Aug 25 (DM) Following an agreement reached by both parties to the case, Galle Additional Magistrate Sanjeewani Pathirana yesterday ordered five students of the Advanced Technological Institute at Labuduwa in Galle to pay Rs.600,000 as compensation to a female student of the same institute who was ragged and harassed by them. The case which had been filed against one male student and four female students of the institute. The victimised student who is a resident of more..

Aug 25 (ST) Sri Lanka Cricket�s (SLC) IT system was so badly protected that it was left wide open to hacking, Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) says in a detailed report issued to National Audit Office (NAO). But it does not rule out the possibility of inside involvement in the alleged wire transfer fraud that took place last year. While it remains unclear who the perpetrators behind the attempted fraud are, an ongoing more..

Aug 25 (ST) A 22-year-old man succumbed to his injuries at the National Hospital this week, four months after he was knocked down by a car in Kirulapone, a coroner�s court was told. The deceased was identified as L.S. Harshana, a sales assistant at a spare part shop in Malabe. He was a resident of Hanwella. He was riding pillion on a motorcycle when the crash occurred on April 4. The car had taken a sudden turn to Robert Gunawardena Mawatha, colliding with more..

Aug 25 (CT) The 3-match series between the Bangladesh Emerging Team and Sri Lanka Emerging Team saw a pulsating finish at Khulna, Bangladesh as the visitors wrapped up the series by 2-1 thanks to their opener Pathum Nissanka who struck a magnificent unbeaten century to guide Sri Lanka to a 7 wicket win in their third and last ODI. SL Emerging Team won the toss and decided to field first and their fast bowlers responded well by taking the first three wickets for 95 runs. more..

Aug 25 (TM) After a gap of nearly a year, the SL Govt decided to proceed to the next round of negotiations on the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) due to interest from the Indian authorities. Accordingly, the 12th round of discussions is likely to take place during the first half of September, although the exact date is yet to be confirmed by SL authorities, following a meeting with SL�s National Trade Facilitation Committee more..

Aug 25 (Island) Sharmal Dissanayake won his third consecutive national doubles title with a 6-7(8), 6-3, 12-10 win over Abdulla Faain (Maldives) and Liu-Hui Retallick (Malaysia) in the men�s doubles final at the 104th National Tennis Championship on Friday. Dissanayake partnered Rukmal Cooray for his doubles title after winning the men�s singles title couple of days ago at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association Courts. Yasitha de Silva and Alex Fairbanks were his partners when more..

Aug 25 (ST) Companies are rethinking their investment plans in the near future due to mixed signals amidst an uncertain environment. Impending elections and lethargic govt mechanism have cost companies� bottom lines both of which have compelled many of them to set aside their growth plans, officials said. A CEO of a manufacturing firm that is publicly listed said that confusing signals and even confusing candidates (for the prez elections in a few months) are making more..

Aug 25 (TM) A threat of a complete shutdown by Sri Lanka�s alcohol manufacturers in protest of a new label requirement has resulted in the Ministry of Finance postponing its implementation. Our sources indicated that in response to the industry discourse created by the publication of an article on 11 August in The Sunday Morning Business, the Ministry of Finance has decided to put off the implementation and enter more..

Aug 25 (AD) The age of marriage should be revised up to 18 years when the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act is amended, says The New Wings organization. This was discussed at length during a panel discussion organized by The New Wings in Colombo, on Muslim Personal Law held under the theme Her Tears are Heavy. In the backdrop of Easter attacks, the discourses on Kadi courts handling the legal matters concerning Muslim marriages came to light. more..

Aug 25 (AD) The Ministry of Defence, issuing a special press release today (24), stated that lifting the State of Emergency will not have any impact on the ban imposed on terrorist organizations. Accordingly, the three terrorist organizations National Thowheed Jama�ath (MTJ), Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) and Vilayath As Seylani, which were banned under 2123/3 gazette extraordinaire issued by President Maithripala Sirisena, will continue. more..

Aug 25 (ST) In a pre-election bonanza, the Ministry of Finance has sought cabinet approval to expand the duty free concessionary vehicles for senior public officials by including more categories entitled to the facility and offering them a duty free vehicle permit equivalent to Rs 22 million. The move will enable officials not holding posts of Cabinet Ministry secretaries � like senior Treasury officials, State Ministry Secretaries and more..

Aug 25 (ST) Reckoned as the world�s best fielding coach, former South Africa cap Jonty Rhodes will visit SL to conduct a series of coaching stints with his coaching partner Ryan Maroon. Rhodes, 50, arguably the world�s finest fielder at backward point, together with Maroon, a First Class cricketer of South Africa, will be coaching the budding cricketers of Sri Lanka. Ama Sports, an establishment promoting cricket coaching clinics, sports events, sports tours and importing sports equipment, more..

Aug 25 (SO) SL has not fully tapped the tourism, investment and trade potential in South Korea and there�s a promising future for the two countries to restart negotiations to improve trade and economic relations, a senior diplomat said last week. South Korean Ambassador in SL, Heon Lee told a group of journalists, that there are opportunities for the two countries to resume talks on investment and trade opportunities and harness tourism potential through promotional activities. more..

Aug 25 (ST) In an island nation where every politician is waxing eloquent about protecting national security, SL was without a Commander of the Army for almost a day. Lt Gen. Mahesh Senanayake, now promoted General, ended his term as Army Commander last Sunday. Hours went by on Monday as Defence Secretary Gen. Shantha Kottegoda waited for Prez�s return from Polonnaruwa to take a decision. more..

Aug 25 (CT) America - Sri Lanka Photographic Art Society, in association with the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Los Angeles, will hold a photo exhibition titled, The Beauty of Sri Lanka, on 21 Sept at the University of California (UCLA), in Los Angeles. The exhibition is intended to promote and develop tourism in Sri Lanka, as such; it is designed to depict the beauty of fauna and flora, as well as, the 2,600-year-old historical and cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. The Beauty of Sri Lanka shows more..

Aug 25 (ST) The Govt plans to borrow Rs.1, 944 billion from local and foreign sources for its debt servicing including the financing of the budget deficit in 2019, a senior Finance Ministry official said. The Treasury has received an income of Rs 894 billion in the first six months this year. However, Rs 1,100 billion had to be paid as debt service; he added pointing out that there is a shortfall of Rs. 206 billion even after the debt and interest are paid off. SL, with a persistent current account deficit more..

Aug 25 (ST) UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim on Friday handed over amendments to the proposed DNF from the Sajith Premadasa faction, as party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that the formation of the alliance was now at its final stage. Speaking at a public event in Ankumbura near Kandy, Mr Wickremesinghe said agreement had been reached among various parties of the proposed alliance to amend more..

Aug 25 (CT) With the 68th Convention of SLFP to be held in a week's time, where the Party will officially announce its stance on the Presidential Election and the candidate, President Maithripala Sirisena will most probably hold separate discussions with SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa and SLPP Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. President Sirisena held the initial discussions with Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa prior to his official visit to Cambodia recently. more..

Aug 25 (Island) Former Deputy Speaker of the British House of Commons, Lord Naseby, described as a special friend of SL, is expected to be the guest of honor at the inaugural ceremony of 32nd Annual Conference of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) in Colombo next month. President Sirisena will inaugurate the sessions as the chief guest at 6.15 pm on Sept 17 at Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo. "Lord Naseby has accepted our invitation to attend the event", more..

Aug 25 (ST) President Sirisena�s new move this week to swear-in UNP deputy leader Sajith Premadasa as PM and urge him to form a new Cabinet of Ministers did not materialise. Set for last Friday so Premadasa could attend the rally in his support in the southern town of Matara that day, this was the part of a dialogue that went on between Sirisena and Premadasa, as revealed in these columns last week. more..

Aug 26 (CT) On 24.08.2019, the Office of Missing Persons, more commonly known as OMP, will open its Jaffna Office. In normal circumstances all Sri Lankans would welcome the move since it gives access to the OMP to the relatives of the missing. But there is widespread skepticism despite the OMP�s good leadership under Saliya Pieris, PC. I came across evidence affirmed by witnesses that there is at least one person who has been secretively held prisoner since 2 July 1995, more..

Aug 26 (CT) It is too late to expect the current parliament to pass the Twentieth Amendment and end the practice of electing the Head of State. It is also too late to expect a magical deal between Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe to drag their MPs kicking and screaming to obtain the requisite two-thirds majority. There is also the vexed constitutional question whether or not a referendum is also needed to change the mode of electing the President. more..

Aug 26 (CT) First Chief Minister of the merged North-East Province and Leader of Social Democratic Party of Tamils, Annamalai Varatharaja Perumal, said a President should not be elected with the votes of Sinhala people alone but with the votes of Tamil people too. Q: Why did you choose to support SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the upcoming Presidential Polls? A: Well, I personally met former Prez Rajapaksa a month ago. more..

Aug 26 (ST) A comfortable sense of political amnesia has currently gripped all contenders and would-be contenders on SL�s Prez election platforms. From opposing stages, we are being asked to believe that the ruin of this land is not their collective fault. That is too great a lie to be uncritically accepted. Indeed, if there is one common and typically perfidious characteristic on display, this would undoubtedly be it. From the Pohottuwa stage, fire-breathing supporters of the Rajapaksa more..

Aug 26 (CT) Fascinated by the writer's last years' experience, he decided to spend a holiday once again in Switzerland, specifically to avoid listening to the annoying political grumbles and rhetoric by various politicians on television news, interviews and chat programmes, as the election fever began to intensify. BIA had relaxed its security operations, which had been strengthened immediately after the suicide bombing saga on Easter Sunday by replacing antiquated vehicle detection system more..

Aug 26 (SO) �The most effective manner in which a voter may give expression to his views is by silently marking his ballot paper in secrecy at a polling booth. Silent and secret expression of a citizen�s preference as between one candidate and another by vote, is no lesser exercise of freedom of speech and expression than the most eloquent speech from a political platform. To hold otherwise is to undermine very foundations of Const.� more..

Aug 26 (CT) While the General Assembly of the UN declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day on 27 April 2011, some countries like India, celebrate the day dedicated to friendship on the first Sunday of August. Initially introduced by Joyce Hall in 1919, what started off as and meant for commercial gains and expansion of business propaganda of the gifting industry, was turned into a tradition by the United States Congress following the hostilities of World War I in 1935. more..

Aug 26 (Island) SLFP has upped the ante in its negotiations with the SLPP. Having failed to enlist the latter�s backing for Prez Sirisena�s bid to secure a second term, the former seems to have put its Plan B into action; it is apparently eyeing the post of PM in case of the SLPP and SLFP coalescing and capturing power. This position, however, has already been reserved for SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. The SLFP is engaged in an exercise in futility, but it is not ready to give up so easily. more..

Aug 26 (ST) As the heir apparent to the House of Medamulana, now that the old squire of the estate had decided to untie his laces and hand the jackboots to his younger brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa stayed in the shadowy wings till his brother had ended his valedictory speech where he heaped endless praise of psalms on himself before finally proceeding to heap praise on his successor, extolling his virtues and singing hosannas. For months nation had waiting with bated breath more..

Aug 26 (Island) Many people from foreign climes and several different organisations as well as entire countries have been overtly or covertly dabbling in the affairs of our beautiful motherland. They are hell bent on destabilising this pearl of the Indian Ocean for their own ends. They cannot bear to see this little island prospering. We are becoming a great tourism hub in Asia and they see to it that they issue travel advisories on this resplendent isle at the drop of a hat. more..

Aug 26 (ST) While G7 members were meeting in the French city of Biarritz and discussing the current situation in Kashmir on the sidelines with Indian PM Narendra Modi, here in Colombo, Prez Sirisena seems to have got caught in the crossfire between the warring parties, India and Pakistan. US Prez Donald Trump had offered his good offices to mediate between the superpower�s old ally Pakistan and new ally India in long standing dispute more..

Aug 26 (Island) Reading the news item and viewing over the electronic media, the inauguration of a boat travel from Union Place to Fort, I am reminded of the original plan to shift the capital Colombo to Sri J'pura, during the regime of President J.R. Jayewardene thus making Colombo a commercial city and Sri J'pura as capital city, the administrative hub. It was proposed to shift all govt offices and ministries to Sri J'pura so that the public could transact business with govt offices more..

Aug 26 (ST) Chatting to Rameez Raja, a former captain of the Pakistan team, was not the daunting prospect that I feared. He put me at ease straightaway and, once started, he put me in mind of Tennyson�s Brook. The worlds, and thoughts, flowed and he was not averse to calling a spade, a spade. Rameez, who represented his country in 57 Tests and 198 ODIs, also led the Pakistan team for a short period. In the shadow of his elder brother, the multi-talented Wasim Raja, initially. more..

Aug 26 (CI) Tom Latham was all purpose, BJ Watling was composed as ever, and Colin de Grandhomme played shots as if it was a carefree net, as NZ pulled away from SL on the fourth day of the second Test. A rain-affected match had, nevertheless, been well balanced after nearly a full day's play on Saturday, but on Sunday, there were only 48 overs possible. They were enough for New Zealand to clatter 186 runs though, more..

Aug 26 (DN) Hussain Ahmed Mohamed Rimzan of Moors Sports Club blitzed 18-year-old S.M. Thaha of MICH by six frames to nil in the final of the 67th National Snooker Championships at the AAC (Automobile Association of Ceylon) yesterday. Rimzan claimed his maiden national snooker title in style, ending the best of 11-frame final as a contest by winning all five frames in the first session. The 27-year-old cueist, who has represented SL at the Asian c'ship both as a junior & senior, more..

Aug 26 (CI) Tom Latham is in the form of his life, in Tests. Having made 154 in the first innings to give New Zealand a chance of winning a rain-afflicted Test at P Sara, he now has a stunning four scores of over 150 in his last eight innings. Although his team has had a light Test schedule over the past two years, the opener has put up impressive numbers. He averaged 45.70 in 2017, 59.81 the next year and is now on 78.80 in 2019. "I probably am in [the form of his career] if you look at the numbers," more..

Aug 26 (ST) A mere six months after Thilanga Sumathipala, former Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president, toiled behind the scenes to have his close confidante, Shammi Silva, elected to the post he was vacating, relations between the two have turned sour. Now, businessman-turned-politician Sumathipala is likely to lose even his slot in the SLC Executive Committee. While he did not contest the cricket election this year, more..

Aug 26 (FT) Tourism industry has welcomed the Govt decision to end the four-month-long State of Emergency imposed after the Easter Sunday terror attacks. They said the move will give confidence, stability to all visitors and airlines. Hotels Association of SL (THASL) President Sanath Ukwatte said the industry welcomes the removal of Emergency as it gives everyone the opportunity to lead their normal lives and offers stability and confidence for visitors, corporate travellers and the airlines operating more..

Aug 26 (RN) Attorney and political activist Ravi Jayawardena sees the current political situation on the eve of the Presidential Elections in graphic wildlife terms. �UNP is like a pair of stags fighting with their horns locked while the predator waits patiently watching in the bush,� he said. Jayawardena is not alone in feeling angry and frustrated at the UNP�s inability to rise above extreme navel-gazing and get on with finding a candidate that can lead it to victory in more..