Oct 24 (CT) There are three infliction and, perhaps also, inflection points to this article. First, it is the sequel to my article two weeks ago (October 10) where I alluded to the possibility of Sri Lanka’s parliament restoring itself and changing the ways of the regime between now and the next elections. In a situation of unprecedented crises, changing the ways of the regime is vital rather waiting for a potential electoral regime change three years from now. That was my plea, if not contention. more..

Oct 24 (CI) When these teams met in the warm-up 11 days ago, neither Bangladesh nor SL might have imagined they'd be playing each other again so soon. But after Bangladesh's shock loss to Scotland and a withdrawn ICC press release later, they two teams have wound up in the same Super 12s group. Any team that makes it out of this group and into the semis, by the way, will have had to have been in some serious battles; Australia, SA, WI, and England are teams that didn't have to qualify. more..

Oct 24 (ST) CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal is currently on a tour of West Asia, meeting CB officials among others to secure additional financial arrangements to the country’s depleted reserves. By Sept, forex reserves had fallen to USD 2.5 billion from USD 3.9 billion in August. He repeatedly dodged questions from the international financial journalists whether SL would enter into an agreement with the IMF to resolve more..

Oct 24 (CI) If you count the practice matches Sri Lanka played before the tournament began (and perhaps you shouldn't count them), they have won seven T20 matches in a row. They were also the most impressive side in the qualifying round. These sound like minor compliments to throw the way of a team that won this tournament in 2014, but for this SL side, who have had a truly atrocious T20 record over the past three years, these were substantial achievements. more..

Oct 24 (ST) It is a war of attrition, this ongoing battle between the teachers’ unions and the Govt, each trying to wear the other down. The unions have long campaigned for a salary raise with little success. They lacked the muscle, and more importantly, public sympathy for their cause. Like with the doctors, teachers going on strike is not particularly popular with the larger public. For one, they both use the public as the bait for their demands, and for another, the public know about more..

Oct 24 (CI) If you look at a certain set of statistics, you'd think Sri Lanka were T20 World Cup kings. In the history of this tournament, they have won more T20 World Cup games (25) than any other side, their win/loss percentage of 2.083 unmatched. They have reached the final in half of the six World Cups played. And they have produced some of the World Cup's most iconic performances. But such has been their rate of decline more..

Oct 24 (ST) SL lost an exceptional sportsman, dynamic cricketing brain and genuine all-round nice person with Bandula Warnapura passing away this week. I lost a lifelong friend. Ever since we were toddlers, living across the street from each other in Wellawatte, Bandula and I formed a strong bond that would stand the test of time through the years. We were similar in many ways; we both came from large families, enjoyed the outdoors, and shared a love of cricket. Bandula’s home was my home, more..

Oct 24 (SO) Sri Lanka will have to take a decision on whether Maheesh Theekshana is to play or not in the opening Super 12 T20 World Cup fixture against Bangladesh on Sunday after the spinner suffered a side-strain during Friday’s qualifying round match against the Netherlands. Theekshana bowled one over and took the first two wickets to fall to a bowler and was then substituted on the field by Dhananjaya de Silva as SL dismissed the Netherlands for 44 in 10 overs and won by 8 wickets in 7.1 overs.. more..

Oct 24 (SO) The forthcoming World Boxing Championships in Serbia will present a new challenge for Sri Lanka’s iconic woman referee Nelka Shiromala. The world governing body for boxing AIBA will be grading officials for the first time at this event where the winners will receive prize money of $100,000. “AIBA has a new concept about grading referees. They have clearly stated this World Championship is like an exam. AIBA is going to categorise referees into Gold, Silver, Bronze” more..

Oct 24 (ST) Left-arm spin wizard Rangana Herath has an advice for Sri Lankan spinners as they head into the Super 12 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday against Bangladesh. “When you start doing well, you will be closely analysed by your opponents,” Herath, who is Bangladesh’s spin bowling consultant till the end of the World Cup said. “This is when you need to be street smart and up your skills.” Herath was recently given an Honorary Life Membership of the prestigious MCC. more..

Oct 24 (TM) Selendiva Leisure, a widely criticised state-owned property development entity that was to be listed in the CSE in July, was facing uncertainty, as none of the authorities had taken a firm decision on making the necessary arrangements to announce an IPO. Selendiva Investments Ltd. CEO Shamahil Mohideen stated that despite officials currently working towards listing the company in the CSE, more..

Oct 24 (ST) SL is currently caught in a tender gone wrong as agricultural authorities were on Friday seeking a court order to ensure that any payment is withheld by the banks to the Chinese fertiliser company whose samples have failed twice. Now with a shipment of fertiliser from the Qingdao Seawin Biotech fertiliser company said to be due at the Colombo Port, Agriculture Ministry Secretary, Ceylon Fertiliser Company (CFC) and AG were filing two cases at Colombo Commercial HC more..

Oct 24 (SO) Central Bank plans to revive and re-consolidate weak and stressed financial sector institutions would be done under the Master Plan for Consolidation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions Sector. The Bank aims to carry out the task on a case-by-case basis to create a vibrant financial sector. “We started with Swarnamahal Finance and would continue the consolidation plan on a case-by-case basis which is a better way to get about the task,” CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said more..

Oct 24 (TM) The Govt’s recent move to revise the Obscene Publications Ordinance raised concerns amongst civil society members. These concerns stem from the proposed new law’s potential ability to take away people’s freedom of expression and unfairly punish critics and marginalised communities. “Being able to engage in forms of expression which may be perceived by some as transgressive and controversial more..

Oct 24 (CT) SL’s largest foreign exchange earner, Worker Remittances declined 9.3% during the first nine months of this year, as migrant workers almost halved their sending’s home due to the current situation. During the first nine months of this year migrant workers sent home US$ 4.58 billion, down 9.3% compared to US$ 5.1 billion sent home during the corresponding period of last year. Worker Remittances, which showed promise until May this year, declined for the 4th consecutive month more..

Oct 24 (Island) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is to attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) scheduled to be held at the Scottish Event Campus in the city of Glasgow, Scotland from next Sunday (31) to Nov 12. Diplomatic sources said that the President would be accompanied by Ministers G.L. Peiris, Mahinda Amaraweera, State Minister Duminda Dissanayake, Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage and Lankan High Commissioner in London Saroja Sirisena. more..

Oct 24 (ST) While Sri Lanka is importing nano nitrogen liquid fertiliser from India, the country’s own scientist Prof. Nilwala Kottegoda and her team at the SL Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) – in the search for world renowned farming techniques – developed a novel nano fertiliser platform technology for the first time 11 years ago. “As one of the novel concepts, this new fertiliser product received four US patents more..

Oct 24 (TM) Colombo and Kuliyapitiya Municipality Councils (MCs) denied allegations that crematoriums under their purview had increased fees. Responding to a query on reports of the MCs charging Rs. 2,000 more for cremations following the recent increase in gas prices, the MCs of both the cities denied allegations of any extra charge being imposed on the public. Kuliyapitiya Municipal Council (KMC) Secretary H.M.T.K. Herath told said that while a discussion regarding more..

Oct 24 (Island) An Indian actress has lodged a complaint with Bengalaru Police that she had been duped into investing in a Colombo casino business by her best friend. The report filed from Bengalaru said: Kannada film actor Sanjjanaa Galrani, an accused in a 2020 Sandalwood drug case, has filed a complaint against her ‘best friend’ and a co-accused Rahul Tonse and two others of cheating her of returns from her investments in his casino business in Colombo and Goa. more..

Oct 24 (ST) The Omani company which recently expressed interest in prime Colombo properties and hotel management deals–and failed to deliver–has also bid for a 100MW solar park at Siyambalanduwa but failed to secure Cabinet approval. SL Govt received an investment proposal from Oman’s Shumookh Investment and Services (SIS) to develop the Siyambalanduwa Solar Park, Cabinet paper, submitted by Power Minister more..

Oct 24 (TM) A tense situation arose yesterday (23) when prison officers allegedly took measures to disperse prisoners conducting a protest at the Welikada Prison. According to prison authorities, close to 50 prisoners on death row had been protesting for over a month demanding their sentences be commuted. A number of additional jailors had been called into the prison premises to quell the situation while ambulances were also seen at the Welikada Prison entrance. more..

Oct 24 (DM) A traffic policeman attached to the Eravur Police has been interdicted over assault of two youths in Eravur after a video went viral on social media. A video footage shared by Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam shows a traffic cop assaulting two youths travelling on a motorcycle in Eravur. “Police Brutality continues in Batticaloa and will fall on the deaf ears of Minister Sarath Weerasekara,” the MP tweeted. Responding to the MP Rasamanickam, more..

Oct 24 (TM) Several Indian businesses have expressed interest in investing and carrying out the proposed renewable energy projects earmarked in the Northern Province. It is reliably learnt that one of the Indian investors interested in the renewable power generation projects in the North is Adani Green Energy, with plans afoot for representatives of the regional green energy giant to meet with senior govt members in Colombo more..

Oct 24 (AD) The govt is aiming to complete vaccination of the 16 - 19 age group within this month, with the booster dose roll out for selected groups to start on November 01, says the State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals. Prof. Channa Jayasumana said Sri Lanka’s vaccination drive is in its final stages now. The country has so far completely inoculated more than 13 million people, and this translates to 59.5 percent of the overall population. more..

Oct 24 (AD) Ceylon Fertiliser Company Limited has obtained an enjoining order from the Commercial High Court on Friday against the China-based Qingdao Seawin Biotech, its local agent and the People’s Bank. The enjoining order has prevented the People’s Bank from making any payment under a Letter of Credit opened in favour of the Chinese company, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. The enjoining order has also been issued preventing the Chinese Company and its local agent more..

Oct 24 (ST) Last year, soon after SL emerged from successfully containing its first wave of COVID-19 with minimal loss of life, Prez Rajapaksa publicly complained that he was not getting enough credit over the way his administration handled the pandemic within the country. “They are sending me articles on how they did it (contained COVID) in Singapore, China and Italy. No one is talking about how I did it here,” more..

Oct 25 (CT) Faced with the prospect of pauperisation, SL’s lower middle-class is getting restive and radicalised. With hiking prices and plummeting incomes, they are on the verge of taking to the streets. The govt’s policies may well push them to the edge. This is the closest the country has come, since the second JVP insurrection, to a full-scale middle-class rebellion. Of course it is unfair to put the blame entirely on the govt; like every other such institution, it is limited in what it can do. more..

Oct 25 (GV) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September this year contained several ambitious statements. In particular, the following lines in his speech raised the hopes of some: “Fostering greater accountability, restorative justice, and meaningful reconciliation through domestic institutions is essential to achieve lasting peace. So too is ensuring more equitable participation in the fruits of economic development. more..

Oct 25 (GV) The first seeds of America’s Afghan misadventure were sown in the closing decade of the 19th Century. The emerging global superpower’s first imperial ventures began with wars in Cuba and the Philippines. …America is beginning a long course of error and wrong, lamented Charles Elliot Norton, Professor of Fine Arts at Harvard, and is likely to become more and more a power for disturbance and barbarism (quoted in The Proud Tower by Barbra Tuchman). more..

Oct 25 (ST) Under cover of a seductively glittering propaganda blitz that laws are being modernized, is the Govt ferociously bent on a pursuit of turning even the remnants of SL’s civil liberties safeguards on its unsteady constitutional head? This is a question that legitimately arises in the wake of the country’s Public Security Minister reportedly proposing amendment of the Establishments Code to cancel charge sheets issued for human rights violations against police officers more..

Oct 25 (ST) Lanka’s primary schools are set to open tomorrow thus ending the long dark abysmal night which has blighted the nation’s seed to blossom and stunted their academic advancement. But while classrooms will once more come to life, lit with children’s laughter and smiles, the entire structure of education sits grimly on a volcano of discontent, brimming to burst and spew its molten fury sans notice. The rumbles have been distinctly heard but why the foundations tremored have gone studiously ignored. more..

Oct 25 (CT) Director General of the Dept of Agriculture, Dr. Ajantha de Silva is busy, sorting out the crucial agrochemical issue in the country and trying to pacify farmers who are protesting over lack of fertiliser, as the Govt’s plan to introduce organic farming turns sour. Amid this crisis, the Chinese bulk organic fertiliser cargo dispute is sending mixed signals between China and SL. Dr. de Silva says the decision of the Govt to go organic is based on the mandate the Prez received from his voters, more..

Oct 25 (DM) On Nov 16, 2019, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was declared winner at the presz election and assumed the presidency on Nov 26. His election came in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings, which targetted three churches and three tourist hotels. The attacks were carried out by radicalized members of the local Muslim community. The inept govt of the day not only failed to prevent the attack despite intelligence reports warning of a possible attack, it also pardoned the head of the hardline BBS more..

Oct 25 (DM) Suppression of worker struggles in SL has evolved from Cycle chains, Batons, Bullets, Bombs; Tear gas & Water Canons to Stay away with full Pay. Achieving a Great victory, and with their handsome Pay-Packs intact, our teachers are back to school to be greeted by kids carrying heavy Back Packs loaded with the pains of their parents caused by a historical dispute between senseless stupidity of a government and callous rigidity of a Trade Union combine. more..

Oct 25 (ST) The Amateur Rowing Association of SL (ARASL) has recruited Spaniard Pedro Sanz Lopez, as head coach of the national oars teams for a period of one year, with the prime target being winning not just one medal at the Asian Games 2022. A reputed coach with credentials, Lopez comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience as to guide a team to the highest level of achievements with his first assignment being training a young team of six for the upcoming more..

Oct 25 (TM) With each passing day, the Govt seems to be, through its exceedingly consistent capacity for political suicide, though not of the honourable harakiri kind (as well as dragging the hapless country, kicking and screaming, along with it) thanks to its blunderbuss brand of political folly – the latest being the persistent delusion of the efficacy of purchasing more nano nitrogen liquid fertiliser in the face of contrary scientific facts – digging itself into a deep and early grave as far as its political more..

Oct 25 (FT) SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne on Friday questioned the purpose of the COPE if it cannot take punitive action against frauds and corruption in State-owned entities. Speaking on the debate on COPE report in Parliament, Wickramaratne expressed his dismay and said it was unfortunate that COPE committee appointed by Parliament to investigate the embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of rupees in more..

Oct 25 (Island) Former fast bowling great Chaminda Vaas has done well to develop a potent fast bowling attack since being roped into the role. Pace that SL possess at the moment is quite formidable with three bowlers clocking over 140kmph. While Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara have clocked above 145 kmph during the ongoing ICC T-20 World Cup, this week, the third seamer Chamika Karunaratne broke the 140 kmph barrier. “What we have seen is three guys bowling over 140kmph in tandem. more..