Aug 27 (EN) Sri Lankan aluminium industry which is already protected with import duty, should be further controlled with quality regulations, an industry official said while a government minister called for affordable housing. Pramuk Dediwela Managing Director of Alumex Plc, Sri Lanka's largest producer of extruded aluminium products, said different products and applications required different aluminium products but stakeholders were not testing. more..

Aug 27 (Island) Minister Faiszer Musthapha should resign from his post, having voted against the Delimitation Committee Report for the Delimitation of Electorates in Provincial Councils, he himself presented to Parliament on Friday, Manjula Gajanayake, National Co-ordinator of Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said. Vote on the Delimitation Committee Report for the Delimitation of Electorates in PCs was defeated by 139 votes with no one voting for it. more..

Aug 27 (DM) With a little more than four months left before an ICC deadline to hold Sri Lanka cricket elections, Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha expects to meet the ICC hierarchy at the end of this month in a desperate bid to buy more time to comply with their demand. ICC issued a stern warning to the SLC in July to ensure fair and democratic elections are carried out by the end of 2018 or risk suspension. more..

Aug 27 (DN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe is due to address the inaugural season of the Indian Ocean conference which begins in Hanoi, Vietnam today. The conference themed Building Regional Architectures will be held on August 27 and 28. PM Wickremesinghe’s address is due at 4.30 p.m. (SL time) on August 27. The conference in aimed at promoting strategic co-operation and trade ties between countries, consolidating security frameworks and administrative processes more..

Aug 27 (DM) The Transport Ministry would appoint National Transport Security Commission to study and analyze the ban imposed on three-wheeler passenger transport, sources said. The Govt earlier considered banning the issuing of trishaw driving licence to persons less than 35 years of age. The existing National Council for Road Security will function as the National Transport Security Commission for the relevant task, Deputy Transport Minister Ashok Abesinghe said. more..

Aug 27 (CT) A new coalition, on the Tamil political front, led by Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran is likely to emerge targeting the next Northern Provincial Council election. In the backdrop of efforts being taken to patch up the differences between the TNA Leader R. Sampanthan and the Northern Chief Minister, a new coalition is likely to emerge with the Tamil People’s Council (TPC), co-chaired by Chief Minister Wigneswaran, more..

Aug 27 (AD) SL’s Leverage King titled Billionaire Ashok Pathirage owned Softlogic Group’s Asiri Health will launch a MBBS degree Program in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, the latest annual review of the company notes. “Discussions are taking place with the University of Aberdeen, aimed at launching an MBBS degree through which local students can aspire to a foreign MBBS at an affordable cost” Pathirage points out in his review adding that they believe this will more..

Aug 27 (AD) Rev. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, states that taxation should be limited on local artworks. He points out that it is the responsibility of the govt to encourage artists to ensure high quality creative works. Cardinal said that the govt should take necessary measures to provide necessary funds for this purpose. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith expressed these views attending the Signis Awards Ceremony held in Colombo yesterday (25th). more..

Aug 27 (Island) Former Director General, Commerce and one-time Permanent Representative at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Gomi Senadhira, yesterday, said that he would brief the Presidential Committee of Experts to Evaluate the SL-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SL-SFTA) in respect of stipulation that may result in the large scale transfer of Singapore garbage, including hazards waste to Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 27 (DM) Wednesday (29) is the UN International Day Against Nuclear Testing and Sri Lanka, with two of our neighbouring countries, being nuclear powers, needs to give much attention to the dangers or even catastrophe from nuclear tests or the use of nuclear weapons. In a statement to mark the event, the UN says since nuclear weapons testing began on July 16, 1945, nearly 2,000 have taken place. In the early days of nuclear testing little consideration was given to its devastating more..

Aug 27 (DM) Mother Lanka has no doubt had to shed copious tears for 30 long years during which period the ethnic conflict raged in all its fury between the minority Tamil community and the majority Sinhala community due to the former’s demand for a separate state. Apparently now the militants of the minority community, who master-minded the conflict have been militarily destroyed but not silenced, and there is an uneasy calm prevailing in the battlegrounds, where the worst of the more..

Aug 27 (DM) Northern Province Chief Minister Canagasabapathy Viswalingam Wigneswaran is a retired Supreme Court judge. Much was expected of CV Wigneswaran when he was first elected chief minister of the Northern Province on behalf of the TNA in Sept 2013. Sadly those hopes turned into dupes very soon. Wigneswaran adopted a confrontational political approach that left much to be desired. more..

Aug 27 (DM) Responding to rumours of development around Japan-SL Friendship Road in Sri J'pura, Kotte, the Megapolis Ministry today said that there would be no such land-filling in the Kimbulawala Lake. Megapolis Additional Secretary Madhawa Waidyaratne said that only a temporary Access Road was being constructed towards the recently built Seema Malaka in Diyawanna Oya to ease off carrying more..

Aug 27 (ST) A drop in voter registration, especially among the country’s youth, has been observed in the latest enumeration process, Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said. “I don’t think parties or politicians should be blamed entirely. The youth are not against individual parties or politicians, but against the system as a whole. We have spoken to some of them and they say; we don’t want elections,” more..

Aug 27 (EN) Sri Lanka’s trade gap widened sharply in June 2018 to US$795 million from $554 million a year ago despite export earning exceeding a billion dollars for the second time this year, as spending on imports rose much faster. Export earnings grew 3.8% to $1,024 million in June 2018 from the previous year while imports rose 18.1% to $1,819 million. Exports were mainly driven by strong industrial exports, more..

Aug 27 (PMD) President Maithripala Sirisena chaired the first meeting of the Special Presidential Commission to review Public Sector Salaries at the Presidential Secretariat, today. During this meeting appointment letters to the members of the Commission were presented and the future plans of the Commission were reviewed. Prez appointed this Special Commission to make recommendations to provide solutions more..

Aug 27 (Island) Northern Governor Reginald Cooray has flayed the UNP-led administration, claiming that no one could have predicted what could have happened if not for President Maithripala Sirisena’s executive powers. Cooray hit out at the UNP at a recent SLFP forum where the former lawmaker reiterated incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena would seek a second term at 2019 presidential polls. more..

Aug 27 (CT) Mannar Magistrate T.G. Prabhakaran is expected to give an order, on 5 November 2018, on whether or not to send the 87 skeletal remains, found at the Thiruketheeswaram mass grave site, to overseas institutes for carbon data analysis, as requested by the lawyers representing the relatives of the missing persons. Seven prominent lawyers filed a case on behalf of the relatives of the missing persons, more..

Aug 27 (DM) TNA has ignored a request by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran to boycott the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the development of the Northern and Eastern Provinces and would participate in a meeting of the task force scheduled for today. Northern Chief Minister had made the above request claiming that the govt was attempting to undermine the long-awaited political solution to the ethnic problem more..

Aug 27 (EN) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had discussed the need to fast track an agreement on freedom of navigation and security during bilateral talks on the sidelines of a conference on the Indian Ocean held in Vietnam. Swaraj and Wickremesinghe had agreed that the Indian Ocean Conference, which is being held for the third successive year, more..

Aug 27 (AD) President Maithripala Sirisena says that the present govt has taken steps to establish a strong foundation for the free and fair elections in the country through the 19th amendment to the constitution while ending the corruption that prevailed in the election system of the country before 8th of Jan, 2015. He made these remarks participating in the inauguration ceremony of the Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum more..

Aug 28 (CT) The further postponement of provincial council elections will be necessary now that the report of the Delimitation Commission has been rejected in parliament. The majority in parliament rejected the report with all 139 of those present voting against it while 86 MPs including those of the JVP, who supported the report being absent at the time of voting. The fact that no party voted in favour of the Delimitation report is an indication that all parties are wary of elections. more..

Aug 28 (CT) An inconvenient truth behind West’s current immigration policy is that it is shaped by the power of anti-Muslim and Far Right lobbies. The entire debate about controlling the intake of immigrants emerged in the wake of Muslim refugees arriving by the boatloads after the American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The exodus started then continues till today through recurring episodes of violence perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Shores of Europe, Britain & Australia more..

Aug 28 (CT) National Organizer of the Joint Opposition and MP Dulles Alahapperuma says it was Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave Democracy and peace to this land. The Joint Opposition which tried to become independent to go on a new journey has turned back. Although you are engaging in political thuggery, actually the situation is such that you cannot obtain the Post the Opposition Leader, isn't it? more..

Aug 28 (ST) It came as no surprise. What was surprising was the claim that the notoriously abrasive and physically pugnacious general secretary of BBS, Galagoda-aththe Gnanasara Thera was speaking on behalf of the nation and conducting himself as he did in the interests of its people. Last week Most Ven Ittapane Dhammalankara thera, Mahanayake of the Kotte Chapter of the Siyam Nikaya, wrote to President Sirisena expressing what he called more..

Aug 28 (ST) An increase in the exportable surpluses of agricultural produce is an important means of improving the trade balance. The reduction of these exports has been one of the reasons for the poor export performance in recent decades. The pursuit of new export products and services should not result in a neglect of the country’s traditional agricultural exports. National Export Strategy (NES) attempts to enhance exports in many new areas such as information technology services, more..

Aug 28 (Roar) The hall seems to throb with the beat of drums and feet. There is neither music nor are there delicate pirouettes or clicking heels. This is traditional Kandyan dancing, with the thunder of stamping feet and the strength of sweeping arms. Yet, there is a grace and fluidity to the movements as well, underlined by deep spirituality. In one corner of the hall, a group of students and their guru sit with their eyes more..

Aug 28 (Island) Minister Faiszer Musthapha is under pressure to resign as he, last Thursday, voted against the delimitation committee report he himself had presented to Parliament. What he did is unprecedented, his critics claim. But he insists that the report he tabled was not his own and he only carried out a legislative requirement on behalf of the Cabinet, and he had to abide by a party decision to vote against it subsequently. He would have us believe that there are two Mustaphas sharing more..

Aug 28 (DN) Politics in Sri Lanka has become a degenerated, corrupt and anachronistic affair. Beyond the rhetoric there is no public good derived from it. Politicians are not interested in the existentialist problems of the people. They are embroiled in controversies over trivial matters and are both ignorant and uninterested in grave issues facing the country. That is why so far no major national policies are found on any subject of concern, be it education, health etc. more..

Aug 28 (GV) There has recently been a flurry of comment and speculation about whether, due to a technical flaw in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution (2015), former Prez Rajapaksa may actually be eligible to offer himself for election at the next presidential election, although it had so far been universally assumed that he was disqualified by virtue of having been twice elected previously to the presidency. A legal argument to this effect has most completely been made more..

Aug 28 (ST) The newly elected President of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR), Lasitha Gunaratne, insists that only some systematical changes to the administrative structure would suffice. Gunaratne pointed out that SL’s rugby history runs close to 140 years and needs no sudden or radical changes to its current free flow. However he is disturbed by the fact that he takes over an entity that claims a debt tally of over Rs. 30 Million. As a matter of fact, the former Royal College, CR&FC and more..

Aug 28 (ST) Now the stake holders of cricket are getting discontented and vocal – especially the Controlling Clubs. On Thursday night the Controlling Clubs led by the SSC met at their Club Premises and to write to Sri Lanka Cricket demanding an under 23 tournament while calling the ongoing T-20 tournament a waste of time. SSC stalwart Michael de Zoysa pushed his point. He said “All the Controlling Clubs who were invited more..

Aug 28 (Island) SriLankan Airlines has come up with yet another value addition for its passengers with the launch of its Pre-Order Meal Selection for Economy Class passengers flying out of Colombo to most destinations on its global route network, to complement its award winning service, high level of comfort and sophisticated entertainment systems. Passengers can choose from a delectable range that includes breakfast items such as Western Breakfast, Arabic Breakfast, more..

Aug 28 (FT) In terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka entered into a MoU with the Insurance Regulatory Commission of SL (IRCSL) recently to establish a framework for sharing information on supervisory findings based on comprehensive risk-based supervision focused on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) in the Insurance sector. more..

Aug 28 (DN) Gayanthika Abeyratne and Indunil Herath have qualified for the Women’s 800m final of the ongoing Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday. The finals will be worked off today, starting with the women’s final at 6pm (local time) followed by the men’s final at 6.10pm. Gyanthika finished yesterday’s qualifying round third race in third place with a timing of 2:06.31 secs but her teammate Nimali Liyanarachchi competing more..

Aug 28 (Island) It is August, and monsoon winds are at peak velocity from the South-West, carrying coal dust and fly ash into the community. This year has been kinder than the previous two – for a host of reasons including rainfall till June, one 300MW generator shut down most of the monsoon and application of a binding chemical to the coal pile. But the problem has not disappeared. As the villagers recount, the dust has picked up again from July and continues to be a threat to the community. more..

Aug 28 (Island) Planters, particularly in the planting districts of Maskeliya, Dickoya, Hatton and Talawakelle, reported retarded crop yields because of extreme monsoon conditions. Although the Uva quality season resulted in Some good quality teas seen at the auctions, the Uva drought effected poor cropping patterns in most planting sub districts in the Uva. As for glyphosate, the authorities have reportedly said tests have to be carried out to ensure clearance for use. more..

Aug 28 (ST) The latest crises facing the coconut industry in Sri Lanka is a complaint from the Coconut Growers Association of SL (CGASL) that their farm gate price has crashed to a new low of Rs. 23 to 25 from around Rs. 45 in July. Ranjith Dias, a former president of the CGASL and a veteran coconut grower grappling to uplift the industry for almost last 50 years along with the association, said that the price they get for coconuts is more..

Aug 28 (FT) After 30 years of civil war in the country, generations of Jaffna’s youth lost educational and skill development opportunities. This has left a great vacuum of income generating among the younger generations in Jaffna. SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka decided to bridge this gap by enabling the low income earning youth to enrol in a skill development program at the Vocational Training Centre (VTC). The Jaffna VTC was declared open in June and by utilising the findings from more..