Nov 23 (TM) Considering that SLPP Founder and National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa is the brother of two former Presidents (Mahinda & Gotabaya), a former Minister, and a National Organiser of a political party, as well as the fact that there is considerable opposition to him within society, including on social media platforms, a Police motorcycle was assigned to escort him from the BIA to the Katunayake-Colombo Expressway more..

Nov 23 (FT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe while addressing Parliament on 10 Nov 2022 invited all Tamil MPs for a discussion on issues facing the Tamil people and about development plans for the North and East. Jaffna district MP and TNA spokesperson, M.A. Sumanthiran responded positively by telling a morning newspaper that the TNA would cooperate. “We will fully cooperate. The resolution of the Tamil national question will be our main focus,” said Sumanthiran. more..

Nov 23 (AD) The convenor of IUBF, Ven. Galwewa Siridhamma Thero has been granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court today. He was held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) along with the convenor of IUSF Wasantha Mudalige for more than three months. Senior Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, presenting submissions, informed the court that the Attorney General has agreed to grant conditional bail to the suspect, pursuant to Article 7(2) of the PTA. more..

Nov 23 (Island) Environmental activist Anoka Abeyrathne recently spoke at the Conference of Parties 27 on how the gaps in climate change policy and issues related to young people translate into long-term challenges. She added that the knowledge gap that exists among individuals exclude a large number of individuals from contributing to climate change policies. She also spoke of the need for transparency and accountability in climate financing. She also held discussion on renewable more..

Nov 23 (FT) Sri Lanka just concluded celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week 2022 (GEW), with many events, webinars and awareness sessions being held around the country. These celebrations of entrepreneurship are good, and perhaps a much-needed reprieve from the gloomy macroeconomic conditions. Yet, as GEW 2022 draws to a close, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to forget the fundamental structural flaws in the Sri Lankan economy that are holding entrepreneurship back. more..

Nov 23 (EN) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe promised not to dissolve the parliament and hold a snap poll until the island nation’s economic crisis is resolved and bring change the youth-protesters wants amid opposition criticism over the govt dragging elections. Wickremesinghe, who became the president in July in an unexpected way, can dissolve the parliament after February next year. The country’s Election Commission more..

Nov 23 (DM) Ven. Galwewa Siridhamma Thera who was released on bail by Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court was subsequently remanded till Dec 6 after being produced before Kaduwela Magistrate over his alleged involvement in a protest held in June near Education Ministry. Thera detained under PTA for 89 days was ordered to be released on bail by Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court today morning. Colombo Additional Magistrate made this order following AG's consent to release him on bail. more..

Nov 23 (AD) SJB MP Chaminda Wijesiri has been suspended from today’s parliamentary session after he attempted to assault SLPP MP Nimal Lanza. Accordingly, Speaker has asked the MP to leave the chamber. A tense situation ensued in the parliament as MP Wijesiri walked up to fellow MP Lanza, who was addressing the House, and attempted to assault him. Taking issue with the conduct of MP Wijesiri, other MPs including Minister Susil Premajayantha urged the Speaker to conduct a disciplinary more..

Nov 23 (ICC) Chamika Karunaratne has been handed a one-year ban, suspended for a year, by Sri Lanka Cricket following a disciplinary inquiry. The SLC found Karunaratne to have breached multiple clauses by a three-member inquiry panel. The all-rounders pleaded guilty to all charges levelled against him. Karunaratne was handed a suspended ban of one-year from all forms of cricket and was also fined US $5000 more..

Nov 23 (TM) The Govt has taken steps to release 74 bowsers of kerosene today (23) to meet the fuel needs of the fishing community. Presidential Director General (Community Affairs) Keerthi Tennakoon said that 49 private sector filling stations, 18 cooperative filling stations and 7 other filling stations will continue to distribute kerosene to fishermen. The Provincial Chief Secretaries and Governors were entrusted the task of distributing fuel to the fishing community from yesterday. more..

Nov 23 (DM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe should be thankful to the Aragalaya instead of trying to supress it as he was able to become the President becuase of the Aragalaya, NPP MP Vijitha Herath said today. He told Parliament that it was regrettable that the President was now pulling up the Aragalaya activists and threatening to call in secuity forces and declare emergency to prevent another Aragalaya. He said the Aragalaya was a great people's uprising which was able to expel an executive Prez and more..

Nov 23 (Island) More than 5,000 Sri Lankans have gone to Dubai on tourist visas, the Foreign Employment Bureau said. Some women in that group have been forced into prostitution and the Bureau has started a separate investigation thereinto. Chairman of the Bureau, Mahendra Kumarasinghe, said they had stopped Sri Lankans travelling to West Asia on Visit Visas. Sri Lankans could no longer travel to Dubai or Oman using a Self-Visa as well, he said. more..

Nov 23 (DM) SL's Parliament which faces more fights and arguments than valuable speeches in recent times, saw a different kind of an argument emerge today when the Speaker was told off by a state minister for being called just an MP. The argument emerged when State Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake, lost his cool when Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena incorrectly called him as an MP, signalling him to speak in Parliament. "Speaker, I am not an MP. Prez has given more..

Nov 23 (DM) Presenting a report to Parliament by the COPF regarding the 2023 Budget, COPF Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva said that it is important to inform the House that there is a problem with settling domestic debt, and that the Govt should take action in this regard. He said that as interest payments are expected to rise considerably for 2023, primarily on account of domestic borrowings, committee is of the view that more..

Nov 23 (EN) SL Federation of Information Technology Industry (FITIS) has called for more graduates to fill vacancies, liberalization of the fintech landscape and exchange controls on foreign players in the country. Global companies are hiding behind a Western thought process that globalisation is free for all and digital colonisation is a God given right FITIS said. The demand for IT graduates are much higher than the 10,000 graduates that the higher education system can produce, more..

Nov 23 (Island) The daily production of eggs had dropped to 3.5 million from eight million, All-Island Poultry Farmers’ Association Chairman, Ajith Gunasekara, said. He said that farmers were not starving the market. “We can only keep an egg for 14 or 15 days. After that they get rotten. The egg production has dropped. It’s impossible to produce eggs at the controlled price,” he said. Gunasekara said in the second quarter of 2022, the production of broiler meat, too, had decreased by 30% more..

Nov 23 (TM) Referring to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposals in his Budget to reform the plantation industry, SJB MP Mano Ganesan noted in Parliament during the Budget 2023 debate that unless and until he takes plantation workers into account, he cannot expect to bring any reforms into the industry. “Prez was referring to reform activities he proposed to bring into the plantation industry. more..

Nov 23 (TM) A demerit system for driving licenses is to be introduced early next year, said State Minister of Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna. “As per one of the suggestions by the relevant Parliamentary Select Committee, we will implement a demerit system for driving licenses as currently utilised in most countries around the world,” said Alagiyawanna. He stated that under the new system, the driver’s license of those with more than 24 demerit points will be cancelled for a period, more..

Nov 23 (DM) Sri Lankans with dual citizenship must obtain permission from the Registrar General when marrying foreigners, Registrar General of the Registrar General's Dept P.S.P. Abeywardhana said. He said that two formalities must be completed in order to get such permission. Accordingly, the permission of the Registrar General will not be granted on the basis of the aspirant must be free from being issued a warrant from any legal authority or suffering from any communicable disease. more..

Nov 23 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe says that he will not allow another Aragalaya protest movement to be created in the country to attempt to overthrow the govt. Addressing the Parliament, Prez said that he will deploy the military and impose emergency laws if the need arises to deal with such a situation. “What happened on May 09 and July 04? Some of our temples were threatened and burned. Maha Sangha of the Malwatu and Asgiri temples were threatened and warned not to speak. more..

Nov 23 (AD) Former Minister Muthu Sivalingam has passed away at the age of 79. He had served as a Member of Parliament since 2015 and was finally elected from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The late Muthu Sivalingam was once the leader of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) as well. Leader of the Up-Country People’s Front and Member of Parliament for Nuwara Eliya District, Velusami Radhakrishnan expressed his grief about the veteran politician’s passing. more..

Nov 23 (WION) In the backdrop of the visit of Chinese spy ship, foreign minister Ali Sabry has said that Indian Indian sensitivities will be kept in mind so that it doesn't lead to any unpleasantries for both the countries. FM Sabry said, "Everyone who will be entitled will be known in advance, we will have a known procedure in place so that no one is surprised, so therefore it is important we also have the freedom of navigation in the Indian ocean." more..

Nov 23 (TM) Anti Leprosy Campaign (ALC) under Ministry of Health stated that compared to previous years, there has been a significant increase in the number of leprosy cases reported from January to September of this year (2022), and that about 14% of the total number of cases are among schoolchildren. When contacted, ALC Medical Officer Dr. Gowry Botheju stated that although the number of leprosy cases reported in previous years was around 1,000, more than 1,200 cases have been reported more..

Nov 23 (AD) Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided today to invite the General Manager of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, Mr. Alex Marshall to SL to investigate recent allegations of match fixing made by a MP regarding the recently concluded Pakistan Tour. “SLC, as a full member of the ICC and mandated to uphold the integrity of the game at both the national and international level, believes that it is the correct course of action to take in light of the recent allegations more..

Nov 23 (FT) Multilateral donors as well as SL’s private sector champions on Friday shared their key insights to the 2023 Budget at a packed and interactive forum organised by the Daily FT-Colombo Uni MBA Alumni Association at Shangri-La, Colombo. Prez and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Chief Guest. Business leaders stood their ground on the 2023 Budget proposals and the overall reforms more..

Nov 23 (CT) NFF Leader Wimal Weerawansa alleged in Parliament that a Govt MP, who was a State Minister, took a bribe of 2,000 cement bags from a cement factory in Puttalam. Weerawansa said the same politician was seen welcoming Kaputa recently. “This is the situation in the country today. Businesspersons are forced to give bribes to provincial politicians to survive. This particular MP had taken this bribe of 2,000 cement bags because the factory management sacked a bunch of more..

Nov 23 (EN) A looming recession in SL’s main export markets is threatening the island nation’s top export garment sector as orders have slowed down significantly from January next year, govt and industry officials said. The dip could slow down SL’s efforts to move out of the unprecedented economic crisis resulted after failed economic policies and heavy money printing under previous Prez Rajapaksa. The apparel industry accounts for nearly half of SL’s total export earnings. more..

Nov 24 (DM) Human rights have become a major issue in SL since Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as Prez in 2019. After his party, SLPP won the Parliamentary election next year, there was a virtual dictatorship and this led to an unprecedented public uprising or Aragalaya mainly opposite the Presidential Secretariat at Galle Face Green, Temple trees and in most parts of the country. The public rising shook the Govt and forced Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in July. more..

Nov 24 (DM) If over 30% of school children drop out of school in the beginning of next year that should not be a surprise. There were field survey reports by September last that revealed over 35% of the families unable to have even two meals a day, find it difficult to send their children to school. Skyrocketing prices of goods even before the Budget-2023 could leave these children with no alternative answer from the govt other than dropping out of school. Thus around 1.4 million out of 4.1 million more..

Nov 24 (TM) Even though the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming a less pressing issue amidst the economic crisis, we must not forget that the pandemic and related developments increased the incidence of domestic violence, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence globally as well as within the country. It is important to note that such cases highlighted gaps within several sectors that are tasked with assisting victims of more..

Nov 24 (CT) In a progressive move, Cabinet this week approved to publish the much-awaited Campaign Finance Bill in the Govt Gazette and will subsequently present it to Parliament for approval. Attorney General has approved the Bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman to provide for election expenditure control. Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said National Election Commission determines the amount of money that can be spent by a candidate in an Election by this Act, more..

Nov 24 (CT) Ranil Wickremesinghe was not elected as President. When he contested at the last General Elections in 2020, he could not get even one single member elected to Parliament from his Party. The UNP, of which he is the leader, suffered the most humiliating defeat at the last General Elections. Not a single. The Rajapaksas achieved what SWRD Bandaranaike could not in 1956. When JR Jayewardene, the so-called brains behind the UNP at that time, was defeated by his nemesis more..

Nov 24 (SO) Powerful businessman Mangala Gunawardena also known as Digana Mangala is a well known name in Kandy. A resident of Kengalla, Pallekelle his businesses were centred around the city of Digana, earning him the moniker Digana Mangala. Known as a money lender, people had also taken to calling him Poli Mangala away from his presence. According to many, Gunawardena was a loan shark. more..

Nov 24 (ST) Cable manufacturer, Kelani Cables PLC coming out with a remarkable performance in the last quarter amidst the crippling economic crisis, has set its sights on expanding to a new country each year in a bid to increase its export sales. Mahinda Saranapala, Managing Director/ CEO Kelani Cables PLC told the Business Times recently that the company, exporting to nine countries currently is looking to increase exports by expanding its portfolio of countries to combat the dollar crisis. more..

Nov 24 (GV) Child sexual abuse and exploitation have devastating and enduring impacts and affect children from all socioeconomic backgrounds. However, research indicates that a number of groups such as LGBTQ youth, children with physical and emotional vulnerabilities and homeless and runaway children are at increased risk of victimization. In the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, child abuse and child maltreatment are defined by WHO as more..