Dec 11 (AFP) Pakistan's captain Azhar Ali thanked Sri Lanka on Tuesday for returning to Pakistan for the first Test tour there in a decade, after a fatal militant attack on their team in 2009 drove international cricket away. "It's a historic occasion and all the players are excited to be part of this," Azhar, who has played 75 Tests - but, until now, none at home - said at a press conference in Rawalpindi with his counterpart, Dimuth Karunaratne. more..

Dec 11 (ST) Sri Lanka�s Test discard Kaushal Silva is showing his class for Greenvale Kangaroos in the Victorian Premier Cricket League in Australia as a cricketer and a coach. An elegant stroke-maker, Silva always plays the sheet anchor role as an opener giving his fellow opener to take the shine off the new ball. A pint-sized right handed opening batsman, he made his national debut in 2011 against Pakistan in Dubai. more..

Dec 11 (ST) Upbeat on the hope of an impending construction boom, considerable demand for new buildings and infrastructure such as roads and highways saw the construction sector shares on a heavy stock market rally by retailers on the run up to the Prez elections and immediately after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s win. The excitement has now subsided to an extent owing to profit-taking but these stocks are in their radar � especially after Mr. Rajapaksa managed to convince India to more..

Dec 11 (ST) It seems Sri Lanka cricket is tumbling down without any let-up. Losing games from the junior levels upwards appears the norm. However, the only light recently is the victory in Men�s South Asian Games Cricket competition when the Sri Lanka Under 23 team beat Nepal � though a non-Test playing nation � played in Kathmandu. Now let us see what happens when the Sri Lankan Test team travels to Pakistan to play the all-important two Test matches. more..

Dec 11 (Island) Chairman of Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) Saliya Pieris, PC, rapped the leaders of successive govts for their failure to take tangible measures against those propagating hate, violence et al. Peiris alleged that govts had deliberately refrained from taking action. Citing several examples, including the Nov 9 and 10, 1938 Nazi violence directed at the Jewish community in Germany and massacre of more..

Dec 11 (DN) Sri Pada Pilgrim season begins today (Unduwap Full Moon Poya Day). Arrangements have been made to convey the Sacred Casket of Relics and the statues of God Saman to the Uda Maluwa along four routes from the Pelmadulla Galpottawala Sri Pada Viharaya. The four routes will be from Sri Pada Viharaya to Uda Maluwa through Balangoda, Bogawanthalawa, Hatton and Nallatanniya from Pelmadulla to Udamaluwa through Ratnapura, Avissawella, Hatton, Nallatanniya more..

Dec 11 (DN) It was so refreshing to hear from two of our cricketing legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who came on a program titled �Off the Cuff Rapid Fire Q&A� which was hosted by Emerald the leading shirt people who have them as their brand ambassadors. Without any comments we produce below their answers to questions sent by fans on life, fashion, cricket and their careers, and leave the readers to judge for yourself the quality of the individuals. more..

Dec 11 (FT) UNP said that a committee appointed by Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will decide how to face the upcoming General Election and urged all party members to unite to move forward. �If everyone in the party speaks in one voice and if we go forward to the General Election together we can get the necessary 113 seats to form a govt,� he claimed, pointing out that the people were more politically conscious and would vote against more..

Dec 11 (FT) A Tell Minister Facebook page was launched recently in accordance with a concept of Minister of Roads and Highways, Ports and Shipping Johnston Fernando to set up a database that could operate as an interface between the Minister and citizens. Accordingly civilians will be able to present their issues relating to roads and highways directly to the Minister via this service. Moreover, via this service civilians would be able to notify difficulties faced by them directly to the Minister, more..

Dec 11 (DN) Even before the senior national team makes a triumphant return to the island with a historic gold, silver and bronze medal haul they bagged during the South Asian Games in Nepal, a 12-member Junior Badminton squad is set to depart for Surabaya, Indonesia to participate in the Badminton Asia Junior U-17 and U-15 Championships. This busy schedule for Badminton mirrors once again the utmost commitment of SL Badminton management led by more..

Dec 11 (Island) Supreme Court yesterday issued notice on retired Prez Maithripala Sirisena in connection with a fundamental rights violation petition filed by the Women and Media Collective, against the granting of a presidential pardon to Jude Anthony Jayamaha convicted of the brutal murder of Yvonne Jonsson at her Royal Park apartment complex. The retired Prez has been made an added respondent in the petition. more..

Dec 11 (Island) Department of Immigration & Emigration has decided to deport the remaining Nigerians housed in the detention centre at Mirihana after it was revealed that nine Nigerian detainees had already escaped. There were 59 Nigerians housed there and now there are only 50 left. The Department considers these men as a threat to national security. The Nigerians were detained for various crimes including financial fraud. "We informed the police that nine have escaped", more..

Dec 11 (AJ) Two weeks after the election of hardliner Gotabaya Rajapaksa in SL, the prospects for justice and reconciliation between the different communities on the island lie in tatters. The victory of Gota, as he is commonly known, sent shockwaves across the Tamil-dominated northeast - where memories of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's brutal presidency, marked by mass atrocities and enforced disappearances, remain fresh. Gota, who served as defence secretary between 2005 & 2015, more..

Dec 11 (DN) The Prez Secretariat has issued a circular stressing that the office facilities required for the new Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers and their staff should be managed within the accommodation space currently available. It has also been stipulated that those holding several Cabinet portfolios are entitled only to the staff and facilities of a single Cabinet Minister. Secretary to the Prez Dr. P.B. Jayasundera has issued more..

Dec 11 (BN) LOLC Holdings Plc, SL�s second-largest publicly traded company by revenue, plans to sell its stake in a unit in Cambodia and use the proceeds to fund acquisition of microfinance firms in emerging markets from Brazil to India. LOLC Holdings plans to sell its 70% stake in Prasac Microfinance Institution Ltd., which also counts Hong Kong�s Bank of East Asia Ltd. as a shareholder, LOLC�s Deputy Chairman Ishara Nanayakkara said. He declined to disclose pricing details. more..

Dec 11 (DM) UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva yesterday said the rice price mafia is back in action once again with an artificial shortage has been created to keep the prices high allegedly by the oligopoly which controls the rice market. Responding to the govt�s decision to reduce rice prices yesterday, Dr. de Silva said a kilo of Nadu rice could be sold less than Rs 98 and a kilo of Samba less than Rs 99. He said the oligopoly is buying a kilo of Rice at a price which nearly Rs 40. more..

Dec 11 (Island) The Easter Sunday terror attacks had been carried out by those affiliated to the Islamic State (IS), Professor of Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Rohan Gunaratna told Prez Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday attacks. Earlier the PCoI that probed the attacks had declared that they couldn�t find any evidence that Zahran had direct links with the ISIS. more..

Dec 12 (CT) Last week I wrote about racist ideology and declared that the thesis Bad leaders mislead the people, who are good, decent and free of prejudice, into evil ways, was false. Good-people bad-politician thesis, I said, is more often than not, an inversion of the truth. Masses carry with them emotions and prejudices rooted in past history and experiences of recent decades. Politicians willing to align with mass sentiments rise to the crest as leaders; those who oppose, are relegated to the wilderness. more..

Dec 12 (DM) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s Indian tour concluded on a positive note. This was despite Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko staging a protest opposing the SL president�s visit to India. What�s striking about the former military man turned lawmaker is his show of calmness in the face of opposition. There is much talk about Gotabaya being a vegetarian and a Buddhist and these factors could be attributed to his composure. Gotabaya�s travels in and around India made him realise that more..

Dec 12 (CT) School resonates differently with different people. For some, school is a place to look forward to, a place where they meet up and gossip with friends on the latest cartoons. For some others it's a place they despise because of strict teachers and a lot of homework. However, those who fall into either one of these categories have been blessed in life, since for some children, school is a place of refuge and a safe haven more..

Dec 12 (CT) In the first three weeks after the prez election, the govt appears to be following a more balanced set of policies with regard to dealing with ethnic and religious minorities and political activists than was expected. The election showed the country was deeply polarized in terms of inter-community political choices. Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the prez election on a platform that gave primacy to national security with a large majority of the ethnic and religious minorities more..

Dec 12 (DN) At a time when experts on South Asian affairs were highly apprehensive about the future of the main regional grouping, SAARC, some of the leaders in the region express desire to strengthen the Association. As a founding member, SL attributes high importance to the purposes and principles of the SAARC Charter which aims to promote peace, stability, amity and progress in the region through strict adherence to the principles of the UN Charter and Non-alignment, Prez Rajapaksa said. more..

Dec 12 (DM) SL�s foreign recruitment industry plays an essential role in the country�s migrant labour sector with the industry expecting to secure jobs for Sri Lankans within conditions of safety, security and dignity. Despite these conditions, however, a complaint has been lodged to PCoI to investigate cases of corruption during 2015-2018 period against illegal recruitments by using Foreign Employment Bureau�s license granted for agencies. more..

Dec 12 (DN) The appointment of NDF prez election candidate Sajith Premadasa as the Leader of the Opposition represents a watershed for the UNP as well for opposition politics in SL although it is likely to cause some fractious moments for the UNP in the coming months. UNP leader and five times PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has been Leader of the Opposition for most of the past 25 years since assuming leadership of the party in 1994 after the assassinations of then Prez R Premadasa more..

Dec 12 (Island) The 13th death anniversary of a Swiss artist who made Sri Lanka his home and worked tirelessly for the sake of the sick, after entering the Sasana, falls this month. This is the fascinating story of the life of Ven. Sumedha, who died at the age of 74, as told by his friend Ven. Bhikku Bodhi. On Dec 21st [2006] at approx 10:30 pm, my beloved friend, Ven. Bhikkhu Sumedha, Swiss-born monk residing at Manapadassana Lena in Dulvala, near Kandy, passed away. more..

Dec 12 (DM) Many promises by the yahapalana mandate, in relation to an independent and vibrant public service were ignored, forgotten or forsaken. The promise of bringing to justice those officials who, with their former political masters, had engaged in humongous robbing of national wealth not only escaped justice but became inner circle of the officialdom of the govt, making a mockery of the determination of those people who voted the govt in. The new Prez has set about restarting more..

Dec 12 (CI) Mohammad Abbas broke a Pakistan Test drought that had lasted 10 years, nine months and nine days when he shuffled in to bowl at 9.45am, but for me the wait was slightly longer. The plan had been to be parked behind press box glass, ideally with a coffee at arm's reach, to witness the historic occasion. But a domestic flight cancellation the previous day meant I'd had to spend Test-match eve in Karachi. While there, I'd also been ripped off by a taxi driver and charged 100 rupees by more..

Dec 12 (CI) History will record the significance of the day instead of the trivialities contained within it, though that is a shame, as the cricket was really rather good. On a day where the breaks between sessions appeared to herald official changes in momentum, the ebbs and flows never really allowed either side to walk away claiming more than an equitable share of the spoils. Pakistan will be well pleased to have seen the back of more..

Dec 12 (BN) The MinorMatters: Rewind; Rebuild project of the organization Alliance Development Trust in Sri Lanka was selected as one of ten global grassroots initiatives to receive the prestigious Intercultural Innovation Award from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group, during an Awards Ceremony held last night at the Royal Theatre in Madrid, Spain. The selection process was highly competitive, with over 1,200 applications from 128 countries. more..

Dec 12 (DN) An unbeaten last wicket partnership between Sonal Dinusha and Amshi de Silva propelled Sri Lanka to a nail biting one-wicket victory over West Indies in day three action of Rising Stars U19 Tri-Series. On another difficult batting wicket, Sri Lanka sent West Indies into bat after winning the toss and immediately their bowlers made life difficult for the host. West Indies plummeted to 67/7 in the 34th over, with new ball bowler Amshi de Silva (6-1-18-3) and leg-spinner Kavindu Nadeeshan more..

Dec 12 (CI) Sri Lanka had sailed through the first session in Rawalpindi, a century opening stand in sight, but at the end of the day were left ruing the post-lunch session in which they lost four wickets for 31 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando had seemed settled, with Karunaratne hitting a fluent fifty, and Oshada growing in confidence after he had taken 20 deliveries to get off the mark. But Karunaratne's dismissal in the 31st over more..

Dec 12 (Island) The TNA has woken up to the fact that the people are undergoing difficulties owing to the breakdown of the provincial administration in the North. It says annual transfers of state officials, under the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), cannot be effected without gubernatorial approval and, therefore, the govt should appoint a Governor without further delay. The TNA�s concerns should be appreciated, but here is a textbook example of irony. The TNA has a history of more..

Dec 12 (CI) After conceding 89 runs in the first, wicketless session in Rawalpindi, Pakistan remarkably got back in the game in the second. They had bowled 48 balls on a full length in 26 overs in that opening session, conceding 47 runs off these deliveries and straying on leg stump as well. Wayward in line, ineffective in length, captain Azhar Ali's statements the previous day on the important of discipline in Test format seemed lost on this attack. Speaking after the day's play, more..

Dec 12 (FT) Well-known investor and emerging markets guru Dr. Mark Mobius this week placed the odds of SL returning to strong growth in its favour, provided the Govt moved efficiently to implement policies, which include establishing an investor-friendly environment and competitive tax regime. Dr. Mobius, who is a founding partner of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, which is estimated to be worth $ 50 billion, and more..

Dec 12 (FT) Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) in a statement said it is deeply concerned with recent events in the aftermath of the incident in which an employee of the Embassy of Switzerland in SL was allegedly abducted, sexually harassed, and questioned by unidentified persons regarding embassy related matters, on or about 27 Nov. Whilst it is too early to comment on official processes underway investigating these incidents, CPA is alarmed with the conduct of several media more..

Dec 12 (DN) Vallibel Finance set its sights on a 16-story new headquarters building that will soon join Sri Lanka�s impressive skyline. Billed to be a state-of-the-art financial center in downtown Colombo 3, the foundation stone for the showpiece tower was laid by Dhammika Perera, Chairman of the diversified Vallibel Group and Jayantha Rangamuwa, the Managing Director of Vallibel Finance in the presence of the company�s Board of Directors, Senior Managers and staff. more..

Dec 12 (FT) Thirty-one State institutions including the Police Department, State Intelligence Service (SIS), Department of Immigration and Emigration, Department of Registration of Persons, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, as well as the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRC), will come under the under the purview of the Defence Ministry, according to the subjects and functions Gazette issued by Prez Gotabaya more..

Dec 12 (Island) Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network (SUN BN), led by the World Food Programme (WFP), brought together thirty leading SL businesses to pledge their support to three important agendas: improving workplace health and nutrition efforts; producing healthy food; and promoting healthy food consumption. A global network spanning 41 countries, SUN BN aims to reduce malnutrition in all its forms through engaging and supporting businesses to act, invest more..

Dec 12 (CT) The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai participated at the World Trade Expo 2019 in Mumbai, together with popular Sri Lankan brands in India to widen its market access. The World Trade Centre (WTC), Mumbai and All-India Association of Industries (AIAI) hosted the 3rd edition of their flagship event in Mumbai, bringing together Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME's) from six Indian States, trade development officials and 30 participating countries. more..