Oct 30 (FT) All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), in a statement, earnestly requested Muslims to adhere to the following guidelines with regard to the Prez Elections scheduled to be held on 16 Nov. It is a well-known fact that ACJU is a civil organisation that has been engaged for well over 90 years in social religious activities in this country. It neither supports nor rails against any political party or any candidate. Therefore we kindly request all concerned not to engage in the political more..

Oct 30 (CT) UNF MP, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that he will shortly institute legal action at the Supreme Court against UNP MP Thushara Indunil. Dr. Rajapakshe said Indunil had charged that the former during his tenure as Minister of Justice had pressured the Judiciary to grant verdicts favourable to him and his colleagues. Dr. Rajapakshe asserted that during his stint as Minister of Justice, he had never interfered with the Judiciary nor did he intervened with regard to a single case. more..

Oct 30 (AD) The UNICEF has identified six key commitments that the prez candidates in Sri Lanka can promise to implement after they take up office in 2020. Issuing a statement on Ara Wade: A Vote For Children � a campaign to demand every prez candidate to prioritize the rights of children � the UNICEF pointed out that Sri Lanka made a commitment to protect and ful�fill the rights of children, by adopting the UN Convention on more..

Oct 30 (TM) DNF prez candidate Sajith Premadasa said the only post he had decided so far was the Defense Minster post, which he has promised to Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. Premadasa who was speaking at a rally in Dambulla today said he had chosen Fonseka purely based on his capabilities and accomplishments. He further revealed that as President, he will check if officials were corrupt or had brought disrepute to the country when signing their respective appointment letters. more..

Oct 30 (AD) Ministry of Defence has issued a set of guidelines for all military and Police personnel on conducting themselves during the forthcoming Prez Election. Accordingly, any active military and Police personnel are not allowed to engage in any political activities apart from casting their vote at the election, Ministry emphasized. Ministry also urges the active and retired military or Police officers to completely refrain from engaging in political campaigns while in their uniforms. more..

Oct 30 (AD) State Minister Wasantha Senanayake says he will not quit his ministerial post and challenged the UNP to remove him from the party if possible. He made these remarks addressing a press conference held at Colombo today. The UNP yesterday strip the party membership from Wasantha Senanayake with immediate effect. Wasantha Senanayake, great-grandson of UNP founder D.S. Senanayake, is the current more..

Oct 30 (RN) State Minister Eran Wickramaratne says the current UNP govt could not execute all its plans in the last four years because they were in a coalition with the SLFP. �In the Combined govt no one could take lone decisions, so UNP could not completely execute its plans,� he said. He told reporters this morning, that it was the first time after 25 years the UNP ministers at least could do some work through the combined govt. He also added that the UNP could only execute its plans after more..

Oct 30 (DN) Ongoing restoration work of the Ruwanveli Maha Seya has been unjustly criticized now, said Anuradhapura Ruwenweli Chethiyaramadhipathi Ven. Pallegama Hemarathna Nayake Thera. Nayaka Thera said the people should not react against critics since their allegations are baseless. The Ven Thera said the Maha Seya is white washed annually and occasionally, the pinnacle is serviced and it costs very much. Thera added that renovation works are entrusted to more..

Oct 30 (AD) Plans have been formulated to take necessary measure if a disaster situation arises during the period of elections, stated Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara. Minster stated the prevailing inclement weather will not be a hindrance in the period of the election. Meanwhile, Department of Meteorology states that the prevailing adverse weather conditions affecting many districts in the country will subside shortly. more..

Oct 30 (DM) President Maithripala Sirisena is reported to have told the Cabinet today that he would not accept the report compiled by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that probed the Easter Sunday carnage. The PSC presented its report to parliament last week. In its findings, the PSC blamed the incident mainly on the lapses on the part of the State Intelligence Service and govt leaders for failing to take action to prevent the attack that killed more than 250 people. more..

Oct 30 (DN) SL Malay community recently organised a discussion with NDF Prez candidate Sajith Premadasa at Marine Drive Banquet Hall, Colombo 6. Colombo District MPs A.H.M. Fowzie, Mujibur Rahuman, S.M. Marikkar, SLMC Political Member Anwer, Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake and World Malay Communities President from Malaysia, Tan Sri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustom addressed the gathering. President of the Bangun, T.K. Azoor said their first and main demand is restoring more..

Oct 30 (AD) Nearly 600,000 voters are reportedly eligible to cast their postal voting for the Prez Election 2019, which is set to take place tomorrow and the day after. The postal voting of the officers of District Secretariats, Election Offices and Police Stations is scheduled to take place on Nov 4 and 5. Officers of the Election Commission and the voters who are unable to cast their ballot on that day will be given the opportunity on Nov 7, more..

Oct 31 (DN) In 2018, total debt service cost was 108% of govt revenue, meaning all govt revenue went just to service debt! On average between 2006-18, debt service cost was 93% of revenue. What does the govt do with this money? The largest proportion - about 42% of revenue gets spent on salaries and pensions of public servants. Interest on debt absorbs another 37%, the remainder gets spent on various other services but loss-making state enterprises absorb a chunk of it. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Sri Lanka�s education system is in a deep crisis. That is a major part of economic, social and political crisis. Some symptoms are revealed in high unemployment, more under employment, dis-functional economy, university disturbances, and even youth suicide. It is necessary to conceptualize the need for quality education as a human right, not neglecting the attendant duties and responsibilities of all sections involved/responsible. This article is presented in two steps. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Someone asked: I saw your thirteen demands. As a minority group how could you demand a division of the Country? It seems presumptuous on the part of the five Tamil Political Parties to demand so. Your comments? My Response was: They were our sincere and essential requests not demands. These need to be considered by those who aspire to rule this Country as Prez. Sri Lankan Tamils are not minorities. more..

Oct 31 (CT) It has been widely reported that by a slim majority (31-27; my absentia vote makes 26 into 27) the ULF, led by Lal Wijenayake (Lal), Jayampathy Wickremaratne (Jumpy) and Vijaya Kumar (VK), changed its stand on the prez election. At a 23 Oct Central Committee meeting it adopted a new line sponsored by Jumpy. The previous two-point strategy which I still endorse (Nurture a democratic-left alternative: Vote First preference for Anura, second for Sajith) was changed to a more..

Oct 31 (DN) Those who watched the movie Broken Arrow will remember being introduced to the storyline of a terror outfit attempting to steal a radioactive weapon. Hollywood has dazzled us with other action-packed movies on this topic. Many Sri Lankans are not aware of the nature of a CBRNE threat, which is a global issue, for which law enforcement agencies have been gearing up for the past decade. One of the first local agencies to realise the threat of CBRNE is the STF. more..

Oct 31 (CT) UPFA MP Prasanna Ranatunga says those accused of involvement in the Easter Sunday attacks and bank thieves are all on Sajith Premadasa's stage. Q: How is the election campaign of your faction coming along? Are you satisfied with the progress? A: We see that the people are working towards the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa with huge expectations and massive commitment. more..

Oct 31 (CT) The ultimate objective of the following condition (the 1st of 13 conditions) proposed to Prez candidates by the TNA and the other Tamil political parties is clear: i.e. To turn the Northern and Eastern Provinces into one self-governing territory with a significant degree of independence. The following is how it appears in the Tamil Net website as a direct translation from the Tamil version: (a) New constitutional processes that uphold unitary y system of rule should be rejected. more..

Oct 31 (Island) The Cabinet has, after months of dillydallying, decided to sign the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement. Its previous attempts to do so failed owing to objections from no less a person than President Maithripala Sirisena, who said all agreements with foreign powers had to be studied properly before being inked. Has the President softened his stand on the MCC compact or buckled under pressure? (Or, will he say he has just seen it in newspapers?) more..

Oct 31 (CT) The psychological boost to SLPP of winning Elpitiya election so near to the all-important Prez election scheduled for 16 Nov could be high. Especially, given the margin of victory, it has an impact. Visiting the southern area the day after that election victory had been announced; in many places people had seen, SLPP cadres carrying out their house-to-house campaigns for the Prez election. However, it is my experience that door to door campaign or pocket meetings at village more..

Oct 31 (Island) Yes, that�s what most of our beauty pageants have turned out to be � A BIG JOKE! But, it�s no laughing matter where the participants are concerned. They are being ripped off, because some of these so-called beauty pageants have turned out to be money-spinners for the organisers! We have had lots of complaints coming our way (and there�s plenty on social media, as well) regarding the unprofessional and amateurish manner many of these pageants are being conducted. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Olympian High Jumper Manjula Kumara Wijesekara called it a day to his versatile professional athletics career, marking the end of a remarkable journey which brought glory to SL at the int'l athletics arena for almost two decades. Manjula the iconic High Jumper and National record holder throughout the last two decades wanted to end on a high by winning a medal for Sri Lanka during the forthcoming South Asian Games, but more..

Oct 31 (DN) Eight Sri Lanka schoolboy pugilists will create history when they participate for the first time at the King of the Ring international boxing tournament to be held from November 21 to 25 in Boras, Sweden. The Schools Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (SBASL) selected eight winners at the Stubbs Shield Boxing Championships held as part of the All Island National School Games held earlier this month at the Jayathilaka Boxing Stadium in Nawalapitiya. more..

Oct 31 (Island) Seylan Bank closed the nine months ending 30th Sept 2019 with a post-tax profit of Rs. 2,554 Mn, a marginal increase of 1% over the corresponding period last year. Growth in advances coupled with the rise in interest rates enabled interest income to grow by 16.77% and interest expenses increased by 22.28%. As a result, Net interest income recorded a growth of 7.20% to reach Rs. 13,987 Mn. Net fees and commission income recorded a slight growth of 4.54% more..

Oct 31 (TM) People�s Bank has obtained an enjoining order on 23 Oct from the Commercial High Courts of Colombo preventing MTD Walkers (KAPI) from being taken over by casino operator Ravi Wijeratne. Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) listed construction firm announced in a stock exchange disclosure today (30) that the order enjoined the company, or its holding company MTD Capital Bhd, from going through with the transaction or more..

Oct 31 (ST) The Wales physically challenged cricket team will tour Sri Lanka to play a series of four matches which includes two T20s and two ODIs. The tour has been proposed by the the Wales Physically Challenged Cricket Association. The series will be played at the Prince of Wales College grounds in Moratuwa. Matches will be played from Oct 27 to 30. Since Physically Challenged cricket was introduced to Sri Lanka in 2014, the country has achieved greater heights during a short span. more..

Oct 31 (EN) Laugfs Holdings is looking to list more local and foreign subsidiaries on the CSE in the future, a top official said. �Today, the little homegrown enterprise we started in 1995 is present in almost 20 unique and significant sectors in Sri Lanka and overseas,� CEO W.H.K. Wegapitiya said. �We have become a multinational energy company and our Laugfs brand has become well known in many other countries,� he said, speaking at the bell ringing ceremony when Laugfs Power Limited more..

Oct 31 (EN) Sri Lanka�s prez candidates have spent an estimated 750 million rupees on promotions in the past three weeks with most money shelled out by the main two contenders, an elections monitoring organization said. Manjula Gajanayaka, National Co-ordinator, CMEV said a project started by the organization to estimate election spending had found that two contenders had spent 760 million rupees on promotions. more..

Oct 31 (EN) Sri Lanka�s current Inland Revenue Act, which is giving more clarity and stability, will pay dividends in the medium to long term, an economist at the IPS, a think tank, said. The new tax law, which came into effect in April 2018, is phasing out ad-hoc tax adjustments, Executive Director Dushni Weerakoon, a contributing author for the IPS� flagship publication State of the Economy 2019, said. However, the tax to GDP had fallen to 11.9 percent in 2018 from 12.4% a year earlier. more..

Oct 31 (FT) Leading online store Daraz.lk, which is part of Alibaba Group said on Tuesday that e-commerce in Sri Lanka is growing steadily, but there is a lot more to be improved on, particularly on logistics. During the three years of its operations in Sri Lanka, the company said it has now reached the full capacity of 200,000 items at its central warehouse located in Kelaniya, and is now in the process of investing in another, while also setting up more last mile mini-hubs around Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 31 (FT) SLMC Leader and Minister Rauff Hakeem reproached the Opposition for condemning the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) Report, in a meeting in Kurunegala, this week. He stated that the Opposition raises doubts about the Select Committee Report because they fear that if the Easter Sunday carnage matter is further investigated, the alleged surreptitious activities of the State intelligence and more..

Oct 31 (DN) The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce launched the working draft of Sri Lanka Economic Acceleration Framework (SEAF) 2020-25 on Sept 17, 2019. The document has identified over 140 interventions that require to be implemented in driving Sri Lanka�s GDP from USD 89 billion (2018) to USD 134 billion by 2025, propelling GDP growth in the period to an average of 6.8%. The 12 areas have been identified as priority areas for economic development in the 2020-25 period. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels promoted exports of Fair Trade and organic products from Sri Lanka during the Fair Trade Week in Belgium organised by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), Fair Trade Belgium, Belgium Fair Trade Federation (BFTF) and the Trade Development Center (TDC) in Oct 2019. As part of the programme of Fair Trade Week in Belgium the Embassy conducted an interactive promotional event between the importers in Belgium and more..

Oct 31 (TM) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has shortlisted three candidates from the several applications received for the post of National cricket team coach, and a final decision will be taken by mid next month. The shortlisted candidates are Trevor Penney, Mickey Arthur and Mark Ramprakash. SLC opted to obtain the services of a new coach after charge sheets were issued to Chandika Hathurusinghe for failing to deliver more..

Oct 31 (TM) New Democratic Front (NDF) candidate Sajith Premadasa�s helicopter was unable to land in Kurunegala today due to alleged sabotage. Premadasa was to address a rally in kurunegala today. Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera said that the electricity was cut off in the area just before the helicopter could land. Perera claimed that the Kurunegala Municipality had cut off electricity at the spot the helicopter was to land placing Premadasa�s life in danger. more..

Oct 31 (Island) Minister Lakshman Kiriella, said the Kandy�Colombo Expressway would be completed by the beginning of 2020. Addressing a meeting convened by the JSS, Minister said that people would be able to reach Kandy from Colombo within a short time, via Kurunegala. He rejected the allegation by former Prez Rajapaksa that the Expressway was a failure of Minister Kiriella. He said that Rajapaksa had no plan to construct an Expressway to Kandy from Colombo. more..

Oct 31 (FT) The SLPP yesterday said if its prez candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa is elected he would revisit and renegotiate all bilateral agreements, including the $ 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant Cabinet approved this week. Cabinet on Tuesday approved the implementation of the $ 480 million MCC grant, based on a proposal by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera. more..

Oct 31 (FT) Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs yesterday announced that the Government has undertaken a series of major interventions in the Jaffna district. As a priority intervention, Ministry is rapidly implementing 10,000 Brick and Mortar type housing program with the funding of Govt for the IDPs and Refugee Returnees in the conflict affected Northern and Eastern Provinces. more..