Sep 2 (AD) Hultsdorf Magistrate (Aluthkade) has issued an order preventing unauthorized within the Hultsdorf Court jurisdiction. The order will be in effect until the 10th of Sept, stated the Police Media Spokesperson. The order has been directed to the group including the Convenor of Sinhala Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhala National Force) Madille Pannaloka Thero, Convenor of Ravana Balaya Ittekande Saddhatissa Thero more..

Sep 2 (CT) A proposal to oust PM Ranil Wickremesinghe as President of the Kelaniya Rajamaha Viharaya Dayaka Sabha had been seconded at the Dayaka Sabha Meeting held yesterday, according to a Dayaka Sabha Secretary, Saman Ranasinghe. Ranasinghe added that he seconded the proposal presented to the Sabha. He revealed that while seven persons voted against the proposal, the number of persons that voted in favour of it was between 100 and 150. more..

Sep 2 (DM) A total of 3,265 persons were arrested in a 4-hour special operation conducted islandwide yesterday morning. Accordingly, 401 persons were arrested for drunk driving while 882 were arrested in relation to the possession of heroin or other illegal narcotics. Police arrested 1,080 warranted suspects and 767 suspects in connection with other criminal offences during the raid. Special raid was carried out from 2.am to 6.a.m on Sunday and 14,695 police personnel were engaged in the operation. more..

Sep 2 (Island) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to be nominated as the UNP-led NDA Prez candidate, senior party sources say. According to the UNP constitution it was the party leader who had to contest the prez election unless he or she declined or was too feeble to undertake a rigorous campaign. If a secret ballot was held among members of the Working Committee and Parliamentary Group, more..

Sep 2 (DM) Aug 29, was the International Day Against Nuclear Weapons. In our country unfortunately, date went largely unmarked. On Dec 2, 2009, the 64th session of the UN declared 29 Aug the Int'l Day against Nuclear Tests by unanimously adopting Resolution 64/35. The resolution calls for increasing awareness and education �about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving more..

Sep 2 (DM) The SLPP presidential campaign of Gotabaya Rajapaksa is gaining steam and the JVP has announced Anura Kumara Dissanayake as its candidate, but the UNP is in crisis without a candidate. Prez elections, in addition to consolidating the power of future rulers, raise and debate the politics of powerful social constituencies that either ideologically emerge victorious or are defeated. In the months ahead, there are the dual dangers of consolidation of chauvinist politics more..

Sep 2 (ST) An agreement due to be signed between Sri Lanka and the Maldives next week will allow visa free entry for 90 days for Sri Lankans visiting the Maldives and Maldivians visiting Sri Lanka. The agreement will be signed during the official visit of PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Maldives from tomorrow to Sept 4. Cabinet this week approved the proposed agreement. The agreement would exempt citizens from more..

Sep 2 (TM) Minister Malik Samarawickrema has revised down the export target of 2019 to $ 18.5 billion from the initial $ 20 billion. During a seminar in Colombo this morning, Minister set the new target of $ 18.5 billion, which he expressed confidence in achieving despite multiple setbacks throughout the year. This was a downward revision from his earlier target of $ 20 billion which he expressed confidence more..

Sep 2 (Island) The Ceylon Bank Employees� Union (CBEU), yesterday, said that it was deeply concerned about what a senior spokesman called a hidden agenda in presenting a Bill to enhance Authorised Share Capital (ASC) of the People�s Bank. The spokesman said that they believed that the govt was making a bid to privatise the People�s Bank on the pretext of enhancing the ASC from Rs 1 bn to Rs 50 bn. more..

Sep 2 (FT) His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS yesterday conducted the first sermon of Ashara Mubaraka in Husaini Masjid, Colombo 4. As has been his practice over the last few years, Syedna Saifuddin announced that the series of ten sermons would centre upon a single theme. This year, he has chosen to base his sermons on an extensive counsel given by Imam Ali bin Abu Talib SA to his son Imam Hasan SA. more..

Sep 2 (CT) Attorney- at-Law Premanath Dolawaththa filed a petition in the Supreme Court, on 27 August 2019, complaining that the SL Ruhunu Economic Development Corporation (SLREDC) Bill, which has been included in the Order Paper of Parliament, is not in accordance with the Constitution. He has filed the petition through his Instructing Counsel, Attorney-at-Law Nalin Samarakoon. more..

Sep 2 (GDI) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has arrived in the Maldives today on an Official Visit at the invitation of President of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The PM, accompanied by his spouse, Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, and visiting delegation arrived at Velana International Airport and was received by Maldivian Foreign Minister, Abdulla Shahid. The SL PM will hold bilateral discussions with Solih, more..

Sep 2 (DM) Non-Cabinet Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the announcement of the Prez Candidate of the UNP-led Democratic National will take place at the 73rd Anniversary of UNP on Sept 6. He said it would coincide with the 73rd anniversary of the UNP. He also said that a final decision would be taken after discussing with the senior members of the party after the return of PM from the Maldives on Wednesday. more..

Sep 2 (TM) Former president of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) Professor Carlo Fonseka, aged 86 passed away today due to illness. Fonseka was a former dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Uni of Kelaniya. Being a political activist, Prof Fonseka was a prominent member of the Trotskyist LSSP. He was a member of the party�s central committee and politburo and lead its branch in Kotte. He was a vocal critic of private more..

Sep 2 (Island) The family members of former President of the SL Jama�athe Islami (SLJI), Uzthaz Rasheed Hajjul Akbar have expressed dismay at his detention after being taken away at midnight for questioning. His detention is a case of being victimised for opposing extremism, they have asserted. Hajjul Akbar was taken away for questioning by the CCD around 12.30 am on Aug 25th and not released thereafter. more..

Sep 2 (NR) Govt of Maldives and Govt of SL have exchanged an Agreement of Cooperation and three MoUs, to facilitate practical engagement between the two govts. Agreement and MoU are as follows: Agreement on the facilitation of Visa Arrangements, which will supersede the previous arrangement of 2008. Under this renewed agreement, free 90-day on-arrival visas for visitors between the two countries will continue more..

Sep 2 (AD) The head and the remains of the Zion Church suicide bomber, which were buried at the Kalliyankadu Cemetery, were exhumed, today. The remains were exhumed under the supervision of the Batticaloa Magistrate, Batticaloa Judicial Medical Officer and officials of the CID. Currently, the head and the remains are kept in the mortuary of the Batticaloa, under police protection. The remains are to be buried at a site notified by the District Secretary of Batticaloa, stated the Police. more..

Sep 2 (CT) As Sri Lanka ambles or bungles itself into all sorts of presidential election wrangles and tangles the truth is that no one did anything about advance warnings received from India and elsewhere. Put that into your pipes and some on it awhile at least they used to do that long ago with lesser curses all around. Take the bitter pills swallowed down every morning by the top men such as President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, the two men who are more..

Sep 2 (SLN) The Navy this morning (1) rescued 04 Indian fishers aboard a distressed trawler in the seas off Kachchativu, Jaffna. The fishing trawler and its crew encountered this unfortunate incident as a result of prevailing rough sea condition. A naval craft belonging to the Northern Naval Command had spotted a trawler which was adrift, while patrolling in northern seas this morning. Subsequently, the naval craft had reached the distressed trawler and rendered it technical assistance needed. more..

Sep 2 (Ed) Maldives on Monday will participate in the South Asia Parliamentarian Platform for Children, hosted by Sri Lanka with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for parliamentarians across South Asia to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. At the meeting, MPs will take stock of the situation of children in the region and discuss the key challenges towards the realisation of all rights of all children to ensure further progress. more..

Sep 2 (Reuters) Sri Lanka prez candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been a polarizing figure for much of his political life. It is an image he is trying to change. When he was defense chief in his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa�s govt he crushed ethnic Tamil separatist rebels, bringing a 26-year-long civil war to a close. But relatives of dead or missing Tamils have accused him of war crimes, including extra-judicial killings and abductions, more..

Sep 2 (FT) It was the year 1974. The Central Bank had recruited a new batch of staff officers. News soon came that, among them, there was a boy from Cambridge University who spoke English with a foreign accent. By that time the bank�s lower rank inhabitants, including this writer, were all local graduates. Driven by the protection mentality that displayed itself in a camouflaged veil of extreme local sentiments, they had felt the need for projecting bank as their exclusive preserve. more..

Sep 2 (DN) The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) issuing a statement calling on Muslim women to avoid situations where they could face harassment due to their attire. The statement was issued with reference to the matter of wearing Niqab and Burka face veils that result in full-face cover which was banned under Emergency law in the immediate aftermath of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks, Muslim community sources said. ACJU Vice President Ash Shaikh H. Omardeen more..

Sep 2 (AD) The Attorney General has tendered the extradition request for former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran to the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry for necessary authentication and transmission to the Singaporean govt. Mahendran, who is wanted in connection with investigations into the Central Bank treasury bond scam, is believed to be in Singapore. A Singapore national of Sri Lankan origin, more..

Sep 2 (CT) Although the Election Commission has decided to hold the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha Elections in the early part of October, the Govt was attempting to delay it till after the Prez Election, claimed UPFA MP Dullas Alahapperuma, who was recently appointed as Media Spokesman for Sri SLPP Prez Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He said that PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa were trying to put the plan into action, adding that the JO, more..

Sep 2 (Island) The Sinha-Le organisation has asked the government to appoint a special commission to investigate the controversies surrounding the illicit liquor production and authorities cooperating with those businessmen and their political backers. National Organiser of the organisation Pradeep Sanjeewa, who was a former Rehabilitating Assistant of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board said, yesterday, that the moonshine businessmen had the backing of police, more..

Sep 2 (Island) Amid the legal wrangling over the filling of the parliamentary seat that fell vacant after the death of Kurunegala District MP Salinda Dissanayake, Election Commission (EC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said the district returning officer had the authority to decide. He said his office would stand by whatever decision that was taken by the district returning officer with regard to the filling the vacancy. more..

Sep 2 (AD) High Commissioner of India to SL Taranjit Singh Sandhu says that India is with Sri Lanka though the island�s difficult times and that India believes in SL�s strength, resilience and its ability to rise in all its glory. Sri Lanka India Society (SLIS) celebrated India�s 73rd Independence Day on yesterday at a function held at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo. Minister Sagala Ratnayaka, was the Chief Guest and High Commissioner of India to SL Taranjit Singh Sandhu was Guest of Honor. more..

Sep 2 (DN) The teacher should mediate to build academically as well as ethically rich children. President Maithripala Sirisena says the teacher should mediate to build a disciplined student who is academically as well as ethically enriched. The President, addressing a ceremony held at the Sri Lanka Foundation, today to award Graduate Teaching Appointments in the Western Province, said that teachers are the most important factor when determining the future of a child, and more..

Sep 2 (RN) Prez Sirisena will testify before the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday attacks but the inquiry will be held at the Prez Secretariat and not in Parliament, highly placed sources said. The date for the session has not been confirmed and it is not known whether he will testify under oath, these sources said. He has however agreed to allow the Media to report the proceedings. more..

Sep 2 (AP) Sri Lanka have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate against New Zealand in the first T20I in Pallekele on Sunday. Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed a fine of 40 per cent of their match fee on all 11 Sri Lanka players after Lasith Malinga�s side was ruled to be two overs short of its target after time allowances were taken into consideration. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and more..

Sep 2 (AD) Twenty more inmates detained over drug rackets and organized crimes have been transferred to the Boossa Prison. Detainees of Welikada, Dumbara and other prisons have been transferred amidst high security to Boossa in this manner. The intelligence units have identified the group of inmates to be drug racketeers and masterminds of various crimes operating within prisons. It is reported that the prison cells allocated for these inmates have been tightly secured. more..

Sep 2 (PTI) Australian PM Scott Morrison on Monday refused to intervene to stop a Tamil family from being deported to Sri Lanka, saying an exception here or there would only could increase people-smuggling trade. His comments came amidst a mounting public and political pressure on the government to let the Tamil couple, Priya and Nadesalingam, and their two Australian-born toddlers to stay in the country. more..

Sep 2 (RN) The Supreme Court has ordered that the Fundamental Rights petition filed by the depositors in the ETI Finance Company calling on the courts to freeze the bank accounts of the failed finance company be heard on December 4. The court has been informed that ETI is being restructured by new investors. The petition names eighteen respondents including the Central Bank, the Governor, Members of the Monetary Board, the IGP and the Secretary to the Finance Ministry. more..

Sep 2 (DM) There was a shortage of 319 essential and 324 other drugs in the Central Medical Stores, GMOA alleged. GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said if the situation in the Central Medical Stores was so bad, the situation at hospitals in the entire country could be worse. �There are issues with regard to the standard of drugs and also the severe shortage of drugs in govt hospitals. Most of the hospitals are finding it difficult to provide optimum services in clinics, OPD and in-house care, more..

Sep 2 (CT) The JO claimed that it will go before the Supreme Court against the Minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera, for requesting the Cabinet to allocate Rs 400 million to each UNP MP in order to implement the Gamperaliya Project III without obtaining the opinion of other MPs. Dr. Gunawardena said that Samaraweera has requested this sum as a bribe to Ministers, and for UNP MPs to conduct election campaigns. more..

Sep 2 (RN) SLFP MP Nimal Siripala de Silva said that SLPP had accepted the fact the presidential elections could not be won without the support of the SLFP. �Basil Rajapaksa clearly accepted the fact that the support of SLFP is needed to win the election,� he added. He said that the SLFP and SLPP are going into discussions because of the common view of forming an anti-UNP front. He also said that although various SLPP people say things against the SLFP the common view of more..

Sep 2 (AD) Veteran traditional SL drummer and dancer Piyasara Shilpadhipathi has passed away at the age of 75. A former senior lecturer in the Dept of Aesthetic Studies of the University of Kelaniya, Shilpadhipathi was renowned for his mastery of traditional Sri Lankan drums. Piyasara and his wife Kanthi Shilpadhipathi are recognised for putting Sri Lanka on the world map with their celebrated traditional dancing. Piyasara was a visiting lecturer at several universities in California more..

Sep 2 (ABC) Victorian police have released CCTV footage of a pair they want to speak to about an alleged hit-and-run that killed a kind and sociable international student near Melbourne's Monash University last week. Nisali Perera, 20, was crossing the road near the university's Clayton campus on Thursday night when she was struck by a car believed to be speeding through a red light. The Sri Lankan national, who was studying more..