The bodies of a husband and wife were found inside their shop at the Kottamulla in Ratnapura today, Police said.
The Central Bank has imposed a 100 per cent margin deposit requirement against the Letters of Credit opened with the commercial banks for the import of motor vehicles, other than buses, ambulances, lorries and trucks. Issuing a statement, the Central Bank said:
The Central Bank has noted that, during the year 2013, the currencies of several trading partner economies have sharply depreciated against the Sri Lankan rupee. As a consequence, there has been a growing possibility that the importation of motor vehicles into Sri Lanka could accelerate in the period ahead. The Central Bank believes that this trend should not be allowed to continue without a suitable response.
In that background, in order to deal with the emerging risk, the Monetary Board at its meeting held on 27th August 2013 decided to impose a 100 per cent margin deposit requirement against the Letters of Credit opened with the commercial banks for the import of motor vehicles, other than buses, ambulances, lorries and trucks. Accordingly, Letters of Credit for the importation of specified vehicle categories could be done only with a minimum cash margin of 100 per cent, with immediate effect.
The Monetary Board has also decided to review the imposition of this margin after a period of six months.
Close to 100 Kilogrammes of Heroin were seized by the Customs officials today at Orugodawatta. The officials said the heroin was found inside in a container packed as grease.
This is the largest stock of heroin to be detected in Sri Lanka
Army Commander Daya Rathnayake has ordered to relieve a Brigadier and three Lieutenant Colonels from their appointments to facilitate the further inquiries on the Weliweriya incident as recommended by the Court of Inquiry, the army announced. Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that those officers have been placed under respective regimental centres pending further disciplinary proceedings.
The statement issued by military spokesman Brigadier Wanigasooriya
1. In connection to Weliveriya incident that took place on 1 Aug 13 where Army was called in to assist police to disperse violent mobs, the Commander of the Army has ordered to relieve four senior officers of the Sri Lanka Army from their duties with immediate effect. They are the Brigadier who was in charge of the area and three Lieutenant Colonels who were his subordinate sector commanders. They will be attached to respective Regimental Centres until further notice.
2. Meanwhile the Director Legal, who is the Chief Prosecutor of the Army, examines the report of the Court of Inquiry further and will order a Summary of Evidence against any person who has violated the Military Law as a preliminary step of prosecuting such person through a Court Marshal.
3. The Commander of the Army has also declared that the Army's assistance to the Police at Weliveriya has been only after a clear request made by the police and is well within the legal framework and is also in line with the provisions of the Public Security Ordnance.
4. The Commander of the Army has also ordered all concerned to extend maximum possible cooperation, being a disciplined force, to carry out ongoing investigations by the Crime Detection Bureau as well as Hon Magistrate Court of Gampaha. He has further directed to take action against military personnel according to the Army Act after the final outcome of the ongoing judicial process.
5. A board of senior officers has been appointed to study the findings of the court of inquiry as well as other relevant reports/details and make recommendations as to how similar situations, particularly with regards to Army's involvement, could be averted in the future.
The train left the Omanthai railway station at 9.30 this morning and it reached Kilinochchi railway station at 10.10 a.m. Sri Lanka Railways sources said.
The train ran on the newly built track up to a speed of 100 km per hour.
The last passenger train on this line ran on January 19, 1985. Tamil Tiger terrorists bombed the Yal Devi train at Kokavil on that day killing 34 people and destroying the train tracks. The attack effectively ended the north-south rail transport.
Sri Lanka will officially launch the train service on the Northern Line up to the former rebel stronghold on September 14, Ministry of Transport announced.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will launch the train service to Kilinochchi and he will also declare open the newly built Kilinochchi Railway Station.
Kilinochchi was the capital of the de facto state run by the Tamil Tiger terrorist outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Sri Lankan Army captured Kilinochchi in 2009.
Minister of Transport Kumar Welgama and other Ministers as well as the senior officials of Ministry and Sri Lanka Railway are to participate in the ceremony.
Sri Lanka`s Northern Line from Vavuniya to Kankasanthurai in the northernmost tip of the island was completely destroyed by the Tamil Tiger terrorists during the three-decade long war. The rebels uprooted the rail tracks to build reinforced underground bunkers.
The train line is now being reconstructed by the India Railway Construction International Ltd. (IRCON) with the assistance of the Indian government.
Currently the trains operate only to Omanthai, ten kilometers north of Vavuniya. The construction of the whole Northern Line up to Kankasanthurai would be completed by the end of 2014 and all the previous railway stations which were destroyed in the three decade war are to be reestablished, the Ministry says.
The Sri Lankan government which successfully faced the challenge of defeating LTTE terrorism has taken massive steps to develop the country, including the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Phil Bennion has said the international community can now witness for themselves the successful development process of Sri Lanka.
Sanga has been world s best cricketer for the last five years. It has been extremely satisfying to see him at that position, for one reason. He wasn t the most gifted batsman of his era, but sheer hard work has got him where he is. Sanga gives a sense of hope for those who aren t naturally gifted in their chosen profession. His message is that through hard work you can achieve your dreams.
Leave the cricket aside, the British would gladly embrace Sanga as one of their own for he would easily beat, say Alastair Cook or James Anderson if there were a contest on the works of William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens. Forget the cricketers, even David Cameron or Ed Miliband would be challenged. People have speculated many things for Sanga in post-retirement. We reckon Knighthood as one of the possibilities.
As much as his cricket, the Australians admire his sledging as well as the charity initiatives he has taken up. They see a bit of Steve Waugh in him. The world is in awe of Sanga, the cricketer, the speaker and the philanthropist. There are many facets to this great man. But sadly individuals at our own backyard seem to be deriving satisfaction by hurting and tarnishing the image of this iconic figure.
Today individuals who made a name for themselves because of cricket administration are gunning for, perhaps the greatest batsman the country has produced.
It s not just with cricket that Sanga has brought honour to the country. His stunning Cowdrey Lecture in 2011 saw a complete change of attitude towards the Asians at Lord s the Home of Cricket. For all its charm, tradition and history, Lord s can be a funny place. If your skin is dark, stewards tend to be rude, Oi! Where do you think you are going? was a common way of greeting the Asians. But that spellbinding speech by Sanga in that July evening changed things around completely. After Sanga s speech on Spirit of Cricket, there was a remarkable change in stewards attitude. Now they say, Excuse me sir, can I help you?
Cricket officials ways are mysterious. A month ago they were doing their utmost to safeguard a podian cricketer. They came up with the ridiculous story that the player was sleepwalking. But when it comes to an iconic figure which is Sanga, the same officials seem to be doing everything to project him in bad light.
Senior cricket officials yesterday tendered several apologies to Sanga for an effort by one of their own to tarnish his image. They felt the whole episode, on which franchise Sanga should play during the Champions League, has been badly handled.
It has to be noted here that Sanga is contracted to play for the country and not the domestic team. Another issue is that if the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) had taken place, Sanga would have been eligible to play for a team managed by a foreigner comprising foreign players. It was not his fault that the SLPL got cancelled.
We would also like to mention here that Sanga since 2003 has foregone match fees and prize money for domestic cricket both club and provincial. This is due to the fact that he feels that domestic cricketers are paid a mere pittance and his earnings from domestic cricket go back to a pool to be shared by his club mates.
One administrator for quite some time has plotted kicking Sanga out of the national side together with another senior player. He has been putting pressure on the selectors to leave out the two senior players for international T-20s, but the selectors to their credit have resisted such moves saying they will pick players on merit alone.
We believe that Sanga should have the freedom to choose which team he will represent during the Champions League as it is a club tournament. However, we urge him to act with more responsibility in the future.
We expect him to lead from the front when the interests of Sri Lankan cricket are at stake in the future. Sadly, over the years his leadership on this matter has been extremely disappointing. He was one of the senior players who worked behind closed doors together with his agent Charlie Austin to cancel Sri Lanka s cricket tour of England in 2009. It was silly of him to take up several technical issues and delay his departure to England for Sri Lanka s tour of that country in 2011 again due to the IPL. From men like Sanga we expect more than that.
Currently, the trains operate only up to Omanthai, 10 km north of Vavuniya.
The Northern Line, from Vavuniya to Kankesanthurai, was destroyed by the Tiger terrorists during the three-decade-long war and the train service to Kilinochchi came to a halt in July 1990.
The army recaptured Kilinochchi in 2009.
All railway stations along the route destroyed in the three-decade war would be re-established, Samarasinghe said.
According to the Sri Lanka Railways, the reconstruction of the whole Northern Line, up to Kankasanthurai would be completed by the end of 2014.
`We have already completed several stations and train services will officially be launched next month,` he told The Island.
The train line is being reconstructed by the Indian Railway Construction International Ltd. (IRCON) with the assistance of the Indian government. This achievement of resumption of train service was made possible because of Indian financial aid and reconstruction efforts, Samarasinghe added.
