Nov 3 (LBO) Sri Lankan health care provider Nawaloka Hospitals on Monday said a proposed construction work has been delayed due to a detection of an underground sewage line under Nawaloka Hospitals. The company raised 1.5 billion rupees through a debenture issue in 2013 partly to build a multi-storey building with car park, channeling, and OPD facilities adjoining the existing hospital. The total cost of the project was estimated at 1,400 million rupees. more..

Nov 3 (ST) The govt is considering a levy on all vehicles entering the city of Colombo to ease traffic congestion and encourage car owners to use public transportation, official sources revealed. The Treasury is looking at the possibility of including such a levy in the 2016 budget as traffic congestion in Colombo has reached uncontrollable levels with around 500,000 vehicles entering the city daily. It is proposed to establish special ticket more..

Nov 3 (CT) Q: Do you see any fraud involved in Avant Garde and the govt tie? A: If you go back to the original situation, Rakna Lanka is a company under this ministry and had signed a deal with the approval of the then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. At this point of time, I don't want to state if there was any fraud or some kind of misuse of power, because investigation is in the process by the presidential committee into the whole Avant Garde dealing. The inquiry is going on. more..

Nov 3 (Island) Manori Hewage (42), who was on remand for allegedly keeping her father (73) in a kennel outside her house, was allowed bail in cash and personal surety by the Kandy Additional Magistrate on Monday. Magistrate ordered cash bail of Rs. 25,000 with two sureties of Rs. 100,000 each. The sureties should be from her residential area, the Magistrate ordered. The suspect daughter was on remand for a period of 20 days. She was prosecuted by Balagolla police for cruelty to more..

Nov 3 (DN) The Supreme Court yesterday granted leave to proceed with a fundamental rights petition filed by a Singaporean company over alleged irregularities said to have taken place when supplying coal to Lanka Coal Company Ltd in 2015. The petitioner Noble Resources International Pte Limited had cited 75 parties including the President, Cabinet ministers and Swiss Singapore Enterprises Pte Limited as respondents. more..

Nov 3 (CI) Fears about the use of the Decision Review System during the looming day/night Test between Australia and New Zealand have eased considerably after ball tracking technology was successfully trialed during the Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales at Adelaide Oval. Animation Research, the New Zealand-based company responsible for the Eagle Eye ball-tracker to be used during the series, was able to track the pink ball without a hitch more..

Nov 3 (DN) Aitken Spence Hotels launched their new brand turyaa at the World Tourism Market at a special ceremony in London yesterday. Aitken Spence Managing Director Rajan Britto said at the opening of the World Tourism market here said that this is their second brand after Heritance. "We hope to brand the former Golden Star Kalutara and the 150 roomed hotel in Chennai India under this brand," Britto said. The Chennai is a 150 room hotel property while Kalutara hotel has 200 keys. more..

Nov 3 (FT) Minister Mangala Samaraweera issued scathing criticism of the Police Department, condemning violence used against student protestors recalling that the same brutality had been used against opposition political rallies and peaceful protestors not so long ago. Issuing a press release regarding the attacks, he said that the freedom of expression and protest was a democratic right in civilised societies. more..

Nov 3 (Island) Singer Sri Lanka demonstrated its continuous commitment to supporting the education sector by coming forward as the Chief Sponsor of the Logos Hope Floating Book Fair. The Logos Hope is the world’s largest floating book fair and is currently docked at the Colombo harbour as part of its tour of Asia. The ship opened its doors to the Sri Lankan public from Oct 22nd and is expected to be in Colombo until Nov 12th. Through the initiative, Singer Sri Lanka will power more..

Nov 3 (TC) HARRISTOWN State High School students spent two weeks in Sri Lanka to help schools in the poverty-stricken town of Gampola. A total of 17 students participated in the World Challenge expedition last month. World Challenge is a program that allows teams from schools across Queensland to lead and design expeditions, as a way of immersing themselves in foreign communities and cultures. The students trekked within the mountainous Knuckles Range and more..

Nov 3 (NZH) Fonterra's Sri Lanka business has fully recovered after a 2013 food safety scare sparked public protests and forced the temporary closure of its operations there. Leon Clement, managing director of Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka, said it was business as usual after the disruption of 2013, which saw Sri Lankan authorities ban the sale of Fonterra milk products after discovering what they said was the DCD more..

Nov 3 (DM) The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation yesterday said that SriLankan Airlines enjoyed fuel savings and payload gains by diverting its flight UL 230 to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) instead of diverting it to Trivandrum, Chennai or Male due to heavy foggy conditions around the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). UL 230 from Kuwait to BIA with 253 passengers and 14 crew members on board was diverted to the MRIA last morning. more..

Nov 3 (DM) The Colombo Commercial High Court has fixed November 11 for the Sri Lanka Transport Board to support the lawsuit filed against ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa and six UPFA election-committee members who are alleged to have defaulted the payment of Rs.14 million owed to the SLTB whose buses were used to transport people to his propaganda meetings. The case was taken up for hearing by Commercial High Court Judge Shiranee Gunaratne. more..

Nov 3 (Island) IMF and top credit rating company Moody’s Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd indicate that Sri Lanka will maintain 5 to 5.5% growth in 2016. To overcome this crisis, Sri Lanka’s fiscal policies should be based on consolidation featuring a combination of expenditure restraint and durable revenue reforms, their sources said. However, Minister Ravi Karunanayake told the media in London, They were wrong, referring more..

Nov 3 (FT) Access Engineering (AEL) Rs. 5 billion debenture issue is up for grabs with official opening slated for 12 November. The Company is issuing 30 million rated, senior, unsecured, redeemable debentures at Rs. 100 each and in the event of an oversubscription will offer a further 20 million debentures. The issue has four types of debentures. Type A is five year tenor and carries 10.25% interest rate per annum payable semi annually with an Annual Effective Rate (AER) of 10.51%. more..

Nov 3 (DN) Anuradhapura Magistrate permitted the police to detain and question Iron Ranasinghe (26) alias SF Lokka for 24 hours, the alleged mastermind behind the killing of Guinness World Record holder, Karate Champion and nightclub owner Wasantha Soyza. The suspect Iron Ranasinghe was arrested by the police in Chillaw, yesterday. A special police team which arrived in Colombo from Anuradhapura had arrested SF Lokka in Chilaw, when he was travelling from Colombo to Puttalam by car. more..

Nov 3 (Hindu) SL Navy’s Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne expressed willingness to have joint patrolling with India to tackle the problem of alleged poaching by TN fishermen in Sri Lankan waters. “I have no objection,” he said in reply to a question. Every three months, the Navies of the two countries, along with Coast Guards of India and Sri Lanka, have been carrying out flag meetings. more..

Nov 3 (DM) HNDA student Sasini Sandeepani who was beaten by a policeman during a protest at Ward Place had been admitted to the National Hospital again on Sunday afternoon because of constant head pains. She underwent a CT scanning on Sunday night and the doctors had assured the scan was normal. “But, the doctors are keeping me overnight since I’m experiencing heavy head pains. They will discharge me after the observations of Judicial Medical Officer, on Tuesday,” more..

Nov 3 (CT) A special three bench panel of the Colombo High Court judges yesterday (2), allowed former MP Duminda Silva to leave the country to undergo treatment in Singapore. Silva is said to have undergone successful brain surgery in Singapore and his Attorneys stated that he needs to leave the country to receive further treatment. Silva is the 11th accused in the murder of former Presidential Advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra. more..

Nov 3 (CT) There is an inordinate delay in pursuing follow up action on 25 files sent to the Attorney General's Department relating to completed investigations of serious corruption charges of the previous regime, JVP Trade Union Leader Wasantha Samarasinghe charged. 'This is a very serious situation where all the investigations which have been completed by the CID, the FCID and the CIABOC and a delay is caused more..

Nov 3 (FT) A delegation of young Sri Lankan parliamentarians has assured to strengthen bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and China when they visited Beijing from 27-28 October. The delegation of 17 young lawmakers met with Li Jun, Assistant Minister of International Department, Central Committee of CPC, and Wang Xiaochu, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of National People’s Congress. Chinese Special Envoy of Asia Affairs and former Ambassador of China to SL, more..

Nov 3 (DN) The govt has granted Rs 90 million to construct 75 houses for those whose houses were destroyed in the Meeriyabedda landslide, said Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa. He said the construction of the houses could be completed by January next year. The funds has been directed to the Govt Agent of the area. Minister was speaking at a press conference at the Disaster Management Ministry. The delay in construction of the houses was due to unavoidable circumstances. more..

Nov 3 (Island) Acting Chairman of the UGC Prof. P.S.M. Gunaratne has disputed a statement Acting IGP Senior DIG Pujitha Jayasundara made at a media briefing on Oct 30 that the UGC officials had not been present to meet protesting HNDA students the previous day. Acting IGP SDIG Jayasundara said that he had tried his best to help students meet some UGC officials, but to his dismay there had not been anyone to listen to them more..

Nov 3 (DM) The shocking pictures published in Friday’s newspapers of police assaulting HNDA students at Ward Place, Colombo 7 pose the question whether the police or some of its personnel are suffering from an unquenchable thirst for blood. The horrifying scenes of a well-built police officer beating a lean girl on her head with a baton raises a series of questions ranging from the validity of the order to baton charge to the criminalization of the mentality of the police in general or more..

Nov 3 (DM) A serious, well-coordinated action plan for national reconciliation is long overdue. The war and its aftermath made such a plan imperative, in order to build bridges across long standing ethno-linguistic divisions and heal the wounds caused by the violent conflict. The LLRC report also highlighted the need for ethnic reconciliation. Now the Geneva process has also brought the reconciliation issue to the forefront. Moreover, there is broad agreement at societal level regarding more..

Nov 3 (OBG) A $1bn revenue target is spearheading Sri Lanka’s efforts to solidify its place as a key source market for gemstones and jewellery, although flat global sales of luxury goods, coupled with labour shortages, risk hindering the country’s efforts. Sri Lanka is home to 70 of the world’s 200 varieties of coloured stones, including its best-known export, the Ceylon sapphire. Estimates suggest that 80-90% of the country’s rock formations more..

Nov 3 (SL) The brutal and bloody war in the country saw people from all sides suffer. Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims alike lost their loved ones to a war which many even today feel could have been avoided. Today the focus however is and it should be, not about who is to blame but how we go forward and help those affected get closure. At a meeting last week between Minister Mangala Samaraweera and the civil society, more..

Nov 3 (ST) Panic buying is driving the vehicle market ahead of the Nov 20 Budget, despite a price escalation. Sales are going up, despite a request by Minister Ravi Karunayake to the Sri Lankan business community in Japan not to send vehicles here until the budget was tabled in Parliament on November 20. Thilak Gunasekera, immediate past President of Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA), said more..

Nov 3 (Island) Participation in a demonstration is a democratic right of all citizens. To misconstrue a demonstration as a riot is perhaps at the root of some of the bad practices of police officers relating to public protests in Sri Lanka, the Asian Human Rights Commission has told the National Police Commission. Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Programmes of the AHRC in a letter addressed to Prof. Siri Hettige, more..

Nov 3 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena inaugurated the exposition of the Sacred Relics from Mahiyangana Rajamaha Viharaya, in the Buddhamanthan Temple in Thailand this afternoon (02). The cultural and religious relationship between Sri Lanka and Thailand dates back to centuries and the diplomatic relationship between the two countries established 60 years ago. The PM of Thailand General Prayut more..

Nov 3 (LBO) Sri Lanka plans to increase revenue collection by setting up a platform for the public to pay taxes through an online based system, the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue said. “Tax is the price we pay for the country we want,” Kalyani Dahanayake, commissioner general of Inland Revenue of Sri Lanka told a forum on Monday. “I think we would be able to go for a better revenue target with new system in place more..

Nov 3 (Island) A different war is being waged in Jaffna. It is against garbage. A sizeable percentage of the population within the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) area are faced with great health risks associated with the haphazard disposal of approximately 80 MT of solid waste daily at Kallundai, some three kilometres off the Jaffna town. "Even Chief Minister C. V. Vigneshwaran is so very concerned about this issue," more..

Nov 3 (CT) Sri Lanka cannot go on increasing her debt and debt burden without getting into serious internal and external imbalances, SL Economic Association President Professor A.D.V. de S. Indraratna said on Friday. Delivering a Presidential Address at the Association's 30th annual session under the theme of Living beyond Means and the Way Out, he also questioned, "How can we live within our means and ensure more..

Nov 3 (UCAN) Jaffna Diocese, hit hard by Sri Lanka's civil war, is gearing up to rebuild the lives of its people under a new bishop — the first since the end of the 26-year conflict. "We have hope that our new bishop will involve to ease our struggles and share in our sufferings as a friend and spiritual leader," said Anjalidevi Pushparatha, 56, a widow who lost her husband during a military attack in 2008. more..

Nov 3 (Island) Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Harsha De Silva, following his visit to attend the Open Govt Partnership (OGP) Summit in Mexico, visited Washington DC, with a view to further promoting United States-Sri Lanka bilateral relations, in particular on economic and business matters, the Foreign Ministry said today. During his visit, Dr Harsha De Silva met senior officials of the US State Dept, US Dept of Treasury, more..

Nov 3 (CT) Jesus used parables to convey the essence of His teaching. On one occasion He taught on the importance of self-scrutiny through a parable that contrasted two men at prayer. Of these the one who recognised his lapses, stood at the threshold of change and growth. The other, was blind to his lapses. He would remain static in the grip of arrogance until and unless he came to his senses and recognised his shortcomings. Self-scrutiny amounts to personal accountability through more..

Nov 3 (CT) The latest local study on the HIV or AIDS estimates that over 3, 600 people are living with the disease in Sri Lanka and the majority of them are in the 15 to 49 age group. The 2014/2015 annual report of the National STD/AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Health estimates that there were around 3, 300 people living with HIV in 2014. Of these, 76% are in the over 15 year age group and the majority of them are estimated to be males, where the percentage is 69%. more..

Nov 3 (CT) Russian philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky states, "The soul is healed by being with children. They are vulnerable groups of society who has lack of awareness about the nature of the acts and knowledge about the wrongfulness of those actions. There are instances where children act in breach of the recognized law in the country and there is no deterrent available against them due to their tender age." more..

Nov 3 (CG) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is to probe the army presence near Parliament today following a request put forward by the joint opposition. Jayasuriya said that he had not ordered the army or police to be present near Parliament and to close the road fearing university students who staged a protest today will attempt to make their way to Parliament. MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena asked Speaker if he was responsible for strong army and police presence near Parliament. more..

Nov 3 (Island) The Colombo North Teaching Hospital (CNTH), Ragama yesterday said it was in a dilemma owing to the slow progress in the construction work on its new accident and emergency unit. CNTH Director, Dr. U.M. Samaranayake said the hospital had the human resources, especially the surgeons, but its full potential could not be unleashed due to lack of space. "We have plastic and orthopedic surgeons but they have no place to work in. more..