streets of Colombo. But the number of deaths was fewer and the danger to the general public was less as the use of firearms was relatively rare. At that time the weapon that many Lankans would have had at home were stodgy single barrelled breech loading shotguns. more..

Jul 3 (CT) Basil Rajapaksa, brother and right hand man of ex president Rajapaksa commenting on Army excesses when trying to quell protests in Rathupaswala said that it was so brutal that he could well imagine how they would have operated in the North. Rajapaksa made these observations in an interview. He said in Sinhala: �ඉස්කෝලෙ ළමයිනෙ මිය ගියේ, අපේ ශාඛා සමිතිවල සාමාජිකයින්ගෙ කකුල් 21 වෙඩි වැදිලා කැඩිල තිබුණ​. එතකොට මට උනත් හිතෙනවා මුන් උතුරෙ ගිහින් more..

Jul 3 (FT) In his article titled The Govt�s growth scam which appeared in Daily FT of 26 June, former CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal (ANC) has wildly accused the compilers of national accounts on the grounds that they have manipulated the data since 2015 to exaggerate economic growth under the present Got. A similar article by him appeared in Daily FT of 16 May 2017 under the title The Rs. 231 billion mega growth scam. In his recent article, ANC heroically states that the accusations raised more..

Jul 3 (EN) Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest US$ 10 million in India's DCDC Healthcare Services Private Limited (DCDCPL) to help expand its network and extend it to SL. DCDCPL will invest in a new network of centres providing dialysis and related services to end stage renal disease patients in SL. The company, which is an Indian public-private partnership, has 100 centres in govt and private hospitals and two standalone clinics across the world�s second most populous country, more..

Jul 3 (Roar) With rodent-like faces and beady eyes, mongooses are carnivorous mammals which can live around seven to 12 years in the wild, and up to 20 years while in captivity. They predominantly eat small animals and birds, though they sometimes do nibble on greens. Commonly known as Mugatiya in Sri Lanka, they are often confused with civets, those aggressive critters that live in your ceiling and often hiss at you if more..

Jul 3 (SLN) During a fitting ceremony held at the Naval Headquarters today (2), Sri Lanka Navy bade farewell to its Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Neil Rosayro who completed 36 years of distinguished naval career. The Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe extended best wishes to the retiring senior officer before a Guard of Honour in compliance with rich naval traditions being accorded in his honour. Subsequently, the fellow naval officers made their formal farewell more..

Jul 3 (DM) An ambulance driver who was entrusted with the task of taking a patient from the Galgamuwa Atharagalla divisional hospital to the Kurunegala General Hospital for further treatment had diverted from the route to transport a grass cutting machine to his residence, a delay that cost a farmer his life. The health officer in charge of the Atharagalla divisional hospital Dr. A.M.N.S. Bandara has requested an inquiry into the incident from the Provincial Director of Health Services more..

Jul 3 (DM) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has asked the Attorney General whether State Minister Vijayakala Mahsewaran�s controversial statement calling for the resurgence of the LTTE violates the Constitution or any other laws of the country and if so to take appropriate action against her. �A question has arisen as to the type of action to be taken against Ms. Maheswaran after the sentiments expressed by MPs in the House. more..

Jul 3 (SL) TNA and opposition leader R Sampanthan is to meet former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the process to draft a new Constitution. TNA MP M.A Sumanthiran said that the new Constitution must have the backing off all political parties. As a result he said that Sampanthan had talks on the new Constitution with the group of 16 who left the Government as well as others in Parliament. Sumanthiran told the Thinakkural newspaper that he had brief discussions on more..

Jul 3 (AD) Secretary to the President Austin Fernando says that an annexe No. 3 was not received with the report of the PCoI appointed to investigate the CB treasury bond issuance. He said this in a statement issued in response to the comments made by NFF MP Jayantha Samaraweera demanding answers from the President�s Secretary on what happened to the annexe No. 3 attached with the bond commission report. more..

Jul 3 (EN) Sri Lanka�s revenues grew 6% from a year earlier to 622.4 billion rupees, while current spending grew at a faster 9% to 686 billion rupees, expanding the current account deficit, but a 20 billion rupee primary surplus had been posted, official data show. Tax revenues rose 3% to 570.5 billion rupees, with a downturn in import duties after taxes were taken off fuel, and some tariffs were reduced for trade liberalization, more..

Jul 3 (NR) Following a huge uproar by MPs, today�s parliamentary session was cut short and lasted only 90 minutes after Speaker of House Karu Jayasuriya decided to adjourn the session until tomorrow. The recent controversial statement by State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran pertaining to the LTTE, took centre stage during the parliamentary session this afternoon. UNP MP SM Marikkar questioned the General Secretary of the UNP Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam of the stance of the party over more..

Jul 3 (AD) The 10 suspects, who were arrested in connection with the killing of a leopard in Ambalkulam area in Kilinochchi, have been further remanded until July 10 by the Kilinochchi Acting Magistrate S. Gratian today. The suspects were identified based on a video footage submitted to the Magistrate�s Court by the Wildlife Officers. Seven suspects had been previously arrested in connection with the incident while three other suspects had surrendered to the court on June 29. more..

Jul 3 (Island) National Police Commission said that it had received 625 complaints against the police during the first six months of the year. 243 of the complaints received from Jan 1 to May 31 had been solved. The highest number of complaints of those (173) were on police inaction. There were 91 complaints on being partisan, 42 on prosecution after making false complaints, 15 on assault, five on illegal arrests, 2 on deaths in police custody, 3 on bribery or corruption and 45 others. more..

Jul 3 (AD) Inspector of Police (IP) Neomal Rangajeewa and Prisons Commissioner Emil Ranjan Lamahewa, who were arrested over the alleged killing of 27 inmates at Welikada prison during the clashes in 2012, have been further remanded until June 17 by Colombo Magistrate�s Court. The case was taken up for hearing before the Colombo Additional Magistrate Priyantha Fernando today. CID informed the court that further investigations are being carried out. more..

Jul 3 (Xinhua) China and Sri Lanka are committed to pushing forward cooperation on the Hambantota port project and realizing the goal of making Sri Lanka the logistics center of the Indian Ocean, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson. "This is not only conducive to the economic development of Sri Lanka, but also conducive to regional interconnection and the common prosperity of regional countries," Spokesperson said. more..

Jul 3 (AD) President Maithripala Sirisena donated an artificial limb to Vinitha Damayanthi, who was born without a limb, a student of Siripura Central College studying at Grade 10, fulfilling a request made by her to the President asking the assistance of him to get an artificial limb, at the Prez Secretariat, today. The student who met President Sirisena during a programme held in the Siripura area on Dec 31st, 2017, requested the President to assist her to get an artificial limb, more..

Jul 3 (DN) Right to Information Commission (RTI) pursuant to an appeal made to it has recommended presenting draft laws before the public in advance and before the Bill is gazetted. The Commission has made this observation in its order related to an RTI appeal requesting the draft legislation on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, from the Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage Ministry. �In many countries in the region and globally, draft laws are required to be more..

Jul 3 (NYT) Angered by a New York Times investigation detailing how China seized ownership of a seaport in SL, a group of Sri Lankan lawmakers denounced the newspaper on Monday, focusing their ire on two local journalists for the newspaper. On Monday night, the parliamentarians, who are allies of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, held a televised news conference in which they claimed that more..

Jul 3 (JP) Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and ASEAN Dharsana Perera planted a na tree, the Sri Lankan national tree, at Bogor Botanical Gardens on Monday to mark the 65th anniversary of Indonesia-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations. Perera said na tree, also known as Sri Lankan ironwood, was special to Sri Lankan people. For several centuries, na tree has been used as a traditional herbal plant and its wood has been widely used to construct temples and bridges. more..

Jul 3 (DM) UNP back benchers today urged the party leadership to suspend State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran from her portfolio and suspend her from the party. UNP MPs Thushara Amarasena, Chaminda Wijesiri and Hesha Withanage told the media they had already requested the party leadership to take action against Ms Maheswaran. �We are ashamed to be in Parliament with Ms. Maheswaran and therefore we urge party leader to take action against her� more..

Jul 3 (AD) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has requested President Sirisena to temporarily remove State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran from her ministerial portfolio until inquiries are completed. An investigation is being carried out regarding certain controversial comments made by the State Minister regarding the now defunct LTTE, during an event in Jaffna yesterday. Several MPs from both sides today requested more..

Jul 4 (CT) J R Jayewardene was not and is not a fan of many Sri Lankans. Of course he is not there to pat himself on the back or defend himself from criticism. For the writer, a single event dwarfs whatever his achievements were. That was 1983 and either his complicity in the debacle or his sage like indifference to what was going on around him and his three Monkeys depiction of not seeing, not hearing and not talking when all hell was breaking loose in Colombo during that fateful July. more..

Jul 4 (CT) The brazen duplicity of our politicians unleashed on the people of this country with impunity makes one wonder whether we even deserve a vote. Under no circumstances is the writer advocating even a little bit of totalitarianism. What is amazing is that most of our present day politicians better known for their brawn are doing this to us on a regular basis. What does this say of us? An excellent current example of such duplicity is the reaction of the UNP led yahapalana govt to more..

Jul 4 (SO) In the light of Udayanga Weeratunga�s lawyer informing the Fort Magistrate on Friday that his client is ready to come and appear before courts, speculations were rife whether he was doing it upon orders of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and if so, is he free to come down on his own volition since he is detained by the UAE authorities. The previous week, former Prez Rajapaksa reportedly said he could more..

Jul 4 (CT) It is sad that in the midst of all political drama that has been unveiling over several months, now, no one in the Govt or the Opposition seems to have had any time to talk about the state of the nation�s economy. If any of them is talking anything closely resembling the economy, it is either about the CB Bonds scam or such other corruption charges � against this Govt or the predecessor. It is thus that no one seems to be worried overly about the falling Rupee, or the larger impact it can more..

Jul 4 (DN) It is reported in the press that notwithstanding a difference of opinion that has arisen at a party leaders� meeting regarding the forthcoming Provincial Council (PC) elections, it has been decided to revert to the Preference Voting (PV) system. It is tantamount to a patent reversal of the much avowed Election promise given by all political parties at the last Presidential and General elections. Pertinent it is, to note that the main plank of the late Ven. Sobhitha Thera�s campaign more..

Jul 4 (CT) Tied up in bureaucratic red tape, a lackadaisical attitude and general confusion as to who is in charge, the investigation into the alleged abuse of young girls at the Darun Nusra Home in Dehiwala is floundering and the children are now without schools for more than three months, Ceylon Today (CT) has learnt. The confusion stems from which authority or Government agency is handling the matter. more..

Jul 4 (Island) The common story on the death of Hitler is that, on 30 April 1945, he killed himself with his own gun while biting on a cyanide capsule, in his F�hrerbunker in Berlin. In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon his remains and those of Eva Braun were carried through the bunker's emergency exit, doused in petrol, and set alight in the Reich Chancellery garden outside the bunker. Records in the Soviet archives show that more..

Jul 4 (CT) Americans celebrate the Independence, which falls on 4th July every year in the grandest form surpassing all other celebrations. It represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of an independent nation which eclipsed into a major economic and military power in the World. Not only did America become an iconic country, it also introduced its system of governance across the world. American dream is a unique Constitutional experience & US Constitution has so far held more..