Jul 9 (TM) Tourism is a major source of income for Sri Lanka and following the end of the war, successive govts invested heavily to boost tourism in the country. However, the Govt has been accused of failing to protect or improve some tourism-related projects purely because they were launched by the former regime. One such project is located in Kalpitiya. Hotel located in what was earlier identified as the largest tourism development project more..

Jul 9 (DN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed the National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs Ministry to develop the province’s palmyrah industry with a special allocation of Rs 100 million, Ministry Secretary V. Sivagnanasothy said. The move to boost the flagging Northern industry comes in the wake of the PM’s recent visit to the province. more..

Jul 9 (DN) Petroleum Resources Development Minister Kabir Hashim has sought an explanation from his ministry over reports of substandard 92 Octane fuel being supplied from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery, adding that an inquiry will be initiated if a discrepancy is found. “I have summoned my officials to brief me on the situation to ascertain if there is any truth to the allegations that are being made,” he said. more..

Jul 9 (PMD) President Maithripala Sirisena has taken measures to set up a National Security Advisory Board to look into the matters related to national security. Dr. Sarath Amunugama functions as the Chairman of this Board while President’s Counsels Kalinga Indratissa, Nigel Hatch, Attorneys- at-Law Javid Yusuf, Dr. Ram Manikkalingam, Dr. Suren Ragavan are the other members. Board is expected to strengthen more..

Jul 9 (DN) Muslim MPs are to meet today to discuss the plight of Muslims in the country in the aftermath of incidents against their community and to decide on the future course of action over Muslims who continue to be arbitrarily detained. “We would like to review how, as people’s representatives, we have been supporting the govt to return the country to normalcy in trying to support the Forces in making arrests of perpetrators more..

Jul 9 (AD) IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando have been released on bail today. The bail order was issued by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne. Accordingly, the chief magistrate imposed a surety bail of Rs 500,000 on each of the defendants. IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were informed to appear before CID on July 2nd. more..

Jul 9 (CT) It does not take an Einstein to tell us that Sri Lanka has a huge social problem on her hands when the Police arrest 433 drunk drivers weaving and swerving across our roads in a mere 12-hour clamp down. Multiply that by 365 and you get approximately 156,000 drunk drivers endangering public life on our roads if only in 2019. The Police dragnet for drunks behind wheels and on motorbikes was thrown out between 6 p.m. on Saturday ending at 6 a.m. yesterday. more..

Jul 9 (CT) The public are greatly inconvenienced by the 3-month-long drought, said to be the worst ever experienced in the Ampara District. Both, the cultivators and livestock farmers are severely affected by this unusual weather condition prevailing here. Due to this weather condition, the public is undergoing much hardship in obtaining their drinking water. According to the statistics of the Disaster Management Centre, almost all the areas in the District are affected by the drought. more..

Jul 9 (FT) The sudden power-cuts during hot March made the public suffer and brought the power sector into public attention. Power was restored by Sinhala New Year, supported by factories closed for festive season and emergency power obtained. However, the power situation remains critical and will remain so for a few more years. After the Easter Sunday attacks, most hotels run under capacity, reducing power load. The much-expected rains arrived late, lower than normal, resulting more..

Jul 9 (AD) Board of Investment of Sri Lanka signed recently a new Investment Agreement with Wakana JPN (Pvt) ltd. The Agreement was signed on behalf of the BOI by Mr. Mangala Yapa, Chairman of the BOI and on behalf of the company by Mr. Hiroyuki Ota, Director and Mr. T. G. Sunil Wickrama, Director. This Agreement underscores the message that Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is well set to recover and flourish, as the country was recently awarded the title of the best place to travel twice by more..

Jul 9 (AD) The Galle Road from Kollupitiya to Galle Face has been temporarily closed due to a protest march, stated Ada Derana reporter. The protest march has been organized by university students. The Police have fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesting students to disperse the crowds at the Kollupitiya Junction. The protest march caused heavy traffic congestion on the High Level road, near Wijerama Junction. more..

Jul 9 (AD) SL Land Reclamation and Development Corporation has taken steps to launch a passenger boat service from Colombo Fort to Union Place through the Beira Lake to ease traffic congestion in the city. The first observation tour of the air conditioned passenger boat produced by the SL Navy took place under the patronage of the Minister Champika Ranawaka yesterday. With the launch of this service, it is possible to travel from Colombo Fort to Union Place in less than 15 minutes. more..

Jul 9 (Island) A reception celebrating Crown Prince Naruhito acceding to the Throne of Japan was held last week at Ambassador Akira Sugiyama’s residence. Chief guest at the event was Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. Ambassador Sugiyama, welcoming the Chief Guest and others said: ‘On May 1st this year His Imperial Highness, Prince Naruhito acceded to the Throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan in the new Japanese era Reiwa, commenced the same day. more..

Jul 9 (AP) SL prosecutors asked police on Tuesday to locate three key witnesses in the 2006 killings of five ethnic Tamil students, days after a judge dismissed charges against 13 policemen suspected in the case, citing a lack of evidence. The attorney general's department wrote to acting police chief Chandana Wickramaratne to say that evidence from two survivors of the shootings and the father of a killed student was needed to pursue case. more..

Jul 9 (AD) President Sirisena cannot win if he contests in the presidential election again, says TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran. MP stated this responding to a question raised during Derana 360° political programme yesterday. He stressed that during the previous presidential election that he would only contest once. People of this country are smart enough not to elect Prez Sirisena again when he has already promised not to run for the presidency for a second time, MP added. more..

Jul 9 (AD) A local Tamil newspaper has reported that steps are being taken to release Dr. Mohamed Shafi, who was arrested for allegedly amassing assets through illegal means and accused of performing sterilization surgeries on women illegally, today. According to the newspaper, investigations had uncovered that Dr. Mohamed Shafi was not guilty of the charges levelled against him. It had further reported that 36 other Muslim persons, who were arrested in the aftermath of more..

Jul 9 (CT) General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva claimed the Govt of former President Rajapaksa, which was defeated in 2015, would not be allowed to come to power after the present UNP Govt is overthrown, adding that a strong people’s alliance would be formed. He added the UNP and the Opposition were protecting each other, and pushing the country into an abyss. He recalled that the UNP came to power in 2015 with more..

Jul 9 (Island) Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam last week told the CID unit attached to the PCoI investigating corruption of the current administration that previous ministers too had placed their messages with colour photos of themselves in text books, but AG’s Department officials pointed out, that those messages were placed in books containing past exam papers. Kariyawasam gave a number of books to the CID unit as examples of messages by previous ministers. more..

Jul 9 (AN) The National Peoples’ Movement (NPM) was created recently in order to promote national unity, achieve religious and ethnic harmony and reconciliation, develop a new political leadership, identify the most suitable individuals to lead the country, and boost women's representation in Parliament. The NPM is planning to take part in next December’s presidential election, and with this in mind, it presented its objectives to the public last week. more..

Jul 9 (ST) World Health Organisation (WHO) today declared in a statement that Sri Lanka has eliminated measles from the country. “The country’s success demonstrates its commitment, and the determination of its health workforce and parents to protect children against measles,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO said. According to the WHO, an independent verification committee had comprehensively more..

Jul 9 (AD) MP Rishad Bathiudeen says that persons not linked to the Easter Sunday attacks should not be insulted while parties actually linked to the attacks are punished. Former minister says that national security is an important factor for every part of the community. MP expressed these views to the media following a religious event held in a mosque in the Kollupitya area. Responding to a query by a journalist, he stated that national security is more important to him than his ministerial post. more..

Jul 9 (FT) Supreme Court yesterday re-fixed for 23 Sept support for granting of Leave to Proceed with the Fundamental Rights petition filed by senior journalist and political analyst Kusal Perera. The Bench comprising Justices Priyantha Jayawardane, Prasanna Jayawardena and Murdu Fernando directed the Magistrate’s Court Registrar to issue a copy of the B Report to the Petitioner filed against him. The petition contests the impugned threat on Freedom of Expression and possible arrest more..

Jul 9 (Island) UNP Deputy Leader and Minister Sajith Premadasa said, on Sunday, that if he got the opportunity he would serve the 22 million people living in 6.1 million households 24 hours a day. He was speaking at a ceremony to mark the launch of Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera’s book Khema’s boy - 3 decades in politics at the Rabindranath Tagore Auditorium of University of Ruhuna. more..

Jul 9 (Island) A scientific approach was needed to arrive at a proper conclusion about the allegations leveled at Dr. Shihabdeen Mohamed Safi, Assistant Secretary of the GMOA, Navin de Zoysa said. Dr.  Zoysa said that he did not believe that the committee appointed by health Minister Rajitha Senaratna to investigate whether Shihabdeen had sterilised women without their consent would conduct an impartial inquiry. The inquiry by CID was not based on scientific methods, he said. more..

Jul 9 (CT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe will take out the best trump card, from his pocket, at the correct time and everyone will realise that he has chosen the best presidential candidate, who will definitely be a degree holder, as the people always wanted, claimed MP Hesha Withanage. Speaking at a Media briefing at Temple Trees yesterday, Withanage said that if Wickremesinghe could bring Prez Sirisena as the 2015 common candidate for President, he is definitely capable of bringing one from UNP. more..

Jul 9 (wsws) Members and supporters of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and its youth movement, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), campaigned at the University of Jaffna and the nearby Technical College to build support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The campaign promoted a picket organised by the SEP and the IYSSE in defence of Assange and more..

Jul 9 (DM) The emergence of non-traditional threats in the region is a major concern and collective efforts should be made for greater maritime partnerships, State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene said. The state minister expressed these views at the opening session of the 15th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) - Working Level Meeting (WLM) hosted by the Sri Lanka Coastguard (SLCG) in Colombo on Tuesday. He said regional forums like HACGAM can play more..

Jul 9 (AD) Three persons arrested over ties to the National Thowheed Jamath organisation's Zahran Hashim, have been handed over to the Terrorist Investigations Division for further investigations. The three received various training under Mohamad Zahran in Nuwara-Eliya, Kandy and Hambantota. One suspect identified as 41 year old Ismail Muhammadu Nazeer was arrested by the Nikaweratiya Police and is said to have trained with Zahra Hashim in Blackpool, Nuwara-Eliya. more..

Jul 9 (EN) Ceylon Electricity Board has stopped power cuts after Ceylon Petroleum Corporation resumed fuel supplies which were cut off Monday after arrears of 80 billion rupees were racked up, a media report said. "The fuel supply is back, but it is not clear at the moment what the solution will be," Power Ministry spokesman Sulakshana Jayawardene has said. On Monday sudden power cuts were reported from several areas. more..

Jul 10 (DN) Sixty years is indeed a long time in the political history of a country. Taken in the context of the 70-year post-independence period, it gains an added significance. D.E.W Gunasekera is celebrating 60 years of politics on July 10, an achievement of no mean significance. His contribution to politics, the country and the Left movement, in general, must be measured alongside the overall political developments that have taken place after independence. more..

Jul 10 (CT) There was a news item in the press recently that some local politicians and villagers were objecting to the cultivation of oil palm in the Galigamuwa area, of the Kalutara district. Sadly, among other things, this is apparently a consequence of a highly unscientific report that had been produced under the aegis of the CEA, and the belief that this crop is causing drying of wells and streams. I believe you had the occasion to consider its contents. more..

Jul 10 (SO) In 2009, when SL’s 3-decade-long armed conflict ended over 21 000 military and police personnel had lost their lives in the country’s quest for peace while almost 41 000 were left with life-changing disabilities. Though many became severely disabled requiring constant care and treatment, a remarkably large number of soldiers & officers with varying degrees of disabilities have continued to serve in the armed forces, more..

Jul 10 (FT) In Sri Lanka, the securities market is one main forum of commercial existence. In the recent past the regulation of these markets has become imperative. In order to bring such irregularities into the spotlight, this article will provide a specific segment of such market abuse which is left non-probed by the relevant authorities in this country. Hence, it will be based on the concept of insider dealing. Insider dealing (used interchangeably with insider trading) is a concept more..

Jul 10 (CT) President Sirisena’s project of reintroducing the death penalty for those repeatedly convicted of drug offenses has resulted in bringing together a disparate gang of hypocrites with a global and local reach. Like in politics, the issue has brought together a group of strange bedfellows. Opponents from western Europe consist of the EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and Norway, besides the UK. Amnesty International, as usual, has got its knickers in a twist. more..

Jul 10 (Roar) In 1992, returning from a stunning victory at the 30th World Chess Olympiad in the Philippines, SL’s pioneering chess queen, Suneetha Wijesuriya, was received at the airport by just four people — her mother, husband and two children. This was not really surprising, as the chess community in SL, especially at the time, was very small. But it was a pivotal moment for Wijesuriya, who decided to stop playing the game and more..

Jul 10 (CT) Power has been defined as the ability of a class, dominant group, or individual to impose their will on society or on another group or persons. The phenomenon that we’ve been seeing developing in Sri Lanka over the past ten to twenty years is a growing inability of a specific class, group, clique or individual/s to dominate or impose their/his will on a very great percentage or majority of society. This has compelled politicians generally with more in common than not, more..

Jul 10 (CT) An election can give political power to the winning political party and its leadership; thereby, they could claim that their exercise of power is legitimate. From the point of view of formal legitimacy, that claim is justifiable. However, elections cannot create the authority of the State if it has lost that authority. In quite a few Asian countries today, we can see how power transfer is legitimate but the elected govts cannot exercise their authority in order to fulfil the purposes for which more..

Jul 10 (Island) DEW Gunasekera is the longest serving political leader- 60 years to be precise. Dudley Senanayake served 37 years; J.R Jayewardene 50 years; Sirimavo Bandaranaike 40 years; Dr. N.M. Perera 46 years; Dr. Colvin R. de Silva 56 years; Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe 50 years; and Pieter Keuneman 57 years. A distinguished Norwegian friend after a brief chat with DEW asked me how I would characterize DEW. My response was that he was a professional communist. more..