Feb 20 (DM) Hardly had the smoke of the gun salutes fired on February 4 settled, when we received news of the arrest of Makandure Madush with 40 of his entourage in Dubai. On Independence Day, we sing eulogies to those who fought against the British and other white colonists who subjugated us. We pay tribute to our soldiers who sacrificed life and limb to save the motherland from that evil demigod Prabhakaran. They fought for our sovereignty, we say. We are right. more..

Feb 20 (ST) Monthly fuel price increases according to a much-derided formula continue to ignite the prices of food and living costs. On Monday, in keeping with its fuel price formula, the govt increased the price of octane 92 petrol by Rs. 6, octane 95 petrol by Rs. 5, diesel by Rs 4 and super diesel by Rs 8. At Ceypetco fuel stations, a litre of octane 92 petrol is now Rs. 129, octane 95 is Rs 152, diesel costs Rs 103 and more..

Feb 20 (EN) Two more renewable energy power plants are to be built in Jaffna peninsula with an investment of 4.4 billion rupees, the Board of Investment said. They are among three new ventures awaiting commercial operation. One wind power plant, Vayu Sakthi Vitpannar (Pvt) Ltd., has an investment of 2.2 billion rupees and the other, Yarl Vayu Pagavan (Pvt) Ltd. has an investment of 2.2 billion rupees. more..

Feb 20 (DN) The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) will formulate a set of guidelines to improve indoor air quality in an effort to minimize health impacts caused by air pollutants. The Cabinet last week approved a three-year pilot project from 2019-2021 to conduct a base study and set guidelines to improve indoor air quality, CEA Laboratory Services Deputy Director Hiranthi Jansz said. The Cabinet paper was presented by more..

Feb 20 (Island) Minister Champika Ranawaka says that the country can be saved only by doing away with governance based on popular politics. "We have to replace governance based on popular politics by scientific governance. That would be the only way to save the country from the present predicament. Our political leaders of the past indulged in popular politics and promoted a hand-out culture to woo voters. more..

Feb 20 (CT) In a letter addressed to President Sirisena yesterday, a group of citizens and civil society organisations expressed dismay and alarm at recent statements made by him, including in Parliament, pertaining to the Constitutional Council (CC) and the Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL). “CC and HRCSL are among two institutions, whose strengthening and safeguarding of independence more..

Feb 20 (CT) A group of most senior lawyers is scheduled to meet Chief Justice Nalin Perera to complain against recent remarks made by a senior MP regarding the appointment of Judges to the Superior Courts. According to a spokesperson of the group of lawyers, they are to meet CJ Perera within the course of the week to make a verbal and written complaint against UPFA MP S.B. Dissanayake more..

Feb 20 (CT) Minister Kabir Hashim has appeared before Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing irregularities reported within Sri Lankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka to record a statement. Minister arrived before the Commission to record a statement as he was the former subject Minister overlooking the two relevant institutions. PCoI was appointed to probe irregularities within Sri Lankan & Mihin Lanka from 1st of Jan 2016. more..

Feb 20 (CT) Bitter Gourd also known as Karawila is a local plant popular for its anti-diabetic properties. However, if Sri Lanka were to exploit this traditional Ayurvedic knowledge to create a product for export, we would be stopped short due to an act of bio-piracy by an entity in the United States that has already acquired a patent for Bitter Gourd’s anti-diabetic properties, by taking advantage of traditional knowledge. more..

Feb 20 (AD) Reports of radiocarbon dating test on the samples of skeletal remains from the mass grave in Mannar have been submitted to the Mannar Magistrate’s Court today. Radiocarbon dating test was carried out in a laboratory in Florida, USA. Accordingly, the results of five samples of skeletal remains were submitted to the court this morning, and the report of the other sample is to be received within next few days. more..

Feb 20 (GDI) Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine has taken steps to issue an electronic health card which includes a personal health record with an individual identification number to each of the 21 million SL citizens by year 2020. Ministry of Health announced that the issuing of e-Health Card to public will commence tomorrow from Kalutara district under patronage of Minister Rajitha Senaratne. more..

Feb 20 (CT) At a time when drug kingpins and smugglers are being copped islandwide and large amounts of drugs are being taken into custody by Police unremittingly, a shocking revelation was made by Parliamentarian and the State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake that some MPs are drug addicts. Nevertheless, Minister Ramanayake did not reveal the names of those drug addicts, until a formal investigation is carried out and the factuality of the allegation is established. more..

Feb 20 (FT) The matters referred to in the article under this title published in the Daily FT are spotlighted in more detail under this scrutiny. While the general attention of the public remains more focused on recently arrested underworld kingpins and drug dealers, leading media institutions in electronic as well as in print owe a great appreciation from the financial sector for highlighting the serious transgressions of this group of companies with foreign investments more..

Feb 20 (CT) Reference is made to the article that appeared in the Colombo Telegraph website on 17th Feb, captioned Mangala & Malik: Shady or Senseless; Ministers acting like headless chickens and/or crooked shysters; Mangala and Malik: Shady or Senseless? authored by Kumar David. We wish to assert that the article, and in particular the segment titled, Gigantic blunders loom in the power sector, contains many factual inaccuracies, false interpretations and baseless allegations, more..

Feb 20 (ANI) SL fast bowler Suranga Lakhmal has come out in support of Vishwa Fernando, addressing the importance of the bowler in the team. With the heroics of Kushal Perera and Vishwa Fernando in the first match, Sri Lanka took an early lead in the two-Test series against South Africa. "We had actually desperately needed a left-armer in the team. When you have a leftarmer, your combination is very different. In the last little while, we played with three right-handers, more..

Feb 20 (CI) How will Kusal Perera follow that one up? How will Sri Lanka? After three grueling months on the road and three consecutive Test series defeats, Perera's brilliance has finally brought some joy to his team in a Test match that none who witnessed will ever forget. Kingsmead miracle has put SL in a truly rarefied position: only once before have they ever won a Test on South African soil, and on five previous visits more..

Feb 20 (DM) Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday that it was not possible to eradicate cocaine when some politicians were addicted it. Mr. Rajapaksa said this at Carlton House in Tangalle when journalists asked about reports of politicians being addicted to cocaine. “If there are politicians using cocaine, their names should be revealed. You can’t simply point fingers at all MPs. How can anyone eradicate cocaine when politicians are using it,” he asked. more..

Feb 20 (GMA) President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena has vowed to emulate his approach to curbing the drug menace by killing bastards. Sirisena was in the Philippines last month for a state visit during which he lauded Duterte's war on drugs. The campaign, however, has received local and international condemnation for unexplained killings of thousands of drug suspects. "I knew the most basic sorrow & agony of the people is drugs. more..

Feb 20 (NR) The shocking revelation made by State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake to media over the purported list that contains names of MPs who allegedly use narcotics, took centre stage in Parliament today. Several MPs raised concerns over the statement made by State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake who revealed that he is in possession of a list that contains the names of MPs who are drug users. more..

Feb 20 (Island) 83% of all deaths in the country are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), says Dr. Champika Wickramasinghe, Deputy Director General/Non-communicable Diseases of the Health Ministry. Dr Wickramasinghe said that the majority deaths death due to NCDs had been caused by heart diseases and the percentage was 34. Cancer accounted for the second highest deaths (14%). About 9% of deaths were caused by diabetes and 8% of deaths by respiratory diseases, more..

Feb 20 (DM) SLC election will be held tomorrow as scheduled after all parties came to an amicable settlement before the Court of Appeal. Accordingly Mohan de Silva and Ravin Wickremaratne were allowed to contest for posts other than they were disqualified by the Appeal’s Advisory Committee. Accordingly Mohan de Silva, whose nominations for the post of president rejected, will contest for the post of secretary while Wickremaratne can contest either for post of vice president or more..

Feb 20 (Island) Investigations being conducted by the CID have revealed that some members of the Southern Province Special Crime Operations Unit killed two businessmen, abducted from the Ratgama police area, recently. Investigations have revealed that the bodies of the victims were destroyed by the policemen. Police sources told The Island that they were in the process of collecting evidence regarding the killings. more..

Feb 20 (CT) Agriculture Minister P. Harrison has instructed irrigation officials to expedite surveys to examine environmental issues related to sand mining in the Kalu Ganga, the Ministry website in a recent posting said. Sand mining in Kalu Ganga has provided direct and indirect employment to about 5,000 persons. At present about 350 sand permit holders actively engage in sand mining in the Kalu Ganga. The permits are valid for mining for only two days per week. more..

Feb 20 (AD) Suspected criminal gang leader Kasun Dhananjaya, alias Wedikande Kasun, who was arrested in Wattala over the robbery of gems and a diamond worth Rs 7 billion last year, has been remanded by the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court. The suspect, who is also believed to be a close accomplice of drug kingpin Makandure Madush, was produced at court today and ordered remanded until March 6 for an identification parade. Mirihana Special Crimes Unit is conducting further more..

Feb 20 (AD) President Sirisena says a National Fund will be established within the next two weeks to take action towards ensuring the protection of the children. Through this initiative, it is expected to further strengthen and expeditiously implement the programmes launched by the govt for the benefit of the children while taking into consideration the recommendations in the special social research reports regarding more..

Feb 20 (CI) Kusal Perera's once-in-a-lifetime 153 not-out, which orchestrated an almost single-handed win over a South Africa much stronger than Perera's SL, has become the best innings in 142 years of Test cricket, moving to the top spot in my Golden Willow 25 (GW 25) table of top batting performances. Perera's innings secured 897.2 rating points, which is about 30 points more than the previous top innings, Graham Gooch's classic 154 at Headingley in 1991 against mighty WI. more..

Feb 20 (CB) Keep dreaming as dreams are free... they don't often come true but now and again they do. And when they do, it really is incredible. That's some thing I always believed in. The miracle of Durban was indeed a dream come true for Kusal Perera and SL fans all around the world. Cricket was at its absolute best at Kingsmead and the only factors the Sri Lankans could cling on to, going into the game, were their record in the two prior Tests in Durban and the law of probabilities. more..

Feb 20 (SLC) Sri Lanka Cricket today opened a Cricket Museum displaying its rich history to the world. The museum housed at the SLC Headquarters has in display some of the most significant cricketing Moments and Turning Points of Sri Lanka’s epic Cricketing journey. It was declared opened by the Minister Harin Fernando; while SLC’s Competent Authority Chulananda Perera, CEO, Mr. Ashley De Silva and COO Jerome Jayaratne more..

Feb 20 (DM) Following the resignation as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Qatar, Sri Lanka Labour Party Leader A.S.P. Liyanage said he is planing to expand his party with the intention of fielding candidates for upcoming Provincial Council (PC) election from all districts. The Sri Lanka Labour Party is an associated party of the UPFA. “We have already begun calling for applications to select candidates to contest at the upcoming provincial council election,” he said. more..

Feb 20 (HCI) The prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Scholarships for 2017-18 were awarded to 150 A/L school students from all 25 districts across Sri Lanka by Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, State Minister Vijayakala Maheshwaran, and High Commissioner of India Taranjit Singh, at a special ceremony held at the Ministry of Education Auditorium, Battaramulla today. This is the twelfth year in continuum that India has provided Mahatma Gandhi scholarships to bright students across Sri Lanka. more..

Feb 20 (CT) Information release in pages of the Nyras aviation consultant’s report last Tuesday (12) by SriLankan Airlines to the Airline Pilots Guild before the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) show that British aviation consultant Nyras, hired by the Govt at significant expense, had officially assessed the forecast profitability of the national carrier in 2016 as weak, pointing out that the challenges facing more..

Feb 20 (AD) The govt has to take the responsibility for delaying the Provincial Council elections, says the Chief Minister of Southern Province Shan Wijayalal. He added that the UNP has no sincere interest in holding the Provincial Council elections. However, if a responsible official of the govt discloses a definite date for holding PC polls, the provincial councils, of which the official terms have not yet been expired, would agree to hold the elections at any time, CM continued. more..

Feb 20 (DM) A 4-member committee headed by the Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella was appointed today by the UNP parliamentary group to probe the allegations leveled against a number of Cabinet Ministers by State Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka alleging that they were drug addicts. Minister Kiriella said he was mandated to hand over a report after the inquiry to the UNP parliamentary group meeting at its next session. The UNP parliamentary group met yesterday more..

Feb 20 (CI) Bounce. It made rubble out of Sri Lanka's top order in Australia. It was expected to make rubble out of them again, in South Africa. But somehow, after having mustered only scores of 144, 139, 215 and 149 in Brisbane and Canberra, Sri Lanka got themselves to a score of over 300 for the first time in six Tests in Durban. It took a miraculous Kusal Perera innings to get them anywhere near that total, of course, but more..

Feb 21 (CT) There’s nothing like a well-crafted marketing slogan for a prospective Presidential candidate. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is emerging more clearly into the daylight as Opposition’s candidate for Executive Prez. Against a redone image in the background of a library of books one observes our Gota, with appropriate gestures of hands, pontificating something we didn’t know: How can we have freedom without discipline? Fortunately, slogan hasn’t any racist connotations. more..

Feb 20 (CT) The origin of Hinduism is shrouded with mystery. Hinduism was in existence from time immemorial and is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, which has been a breeding ground for spirituality from all directions of the country. While other religions have founders (Jesus Christ for Christianity, Abraham for Judaism, Mohammed for Islam, Guru Nanak for Sikhism, Confucius for Confucianism, Siddartha Gautama for Buddhism), Hinduism is only religion that has no founder, more..

Feb 21 (CT) UPFA MP Kanchana Wijesekera says the SLPP will win seven of the nine Provincial Councils. Q: The Govt is talking about setting up a National Govt. But the Opposition is putting forward opinions against it. The methodology to form a National Govt is described in the 19th Amendment. It is being said that it is according to that they want the National Govt set up; if so what is this opposition to it? more..

Feb 21 (CT) For the purpose of ascertaining whether an act of medical negligence has contributed to a particular death, inquests have been recommended, in the case of stillbirths, where an allegation of medical negligence has been levelled, and deaths in which professional negligence/rashness is claimed to have played a part. Further, inquests, it has been proposed, should be performed in the case of stillbirths where the suspicion of a criminal act having caused the stillbirth exists, more..

Feb 21 (CT) During the Eelam war and when universities were closed for about two years during the late 1980s uprising of the JVP with their policy of crippling the govt, the Jaffna University admirably continued lectures and exams. Later, when universities in other parts of the country had to be closed, sporadically, due to protest marches et al, mostly against SAITM, in Jaffna the doctors continued to pass out and degrees were conferred. So, its worrying to know that a situation has more..