Aug 5 (CT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe helped ex Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to obtain a new passport through the intervention of Minister Wajira Abeywardena. The revelation puts a new twist on wide speculation for months now that the current PM and Gotabaya Rajapaksa are thick as thieves, a senior UNP MP said. Wickremesinghe also knew that the former defence secretary would not have a problem more..

Aug 5 (DN) Several senior politicians of leading political parties, including the UNP, will join the SLPP on August 11 at the party�s convention, said Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Opposition Leader recently visited former Minister and Kurunegala District MP Salinda Dissanayake, who is under treatment at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital where he spoke to journalists. He said he will not gain political advantage by creating rifts in the UNP. more..

Aug 5 (AD) Although the Central Bank has reduced the rates for deposits maintained in commercial banks, the special interest rate of 15% offered by the Govt for senior citizens have not been changed. There is no truth in the media reports published by different media saying that the 15% special bank interest rate which has granted by the Govt for senior citizens has been reduced. Special interest rate of 15% that has been granted for the fixed deposits which are maintained by senior more..

Aug 5 (AD) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is expected to terminate Chandika Hathurusinghe�s contract as head coach of the national team within the next 24 hours, sources said. Hathurusinghe had been asked to step down from his role after the conclusion of the ODI series against Bangladesh. As par his contract, Hathurusinghe had wanted to continue until the end of next year. Meanwhile the country�s Sports Minister told reporters today more..

Aug 5 (AD) Police have arrested three suspected members of the banned organisation, Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI), who had allegedly received training from terrorist leader Zahran Hashim in Nuwara Eliya and Hambantota. They were arrested by Ampara Police today and that one of the suspects is a student of the South Eastern Uni in Oluvil. One of the 3 arrested suspects has been identified as Mohamed Seifullah Haq, also known as Abu Sahid, who is a resident of Gelioya. more..

Aug 5 (AD) A suspect who had opened fire on a double cab along the Gonnoruwa Road in Hambantota was captured by the driver of the very same vehicle and handed over to the Hambantota Police Headquarters. Shooting was carried out at around 8.30 p.m. last night by an individual who had arrived on a scooter. He had pulled out a locally-manufactured firearm and opened fire at the double cab, possibly attempting to target the passenger at the back of the vehicle. more..

Aug 5 (AD) The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) at the Pallewela Police station has been transferred to the Kalutara South Police, stated Police Media Spokesperson. This decision has been taken following the allegations that the officer�s inaction against illicit brewers in the area. Consumption of moonshine from an illicit brewery in the Banduragoda area in Mirigama had claimed 11 lives by this morning. Post mortems had revealed that more..

Aug 5 (AD) Mathematics tutor Dinesh Nuwan Amaratunga and 7 others who under remand custody over an attack on a van by a group of VIP bodyguards at Kalagedihena have been granted bail. Attangalla Magistrate�s Court granted the suspects the bail when the case was taken up before Magistrate Tharanaga Rajapaksa today. The 8 suspects have been granted on the condition of a personal bond worth Rs 200,000 per each suspect. The released suspects have also been more..

Aug 5 (RN) Grassroots level SLFP supporters will never vote for the UNP presidential candidate and they will vote for the SLPP, Chairman of SLPP Prof. G.L Peiris said. Peiris said that whoever the UNP�s presidential candidate will be, their policies will not change. �Not understanding the value of national assets and state enterprises, selling the country�s assets to other countries, signing agreements with other countries which is against the sovereignty of the country are among UNP�s policies,� more..

Aug 5 (RN) Glossing over the controversy that erupted in last week�s explosive Working Committee meeting of the UNP, party leader PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said today that the proposed UNP-led DNF will be formed before the end of August. In a special statement issued to the media today, UNP leader said the party decided to take more time to finalise the proposed constitution of the DNF, more..

Aug 5 (DN) A passenger boat service in waterways in Colombo will be commenced within the next two weeks, the Magapolis and Western Development Ministry said. The first phase of the project has been planned centering Beire Lake and Wellawatte canal. The travel time between Wellawatte and Battaramulla will be 40 minutes. Air conditioned boats would be used for the passenger service. A passenger boat service has also been planned in Kelani river from Mattakkuliya to Hanwella more..

Aug 5 (AD) UPFA Kurunegala District Parliamentarian Salinda Dissanayake has passed away at the age of 61. The former minister had passed away today while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo. Dissanayake had taken oaths as State Minister of Indigenous Medicine during the constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka last year which had lasted for several days. He obtained 54,318 votes at the 2015 General Election. more..

Aug 5 (EN) SL's nominal central govt budget deficit has expanded in the five months to May 2019 from a year earlier, but there have surpluses at state enterprises while foreign debt has contracted amid currency appreciation, official data show. Revenues fell 1% to 778.9 billion rupees after monetary instability in 2018 led to a credit contraction and spending restraint with capital flight worsened after a political crisis in Oct 2018. more..

Aug 5 (DM) The UNP should announce its Minister Sajith Premadasa as its presidential candidate before striking any electoral agreement with the likeminded parties, Non-Cabinet Minister Ajith P. Perera said yesterday. Mr.Perera, who is in the forefront of the campaign to secure candidacy for Mr.Premadasa, said the alliance partners would await the UNP�s decision in this regard. �These parties will support only a candidate who is able to win the presidential election. more..

Aug 5 (DM) UNP Deputy Leader and Minister Sajith Premadasa said Premadasas will definitely win and never lose and this time the victory will not be to those who dwell in mansions. Addressing a ceremony held after vesting the Gandhi Nagar housing scheme constructed under the Udagam Project in Batticaloa on Sunday with the people, Minister Premadasaa went onto say that many people asked him whether he was ready for the job coming in November � December period. more..

Aug 5 (DM) Sports Minister Harin Fernando today said that national cricket Head Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe would need to re-negotiate his contract if he wants to remain in the position. Minister had written to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and asked them not to appoint Hathurusinghe for the upcoming New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka, adding that he could be re-appointed once a fresh contract has been negotiated. more..

Aug 6 (CT) The postponement of the inauguration of the new political alliance to be led by the UNP was due to the division within the ruling party on who its presidential candidate should be and on ceding too much power to the alliance members. The two front runners are party leader, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and its deputy leader, Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa, with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya being a possible compromise candidate. When the draft constitution of the alliance was presented to more..

Aug 6 (CT) In the last few weeks there has been hype about reforming the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Irrespective of three decades of struggle to reform this archaic Act by Muslim women, Muslim MPs have only now come forward to iron out differences in the two sets of recommendations given by Justice Saleem Marsoof�s committee early last year. In my opinion, in the wake of various rhetoric around the MMDA including that of one country one law more..

Aug 6 (SO) Testifying before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks, Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, on Thursday (Aug 1), found fault with the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) for waiting for instructions from the Attorney General�s Department without arresting the terrorists connected with the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ). more..

Aug 6 (ST) Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the least performing economies in the highest growing region in the world. While the South Asian region is expected to grow by 7% this year, these two economies are expected to grow by less than half of this. Ironically, these two South Asian countries were best poised for growth in the 1950s. In an outspoken address, Pakistan�s new PM Imran Khan attributed Pakistan�s sluggish growth to its corruption and lack of recognition of merit. more..

Aug 6 (ST) In the recent past Sri Lankans have become aware of the term bonds and, have been pretty much concerned about them too. Until then, many of us not even knew that there is something called bonds. Today I decided to talk about bonds not necessarily to answer the questions like what is a bond and how does it work, but its relation to the global financial issue that I discussed in this column last week: i.e. the world is heading towards a man-made financial crash. more..

Aug 6 (CT) Director General (DG) of Customs P.S.M. Charles said the demurrages cost for 400 garbage containers was Rs 800 million. The importer will be charged for abandoning containers in the container terminal for the last one year. DG said an officer noted that about 400-odd abandoned containers. Already 100-odd separate containers were released to the Free Trade Zone in Katunayake by Hayleys Free Zone. more..

Aug 6 (DN) Learning the English Language is a key to face global challenges in this modern, scientific, sophisticated, robotic and technological world. English is taught in Sri Lanka as a second language for many years but still, we could not achieve remarkable improvement in communication skills. Many direct and indirect factors influence our English teaching-learning industry functioning in a handicapped manner. The first and foremost reason is that we still cling on to more..

Aug 6 (GV) For three long decades, Muslim women have fought to reform the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Justice Saleem Marsoof�s Committee issued two sets of recommendations early last year, the culmination of nine years of work. Perhaps in response to the recent rhetoric of one country one law, Muslim MPs finally raised the issue in recent weeks, coming forward to iron out differences in the two sets of Marsoof Committee recommendations. more..

Aug 6 (Island) The Sri Lankan govt has announced plans to make the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) independent. So far, the framework or the methodology that will be applied to a new and reformed CBSL have not been made clear. Therefore, this article is a critique to the general concept of an Independent Central Bank (ICB) that has been promoted across the world by neo-classical economists and institutions such as the IMF. more..

Aug 6 (Island) Hell is said to have separate pits to accommodate people from different countries. All these hellholes, save one, are complete with anti-climb barriers to prevent those languishing therein from escaping. Sri Lankans are kept in the one sans any barriers, but nobody has ever got out of it. Why? Whenever someone tries to escape, hundreds of others pull him back! This story came to mind while we were reading what an LTL Holdings executive, recently, told PCoI, more..

Aug 6 (FT) To help SL companies eyeing the daunting Indian market, Int'l Trade and Development Strategies Ministry yesterday launched a new report to assist breaking into India, with Minister Malik Samarawickrama undertaking a visit to India this week to help local businesses find success across the Palk Strait. The report titled Entering the Indian market: Lessons from SL firms that did it looks into the strategies used by about 30 companies more..

Aug 6 (Island) I can�t remember an occasion where a galaxy of stars, from the local world of Western music, were seen, on stage, at one particular event. But�yes, it�s happening this Sunday, August 11th. And, as the saying goes, all roads will most certainly lead to the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, in Colombo. A packed house is expected and they will, no doubt, be awed by the presence of such entertainers, like Mignonne, Dalreen, Manilal, Mariazelle, Melantha, Judy, Rajitha (of Misty fame), more..

Aug 6 (CT) SL�s top badminton star Niluka Karunaratne will be looking to make his presence felt when he takes part in the BWF World Championships in St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland from August 19 to 25. Karunaratne who has been selected for the showpiece event by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), will be the only SL shuttler at the championships and will be one of Asia�s top 28 men�s singles players in the 6-day event. Karunaratne, currently ranked 124th more..

Aug 6 (FT) Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs has allocated Rs. 2,150 million for major development initiatives and is in the process of expeditiously implementing the programs and projects that PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as subject Minister, has initiated. As a part of the development initiatives, 1,525 housing more..

Aug 6 (ST) Sri Lanka made a clean sweep of the three-match ODI series against a fairly depleted Bangladesh side, especially missing their main all-rounder Shakib al Hassan � who was a star in the recently concluded World Cup � skipper Mortaza, along with all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin. Added to this, new skipper Tamim Iqbal had a wretched run with the bat, and middle-order batsman Mahamadulla did not fare any better. Even without pace bowling pyrotechnics of Lasith Malinga more..

Aug 6 (TM) Nine months after fire reduced it to a charred wreck, the re-designed Cool Planet opened its doors to customers on Friday 2nd August at the very location where the retail chain�s story began, 13 years ago. The new store has 18,000 square feet of retail space on three floors and a dedicated remote car park in close proximity to the store eases parking concerns, with space for about 60 vehicles at a time. Speaking at the ceremonial re-opening of the store, Cool Planet Director Mrs Ramma Wickrama more..

Aug 6 (DN) Sri Lanka after all will have an interim coach for the upcoming series against New Zealand. SLC�s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jerome Jayaratne will be appointed as the interim coach for the New Zealand series today. �We have scheduled a meeting of SLC officials today. We will terminate Chandika Hathurusingha�s contract with us and appoint Jerome Jayaratne as interim coach for the New Zealand series,� more..

Aug 6 (FT) Mahen Thambiah is to buy the control of KIA Motors (Lanka) Ltd., for Rs. 714 million. The stake amounting to 42 million shares or 70% was sold by CM Holdings PLC. The deal works to a pricing of Rs. 17 per share. The net asset value per share of CM Holdings as at 31 March was Rs. 103, up from Rs. 99 from a year earlier. At Group level it was Rs. 199, down from Rs. 203. Parent Colombo Fort Land and Building PLC said its subsidiary CM Holdings PLC entered into an agreement more..

Aug 6 (ST) One of the main reasons for Sri Lanka to have a low ranking in the Ease of Doing Business Index is the considerably long time taken as a result of case delays for contract enforcement, says Justice Minister Thalatha Atukorale. Speaking at the launch of a branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London (CIArb), the most renowned institution for arbitrator training in the world, she said that this is why arbitration is the preferred means of dispute resolution among businessmen. more..

Aug 6 (NF) It has been six months since the forensic audit at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) commenced. However, the responsible authorities, are yet to reveal information regarding forensic audits. On the 28th of January this year, the sports minister requested a forensic audit to be performed on the operations at SLC. The forensic audit will look into the transactions that took place between 31st Jan 2016 and 31st Dec 2018, at SLC. more..

Aug 6 (RN) After over four months in remand custody, fiction writer Shakthika Sathkumara was granted bail by the Kurunegala High Court today (5). Sathkumara, who was arrested over a short story published on Facebook, was released on a cash bail of Rs. 100,000 and two sureties of Rs. 100,000 each. Attorney-at-law C.W.W. Ratnayake of the legal team representing Sathkumara headed by senior lawyer Chaminda Athukorala told RepublicNext that the next step will be to face more..

Aug 6 (DN) The insurance industry was able to achieve a growth of 5.70% in terms of overall Gross Written Premium (GWP), during the first quarter of 2019, recording an increase of Rs. 2,504 million when compared to the same period in the year 2018, Insurance Regulatory Commission of SL said. GWP for Long Term Insurance & General Insurance Businesses for the period ending March 31 2019 was Rs. 46,429 million compared with same period in 2018 amounting to Rs. 43,925 million. more..

Aug 6 (TM) The awarding of the tender to overhaul three Antonov AN-32B aircraft of SLAF has been further delayed with the procurement committee decision still pending and an option being considered, which will result in the Govt of SL having to spend large sums of money for the overhaul. Tenders were initially called in 2016 and the bids were opened on 6 May 2016. At the time, the lowest bid was received from a Russian more..