Oct 16 (Island) The Central Bank wishes to inform the public that several measures have been initiated and some have already been implemented, to strengthen transparency and accountability in several areas of operations of the Central Bank in line with the recommendations of the COI. In relation to the legal framework within which the CB operates, measures are under way to strengthen several laws applicable to CB. more..

Oct 16 (DM) Minister Navin Dissanayake said, the UNP suffered because of rifts between the late leaders such as former President R. Premadasa and Gamini Dissanayake, and hoped a similar feud would not arise between him and his colleague Minister Sajith Premadasa. Minister said there was a hard time ahead for the party. “If we act properly, we can succeed. Our political opposition is also riddled with problems. They are yet to decide who is to be fielded next time as their candidate. more..

Oct 16 (CT) Sri Lanka’s total outstanding debt as of end-June this year stood at US$ 53.5 billion, up 9.5% compared to US$ 48.9 billion reported during the same period of last year, which as a percentage of the GDP, represents 59%. According to Central Bank data, the country’s long term debt represented 86% of the total outstanding, while short term debt was 14% of the total. The Govt owed US$ 36.2 billion as of end June this year, up 9.6% compared to US$ 29.8 billion it owed a year ago, more..

Oct 16 (CT) JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said that what the masses select at national elections were not Govts, but groups of thieves and robbers who carry out both small and large scale thefts and robberies. He said, “All State sector workers are given the opportunity to purchase a vehicle through a permit after five years. Now that permit has been suspended and having done so the Govt claimed that they had suspended the same permit more..

Oct 16 (Island) The present crisis cannot be resolved by forming a caretaker govt with Mahinda Rajapakass as the PM, JVP says. JVP politburo member K.D. Lalkantha said that the need of the hour was to dissolve parliament and allow the people to elect a new govt. "People are undergoing tremendous hardships. This is not a yahapalana govt but a janapeedaka (suppressive) govt. There is an economic crisis because the govt is overdependent on the US dollar. more..

Oct 16 (DM) Anti-Corruption Force Operations Director Namal Kumara yesterday said he would reveal more incidents including an alleged land fraud taking place in the country. He expressed these views to the media after giving a statement to the CID over the ongoing probe into alleged assassination plot on President Maithripala Sirisena and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Kumara said he handed over some recordings to the CID when he was summoned to give a statement yesterday. more..

Oct 16 (FT) The ICC yesterday charged former SL captain Sanath Jayasuriya under its Anti-Corruption Code. Jayasuriya, had two spells as Chairman of Selectors, the latest being from June 2016 to Sept. 2017 and it is believed that his second term has come under scrutiny. The 49-year-old has been charged with two offences under the Anti-Corruption Code. First charge relates to refusal to cooperate with the investigations more..

Oct 16 (AD) Four members of the same family were killed in a collision between a tipper truck and a motorbike in the Uttalapura town in Dehiattakandiya. The father and the three children were killed while the mother sustained serious injuries. Meanwhile, the relatives of the deceased suspect that the accident was deliberately done by the owner of the tipper truck due to a conflict with the father. The accident occurred in Uttalapura area on Sadunpura -Lihiniyagama road at around 5.30 pm. more..

Oct 16 (DN) The Invest Sri Lanka capital market road show organized by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in association with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded on a positive note with institutional investors based in Edinburgh, particularly those with an investment interest in frontier and emerging markets gathering to hear the investment case for Sri Lankan equities. This is the first occasion the CSE and SEC has directly engaged investors in Scotland. more..

Oct 16 (Hindu) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit New Delhi later this week and meet his counterpart Narendra Modi to discuss bilateral matters. PM will take part in high-level meetings, including with Mr. Modi, on Oct 19 and 20. The visit is seen as significant from both sides, sources said. New Delhi has been concerned with the slow pace of several India-aided projects in the island, while Colombo appears more..

Oct 16 (Island) Kuliyapitiya Central long distance runner Paarami Wasanthi won SL’s first medal at the Youth Olympics when she was placed fourth in her category in the Cross Country race in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Monday. She was placed third in the 2,000 metres steeplechase earlier and she needed to make a repeat performance in the cross country race for her to secure a medal. "Parami was placed fourth in the cross country race (among the athletes who took part in the steeplechase) yesterday more..

Oct 16 (FT) Upon reaching a settlement between industry stakeholders and the Finance Ministry, the Tourism Development Levy (TDL) will not be absorbed into a Consolidated Fund, SL Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) said. “There was a proposal to absorb the TDL into the Consolidated Fund of the Treasury and using it for tourism promotion on a case-by-case basis. However, after industry leaders discussed the matter with Treasury officials, they agreed not to put it through,” more..

Oct 16 (FT) Transparency International SL (TISL) yesterday highlighted that the country’s commitment to implement the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) needs faster momentum, as there is still a lot of work to be done on the key pledges made in 2016. Launching an online platform to track the progress that has been made in key anti-corruption commitments made by the Govt on 3 key pledges, more..

Oct 16 (EN) SL's permanent currency depreciation worsened by periods of greater weakness is putting the country in the danger of political instability and stagflation unless urgent monetary reforms are done to end the debilitating soft-peg that is holding back the country. This country is part of a group of countries with mismanaged soft pegs which include Philippines, Indonesia and India and SL (PIIS) which are struggling with exchange regimes which are neither hard pegs nor true floats. more..

Oct 16 (CT) Hayleys PLC and its subsidiaries grabbed over 92% control of Singer (SL) (SSL) by acquiring the remaining 9.47%, or 35.6 million-share stake of SSL for Rs 1.67 billion, Hayleys Group Exec Director said. Seller was former Singer controlling shareholder and Singer Asia Limited subsidiary Retail Holdings (SL) BV (RHSL), and the selling price was Rs 47 per share. Yesterday, Singer shares closed at Rs 31 per share, up Rs 1.40 or 4.73% compared to Friday’s market close. more..

Oct 16 (CT) High-Jumper Seniru Amarasinghe created history but was left heartbroken as he finished just outside the podium in fourth place at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, yesterday . Competing in the second stage of the high jump, the 17- year-old Royalist equalled his personal best of 2.14m and finished fourth overall, which can be categorized as the best achievement by a SL male athlete more..

Oct 16 (FT) The Commercial High Court through Order dated 10 October issued an Enjoining Order against Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC on hearing an Application filed by Frostaire Industries Ltd. (the Plaintiff) a company engaged in the business of importing, assembling, and manufacturing air conditioners, refrigerators and cooling systems and founded by Mukthar Marikkar, a reputed businessman who has also functioned as a Director of Pan Asia Bank in its inception. more..

Oct 16 (Island) Alongside Mitra Innovation's core offerings such as digital transformation and cloud integration, the Company will soon be commencing a new service widely known as DevOps to cater to the demands of the telecommunications and financial sectors, Derek Bell, COO and co-founder of Mitra Innovation said in Colombo yesterday. "We will be rolling out this exciting and unique service to cater to the demands of the telecommunications and financial sectors. more..

Oct 16 (ST) Football Federation of SL (FFSL) came under attack on Wednesday when the COPE questioned its officials for over two hours, leveling several charges including an alleged attempt to cover up two financial frauds running into millions of rupees. The first, which took place in 2008 and is currently before courts, implicates a former football official who was accused of having embezzled over Rs 38 million in foreign funds more..

Oct 16 (ST) As I was waiting for my flight at the Colombo Airport, I saw someone approaching me with a big smile on the face. I felt that he knew me very closely. Being a uni professor, such situations are not rare in my life; wherever I go, quite often I meet the students whom I have taught. Obviously, I can’t recognise some of them. I thought he must have been one of my students too. This time, however, I was wrong as he asked me (in Sinhala): Uncle, you can’t recognise me, can you? more..

Oct 16 (ST) The Colombo District Snooker tournament conducted by the Billiards and Snooker Association of SL and sponsored by U.W. Sumathipala Group of Companies is one of the four qualifying tournaments to select the players who would be eligible to play at the forthcoming 66th National Snooker Championship 2018 is in progress now at the AAC and The Cue Club billiards table in Colombo. The Colombo District tournament which is being contested by over 155 cueists around more..

Oct 16 (Island) Sri Lanka are awaiting fitness clearance on top order batsman Kusal Janith Perera after he complained about a quadriceps strain while fielding during the second ODI against England in Dambulla on Saturday. The national cricket team is currently in Kandy training ahead of the third ODI at Pallekele on Wednesday. Perera will undergo an MRI scan either in Peradeniya or Colombo on his quadriceps and more..

Oct 16 (DN) Minister of Sports Faiszer Mustapha said that SL’s para athletes who won 14 medals at recent Asian Para Games in Jakarta were a good example to able athletes. Minister made these remarks at the felicitation ceremony held at Duncan White auditorium for the para athletes yesterday. He further pointed out that our para athletes won 14 medals including four gold’s with lack of facilities but able athletes who went with a contingent of 175 did not win a single medal at the Asian Games. more..

Oct 16 (DN) Hasini Ambalangodage and her team AlFA won the Gold medal in the mixed international relay badminton at the Youth Olympic Games which is now in progress in Argentina. Her team consisted of seven other shuttlers from USA, Bulgaria, Canada, Italy, India, Cambodia and Sweden. Hasini from Vishaka College Colombo said this was a great chance to win a gold medal in this mixed international relay event. “I had to play with other players in my group. more..

Oct 16 (CT) Mullikulam, bordering Mannar-Puttalam, adjoining the thickets of Wilpattu, was once a vibrant village with a school, post office, multipurpose cooperative outlet, agricultural lands and ponds by the sea where fishing was also thriving. Today it is dull and dry and the lives of the people there are hanging in the balance. The people’s lives have changed after their land and houses have been taken to establish more..

Oct 16 (Island) SL must be the country with the highest number of anti-corruption campaigners in the world. If one kicks a wayside bush, at least a dozen anti-corruption activists will be thrown out, as they say. These knights in shining armour sitting astride swift, white steeds, embark on much-publicised crusades against corruption. In 2015, we thought the country would be free from the scourge, at long last, given the sheer scale of the anti-corruption drive we witnessed in the run-up more..

Oct 16 (Island) Many moons ago this writer wrote in your newspaper about the hazards of having a concrete perimeter wall at the Galle Road end of the Ratmalana Airport. A runway has three components. The paved Runway itself, another area called a Stopway which could be like Ratmalana, the aircraft turning area that could be used for an overrun and thirdly, an obstacle free area called a Clearway. The problem with the Ratmalana Airport is that the Stopway & Clearway are relatively very small. more..

Oct 16 (CT) Trade and foreign policy is synonymous and directly linked to each other in the new world order, where States have given priority to trade over foreign policy, interacting with the rest of the world and international organizations. Trade policy is statement of intent and deliberations of a system of principles for a rational outcome on subjective decisions, as a result of collective deliberations of the policymakers in governance or private sector with future strategies. more..

Oct 16 (ST) In the hallowed precincts of a near 200- year old colonial institution PM Ranil Wickremesinghe gave today’s students of Oxford University a lesson in colonial history and more. Some of them might not have been aware of the birth and death of the British Empire and what happened in between the beginning and the end. There used to be those pith-hat wearing colonial officials who gloated over their conquests and the growing achievements of the empire. more..

Oct 16 (Roar) On a hike through the wilderness near Kalthota in the Monaragala district, Ashan Geeganage, an archaeology enthusiast, stumbled across an ancient ruin hidden in the jungle, where he discovered four men performing a ritual. “They were preparing to dig up the place,” he said, “and were making an offering to protect themselves from any vengeful spirits.” “When they saw us, they ran into the forest,” more..

Oct 16 (CT) Any allegation of coup attempts or assassination plots cannot be taken lightly, as there were instances in post-independent Sri Lankan history that changed the destiny of the Nation and some important national leaders. Although there were palace coups after the sudden death of the first PM, D.S. Senanayake, in 1951, the first successful assassination coup was the one that took the life of the much-loved Prime Minister, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1959. more..

Oct 16 (CT) A conspiracy is formally defined as a group of people planning and doing something illegal. After years under the LTTE when some 600,000 voters were denied their franchise for a payment as is now being proved in court, sections of Jaffna beating the LTTE drums, seem not to have grown out of their habit of not taking elections laws seriously. At the centre of the unfolding storm is the TNPF led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and his Tamil Congress (TC). more..

Oct 16 (SO) Motor accidents have perhaps become the most common cause of death in recent years in SL according to various researchers. In fact, six people die every day due to vehicular accidents and could there be a bigger cause than this for mortality in Sri Lanka? “Now all the roads are carpeted and vehicle movement has become much faster”, one could say. But, while finding all the reasons for these accidents, more..

Oct 16 (ST) Current economic difficulties have given rise to a controversy on whether the economy is in a state of crisis. Extreme positions have been taken that either the economy is in a severe crisis or is stable and strong. The salient issue is whether the economy is strong enough to withstand the current international economic shocks. Much of the discussion is clouded by politics and hardly based on facts and figures. Even when facts and figures are quoted their interpretation is biased and more..

Oct 16 (CT) Limping and internally conflicted thought it be, the govt of national unity once again showed its value when it got the Office for Reparations bill passed through parliament. The margin of victory was narrow with just 59 MPs voting in favour and 43 against it. As both UNP and SLFP members of the govt voted for the passage of the bill it can be believed that both President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe were in favour of the passage of the bill. more..