Oct 6 (DM) A man, whose brother is a suspect in remand custody, charged today that prison officers were soliciting bribes from him to talk to his brother and had arrested him when he refused to do so. “They always ask for money to let me talk to my brother. I gave Rs. 5,000 the previous day too. When I said I have no money today, they arrested me,” he charged. Meanwhile, dismissing the claim, a prison officer said the man was arrested because he had attempted to send more..

Oct 6 (Hindu) JVP said that former president Rajapaksa and his supporters might use, to their benefit, the issue of participation of foreign jurists in the proposed judicial mechanism to probe alleged rights violations during the civil war. “This is why we, in JVP, are opposed to the involvement of foreigners in any probe on accountability,” General Secretary Tilvin Silva said. Party was not against investigation per se, more..

Oct 6 (CT) The Information Technology Faculty of the University of Colombo yesterday informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris that the memory card and the subscriber identity/identification module (SIM) card of the mobile phone that was allegedly used by murdered ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen, were missing. The phone, of the Nokia E72 brand, had been used by Thajudeen for a long period and was on his person at the time of death. In the report prepared by more..

Oct 6 (CT) A heated situation arose at the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court yesterday when a group of prisoners shouted that they are being assaulted by prison wardens if they do not comply with demands for money. These wardens force the prisoners to give them money, some even use the 'eZ Cash' mobile payment system, they claimed. It took almost 30 minutes to quieten the prisoners. "Some prison officials ask as much as Rs 5,000 from relatives who come to see us. If money is not being paid, more..

Oct 6 (FT) Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday declared that bilateral ties with Sri Lanka would strengthen further and urged his country’s private sector to contribute to the future development of the island nation. He made this clarion call when he delivered the keynote at a packed Sri Lanka Investor Forum organised by NWS Holdings Ltd. yesterday in Tokyo. Fresh from a meeting with the visiting Sri Lankan PM Ranil more..

Oct 6 (DN) Colombo Fort will be transformed into a port city and Katunayake will become an airplane city while Malabe will be a technology city under the Western Province Development Programme, Minister Champika Ranawaka said. Ranawaka said that people tend to go to cities leaving the villages for several reasons, specially people settle down in Western Province as there are better job opportunities. The population in cities have increased with time. more..

Oct 6 (CT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe who is now on an official visit to Japan announced that he would introduce a new Foreign Service in the country and noted he was working with the belief that there is no Foreign Ministry in Sri Lanka. There appears to be utter confusion in Sri Lankan Foreign Missions and I will resolve this issue when I get back to Colombo," he added. Premier made these observations when top officials of the PM's office and the media crew accompanying him complained about more..

Oct 6 (DM) The CID has said as part of its ongoing investigations into the fate that had befallen journalist Pragneeth Eknaligoda who had gone missing, it would inspect the Giritale Army Intelligence Corps Camp where he was alleged to have been detained. ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said the 11 suspects currently detained by the CID would be taken to the military facility between Oct 3 and 13 to facilitate the investigations. more..

Oct 6 (CG) Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran insists he is not against the Sinhalese community. Wigneswaran said this when he spoke at the inauguration ceremony of the National Program for Local Food Production, held in Iranamadu today. He said that he believes it is important to ensure unity prevails among all communities in the country. Wigneswaran said that he has a lot of faith in President Maithripala Sirisena and his vision for the country. more..

Oct 6 (Hindu) President Sirisena on Monday launched another round of returning lands held by the military in Northern Province to Tamils, the original landowners. At a function in Killinochchi, Mr. Sirisena symbolically distributed land deeds for 613 acres in Killinochchi and Mullativu districts. riginal owners included individuals and institutions. This followed the release of 818 acres in Sampur of the Eastern Province and 1,013 acres in the Jaffna district of the Northern Province. more..

Oct 6 (DN) Minuwangoda Chief Magistrate D.A. Ruwanpathirana yesterday re-remanded Dunesh Priyashantha alias Kondaya, the main suspect in the Seya Sadewmi rape and murder until October 19 pending his DNA investigation report. The second suspect, Saman Jayatilleke produced in Court by the CID yesterday was ordered to be produced before the Gintec Institute, on Oct 6 for a DNA investigation more..

Oct 6 (DM) The Tamil Nadu leaders seem to be furious after the adoption of the US initiated resolution at the UNHRC sessions a week ago which called on the SL Govt to create a domestic judicial mechanism including Judges from the Commonwealth and other countries to address the accountability issues in respect of the war. They are pressing for an international judicial process for the purpose and one of them, Dr. Ramdoss, leader of the pro-LTTE PMK has gone to the extent more..

Oct 6 (DM) In reality, having invested large sums of money and effort for elections, after they get elected, naturally - they have no option other than resorting to various means - illegal, corrupt, or fraudulent, to reap profit to remain in Parliament, term after term. We should, therefore, remember that politicians are self-interested individuals and are only interested in looking after their personal interests rather than those of the public. Does this mean the elected representatives cannot fulfill the role more..

Oct 6 (ST) A sudden rise in reports of child molestations, kidnappings and killings of children and women in the past two weeks and the brutality of the crimes, have created a fear psychosis among the people who doubt the law enforcement authorities ability to deal with the alarmingly increasing crime rate. The rape and killing of four-year-old Seya from Kotadeniyawa, the brutal murder of a ten-year-boy in Athurugiriya and more..

Oct 6 (Island) Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera vowed to re-launch bilateral talks with Indian authorities urgently to resolve the long standing fishing dispute between Sri Lanka and India. Amaraweera said that he had already instructed his officials to explore the possibility of initiating govt level talks soon to find solutions to the issue. His comments came a week after the Jaffna fishermen leaders urged him to find a solution more..

Oct 6 (CT) Minister of University Education and Highways Lakshman Kiriella vowed to provide maximum autonomy to all higher educational institutions; leaving the management and care of universities and other institutions in the hands of the vice chancellors and the directors. He made this statement last Tuesday at a discussion session between him, officers of UGC, VCs and directors of universities & higher education institutions. more..

Oct 6 (Island) Secretary of the CP D.E.W. Gunasekara who filed a Fundamental Rights petition requesting court to revoke the appointment of defeated UPFA candidates to Parliament through Parliament said he had requested the Chief justice to appoint a fuller bench consisting of all 11 supreme court judges to hear the case instead of a three-judge bench because it was a matter of national importance. more..

Oct 6 (Island) The govt would not allow injustice to be caused to the war heroes due to the proposed Sri domestic investigation into war crimes allegations, said Minister Lakshman Kiriella. The war crimes investigations would proceed since such a probe had been agreed to by the former President. But, the govt would ensure the safety of the war heroes so that there would be no problem for them, Minister pledged. more..

Oct 6 (Hindu) PMK MP Anbumani Ramadoss said he was ready to quit the BJP-led NDA alliance if his decision could help find a permanent solution to the problems of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Reacting to TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan who asked why he was continuing in the NDA when India supported the diluted resolution in the UNHRC for a probe into the war crimes, Mr Anbumani said Congress leader was only diverting the issue. more..

Oct 6 (SL) With the exposure of how certain UPFA politicians were involved in the illegal importation of ethanol to the country, action is yet to be taken by AG’s Department against them as revealed by Minister Ravi Karunanayake, recently. Startling revelations have come to light as to how one of these accused MPs, who now holds a portfolio in new govt is continuously involved in the illegal ethanol importation racket more..

Oct 6 (CT) The Ministry of Higher Education is taking steps to increase the bursaries offered to students by universities to Rs 4,000 from Rs 2,500, Deputy Minister of University Education Mohan Lal Grero said. "Mahapola was increased but the bursary was not increased. Currently the bursary is only Rs 2,500 and everyone agrees that this is not enough. Thus we are taking steps to increase the financial segment to Rs 4,000" he said. more..

Oct 6 (Hindu) DMK leader M. Karunanidhi urged the Union govt to move a private member resolution in the UNHRC seeking an international inquiry into the alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Army in the last phase of the civil war. He said that President Srisana’s assertion that his county would only allow a domestic and not a hybrid inquiry was a clear proof that Sri Lanka never bothered to abide by any rules. more..

Oct 6 (LBO) Sri Lanka should be a trading country and there is no need of a balance between manufacturing and trading, Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva said. “Some say there must be a balance between manufacturing and trading. I don’t believe in this balancing. We have to go down to the basic principle of economics,” Silva said. Speaking at an exporter’s forum he explained the theory of comparative advantage. more..

Oct 6 (CT) Minister Ravi Karunanayake‘s sister in law Rosie Malasekara confirmed the alleged nepotism charges leveled against her husband Gihan Malalasekara and his exposed attempt of securing the Sri Lankan Airlines Sales Manager (UK) post by Colombo Telegraph earlier today, when she posted an explanatory comment under the website’s story and also on her Facebook page. Rosie Malalasekera Responding to Colombo Telegraph’s expose, Rosie Malalasekara more..

Oct 6 (Island) By co-sponsoring the resolution on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka the govt has taken the initiative with regard to the implementation of its recommendations. Some of the recommendations are controversial. The main controversial recommendation is to set up a judicial accountability mechanism with international participation. But the gain for the govt is that it is in charge of the implementation. more..

Oct 6 (LR) The world’s largest seller of real estate RE/MAX is eagerly breaking into SL market. Network which boasts 100,000 salespersons in nearly 100 countries recently opened its master franchise in Sri Lanka under the leadership of Sujan Shan. “We have high expectations of growth in the real estate market in Sri Lanka and to meet our goals, we need professional brokers and agents who want to work hard, earn good money and match their preferred lifestyle,” Larry E. Oberly, more..

Oct 6 (CT) A new political culture has now dawned after the formation of the new political leadership of President Maithiripala Sirisena; the great revolution initiated on 8 January this year paves the way for a peaceful atmosphere where we all could live here peacefully as brothers and sisters, said the UNP National Organizer and Minister of Primary Industries Daya Gamage, after he ceremonially declared open the Ampara District Tamil Regional Executive Office at Alayadivembu on Sunday. more..

Oct 6 (CT) "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away," Father Arul Kumaral raised his voice. He is the parish priest of Thevanpitti fishing village of Mannar. Village situated in the edge of Thevanpitti lagoon is habitat of over 300 villagers. Their livelihood is mainly fishing prawns. more..

Oct 6 (Island) Tyranny is a scourge that needs to be eliminated, in all its forms and manifestations, if this world is to be made a better place to live in. But, it is a task that should be accomplished with utmost care if the solution is not to be worse than the problem. This is something the US-led forces, known for their gung-ho attitude to warfare, did not heed when they engineered regime changes in some oil rich countries to further their economic and geo-strategic interests. more..

Oct 6 (Hindu) Sanjay Kumar, key operative of the racket that attempted to traffic Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from Munambam, had earlier attempted to take people to Europe on board a fishing vessel from Thiruvananthapuram. Sanjay, said to be a resident of Chennai, was wanted in a cheating case registered at a police station in coastal Thiruvananthapurm two years ago. “This was verified during an investigation into whether the racket had earlier trafficked people through more..

Oct 6 (Island) 20% of the Sri Lankan population will hit 60 years of age by 2020 and they will trigger higher EPF withdrawals. To meet this, the shortfall of the EPF will have to be funded, but no computation has been done to that effect up to now, a recent Investment Fund & Asset Management Forum organized by Fitch Ratings SL revealed. Leading market participants including issuers, investors and bankers had gathered more..

Oct 6 (LBO) Stocks closed down 0.04% on Tuesday with losses in seen in Dialog Axaita and banking sector stocks. Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed down 3.13 points at 7,085.93 lower 0.0.04%. S&P SL20 closed 2.92 points lower at 3,827.31 down 0.08%. Turnover was 664 million rupees, up from 641 million rupees Monday with 46 stocks closing positive against 83 negative. The main index was dragged down by losses in Dialog Axaita closing at 11 rupees, down 0.30 more..

Oct 6 (Reuters) For a journalist, it’s hard not to think of Sri Lanka as an island country recovering from a decades-long conflict. But, there is a country that far predates this bloodletting and warfare. It’s called Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s colonial other. What was it like living in Ceylon? How did it look? What about its people? What kind of clothes did they wear? What did they do at work? What was God to them? These questions and the complications that arise from them are part of the exhibition more..

Oct 6 (Island) JVP led-Ceylon Teachers Service Union (CTSU) said that incumbent govt had failed to address the problems in the teachers’ service was faced with in spite of a promise to do so months back. CTSU General Secretary Mahinda Jayansinghe said that Chandrika Kumaratunga govt had, in 1994, established the teachers’ service as in keeping with one of its election promises, but successive govts had more..

Oct 6 (Island) UNP MP Hirunika Premachandra said that she would present a private member’s motion seeking the approval of Parliament to reactivate capital punishment in Sri Lanka. She said that she had been requested by Deputy Minister of Social Welfare and Empowerment, Ranjan Ramanayake to move the motion. Premachandra said that she would be proposing in her motion that the issue of reactivating capital punishment should be put before Parliament for a vote. more..

Oct 6 (Island) The Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (PHD CMC) said that the manager of an eatery at a state owned institution had been fined and severely warned by the Maligakanda Magistrate following a complaint made by a customer last May. One of the employees of the institution had complained to the PHD that she found a centipede in her food served at the canteen. Food samples had been sent to the City Analyst, who had confirmed food contamination. more..

Oct 6 (NS) Former Minister and current UPFA MP Janaka Bandara Tennakoon has been arrested by the CID in connection with a murder committed in 1999. Police Headquarters stated the MP was taken into custody as part of an investigation into an incident that occurred on December 14, 1999 in Dambulgamuwa, Matale, where one person was shot and killed and another injured. As part of this probe, more..

Oct 6 (LBO) MP Udaya Gammanpila has asked the President to explain the basis on which the JVP MP Vijitha Herath was appointed to the Constitutional Council. As per 19th amendment, one MP should be nominated by agreement of the majority of the MPs belonging to political parties, other than PM and Opposition Leader belongs. President then has the power to assign that nominee to the 10-member council and all the required appointments to be completed with Herath’s appointment. more..

Oct 6 (DN) Filing an analytical report pertaining to the mobile phone used by former Havelocks captain and Sri Lankan ruggerite, Wasim Thajudeen the Colombo University’s School of Computing informed Court that the concerned mobile phone was not in working order. Submitting its report before Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris, the Colombo University’s School of Computing informed that the phone which was produced to them did not carry a secondary memory card or a SIM card. more..