Dec 21 (NR) Minister of Petroleum Chandima Weerakkody says an extensive investigation will be carried out into reports of the importation of substandard fuel. He stressed that the Ministry will take stern action against persons importing substandard oil. He said Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has under no circumstances imported low quality petroleum and has not set a platform to import low quality petroleum. Minister on separate note said govt has not arrived at more..

Dec 21 (NR) The North Central Province Health Service Ambulance and Transport Drivers Association has launched an indefinite strike action against the decision to recruit Health Service drivers to the Provincial Ministry. Chairman of the Association Wasantha Kumara said the Health Secretary of the North Central Province has decided to amalgamate several jobs in the health sector. Wasantha Kumara therefore requested the authorities to action against such moves. more..

Dec 21 (CT) The exchange rate (ER) fell to its lowest ever value in its history yesterday, declining by six cents to Rs 151.30 to the US dollar according to Central Bank data, as foreign investors, mainly US based, continued to pull out their money from the govt securities market (GSM), to re-park the same in US based assets, on expectations of rising interest rates in the world's largest economy. As a result, the ER, in the three consecutive market days to yesterday, has, historically, more..

Dec 21 (DN) Finance Ministry has released Rs. 7 billion to be given to farmers to purchase fertilizer to use for paddy cultivation during the Maha season. Agriculture Ministry has been given Rs. 5.5 billion already - a further Rs. 1.5 billion is scheduled to be released today. Govt has decided to pay cash directly to paddy farmers instead of giving the fertilizer at a subsidized price. Accordingly farmers will receive Rs. 25,000 per hectares for each more..

Dec 21 (CT) IGP Pujith Jayasundera rewarded a civilian informer with Rs 4 million, which is the highest ever reward given to a civilian informer. The IGP handed over the reward during the IGP Salutation awards ceremony held at the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD), on 19 December. Following information provided to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), 111 kilos and 82 gram of heroin, which was smuggled into the country through Pakistan, on an Iranian ship, was seized on 1 April 2016. more..

Dec 21 (CT) In a recent judgement the Supreme Court stated that if priest disrobes for a period of four days he does not lose his seniority. A Bench comprising Justices Sisira de Abrew, K. T. Chithrasiri and Prasanna Jayawardana delivered this judgement in an appeal against the judgement of the Civil Appellate High Court (CAHC), regarding dispute over the Viharadhipathi of the Sri Maha Bodhi Vihara of Bahirawakanda, Kandy. In this case, after demise of Ampitiya Dharmarama Thera, more..

Dec 21 (DM) Customs Central Investigation Bureau officers seized 1.3 million cigarettes valued at Rs. 75 mn at Orugodawatte Rank Container Terminal (RCT) today. Contraband had been imported into the country from China in the vessel MSC Erika on Dec 5 and the consignment had arrived in a 20-foot container hidden in 57 spring mattresses. It was the second time in the history that an illicit cigarette consignment more..

Dec 21 (DM) Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma staged a protest fast near Kobowaka Bo-Tree today in protest of a rubber factory in Bulathsinhala, Kobowaka. Protest was launched by the residents and the deputy minister, as the factory had not stopped its operations even after the decision taken at the Bulathsinhala Divisional Development Committee to close down the factory temporarily. The protest fast followed a complaint by residents that the factory was more..

Dec 21 (NR) Minister of Home Affairs Vajira Abeywardena says the govt rejects the reports of the formation of superior Ministerial portfolios. Speaking to media in Vavuniya, Minister Abeywardena said although various measures have been taken to develop the country, the formation of superior Ministerial portfolios will not be included. The Minister said the govt has decided to construct a new rail track from Kurunegala to Habarana via Dambulla. more..

Dec 21 (NR) The so-called joint opposition today announced that it will extend conditional support to the Constitution proposed by the unity govt. The govt commenced the process to enact a new Constitution for the country last year. The Constitutional reforms process commenced with the appointment of the public representation committee. Parliament was also transformed into a Constitutional Assembly more..

Dec 21 (MoD) A one month long General Amnesty period was declared by the Ministry of Defence to enable tri forces deserters to obtain their legal discharge from their respective services. General Amnesty came into effect on 1st Dec (2016) and will end on 31st Dec (2016). Up to now, 3 officers and 2983 soldiers of the army, 1 officer and 256 sailors of the navy and 7 officers and 113 airmen of the air force had reported to their respective stations to obtain legal discharge states more..

Dec 21 (LBO) Cabinet has approved a feasibility study for construction of a 100 megawatt solar park in Siyambalanduwa, Monaragala. “There is currently a global trend in generating electricity through renewable energy sources and a priority has been given to solar power,” the recently approved statement on cabinet decisions said. Currently solar power plants of 11.3 MW are being connected to the national grid and about 30 MW are being generated under net metering. more..

Dec 21 (DM) Joint opposition today charged the news forecasting and social media websites including the Facebook were under threat of the govt’s several bigwigs due to their necessity to ban those websites in SL. MP Dullas Alahapperuma said it was evident from the recent incident where a journalist had being assaulted by the Navy Commander at the Hambantota Harbour. “Govt has come to power with the support of more..

Dec 21 (EN) Nationwide inflation in Sri Lanka in Nov 2016 eased to 4.1% from 5% the previous month. The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) rose 1.7% to 116.6 index points in November 2016, an increase of 1.9 index points compared to October, a statement said. “The reason for decrease in inflation was due to the comparatively higher price levels prevailed in Nov 2015,” it said. The food group contributed 0.7% to inflation in November 2016 and non-food group 3.4%. more..

Dec 21 (BS) Japanese auto major Nissan's India-made entry-level car Datsun hits Sri Lankan roads after six decades. The new Datsun showroom was officially opened by representatives of both Datsun and Associated Motorways (AMW), which is Nissan's long-term partner in Sri Lanka. The company plans to expand the sales of Datsun cars in seven cities across the country. In September, pre-launch activities for the sale of the company's latest offering Datsun redi-GO was started. more..

Dec 21 (LBO) JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has topped the most active Parliamentarians ranking of the year, a list compiled by manthri.lk website showed. The website launched in 2013 by Verité Research tracks and ranks parliament representatives in order of their performance. As per the data analyzed using the Parliament Hansard, starting from Sept 2015 to end Aug 2016, Anura Kumara was the most active MP followed by more..

Dec 21 (DN) Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe met with the Chief incumbent of the Mangalaramaya temple in Batticaloa Venerable Ampitiya Sumanaretna Thera today. He also met with the Secretary to BBS, Gnanasara Thera and members of BBS at the Mangalaramaya. The various issues of the Sinhalese who have to be resettled in the Eastern Province were discussed.  At the same time measures to foster goodwill and understanding between ethnic groups was discussed. more..

Dec 21 (AD) The Development (Special Provisions) draft bill is expected to be presented to the Parliament in Feb 2017, Minister Malik Samarawickrama said today. He said that the bill will help expedite the approval process of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the country without any administrative delays. The Bill, published in the gazette on the orders of PM, who is also the Minister for National Policies and Economic Affairs, has come in for criticism from more..

Dec 21 (PSL) President Maithripala Sirisena said that during the last few decades the political parties and the leaders became unpopular due to the corruption, frauds and malpractices and abuse of power by some of the elected members of local govt institutions. Addressing the Swarna Purawara Awards Ceremony at the Nelum Pokuna today, the President said that the chairpersons of local govt bodies enjoy immense powers only next to more..

Dec 21 (DM) The Special Commodity Levy for a kilo of imported white sugar had been increased by Rs. 6 from last night, the Finance Ministry said. However, the retail price would not be affected, Ministry’s Media Secretary Sisira Wijesinghe said. “An importer would now have to pay Rs. 13. Earlier it was Rs. 7 per kilo.  However, the price increment would not affect consumers because the govt had declared a control price of Rs. 95 on white sugar,” he said. more..

Dec 21 (MoD) The newly constructed Wardroom Complex of SLNS Gemunu was declared open by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Karunasena Hettiarachchi on Tuesday (20). The Secretary was received by Commander of the Navy Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne on his arrival at the Welisara Naval facility. The eight storied new facility will provide accommodation to 195 officers. Construction work was carried out by navy civil engineers with naval funds. more..

Dec 21 (PTI) A Tamil diaspora group in the US has appealed to President Barack Obama to de-proscribe the LTTE as a terror outfit in the country, saying this could give a little relief to the community which faces problems while travelling abroad. The group Tamils for Obama claimed that the LTTE has been defunct with no activities since 2009. The group have said that many Tamils are suffering because of the listing of the LTTE more..

Dec 21 (PTI) Twelve Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters. The arrest comes a day after TN Chief Minister O Panneerselvam asked the Centre to send a firm message to the island nation over continued apprehension of the state's fishermen. On Tuesday, seven persons from Pudukottai district were detained for allegedly fishing in their waters and taken to Kangesanthurai Port, along with their boats. more..

Dec 21 (Xinhua) Cabinet on Wednesday approved to launch a yearly national integration and reconciliation week to strengthen peace, harmony and fraternity among the people. The week will be declared from Jan. 8 to 14 in every year from 2017. The proposal was made by President Sirisena and approved by the cabinet. Various programs in all schools, media, public and private institutions demonstrating the importance of national integration will also be implemented. more..

Dec 21 (ENS) President Maithripala Sirisena has disapproved of the claim made by Media Ministry Secretary Nimal Bopage that a former naval rating, Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana de Silva, is part of a plot to assassinate him on January 26, 2017. A spokesman of Presidential Media Division said that the President not only wanted his disapproval communicated to the media but desired that the media do not publish what Bopage said. more..

Dec 22 (GV) Media ethics became the focal point of discussion at a post-mortem on a recent incident involving the Navy Commander assaulting journalist Roshan Gunasekera as he covered the Navy action to open the Magampura (Hambantota) port, which had been blocked by protesting port workers. At a discussion organised by the Young Journalists’ Association on Dec 15, Director General Ranga Kalansooriya began by regretting the statement he had made as he felt it more..

Dec 22 (CT) Time is palpably moving fast. President Obama’s first inauguration was like yesterday. Eight years have elapsed since. “The Apprentice” will officially take over the mantle of the Oval Office come January 2017. The 45th President of the United States of America. The world is changing and changing fast. Technology, education, health, dress – there is hardly anything in life that is not changing, some changes we like while others create fear and anxiety. more..

Dec 22 (SO) Christmas and New Year is a time for celebrations and sharing happiness with the less privileged. It’s a season when people spend time and money on themselves as well as on others. However, this festive season neither the shop owners nor the frenzied shoppers seem to look forward to celebrate the season on a grand scale. When the Sunday Observer spoke to a section of traders and customers in the Pettah, more..

Dec 22 (CT) The country that S W R D Bandaranaike left behind to his successors resembled an experiment that had gone bust in the laboratory, not for reasons that the belief in the core theory was flawed, but more for the fact that those who were bequeathed to carry it forward were not sufficiently skilled and competent and their share of belief in the experiment did not match the original creator’s grandiose scheme. Bandaranaike was a great dreamer. more..

Dec 22 (Island) What most people, crushed under a massive economic burden, wish for is a square meal. But, well-nourished political endomorphs have no such worries. Every day is Christmas for them. For, Santa is apparently resident in Parliament and takes care of all their needs. Now, they get pocket money to the tune of Rs. 100,000 each a month! Power is highly addictive and fuels greed and ambitions. Elvis Presley it was who famously likened ambition to a dream with a V8 engine. more..

Dec 22 (CT) JO MP Dinesh Gunawardena implied that the Steering Committee on Constitutional Reform has not made any progress, albeit the fact that it will be debated in Parliament in the first week of January. Gunawardena further noted that in the coming year the JO will continue with their campaigns to win democratic rights starting with the LG Elections and finally leading to rejection of Federal Constitution more..

Dec 22 (DN) The Colombo Art Biennale 2016 featured the works of 73 local and international artists. Local artists from Jaffna, Puttalam, Batticaloa, Gampaha and Colombo constituted 50 percent. The other 50 percent are from 23 different countries. A variety of Media will be on display including installation, mixed media, painting, drawing, sculpture, sound and performance. Jayne Dyer is one such artist who is here to participate in the Colombo Art Biennale. more..

Dec 22 (CT) "Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it." How old were you when you first stopped believing in Santa Claus? How did you start believing in his existence in the first place? Does he actually exist? Of course not. But did he, at one point in history, exist? Maybe. Maybe not. Christmas is one of those times of the year where even adults become children. So with just three days to Christmas Eve, we the Travelling Chaos duo decided to talk about that more..

Dec 22 (GV) I first met Father Harry Miller in 2013. We sat and talked in his office on the top floor of St. Michael’s College, Batticaloa. Noisy crows had gathered outside his window, threatening to disturb my filming. ”We didn’t volunteer for a few weeks, a month or a year. It was for life,” Miller said in his lilting, Louisiana accent, as he recounted the beginnings of his life in Sri Lanka. Miller left America as a student priest in 1948. Then followed 60 years of service to people of Batticaloa as educator, more..

Dec 22 (Island) We got a rare opportunity to visit the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Much talked about in Sri Lanka and oh that famous electric chair. It looked like the security chaps were expecting our group though there were no criminals and politicians among us, only journalists and diplomats. We received a warm welcome and I enjoyed a mint tea at the ICC cafe. Of course the ICC did not look like the courts in Sri Lanka. It was squeaky clean and nice. more..

Dec 22 (FT) SL’s first-ever utility-scale solar power plant was officially declared open in Baruthankanda, Hambantota yesterday. The privately owned plant is expected to add 10MW to the national grid, supplying approximately 20GWh annually – enough to power 15,000 typical SL households. The expansive renewable energy power plant, spread out across a 45-acre land, is owned and run by Sagasolar Power Ltd, more..

Dec 22 (FT) Businessman and musician Aruna Siriwardena has been appointed as the new Joint Managing Director of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation. He replaces top professional Keith Bernard who was appointed to the post in November 2015. The other Joint MD at SLIC is ex-Police officer Bangsa Jayah. The appointment of Siriwardena was by the Finance Ministry though SLIC, which comes under the Ministry of Enterprise Development, a portfolio held by Kabir Hashim. more..

Dec 22 (IDN) It was perhaps the biggest Sri Lanka related news story of the year that is about to end. It should have been picked up by the international media but unsurprisingly it wasn’t. More shocking however is that it made to the local media but the biggest news was not focused on. There has not been, for instance, a single editorial on it or feature spun off from it. Let me back up a bit. It was the doyen of foreign correspondents in SL, a true Sri Lankan hand of the old school, more..