July 26 (Island) Fisheries Ministry has launched a project to earn an enhanced income of two billion rupees via ornamental fish exports next year, which has a demand of around USD 355 million in the world market. At present Sri Lanka produced only around 2.7% of total world ornamental fish demand worth around USD 10 million, Minister Rajitha Senaratne said. As there was a good demand for SL ornamental fish more..

July 26 (CT) The management of the social media site Facebook has removed the pages of the Buddhist nationalist BBS and its chief instigator, Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, after a series of complaints that the content therein constituted hate speech. Witty media folks were heard saying that the latest incident would augur the BBS aba saranai, borrowing from a phrase popularize by the monk himself. The meaning of that saying is a cause for dispute, though linguists say more..

July 26 (CT) 31 years after the tragic events of July 1983, there has still been no serious attempt to heal the wounds. They were grave wounds, and the effect they had still bedevils this country. Though many explanations are offered, some in an effort to justify what occurred, we must recognize that, as Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe put it, ‘The facts however cannot be denied. Thousand of Tamils, old and young, and even little children were assaulted; robbed, killed, bereaved and made refugees. more..

July 26 (Island) The govt had allocated only Rs. 300 million for the country’s technology and research sector per year, Minister Champika Ranawaka said. He said that the govt had invested the least amount of money on the technology and research sector of the country. The govt should allocate more funds for research and technology development and the funds provided were not sufficient, Minister Ranawaka said, adding that in calculating economic development data, the statistics more..

July 26 (CT) A Lieutenant attached to the Palali Army Camp has been heavily assaulted with an iron chair by a Brigadier of the same camp, for failing to report to him dressed in official sports attire. The victimized Lieutenant had been off-duty as he had been advised by a doctor to take rest due to his ill-health, when he had been summoned by the Brigadier for a program on July 23. The Brigadier had lost his temper when he saw the Lieutenant not dressed in appropriate garb and had lifted more..

July 26 (AM) Several political parties of the opposition have officially invited former CJ Shirani Bandaranayake to be the common candidate of the opposition at the next Presidential election. She has received this invitation when she took part in the public meeting which was organized by the Movement for a Just Society, led by Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera, several vernacular newspapers reported this morning. more..

July 26 (Island) UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said in Parliament that he could not accept the explanation given by the Commissioner of Motor Traffic regards the registration numbers of the two vehicles which tailed the Sri Lanka Bar Association President Upul Jayasuriya. Making a special statement Wickremesinghe said that Jayasuriya had repeatedly asked for security but the authorities had overlooked that request. more..

July 26 (Xinhua) China and Sri Lanka's cooperation has grown significantly, the Chinese ambassador has said, noting that greater trade relations and mutual understanding would further enhance bilateral ties. Chinese investment is in Sri Lanka's need to diversify investment in different sectors, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Wu Jianghao said. Chinese companies in Sri Lanka are predominantly working on massive more..

July 26 (Island) Ten years after the country’s first tsunami disaster in recent memory, the NARA has taken steps to install ART-Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami, a sensitive instrument for the measurement of the rising sea waves, at a depth of 6,000 metres in the sea bed. The instrument has been installed for early identification of disasters and to forewarn the people as it is possible to know the most sensitive more..

July 26 (Island) Customs now say they took into custody six suspects in connection with the latest heroin haul detected by its Central Examination Division (CED) at Orugodawatta on Monday night, though they earlier said there were only four suspects. On Monday Customs High Risk Unit of CED, recovered 93 kilos and 760 grammes secreted inside used plastic moulding machines imported from Pakistan. more..

July 26 (ST) A landmark discovery by a Sri Lankan scientist could save thousands of lives lost through snakebite the world over. A snakebite victim’s life often hangs in the balance in the minutes during which doctors watch for symptoms of poisoning before injecting the person with anti-venom as the remedy itself could cause severe allergic reactions that can cause immediate death. Not every snakebite sends poison into more..

July 26 (ST) The trial of the murder of British national khuram Shaikh and gang rape and attempted murder of his partner Victoria Alexandrovna ended with Colombo High Court judge Rohini Walgama sentencing four of the six accused including the former Chairman of Tangalle PS to 20 years Rigorous Imprisonment. She found them guilty of multiple charges including culpable homicide, attempted murder and rape. more..

July 26 (DM) The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL), one of the oldest political parties in the country, celebrates its 20th National Congress which is to be held on July 25th – 27th, 2014 in Ratnapura. The Dailymirror discussed the ups and downs and the future of the Marxist Party on the eve of the National Congress Convention with the General Secretary of the CPSL, Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara. more..

July 26 (DM) Badminton chief Suraj Dandeniya has faced with sever hostilities after he unconstitutionally sent a draft copy of the amended constitution of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association to the World Badminton Federation before being approved within the local governing body. According to General Secretary SLBA, Maj. Sampath Peiris, the president had violated its own constitution by not seeking its Executive Committee approval more..

July 26 (SL) Holcim Lanka’s Compliance issues, poor performance in a robust market and a significant market share are all being cited as concerns by a risk assessment company, whose brief is to advise investors and brokers on potential problems that may affect supply, demand and eventually the performance of any company. The investigators’ attention had been drawn to Holcim’s operations in a number of territories but more..

July 26 (CT) Media is a powerful force of good, but in order for its positive transformative powers to be harnessed, it has to be in the right hands, that is, journalists and owners who are driven by a conviction that media is for public good. Where media became the proponent of evil, be it in Genocide Rwanda or Nazi Germany, media lacked those very attributes. However, the 21st century media, propelled by a social media revolution cannot be monopolized to those extreme levels, more..

July 26 (DM) Sri Lanka is still embroiled in a battle against the pharmaceuticals mafia and government leaders are apparently playing games with the people on the implementation of Prof. Senaka Bibile’s Essential Medicines Concept. Against this backdrop, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Thursday made a shocking disclosure that should open the eyes of the government and the people. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said it was working with authorities in China in the first major more..

July 26 (Island) The NFF acknowledged that it would have no alternative but to quit the SLFP-led coalition unless the govt amended a controversial special gazette notification meant to broaden the scope of a local investigation by appointing a three-member International Advisory Panel (IAP). The local investigation is headed by retired High Court judge Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama. The three-member presidential commission appointed more..

July 26 (AD) Sri Lanka’s Sudesh Peiris has won the Silver Medal for Men’s Weight Lifting in the 62kg category at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, giving Sri Lanka its first medal at the games this year. Sudesh Peiris, from Sadalankawa, is the Captain of the Sri Lankan contingent to the 20th Commonwealth Games currently being held in Glasgow, Scotland. He had won the bronze medal from the men’s 62 kg weightlifting clean and jerk event during 2010 Commonwealth Games more..

July 26 (Island) Senior Professor of Anatomy of the Peradeniya University Dr. Malkanthi Chandrasekera revealed that the indigenous people might be more vulnerable to oral cancer after adopting the Sinhalese way of chewing betel with areca nut, tobacco and slaked lime. Delivering the Susan George Pulimood Memorial Oration on Wednesday at Visakha Vidyalaya, on the Veddas: Social and Health aspects’ Prof. Chandrasekera said that a research carried out between 1993 and 1996 more..

July 26 (SMH) Refugee lawyers say the federal govt's plans for Indian officials to interview 157 asylum seekers when they arrive on the Australian mainland is unprecedented and potentially illegal under refugee law. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said that the group of mostly Tamil asylum seekers, who have been held on a Customs vessel on the high seas for almost a month, will be moved to Australian mainland. more..

July 26 (Hindu) Over 10,000 coastal fishermen in Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram districts began an indefinite strike on Friday, demanding the release of all the 43 fishermen languishing in Sri Lanka prisons, and their mechanised boats. Fishermen stayed away from routine operations, their representatives said. “We will continue the strike till the Central and State govts intervene and find an early solution,” said N. Kuttiandi, president of Jegadapattinam Boat Owners Association. more..

July 26 (Island) Colombo High Court Judge, rejected without costs, a revision application filed by eight squatters living in the neighbourhood of the Kolonnawa Oil Refinery. These squatter families have challenged an order of the Colombo Magistrate, who granted permission to the state to remove them, for the safety of the oil refinery, and for the safety of the squatters as well. The squatters have filed a revision application claiming that they had lived in the area for long years, more..

July 26 (DM) Hot on the heels of a plan of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Jayantha Dharmadasa to disburse more than Rs. 209 million of SLC’s funds among the stakeholders and clubs, SLC Executive Committee which met on Tuesday had approved a board paper submitted by SLC Treasurer Nuski Mohamed seeking an extension of the standby overdraft facility of Rs. 250 million at Bank of Ceylon by a further 12 month period more..

July 26 (CI) Led by a hundred from captain Ashan Priyanjan, Sri Lanka A's top order produced a powerful display at Stormont which was more than enough to overpower Ireland. Priyanjan, who is part of SL's ODI side, hit 111 off 70 balls as the visitors piled up 329 for 8 with a late charge from Chaturanga de Silva who hammered 60 off 27 deliveries. Then figures of 5 for 50 by legspinner Prasanna undermined Ireland's chase from the outset and they finished with 222 all out. more..

July 26 (DN) It is with shock and deep sorrow that Sri Lanka learnt of the tragedy involving the Air Algeria Flight AH 5017 that resulted in the loss of 116 innocent lives, the External Affairs Ministry stated in a release. The release added: "The govt together with the people of Sri Lanka convey heartfelt condolences to the families of the passengers and crew on board the flight and stand in solidarity with those nations who lost their citizens on this ill-fated journey. more..

July 26 (CT) The remains of King Rajasinghe's coffer is buried in the courtyard of a house in Hinguranketha, belonging to Minister S.B. Dissanayake. This was revealed by Director General of the Archaeology Department, Dr. Senarath Dissanayake. He said there are numerous publications which trace the time period of the house back to King Rajasinghe's era, including Robert Knox's popular Historical Relation of Ceylon. more..

July 26 (NIP) Lanka Ashok Leyland (LAL), a joint venture of Ashok Leyland of India and the Lankan public sector company, Lanka Leyland Ltd., has initiated a project to assemble small trucks in Lanka for the Indian market. LAL’s CEO, Umesh Gautam, told Express here on Friday that to serve the South Indian market, it will make sense to assemble such trucks in Sri Lanka and ship them to Chennai rather than supplying that market from Pantnagar in the Uttarakhand. more..

July 26 (Island) Apropos Proposed aircraft maintenance facility will be handled entirely by Sri Lankans-MoD of July 24th edition of The Island, military spokesman Brig. Ruwan Wanigasooriya has sent us the following clarification: There are two fundamental errors in the article. a. Para 1: "The govt had proposed the construction of an aircraft maintenance facility in Trincomalee with the ..." This is incorrect. I did not state a location of the proposed aircraft maintenance facility. more..

July 26 (FT) Golden Key Credit Card Company Chairman Priyantha Fernando has officially announced the completion of Phase 3 of payments to security deposit holders. Fernando goes on to say that the payments were made according to the Action Plan proposed by the Central Bank and duly approved by the Supreme Court in April 2013. In a statement he was full of praise for President Rajapaksa, the Governor more..

July 26 (DN) Sri Lanka can no longer be called a developing country, according to the world rankings, but a middle level developed country with a host of massive post-war developing projects. According to the 'Mahinda Chintana Idiridakma', we have implemented many mega developmental projects to address the basic issues of the people, said Minister S.B. Dissanayake. The minister was addressing the annual prize giving ceremony at Hanguranketha, Walugama Primary School recently. more..

July 26 (DM) The caretaker of the Dutch Reformed Church at Wolvendhal Street in Hulftsdorp was remanded till August 4 on charges of having aided and abetted with some others in robbing equipment at the bottom of the lightning conductor. Caretaker Pathiraja Benjamin was produced before Colombo Additional Magistrate. Police said when they visited the church to investigate a complaint lodged they found the base of the lightning conductor had been dung and on questioning the caretaker more..

July 26 (FT) With capital regulation having captured the interest of many in recent years following the financial crisis, the Indian Central Bank Chief advised the sector to be cautious about placing all its faith in that area alone as it could be offering low risk to the wrong asset type. “There are few reasons as to why capital regulation becomes problematic. In some instances it tends to provide greater risk for the lowest capital. more..

July 26 (FT) Japan’s Senior Vice Minister of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Kazuyoshi Akaba and a senior delegation are to visit Sri Lanka to participate in the Joint Public Private Forum and to call on President and Ministers of Economic Development, Commerce and Industry and Investment Promotion, next week. The key objectives of the visit are to enhance commercial activity between the two countries, to increase investments to Sri Lanka, to discuss the more..

July 26 (GDI) Four young professionals from a cross section of the disciplines and brands within Leo Burnett Solutions were chosen to participate in the Fast Track Professional Excellence Programme. Fast Track is a programme designed to coach young leaders to take up their leadership roles with ease. This programme which was conducted over a 3-day period in Kuala Lumpur, is an annual programme conducted by AFAA and is moderated by 95% - The Advertising Academy. more..