Aug 19 (FT) SLPP’s victory was a show-stopper. No denials possible, no debates necessary. Yet – and this is most remarkable take away from that victory – SLPP had not managed to increase its electoral base between Dec 2019 and Aug 2020. Not even by a single vote. At the presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa scored 6.92 million votes. At the parliamentary election, SLPP vote count was 6.85 million. more..

Aug 19 (AD) More groups of Sri Lankans who were stranded in foreign countries owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic have returned to the island. 421 Sri Lankans were repatriated from UAE, Qatar and England. Accordingly, 394 in Qatar, 17 in the UAE and 10 in England arrived at BIA early this morning. Among the returnees from Qatar are 210 Sri Lankans who were employed as crew members of various airlines. All of the returnees have been subject to PCR test upon arrival at the airport. more..

Aug 19 (DM) The only alternative left for the UNP is to ally with the SJB led by Sajith Premadasa, newly-elected SJB MPs Hesha Withanage and Chaminda Wijesiri said today. “The electorate has shown what the UNP should do. Therefore, we invite them to join the SJB,” Mr. Wijesiri said. “We hear that the UNP is hoping to reorganise itself. These plans have ended in failure in the past,” Mr. Withanage said. “We are sad about the fate which has befallen the UNP at the general elections. more..

Aug 19 (Island) Having assumed office, Professor G.L. Peiris, Minister of Education on Monday discussed with provincial Governors how to improve the educational system across the country. Particular emphasis was placed on the organisation of a series of consultations with stakeholders, including principals and teachers of schools, parents, students, public officials and civil society organizations on the revision of curricula more..

Aug 19 (DM) A total of 3,518 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests have been carried out yesterday recording the highest number of PCR tests performed per day. According to the statistics, a total of 195,025 have been conducted so far in the country since Feb 18. Epidemiology Unit Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said earlier that the PCR capacity in Sri Lanka would be scaled up further and the number of tests performed would be increased from Aug 1. more..

Aug 19 (DN) A suspect revealed that he had gone to Matara with the arrested Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers and handed over a major part of the contraband to a smuggler in Minuwangoda. The 13 PNB officers, who were arrested on drug trafficking charges, were ordered to be further remanded till August 31 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayarathne yesterday. Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court that the CID arrested more..

Aug 19 (EN) At its first Cabinet meeting the new govt has approved making changes to the Constitution, Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella has said. He was quoted as saying that Cabinet gave the nod to abolish the 19th Amendment and to draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Ministers have variously said that the amendments, which will change the country’s basic law, will be a high priority for the govt. more..

Aug 19 (FT) Western Union, a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, today announced a collaboration with Seylan Bank, enabling receivers in Sri Lanka to connect to their loved ones around the world. Customers in SL can now receive money at over 172 Seylan Bank locations across the country. “At Western Union, we have adopted a truly global and inclusive perspective by considering the needs of customers in markets across the world,” more..

Aug 19 (PMD) Cabinet approval was granted today to provide employment to 10,000 more graduates under the programme formulated by Prez Rajapaksa to employ unemployed graduates. The programme to provide employment to unemployed graduates that was suspended due to the General Glection re-commenced last Friday. Under this programme 50,000 unemployed graduates received jobs. With today’s decision of the Cabinet another 10,000 will be joining them. more..

Aug 19 (PMD) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa advised the relevant authorities to revive the upliftment of public transportation service by creating a conducive environment for the passengers to travel with mental satisfaction as the initial step. “A small step will lead to a big change. Start cleaning buses and provide seating facilities to passengers from tomorrow itself,” Prez directed. Pointing out that the small step taken to stop more..

Aug 19 (NR) Mauritian authorities have arrested and charged a Sri Lankan, the deputy, of the Japanese-owned ship that ran aground off the island nation’s coast, spewing tonnes of oil into the ocean. Mauritian authorities arrested the Indian captain of the ship yesterday. Mauritian spokesman said they arrested the captain and his second-in-command who have been taken to court on a provisionary charge. The Lankan and the Indian were charged under the piracy and maritime violence act, more..

Aug 19 (EN) Deputy Secretary-General of UNP Ruwan Wijewardene says his party hopes to join hands and work with the breakaway SJB in the future. The former State Minister said that there should be a change in the UNP and that they will reorganise the party to face the upcoming provincial council elections. “We have to regain the trust and confidence of our followers and the people in the country, at a time the vote percentage has dropped to 2-3% we have a good opportunity to more..

Aug 19 (EN) President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has ordered road construction taking place in the buffer zone and inside the Sinharaja World Heritage Site be immediately halted, a statement issued by RDA said. The statement issued yesterday, said the building of an 18 kilometre road from Neluwa, Galle to Lankagama running through the Sinharaja forest was started as a request from the residents in the area. more..

Aug 19 (AD) A saline manufacturing plant will be established in Sri Lanka before the end of 2020, says the State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply, and Regulations Dr. Channa Jayasumana. Pointing out that 90% of the pharmaceuticals used in Sri Lanka are imported, Jayasumana said that the President has instructed to halt the importation of drugs within a period of 5 years. Plans are currently being formulated for this, he added. more..

Aug 19 (AD) Defence Secretary Major General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne has insisted that legal action must be sought against corrupt officials at public institutions. He made this remark speaking to media following an event in Galle today. Defence Secretary pointed out that due to the conduct of such corrupt officials, those who are committed to their work are left in an unjust position. He noted that the ongoing drug networks, extortions and other crimes must be eradicated and more..

Aug 19 (AD) Govt’s Policy Statement as provided by Article 33(2) of the Constitution will be presented by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tomorrow at 3 p.m. The Communications Department of the Parliament, in a statement issued today, said the Prez will also ceremonially declare open the first session of the Ninth Parliament. Arrangements have been made under the instructions of the Prez to hold his arrival more..

Aug 19 (AD) Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma has requested for protection of the STF for the System Control Center of CEB. Reportedly, this is in addition to the security measures already in place. The CEB announced that the Minister had informed the Defense Secretary Major General (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne on the matter. Minister has also instructed relevant units to immediately heighten the security at the CEB System Control Center. He imparted these instructions during more..

Aug 19 (AD) MP-elect Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has been proposed to be appointed as the new Speaker of the Ninth Parliament. Abeywardena said that his name was proposed at the Parliamentary Group Meeting today. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was elected to the parliament with 80,595 preferential votes when he contested at the General Election 2020 from Matara District. Meanwhile, the inaugural session of 9th Parliament is scheduled to commence at 9.30 am tomorrow. more..

Aug 19 (AJ) Rajapaksa family romped to victory in the August 5 Sri Lanka parliamentary elections capitalising on popular appetite for strong govt, a fragmented opposition and a long-drawn campaign focused on Sinhala Buddhist nationalist ideology. SLPP party won 146 seats just four short of the supermajority it needs to change the Constitution - one of the governing party's main campaign promises. more..

Aug 19 (NR) Ministry of Education says it has granted permission to re-open all schools and conduct classes for students of all grades, if schools are equipped with necessary classrooms and facilities and also able to enforce social distancing regulations. Ministry said even schools with more than 200 students will be permitted to re-open if authorities are able to enforce health regulations. The Ministry said necessary guidelines have been issued to District Secretaries, more..

Aug 19 (CT) Electrical engineers and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) should take full responsibility for the power outage on 17 August, stated the President of the Foundation for People’s Right Protection (FPRP), Asela Sampath. Speaking at a Media briefing yesterday (18), he blamed the engineers for their irresponsibility toward the issue and he also stated there are more than 1,000 engineers in the CEB, but no one approached the Media to inform about the failure. more..

Aug 19 (IPS) The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the escalation of violence against women and children in Sri Lanka. A recent survey by CARE Consortium, a collection of three organisations including Delivery and Solitary Trust (DAST), Young Out Here and National Transgender Network, found that 26% of respondents experienced violence during the COVID-19 curfew. more..

Aug 19 (AD) A tuition teacher has been arrested by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) on the charges of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy. Special Investigation Unit of NCPA had launched investigations into a complaint lodged in July 2020, regarding a tuition teacher sexually abusing a boy while visiting his home under the guise of teaching mathematics. The teacher had been arrested on the August 17 and produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. more..

Aug 19 (AD) Ministry of Finance says that a four-member committee has been appointed to look into the allegations of irregularities, unproductive measures and instances where actions were taken contrary to the objectives at the four main state banks of the country, during the last 05 years. The ministry said that the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the Cabinet paper submitted by PM Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, to streamline state banking system more..

Aug 19 (EN) Independent power producers are generating 35% of daily energy, with the Mahweli River plants adding another 24% of the daily energy data showed as the state-run power utility was working to re-connect three coal plants to the grid. SL was hit by a cascading failure on Monday, triggered by a transmission failure, resulting in emergency shutdowns of all generators connected to CEB grid including coal plants. more..

Aug 20 (CT) I was concerned that the Muslim community worldwide, progressives debating the Palestinian imbroglio, those who are not acerbic pro-Israeli in the US and our own Muslim community here in Lanka would be distressed by Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate. Where does Kamala Harris stand on Israel – in her own words gives answers to many question. Regarding Lanka’s Muslims I was surprised to get a sober if resigned response from the Muslims I interacted with more..

Aug 20 (CT) On 4th of Apr 2019, Minister Dinesh Gunewardena, made a statement in parliament pointing to a new area of possible growth. He pointed out that the rural sector has the potential of generating enormous capital through the production of Primary Ecosystem Services. Current model of economic growth based on fossil fuel is tending to impact our well-being dramatically, It reduces Primary Ecosystem Services while creating huge dependency on purveyors of fossil fuels. more..

Aug 20 (Roar) Infectious diseases have threatened the existence of mankind since ancient days. Black Plague claimed more than 50 million lives in Europe in the 14th century and the sixth cholera pandemic took more than 800,000 lives between 1899-1923. However, with the discovery of antimicrobials—thanks to Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin in 1928—we have been able to avert many infection-related more..

Aug 20 (DM) In the run up to the recently concluded parliamentary elections we saw grave concerns being expressed by certain quarters over the possibility of the SLPP securing a two-thirds majority. Some even urged people to vote for any party other than the SLPP to prevent this. The (vain) hope was that the SLPP voters (say those who voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Nov 2019) would cut nose to spite face. What happened, though? Well, the SLPP polled 6,853,693 (59.09%) more..

Aug 20 (ST) Sunanda always had the same argument with me, whenever we had an opportunity to meet: “What should be done is very clear, and you’ll are writing about it all the time. But the question is how should it be done.” Sunanda and I were friends from our undergraduate times although he and I have chosen to be in entirely different professions. We also had the opportunity to do our postgraduate studies together for a Master’s degree in Economics in the Hague, more..

Aug 20 (CT) Here’s a situation only half of us could possibly understand – you’re on the road, and you need to change your sanitary napkin. What do you do? Head to the nearest toilet of course. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a nightmare with the state of public toilets available in Sri Lanka. Just in Colombo, where facilities are apparently far better than the rest of the island, things are far worse than you can imagine. more..

Aug 20 (DM) A teenager’s worldview... In writing this article, I’ve been cautioned against using the word secular too much, and while that seemed shocking to me, it seems to be reflective of SL’s - and even the world’s - general ineptitude at word association, and how in increasingly dynamic and constantly changing societies, this has caused more problems than one would think. Secularism is, simply, the separation of church and state, and yet, if one were to mention it in casual conversation or say, more..

Aug 20 (GV) SL’s August 5 parliamentary elections saw the Sri Lanka People’s Front (SLPP) sweep into power with 145 seats by winning 6.8 million (59%) of the valid votes cast. A two-thirds majority, or 150 seats in a 225-member parliament, is now possible through its allies. The main reason for seeking a two-thirds majority was to change the constitution, overturning the 19th amendment that reigned in the powers of the president and gave them back to the parliament and the prime minister. more..

Aug 20 (CT) Breakaway parties or politicians with leadership qualities and a commitment to democratic ideals easily eclipse those established parties beset with weak leaders from whom they have broken away and formed new parties, at least in the Sri Lankan context. Two examples from the recent past are the SLPP and the SJB. The SLPP, led by current Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa broke away from the SLFP led by then President Maithripala Sirisena, a weak leader, in November 2016. more..

Aug 20 (DM) The foreign policy motto of the previous govt was friendship with all, enmity with none. Its verbatim meaning suggests the then Govt’s policy was to be even-handed in its dealings with the world, be it Asia or the West. Nonetheless, in reality, it was a just a bland sentence used to couch its otherwise different intention. In practice, previous govt was west-leaning in its foreign policy approach, though it was concealed in subtle diplomatic language to project a different impression. more..

Aug 20 (CP) Q: What have we learnt from the Easter Sunday attacks?It seems that the threat is not completely eliminated and there are embers under the ashes. Although the security apparatus has been beefed up, is that enough? Or do we have to address the root causes of extremism and nip it in the bud? A: The Easter Sunday attack demonstrated to SL and to the world that visionary, collective and decisive leadership is at the heart of more..

Aug 20 (DM) A fortnight ago, the world joined Japan to mark the 75th anniversary of the detonation of two atomic bombs by the United States over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the final stages of World War II in 1945. The bomb nicknamed Little boy was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6 and the other called Fat Man over Nagasaki on August 9. The Atomic Bombs left in their wake at least 130,000 people killed and many more maimed, mutilated & disfigured for life more..

Aug 20 (ST) I woke up on Thursday morning when the phone rang. It was a day after the new Cabinet and state ministers had been sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and I believed the call had to do with these events. It was Koththamalli Fernando, the Kokatath Thailaya (oil for many ailments) expert who has a remedy for any issue, on the line and true to form he wanted to discuss the Cabinet and other appointments. “Some people seem to be laughing at the extensive, sometimes odd, more..

Aug 20 (Island) SL Schools Cricket Association is compelled to cancel promotions and demotions and is considering using the Limited-Overs format to recommence Under-19 cricket next year after the Ministry of Education issued a fresh directive this month to cancel all sports tournaments which were halted due to the covid 19 pandemic in March. The SLSCA, one of the leading schools sports associations affiliated to the Ministry more..