June 5 (FT) Heavy taxation of the telecom industry is likely to constrain Dialog’s capacity to invest in infrastructure development in 2015. Group expects to hit with a Rs. 3 billion levy under the Super Gains Tax proposed in the draft Finance Bill tabled in Parliament while the proposed Telecommunication Levy – if legislated – is expected to impose a 25% tax on telecom operators based on the value of supply but more..

June 5 (CT) Sri Lanka's listed investment bank, Asia Capital PLC has recently facilitated the lease of Maldivian island named 'Miriandhoo' to their Japanese partner, the Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Belluna Co. Ltd; a senior company official exclusively revealed to Ceylon FT. "The Japanese Belluna's newest Maldivian investment is around US$ 40-50 million, Asia Capital also have a minor stake and Belluna will be hoping to build some tourism properties", the official, said. more..

June 5 (FT) “Corporates point to political uncertainty impacting business interests, while by and large maintaining their positions on the economy, investment conditions and future prospects,” LMD reports. Business Confidence Index (BCI) “remains unchanged (154) from April, although it is above both its 12-month average (148) and the count of a year ago (142). In the last 3 months, however, biz barometer has virtually stood still, as business-people wait to see where country is heading.” more..

June 5 (DM) Sri Lanka is to purchase gas from a European supplier under favorable conditions in accordance with a new contract which is being finalised in a week, local gas giant Litro Gas said today. Litro Gas Executive Chairman Shalila Moonasinghe told a media briefing that the old contract with Oman Trading International, a Middle East Based company, had ended on May 31. Previous contract he said was unfavorable more..

June 5 (Island) Department of Marketing Management of the University of Sri J'pura has joined hands with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to enhance the modern work world skills of the students, and to put Sri Lanka on the world tourism map in a fresh way. 25 undergraduates from Europe, Africa and Asia will arrive here while 75 counterparts will represent the universities of SL. The event is open to Sri Lankan undergraduates in both state and private universities who more..

June 5 (DN) The govt should provide more assistance to budding inventors, State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said yesterday. "They should be given more assistance by the govt to bring out new innovations," he said. The state minister hoped that President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe would focus more in this area in the future. Wijewardene was addressing the media after opening the 4R - RAY aircraft belonging to renowned engineer and inventor more..

June 5 (DN) The CID informed the Colombo Magistrate's court yesterday that the post-mortem report and the Government Analyst's report on Wasim Thajudeen's death were contradictory. According to the port-mortem report Carbon Monoxide had been found in the body of the Rubgy player found dead in his car at Kirulapone. However, Govt Analyst's report on the death had stated otherwise, CID informed Magistrate. more..

June 5 (GDI) We all must dedicate ourselves on this World Environment Day to create a tomorrow that protects the environment, President Maithripala Sirisena stated in his message to mark the World Environment Day. The message stated, "The fascinating relationship based on mutual harmony and coexistence between man and environment goes back to the beginning of the history itself. "The World Environment Conference in 1972 decided to mark June 5 as World Environment Day to more..

June 5 (DN) A representative of the international federation for aquatic sports, FINA, is to visit Sri Lanka next week to meet with the Minister of Tourism and Sports to clarify the situation regarding the interfering clauses of the Sports Law and its regulations affecting its national federation, the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU), before deciding on further course of action. FINA in the absence of a reply to its original letter of 9th April 2015, issued SLASU a directive more..

June 5 (PMU) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon appreciated the new Govt’s forward march under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena, which builds peace and reconciliation in the country while protecting democratic rights of the People. He made these observations in a telephone conversation with the President today (4). He also commended the firm commitment by President Sirisena to implement the 19 Amendment. more..

June 5 (Island) Plans are afoot to go for two gas turbines 35MWX2 costing some USD 70 million, a senior engineer said. Following recommendations in the generation plan of the CEB, tenders would be called later this year. Though some oil based companies had expressed concern about the under utilization of the existing plants, the CEB top management has categorically stated that they are stick with its earlier plan to get rid of all oil based power plants systematically. more..

June 5 (Island) About 600,000 people at the highest as well as the lowest strata of society had not exercise their franchise at the last presidential election, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said. Mostly those who were living in luxury houses and condominiums did not care to fill their voter registration applications and submit them to Grama Niladharis. "None of them come forward during the time stipulated for revision of electoral registers to get their names included, more..

June 5 (CT) In a dramatic turn of events in the SLFP, several changes to the party top rung is expected to take place very shortly as the crisis had deepened within the party rank file, political sources disclosed yesterday. It is learnt that Janaka Bandara Tennakoon is likely to replace Anura Priyadharshana Yapa as the General Secretary of the SLFP. S.B. Dissanayake is tipped to become the General Secretary of UPFA more..

June 5 (GDI) Sri Lanka will mark World Environment Day 2015 with a National Ceremony at Watadageya historical site in Medirigiriya, Polonnaruwa today at 9 a.m. with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena as the Chief Guest. This year, Sri Lanka's national theme for World Environment Day is Sustainable use protects the earth. Parallel to the national ceremony, all schools have been requested to hold an assembly at 9 a.m. and conduct tree planting and clean-up campaigns and more..

June 5 (CG) The UN said that it is working with Sri Lanka to fund building peace through reconciliation and accountability by addressing the critical core grievances of minorities in an inclusive and consultative manner. The UN Country team is working with its counterparts – coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – and finalizing an initiative for support from the UN Peacebuilding Fund. The Peacebuilding Fund will support Sri Lanka, initially with $3 million, more..

June 5 (Island) With the debate over the interest paid for the USD 307 million loan taken by the previous govt from China EXIM Bank for the Hambantota Port First Phase raging, the bank says that due to the war risk in 2007 no one else was willing to provide such credit. China EXIM Bank said that it had agreed to provide the USD 307 mn loan requested by the Rajapaksa govt in Oct 2007 despite the huge financial risk more..

June 5 (DM) More than ever before in history, World Environment Day today needs to sound alarm signals that we are heading towards self destruction of Planet Earth unless we repent and turn around now. The world theme this year is “Seven billion dreams. One planet. Consume with Care”. UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in a message to mark the event has given us lots of food for thought. It says that while substantial environmental impacts from food occur in the production phase more..

June 5 (DM) In democratic systems of govt worldwide there are two distinct approaches to elect people’s representatives to the legislature for the purpose of exercising the people’s sovereign power to enact legislation for governance. One approach is the Westminster System of electing the representatives on the First-Past-the-Post (FPP) system from each of the geographically distinct constituencies or electoral divisions. Other approach is based on Proportional Representation (PR) more..

June 5 (DM) Minister Rajitha Senarathna was interviewed recently regarding the present political scenario. Q: Good governance has run into much turmoil. A: It is natural for any govt attempting to install good governance to go through a period of turmoil. Like society politics too has degraded. When action is taken against the degraded politicians, some are trying to frame it as an issue. Even Bandaranaike’s Cabinet faced more..

June 5 (DM) After much wrangling, the UNP, the dominant party of the govt announced this week that it was against increasing the present number of parliamentary seats in evolving electoral reforms. In the concept paper presented to the Cabinet, President Maitripala Sirisena has sought to increase it to 255 under the proposed electoral reforms. The parties backing him were supportive of these reforms in essence no matter more..

June 5 (SL) The search of the families for their loved ones who had gone missing or forcefully disappeared has not yet come to an end. Many members of their families have been in and out to Colombo from the North and East to meet govt officials, ministers and top level personnel in hope that they would help their cause and provide them with some answers. Last Friday, a set of women made another tour to Colombo to more..

June 5 (ST) President’s Counsel Romesh De Silva said on Tuesday that if there was no immediate threat of a suspect fleeing the country or going into hiding, a police officer could not arrest that person. If there is an allegation against any person, all what the police could do, was to conduct an investigation, interview and record the statement of the suspect, and thereafter file a case against him. Police had no right in law to arrest a suspect, more..

June 5 (Island) The proposed 500MW coal fired power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee will not cause any environmental issues, a top electrical engineer says. CEB Chairman Anura Wijeyapala said said that the though Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had not been completed as yet, he expressed confidence that the project would commence shortly. Wijeyapala said that due to the wrong decisions in the power sector, more..

June 5 (CT) The Jaffna District Lorry Owners' Association lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Secretariat against Former Minister Douglas Devananda and his Maheswari Foundation for extortion amounting to Rs 20 million. TNA MP, M.A. Sumanthiran who lodged the complaint at the Anti-Corruption Secretariat on behalf of the lorry owners said, Maheswari Foundation belonging to Devananda more..

June 5 (ENS) The National Fishworkers’ Forum has urged the Union Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, to use diplomatic channels and fix a date for the fourth round of bilateral talks between the fishermen of Sri Lanka and India to sort out the fishing related problems like attack, arrest and seizure of boats of Indian fishermen. In a statement, NFF chairperson M Ilango requested the Minister to ask the Sri Lankan govt not to more..

June 5 (AM) The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was handed over to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena told media. Several parliamentarians reportedly went to Hambantota last night to hand over the motion. Gunawardena also said that the no-confidence motion has been signed by 113 MPs. This is a majority of the 225 member parliament. more..

June 5 (EN) A Dutch delegation of dairy companies and training institutes will visit Sri Lanka next week to support the island’s dairy industry and looking to do business with local firms. “The primary focus of the visit is to explore potential investments and opportunities in the dairy sector,” the Dutch embassy said. “This visit should result in long term business activities which will contribute towards economic development in Sri Lanka more..

June 5 (Island) Former leader of the JVP Somawansa Amarasinghe announced that a national convention aimed at forming a new political party would be held during the last week of this month and the party would commence its active politics thereafter. He said that the new party would be based on principles of Marxism adopted to suit the local culture and political situation. "We would not certainly adhere to the old book because more..

June 5 (CT) The election of President Maithripala Sirisena at the 8 January, 2015 election was a mandate given by the masses who were seeking a change. Though the Executive was changed, the old Parliament, ie the fourteenth Parliament, elected in 2010, still remains in force until its term expires next year. It could be argued that Sirisena's election was made possible because he got the bulk of the UNP vote. The UNP, the country's single largest political party, backed Sirisena, more..

June 5 (CT) The integrity of almost all large NGOs in this country can be questioned on the basis of their miserable financial accountability. Some may even have metamorphosed in to family or sole proprietor businesses! What is of particular concern is that many NGO captains are close to the political power center (particularly the Wickremesinghe administration) and thereby influence national policy not always for the good – but always self-serving! These include (i) Keeping application of more..

June 5 (Reuters) Sri Lankan shares closed steady in thin trade on Friday led by market heavyweight John Keells Holdings, rising from a six-week low hit the previous session, but concerns over political uncertainty before elections to parliament hit sentiment. President Maithripala Sirisena's govt has said it would dissolve parliament once some crucial reform bills are passed, but has yet to fix a date for the election. The main stock index ended 0.03% higher at 7,122.73, more..

June 5 (Island) An international conference jointly organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and Hanns Seidal Foundation (HSF) of Germany was told yesterday that the dormant South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) needed China as a full member without further delay. IPRI President Ambassador Sohail Amin and Chief Guest of the two-day conference declared that China had the wherewithal to transform SAARC into a vibrant organisation. more..

June 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka has recalled its envoy to India Sudharshan Seneviratne, within a year of his appointment and just when bilateral ties were looking up between the two neighbours. Acknowledging that he has been asked to return, Seneviratne, a highly respected academic who has many friends in India, believes that both countries need to understand each other and take care of each other. more..

June 5 (CG) Civil society in Sri Lanka have called on President Maithripala Sirisena to dissolve Parliament and hold Parliament elections soon. A joint statement by local civil society noted that it is now more than a month after the 23rd of April 2015, promised as the date for the dissolution of Parliament in the 100-day programme of the National Democratic Front presidential election manifesto. The statement noted that it is becoming increasingly clear that the momentum more..

June 5 (AM) SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa dismissed reports of his impending dismissal from his post, saying that those reports were just rumors. He said that no one in SLFP have considered such a move. He explained that the party Chairman or the Central Committee must take such a decision. Yapa also commented on the controversial booklet distributed at a SLFP press conference recently. Anyone can have his or her own beliefs, but expressing it as more..

June 5 (DM) CID today informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Nirosha Fernando that they had recovered the trishaw allegedly used in the killing of TNA MP Nadaraja Raviraj and sought the Magistrate’s approval to take the trishaw into CID custody. Consequently the Magistrate allowed this request and fixed further inquiries for June 19. The CID also told Court that it was continuing with the investigations into the case more..

June 5 (CG) A Sri Lankan born Brisbane teenager has been found safe after she went missing from a bus stop on Thursday night, the Daily Mail reported. Anushka Ellalagoda, 19, was spotted by a member of the public around 7.50am on Friday near the corner of Brunswick Street and Merthyr Road at New Farm. Police were contacted, and the woman is currently receiving medical treatment. Earlier, police launched an air and land search when she disappeared after getting off a bus. more..

June 5 (Island) Manohara de Silva, PC yesterday told the Supreme Court that the creation of the Financial Crimes Investigation Division was ultra vires and male-fide. It was only a political body meant to investigate the alleged acts of certain specified persons only. Basil Rajapaksa and his allies had not taken a cent of Divineguma funds for their personal use. No such allegations had been levelled in the ‘B report’ filed by the police, he said. At the outset, Senior Counsel for Basil more..

June 5 (AD) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the govt is currently in the process of cleaning up the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and that they intend to establish a Serious Frauds and Financial Crimes Division for this purpose. “That’s why we have to start a Serious Frauds and Financial Crimes Division with the intention of following the Serious Fraud Office of the UK and legislating for it subsequently.” more..