Aug 8 (DM) Most independent political analysts had forecast a clear victory for the SLPP. They believed it would get more than 120 seats with Sajith Premadasa’s breakaway party the SJB getting between 40 and 60 seats. But what happened at Wednesday’s general election was unprecedented if not sensational. Prez Rajapaksa and PM Rajapaksa led the SLPP to win 145 seats. With the support of the EPDP and other minority parties the govt is likely to have a two-thirds majority. more..

Aug 8 (Island) Paangshu is director Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s second cinematic endeavour that is set to hit the big screen on Aug 14, 2020. Paangshu (Earth) premiered at the 2018 Montreal World Film Festival, followed by 14 more int'l festivals and winning several awards. At the 2019 Nice Int'l Film Festival in France, Nita Fernando won the award for Best Actress, Kumara Karawdeniya won the Best Costume Designer’s award, while Chandrasekaram was nominated for award more..

Aug 8 (TM) Peanut Farm on Panama Road, Pottuvil is a famous breeding ground frequented by elephants, particularly tuskers, in the east coast. However, there is rising apprehension with regard to these patches of land, having preserved a semblance of wilderness being encroached by human settlements. A major issue expressed by wildlife enthusiasts in and around the area is the nature of the interactions between more..

Aug 8 (ST) As the story goes, Lloyd Oswald Felsianes was a merchant seaman who in the traditional way of Burgher boys back then ran away from school, went on board a ship, and sailed all around the world. He was the only man from Ceylon aboard every ship he worked on, his grandson Lt Commander (Retd.) Somasiri Devendra recalls. On deck, Lloyd (or as Mr Devendra calls him, his Dehiwala Grandpa) was referred to as Ceylon. This, many yrs later, proved to be the perfect title more..

Aug 8 (ST) Is there any reason for us to remember the year 1977, which we passed through, or rather passed by, 43 years ago? One common answer would be that it was the year of the introduction of our open economy model in SL. However, I am not referring to the introduction of the open economy, which was anyway a half-done agenda ignoring some fundamentals. The policy reforms aimed at an open economy in 1977 were dramatic, not necessarily because of their own substance. more..

Aug 8 (EN) Sri Lanka should not pander to stability through inflation control but should engage in monetary and fiscal policies that drive growth, CB Governor W D Lakshaman said. “Covid 19 has made an unprecedented global shock which carried widespread socio-economic implications,” he said in a webinar with ADB Institute. “Like other central bank in sri lanka too provided liquidity and reduced borrowing costs to ease the burden more..

Aug 8 (FT) Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI), in a statement, welcomed the election of the new Govt with a strong mandate. Following is the statement issued by CCI CEO and Secretary General Eng. Col. (Rtd). Nissanka N. Wijeratne. The CCI conveys best wishes on the massive election victory and welcomes the formation of a new Govt with a very strong mandate. This clear mandate will facilitate the new Govt, led by Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, more..

Aug 8 (ST) The uniqueness of bringing together the consumer and the serviceman by a new app, FastFix app appears to be serving the middle-class upwards because it is more technologically oriented and also highly service oriented. Business Times had the opportunity to speak to Jeevan Gnanam, Executive Director, St Anthony’s Industries Group as to how this app would be of great assistance to those who are in distress in getting some repair work attended almost immediately more..

Aug 8 (Island) British Conservative peer Lord Naseby, an ardent supporter of Sri Lanka has described the electoral outcome here as “a sea change never before witnessed; I for one recognise it – so too should the UK Govt and the factions of the diaspora in the UK and elsewhere”. Lord Naseby, who is also the President and founder of the All Party British Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group in the UK said: more..

Aug 8 (DN) The original Bangladesh tour of SL, comprising three Tests, could now become a combination of Tests and an additional three T20Is, possibly beginning in mid-Oct, pending the necessary approvals from the SL govt and health ministry. While the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants three Tests and as many T20Is to be played, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) wants one of the Tests to be replaced by the three T20Is. The original tour was scheduled for July-Aug and was postponed more..

Aug 8 (CT) The election is over, the votes are counted and the verdict has been delivered. The first official duty of the new Govt is to elect a Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. The President has already announced that this time the Cabinet will be limited to 30 members. With the emergence of a single party-led govt, with no clear bargaining power as in the case of minority parties, the environment is conducive to electing such a numerically small Cabinet this time around. more..

Aug 8 (FT) The new Parliament will have an interesting mix of MPs, including two former Prezs, four father-son combinations, a man convicted of murder, and several against whom court cases are pending. Former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa will sit alongside his one-time arch political rival Maithripala Sirisena on the same side of the House when the new Parliament convenes on 20 Aug. There are also four father-son combinations, namely more..

Aug 8 (WO) A DOG who was attacked with a machete in Sri Lanka and rescued by a Midlands couple has been nominated for a Brave Briton award. Sinhalese Hound Kandy was attacked by her former owner and dumped on the beach when they no longer wanted her. While she was taken in and treated by a local dog rescuer, multiple calls to rehome her went unanswered and she faced an uncertain future. But Observer deputy editor Laura Kearns, who has twice visited Sri Lanka more..

Aug 8 (ST) Extensive testing and meticulous contact tracing got underway in the area when a minor employee of the Lankapura Divisional Secretariat in the Polonnaruwa district tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, said Dr. Anil Jasinghe. The closest or immediate contacts (first ring) of the person including his family as well as those at the Divisional Secretariat and also the Pradeshiya Sabha close by were tested, said the DG, explaining that 158 RT-PCR tests were negative. more..

Aug 8 (Island) Civil society organisation Viyathmaga has emerged as an influential group within the SLPP parliamentary group with eight out of nine contestants gaining entry into parliament at the just concluded general election. SLPP won 145 seats, including 17 National List slots. The parliament comprises 196 elected and 29 appointed members. Of the winners, retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera (328,092) more..

Aug 8 (CT) Governments throughout the world supported by their Central Banks have been on a path to push interest rates down. The objective has been to stimulate the economies that have fallen into negative range by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since it has added to the misery of people, cutting down both employment and welfare levels, the govts have thought that the best way to help people has been to flood them with bank credit at low interest rates. There is a point in this strategy: more..

Aug 8 (Island) Political party leaders must educate their candidates and their supporters on how the counting process works, National Coordinator of the CMEV Manjula Gajanayake said commenting on unrest at the Jaffna Central College on Thursday night between supporters of ITAK candidates Mavai Senathirajah and Sasikala Raviraj. Supporters of Raviraj accused Senathirajah and Jaffna District MP elect M. A. Sumanthiran of rigging the preferential votes & depriving her of a seat in parliament. more..

Aug 8 (FT) Fresh from their impressive two-thirds victory at the Parliamentary Elections this week, SLPP pledged to form a respectful Govt that will take on board public views, and conceded they now have no excuses to not achieve their political, development and reform goals. Visibly pleased, SLPP Chairman Prof. G. L. Peiris described the landslide victory at the General Election as a pivotal moment in the political more..

Aug 8 (FT) The SJB said the party was ready to fulfil the role of the main Opposition in the 9th Parliament, which will meet on 20 August, and would prioritise protecting democracy. SJB National Campaign Organiser and former State Minister for Finance Eran Wickramaratne said that the party was ready to represent the public, and uphold the mandate they have given the party at the polls. "We are a party that is a few months old, and we have emerged as the main Opposition. more..

Aug 8 (CT) A number of world leaders and diplomats have congratulated PM Mahinda Rajapaksa on the historic win at the 5 Aug 2020 Parliamentary Polls. The Embassy of the United States, in their official statement on the Election, said they congratulate Sri Lanka on conducting the Election in a peaceful and orderly manner, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the new Parliament convenes, we hope that the Government will renew its commitments to building more..

Aug 8 (CT) Jaffna District ITAK MP Elect, M.A. Sumanthiran claimed the disunity within the ITAK was the main reason for the big drawback of the Party at the 5 Aug Parliamentary Polls. Sumanthiran, who is one of the three Members elected from the ITAK to the Parliament from the Jaffna District, said there were several issues which remained within the ITAK and the disunity in this Party, which is the flagship of the TNA, also led to the downfall of the ITAK, more..

Aug 8 (DN) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who created an electoral record at the 2020 General Election by obtaining the highest number of preference votes ever (527,364) will be sworn in as the country’s 14th Prime Minister before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya tomorrow (09) morning. The Prime Minister-elect completed 50 years of Parliamentary politics in July this year, having entered Parliament at the young age of 24 in 1970. more..

Aug 8 (AFP) A radical Buddhist monk accused of instigating hate crimes against Muslims has won a seat in SL's parliament, results showed Friday. The Our Power of People party led by Galagodaatte Gnanasara, who has vowed to fight Islamic extremism, won one seat in Wednesday's election which was decided by proportional representation. The party central committee nominated Gnanasara, who was standing for the first time, to take a seat in the 225-member assembly, more..

Aug 8 (AD) Following the UNP’s unprecedented defeat at the 2020 parliamentary election, the senior leaders of the grand old party convened a meeting at Sirikotha on Friday evening to discuss the election result and future course of action. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, UNP National Organiser Daya Gamage stated that the party decided to carry out reforms and move forward. Asked about the election result, more..

Aug 8 (Island) JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that in politics change and dynamism are natural factors and nothing will stand final so the need of the hour is to adapt to the change to continue their struggle. He said: “In politics we face defeats that come in the form of storms, gale force winds as well as tsunamis. But nothing lasts forever. We have to continue our struggle.” He said that though the JVP-led NPP polled votes totalling closer to 445,000 more..

Aug 8 (Island) Former UPFA Deputy Minister Premalal Jayasekera, recently sentenced to death over a killing at Kahawatte, Ratnapura, in early Jan 2015, would be gazetted as an SLPP MP, Election Commission and Parliament officials said. Jayasekera polled 142,037, the second highest number of preferential votes in the Ratnapura district. Pavitra Wanniarachchi topped the list with 200,977 preferential ballots. The Election Commission corrected the number of more..

Aug 8 (AD) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa extended his gratitude to all voters who placed their faith on the SLPP, which gained a landslide victory in the 2020 General Election. He said elections were conducted in a safe and responsible manner, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. “We had faith in the public and this was reflected by the over 70% of the total registered voters who fulfilled their national duty.” more..

Aug 8 (FT) An old timer, a person who had moved closely with the leading politicians of his times, once told me about the renowned speechmaking of a historically decisive political leader of the era; the sound, the fury and the literal flood of the speeches, was a sight to behold he said. Assuming the role of a visionary, the man orated with a convert’s passion, an air of drama, portentous words flowing from a wide-open mouth, uncontrolled, everyone and everything within reach left wet, sprayed with more..

Aug 8 (FT) After the election, it is likely that the political system of SL in its entirety including the President, the PM, the ruling party and the opposition will end up in a severe deadlock. If the govt fails to achieve a favourable result conducive to enhancing the trust of the people at the parliamentary election, it might lead to weaken the dominance the govt has established at ideological level. Although the govt has a big dream to abolish the 19th Amendment and restore the powers more..

Aug 8 (AD) Twelve more COVID-19 infected individuals have made complete recoveries today. One patient at the Colombo East Base Hospital, 5 at the Kattankudy Base Hospital, another one at the Minuwangoda Base Hospital and 5 at the Army Hospital in Panagoda were discharged upon recovery. COVID-19 recuperations confirmed in SL thereby reached 2,576. In the meantime, the total count of positive cases of novel coronavirus found in SL currently sits at 2,839. more..

Aug 8 (AD) The candidates who were defeated in the General Election 2020 will not be nominated as National List of MPs, says the Leader of SJB, Sajith Premadasa. Premadasa, who clinched the second-highest number of preferential votes from Colombo District in the recently-concluded parliamentary election, said the SJB succeeded in embarking on a compelling journey despite the obstacles that came its way. “This is the only political alternative in the country,” he said. more..

Aug 8 (ST) Teachers have accused the govt of handicapping many children with its plan to limit attendance in larger schools when classes recommence on August 10. The plan to stagger school attendance for institutions with more than 200 pupils is unrealistic and discriminatory, the CTU said, saying the govt had failed to consult key stakeholders over its strategy to avert coronavirus infection in schools. more..

Aug 8 (EN) The results of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election held on Wednesday show a seismic shift in the country’s electoral map as well as the balance of political power in the new legislature. The near two-thirds parliamentary majority, easily achieved by the SLPP by reducing all opposition parties into insignificance, has only one parallel from the past – the electoral victory with a 5/6th parliamentary majority in July 1977 scored by the UNP, then led by J. R. Jayewardene. more..

Aug 8 (AD) Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) says the party’s National List nominations will be handed over to the Election Commission before the 10th of Aug. Sajith Premadasa-led party, which became the main Opposition after securing 47 seats in the parliament at district level and 07 National List seats, secured over 2.77 million votes in the General Election 2020. The SJB says discussions pertaining to the party’s nominations for the National List seats are currently underway. more..

Aug 8 (ST) As the heat builds up for the Aug 5 general elections despite the Covid-19 pandemic, a glance at the candidates’ lists shows that party or alliance switching is part and parcel of Sri Lankan politics, with several candidates having a crossover history of varying length. In the fray are 172 candidates who are seeking reelection while contesting from a party or alliance other than the one they represented at 2015 gen. election. more..

Aug 8 (EN) Sri Lanka’s gross forex reserves grew by US$ 407 million to US$ 7,102 million US by the end of July 2020 up from US$ 6,694.6 million in June. In late July Sri Lanka’s central bank received US$ 500 million from the Reserve Bank of India through a swap arrangement. SL’s forex reserves started to hemorrhage after the central bank engaged in a monetary stimulus from late February injecting large volumes of money, despite having a pegged exchange rate to collect forex reserves. more..

Aug 8 (DM) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena said he would dedicate himself towards developing the country and building a prosperous economy as part of the new govt under Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s leadership. While expressing his immense gratitude towards the people over his victory, at a media briefing he said that he would work towards creating a civilized society as part of the new govt. Furthermore, Mr. Sirisena said he was thankful towards all officials of Election Commission, more..

Aug 8 (DM) The local business community sounded upbeat on their expectations from the new parliament that was elected with a landslide victory by the SLPP and its allies, securing two-thirds majority. Sharing their sentiments on the newly elected parliament and its ability to deliver a favourable operative environment, business chambers representing different business segments expressed confidence in the private sector more..

Aug 8 (SLN) Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne made an inspection visit to the Navy General Hospital in Welisara on 06th Aug. This turned out to be his very first visit to the Navy General Hospital, upon assumption of duties as Commander of the Navy. The main focus of the tour of the Navy Chief centered on the special medical services launched by the Navy General Hospital to cater for the medical requirements of retired naval personnel, family members of retired and more..