Jan 10 (DM) State Minister C.B. Ratnayake said that the ministry had decided to suspend importing of railway compartments in the future. Speaking to the media following an inspection visit to the Maradana Railway yard, he said only the seats of the compartments would be imported in the first phase, at the initiating of the programme. However, the technicians and engineers at the Maradana workshop yard were able to more..

Jan 10 (FT) Minister Johnston Fernando instructed officials overseeing the management of Galle Face Green to decorate the surrounding coastal line and walking paths with solar powered lighting to illuminate the area, following his observations made during a recent inspection of the landmark. Accordingly, SLMPCS of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority has informed the Minister that this project will commence within a month under its direct assistance. more..

Jan 10 (ST) A congregation of 23 journalists, each representing 23 different press and media enterprises of France and Belgium, is due to arrive in SL on Jan 18 on a familiarisation tour organised by Salaun Holidays, one of the leading tour operators in France. Initiated by Chairman and Proprietor of Connaissance de Ceylan and Theme Resorts and Spas Chandra Wickramasinghe together with Michel Salaun, Chairman and Proprietor of Salaun Holidays, more..

Jan 10 (Island) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the UPFA had thrown its weight behind the 19th Amendment to the Constitution following its defeat at the 2015 prez election. PM Rajapaksa told a group of print media editors that he hadn�t been in Parliament at the time the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was enacted. He said so when The Island asked for an explanation as to why they complained now about the 19th Amendment more..

Jan 10 (AD) SriLankan Airlines recently issued a statement clarifying an erroneous news item with regard to the purchase of drinking water for its valued passengers. The full statement: Due to the extensive time taken by cabin crew members to physically pour and serve water to all of the passengers on flights operating on short sectors, most airlines serve either bottled water or pre-cupped water. The size of a cup is dictated by the specifications of the meal tray used on board, more..

Jan 10 (DM) The railway department will introduce a Heritage Train with wooden compartments to promote the tourism industry in the upcountry in the future, the Railways Chief Engineer Mechanical and Project Director Keerthi Hewavitharana said. He said the project was initiated as a concept of the Railways General Manager. This Super Luxury Train consisting of four wooden compartments will be assigned to travel between Ella and Kandy and will be available only for tourists, he said. more..

Jan 10 (CT) CID yesterday, informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratna that Bathiudeen Rifkhan Mohammad, brother of MP Rishad Bathiudeen was continuing to avoid them. They said that Mohammad continued to avoid them after they produced suspect Mohideen Ansardeen in Court on charges of compiling bogus land deeds and forcibly taking over 40 acres of land valued at Rs 24 million, in Thalaimannar. more..

Jan 10 (CT) Cash rewards of rupees one million is on offer in the senior category when the 67th National Badminton Championships coinciding with the 37th Junior Badminton Nationals take place at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium from 13-18 January. Over hundred top shuttlers from across the country will be in action for the honour to be crowned National Champion during the six-day competition. The championships are in line with international standards. more..

Jan 10 (PTI) Trump administration's point person for South and Central Asia, Alice G Wells, will visit India next week for a series of bilateral meetings and the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi. Wells will travel to India, from Jan 15-18, to attend the Raisina Dialogue, the State Departmen said and added that she will be in Islamabad from Jan 19-22. Before coming to India, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs will be in Sri Lanka from Jan 13-14. more..

Jan 10 (Island) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that it would be the responsibility of CJ Jayantha Jayasuriya to take action in respect of the recent disclosure of UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake�s audio clips. State Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, on Wednesday, said that there were a staggering 121,000 audio clips collected over a four and half years though fewer than 2 dozen were currently in public domain. more..

Jan 10 (AD) The Colombo High Court today (9) set a date to file counter-objections on the revision applications filed by former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara. IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were taken into custody for allegedly failing to prevent the coordinated terror attacks that claimed the lives of over 250 persons on Easter Sunday even after receiving forewarnings on the matter. more..

Jan 10 (DM) If the US-Iran conflict escalates further, govt will take steps to bring back about 30 Sri Lankans living in Iran, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. He said, without elaborating, that Foreign Affairs Ministry was monitoring the situation closely and would issue a statement in due course on the matter. He said as far as he was aware there was not a big contingent of expatriate Sri Lankans in Iran but admitted that if the situation worsened it would definitely affect SL. more..

Jan 10 (DM) In a bid to expand govt job opportunities to the most deprived and neglected sections in society, the cabinet yesterday decided to lower the minimum qualifications to Grade 8 for employment in the proposed Multi Purpose Development Task Force (MPDTF) of 100,000 members, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said. Initially, the cabinet had proposed GCE O/L as the minimum educational qualifications for more..

Jan 10 (Island) The govt would have to fork out Rs. 6,500 million this year to purchase emergency power, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said during a progress meeting at his ministry. He said the govt was left with no alternative but to turn to emergency power with a drought expected in March. Not a single major power plant had been built during the previous yahapalana regime, the Minister said, stressing that from next year on wards the govt�s focus would be on renewable energy. more..

Jan 10 (FT) PM Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa confirmed that the Govt would seek a two-thirds majority at the upcoming General Elections to change the Constitution. �There are issues with the 19th Amendment as well as the present electoral system. Currently, we are a minority Govt and at the next Parliamentary Election we will seek a two-thirds mandate from the people so we can make the desired changes to the Constitution and the electoral system,� he said at his first meeting with more..

Jan 10 (FT) Govt called on Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya to conduct an independent investigation into the issues raised by the leaked tapes linked to MP Ranjan Ramanayake and backpedalled on the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), saying it would foster divisions between the Legislature and Judiciary. Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said that the leaked tapes and their impact on more..

Jan 11 (DM) The crippling national debt problem which all recent govts of the post-independence era have been forced to face, has been a veritable eye-sore in the face of our dear motherland. Each successive govt is guilty of having added to debt due to constant borrowing from funding agencies and entering into imprudent and hasty trade agreements based on borrowed capital. SL is one of those unfortunate and karmic nations which has continuously been dependent on int'l more..

Jan 11 (DM) There are many ways to read the politics surrounding the raiding of Ranjan Ramanayake�s house, his subsequent arrest and the recorded phone conversations. Predictably the Colombots cried out in horror. Consumed perhaps by the disappointed of preferred outcomes not materializing on Nov 16, 2019 and/or anti-Rajapaksa sentiment that has become second-nature, Born Again Democrats, Candlelight Ladies, Funded Voices and other closer UNPers more..

Jan 11 (DM) Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s presidency has not seen the kind of comic interludes we saw building up in the first hundred days of the Sirisena presidency. At least, not yet. Sirisena bungled it up because he wasn�t satisfied with the reality of a new era: he chose to go for the optics. The sandals he wore, the pen he wrote with, the residence he went to live in: these he thought, as did we, would be enough. They were not. more..

Jan 11 (CT) In concluding comments when finalising his maiden Presidential address to the nation via Parliament last week, Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa made references to some "Inherent ambiguities and confusions in the now existing 1978 Constitution," adding significantly that "in order to safeguard the security, sovereignty, stability and integrity" of the nation the blame for these negatives have arisen from the 19 occasions on which the Constitution had been amended. more..

Jan 11 (CT) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his New Year message said the new Govt welcomes the New Year with determination and commitment to make it the Year of Prosperity. He said he was of the view that the New Year dawns at a time when the entire Sri Lankan nation is beaming with hopes for a new era in economic, political, social, cultural and technological spheres of life, in their motherland. As a country with our own vision, we can be proud of many great achievements in the past. more..

Jan 11 (DM) This is my third and final column in the trilogy of articles about the singing of SL�s national anthem in Sinhala and Tamil languages. I would have very much liked to write about hot topics like Ranjan Ramanayake�s voice recordings or Prez Gotabaya�s policy speech or internal troubles of the UNP, but I shall stick to this issue that I feel very strongly about. I have been deeply touched and vastly encouraged by more..

Jan 11 (FT) The police had taken into custody, 338 CDs containing recordings of telephone conversations, found in the residence of MP Ranjan Ramanayake. The number of telephone conversations recorded in them is more than 13,000. Ranjan Ramanayake had followed a tradition of recording telephone conversations originated by him as well as those he received from others. It is not ethical and proper to record a telephone conversation without the knowledge and more..

Jan 11 (FT) All countries need to address the social security of their subjects who need to be supported. Social security is asserted in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stated as follows: �Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realisation, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organisation and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity more..

Jan 11 (Island) Strange but true and making life much easier for Cass and her biting tongue and acerbic writing wrist. The Sunday newspapers of 5 January yielded all the controversial newsworthy items sufficient unto her Friday 10 column. We read with sadness and perturbation that the High Commissioner to the Court of St. James was recalled and would be sent to a less prestigious posting. We thought she was an excellent career diplomat who was quick to protest against more..

Jan 11 (Island) The undergrads who staged a protest march in Colombo, on Thursday, must have expected to be stopped by the riot police and given water cannon treatment, as usual, when they turned towards the Presidential Secretariat. They used to receive wide publicity thanks to such incidents under successive governments. They must have been really disappointed when they were allowed to reach their destination without let or hindrance. Their representatives were allowed to have more..

Jan 11 (Island) The cartoon in The Island earlier this week showed the citizen seeking shelter from the rain of the Ranjan Ramanayake phone call exposures. We now seem to be moving more to a reign, than just rain, with the One Shot call soon reigning over the coming general election campaign. It is interesting and could be a very effective poll campaign, in the search for a certainly uneasy two-thirds majority in Parliament, in support of more..

Jan 11 (DM) Referring to MP Ranjan Ramanayake's audio clips which have gone viral on social media, Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera said there was an int'l conspiracy behind the series of events to carry out some hidden agenda. He told that int'l communities were carefully eyeing Sri Lanka because of its strategic location and other economic advantages and were making use some SL political figures to for this purpose. "It is evident with the audio clips that there is an agenda to make things happen more..

Jan 11 (EN) Sri Lanka has paid some of the debt owed to importers for fertilizer subsidies in a bid to bring in more supplies and ease a shortage during the current cultivation season, Minister Bandula Gunewardene said. �There was about 9 billion rupees owed to importers,� he said. �That is why there is a shortage. �Treasury has repaid them about 3 billion rupees. They will now be able to import again the ease the shortage.� SL�s main Maha cultivation season is now underway. more..

Jan 11 (ST) Big goals drive us forward and Sri Lanka�s women�s marathoner Hiruni Wijayaratne may be yet to qualify for the world�s biggest sporting event�the Olympics but she dreams of doing her bit to fly the Lion flag high at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Sri Lanka last won an Olympic medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics when Susanthika Jayasinghe clocked a magnificent 22.28 secs to win 200m silver� more..

Jan 11 (DN) Sri Lanka�s U-19 skipper Nipun Dananjaya leading his unit in to what would be his and some others farewell, crack at the U-19 World Cup, possess the potential to conclude it with a cream on the cake, after the boon and a boost of winning the Tri-Series at the Caribbean, late last year. In a quest of their maiden title, the skipper felt, the consequential part was to be patient in the middle in handling the situations. �Batting partnerships along with the bowling part. more..

Jan 11 (Island) The SL Transport Board (SLTB) possessed sufficient buses however due to mismanagement and to earn easy money from the Indian Credit Line, officials promoted deals, President of Lanka Private Bus Operators Association (LPBOA), Gemunu Wijeratne alleged. He said that he had informed Prez Rajapaksa about political and nonprofessionals appointments made to the transport sector. He said that the Prez had told him to take up the matter with more..

Jan 11 (CT) Whilst making a mockery of the govt appointed four member board to screen persons to head state enterprises, Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s personal travel agent Upul Dharmadasa from Los Angeles USA was appointed as the new Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority. The said mockery based on Prez Gotabaya�s promise to appoint those on meritocracy was further confirmed when Amith Wijesinghe a former SriLankan more..

Jan 11 (EN) Cabinet of ministers had cleared changes to tax laws to give effect to taxes that were slashed by the new administration. The laws have to be passed in parliament. Department of Inland Revenue had issued instructions to cut taxes before the laws were changed. The changes were made to the Nation Building Tax (a turnover tax), Ports and Aviation Levy (an import duty), Economic Service Charge and Valued Added Tax. The amendments already drafted were cleared by the cabinet more..

Jan 11 (DM) There will be major changes in the UNP next Thursday when the party�s parliamentary group meets to discuss its future, MP Sujeewa Senasinghe said. He said this after the Dharama sermon held at the Opposition Leader�s office and pointed out that party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had agreed to carry out the changes in the party. �We will convert the party into an institution which will work towards the betterment of the people,� MP said. �UNP will be handled by an able team more..

Jan 11 (CT) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s plans of appointing people to govt posts on meritocracy hit a stumbling block, when the Rajapaksa super brats MP Namal Rajapaksa and Rohitha Rajapaksa had their respective Father-in-Law and Mother-in-Law appointed as Directors to the Airport and Aviation (Services) SL Ltd. Unbeknownst to many, MP Namal Rajapaksa�s Father-In-Law Thilak Weerasinghe more..

Jan 11 (Island) Tea brokers this week were cautiously optimistic that the US/ Iran crisis would not affect Ceylon Tea. This sentiment emerged in the wake of the John Keels Holdings tea market report indicating that Ceylon Tea would continue to be supported by Iran. However, the Asia Siyaka tea report indicated that India�s alarm signals were already in high gear particularly influenced by the position that Iran was a major buyer of Indian tea. The report also said that US sanctions more..

Jan 11 (CI) Sri Lanka have issues in the middle order and their bowling combination, but they seem to have a problem of plenty at the top. They have four opening options - Avishka Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis - but barring Gunathilaka to some extent, nobody else has managed to cement a place at the top. ESPNcricinfo runs the rule over Sri Lanka's opening options as they prepare for the T20 World Cup qualifier later this year. more..

Jan 11 (CI) India rode a rapid 97-run opening partnership, and a blistering finish from Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur, to a total of 201 for 6. Then their bowlers scythed through SL's top order, removing four batsmen inside the Powerplay, allowing SL no more than 35 runs during the field restrictions, to derail their daunting chase. There was a half-decent 31 from Angelo Mathews and an excellent 57 off 36 balls more..