Nov 21 (DM) UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa today said UNP, JVP and TNA politicians should meet the people of Sri Lanka rather than the representatives of the international community. “Interesting to see UNP, JVP and TNA politicians meeting with the members of the international community. Perhaps if more effort was given towards meeting with the people of SL and paying heed to their hope for elections, Sri Lanka can finally achieve its fullest potential,” the MP tweeted. more..

Nov 21 (Island) Taking into consideration the long enduring historical ties and shared cultural heritage between Indonesia and SL, the Indonesian Ambassador to SL has recommended that the tourism sector of both countries collaborate to uplift the industry. The Indonesian Ambassador to SL, I Gusti Ngurah Ardiyasa, said this at the Business Gathering: Wonderful Indonesia held recently at the Galle Face Hotel, organised by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with more..

Nov 21 (DM) Former Galle District UPFA MP Geetha Kumarasinghe today submitted documents to the Elections Commission (EC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya confirming the renunciation of her Swiss citizenship, which disqualified her from being elected as an MP. She said that she was now eligible to contest the upcoming general election. “I will definitely contest at the parliamentary election. I renounced the citizenship in more..

Nov 21 (DM) Former Director of the Terrorist Investigations Division, Deputy Inspector General of Police Nalaka De Silva and an Indian national arrested over an alleged VVIP assassination plot have been further remanded until the 5th of December. The order was issued by Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake. DIG Nalaka De Silva was arrested on the 25th of October, over his involvement in the alleged plot to assassinate the President and a former Secretary of Defence. more..

Nov 21 (AD) An individual has been arrested for allegedly defrauding money through Facebook by promising to give out mobile phones. The arrest has been made yesterday by the officers of the Negombo Division Crime Investigation Unit following a complaint received in this regard. The suspect had not handed out the promised mobile phones to the persons he had defrauded although they had already deposited money to his account. Reportedly, he had scammed individuals from more..

Nov 21 (NR) The UNF has submitted a motion to the Secretary General of Parliament, in a move to prevent the release of state funds to purported Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers by Secretaries of Ministries. The motion signed by MPs Rajitha Senaratne, Ravi Karunanayake, Champika Ranawaka, Arjuna Ranathunga, Mano Ganesan and Jayampathy Wickramaratne states Parliament has full control over public finance as mandated more..

Nov 21 (AD) The estimation of the damages caused to property in the Chamber of Parliament, during last week’s clashes and commotion, is slated to be carried out today. Damages had been inflicted upon the property of the Parliament including the microphone system and several chairs in the chamber during the parliamentary sessions held from 14th to 16th Nov as tense situations had arisen in the meantime. Accordingly, necessary measures have already been initiated to restore more..

Nov 21 (AD) Govt group has submitted the names of 7 members to the Secretary General of the Parliament as nominees for the Parliamentary Select Committee. Office of Leader of the House announced this a short while ago. Accordingly, UPFA MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, S.B. Dissanayake, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Wimal Weerawansa, Thilanga Sumathipala and Udaya Gammanpila have been nominated to the Select Committee. more..

Nov 21 (EN) Sri Lanka's Board of Investment has signed four project agreements worth about US$ 62 million, the investment facilitator said. WUS Logistics (Pvt) Ltd. will invest US$ 50 million on a logistics park which will include warehousing, cold rooms, value addition and multi-country consolidation facilities, an exhibition centre and R&D facilities. Logistics park will also include an auditorium and logistics education centre. more..

Nov 21 (LR) Canada’s High Commissioner David McKinnon called out MP Namal Rajapakse for his comments on twitter today. “Interesting to see UNP, JVP and TNA politicians meeting with the members of the international community. Perhaps if more effort was given towards meeting with the people of SL and paying heed to their hope for elections, Sri Lanka can finally achieve its fullest potential,” Rajapakse tweeted. McKinnon responded in kind to Rajapakse, citing double standards. more..

Nov 22 (CT) Mr. President much has been written by many on the imprudent step you took that has destablised and brought the country to near anarchy. It’s common knowledge that we have lost a fortune on tourism as we were identified as the best destination for travel in 2019 by prominent travel companies. Today we are a lonely country. A respected professional Dr W.A. Wijewardena has spelt out how personal vendettas should not take precedence over national issues hence more..

Nov 21 (DM) The Cabinet, which met at the Presidential Secretariat under President Maithripala Sisirsena, today approved a Vote on Account to cover the Govt’s expenditure for the first quarter of 2019, a Senior Minister said. He said that PM Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Finance Minister submitted the Cabinet memorandum seeking the approval. Govt is to present the Vote on Account to Parliament for the approval soon, he said. more..

Nov 21 (AD) The Parliamentary Secretary General has filed a complaint with the CID with regard to a forged letter circulating in social media with the signature of the Speaker and addressed to the Chief Justice. The Office of the Speaker had previously announced that a fraudulent document is currently circulating in social media, claiming that the letter was sent by the Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya to Chief Justice Nalin Perera. Speaker’s Office, issuing a press release today, more..

Nov 22 (CT) Former President and current member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa has undertaken his second great humanitarian rescue effort. This time, he has come forward at the invitation of Sirisena – the president to retrieve and restore the national economy which according to him was inexorably hurtling to disaster through the neoliberal economic policies of Ranil Wickremesinghe. Bismarck famously said that a statesman “must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding more..

Nov 22 (SO) Fall Army Worm (FAW) threat looms large in Sri Lanka. The larvae stage of the Fall Armyworm moth (Spodoptera frugiperda), commonly known in the country as the Sena caterpillar has the ability to destroy hundreds of acres of cultivation overnight and could affect over 180 species of crops including paddy, maize, sugarcane, green gram, other vegetables and fruits. The caterpillar, native to the Americas was, more..

Nov 22 (GV) Maithripala Sirisena, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe are invoking the notion of the will of the people to conceal their selfish interests, and their amoral and deracinated feudal elitism. The current tendency for the United National Front (UNF) to focus exclusively on the conduct of President Sirisena and the disgraceful, violent behaviour of the Joint Opposition MPs is naïve, and could be counter-productive in defeating Rajapaksa. more..

Nov 22 (DN) Sri Lanka’s most controversial political stand-off since independence continues with the Executive and Legislature locked in a battle for supremacy, a tussle which also saw some of the ugliest scenes in our parliamentary history being enacted in the House last week. The collective opposition comprising of the UNP and its allies in UNF, TNA and JVP claimed it had passed a vote of no-confidence with a voice vote when Parliament was reconvened last Wednesday. more..

Nov 22 (CM) Colombo has three active international cricket grounds. Indulgent? Kolkata, Karachi, Cape Town and Melbourne settle for a single ground; even London houses merely two. When new stadiums are built, predecessors are usually laid to rest. Granted, Antigua 2009 showed the value of having a spare venue up the sleeve. More often than not, though, cities' attempts to house multiple stadiums haven't come off more..

Nov 22 (CT) There will be a repugnancy between this proviso and the power of the President given in the other Articles including Article 70(1), when read with Articles 3 and 4(b), if interpreted in this manner. The only method sovereign executive power vested in the President, on trust, can be alienated and be vested in Parliament is by following provisions of the Constitution and having a referendum as mentioned earlier. This is because Article 3 is an entrenched Article in terms of Article 83 more..

Nov 22 (CT) As national prosperity is not a status that can be identified as one specific goal, its definition can become fairly confusing to a searching mind because it is a collectively identifiable condition which is a combination of contributory aspects. We have failed because we have tried to introduce features without logically planned paths for synchronization. A feature may become identifiable but as it had not been pursued without recognizing aspects which are essential for sustenance. more..

Nov 22 (EN) Dialog Finance, the fin-tech unit of SL’s top mobile phone operator Dialog Axiata, lost 39 million rupees in the September 2018 quarter, according to interim accounts filed with the stock exchange. The finance company, known as Colombo Trust Finance, had made a profit of two million rupees the year before in the Sept 2017 quarter when it was bought by Dialog Axiata from Cargills group for just over a billion rupees. Loss per share for Sept 2018 quarter was rs 2.17. more..

Nov 22 (DN) What one’s mind holds, at a given moment, is Dhamma. One has to begin to understand Dharma through realization. It is free from all sectarian dogmas, beliefs, rites and rituals. Even sectarian names are not needed. You may or may not call yourself a Sinhalese, Tamil or a Muslim, but you should be a Dharmic being, a person existing with a life of Dharma. This means that you should remain pure. If your mind remains uncontaminated, then all your other dealings, more..

Nov 22 (EN) Sri Lanka's nation-wide inflation slowed to 0.1% in the 12-months to Oct 2018 from 0.9% a month earlier, the lowest since January 2016, data from the govt statistics office showed. Consumer prices during the month increased 0.4% with the National Consumer Price Index gaining to 124.9 index points in Oct 2018 from 124.9 index points in Sept 2018. The month-on-month change was due to prices on more..

Nov 22 (Island) There has been much opposition to the executive president’s legal immunity. But MPs enjoy impunity as regards serious offences committed inside Parliament. They seem to believe that they can get away with blatant violations of the law in the House, where they apparently think the writ of the state does not run. It may be this mistaken belief that has led them to behave like Neanderthals & even assault police personnel who are called in during brawls in the Chamber. more..

Nov 22 (CI) Joe Root feels England are pretty much on track to achieve their goal of becoming the No. 1-ranked Test team. Their series victory in SL means England are guaranteed to rise to No. 2 in the world irrespective of the result in the final Test, which starts in Colombo on Friday. But Root feels his side would take a huge amount of confidence by becoming just the third side to complete a 3-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka in SL and suggests it would be nice if England's next tour more..

Nov 22 (ST) The good, the bad and the ugly was a great western movie that kept us spellbound two scores of years ago, and it was a story of inevitable greed of man. It is there, depicted in all the good scriptures and throughout the annals of mankind, it has been a matter of trying to keep people away from evil. What is happening now is just an extension of a tentacle of man’s greed and men looking for ways to cut their own niches more..

Nov 22 (FT) The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York hosted an event on the occasion of Deepavali on Friday, 9 November, at the Mission premises. The event saw the attendance of members of the Sri Lankan community in the tri-state area, both of Hindu faith and others, as well as high level representatives from other Permanent Missions including India, Singapore and Malaysia. The event commenced with the traditional lighting of the oil lamp. more..

Nov 22 (LR) Facebook moved to reassure UNP following fears that user data collected from the social media site could be used against party members amidst a political crisis in the island nation. The social media giant acknowledged the letter from SL’s UNP and reassured them of Facebook’s community safety. “Facebook takes data protection and people’s privacy very seriously and we have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services — whether from terrorism, bullying, or other more..

Nov 22 (Island) The Presidential Secretariat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Games Committee owed SriLankan Airlines Rs. 122.3 million for chartered flights booked between 2006 and 2014, the PCoI was informed. Manager (Network Planning) of SriLankan Sumudu Upatissa said that SriLankan had written to the institutions requesting that their debts be settled. The AG’s Department officials, more..

Nov 22 (ST) ICC the world governing body for Cricket, announced that Roshan Mahanama will step down from the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees (MR) at the end of 2015, citing personal reasons. The final assignment given by the ICC to Roshan was the closely contested 3-Test series between hosts Australia and NZ, concluded with the historical 1st Day-Night Test played at the Adelaide Oval. At the conclusion of the Test series the post-match presentation was made by more..

Nov 22 (ST) SL fans will be getting a chance to witness an exciting display of sky diving at the Koggala SL Air Force complex from Nov 22 to Dec 4. Sky Diving enthusiasts will receive a rare chance in to dive from 12,000 feet up in the sky after a medical test and a training session along with a foreign trained experienced sky diver. Men and women who are over 18 years of age will be eligible to take part in the event said Ananka Vithana, Director Operations, Sky Dive Lanka. more..

Nov 22 (Island) The JVP had nothing to do with proposed plan of UNP to form a broader alliance to contest upcoming elections under the Diamond symbol, senior JVP MP Nihal Galappaththi said. "We would not form any alliance with the UNP. We will also not form political alliances with SLFP or the SLPP. There are rumours that the UNP may approach us seeking our support for their so-called new alliance, but we will not join them," more..

Nov 22 (CT) If the Speaker makes the Parliament stable we can make this country’s economic situation stable, appointed Minister Weerakumara Dissanayake claimed yesterday (21). He alleged that the Speaker safeguards only the UNP MPs when he is supposed to protect all 225 MPs. He also alleged that there are foreign conspiracies behind the Speaker’s behaviour in violating the Standing Orders, and therefore he should resign and offer it to a deserving, impartial person. more..

Nov 22 (CT) LAUGFS Gas PLC made a loss of Rs 309.2 million for the quarter ended 30 Sept, mainly due to the rapid depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, prevailing retail price restrictions and surging liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market prices, LAUGFS Chairman/Group CEO, W K H Wegapitiya said in the company’s latest interim report. The company’s interim report for the quarter ended 30 Sept 2018, said that total revenue for the quarter grew 11% to Rs 6.2 billion more..

Nov 22 (FT) Members of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) submitted a motion to call for a Special General Meeting (SGM) to take action against their President, who has expressed his views on national media repeatedly without proper sanction or mandate. “We, the undersigned members of the BASL, are of the unanimous view that the decisions of the Executive President in removal of the PM, more..

Nov 22 (CT) Kopay Police, in the Northern Province yesterday submitted a Writ Application to the Jaffna Magistrate seeking to ban the Maaveerar Day (Heroes Day) commemorations on 27 Nov, under Section 120 of the Penal Code and the PTA regulations of 2011. Jaffna Magistrate has fixed tomorrow for order. It is learned that the land opposite the Kopay 512 Army regiment camp, owned by a private resident, has been allegedly cleared for the upcoming commemoration. more..

Nov 22 (AD) A Sri Lankan asylum seeker who says he was tortured in his home country has been awarded nearly £20,000 in damages from the Home Office for his unlawful detention. The man, referred to only as KG for legal reasons, was unlawfully held in immigration detention for 30 days between Jan & Feb 2016 because of a failure to arrange a medical examination within 24 hours of his admission. A judge sitting at the High Court in London has now awarded him a total of £19,500. more..

Nov 22 (DN) MP W.D.J. Seneviratne, said public officials are bound to execute decisions taken by the govt of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. He urged govt servants not to be misled by media campaigns launched by UNP MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam who said that public officials are bound to implement their decisions. He said the govt will bring in a Vote on Account to cover govt expenses. more..

Nov 22 (FT) Director General Asanga Abeyagoonasekera of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) was invited to Brussels and Berlin for a study and dialogue program for security policy experts and think tank members organised by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung on 5-9 November. During the program he visited NATO Headquarters, European External Action Services, Think Tanks in Brussels and Berlin and the Federal Chancellery of Germany. more..