June 2 (GV) I enjoyed reading Laksiri Fernando’s article and endorse most of his comments under policy areas 1-7, but not those under policy area 8 for reasons that I will elaborate later on. I am particularly appreciative of what Laksiri has to say on the need to eliminate caste discrimination; and to adopt a trilingual language policy. On Caste, the initiative needs to come from Sri Lankan Buddhists to eliminate the continuation of caste based Nikayas as well as other manifestations of caste more..

June 2 (Island) UNHRC Resolution A/HRC/34/L.1 of 15 March 2017 requests the Govt of SL to implement fully the measures identified by the Council in its resolution 30/1 that are outstanding. While the language in the 2017 Resolution was a request, the language in the 2015 Resolution was stated as: encourages the Govt of SL to implement the recommendations contained therein when implementing measures for truth-seeking, justice, reparations & guarantees of non-recurrence. more..

June 2 (Roar) Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa arrived in Sri Lanka today, shortly after Mora, the cyclone that wreaked havoc on the island over the past few days, moved on to Bangladesh and Myanmar. Minister was away in Mexico attending a global conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, where he highlighted SL’s efforts to minimise casualties, damage to infrastructure, and economic losses in natural disasters. more..

June 2 (CI) An ankle and calf injury set aside, Joe Root put together a masterful unbeaten career-best 133 to power England to an eight-wicket win in their opening Champions Trophy match over Bangladesh, who would rue two major mistakes: not scoring enough in the last five overs and picking one less bowler. Two big partnerships supported England's successful 306-run chase. Root's 129-ball innings included 11 fours and a six, with Eoin Morgan by his side; captain was not out on a 61-ball 75 more..

June 2 (Hindu) Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 13.76 kg of gold smuggled from Sri Lanka in two search operations. Acting on specific intelligence from the Chennai zonal unit, officials from Chennai, Thoothukudi and Madurai units intercepted a bus on the East Coast Road (ECR) junction here on Wednesday evening and seized 7.36 kg of gold from a person in a Chennai-bound bus. On Thursday, officials seized 6.4 kg of gold from two persons at the Kunthukal seashore. more..

June 2 (FT) A new high-profile taskforce has been appointed to drive Sri Lanka’s 2025 vision for the tourism industry. The 13-member taskforce recommended by PM has been approved and appointed by the Cabinet. Taskforce is chaired by Hari Selvanthan and comprises Tourism Ministry Secretary Janaka Sugathadasa, SL Tourism Chairman Paddy Withana, Harry Jayawardena, Udaya Nanayakkara, Merril J. Fernando, more..

June 2 (DN) Eshan Pieris winning Round 3 of the Rotax Max Asian Championship in Malaysia on Sunday created history. He is the first Sri Lankan to win a race in the most competitive Asian go karting championship and has succeeded in placing Sri Lanka on the international karting map. Eshan showed exceptional driving skills to win against highly-experienced drivers and reigning champions from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. more..

June 2 (Island) Sprinters Suranjaya de Silva and Rumeshika Ratnayake produced impressive seasonal best performances as nearly half a dozen athletes reached locally-set qualifying standards for the Asian Athletics Championships on day one of the National Athletics Trials on Thursday. In the absence of the national record holder of the 100m and training partner Himasha Eshan, Suranjaya de Silva blazed the track with a feat of 10.32 seconds to win the men’s 100m. more..

June 2 (CT) Two pole vaulters Ishara Sandaruwan and Anitha Jaganethwaran together with Charith Kapukotuwa (Shot Put) renewed their own Sri Lanka records while several impressive marks were set in the second National Selection trials for Asian Championship started at Diyagama yesterday. Sandaruwan renewed the record he set in Jaffna with a 5.11m clearance under rain affected difficult conditions where the worn-out track did not more..

June 2 (DM) The chair of an important statutory body fired a broadside at the govt during a TV talk show recently. The political authorities in the highest echelons in yahapalanaya had reacted with anger to this attack on the govt by the head of the state authority despite a member of his family being the political authority in charge of the subject. And the powers that be have now ordered the Deputy in charge of the subject to give a fitting reply to the criticism made by the statutory body head.  more..

June 2 (DN) The piling of the US$ 650 million Indian developed Krrish Square has now been completed. The first phase of the project which would be the opening of the resurrected Transworks House Colombo would be unveiled end of August. The first stage would see the entry of some of the worlds famed global retail marketing companies opening up its branches in the large retail mall at the Krrish Transworks House. In addition the venue will also have several other entertainment facilities. more..

June 2 (FT) Newly sworn-in State Finance Minister Eran Wickremaratne on Wednesday wooed existing and potential foreign and local investors, inviting them to benefit from new business opportunities in Sri Lanka by banking on sound macroeconomics, fiscal management and a strategic geographical location. He appeared to be on the same page as Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who during the inauguration more..

June 2 (DN) Colombo Port City when completed would see an investment of US$15 billion, said Liang Thow, Chief Sales Officer, CHEC Project. Speaking at the Business Conclave 2017, he said that there would also be a population of over 250,000 living in it. “I can say that 40% of the work is now complete.” He said that the Port City would also have several specialsed ares including a marine university area, recreation area, residential area and also the financial district, more..

June 2 (Island) Cabinet approval has been granted for erecting electric fences to prevent wild elephants from entering 54 waste disposing dumps located in wildlife zones. The project has been proposed jointly by Ministers Gamini Jayawickrama Perera and Faizer Mustapha to implement a waste recycling programme, giving priority to such wildlife zones. Improper waste disposal has impacted badly on the environment as well as animals, especially elephants and more..

June 2 (DM) President Maithripala Sirsena has turned down a request made by certain foreign countries to declare an Emergency Situation in Sri Lanka to offer further assistance, since it will affect the country’s reputation, Minister Dilan Perera said. He said if an emergency situation was declared, the joint opposition will use it for their political advantage and therefore such action was not necessary as correctly decided by President Sirisena. more..

June 2 (NR) Minister Chandima Weerakkody has vehemently rejected allegations levelled against the govt pertaining to relief efforts launched after the adverse weather conditions that wreaked havoc across the country. He added technicalities should not be debated under such circumstances. Minister said as a govt representative he takes responsibility in saying it is the current govt that set aside a large allocation of funds for a disaster situation adding that media outlets have rendered their support more..

June 2 (GDI) The Cost of Living Committee at its meeting held on 25th May has taken several important decisions regarding the issues on rice in the market. Accordingly, they have decided that the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) should take legal action against errant millers who hoard paddy stocks and also raid sellers who sell imported rice claiming to be locally produced. Minister Rishad Bathiudeen has instructed CAA to report on the stock levels of millers as well as details of distribution of more..

June 2 (CB) Sri Lanka's opening fixture of the ICC Champions Trophy against South Africa on Saturday will be a David versus Goliath affair. South Africa are number one in ICC Rakings while Sri Lanka are seventh. South Africans have four batsmen and two bowlers in top ten individual rankings, but SL have none. They were even whitewashed 5-0 early this year in South Africa. Yet, SL team's Manager Asanka Gurusinha more..

June 2 (CT) Cabinet has agreed to accept a credit line of US$ 200 million from the Govt of Pakistan for the development of priority projects in the pipeline. "Govt of Pakistan has agreed to provide a Credit Line Facility of US$ 200 million to finance priority development projects of Govt of SL," funds are expected to finance housing construction, development of livestock, importing equipment required for agriculture and dairy production, and development of Industrial Tech Institute. more..

June 2 (Island) Health Ministry said that all patients suffering from non communicable diseases (NCDs) in flood affected districts need not panic if they had lost medical records. Health Ministry’s Dr Upul Gunasekera said Ministry’s Special Unit, headed by former Health Secretary and present Chairman of Sri J'pura General Hospital, Dr Athula Kahandaliyanage, had assigned several Deputy Directors General (DDGs) to work with Provincial & Regional Directors of Health in flood affected more..

June 2 (DN) The Dambulla cave temple and Galle Fort are at a risk of losing the World Heritage Site status, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said. He said the UNESCO has recently warned that the above two sites would have to be removed from the World Heritage Site list considering the deterioration of their conditions. “The negligence of the Archeological Department has contributed to this state of affairs. more..

June 2 (Island) Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews’ fitness will be assessed today (Friday) during training ahead of their first Champions Trophy game against South Africa at The Oval on Saturday. Mathews who was feeling tightness in his calf after the warm-up game against Australia had been cleared by the doctors and he was rested for the warm-up game against New Zealand. However, he felt stiff again while jogging during training on Wednesday. more..

June 2 (Island) National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) updated its landslide warning. It asked people living in all mountain areas, manmade cut slopes and roads in seven districts to take precautionary action if the rainfall continued during the next 24 hours starting from 1.00 pm yesterday. A landslide early warning of the NBRO has asked people in the seven districts prone to landslides to be alert on the possibility of landslides, rock falls & subsidence and cut slope failures. more..

June 2 (Reuters) Diplomats on Thursday condemned violence against Muslims in SL and urged the govt to uphold minority rights and freedom of religion. More than 20 attacks on Muslims have been recorded since April 17, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques. Muslims have blamed the attacks on Body Bala Sena (BBS) or Buddhist Power Force, an organization that more..

June 2 (LBO) Finance Ministry Press Release: As inquiries are being received from the local and foreign donors to contribute in cash to the recent natural disaster relief activities, govt has opened special bank accounts to facilitate such cash donations. Those who are willing to make their donations in foreign currencies are kindly requested to remit their donations to one of the following account numbers maintained at the Sampath Bank PLC under the SWIFT code: BSAMLKLX more..

June 2 (ICC) South Africa arrived in England with high hopes of a successful ICC Champions Trophy campaign, buoyed by a strong showing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, its last 50-over ICC event outing, and by the fact its team boasts prodigious talent in all departments. That confidence would have been dented somewhat in the past 10 days after losing its first two ODIs to England, justly one of the tournament favourites with its very strong and well-balanced side. more..

June 2 (Island) The total death toll from last week’s disasters is thought to be around 300 with the govt deciding to consider 95 persons who have gone missing also as dead, Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene says. Rescue workers had combed through mud and rubble left by devastating floods and landslides, looking for survivors till yesterday, but in vain, he said. Minister from Matara, one of the worst affected districts, more..

June 2 (DM) One of the national govt’s positive missions has been to grow the food that we need in SL instead of busting up millions of dollars to import junk food or processed rubbish. As a tropical paradise, SL has been blessed with thousands of varieties of nutritious vegetables, grains and fruits and we need to be aware of the need not just to eat well but to eat wisely. According to physician and nutritionist Dr. Al Sears we need to monitor what chemicals go into our food. more..

June 2 (DM) As the floodwaters start receding, the authorities concerned are now taking stock of the damage. Against this backdrop, the Meteorology Department, as in previous disaster situations, drew flak at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting over its incapability to predict the amount of rainfall to be experienced. In fact, it can forecast accurately but not by volume.  SL, once again, experienced high-intensity rain in a matter of three days. The unexpectedly high volume of rainwater more..

June 2 (DM) Despite being Sri Lanka Cricket’s first democratically elected President in over 10 years – after successions of Interim Committees had stalled the smooth implementation of policies and development work – Thilanga Sumathipala’s fourth term has not been without its criticisms.   Even as investments have been made to develop the game across all levels, there has been a steady stream of allegations, albeit still unfounded, more..

June 2 (DM) A lot of hue and cry has been made at Parliament over the past couple of months with the Court of Appeal issuing a Writ of Quo Warranto disqualifying the UPFA MP, Geetha Kumarasinghe holding office as an MP on May 3, 2017 under the claim that Ms. Kumarasinghe was holding dual citizenship at the time of seeking nomination to enter Parliament and failed to renounce from the dual citizen status before more..

June 2 (Island) Teachers and students were at the receiving end of a tug-of-war between the line and provincial ministries of education over the issue of number of days schools closed owing to the last week’s disasters, Ceylon Teachers’ Union stated in a media release. It said the Ministry of Education had announced that the schools in Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Kegalle, Ratnapura and Hambantota districts more..

June 2 (LBO) Total vehicle registrations in Sri Lanka fell to 33,438 units in April from 40,021 in March, with declines in all major categories except three-wheelers and tractors, likely affected by the holiday season. Three-wheelers observed a 12% growth, month-on-month, to 1,452 units in April. Bajaj increased its market share to 94% from 90%, while financing share for 3-wheelers increased to 65% from 57% in April. more..

June 2 (DM) Colombo High Court today granted bail to former SDIG Anura Senanayake on strict conditions considering the revision bail application filed in court on behalf of him. High Court Judge granted him a cash bail of one million rupees with three sureties of five million each. The judge imposed a travel ban on him and ordered to report to the CID every Sunday. He was directed not to interfere with the witnesses. more..

June 2 (Xinhua) The European Commission has allocated 300,000 euros in humanitarian funding to Sri Lanka to bring emergency assistance to communities affected by the recent floods, a statement by the EU in Sri Lanka said Friday. "This contribution from the EU will allow our partners on the ground to provide relief to the most-impacted families. This is an expression of solidarity from European people to the people of SL," more..

June 2 (ST) The Right to Information Commission (RTIC) has called on Public Authorities (PA) who have yet to comply, to abide by the mandatory statutory duty, to name and publicise the appointment of Information Officers (IO) and Designated Officers (DO), as required by the Act. RTIC which came into operation on Feb 3, 2017, said, “It notes its appreciation with regard to the significant numbers of PAs and citizens alike, more..

June 2 (CT) It would be impossible to implement President Sirisena's decision to stop the import of new vehicles for Ministers and MPs in light of the disaster situation, JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake said. He said that already over 100 letters of credit (LCs), to import new vehicles, have been issued and the govt should first withdraw such LCs. He charged that the govt had already paid the necessary sums of money to the firms from more..

June 2 (Island) The Bar Association of Sri Lanka called upon the IGP, AG and the govt to take immediate action to arrest the increasing trend of attacks against racial and religious minorities. "The state must decisively act against all parties who advocate hatred that constitute incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, BASL said in a press release signed by its President UR de Silva and its secretary Amal A Randeniya. more..

June 2 (EN) Auditor General has disclaimed the accounts of the Finance Ministry in a shocking development, saying he cannot given an opinion on the numbers, and national debt was  83.3% of gross domestic product and not 79.3% as reported. Last year the AG qualified its opinion noting problems in a number of areas, but said he could say that the accounts were true and fair except for the items noticed. more..