Srilanka

President Maithripala Sirisena held discussions with senior Police officers at the Presidential Secretariat where he advised police to act in an unbiased manner that the upcoming Presidential poll.The meeting also addressed the longstanding problems of the Police Department and to establish a better quality police service. Discussions were also made on allocation of priority for officers& health screening programmes, recruiting doctors immediately to address the shortage of doctors at police hospitals and removing salary and grading anomalies of Sri Lanka Police Executive Grade Officers.Progress of a programme to curb extortion and the use of mobile phones in prisons were also discussed.

The Cabinet yesterday decided to appoint a subcommittee headed by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to look into salary anomalies in government institutions and to make necessary recommendations to address them.

The Presidential Commission appointed to review salary anomalies in the State sector has proposed that the salaries and allowances of all state sector employees should be reviewed and increased every five years.This is one of 8 recommendations made by the 15-member commission appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on August 20th under the Chairmanship of senior ministry secretary S. Ranugge, according to a Finance Ministry spokesman.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI called off due to rainUpdated Sep 27, 2019 | 15:16 IST | Suyash SrivastavaThe fans who turned up in big numbers in Karachi to watch the 1st ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka were left disappointed as the match was washed out due to heavy rain.Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI live cricket scoreThe series is crucial for Sarfaraz Ahmed who has been retained as captain of the team. Cricket resumed in Pakistan after a long time but the fans were left disappointed as the 1st ODI at Karachi was washed out due to rain. Hours before the match, dark clouds were hovering over the National Stadium, which was followed by heavy rain. The rain was severe as a result of which by the time it stopped, there were puddles all over and even the groundsmen didn&t bother to remove the covers as the drainage system was said to be clogged and with plenty of waterlogging, not a single ball was bowled and the match was called off. The 2nd match will now be played on September 29 (Sunday) at the same venue.

17: 02 PM: It's all over. The opening game of the six-match series has been called off due to rain.

16: 45 pm: The drizzling has resumed, the groundsmen are still not much in action. The match has already started to lose overs. Not good signs here.

16: 20 pm: Some movement can now be seen from the groundsmen who are spread in the ground. With puddles all around, it remains to be seen whether the covers will be removed.

16: 09 pm: The rain has stopped in Karachi but the fans should still not be very hopeful as the groundsmen aren't seen in action at all. The covers haven't been removed as well and the indication is clear.

15: 54 pm: Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka failed to impress at the World Cup where both the team failed to reach the top four of the mega event. In Karachi, as per the latest reports, while it has stopped raining, the covers are unmoved and there's water logging all over.

15: 38 pm: The good news for the Pakistani fans is that cricket has resumed on their soil. The bad news is that the ground has witnessed heavy rain in the last few hours and the chances of any play are very less. This will be a huge disappointment for the local fans who turned up in big numbers to cheer for the team.

15: 25 pm: Misbah led the team brilliantly during his captaincy days and it remains to be seen whether he can have a similar impact as the head coach of the team. There's no denying the fact that the players have enormous respect for him and will listen and implement to whatever he says. Misbah has shown trust in Sarfaraz as captain and nothing less than a clean sweep against the depleted Sri Lankan side would be expected from the Men in Green.