Sep 4 (NS) Life is an ever moving phenomenon. It will always move forward with the time with no turning back. You can live in the moment and dwell in those captured memories in the future. To fulfil these two desires, you have to sacrifice your time, energy and money. Travelling is the one thing you can use to fulfil this requirement. Hike gives you an opportunity to enjoy life to the maximum in addition to being healthy and healing your soul. This time we went to capture those memories more..

Sep 4 (Island) I refer to the news item in The island (2) and would like to comment on contracts on which non-career ambassadors are appointed by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, to create public awareness in search of truth. I do so with my background as a former Director General and Ambassador and Director of Overseas Administration in the Foreign Ministry whose duties included preparation of contracts to be signed by non -career ambassadors, and also one who served with more..

Sep 4 (CT) Trial-at-Bar hearing on the gruesome murder of 17-year-old schoolgirl Vithya Sivaloganathan of Punkuduthivu is now on its final phase with the end of defence submissions on 29 Aug at Jaffna High Court. Tragedy occurred on 13 May 2015 when the innocent schoolgirl Vithya was on her way to Punkuduthivu Maha Vidyalaya. Punkuduthivu is an islet connected to Jaffna by the Pannai causeway. more..

Sep 4 (Island) Could anyone, even sports personalities remember Dr. Nagalingam Rasalingam? Perhaps those of an earlier vintage will be able to do so. Well, Rasa as he was popularly known to many, passed away in Auckland, New Zealand on August 24 at the age of 81 years. His funeral took place in Auckland on Sunday (3). He was a product from Royal College who won his colours in Badminton, Basketball, Hockey and Table Tennis. However it was in Badminton that more..

Sep 4 (DNA) The history, legends, and myths of Sri Lanka are replete with stories of Indian princes or adventurers capturing power and establishing dynasties. The proximity of the island and its resources undoubtedly attracted attention from many Indian and foreign powers. The Sinhalese kingdoms had also imported thousands of mercenaries from southern India to fight their internal wars and these mercenary communities soon gained significant power. more..

Sep 4 (IE) Arjuna Ranatunga, 1996 World Cup winning skipper, is now the country’s petroleum minister. He spoke on teams’ obsession with fitness, the current issues plaguing Sri Lankan cricket and also looked back at the country’s most famous win. Q: Do you still remember 1996, Eden Gardens? A: You can’t forget that particular game (World Cup semifinal) but it (fans’ anger) was never targeted at us. more..

Sep 4 (Island) Minister Sajith Premadasa saidjoint opposition is lighting pus vedi instead of ali vedi in an attempt to topple the duly elected Yahapalanaya regime. The masses now have a people-friendly govt in power, which does not concentrate on the families of ministers, but instead focus on the welfare of the common man, who can today live without harassment or persecution, he noted. He said the govt stands committed towards ensuring a better tomorrow for the people of the country. more..

Sep 4 (ST) U19 inter-schools cricket league tournament 2017/2018 conducted by the SL Schools Cricket Association and sponsored by Singer SL Ltd will get underway from early September with 36 teams divided into four groups of nine in each in the fray. From the 36 teams the notable absentee is Royal Colombo who along with Anuradhapura Central has been demoted to the Division Two this year. The two teams have been replaced by St Thomas’s Matara and St John’s Panadura more..

Sep 4 (DM) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had recruited more than two million members to the party, it said in a statement. “In a special two month membership drive, initiated under the patronage of former MP Basil Rajapaksa, SLPP had achieved the target. This is also shown by the record attendance at the May Day rally held at the Galle Face Green,” statement said. SLPP’s membership drive titled Samaajikathwaabhishekaya, under the theme Build a village that protects the country more..

Sep 4 (SO) Polythene and plastics recyclers said they fully endorse and support the move by the govt to ban the use of polythene less than 20 microns which came into effect from Sept 1. Secretary General, National Forum for Post Consumer Plastic Waste Management A.S. Illiyas said “We are for the ban of low micron polythene, plastics and other non recyclable material which is harmful to the environment.” “Measures of this nature will help protect the environment more..

Sep 4 (CI) Bhuvneshwar Kumar's maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs and Virat Kohli's 30th hundred in the format led India to a clinical six-wicket win that consigned Sri Lanka to a first ever home-series whitewash. There was a sense of inevitability to it all, particularly to Kohli's innings, which swept him past 1000 runs for 2017 and moved him level with Ricky Ponting in second place among ODI century-makers. more..

Sep 4 (DN) "I am really satisfied about my young team when they became plate champions of the first leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Tournament as they finished in fifth position, said Sri Lanka Rugby Sevens coach Peter Woods. Japanese team won the Cup championship when they beat hosting Hong Kong team by 19-12 in the final played at Kings Park Sports Complex, Kowloon, Hong Kong on Sept 2. SL team participated in ‘B’ category and they won three matches out of six more..

Sep 4 (OBG) Increased access for air travellers, stronger advertising campaigns and enhanced bilateral cooperation are underpinning SL’s push to expand its foothold in one of the world’s largest potential tourism source markets – India. Both private sector players and public officials in SL see the country’s northern neighbour as a key source of growth in the coming years, central to increasing foreign arrivals beyond 3m a year by 2020. India is SL's leading source of overseas visitors, more..

Sep 4 (ST) While objecting to UDA’s recent decision to call Requests for proposals to lease Chalmers Granary land, Colombo Fort again, a local firm Multinational Property Developments Ltd (MPDL) has urged an amicable settlement of UDA‘s financial obligations pending since 1994 towards the company. In a letter to the UDA Chairman, MPDL demanded the Authority to settle Rs. 72 million initial lease payment made by the company more..

Sep 4 (CT) Former Vice Chancellor of University of Sri J'pura, Prof. Senevi Epitawatta, passed away yesterday (2) at the J'pura Hospital. Prof. D.S. Epitawatta served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sri J'pura from October 2002 to December 2003. He was also a former Dean of Faculty of Arts and Head of the Department of Geography. He obtained his PhD from University of Sheffield in UK. Further, he has conducted research on Biogeography and related fields. more..

Sep 4 (DM) NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa said Minister and Field Marshal, Sarath Fonseka should be removed from his portfolio for making a traitorous statement on former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya just as former minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was removed for violating collective Cabinet responsibility. He told a news conference that if the govt failed to do so one could then assume that the statement made by Mr. Fonseka was its view as well. more..

Sep 4 (Island) Supreme Court has initiated a disciplinary inquiry in respect of attorney-at-law Nagananda Kodituwakku’s conduct in the Court of Appeal on May 21, 2015 before the then President of the Court of Appeal justice Vijith Malalgoda, PC and justice H.C.J. Madawala. Justice Malalgoda has now been sworn in as a Supreme Court judge. Having faulted Kodituwakku for what the Supreme Court called improper, insulting, intolerable, more..

Sep 4 (Island) Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake said that personal vendettas shouldn’t be settled at the expense of the army. Army Chief said so when The Island sought his views on recent allegations levelled by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka against General Jagath Jayasuriya in respect of the latter’s conduct during his tenure as Security Forces Commander, Vanni (Aug2007-July2009). He said that though he had been subjected to humiliation during Lt. Gen. Jayasuriya’s tenure more..

Sep 4 (CT) An asylum seeker boat found off Indonesia with dozens on board, including 33 Sri Lankans, bound for Australia or New Zealand is a really significant wake-up call, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says. The news comes after the Turnbull government last week confirmed that a boatload of Chinese men who reached an island in the Torres Strait had been sent back to China. Dutton said Australia hadn't seen activity on the water for a long period of time. more..

Sep 4 (CT) IGP Pujith Jayasundera has launched a scheme to reward disciplined drivers, in every Province, Police Media Unit said. The release added: "Accordingly, 300 drivers were selected at random by the Traffic Police in the city of Kandy and a 7-day workshop was held there. Wherever the best drivers programme is held in Sri Lanka, the Police will not focus attention only on undisciplined drivers but also on those who drive while more..

Sep 4 (CT) PRECIFAC has requested President Sirisena to extend its term by another 6 months. The official term of the Commission ended yesterday. The Commission has requested the extension as investigations into a number of complaints and petition, received by the Commission, have not been concluded. About 2,000 complaints were received by the Commission, which was inaugurated in 2015, and investigations into 401 complaints, relating to grave fraud, have commenced. more..

Sep 4 (CT) Former actress turned politician, Geetha Kumarasinghe is said to recovering, following her harrowing domestic accident that saw her being hospitalised with severe burn injuries. Sources at the private hospital, said that Kumarasinghe is recovering. It was also noted that the number of visitors have also been reduced at the ICU where she is recuperating in order to avoid infection. The doctors claim that she will have to remain hospitalised for the next few days as well. more..

Sep 4 (AP) President on Sunday vowed to protect his former ambassador to six South American nations, an ex-army chief accused of crimes in the bloody final phase of the country's civil war. "I state very clearly that I will not allow anyone in the world to touch Jagath Jayasuriya or any other military chief or any war hero in this country," President Maithripala Sirisena said on Sunday, addressing a convention of his SLFP. more..

Sep 4 (SO) TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran says he will file a fresh application, regarding the granting of a tender to supply steel prefabricated houses for Northern Province, following his withdrawal of the previous Fundamental Rights case on Thursday owing to a fault - failure to name Cabinet members as the respondents. The matter was taken up before a three-judge-bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Sisira de Abrew, Justice Anil Gooneratne and Justice Vijith Malalgoda. more..

Sep 4 (DN) President Maithripala Sirisena will unveil the proposed eight year economic development plan Vision 2025 today. PM will be present on the occasion. The launch will take place at the BMICH at 2.30 p.m. with the participation of the members of the unity govt. State Minister Eran Wickremeratne said said Vision 2025 is a holistic plan which primarily focuses on youth in SL who are the leaders of tomorrow. The plan maps out the development journey of Sri Lanka in the coming years, more..

Sep 4 (DM) President Maithripala Sirisena said he would never allow former Army Commander (Rtd) General Jagath Jayasuriya or any other war hero to be hauled before an international criminal court or war tribunal as long as he remained the President of SL. He said the threat of war crimes charges, economic sanctions and the hostile attitude of the global community against Sri Lanka was the direct result of Rajapaksa regime’s failure to more..

Sep 4 (DM) This has been a bad year for Sri Lankan cricket. Our defeat by India at the 4th ODI match means that we may now have lost the chance to automatically qualify for a place in the World Cup. What is sad is that our cricket administrators did not see this coming.   For the first time in March this year, the national team was defeated at test match level by Bangladesh, a team ranked lower than itself. Worse was to follow, in April Bangladesh held us to a 1-1 draw in the ODI series. more..

Sep 4 (DM) Sri Lanka is not the only country that is hit by social and political turmoil today. In fact, almost the entire world is going through a period of unprecedented social and political unrest. Though there can be many explanations of the present state of affairs, based on diverse ideological persuasions, the most empirically valid diagnosis seems to be that it is due to far reaching economic, political, social, ecological & cultural transformations on a global level brought about by globalized capitalism. more..

Sep 4 (DM) Citizens of Sri Lanka living both in and out of the country are longing for credible, competent and far-sighted public servants, office bearers and political leadership at all levels starting from Parliament downwards.  I have experienced first hand the levels of incompetence, self-centredness and lack of far sightedness by our public servants, Foreign Service members and in particular our political leadership. more..

Sep 4 (AJ) It is difficult to predict when the elephants will come. As darkness falls around Sri Lanka's Udawalawe National Park, the 52 villages that speckle its borders go on alert. Thin wire fences hum with the threat of electricity. Across the dry zone, farmers climb up into rudimentary treehouses overlooking their paddy fields. They must try to stay alert as the darkness deepens. Armed only with torches, fireworks, and more..

Sep 4 (DM) Minister Thalatha Athukorale said ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa had a responsibility to order an inquiry into the untimely death of her brother, UNP's former general secretary Gamini Athukorale in 2002, if he had any suspicions about it. Responding to journalists on the remarks made by Mr. Rajapaksa that the new Justice Minister, should order a probe into her brother’s death, Minister Athukorale said more..

Sep 4 (DM) With the number of tourist arrivals set to increase, Tourism Promotion Minister John Amaratunga has requested the govt to make arrangements to ready the Ratmalana Airport to handle international flight operations. He said that the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) would not be able to cope with the demands of having to cater to increased influx of tourists into the country. “Until the BIA is expanded and more..

Sep 4 (ST) For the second time in a year, expressions of interest were called by the Ministry of Transport to buy 160 passenger coaches for Sri Lanka Railways under an Indian line of credit. The deadline ended on Friday, with one condition of the loan being that only manufacturers and suppliers certified by the Indian Government may apply. Two companies submitted to India’s Exim Bank expressions of interest for pre-qualification. more..

Sep 4 (SLA) Exercise - Cormorant Strike VIII - 2017, multi-national Field Training Exercise (FTX), organized by the SL Army, started off for the 8th consecutive year with the participation of SL tri-forces and 69 foreign participants representing 13 countries around the world at Infantry Training Centre, Minneriya at the Eastern region Sunday. Introductory meeting was conducted at Exercise Operational Hq in Minneriya this evening (3). more..

Sep 4 (DM) Govt will hold elections to the nine provincial councils before the end of 2018 by re-wording the 20th Amendment which was rejected by several provincial councils, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said. He said this during a function at Malkaduwawa in the Kurunegala District. “We are ready to introduce a fresh clause to the 20th Amendment compelling the govt to hold the PC elections before the end of next year,” more..

Sep 4 (PTI) Upul Tharanga today said that he will not step down from Sri Lanka's ODI captain's post despite a 0-5 drubbing at the hands of India in the just-concluded series. "There is no reason to give up captaincy. The next selectors committee will decide how we will move forward. We didn't play well. And in the last two years we have not played well. So, only this set of players can come out of this phase. But we need to plan better and more..

Sep 4 (CT) The SAITM denied Prof. Carlo Fonseka's recent accusation that it had made abysmal profits through its activities. However, SAITM management, led by Dr. Neville Fernando, cried foul saying that the comments made by Prof. Fonseka are totally inaccurate. SAITM officials, voicing their rejection of Prof. Fonseka's statement, noted that at no point has the private medical college earned a profit of Rs. 1,265 million, more..

Sep 4 (DN) Increasing the price of a lunch packet by Rs.10 in the wake of the lunch sheet ban is highly unreasonable and unfair by the consumers, Central Environmental Authority (CEA) Chairman Prof. Lal Dharmasiri said. He pointed out the polythene ban that came into effect from Sept 1 was for the common good of people’s health & environmental protection, adding that it needs the support of all segments of society. more..