Nov 26 (CT) Sinhalese and Muslim residents of the Gintota area met at the Welipiti Mosque last Wednesday and shared Kiribath with each other and members of the Armed Forces and Police. It should have been an unremarkable event except that just days before, clashes between Sinhalese and Muslim mobs had caused extensive damage to dozens of shops and houses and several vehicles. After the milk rice was eaten the two groups and the security forces personnel came together to more..

Nov 26 (CT) The Irrigation Department warned yesterday that since the Northeast inter-monsoon rains were not received in 14 districts of the dry zone in the country, it could have a severe impact on paddy production in the forthcoming Maha and Yala Seasons for 2018. They said that if the lack of rain affects paddy cultivation in the upcoming Maha Season, it would mean that three consecutive seasons have failed and it could affect the prices of rice. more..

Nov 26 (CT) More than 3,700 persons were arrested in a countrywide crackdown on criminal and other elements starting from 10 p.m. on Friday to the early hours of yesterday morning. A total of 3,769 persons were taken into custody in connection with various issues throughout most parts of the country, Police Media official said. A large quantity of narcotics, illicit alcohol and illegal firearms were also seized during the crackdown more..

Nov 26 (Island) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya expressed happiness that there exists transparency and people are now making use of the Right to Information Act (RTI). "I am surprised by the interest generated by the RTI, though some think it is a nuisance. We have asked them to bear with us. We will see the fruits of what we are doing in about two or three years time. People are now alert to stamp out corruption and wastage", he noted. more..

Nov 26 (SL) The Government says it will use Lord Naseby’s statement to counter claims on war crimes allegations against the country. Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana told Parliament on Saturday, the Govt was grateful to the statement made on Sri Lanka by Lord Naseby at the British Parliament recently. Lord Naseby had in his statement rejected claims that the death toll during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka was over 40,000. more..

Nov 26 (CI) Last July, Virat Kohli had no double-centuries. He now has five. Only Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are the Indians with more. Kohli waltzed to 213 off only 267 balls to set up a declaration and asked Sri Lanka to survive for nine overs before stumps on day three. But the fatigue of having spent 176.1 overs in the field showed in how Sadeera Samarawickrama flashed at a wide ball and left alone a straight one. At times, teams have to tackle those more..

Nov 26 (EN) Sri Lanka has given a 60 billion rupee bailout for state-run SriLankan Airlines to get domestic and international funding in July 2017 with the airline group running with 107 billion rupee hole in the balance sheet. The airline group, which also includes a profitable catering unit, has lost 5.9 billion rupees from April to Aug 2017, a finance ministry report said. "Having considered the deteriorated financial position, more..

Nov 27 (CT) Soulbury Constitution of 1947 established the island’s first unitary state. It is a western constitutional construct that was imposed upon a country that was up to then under a decentralized administration. The new governance was based on majoritarian democracy, assuming a homogeneous populace ignoring the ethnic, religious and geographic diversity. The will of the majority was taken to form the basis of Lanka’s democracy. However, at least for the last more..

Nov 27 (CT) After hanging on to power for close to 40 years, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was forced to exit in the most shameful manner. It could, however, represented the old generation of African leaders who wrestled power from the colonialists. They then held on to that power through whichever means and insisted on being retired by death. After all, Adolf Hitler who blatantly misinterpreted the overwhelming public preference as his omnipotence, is not a mere piece of horror fiction. more..

Nov 27 (SO) Outlining his plans to reform the police department and raise the living standard of policemen, Minister Sagala Ratnayake said the govt was fighting the underworld in the south and the north head on. “There were rival gangs in the past, but today, the gangs have teamed up against the govt because we are going after them for real,” he said. He said he will not use unorthodox means to fight crime but the offenders will more..

Nov 27 (SO) That politics makes strange bedfellows is now very much a cliché. This week, we saw that yet again. It was after PM Ranil Wickremesinghe gave evidence before the PCoI probing the sale of CB bonds. Praise for the PM came from an unexpected quarter: former President and PM Wickremesinghe’s erstwhile political rival, Chandrika Kumaratunga. In what is described as a personal message, Kumaratunga said: “Dear PM, Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! My homage to you for taking more..

Nov 27 (SO) So, last week was all about calls wasn’t it? Siripala was frightened to answer a call from any unknown number. Can’t say no men, what if this Aloysius bugger decides to give Siripala a call and say “machang, next time you write put something nice about me ah”. Can never say with the CIS types. Sweet talk and flattery is how they kill- or rather make a killing, no. Anyway, it was time for the Minister that is Prime to walk into the Commission that is Bond. Siripala was told that more..

Nov 27 (CT) The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), a legal documentation group administered by the Foundation for Human Rights, has gathered testimony from 71 SL Tamils across Europe who claim they were tortured between 2015 and 2017. Yasmin Sooka, Director of ITJP, responds to several questions posted to her by email. SL has this notion that many who seek asylum overseas do come out with such claims more..

Nov 27 (ST) The Committee Stage debate on the Appropriation Bill is turning out to be more eventful than expected, not because of the subjects under debate but, because of the sideshows by way of No-Confidence motions and Privilege issues. This week saw two separate No-Confidence motions handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. One by the JO and the other by the JVP, both against Minister Faiszer Musthapha. Both groups are blaming the Minister for the delay more..

Nov 27 (ST) The misplaced ecstasy of those who greeted PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s appearance before the Commission of Inquiry into the Treasury Bond Issuance early this week with cries of Bravo, (including former President Chandrika Kumaratunga), was equaled only by the palpable agony of those who watched the unfolding scenario with disbelief. Here was the PM of the yahapalanaya unity alliance elected into power in 2015 on the platform of reversing the abuses of the past more..

Nov 27 (Island) Following Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) held at the UNHRC in Geneva on the 15th of November 2017, and the adoption of its Report on the 24th, a draft outcome document called Draft report of the Working Group on the UPR, which includes recommendations was circulated in the Council on Friday, the 24th Nov 2017. Recommendations are made by UN member states on measures that can be taken to improve the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. more..

Nov 27 (Island) President Maithripala Sirisena, speaking at a gathering of North Western Province entrepreneurs in Kurunegala on Saturday, highlighted the all-pervasive ill-effects of unbridled economic liberalisation. Citing an example, he lamented that children no longer engaged in the pleasurable pursuit of making kites; instead, he said, they flew imported kites the local market was flooded with. Time was when children not only made colourful kites, Vesak lanterns etc but more..

Nov 27 (ST) The golden afternoon seeps across the black and white tiles, lighting up the corridor of the Galle Face Hotel. It settles on a woman, standing by a door. She is locked in impassioned debate with a foreigner. The words colonial,  imperialistic and orientalist hang like daggers in the air. Speaker had just come out of a conference on the decorative arts. A SL living in England, she spoke with the heightened sensitivity and more..

Nov 27 (DN) SL cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha put it down to an error of judgement the ball tampering charge that was slapped on fast bowling all-rounder Dasun Shanaka at the end of the second day of the ongoing second Test being played here. Shanaka was found guilty of tampering with the ball during the Indian innings and was fined 75 percent of his match fee by ICC match referee David Boon. “It is actually an error of judgement in Dasun’s part. Just one over it happened. more..

Nov 27 (Island) The journey that brought us to the production of this book, has been sustained by the combination of two simple interpretations of the word Sanctuary. Firstly, Sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place. By using such places as a haven, and by extension, the term signifies any place of safety. When we speak of the Sanctity of something, it is to suggest holiness, and that which must be treated with a great deal of respect and devotion. Therefore, an animal or plant sanctuary, more..

Nov 27 (FT) The far reaching and comprehensive Securities Exchange Bill has been published in the gazette by the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs last week and will be presented to Parliament shortly. Bill aims to establish the Securities and Exchange Commission of SL; to regulate market institutions, public offers of securities, market intermediaries; to deal with market misconduct; and to meet the challenges more..

Nov 27 (EN) A top Sri Lankan policymaker has advocated a good governance approach to preventing disasters in Sri Lanka, hit by successive floods, saying corruption among local politicians who approved unsuitable construction needed to be eliminated. Harsha De Silva, Deputy Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, said many homes that went under water in recent floods in Colombo and elsewhere did so because they had been built in unsuitable areas. more..

Nov 27 (EN) Employers in ICT and commercial agriculture sectors, two of SL’s most promising economic drivers with potential for high earnings, appear to be biased against the hiring of women, according to a new WB study. Gender discrimination may also be detectable from labor market tightness with nearly 60% of employers report difficulty in finding new workers, reflecting excess demand for labor, the study Getting to Work: Unlocking Women’s Potential in Labor Force noted. more..

Nov 27 (FT) Minister Mangala Samaraweera says the open economy was in operation for only two years and with the start of the war in the ‘80s the country went backwards. The economic crisis that began with the war in the early 1980s has affected Sri Lanka in various ways up to 2015, Minister pointed out. Minister Samaraweera expressed these views addressing a seminar held in Matara recently under the theme more..

Nov 27 (Island) Planning the online operations of an islandwide election monitoring body isn’t an easy affair at the best of times. Making matters more complex was the political context leading up to the Presidential Election on Jan 8, 2015. Fears of disruption on multiple levels, rigging and takeover of monitoring operations meant redundancy had to be planned from scratch. A hotel room was paid for in cash for three days to mirror the online information gathering and dissemination operations more..

Nov 27 (ST) The U19 Challenger Trophy, which traditionally is played between three Indian teams, will have a fourth entrant this year as the Indian cricket board has invited Sri Lankan teenagers to spice up the tournament. It will be the first time that any foreign team will be playing the Challenger series. The main aim for the move is to give more exposure and competition to the three Indian teams ahead of the U19 world cup early next year. “All these boys have played with each other more..

Nov 27 (CT) The Leader of the Tamil Socialist Democratic Party (TSDP) and the first Chief Minister of the briefly merged Northern and Eastern Provinces, Annamalai Varadaraja Perumal, has expressed his willingness to join the TNA. Perumal said that thus far the negotiations held between the TNA leadership and his TSDP had been extremely cordial and fruitful, adding that he would make his official announcement more..

Nov 27 (DM) The SAITM Medical Faculty Parents Forum’s Convener Gemunu Wijeratne today urged the committee to investigate SAITM matter headed by Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva not to use their children as guinea pigs. In a joint press briefing held with the Medical Faculty Students' Parents Association (MFSPA) Mr. Wijeratne charged that the committee is allegedly attempting to mislead them by converting the institute to a different entity without abolishing it. more..

Nov 27 (ST) The scheduled matches for the weekend of the Dialog Champions League and FFSL Premier Division I Championship have been forced to be postponed due to the shortage of referees. As much as nine Dialog Champions League games and three Division I Championship matches have been affected by the so-called shortage of referees, which most club officials claim was a self-inflicted by the organisers, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL). more..

Nov 27 (EN) Simmering tensions between President Sirisena and his senior coalition partner have degenerated into a public slanging match, but neither side have the power to subdue the other. President Sirisena's frustrations at barbs from UNP back benchers was shown on Friday when he made an emotional speech which warned his critics that their actions could backfire. Sirisena also suggested that he could resign and more..

Nov 27 (Island) Minister Rajitha Senaratne has proposed that some of State Pharmaceutical Corporation’s (SPC) profits be shared with its employees. Revealing that the SPC had earned Rs 1,900 in profit for 2016, Minister said that he was discussing with the Treasury whether part of the profits could be given to the SPC workers. However, the Treasury had turned down certain proposals, Dr. Senaratne said, advising SPC employees to launch a protest outside the Finance Ministry. more..

Nov 27 (Stuff) The people of Queenstown showed their compassion as they took to the streets in support of a family facing deportation to SL. After 8 years in New Zealand, Dinesha Amarasinghe, her husband Sam Wijerathne, and their three sons have been told they are to be deported to their birth country as Dinesha, the primary visa holder, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 3 years ago. A humanitarian appeal has been lodged but the family's future remains uncertain. more..

Nov 27 (DM) The UNP was ready to work with anyone willing to uphold Good Governance and to mutually strengthen electoral prospects, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said today. PM Wickremesinghe made this remark at the UNP Bala Mandalaya meeting in Nawalapitiya. “The UNP is willing to work with anyone who welcomes and upholds values of Good Governance but our party should more..

Nov 27 (DN) Sri Lanka faced with an insurmountable task of wiping out a huge deficit of 405 runs and with over two days of play left in the second Test against India plan to stay positive in their second innings as they try to save the second Test being played at the Vidharba CA Stadium here. The last occasion that Sri Lanka scored over 400 runs against India was at the P Sara Oval in 2010 when they made 425 and the chance of repeating that performance is not beyond them if batsmen can knuckle down more..

Nov 27 (DN) With violence and political issues in many countries accelerating, Sri Lanka Tourism has one of the best opportunities to capture the world market and bring in more high spending tourists to Sri Lanka, said President Maithripala Sirisena speaking at the opening of the Golden Crown Hotel in Ampitiya Kandy last Saturday. He said that today Sri Lanka is one of the safest countries in the world sans any violence and political unrest. Sri Lankan Tourism sector must exploit this advantage more..

Nov 27 (DN) Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya PC appointed a three member committee comprising Senior State Counsel to look into all legal aspects pertaining to the Delimitation Gazette Notification. The Gazette Notification was issued by the Provincial Councils and Local Govt Minister on the Delimitation Committee Report with regard to the boundaries in respect of Local Authorities. Court of Appeal last Wednesday issued an Interim more..

Nov 27 (SO) A contingent of young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs will join the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), which will be co-hosted by the US and India in Hyderabad, India from Nov 28-30. The US and India have selected 1,500 individuals who will participate in the 2017 Summit. Advisor to the US President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump will lead the US contingent to the summit, which will highlight the theme Women First, Prosperity for All and focus on supporting women entrepreneurs more..

Nov 27 (CT) Party leaders have requested the Speaker to have the details pertaining to the alleged conversations that had taken place, between MPs in the COPE and Perpetual Treasuries Owner Arjun Aloysius, presented to the Parliament. It is reported that the request was made during the party leaders' meeting that was held last week with the Speaker in the chair and PM also in attendance. The details requested include the dates and the times of the conversations and audios pertaining to such. more..

Nov 27 (CT) The SLFP is hopeful of fielding a united front at the forthcoming elections with the support of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Minister for Labour John Seneviratne said. Following the SLFP Central Committee meeting, which took place on 23 Nov, SLFP stalwarts and Ministers Seneviratne and Susil Premajayantha called on Rajapaksa and handed over an official letter inviting him to join the SLFP to create a united Party. more..