Jan 26 (CT) President Maithripala Sirisena, currently on a two-day State visit to Singapore, emphasis`ed on the need to amend certain clauses in the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA), when he called on PM of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong last afternoon. President Sirisena stressed that certain shortcomings had been committed on the part of Sri Lanka when drafting the agreement, to which more..

Jan 26 (DN) Two persons were abducted by a group of people who were dressed in Police uniforms, the wife of a poultry shop owner has complained to the Rathgama Police. The persons kidnapped are between the ages of 33 and 35 respectively. The abductors armed with firearms had arrived in a white motor vehicle and a blue van. The persons kidnapped had been in a house at Rathnaudagama in Rathgama, Galle. Police complaint further states that the poultry shop owner had gone to more..

Jan 26 (FT) The Govt of Japan has extended a total sum of $ 624,382 for humanitarian demining in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The grant contract was signed on 24 January at the Ambassador�s Residence in Colombo, between Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka Akira Sugiyama and Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH) Program Manager Ananda Chandrasiri. Japan has been a major donor in the area of mine clearance in SL since 2003, with more than $ 34.5 million more..

Jan 26 (FT) Closing months of negotiation between plantation worker trade unions and Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs), the two parties reached a settlement to increase the basic daily wage to Rs. 700, with a Rs. 100 million pledge by the Govt to help companies pay three months� wage arrears. Trade unions, which earlier called for a Rs. 1000 basic wage, brought down their demand to accept the offer by RPCs to more..

Jan 26 (DM) In recent months, several parts of Sri Lanka had been battered and bruised by a series of catastrophic droughts, torrential rains, floods and landslides, which left tens of thousands of people homeless, their houses damaged or destroyed and housed in temporary shelters for weeks if not months. In the wake of so much pain and misery now comes the horrific news of a marauding caterpillar identified as �Sena� destroying our farmlands, leaving our cultivators with more..

Jan 26 (DM) Sri Lanka�s efforts to curb drug use in the country could turn out to be harder than instilling some discipline in its lawmakers. Just days ago President Sirisena was full of confidence when stating that he would bring the drug trade that�s causing damage to the society under control. A large truth we need to fathom is that a fair number of politicians are directly or indirectly involved in the drug trade. Presidents can vouch to wipe out drugs from the society. more..

Jan 26 (DM) Sri Lanka approaching her seventy-first anniversary of gaining independence from the UK is presently in the midst of an interesting politico-legal phase. The island nation is engaged in formulating a new Constitution. The country from the time of Independence has had three Constitutions. The current exercise, if successful, will result in Sri Lanka getting a fourth Constitution. more..

Jan 26 (ST) Only a minimal number of drug users released from rehabilitation centres in Sri Lanka are cured of the habit with an alarming 75-80% of them relapsing, experts said. While counter-narcotic efforts last year had some impact, awareness and rehabilitation need strong improvement, said Pubudu Sumanasekara, Executive Director of the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC). more..

Jan 26 (DM) Provincial Council (PC) elections withheld for far too long by both the Govt and the Elections Commission (EC) not wanting to take responsibility is leading to a major political conflict yet to break into an open debate and public protests. MP Dinesh Gunawardena has repeatedly requested the EC to hold elections without further delay. Prof. G.L Peiris as Prez of SLPP says he would go to Courts requesting an order to hold PC polls. more..

Jan 26 (ST) Fines amounting to Rs 1.5 million have been collected by the CAA from bottled water manufacturers breaking the law over the past two years. The fines came from 345 raids carried out across the country. Offences included misleading labelling � the absence or obliteration of a price tag and other product details � the sale of water for sums higher than the marked price and sales of outdated products. more..

Jan 26 (DM) Mullaitivu Magistrate S. Lenin Kumara has ordered that all construction work on the Gurukanda Purana Rajamaha Viharaya in Nayaru, Mullaitivu be stopped till Feb 12. Mullaitivu Police said they had deployed police personnel around the temple from this morning. The police security was provided on a request made by the Incumbent of the Purana Viharaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Colombo Medhalankarakiththi Thera. more..

Jan 26 (Xinhua) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned an attack on a convoy of the UN peacekeeping force in Mali that killed two soldiers from Sri Lanka. Guterres expressed his deep condolences to the govt of Sri Lanka and the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured, said Farhan Haq, his deputy spokesman. Six peacekeepers were injured in the IED attack more..

Jan 26 (EN) Foreign investor have bought 4.7 billion rupees of bonds on a net basis in the week ending Jan 23, halting a months of sales as credibility of Sri Lanka's rupee peg was lost and political crisis in October, worsened uncertainty. Foreign investors held 318 billion rupees of bonds at the beginning of April 2018, when the central bank cut policy rates and printed tens of billions of rupees flush interbank markets with excess money. more..

Jan 26 (CI) Sri Lanka's batting failed abysmally for the second time in the match, as they crashed to 139 all out, to lose the first Test against Australia in roughly two-and-a-half days. It was the quick and intense Pat Cummins who precipitated Sri Lanka's collapse, and Cummins who made the greatest impact for Australia through the match. His 6 for 23 in the second innings are his best innings figures, and his 10 for 62 more..

Jan 26 (AD) The report of the committee probing the clashes that took place during the recent Parliament sessions has accused 59 MPs regarding the incident. The committee had handed over the relevant report to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Jan 22. Reporting the contents of the report, the BBC Sinhala Service said, 59 legislators have acted against the provisions of the Parliament (Powers & Privileges) Act. more..

Jan 26 (AD) The decision taken by the incumbent govt to cancel the order for Airbus A350 is among the reasons for the Rs 40,000 million loss incurred by SriLankan Airlines, the report of COPE has pointed out. The COPE report mentions that, before obtaining the Cabinet approval, SriLankan Airlines has paid a compensation of Rs. 16, 924,36 million to cancel the financial lease agreement for four out of the 8 Airbus more..

Jan 27 (SO) The Judiciary is perhaps the most important component in the State machinery, as it is the prime instrument that helps keep the Executive and the Legislature in check, apart from delivering justice on behalf of aggrieved citizens and meting out justice to anti-social elements. The independence and impartiality of the judiciary are essential factors for a democracy to sustain itself. When the Judiciary and the justice system of any country succumbs to external pressures and more..

Jan 27 (CT) The UPFA MP Duminda Dissanayake who was present at the Parliamentary Sitting on Wednesday (23) for the first time after political changes on 26 Oct 2018, was seen lost between Opposition rows as he could not find his seat. Dissanayake, for several minutes tried to find the seat allocated for him. Minister Gayantha Karunatileka was also seen helping Dissanayake to find the seat. Finally, a Parliamentary staff member came and escorted Dissanayake to his seat. more..

Jan 27 (SO) The British High Commission in Colombo confirmed on Friday that the UK is committed to uphold the Vienna convention as well as the rule of law when asked whether former Minister Counselor (Defence) Priyanka Fernando, who is alleged to have made an offensive gesture in London, had diplomatic immunity while serving in the UK last year. A spokesperson for the British High Commission in Colombo, Neil Kavanagh, more..

Jan 27 (Island) That Sri Lanka was unable to persuade the international credit markets to roll over the USD one billion sovereign bond that matured earlier this month was an ominous sign that no one should ignore. The last resort of the govt was to order the three largest state owned banks to borrow the money from the international market but that, too, failed and the govt was constrained to pay the debt out of the existing reserves. Last year, after accepting the position of PM at more..

Jan 27 (ST) Prez Sirisena made headlines in Manila last week with a single remark when he said the whole world must follow the example of his counterpart in the Philippines on how to tackle the drugs (narcotics) curse in that country through a campaign of neutralization. Either wittingly, or otherwise, he raised global eyebrows because over 5,000 deaths caused mainly by Govt forces in the Philippines have been the subject of concern over the manner many of the extrajudicial killings more..

Jan 27 (CT) Last week�s showdown in the House saw the Opposition Party and several other politicians accusing the US of trying to establish a military base in Sri Lanka; echoing criticisms levelled against the Chinese, that they were trying to create a military base in Hambantota, when the US Embassy revealed that the US Navy is conducting a Temporary Cargo Transfer Initiative (TCTI) using Bandaranaike Int'l Airport (BIA). more..

Jan 27 (ST) Gnanasara hamuduruwaney, I thought of writing to you when I heard that you are likely to be pardoned & released by Aiyo Sirisena next week, when the country celebrates its next Independence Day. You must be relieved, hamuduruwaney to hear that you can wear the saffron robe again, instead of the prison jumper. You must be feeling like you have won a lottery because your sentence was to run for 6 years but you are now walking away scot-free after just over 6 months. more..

Jan 27 (Island) The so-called leaders of the political parties, represented in Parliament, should hang their heads in shame. They have proved once against that they possess anything but leadership qualities. More than 90% of their MPs were absent in Parliament, during a crucial debate, on Friday. Parliamentary sittings had to be adjourned prematurely for want of a quorum. The problem of inquorate sessions persists, but nobody seems to care a damn about it. more..

Jan 27 (ST) Parliament this week approved an amendment to the Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) Act, to give more teeth to the CIAOBC. However, the slow pace at which the Govt has moved in the past four years to combat the twin evils shows that Legislation alone, without strong political will, will not help stop corruption. The CoI (Amendment) Bill was first presented to Parliament in May last year and debated in October, but its passage was put off for several months. more..

Jan 27 (CB) Sri Lanka's injury woes continued as Lahiru Kumara was ruled out of the remainder of the Australia tour due to a hamstring injury while Dushmantha Chameera was also a fitness concern. Kumara, the 21-year-old right-arm pacer, did not take the field in the final session on Day 2. He underwent scans which revealed a tear to his right hamstring. Suranga Lakmal and Dushmantha Chameera had to shoulder the bulk of the responsibilities in the first Test after more..

Jan 27 (CT) Prez Sirisena was still hero-worshipping his Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte when he vowed not to change the decision to impose capital punishment for drug traffickers while declaring the National Drug Prevention Week at the Vidyananda Maha Vidyalaya, Mulliyawalai, Mullaitivu. As the Prez was speaking in the North, his Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando was attending a felicitation ceremony more..

Jan 27 (ST) So we have hit the 5-billion dollar mark in garments exports for 2018! Five billion dollars seems to be a magical figure in Sri Lanka�s economy, particularly in the area of exports and export services income. While it was garments that have now reached this figure, the next two targets on the horizon are achieving US$5 billion in tourism services income and $5 billion in the export of IT services. It was one of those serene Thursday mornings and the garden was quiet; more..

Jan 27 (SO) International cricket umpire, Kumara Dharmasena has not only made Sri Lanka proud once again, but has also made his school Nalanda College and the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest proud by winning the David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year for the second time. Dharmasena was voted last week as the Umpire of the Year by international captains and ICC Match Referees. Speaking on his unique achievement for the 2nd consecutive year, more..

Jan 27 (Island) Skipper Dinesh Chandimal blamed his team�s batting for a below par performance as SL suffered a heavy innings and 40 run defeat at the hands of Australia in the opening Test inside three days here at the Gabba. SL, who opted to bat first after winning the toss, were shot out for 144 in the first innings and any hopes of them putting up a fight to stretch the game for the fourth day was lost when the top order collapsed more..

Jan 27 (SO) SL�s beleaguered cricketers under their highest ever paid coach Chandika Hathurusinha suffered yet another humiliating defeat this time at the hands of the regrouping Australians to lose inside three days by an innings and 40 runs in the first Test at Brisbane. The defeat comes at a time public questions have been raised over whether SLC has found returns over its investment in coach Hathurusinha who is proving to be one of the most serial-losing coaches the team has ever had more..

Jan 27 (SO) The global tea promotional campaign aimed at creating awareness and enhancing export revenue from the industry will begin in May, Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) said. The US$ 4.5 billion campaign will be launched in China, Japan and Russia, Germany, Ukraine, UAE, USA, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Chile. SLTB Chairman Lucille Wijewardena said the promotional campaign which focuses on creating awareness about Ceylon Tea will have a long term positive impact more..

Jan 27 (Island) As you walk along the Vulture�s Street passing the practice nets at the Gabba to the media center, you are reminded of that dramatic press conference here 12 years ago. Marvan Atapattu had taken over the SL captaincy in 2003 and was expected to carry the team to the 2007 World Cup. A back injury, a year prior to the World Cup in 2006 saw him out of the side and deputy Mahela Jayawardene took over. more..

Jan 27 (SO) SL�s footwear and leather sector saves Rs. 100 billion in foreign exchange annually. It manufactures 75 million pairs of shoes and slippers and looks forward to govt support to make it a vibrant industry, President, SL Footwear and Leather Products Manufacturing Association, P.G.D. Nimalsiri told guests at the opening of the Footwear and Leather Products exhibition at the BMICH last week. �The govt needs to safeguard this exchange-saving industry as it has achieved its targets. more..

Jan 27 (ST) A fine century by Avishka Fernando (139) � his second in the series and an excellent allround performance by reliable allrounder Kamindu Mendis (50 n.o. and 3 for 34) spearheaded Sri Lanka �A� for an easy 202 run victory over Ireland A in the 4th ODI match played at the SSC Grounds yesterday. Having won the toss SL �A rattled up a massive 353 for 6 wickets and dismissed the Irishmen for 151 to go up 4-0 in the five match series. Two fruitful partnerships for more..

Jan 27 (CI) They came hoping they could compete. In the end Sri Lanka were beaten in less than eight sessions at the Gabba. Given the history and conditions it was always a long shot even taking into account Australia's own problems, but the capitulation was still a woeful performance. Sri Lanka's run tally of 283 over the two innings was their second-lowest in Australia behind Darwin in 2004 and Melbourne in 2012. more..

Jan 27 (ST) The Sri Lanka govt will be introducing a broad- based policy on the employment of expatriate staff in local and foreign banks, considering the requirements for external expert contribution. The Central Bank will devise a new regulatory framework, to ensure that treasury operations of licensed banks are carried out prudently and in line with international best practices. It is also focusing attention on measures to impose and reinforce the regulatory and supervisory roles on more..

Jan 27 (ST) Sri Lanka�s banking sector is faced with a serious profitability crisis on the back of large govt taxes while slapped with new accounting standards that require them to adopt more impairment costs on loans, experts say. Unlike other companies, barring tobacco and liquor firms, the banks and finance companies pay nearly 60% in taxes to the govt. Liquor sector pays almost 92% in taxes. The new accounting standard, SLFRS 09 issued in July 2014 is intended to reflect more..

Jan 27 (ST) With the aim of adding value to Sri Lanka mineral exports, a leading Japanese conglomerate headed by a billionaire businessman has finalised a deal with local authorities to soon take over strategic mineral production, especially ilmenite at the Pulmoddai deposit. Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd (LMSL) will be restructured under a public private partnership with this Japanese company, informed official sources said. more..