Feb 3 (SG) President Maithripala Sirisena’s surprise defeat of the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in the election came about because of widespread public disgust at cronyism and corruption. Moreover, Rajapaksa’s ten years in power had seen an increasing intolerance of dissent and challenge. Former president could have burnished his place in history as the leader who finally broke Tamil Tiger insurgency and brought peace to a beautiful island long disfigured by violent conflict. more..

Feb 3 (MO) His defeat in the presidential election seems to have opened a Pandora's box for Mahinda Rajapaksa. New govt, headed by former colleague Maithripala Sirisena, seems determined to bring him down along with his legacy of lavish lifestyle and corrupt administration. Rajapaksa and his family are alleged to have embezzled millions from the state exchequer to buy luxury cars, planes & horses for private use. more..

Feb 3 (Island) President Maithripala Sirisena has said that after winning the presidential election he realised that the implementation of the joint Opposition’s 100-day programme was not possible without the SLFP’s cooperation in Parliament. The president, in spite of having unbridled executive powers, cannot function without parliamentary backing, he has maintained. He has thus sought to justify his securing the SLFP leadership a few days after winning the presidency as the common Opposition candidate. more..

Feb 3 (Island) How do I call this govt? This question did not arise in the past as govts were elected with a specific name; UNP (1977- 1994), PA (1994-2002), UNP (2002-2004) and UPFA (2005-2014). Although the present govt is practically run by the UNP, it is hardly to say this is a UNP govt as the UNP has less than 50 seats in Parliament. This is a govt of multifarious organisations with diverse and conflicting objectives in spite of the presence of a common goal of defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa and his regime. more..

Feb 3 (EN) A retrospective tax slammed on big firms in the country was not the best signal to the market, Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva said, insisting that it will not be a precedent. Minister Ravi Karunanayake proposed a 25% windfall style tax on taxable profits on companies claiming that such firms had 'ill-gotten' gains, after raising state worker salaries by an unprecedented amount. "The retrospective nature of the tax, more..

Feb 3 (CT) Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara admitted that there was no legal mechanism to prosecute drivers of trishaws who did not accede to the government's request of reducing the trishaw rate by 10% per kilometre, following the reduction of petrol prices in the interim budget. "At this moment, we do not have the legal apparatus to prosecute them as they do not come under any laws at present. We will be working soon on a legal framework that we can bring them under. more..

Feb 3 (NS) Chief Justice of a particular country was strolling down a street in deep conversation with his friend who was the Attorney General of the same country. They suddenly see a man stabbing to death another man. The two friends move quickly, capture the murderer, borrow a rope from a nearby house and hang him. All is good. Justice is served. No, the above didn’t happen and will not happen, not in Sri Lanka and not anywhere else. The dispensing of ‘justice’ and not the murder, that is. more..

Feb 3 (AD) Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court ordered the Department of Immigration and Emigration to impound the passport of former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena. Chief Magistrate issued the order when the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption filed a case against the former Minister Gunawardena. Commission filed 50 charges against him, over his alleged involvement in fraudulent activities more..

Feb 3 (Island) Coconut, coconut plantations, smallholders, or in general terms the coconut industry, over the past two decades or so constantly relegated to the backroom of the plantation industry, emerged to claim some degree of importance, thanks to Silvermill Holdings Ltd. CEO Silvermill Holdings, Suresh Silva, launching the product, ‘Silvermill Real Coconut Milk’, last week said the Company was in existence since 1920, exporting value added coconut products, more..

Feb 3 (FT) The new Govt on Thursday presented the Interim Budget 2015 in Parliament offering concessions to all sectors of the economy. Corporate leaders commended the proposals put forward, while some expressed concerns on the new govt policy direction of the economy. The following corporate leaders, intellectuals and associations shared their views with Daily FT: Senior Economist Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne: “I am a little surprised with the interim budget presented. more..

Feb 3 (CT) In a startling revelation, senior employees of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, have alleged that the former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Planning and Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera has virtually driven the Board to destruction. "With the moves that Dr. Jayasundera brought in, the BOI would have had to be closed down by 31 March, 2015 with no role to play, sources told the Ceylon FT yesterday. more..

Feb 3 (PF) A previous Pathfinder Foundation (PF) Economic Alert (64) argued that the Sino-Lanka FTA has the potential to be the 'Jewel in the Crown' in the bilateral economic relationship. It can have a transformative impact not just on market access for Sri Lanka's exports to China but also on inward investment and technology transfer. Internal trends within China also reinforce the prospects for an encouraging future in the bilateral economic relationship. more..

Feb 3 (DM) University of Moratuwa (UOM) has recognized OpenArc as the partner organization to offer Bachelor of Information Technology Degree of University of Moratuwa, commencing from the new intake in February 2015. The signing of the MoU took place at the University of Moratuwa on January 21st. The specialty of the degree offered by the University of Moratuwa is that their students are employed 100 percent even before graduating, especially in the ICT Industry. more..

Feb 3 (BN) An election hailed as a leap forward for SL’s democracy is proving a step back for investors. President Sirisena’s canceled casino licenses, and his first budget reduced public investment and included a one-off windfall tax on company profits. The country’s benchmark stock index fell the most in 17 months in the next trading session on Jan 30, and is the world’s fifth-worst performer since a Jan 8 election. more..

Feb 3 (Island) Competing amongst the best hotels and hospitality related companies among 47 countries across the world this year's winners is Colombo Courtyard boutique hotel who has won two 5 Star awards in the categories of Small Hotel and Spa Hotel for Sri Lanka in the Asia Pacific region Hotel Awards for 2014 held at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on 26th January 2015. This award is sponsored by the leaders in industry and Rolls-Royce motor Car. more..

Feb 3 (Island) National Cancer Control Unit Chief Dr. Mrs. Ishani Fernando revealed that over 26,341 new cases of oral, lung, esophagus, bowel, prostate, rectum, breast, thyroid and womb malignancies had been detected in 2014 in Sri Lanka. A majority of female patients had developed breast, ovary and womb cancers while males had developed deadly oral, lung, brain and bowel cancers. Most cancer cases were reported in Badulla, Batticloa, Kurunegala, Colombo and Ratnapura. more..

Feb 3 (Island) The Ministry of Sports issued directives to Sri Lanka Cricket requesting the sports body to stick to the constitution. Executive Committee of SLC met Minister Navin Dissanayake yesterday and the directives were given to SLC in writing. As an outcome, the many powers enjoyed by SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga will be drastically slashed with SLC President and CEO having a larger say. more..

Feb 3 (Island) An ancient maxim found in the Dhammapada sums up the practice of the Buddha's teaching in three simple guidelines to training: to abstain from all evil, to cultivate good, and to purify one's mind. These three principles form a graded sequence of steps progressing from the outward and preparatory to the inward and essential. Each step leads naturally into the one that follows it, and the culmination of the three in purification of mind makes it plain that the heart of Buddhist practice more..

Feb 3 (CT) The Balapitiya PS Chairperson, Dayaratne De Silva and eight other suspects were arrested yesterday for the alleged 2013 attack on the then Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesighe's vehicle in Ambalangoda. Among the eight suspects included the Chairperson and Pradeshiya Sabha Member, Jagath Priyananda Silva. Wickremesinghe visited the area of Ambalangoda on 11 June 2013 to assess the damage caused to the area due to adverse weather conditions when more..

Feb 3 (Hindu) PM Narendra Modi will travel to Sri Lanka in March, first bilateral visit by an Indian PM to the island nation in over 25 years. During the visit, Mr. Modi is likely to travel to Jaffna in the Tamil-majority Northern Province. The visit has been scheduled a month after the visit of SL’s newly elected President, Maithripala Sirisena, to New Delhi in mid-February. Mr. Modi’s visit will coincide with UNHRC session in Geneva, more..

Feb 3 (LT) The passport of Sudharman Radaliyagoda, former Deputy General Manager of the Independent Television Network (ITN), has been temporarily suspended on an order issued by Colombo Magistrates Court. The order was issued when a case regarding a news item published during the presidential election was heard today. The news item alleged that President Maithripala Sirisena detained a mother during the presidential election when he contested as common candidate. more..

Feb 3 (Island) Parliament sittings were suspended for 10 minutes yesterday as opposition MPs staged a protest during the debate on an adjournment motion moved by them against the removal of Mohan Peiris from the office Chief Justice. An uproar from the Opposition drowned govt voices when Minister Sajith Premadasa told the House that those who shouted Sirisena kotiya (Sirisena is a Tiger) were now saying Sirisena saranam gachchami (I go to Sirisena for refuge). more..

Feb 3 (ET) India will help Sri Lanka set up a finance intelligence unit (FIU)-like entity in the island nation at Colombo's request to trace more than $5 billion allegedly stashed overseas by the erstwhile Rajapaksa regime. President Sirisena is moving to fulfill electoral promises to check corruption and repatriate money allegedly siphoned off abroad by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who ruled SL for a decade, and members of his family, more..

Feb 3 (GDI) US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Mrs. Nisha Biswal, called on President Maithripala Sirisena Monday ( afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat. Ms Biswal said that President Sirisena and PM Wickremasinghe have put forth an ambitious agenda for their first one hundred days and much has already been accomplished in such a short time. But we recognise that there is a lot of hard work ahead and some difficult challenges." more..

Feb 3 (CT) Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith C. Perera said the govt had already discussed issues pertaining to the upcoming US resolution on war crimes against Sri Lanka before the UNHRC Geneva. He added that nothing could be revealed at this juncture in keeping with diplomatic protocol. The US stance on their sponsored resolution, to be tabled at the UNHRC, will be the hot topic at the March review sessions. The support of international bodies was very vital at this juncture, more..

Feb 3 (DM) Main opposition SLFP protested over the arrest of MP Tissa Attanayake without notifying Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva said the Speaker should be informed of the arrest of MPs in terms of the Parliamentary Privileges Act. Mr. Attanayake was arrested on the charge of document forgery during the election time. Mr. Attanayake, who was the then UNP General Secretary, switched more..

Feb 3 (DM) It is no secret that the revised budget presented by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake on January 29 to Parliament delivered heavy blows to certain businesses. It contained several one-off taxes and a controversial retrospective tax on companies who have posted over Rs.2 billion profits for the financial year 2013/14. Though the new government may not publicly admit it, they have targeted certain businesses in the revised budget. For example, they have clearly targeted more..

Feb 3 (DM) There is no doubt that the Proportional Representation (PR) for Parliamentary Elections has unfortunately resulted in an inevitable struggle for preferential votes, and in-fighting among candidates of the same party (intra-party rivalry), which has on many occasions led to criminal violence and even murder. Another negative feature is that a single political party has often found it difficult to obtain a stable majority, thereby leading to alliances, which have resulted in large Cabinets. more..

Feb 3 (DM) Changes that have taken place in the country during the past three weeks are simply unbelievable. What Rajapaksa thinks about current democratic reforms? Many democratic reforms currently underway were not possible even in the wildest dreams, two months ago. Justice Sripavan, the senior most Supreme Court Judge would not have ever expected to be appointed CJ purely based on his seniority. more..

Feb 3 (DM) Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA is a Japanese governmental organization which provides Japanese govt’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to countries like Sri Lanka. In an interview with Mr. Kiyoshi Amada, the JICA’s Chief Representative to Sri Lanka explained the types of loans, grants and technical assistance available to Sri Lanka through JICA. more..

Feb 3 (Island) Housing and Samurdhi Minister Sajith Premadasa recently accused the Engineering Corporation of hiring a fleet of 33 vehicles at monthly cost of Rs. 80,000 each for political work. He said that such excesses wouldn’t happen under his stewardship under any circumstance. He was addressing representatives of the construction industry at the Institute for Construction Training & Development. more..

Feb 3 (GDI) A one time top Chinese financial reformer who successfully championed good governance and elimination of toxic financial assets in the mainland corporate sector will be in Sri Lanka to inspect UNIDO’s next program cycle in the country. “UNIDO Director General Li Yong’s arrival in SL will not only strengthen their programs here but is also a boost to Sri Lanka’s industry profile” said Rishad Bathiudeen, more..

Feb 3 (SL) While the CEB was searching for cheaper power generation sources, it had anticipated that by the year 2030, 76% of the country’s power generation would be obtained through coal power. However even though coal power generation was expected to bring down the cost of power generation, massive scale fraud and misappropriation of funds has led to these projects ending as huge burdens to country’s more..

Feb 3 (ST) The interim Budget 2015, presented in Parliament on Thursday, introduced several measures that would bring relief to the public. A cross-section of the public said they expect the cost of living to reduce with the implementation of the proposals, pointing out that, if not for corruption and wastage, the benefits would have been greater. Following are excerpts of interviews. Hemachandra Muthumala, 56, a lottery salesman more..

Feb 3 (Island) The latest special pay hike for engineers at the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has caused much disaffection among most of the trade unions, particularly, the JVP backed Lanka Viduli Sevaka Sangamaya. The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) yesterday hit back saying that they received additional rise apart from the usual 30 per cent due to a request for a special salary scale. more..

Feb 3 (CG) The Govt is considering the full implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa refused to fully implement the recommendations of the LLRC and that resulted in some countries accusing Sri Lanka of failing to address accountability issues on the war. more..

Feb 3 (DM) Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake cracked the whip for the first time on cricket officials issuing them strict guidelines on several internal matters yesterday at a meeting. Minister’s orders do not appear consistent with the recent reiterations by the ICC and IOC that there should be no political interference in local sports governing bodies, but the Minister claimed that the new govt was keen to investigate all the allegations more..

Feb 3 (EN) Sri Lanka's new administration will set up an independent committee to examine alleged data doctoring and is also watching an exercise to re-base national income accounts to ensure transparency, Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva said. "There are issues that we need to sort on the data by both the central bank and the Treasury and also the Department of Census and Statistics," he told reporters. more..

Feb 3 (Island) The GMOA warned the govt that unless the due increments stated in the 2015 budget in accordance with the National Wage Policy were given in February, it would launch a countrywide strike. GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Navin de Soysa said the then Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had, in his 2015 budget speech, announced 15% and 5% salary increases for professionals, including doctors. But, doctors had not been paid the increment. more..

Feb 3 (CT) The main thrust of this article is to recollect and hone as independence day is here, just some of the many sinister acts of betrayal inflicted on the Tamil people during, in this context, the post independence era; the two salient points for discussion are: First Salient Point: The abolition of the safeguard for Tamil people – an essential clause, aimed to protect them, “against the tyranny of the majority” which was written in to the Soulbury constitution, a constitution that the British more..