Aug 12 (ST) During the five years following the end of the civil war in 2009, the Sri Lankan economy grew at an average annual rate of 7.4%. This was by far the highest average growth rate for any consecutive five-year period in the country’s post-indepenent history. Per capita income increased from US$ 2031 in 2009 to $3,536 in 2014. The rate of inflation came down from a historical height of 22.6% in 2008 to an average annual rate of 5.5% during the ensuing years. more..

Aug 12 (DM) European Union (EU) has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide productive infrastructure for local economic development in the Monaragala District. The project, which commenced in June 2015, entails the upgrading of a rice mill facility and construction of a wholesale market and a mini economic centre. These interventions are carried out with the financial assistance provided through the European Union Support to District Development Programme, more..

Aug 12 (ST) While strengthening Board of Investment (BOI) functions in accordance with the 2006 gazette notification with regulations, Finance Ministry involvement in the handling of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) negotiations and approvals has been discontinued. BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said that foreign investors need not go to the Treasury or the Economic Development Ministry for project negotiations and finalisations more..

Aug 12 (DM) Sri Lanka’s historic coconut-based exports received a new lease of life recently as a top Japanese coop-federation - also considered as a leading agro association in the world - started directly partnering with the apex export entity, the EDB to strengthen the surging sector. Lankan coconut sector is getting another international breakthrough with the first-ever Lankan coco peat delegation scheduled to leave for Japan this October, facilitated by the EDB. more..

Aug 12 (Hindu) There was nothing ambiguous about Kumar Sangakkara’s cricket, his batting and glovesmanship behind the stumps neither left to chance nor conceit. A smile adorned his countenance, sometimes to acknowledge a good delivery, as he pursued his desires on the field with the dignity that marks a craftsman who needs no assistance. A master of what he perceived was his responsibility to Sri Lankan cricket, the left-hander, now in the twilight of his distinguished career, more..

Aug 12 (FT) Less than a week before the decisive general election, the UNFGG revealed its action plan for the economy on private sector-led growth. Organised by the Industry and Commerce Forum, the event involved discussions specifically relating to the economy, business and industry. Giving an overview of the action plan, Minister Karu Jayasuriya said as a Govt they believed in private sector-led growth based on a five-point plan more..

Aug 12 (ENS) Behind the microphone, under the relentless blink of cameras, sportsmen sometimes cut a different persona. Rather, a persona we feel is different, and we are to solely blame for our defective judgment and hasty assumptions, as we colour them through the hues of our perceptions. Sportsmen, in any case, needn’t cater to such perceptions either. So Sachin Tendulkar’s sq­­u­eaky voice was a little out of place, as opposed to his overpowering charisma on the f­i­­eld. more..

Aug 12 (Island) A body of a girl (16) was found hacked to death yesterday on a land in Kurunegala. Two suspects had been arrested so far. Her 17-year-old brother had lodged a complaint at the Alawwa police that his sister had been abducted by four unidentified men, while he was going to a nearby shop with her the same evening at Maharachchimulla and he could not rescue her sister from abductors as he was pushed away by them and vanished with her into a bare land. more..

Aug 12 (CT) TNA Leader R. Sampanthan says that the Alliance will support the govt that will be elected depending on what solutions it provides for N&E crisis. Sampanthan said that TNA had decided to support the govt that will be elected based on the actions taken by it to solve the North-East problem and that, if a solution is to be found, the govt that will be established should negotiate such issues with every party and more..

Aug 12 (CT) Chief Magistrate of Colombo Gihan Pilapitiya ordered that the suspect Deepthi Perera who was taken into custody by the CID for having defrauded Rs. 800 million in deposit funds of the public be remanded until the 14th of this month. Deepthi Perera had fled abroad and Interpol issued red notices against him. He had returned to the country under a false passport. Chulaka Gunawardena alias Deepthi Perera was a former Director of Central Investments and Finance, more..

Aug 12 (FT) UPFA Gampaha District strongman Prasanna Ranatunga slammed former party leader and past President Chandrika Kumaratunga calling her SLFP credentials into question after she called on supporters to vote against Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 17 August election. “Chandrika Kumaratunga is SLFP in name only. I challenge her to say what she has done in recent elections to ensure the victory of the SLFP,” Ranatunga charged in his campaign headquarters in Minnuwangoda. more..

Aug 12 (FT) The European Union (EU) is set to once again grant Sri Lanka the GSP Plus concession during the first quarter of next year or some time thereafter, Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said. Speaking to the media at Temple Trees following discussions held between apparel exporters and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dr. de Silva said the concession would benefit those exporting to the EU by at least 12%. more..

Aug 12 (CT) The body of former Minister C.B. Ratnayake's missing driver was found in his official residence in Torrington, Colombo yesterday. ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said, the body was found after the wife of the driver had received a suicide letter written by the driver. In the letter the driver had written that he had committed suicide due to the mental stress caused after several individuals accused him of the fire that damaged one of the houses of the former minister. more..

Aug 12 (DN) Over 300 state-provided motor vehicles have not been returned to the relevant govt institutions and are currently being used for election campaigning and election related travel by govt and opposition candidates, chief ministers, chairmen of provincial councils, public corporations and politicians. TISL Coordinator, Shaan Wijetunga announced that they were able to establish that these state-owned vehicles are being used for electioneering and campaigning. more..

Aug 12 (AD) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe says that accusations of dividing the country and imposing taxes on water are last-ditch efforts by the UPFA to sling mud at the UNP and assured that the people will not be deceived by them. He denied accusations from the opposition that the govt is attempting to impose a tax on water and charged that it was a last-minute effort by the UPFA to sling mud in the face of certain defeat. more..

Aug 12 (DM) With only three more days of vigorous campaigning for the August 17 general election which could be a turning point in Sri Lanka’s journey, more than ever before the sovereign people are being given the awareness and education to vote wisely in an election that is free, fair and relatively peaceful. Most people, other than those who have vested interests, have been made aware that if they vote for personal gain or party glory, it could be an act of selfishness or self-centredness or more..

Aug 12 (DM) Alas! We are in serious trouble. The price the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will have to pay for being blind to the political reality, and being unable to fashion our policy accordingly, is going to be huge. I am neither an astrologer nor a soothsayer, and I have very little to say to soothe the party supporters as it is with a heavy heart that I predict the unfortunate future of a great political party. The SLFP has a long history. It was founded by the Late SWRD Bandaranaike more..

Aug 12 (DM) Malsha Kumaranatunga, a candidate representing the evergreen Kumaranatunga family, is contesting from the betel leaf from the Colombo District. In an interview with the Daily Mirror she shared her views about certain decisions taken by the party. Q: How are the campaigns progressing? A: They are going well. As a woman and a youthful candidate, I have got a great response from the youth. more..

Aug 12 (DN) President Maithripala Sirisena said he hoped to make a fundamental transformation in this country in league with the new govt formed after the forthcoming general election. It will include the development of physical resources like roads and buildings on one side and the stabilisation of democracy and freedom to enable all communities and religions to live in peace, unity and brotherhood on the other. more..

Aug 12 (DM) Former Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne’s son Chathura Senarathne, Democratic National Movement Leader and Pivithuru Hetak National Movement General Secretary, shared his thoughts on his political history, future and several other much-talked issues. Q: First of all, could you tell us about your attraction in to politics and how it was continued so far? Politics was never a stranger to me as I grew up in more..

Aug 12 (DM) Shaveen Bandaranayake, the son of former CJ Shirani Bandaranayake who was caught in a whirlwind of controversy, is contesting at the upcoming General Election as an independent candidate. Q: You don’t hail from a political family and you don’t have a political background. So why did you decide to enter politics at this juncture? A: I believe that the youth has a major role to play in politics and how and more..

Aug 12 (DM) Danuna Tillakaratne, The former son-in-law of Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka who was on the run for five years due to what he claims was ‘political revenge’ came out of hiding just before the January 8 Presidential Election. He is contesting at the upcoming General Election from the Colombo District under the Democratic Party led by Field Marshall Fonseka and is the organiser for Colombo East. more..

Aug 12 (Island) The UPFA demanded that the UNP govt which was trying to gain political mileage by exhuming the body of Rugby player Wasim Thajudeen should also investigate the extra-judicial killings during the 88-89 period spearheaded by present the UNP as per the accounts given in the Batalanda Commission report. Former Minister Dilan Perera said that according to the Batalanda Commission Report, more..

Aug 12 (CT) Biometric operational system for passports launched by Department of Immigration and Emigration on 10 Aug, crashed completely on the second day, leaving thousands of applicants in dire straits. Despite the struggle the Controller General M.N. Ranasinghe and his IT team were trying to adopt the new system, but applicants' information and photographs did not upload to the system till late evening yesterday. more..

Aug 12 (ST) Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has given the green light this week to revise the pensions of tri forces personnel who retired before 2006. The revision would also benefit widows of tri forces personnel. Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, J. Dadallage said that they received the approval from the Elections Department this week following a request made by the ministry. more..

Aug 12 (CG) Commonwealth election observers said they are cautiously optimistic about a democratic election taking place in Sri Lanka next week. The monitors, who held a press conference in Colombo today before being deployed to their respective areas, said that while some violations have been noted ahead of election day, the general opinion is that the electoral process has so far been peaceful. more..

Aug 12 (Island) Finance Minister and Colombo District UNP candidate Ravi Karunanayake said that the national economy had been in such a bad shape with the then govt experiencing a severe debt crisis at the time of what he called the Jan. 8 revolution. Minister Karunanayake compared the debt crisis caused by the previous regime to the Maithripala Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration getting a hand grenade without its safety pin. more..

Aug 12 (CT) A decision will be made tomorrow whether permission will be granted for former Deputy Minister, UPFA, Ratnapura Candidate Premalal Jayasekera who is in Remand Prison, to exercise his right to vote or not. The suspect and six others were remanded until tomorrow in connection with shooting at a group who were engaged in putting up decorations for a political meeting during the past presidential election and killing an individual in the town of Kahawatte. more..

Aug 12 (EN) A Sri Lankan who was on board a boat suspected to have been on a failed expedition to a remote Indian Ocean island which housed a US military base has been freed. Sri Lankan was among seven foreigners who were detained by authorities in the Maldives after their ocean going fishing vessel was escorted back to the atolls after being suspected of trying to reach Diego Garcia. US maintain a military based in Diego Garcia, a part of British Indian Ocean Territory of more..

Aug 12 (DM) Minister of Justice and a former COPE Chairman UNP candidate Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe spoke of the new constitution his party proposes and about investigations conducted by the FCID Excerpts. Q: If you get re-elected do you think you would be appointed as minister of justice? A: I have no say in the matter. Whatever they offer, if I feel it is a subject that I can comfortably handle, then I will accept. more..

Aug 12 (CT) It has become almost an unwritten convention in Sri Lankan party politics since the introduction of the Jayawardena constitution that the national parties like the SLFP and UNP enter into pre-election pact with minor ethnic parties in order to enhance their chances of forming govts. Such marriage of convenience inherently weakens the functioning of the govt because of the hold-up problem. It is risible to see in the current campaign that SLMC is contesting under UNP party more..

Aug 12 (CT) An interesting legal tangle has developed with the UPFA taking UNP's Deputy Justice Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe to Court on Monday. The complainants or plaintiffs in this case are the powerful Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) General Secretary and former UPFA MP and Rehabilitation Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera and UPFA General Secretary, SLFP's National Organizer and former Environment Minister Susil Premajayantha. more..

Aug 12 (Reuters) Since Sri Lanka's three-decade civil war ended in 2009, Nagarathnam Ganeshan has faced a major new uncertainty: how much water he will have to grow his crops. A paddy farmer from the village of Visuvamadu in Mullaitivu district, deep inside the former war zone in Northern Province, Ganeshan was able to go back to his original way of earning a living once peace returned. Before he was cultivating only one acre of more..

Aug 12 (CG) Sri Lanka’s second international airport which has seen very flew planes from the time it was launched, is now being considered as a storage facility for paddy. Paddy Marketing Board said that a storage facility at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) is being considered as an option to store paddy harvest from the Maha season. New airport built under the Rajapaksa regime, was expected to expand the local aviation industry whilst being a catalyst for more..

Aug 12 (Island) Officers of the Excise Department on Monday detected a large scale duty free racket involving premium foreign liquor and cigarettes from a warehouse at Bloemendhal Road, Colombo-13 and took into custody 4,300 bottles of imported liquor and 450,000 contraband cigarettes. According to spokesman for the Excise Department Inspector Jayantha de Silva the market value of the seized items was over Rs. 60 million. Four suspects were also arrested. more..

Aug 12 (CI) Sri Lanka is not a place where you want to lose the toss as an opposition captain. Over the last 14 years, only two visiting captains have managed to win despite losing the toss. Virat Kohli raised the possibility of becoming the third after R Ashwin registered the best figures for an India bowler in the first innings of an away Test to bundle the hosts out for 183. India stumbled in response initially, but Shikhar Dhawan and more..

Aug 12 (EN) Companies taken over by Sri Lankan govt under a controversial law should be returned to their owners to strengthen investors confidence. Upul Jayasuriya, chairman of the Board of Investment, said that govt was liable to pay compensation to owners of 35 businesses were taken over by the state. The takeover of 35 firms were done by the former Rajapaksa regime under the controversial Revival of the Underperforming and Underutilised Assets Bill of 2011. more..

Aug 12 (Reuters) Sri Lankan shares closed at their highest in nearly seven months on Wednesday as hopes of improved corporate earnings and political stability after the Aug.17 parliamentary election boosted sentiment, brokers said. Some foreign investors however sold shares ahead of the key election, they said. The main stock index ended 0.17% or 12.98 points higher at 7,471.90, its highest close since Jan. 16. The index has risen nearly 8% since July 8 through Wednesday. more..

Aug 12 (AD) Colombo Magistrate’s Court today issued notice on the Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran and his son-in-law Arjun Aloysius to appear before the court on October 30, over a petition filed regarding the controversial Treasury Bond issue. The petition was filed by UPFA Provincial Councillor Renuka Perera seeking a court order summoning the CB Governor and his son-in-law, who is a major shareholder of more..

Aug 12 (EN) Sri Lanka's vehicle registrations hit a new high of 61,953 units in July 2015, up 85% from a year earlier, will cars up 85 percent, three wheelers up 73% and motor cycles up 68%, an analysis of data showed, amid low interest rates. Car registrations rose to 9,666 units in July 2015, up from 2,555 in 2015 with small car sales rising 5,393 units from 367 units a year earlier, following a tax cut in January, an analysis of vehicle registry data by J B Securities, a equity brokerage showed. more..