Sep 19 (CI) Partnerships were the name of the game as New Zealand strung together several of significance to come within 50 runs of SL's first-innings total of 305 at stumps on day two in Galle. There were breezy fifties from Tom Latham and Kane Williamson, and Rachin Ravindra also put forward an aggressive cameo. By the time an extended final session ended 15 minutes early due to bad light, there were more names on more..

Sep 19 (FT) Cabinet approved to empowering the CEB to oversee the selection of investors for the development of floating solar projects on several of the country’s major reservoirs. Selection will be conducted through a competitive procurement process, ensuring transparency and the best value for the investment. SL Mahaweli Authority has identified three key reservoirs — Randenigala, Moragahakanda, and Kalawewa — as prime locations for the development of floating solar more..

Sep 19 (PMD) National Security Council convened this morning at the Presidential Secretariat, chaired by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, to discuss security arrangements for the upcoming 2024 prez election. The council focused on ensuring the election is conducted independently and fairly, with full support pledged to the Election Commission to maintain law and order. Key discussions included safeguarding candidates, securing polling centres, and upholding security at polling stations. more..

Sep 19 (CI) Former SL international Dulip Samaraweera has received a 20-year ban from Cricket Australia for conduct that has been described as utterly reprehensible and he will not be allowed to hold any position within CA, the state associations, BBL or WBBL clubs during that time. Samaraweera, 52, was found to have committed a serious breach of CA's Code of Conduct during his time as a Cricket Victoria employee with a CA Code of more..

Sep 19 (NW) A 30-year-old man was reported dead due to gunshot injuries in the Nammuwawa area in Rasnayakapura early this morning, becoming the fourth shooting reported in the last 24 hours. The Police said the man was found inside an eatery in the area based on information received by the Rasnayakapura Police. Preliminary investigations have confirmed that the man had died due to gunshot injuries. The Rasnayakapura Police has launched investigations to apprehend more..

Sep 19 (DM) Three persons, including the invigilator, who were on duty at the examination centre of the Rathmale Thissa Maha Vidyalaya in Anuradhapura were to be suspended over the leakage of a Grade 5 Scholarship Examination question paper, North Central Provincial Education Director S.M.W. Samarakoon said. He said that the decision was taken following an investigation conducted after recording statements from the suspects. Preliminary investigations revealed that more..

Sep 19 (DM) The Education Ministry today announced the closure of all schools tomorrow (20) as requested by the Election Commission. The schools will reopen on Monday (23). The decision was taken following a request from the Election Commission due to the Presidential election to be held on Saturday (21). The Ministry further said that schools used as polling centres should be handed over to the particular Grama Niladharies after school hours on Thursday (19). more..

Sep 19 (Reuters) Sri Lankans will vote on Saturday for their next president, who will be key to deciding the future of reforms in a nation slowly emerging from worst financial crisis in decades. Below are the five key issues for voters: ECONOMY AND GROWTH: A critical shortfall in foreign exchange in 2022 pushed Sri Lanka's economy into the worst financial freefall in decades. While the economy has taken tentative steps towards recovery since last year, there is a lot still to be done. more..

Sep 19 (AD) The Colombo High Court has issued an order preventing the use of two luxury apartments located in the Colpetty area which had been purchased by Ramith Rambukwella, the son of former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. The two luxury apartments had allegedly been purchased for Rs. 80 million and Rs. 65 million. Order was issued today by Colombo HC Judge Manjula Thilakaratne after considering a request from the BC. more..

Sep 19 (EAF) Sri Lanka is increasingly caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war between India and China in the Indian Ocean as the two powers seek strategic and mineral resources. The standoff escalated when the International Seabed Authority halted India's application to explore cobalt-rich areas, citing overlapping claims with Sri Lanka’s continental shelf. Sri Lanka now faces a delicate balancing act as it tries to manage its relationships with these regional giants, each intensifying more..

Sep 19 (AD) Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, says that all election campaign offices which have been established at the electorate level must be removed after midnight today (19). He stated that it is essential to remove all current election campaign offices at the constituency level from midnight today. “Up until yesterday, the maintaining of one main office for the district and one for each constituency related to a polling station had been allowed. more..

Sep 19 (Reuters) SL's election this coming Saturday has raised doubts over when its long-awaited debt deal with bondholders will be finalised, if it keeps up with its IMF programme targets and even whether it results in a president inclined to change both. Two of the leading presidential contenders, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist-leaning MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have expressed interest in reworking SL's $2.9 b more..

Sep 19 (ICG) What’s new? Two years after SL’s economy imploded and its president resigned amid mass protests, the country has returned to modest growth. But hardship and anger at the political establishment fester, and opposition to economic reforms is likely to shape the outcome of the prez election on 21 Sept. Why did it happen? Years of under-taxation, weak exports and over-reliance on debt, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic and major policy errors, triggered the 2022 more..

Sep 19 (EN) Sri Lankas basic food prices are sharply down after multiple value added tax hikes over the past two years, but politicians, who stay mum on import duties, continue to claim that they will reduce VAT to bring down food prices. After years of pushing the ideology that direct taxes are the best system tax, and indirect taxes were ‘regressive’ both politicians and professionals received shock when income tax rates were raised to pay state worker salaries in 2022. more..

Sep 19 (TM) Citigroup sees upside potential in SL’s dollar bonds regardless of the election outcome, expecting the final recovery value to be above current prices. Citigroup expects SL dollar bond prices to have a recovery value between mid-50s to early-60s after the final restructuring deal. “Current bond price volatility represents a risk-adding opportunity (Especially if bonds fall again ahead of elections), given that the final recovery value is unlikely to be lower than current price,” more..

Sep 19 (TM) Police warned that there would be checkpoints and vehicle searches after the Prez Poll and hence urged the public to cooperate in the searches. “There will be possible checkpoints as well as vehicle searches after the Poll,” DIG Nihal Thalduwa said. “We urge the public to cooperate with such, as it is for their own protection.” Police further urged citizens not to congregate while intoxicated after the Poll and while the results are being announced due to a possibility of more..

Sep 19 (BN) SL said it’s reached an agreement in principle with bondholders to restructure about $12.6 billion in bonds, just two days before the country heads to elections that have rattled investors. Govt and bondholders agreed on terms including a “27% haircut on the nominal amount of existing bonds,” according to a statement released Thursday at the conclusion of a third round of talks. A previous statement in July referred to a 28% haircut. more..

Sep 19 (TM) TElection Commission (EC) has mandated that all employees be granted leave to vote in the upcoming prez election. According to the Chairman of EC, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, Public sector workers are to receive at least four hours of leave based on travel distance to polling stations. For private sector employees, the leave is allocated as follows: half-day for up to 40 kilometers, full-day for 40-100 km, one and a half days for 100-150 km, and two days for over 150 km. more..

Sep 19 (TW) Sri Lanka is heading for the crucial prez elections on Sept 21. Given its strategic location, the interests in the Indo-Pacific, and China’s growing influence in the South Asian region, have made the island nation geopolitically more important than before. The ambassadors of influential countries like the US, India, China, Australia and Japan, have already had a series of meetings in SL with the popular candidates in the presidential race, analysing their strengths more..

Sep 19 (AJ) Whoever Sri Lanka’s next president is, Muthuthevarkittan Manohari isn’t expecting much to change in her daily struggle to feed the four children and elderly mother with whom she lives in a dilapidated room in a tea estate. Both leading candidates in Saturday’s presidential election are promising to give land to the country’s hundreds of thousands of tea estate workers, but Manohari says she’s heard it all before. more..

Sep 19 (DM) SJB Lawyers' Collective member Shiyan Punchihewa, in a letter addressed to Chairman Election Commission Saman Ratnayake has informed that the report issued by the govt on the agreement with external commercial creditors is an attempt to influence the voters. "SL has reached agreements with external commercial creditors to restructure approximately USD 17.5 bn of external debt, achieving a 40.3% Net Present Value (NPV) concession. more..

Sep 19 (TP) Sri Lanka ‘A’ completed a 2-0 clean sweep over South Africa ‘A’ as they registered a comfortable win in the second unofficial Test of the two-match series ended today (18) at Benoni. South Africa ‘A’ posted 238 runs for 9 wickets before declaring their second innings. Dewald Brevis and Jean du Plessis top scored for the hosts with knocks of 74 and 48 respectively. Isitha Wijesundara, Mohamed Shiraz and Eshan Malinga picked up 2 wickets each for the visitors. more..

Sep 20 (DM) One positive thing which came out of all the political discussions in the run-up to the presidential elections was that candidates were focused on resurrecting a fallen economy. When reading between the lines that were spoken on stages, there were hints by some candidates that there were some who wanted to rebuild fallen empires, not fallen economies. These empires have been run by lawmakers- both former and present- who allowed mass scaled corruption. more..

Sep 20 (TM) With Sri Lanka now transiting the mandatory cool-off period from the bull-horn political campaigning which was ongoing, voter Joe has been granted a valuable period to reflect on what really matters as an individual, at the home front and as a country. Tomorrow our nation will vote and decide which way the tiller will swing as we navigate through rough waters. The vote tomorrow may also set the stage for the way the following General Elections will play out. more..

Sep 20 (TM) Malnutrition among children and weakening food insecurity remain an unfinished agenda in the country, even as Govt findings showcase worsening statistics over the years. The issue has resurfaced with the recent release of the report of the Sectoral Oversight Committee of Parliament to look into whether the child malnutrition issue in SL is aggravating and to identify short-, medium-, and long-term more..

Sep 20 (CT) It is important to reflect on the impending election to elect an executive Prez next Saturday – not necessarily because I support such a position but because who will occupy it? Executive Prez is a key part of the existing political establishment and the corresponding system. Though elected by people in a national election, the extent of unchecked power associated with the role and expenditure have been the subject of public discussion & even criticism over the decades. more..

Sep 20 (GV) None of the three leading prez candidates have directly addressed the issue of enforced disappearances despite the fact that SL has the second highest number of disappeared people reported to the UN. Successive govts have shown no political will to bring about truth, justice, accountability and guarantees of non-recurrence fearing to displease military leaders who are still in powerful positions, many of whom have been accused by international and national more..

Sep 20 (TM) Despite a bailout from the IMF, the risk of return to debt distress remains high, as does the possibility of renewed unrest and political turmoil. In this context, the next Govt should work with the IMF to ensure that the burdens and benefits of economic reforms are shared more equally and are able to win broad public support. Discussing the ongoing economic reforms in the context of recent political developments, more..

Sep 20 (CT) A recent protest by a group of parents against the Dept of Examinations’ decision to disregard three questions allegedly leaked before the recently-concluded Grade 5 Scholarship Exam highlights a pressing concern: how much pressure is too much for our young children? The parents demanded that the entire exam be cancelled, rather than allowing the results to stand with the three questions excluded. This situation raises important questions not only about the exam system more..

Sep 20 (GV) I write this two days before Sri Lanka elects its 9th executive president. Whether it will be NPP, SJB or Ranil Wickremesinghe who comes into power is to be played out in what all expects to be a close call. The citizens will be forced to pick a symbolical figurehead from the long litany of candidates. Since the popular call, at least for the last couple of years, has been one for a system change, although it may be too late for this particular election, I thought of drafting this essay more..

Sep 20 (TM) The big neighbour’s (India) media doesn’t really seem to be interested in the Sri Lanka Presidential Election scheduled for 21 Sept. Going through how the Indian media, in particular the print and electronic media, has covered it, one thing is strikingly clear. There is no real interest in covering the story even as Sri Lanka is strategically important to India with the ever increasing Chinese presence in the island nation. India claims that it is an age-old friend of Sri Lanka and more..

Sep 20 (Island) On behalf of the Pathfinder Foundation, its Chairman Bernard Goonetilleke recently handed over what the think-tank called policy documents titled (i) Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka: Policy Challenges for the New Govt, and (ii) Bridging Borders: Enhancing Connectivity between India and Sri Lanka, to presidential candidates Ranil Wickremesinghe (independent), Sajith Premadasa (SJB), Anura Kumara Dissanayake (JJB) Namal Rajapaksa (SLPP) & Dilith Jayaweera (CP). more..

Sep 20 (FT) Govt yesterday announced the near completion of SL’s sovereign debt restructuring exercise, as agreed under SL’s IMF-supported program to restore debt sustainability. The breakthrough follows the Govt reaching an agreement with Int'l Sovereign Bond (ISB) holders (the Group) accounting for 40% of the aggregate outstanding amount of the bonds and Local Consortium of SL (LCSL), controlling more..

Sep 20 (Island) Some prez candidates seem to believe in their own Goebbelssian claims that their victory in tomorrow’s election is certain. They pretend that it’s all over bar the shouting and they are busy planning what to do after being sworn in! Let them be told that the people have not spoken yet. Political observers and psephologists have opined that for the first time since 1982, when the first prez election was held in this country, an unprecedented situation is very likely to more..

Sep 20 (ST) Of the 38 candidates in the prez election, most are confined to a list of names and their only contribution seems to be unnecessarily using administrative resources. They are neither active contestants nor campaigning or sharing their policies. “Only 15 candidates appear to be actively campaigning, and out of the rest, some candidates were not even reachable through the phone numbers that they had provided to the Election Commission," said Executive Director of more..