Jul 2 (AD) Former SL Cricket Captain Kumar Sangakkara left the Special Investigations Unit of the Sports Ministry this evening after recording a statement. Sangakkara was questioned for nearly 09-hours on the match-fixing claims on the 2011 ICC World Cup by former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. Kumar Sangakkara was the SL skipper of the national cricket team that reached the final of the 2011 World Cup. more..

Jul 2 (TTG) Some 21 Shangri-La hotels in South-east Asia and SL are donating 12,500kg of used, clean bedsheets, duvet covers and pillowcases to local NGOs and volunteer groups to be repurposed into reusable face masks for vulnerable members of society. Done in partnership with global hygiene and cleaning company, Diversey, the hotel company’s initiative also presents employment opportunities for members in low socio-economic community groups in cities such as Yangon, Manila, more..

Jul 2 (Island) Nineteen Drone Operators from around the country were awarded Letters of Authorisation for Drone Surveillance Operation in Humanitarian Tasks at the Civil Aviation Authority of SL (CAASL) Headquarters in Katunayake on Friday, the CASSL said in a release. From a total pool of 89 applicants who had responded favourably to the Web Advertisement posted by CAASL which invited all potential Drone Operators to offer their services to strengthen the efforts of the govt more..

Jul 2 (AD) Employees at the Colombo Port have temporarily called off their indefinite strike over the Easter Terminal issue. The strike, which started off this afternoon, was brought to a temporary halt after PM Mahinda Rajapaksa promised them a discussion on the matter. Earlier today, President of the SL Freedom Workers’ Union of the Ports Authority Prasanna Kalutarage stated that all trade unions of the Colombo Port had reached more..

Jul 2 (AD) Seven individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 infection raising the total number of cases in the country, the Ministry of Health said. The Director-General of the Govt Information Department said that five among the latest cases have been detected among recent arrivals from Qatar. Thereby, the total count of coronavirus-positive cases in the country is at 2,060 cases. Currently, 222 active cases are under medical care at selected hospitals across the country. more..

Jul 2 (Island) Abdul Latif Jamil Mohammed, who blew himself up at Tropical Inn, Dehiwala, had been under military surveillance since 2015, a former senior official of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) yesterday told the PCoI. The commission requested the media not to reveal the name of the DMI officer. DMI deployed several teams to monitor the activities of Islamic extremists from 2015, as reports confirmed that some SL Muslims were traveling to Syria to join ISIS. more..

Jul 2 (AD) Prez Rajapaksa has instructed all cabinet ministers to submit their views on the Lalithasiri Gunaruwan Review Report on the MCC agreement within a week, Minister Bandula Gunawardena said. Minister said that the SL Govt’s final decision regarding any deal is that Sri Lanka will not enter into any agreement that harms the constitution, law, or the national security. He further says that, if a govt takes diplomatic relations more..

Jul 2 (TM) The SL Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry (SLCPI) unanimously elected Kasturi Chellaraja as its president for the year 2020/21, at the 59th Annual General Meeting held earlier this week. Chellaraja, Managing Director of Hemas Pharmaceuticals and now CEO of the Group, will head the Chamber for the 2nd year and along with the new office-bearers and membership, will drive the healthcare agenda of the Country together with govt & private sector stakeholders. more..

Jul 2 (FT) The 59th anniversary of People’s Bank was celebrated on 1 July, and to mark this occasion a special ceremony was organised at Marandagahamula Branch where 59 Aswenna as well as 59 Saubagya COVID-19 loans were granted to customers of the branch. All loans were granted with the participation of People’s Bank Chairman Sujeewa Rajapakse and CEO/General Manager Ranjith Kodituwakku. These loan schemes were introduced to support Govt’s development more..

Jul 2 (EN) The govt is asking electricity consumers to pay their bills in full for now until a proper method for relief is found. Minister Bandula Gunawardena asked the electricity consumers to pay up now until a proper relief method for the payments is introduced by the Cabinet next week. Many ministers informed the Cabinet that there are a lot of complaints from electricity consumers that electricity bills more..

Jul 2 (FT) UNP Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed Mayor of Colombo Rosy Senanayake to take immediate action to recover Rs. 300 million owed by the Western Provincial Council. Former PM met with Mayor Senanayake yesterday at the Party Headquarters to discuss the relief services provided by the Colombo Municipal Council. Wickremesinghe advised Senanayake to provide immediate relief to three-wheeler drivers and the public in the Colombo Municipal area affected by COVID-19 more..

Jul 2 (Island) Given the second wave of Covid-19 hitting the safe geographies like Beijing, Chennai and South Korea, the SL Standards Institution (SLSI) and Rotary stepped up the safeguards from the deadly virus by Certifying the Covid Control Environment Status to the first Sri Lanka owned group of companies-CIC Feeds Limited,. It said: Incidentally, this is the third company to get this cover of badge with the first being the Swedish/ Italian owned Trellerborg Group, more..

Jul 2 (AD) The eleven officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), who were arrested by the CID, will be produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court later today. They will be produced before the court on charges of drug trafficking, the AG’s Coordinating Officer Senior State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said. PNB officers in question were arrested and interrogated by the CID today over their suspected links to drug racketeers. more..

Jul 2 (CT) Ministry of Education has fixed 10 August for reopening of Grades One and Two of Govt Schools and Pre-Schools, said Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma. He said that Prez Rajapaksa has instructed his Ministry, to ensure that measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are in place such as disinfecting schools and the use of sanitisers. He noted that the hostel education for second-year students of the National Education Faculties will be conducted from 7-31 July. more..

Jul 2 (NR) Former MP Harin Fernando says suspicions have arisen whether the govt is engaged in seeking political vengeance over former national cricketers who raised objections to the govt’s proposed Homagama Stadium. He said statements by Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage pertaining to alleged match fixing allegations in the past and statements made today are contradictory. He said PM Mahinda Rajapaksa had interest in the Homagama Stadium as more..

Jul 2 (FT) Muslim Federation of the SLPP has announced its key officials at its general meeting, held under the patronage of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Rosewood Banquet Hall in Kalubowila on Monday. The National Leader of the Muslim Federation will be Ali Sabry PC, who is the President’s advisor on legal matters. National Organiser of the Federation will be A.L.M. Uwais Hajiar, former member of Central Province more..

Jul 2 (CT) Commander Sumith Ranasinghe said the CID, under the supervision of its former Director Shani Abeysekera and Chief Inspector Nishantha de Silva, asked him to make a statement that the incumbent Prez Rajapaksa and the former Commander of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda instructed him to maintain a torture camp at the Trincomalee Navy Camp. Making a statement at the PCoI probing Political Victimisation of public servants during more..

Jul 2 (PHC) High Commissioner of Pakistan, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Muhammad Saad Khattak visited Central and North Central Provinces from 29th June to 2nd July, 2020. HC met with the Governor of Central Province, Lalith U. Gamage at his office in Kandy on 29th June. Both discussed areas of mutual interest between the two countries, including assistance which can be provided by Pakistan to the Central Province and to explore opportunities to further enhance economic, trade, more..

Jul 2 (TM) World Bank has downgraded Sri Lanka from an upper-middle income country to a lower-middle income country. The change in classification comes in the World Bank country classifications by income level: 2020-2021 report. Sri Lanka is among ten economies that are moving to a different category this year and is one of three countries that are moving to a lower category from the previous year. more..

Jul 3 (DM) A popular claim in the recent past among the people had been that all the 225 MPs were rogues. Some people went on to curse them in public. And ironically, some of those MPs themselves quoted this claim during televised talk-shows pretending to assert the need to elect honest and qualified law makers to the legislature. We cannot recall anybody challenging this view or defending the legislators of the day. However, more than 200 out of the same 225 former MPs more..

Jul 3 (DM) Sri Lanka came in for much praise for controlling the spread of COVID-19, but some of the latest developments in the international scene, regarding human rights issues, might erase much of the good name health workers helped this nation earn. Right now SL has come under the spotlight for reports that are circulating with regard to minorities being targeted using hate speech and stigma. These concerns are being aired by an authority not less than the UNHRC’s Chief Michelle Bachelet. more..

Jul 3 (SO) The Janasetha Peramuna with a vision for the future and ensuring that all communities irrespective of caste, creed and ethnicity, enjoy the right to live in an undivided country, SL, invite all to rally under the banner Ekama Handak – Ekama Ratak. The party led by Ven. Battaramulle Seelarathana Thera, is now in its 11th year in the political arena. It has no bias of any kind; accept and respect all those who genuinely claim more..

Jul 3 (CT) There has been a trend of Prez Rajapaksa making senior appointments in which those who are outside the established administrative systems are being brought in to provide leadership and ensure effective and non-corrupt practices. As a large number of these appointments have been from the security forces this has given rise to a perception that the country is heading towards eventual military rule. There is a concern that the forthcoming general elections will be followed by more..

Jul 3 (CT) Mr. C.V. Wigneswaran is no ordinary person: He is a retired Justice, fluent in all the three languages, Sinhalese, Tamil & English that are spoken in Sri Lanka, is patently religious and brought into politics from his retired life. Very soon after, and never of such privileged position accorded to anyone before, considered as new light, a new breeze and new hope by a majority of Tamil voters in the North of Sri Lanka, he was directly elevated to the exalted political office more..

Jul 3 (DM) M.S.H. Mohamed, who initiated the Fight Cancer Team, will be contesting under the UNP ticket from Colombo District at the upcoming Parliamentary Elections. The Team raised funds to donate a PET/CT scanner to the Maharagama Apeksha Cancer Hospital. However Mohamed and the Team faced several allegations regarding the transparency of donations received while raising funds for the cause. more..

Jul 3 (Island) It happened very many years ago, but it still lingers in my memory. Every Sinhala New Year's day our family had a busy schedule visiting friends and relatives and it was well nigh midnight when we reached home that day. After dropping the family at our front compound, I opened the garage which was at the rear. I was about to take the car in when I heard an agonizing shriek of a woman at the foot of the abutting hill. Looking over the boundary wall, I found that a woman had given birth more..

Jul 3 (CT) When Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena had a long discussion with US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo by telephone on 30 June, it was revealed that the talks dealt with matters which were perhaps entirely out of the scope of matters relating to the MCC agreement. Not that the discussions had to necessarily be stuck on the pending MCC agreement. The MCC agreement, when we analyse the discussions between SL’s top man in foreign relations more..

Jul 3 (GV) In Sri Lanka, the face of Bob Marley is a recurring visual motif- from tuk tuks, to street art, to reggae bars on the beach, and adorning various paraphernalia. But how did he come to occupy this visual space as a cultural icon? His face did not simply appear; it tells an integral story of resistance in SL. In popular representation, SL and Jamaica are both subjected to a single story; desired tropical paradises, privy to the constant gaze of exoticism, offering tranquility as Garden of Eden of sorts. more..

Jul 3 (Island) A few weeks before the general election, the pace of campaigning is hotting up. Candidates are running around like headless chickens; they and their backers, engaged in frenetic vote-catching activities, have thrown caution to the wind. There are political meetings and other such events where health guidelines are blatantly flouted. Most people do not seem concerned about the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 infections. Buses are getting overcrowded again and more..

Jul 3 (Roar) In 1971, the Catholic Church in SL officially inaugurated the national office of the International Catholic Organisation for Cinema and Audio-visual (OCIC), under the guidance of the then Archbishop of Colombo, Dr Thomas Benjamin Cooray. The decision was based on reforms within the church aimed at increasing the role of the media, particularly after the Second Vatican Council of 1965, at which a papal decree, more..

Jul 3 (Island) The opposition is busy fighting themselves and the upcoming General Elections should be a walk in the park for the govt and they may even go onto to get two third’s majority. However, individuals within the govt seem to be doing their best to bring down the popularity of the govt and former Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage is at the forefront. His sensational claims that the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka was fixed has more..

Jul 3 (SO) The Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest has always been the most prestigious and looked forward to event in Sri Lanka’s school cricket calendar and winning that main title has been the dream of every schoolboy cricketer since its inception. Most importantly, the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year began at a time when even the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association did not have a tournament for First X1 school cricket. more..

Jul 3 (ST) Nelson Mendis, a veteran cricket coach with well over six decades of experience, producing a number of national players, was highly critical about the standard of school cricket in SL, which according to him is deteriorating day by day. A popular figure among aspiring cricketers and a respected coach among many national cricketers, for his uninterrupted service as a coach, Mendis said the standard of school cricket has dropped more..

Jul 3 (DN) Cricket lovers in Sri Lanka are appealing to the authorities to rename the Kandy Pallekele cricket stadium in honour of cricket legend, Muttiah Muralitharan. Every Sri Lankan should be proud of their former Test Cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan who was the World’s highest Test-wicket taker who has been named as the most valuable Test player of the 21st Century by the Wisden Cricket Monthly. This makes it more appropriate for our Country to honour Muttiah Muralitharan by naming more..

Jul 3 (SO) Spin bowler Akila Dananjaya who was slapped with a one year ban is ready to clear his bowling action after facing a test by the ICC in India. The ban ends on August 29 and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is making arrangements to send him for another test in India to ensure he will be able to return to international cricket. The 26-year-old bowler who mesmerized batsmen with his unorthodox spin bowling, was suspended twice by the ICC that stopped him from int'l cricket. more..

Jul 3 (CT) The newly introduced World Ranking system for athletics has created confusion among the athletics fraternity in SL, with some Media even reporting that double South Asian Games Gold medal winner Nilani Rathnayake had qualified for 2020 Olympic Games, which will now be held in 2021. Ceylon Today can confirm that though Nilani is within the world top 45 eligible to compete at the Olympics as of now, those rankings more..

Jul 3 (ST) Fencing may be a relatively new sport in Sri Lanka but teenage twin sisters Chathuni and Chamodi Karunaratne have set their sights on creating history at the Olympics. It is no idle dream for these two Princess of Wales College, Moratuwa students who proved they are capable of climbing the summit by achieving excellent results at the GCE (O/L) exam while representing SL at the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) in Nepal in December. Both of them clinched bronze medals more..

Jul 3 (DN) Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) has called the country’s top-ranked Senior Badminton Pool Players for training at their headquarters, a spokesman for the National Pool said. The decision was taken after SLB got the green light from the Sports Ministry and other concerned authorities. They are to begin with a light warmup workout routine over the next week as they have remained home during the recent lockdowns. Nevertheless, the players have stayed in touch with the National Coaches and more..

Jul 3 (CI) SLC is hopeful the Lanka Premier League will go ahead as scheduled in August, despite the Sri Lankan govt pushing back the Aug 1 reopening of the country's main airport in Katunayake. SL's sports ministry last week gave a go-ahead for the tournament, which has been scheduled from Aug 8 to 22. The date had been scheduled taking into account that SL would be opening borders for foreign arrivals on Aug1. more..