Sept 29 (AD) The Ministry of Local Govt and Provincial Councils today said that all the Municipal Councils in the country have decided to refrain from collecting garbage unless they are segregated from Nov 1. The agreement was reached during discussion held this morning with the participation of Minister of Local Govt and Provincial Councils, Faiszer Musthapha, Secretary of the Ministry, Kamal Padmasiri, all the Municipal Commissioners and other officials. more..

Sept 29 (DM) Warrant Officer attached to the army intelligence unit who was arrested in connection with the assassination of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge has been further remanded until Oct 13.  The suspect was remanded after being produced before the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate’s Court today.  Army officer was arrested on charges of alleged abduction, unlawful detention and questioning of an individual, who was the driver of Wickrematunge’s vehicle at the time of the assassination. more..

Sept 29 (Island) The National Peace Council (NPC) has urged the govt to answer all allegations directed at the ongoing post-war national reconciliation process. The following is the full text of the NPC statement: "The protest march and mass rally organized by the Tamil People’s Council in Jaffna has been criticized by the govt and generated misgivings in the rest of the polity.  The TNA, which is the main Tamil party in North has disavowed the protest.  more..

Sept 29 (DM) The SLFP today while condemning Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran’s Eluga Thamil campaign, asked him to withdraw the statements made by him and called on the TNA to take disciplinary action regarding the matter. Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva who is also a Senior Vice President of the SLFP said that statements made by Mr. Wigneswaran have made them rethink about the powers that should be devolved to the Chief Ministers. more..

Sept 29 (Island) Nurses of the Mahamodara Teaching Hospital staged a two hour protest urging Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne to take immediate action to rectify a nurses issue which had cropped up after a nurse who had received a one month’s foreign training on ICU service had been transferred to a separate unit on her return. President of the Public Service United Nurses Union (PSUNU) Ven. Muruttetuwe Ananda Thera said that nurse J.P. Rupa Ranjini, an ICU nurse at more..

Sept 29 (Reuters) Stocks on Thursday posted a third straight session of gains to end at a near one-month closing high, led by gains in financial stocks, a day after yields in T-bills dropped. Colombo Stock Exchange ended up 0.25%, or 15.98 points, at 6,528.30, its highest close since Sept 2. Central bank's widely expected decision on Wednesday to hold the rates steady suggested that policy makers were keen to support a slowing economy even as they kept a tight leash on rampant credit growth. more..

Sept 29 (CT) The national elections held last year focussed mainly on the deteriorated governing system and did not raise subjective matters aggravating the protracted ethnic issue, which has caused enormous losses to the people and the nation since independence. Unfortunately, some opposed to National Unity govt seem keen on treading along the old nationally divisive path, fuelling the ethnic issue for their own political benefit. They also seem to be keen on ousting the National Unity govt more..

Sept 29 (CT) Former Editor Lasantha Wickramatunge's death brought about a new age in Sri Lankan journalism. There is no doubt about it. Writers, reporters, editors and journalists witnessed an epiphany in Wickramatunge's death and brought about the free media struggle of the country, of which we have become a part. After seven-and-a-half-years of Wickramatunge's unsolved death, the current govt has been able to successfully arrest suspects in the incident under a plausible and believable Court case. more..

Sept 29 (EN) Sri Lanka's new Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said he is putting in systems to boost transparency and focussing his energies on having independent monetary policy and effective regulation and any probes should be conducted externally. "Let me look forward first, we are trying to put in place systems and processes which will (a) be more suitable for our system," Coomaraswamy told reporters. more..

Sept 29 (Island) Several powerful countries officially announced that they will extend their fullest cooperation to minimize the debt burden of Sri Lanka. Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the United States, Germany, France and the UK conveyed this message of the respective countries when the top diplomats met Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake at the Ministry of Finance on Sept 27. more..

Sept 29 (Island) The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) told the media yesterday that two Courts of Appeal judges were being defamed by some websites. It said it would resort to legal action against those web publications. The BASL said the these two Court of Appeal Judges, one or two Court Judges and three or four Magistrates were being referred to by the local media disrespectfully. The BASL officials said if the media belittled the judiciary, more..

Sept 29 (Island) Health Ministry claimed that 22,928 places had been inspected throughout the country on the first day of the National mosquito control week which commenced on Tuesday. 956 had been issued with warning notices, while legal action had been instituted against 56. Steps had been taken to inspect 15,519 places in Colombo alone. 60 of the places had contained mosquito larvae and the owners of 1,331 places more..

Sept 29 (LBO) High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Chitranganee Wagiswara presented credentials to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapathi Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday. Meeting the President of India after presenting the Credentials, Mrs. Wagiswara conveyed the greetings of the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to the President of India. She said that she is honoured to take up more..

Sept 29 (DN) A new structure should be designed to bring in a wide segment including the NGOs, international institutions and civil society to make the Zero Hunger and Improved Nutrition programme a success,  Lead Convener and Chair, South Asia Policy and Research Institute and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga said. She made these observations delivering the keynote address during the inauguration ceremony of more..

Sept 29 (ST) The illegal burning of factory waste is common, with little or no action against offenders causing pollution hazards, investigations have found following the recent case of an establishment at Padiliyathuduwa Road, Wattala, where discarded sponges are collected and set on fire. Residents in the area said that twice a day workers at the storage unit set fire to piles of discarded packets of sponges. “They start burning around 6pm and more..

Sept 29 (DM) The relative lull over the debate on the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India was broken with the two-day visit of India’s Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss it.   The visit preceded an interactive session between the local stakeholders and the Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry. Primarily exporters doing business with India put forth their views. more..

Sept 29 (SL) A poster displayed outside the school gate of what women should wear when entering the school premises has caused a heated argument among the female parents and the public. Adding to that there were posts in the social media condemning the move by the school management. St. Joseph’s College Colombo had recently put up a poster instructing women what to wear and what not to wear when entering the school premises. more..

Sept 29 (DM) Taking credit for the outcome of the war is continuing and with the launch of a book by Maj. Gen. Kamal Guneratne recently, the war victory has once again taken centrestage. In reply to our queries about Maj. Gen. Guneratne’s war effort as narrated in his book, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who was the Army Commander at that time, had this to share with us. Q: Victory has many sons, so they say. more..

Sept 29 (DM) ‘It has merely been a talk shop with resolutions and statements. Its notorious genocide resolution a month after regime change in Colombo last year, apparently passed to mobilise international actors, in effect polarised the country and undermined the new political space for reconciliation. “The sad reality is that the NPC has lost its credibility with the local population.” So writes Ahilan Kadirgamar, a writer of no mean credentials and reputation. more..

Sept 29 (DM) Last Tuesday, the  in our editorial quoted Senaka Bibile policy experts as saying that the Health Minister’s announcement on September 23 giving maximum retail prices of 47 drugs was largely irrational and not scientific. They said Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s announcement appeared to be more of a political gimmick and was not likely to help in achieving Prof. Senaka Bibile’s goal of providing quality drugs to the people at affordable prices. more..

Sept 29 (Island) Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said the govt intends to keep the economic growth at five percent and inflation at single digits to maintain economic stability. "In the second quarter of 2016 the economic growth registered 2.6% due to floods and drought conditions of that period and we see a pick up in the third and fourth quarters of the year. Second quarter growth did not go down to expected levels more..

Sept 29 (LBO) Two global investment managers, US based BlackRock and TPG Capital, have shown interest in crisis-hit SriLankan Airlines which is looking for a partner,. “BlackRock and TPG Capital, two global investment management firms are among the interested parties in addition to some Chinese airlines,” minister of International Trade and Development Strategies Malik Samarawickrama, said. “We (govt) will have to takeover the debt only and give as no one will take it with it.” more..

Sept 29 (Island) Non-governmental organisations must be transparent, President Maithripala Sirisena said. Addressing the Inaugural Sessions of the International Conference on Right to Information Day 2016 at Hilton Colombo Residences, the President said information about public institutions was available to people under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The President said some NGOs had overstepped their limits and become a hindrance to state machinery. more..

Sept 29 (CT) A National Survey says computer literacy in Sri Lanka has increased from 16.1% in 2006/07 to 27.1% in 2015. Urban sector shows the highest computer literacy rate (39.2%) while computer literacy in rural and estate sectors are 25.5% and 9% respectively. Computer literacy among males is 29.1% with women scoring 25.3%. On the basis of age group literacy ratings, 15 to 19 yr-olds rated highest at 58.7% literacy level. more..

Sept 29 (CT) Attention of Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been focused on allowing pregnant teachers to wear a convenient dress to school. As it is compulsory that teachers wear the sari to school, even after they become pregnant they have to wear it. He has considered the inconvenience as teachers have pointed out to the minister that it would be better for the child as well as the mothers, if teachers are permitted to dress in comfortable clothing when they report for more..

Sept 29 (CT) National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) has decided to auction at an international venue a 2,500 carat blue sapphire which was discovered on an onion farm at Aluthwewa, Polonnaruwa recently. NGJA sources said that a 2016 Gem Dealers Licence has already been issued to J. Bamunuge, from Polonnaruwa, who had discovered the valuable gemstone. Bamunuge says "After the Mawbima newspaper exposed the story related to the discovery of this gemstone, more..

Sept 29 (Island) Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has, in a recent letter to the President Sirisena, expressed its grave concern over the proposal amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, depriving arrested suspects of immediate and prompt access to lawyers. BASL wants the president to withdraw the Bill. BASL letter, dated Sept 22, reads: "A Bill has been published in the Gazette on the 12th of Aug, proposing to amend more..

Sept 29 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka Army said it is prepared to do what it must in order to protect the unity of the country and national interests. Army Commander Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said that the army is also committed to protect the public at all costs. Commander expressed these views when asked about comments made recently by the Chief Minister of Tamil dominated North, C.V. Wigneswaran which was seen as a threat to the unity in the country. more..

Sept 29 (DN) The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the former principal of Mahanama College and a teacher to personally pay a sum of Rs.100,000 each as compensation to a lady teacher. The Bench comprised Chief Justice K.Sripavan, Justice Upali Abeyratne and Justice Anil Goonaratne. The order follows a fundamental rights petition filed by Manohari Pelaketiya, a graduate teacher serving as a teacher of Eastern Music at Mahanama College, Colombo 3. more..

Sept 29 (DN) Bank of Ceylon opened a museum at it's head office at Echelon Square in Colombo. Establishment of Bank of Ceylon in 1939 ushered in a new era in the economic history of this country. Prior to this, though there were banks established in the country, average Ceylonese did not have access to modern banking services. A wealthy and privileged few had access to those foreign banks and the majority did not. more..

Sept 29 (FT) As the Bench is not properly constituted, Supreme Court yesterday deferred to be mentioned on 5 Oct the fundamental rights petition filed by Tiran Alles seeking to prevent his arrest. Bench comprised Justices Anil Goonereratne and Prasanna Jayawardane.  Petitioner Tiran Alles in his petition seeks for the Court to issue an Interim Order preventing his arrest as he was an owner of a newspaper company and a close associate of the former President.  more..

Sept 29 (FT) Joint Opposition yesterday officially confirmed its next public rally would be on 8 Oct at 3 p.m. in Ratnapura. MP Wimal Weerawansa said the rally would be led by former President Rajapaksa and would also feature other leaders of the Joint Opposition. Weerawansa added that the rally was against what he said was the Govt’s attempt to betray the sovereignty of the country. “We wanted to remove this deceitful Govt to install a patriotic Govt in the country. more..

Sept 29 (CT) Some papers reported that thousands of Tamils from across the North-East participated in the Rise Up Tamil rally in Jaffna held recently. The rally, which was organized by PLOTE, EPRLF and others, was not violent but raised awareness about key issues of concern for the Tamil people. On the same day there was a Colombo seminar where leading Leftists participated to highlight the new chapter on more..

Sept 29 (DN) Sri Lanka is one of the rare developing countries in the region that has had in place, by law, a pension and social safety net for workers. These two funds are called EPF and ETF, and employers are statutorily obligated to contribute to both. The study in Jaffna revealed that for more than two-thirds of workers, their employers are not paying into the funds. This was disclosed by a recent study conducted by the Solidarity Center titled, Workers in Post-Civil War Jaffna. more..

Sept 29 (ITN) Minister Faizer Mustapha has said that an All Party Conference will be convened after the receipt of the amended delimitation report. He said that the report is due to be handed over to the Minister by the 15th of next month. Minister Faizer Mustapha pointed out that the consent of all parties would be received for the delimitation report at the All Party Conference. He said that all parties expressed their objections to the delimitation report released earlier. more..