Jul 30 (FT) SJB National Campaign Organiser Eran Wickramaratne struck a bullish tone ahead of next week�s General Election predicting a strong performance from his party, assuring they can deliver a clean cut from traditional politics as well as redouble attention on economic reforms and anti-corruption. Wickramaratne espoused the technocratic make-up of the SJB as among the party�s key advantages over its opponents, more..

Jul 30 (DN) Today brands have become even more important than products they represent. And strong brands are more than globally recognizable and they are critical assets that can make a potentially significant contribution to the local economy as well as set growth targets of any business entity. �A brand must be designed to suit resources because in turn it will help value creation in a big way. It is essential to design a brand that will be aligned with your resources. more..

Jul 30 (Island) CaFFE announced that it would deploy special monitoring units at election violence hotspots. CaFFE executive director Manas Makeen said that CaFFE had identified 15 such hotspots in Digamadulla. The most dynamic hotspots were Akkaraipattu, Pottuvil and Sainthamaruthu in the Digamadulla district, he said. Not only has CaFFE deployed special monitoring units to those areas, but it has also requested the acting IGP to provide extra security to those places. more..

Jul 30 (AD) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assures that all the corruption, malpractices and irregularities in the govt will be eliminated and establish an efficient public service in the country. Prez emphasized that bribery, corruption and irregularities in the govt sector will cease to exist and a govt dedicated to serve the citizens in a satisfactory manner would be established. Prez made these remarks during the election tour more..

Jul 30 (Island) UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe recently admitted receiving a telephone call from fugitive former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. Responding to Chamuditha Samarawickrema on �Salakuna� on �Hiru�, the former PM said that he had spoken with Singapore-based Mahendran. Asked when the conversation had taken place, the UNP leader said recently. Sri Lanka�s efforts to convince Singapore to hand over Mahendran have not been successful. more..

Jul 30 (CT) Schools will be closed on 4,5,6 and 7 Aug in view of the 5 August General Election since more than 8,000 State-run schools are used as polling centres and vote counting stations. Education Ministry announced that about 60% of teachers would engage in Election duties and that the Election Commission has urged the Ministry to hand over the schools to them from 4 Aug night till 6 Aug for the counting of votes. Pre-school students in 16,620 pre-schools would resume academic more..

Jul 30 (FT) SJB rejected allegations of misappropriation of Central Cultural Fund (CCF) monies, calling the investigation a political stunt, timed to discredit SJB leader Sajith Premadasa a week ahead of the Parliamentary Election. �Sajith Premadasa has done nothing wrong. Investigation committee is led by a retired Judge. However, the fact that the committee includes the Legal Advisor to the President is problematic. more..

Jul 30 (CT) The office of the Governor of the Eastern Province, issuing a Media release, stated that a former TNA Local Govt representative and 15 people�s representatives, have decided to back the SLPP, ahead of the General Election. These former TNA members revealed this decision during a Media briefing held in Trincomalee on 28 July. These ex-TNA members stated that the people of the Eastern Province had suffered terribly during the 30-year conflict and charged that the TNA had always more..

Jul 30 (AD) The repatriation of Sri Lankans stranded abroad due to COVID-19 pandemic will resume from the 31st of July, according to Admiral Jayanath Colombage, Additional Secretary to the President for Foreign Relations. With the identification of COVID-19 patients from the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Center, steps were taken to restrict the repatriation of Sri Lankans abroad from the June 15 due to the increase in the number of cases of coronavirus infections in the country. more..

Jul 30 (FT) The number of active COVID-19 cases dropped to 482 with the recovery of 21 persons and zero new patients identified yesterday. 11 of the new recoveries were from the Welikanda Base Hospital, 3 from IDH, 2 from Kattankudy Base Hospital, 2 from Panagoda Army Hospital, 2 from Kamburugamuwa District General Hospital, and 1 from Iranawila Hospital. This brings the total COVID-19 recoveries to 2,317 more..

Jul 30 (DM) Voters who are at the quarantine centres are likely to lose the opportunity to cast their ballots at the general election on August 5 due to the absence of legal provisions to arrange advance voting for them. Election Commission has already revoked its previous decision to conduct polling for them on July 31 since the law does not provide for it. Asked about the latest situation, its chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said polling would not be taken at the quarantine centres most probably. more..

Jul 30 (FT) There�s an old saying, As your knowledge increases, your ignorance unravels. In the last three months the challenges posed by COVID has really shone a spotlight on that ignorance. Our education systems have equipped us well � to navigate the streets of commercial tinsel town and to profit from it and gain fame power and wealth. To be a successful individual who knows how the system works. To manipulate or work it to your advantage so you are able to take care more..

Jul 30 (FT) During conversations with senior managers, helping them reach their full potential, one of the recurrent topics that comes up is the issue of managing time. I have heard this from senior medical consultants to senior corporate heads. I met a very senior finance professional who is being groomed to take over a senior position in the large conglomerate she is attached to. I asked her to describe a typical day for her. In the morning she plays the role of the typical SL mother; more..

Jul 30 (Island) State Intelligence Service (SIS) in 2015 had reported that there was an unnatural increase in the number of Muslim students admitted to the Law College in 2012, former SIS Director and SDIG of Eastern Province, Nilantha Jayawardena yesterday informed the PCoI investigating the Easter Sunday attacks. The witness said he had, in a report on 20 July 2015, said that in 2003, there had been only five Muslim students in the Law College in a batch of 203. more..

Jul 30 (EN) By leasing the white elephant Hambantota Port to China, Yahapalana Govt was able to free the people of SL from the burden of debt owed to China, a burden too heavy for them to bear, Former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said. �Ships didn�t call at the Hambantota port. Investments for factories that were anticipated to flow into Hambantota did not arrive. We did not have an income from the port to pay installments more..

Jul 30 (FT) The Board of Investment signed an agreement with Vallibel Properties Ltd. for the construction of its state-of-the-art 16-storey office complex. This project with a total value of $ 8.1 million will be set up at Colombo-3 and will provide direct employment for 200 employees. The agreement was signed on behalf of BOI Chairman Susantha Ratnayake and Vallibel Finance Managing Director S.B. Rangamuwa. S.B. Rangamuwa stated: �It�s our shared responsibility to rebuild SL more..

Jul 30 (DM) Cases would be filed against the drivers who cause fatal accidents due to negligence and reckless driving under murder charges in future. Director Police Legal Division SSP Ruwan Gunasekara said they would file murder charges after consulting the Attorney General. He said section 294 fourth limb of the Penal Code has clear provision to file murder charges against such individuals. SSP Gunasekara made these remarks after appearing in the Nugegoda MC more..

Jul 30 (AD) Former Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) SSP Shani Abeysekara has withdrawn his Fundamental Rights (FR) petition challenging the decision taken by the National Police Commission (NPC) to suspend and transfer him following the Presidential Election 2019. The petition, filed with the Supreme Court, was taken up before a three-judge bench consisting of Justice Sisira de Abrew, L.T.B. Dehideniya more..

Jul 30 (CT) Former MP Sajith Premadasa is responsible for the misappropriation of Rs 11 billion from the Central Cultural Fund (CCF), claimed former MP Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena yesterday (29). He was speaking at a Sri Lanka Freedom People�s Alliance Media briefing. �We appointed a committee to investigate this and we have received the report. According to the report, we have lost Rs 2,608 million in interest alone because of Premadasa�s misuse of these funds. more..

Jul 30 (AD) Police have seized a Hawk-eagle suspected to have been used by underworld criminal gang leader Angoda Lokka for drug trafficking. Two suspects have also been arrested with an air rifle and bullets, police said. The bird was discovered by officer of Athurugiriya Police while it was found inside a cage at a residence located on Kanatta Road in Nawalamulla, Meegoda. The discovery was made based on information received by Western Province intelligence officers. more..

Jul 30 (TM) Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA) has called for a constructive dialogue with relevant Govt authorities to try to work out a mutually viable way forward. CMTA has requests the Govt to provide a firm timeline on when it plans to recommence imports and if the expected date is several months into the future, requests the Govt to provide support to the industry so that it can sustain its employees and overheads as importers more..

Jul 30 (FT) The Election Commission has requested Sri Lankans who have returned from abroad and wish to vote, to bring their passports in addition to their National Identity Card (NIC) when they come to the polling booth on Election Day. The decision to ask such voters to bring their passports in addition to the NIC was made following complaints received by the EC, over attempts being made to rig the election by making fake ID cards of registered voters residing abroad. more..

Jul 30 (AD) CID has recorded statements from two siblings of interdicted Superintendent (SP) of the Negombo Prison, Anuruddha Sampayo, who is still evading arrest. CID had recorded statements from the brother and sister of the SP for around 02 hours, an official said. The questioning was carried out after summoning them to the CID head office earlier today, he said. On July 22, Negombo Magistrate issued arrest warrants on Anuruddha Sampayo and 3 other officials of the Negombo Prison. more..

Jul 30 (SLA) An attempt to insert the names of Sri Lanka Army-produced two identical twins, Major General Pooraka Seneviratne and Major General Jayantha Seneviratne in the Guinness Book of World Records took place this morning (30) during a formal ceremony at the Army Headquarters. Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, Lt Gen Shavendra Silva as the Chief Guest, together with SL�s authorized representative for more..

Jul 30 (Island) Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says that the transport sector will be developed in such a way that the govt will be able to scrap the duty-free vehicle scheme for MPs. Addressing a public rally, in Hambantota, on Tuesday, Minister said public funds to the tune of billions of rupees, were spent on purchasing vehicles for politicians. "It is the taxpayers who foot the bill. Not only MPs, but also provincial council members are given duty free vehicle permits," he said. more..

Jul 30 (EN) Sri Lanka has sold 103.2 billion rupees of bonds out of 110 billion rupees of securities offered at an auction on July 30, under pre-set yield ceilings, data from the state debt office showed. The debt office offered 45 billion rupees of 2-year, 3-month bonds maturing on 15.11.2022 at a yield ceiling of 5.75% and sold only 38.2 billion rupees of securities at an average yield of 5.73%. A close maturity of 15.12.2022 was trading around 5.70/75 percent before the auction. more..

Jul 30 (CT) Acting IGP Chandana D. Wickramaratne gave special instructions to all Police Stations to cancel route permits of buses whose drivers have caused accidents resulting in death and injury due to reckless driving, Police Media Spokesperson, SSP Jaliya Senaratne said. He said the decision was made based on the number of traffic accidents caused by reckless bus drivers over the past five years and added that 10% of more..

Jul 30 (TM) A list of the 54 UNP members whose memberships were cancelled have been given below; In addition, the Party had further expelled a group of UNP Local Government members for supposedly not supporting the party during the ongoing election campaign. UNP members 1. Leonard Karunaratne 2. Ajantha Niroshan Padukka 3. M. Jayantha de Silva 4. Hasitha Wijesinghe 5. U. George Perera 6. U.G. Chandrasoma Saranalal 7. Rose Fernando 8. Ranjan Ramanayake more..

Jul 30 (CT) Education Ministry will introduce a Student Identification Number (SIN) in the near future to identify students and this SIN will be used as the Grade 5, GCE O/L and A/L Exams index number. It was also noted that certifications and exams with regard to extracurricular activities will be recorded in the SIN, the database of which will be in the Education Ministry. He said that no education authority has specific information pertaining to students and that by providing more..

Jul 30 (EN) Sri Lanka is planning random Coronavirus tests island-wide a top official said as health authorities are tracing and quarantining a cluster linked to drug a rehabilitation camp. �From the next month the number of random PCR tests will be increased,� Chief Epidemiologist Sudath Samaraweera said. �Accordingly every month we will do PCR tests covering all the Divisional Health Offices in the country.� more..

Jul 30 (NR) Chairman of CEB Vijitha Herath says the decision to grant the public concessions on electricity tariffs for the months of lockdown was not focused on the election. He said the move was a policy decision by the govt. He said the concession has been granted to all Sri Lankans, adding that it is a rather sizeable concession. Herath said the CEB is providing the concession due to savings made through the forward-thinking policies of the govt. CEB is not making losses in providing more..

Jul 30 (CT) Attorney General Dappula De Livera has instructed the Ministry of Education that schools could have about 40 students only if there is a teacher assistant in the classroom. Education Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said initially they urged the Cabinet to limit the number of students per class to 40, a proposal approved by Cabinet and had subsequently directed a request to the AG to impose a regulation that there could be an increase of students from 35 to 40 in one class, more..

Jul 30 (CT) Former MP Rishad Bathiudeen yesterday, said Letters of Demand have been sent to Police Spokesman, SSP Jaliya Senaratne and to a news website for publishing a news item which claimed that he had aided and abetted the mastermind of the Easter Sunday terror attack in 2019, Zaharan Hashim. Bathiudeen claimed, the website in question had published a false news item claiming that SSP Senaratne more..

Jul 30 (AD) An office assistant of the Lankapura Divisional Secretariat in Polonnaruwa has tested positive for COVID-19, confirmed the Director-General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe. The case has been detected when the entire staff of the Divisional Secretariat had been subjected to a random PCR test session. The infected patient, a resident of Lankapura, has been identified to be a close associate of a coronavirus-positive patient from the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Center. more..

Jul 30 (Island) Some Jaffna dailies have given prominence to a report about a meeting between former Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran and Swiss embassy officials in Jaffna on Monday (27). The former CM has voiced concern about the safety of ballot boxes as vote counting would start only on 6 August. He told the Swiss Ambassador that there could be anti-democratic activities if the military was called into provide security. On A9 road, there were 20 military more..

Jul 30 (CT) More than 117 candidates of 17 political parties contesting in the upcoming General Election have expressed their support to recommendations aimed at amending/ introducing laws and regulations pertaining to tobacco and alcohol, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) said. Among these recommendations are, banning the sale of cigarettes as single sticks, increasing tobacco taxes to limit profits for more..

Jul 30 (DM) UNP will expel top members of the SJB including its leader Sajith Premadasa in the second round, and it will be announced in a few days time, party General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said. He said that Mr. Premadasa could be among those who will be expelled in the second round. �I cannot exactly say whether Mr. Premadasa will be included in the next expulsion list but it is likely that he will be included. The expulsion process will be carried out on a phase by phase basis,� more..

Jul 30 (Island) India and Sri Lanka recently discussed what the Indian HC called institutional collaboration for online training for health professionals, health care delivery and research and development of Homeopathic medicines. The following is the text of a statement issued by the Indian HC: "Dr. Sushi Kumar, First Secretary (Technical Cooperation) of the Indian High Commission met Mrs. H.W.M. Pushpalatha Manike, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health on more..

Jul 30 (AD) Election Commission has decided the Silent Period for the General Election 2020 will come into effect from Aug 2 midnight, despite the decision taken to allow candidates to carry out election propaganda on Aug 3. It was previously agreed at the Party Secretaries� meeting held on July 26 to grant approval for visiting residences to canvass and distribute handbills on Aug 3. However, the Election Commission has elections laws more..