Feb 15 (Island) A chronic lack of bilingual officials at district election offices and at the Govt Printer had become a serious hindrance to the smooth functioning of electoral processes, Head of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya said. That had led to the delay in issuing several important documents to election officials, Deshapriya said. "We have been telling successive govts about this issue. For example there are no Tamil proof readers at the Govt Printer more..

Feb 15 (LT) �Ranil�Maithri administration, instead of managing the economy for the benefit of the people, continued with the old, gluttonous economy. Result of 10th Feb election is the people�s response to their idiotic moves. As such, Prez or the PM can no longer fulfil the aspirations of the people. Only a people�s movement led by the JVP would be able to fulfil the aspirations the people expected with the 8th Jan change. more..

Feb 15 (CT) Maha paddy harvesting has commenced in the Ampara District, and the district is a hive of activity with harvesting in full swing in the coastal areas of the District. Farmers in Nintavur, Sammanthurai, Akkaraipattu, Addalaichenai, Vangamam and Irakkamem are fully engaged in the harvesting activities. According to Ampara District Deputy Director, Agriculture M.S.A. Kalees, 88,016 hectares of lands were brought under paddy cultivation during the Maha season, this year. more..

Feb 15 (CT) The Coconut Research Institute (CRI) says that only 30% of cultivators use fertilizer in their coconut estates. Deputy Director of Research of the CRI, Dr. Lalith Perera added that only 30% of coconut cultivators use fertilizer for coconut cultivations and the maintenance of coconut estates is at a really low level as a result, further noting that such practices also contribute to the harmful effects of climate change related disasters like the intensifying of droughts. more..

Feb 15 (AM) A fresh controversy has arisen over former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa's alleged phone call to PM Ranil Wickremesinghe asking the latter to remain in the position, without succumbing to the pressure to step down. This was revealed by the weekly Cabinet briefing today, by minister Rajitha Senaratne who cheekily said even former Prez Rajapaksa, the de facto leader of JO, wanted Wickremesinghe to remain in power. more..

Feb 15 (Island) Rare turtles are being smuggled out of India to Hong Kong and Singapore through two routes including one via Sri Lanka, investigations have revealed. Interpol has sent intelligence inputs to wildlife officials in Madhya Pradesh regarding the alleged wildlife crimes of Manivannam Murgesan, accused of being an international turtle smuggler who was arrested by Madhya Pradesh�s special task force (STF) wildlife crimes from Chennai earlier this month, senior STF officials said. more..

Feb 15 (DM) UPFA Deputy Minister Nishantha Muthuhettigamage today said 15 UNP MPs had agreed to join them to form a UPFA Govt. He said the people�s mandate is with the Joint Opposition now. �The UPFA and JO working together is not a strange thing. We are the same team which stayed separated for two and a half years. Both sides have agreed to work together for another two and a half years without any privilege or deal. UNP is incapable of establishing a govt on its own,� he said. more..

Feb 15 (CI) Dasun Shanaka and Thisara Perera ransacked Bangladesh's bowlers, after a fifty from opener Kusal Mendis, to help Sri Lanka chase down 194 - their highest in T20Is. This after fluent fifties from the returning Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim, who was passed fit after a niggle, led the hosts to their highest total in T20Is. Kusal Mendis, who had replaced the injured Kusal Perera, struck his more..

Feb 16 (CT) Mahinda Rajapaksa is back. The SLPP, Mahinda Rajapaksa�s newly formed party stunned the observers with a landslide victory. Party won 45% of the total votes nationwide, collecting majority votes in almost all the districts, 16 to be precise, in Sinhala majority areas. Given the political realities of the country, using the term landslide to describe Rajapaksa�s victory was an understatement. I believe that Mahinda magic combined with Sinhala nationalism produced the outcome. more..

Feb 16 (CT) His post war victory speech in May 2009 still reverberates in our ears. The then Prez Rajapaksa went on to say, �There are no minorities�. we are one nation�. We must live like children of one mother�. All people in this country must live without fear and suspicion�. To protect the Tamil speaking people is my responsibility.� Noble were the intentions expressed to the nation, in a display of statesmanship by the Head of the State, from the sanctum sanctorum of legislature. more..

Feb 16 (DN) According to newspaper reports, the PRECIFAC has said that a conceptual change is needed to tackle corruption in the country. It has further stated that acts of bribery and corruption in the country have become normalized in the eyes of the public, thus hindering eradication of these evils from society. The Commission has also stated that neither a new institution nor large amounts of money is needed to more..

Feb 16 (GV) The email from Groundviews asking me to contribute to this series came on the same day that Prez Sirisena decided that a law prohibiting women from being involved in manufacturing, selling or buying alcohol in SL should remain in place. Days before, Minister Mangala Samaraweera signed a gazette notification to revoke this law from a 1979 gazette. The email, in short, invited me to reflect on what I thought it meant that SL was on the cusp of our 70th anniversary of Independence. more..

Feb 16 (GV) Freedom. That is what one associates with independence. Freedom from alien subjugation, domination and exploitation. Christian List and Laura Valentini write in a recent paper that freedom must be understood as �[i]ndependence. Like republican freedom, it demands the robust absence of relevant constraints on action. Unlike republican, and like liberal freedom, it is not moralised�. My beloved father remembered very well that he, born in 1943, had to observe the flag ceremony in more..

Feb 16 (CT) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri says that Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be the next Presidential candidate as Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot, technically, contest the election, and Chamal is only a regional leader and Basil has several critics while Namal is not ready, yet. Q: How do you read the LG election results? A: The pattern of the election result is similar to what I expected. Prior to the release of results, after the polling ended; more..

Feb 16 (DN) The outcome of the much awaited LG elections is now known and analysts are busy providing their interpretation of the results. Overall, SLPP, the newly established political party representing the interests of the dissident faction of the SLFP emerged victorious sweeping the polls in the vast majority of LG institutions. At last count, the SLPP had won 239 of 340 councils on offer while the UNP won 41 councils. SLFP and UPFA together emerged victorious in 10 councils while more..

Feb 16 (CT) Now that the LG polls are behind the nation, and so are the results, every political leader and the party that he heads is looking around for scapegoats. That should include Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is demanding fresh Parliamentary elections to re-assert his electoral supremacy, of the time, to extend up to full five years, if the SL voters could help him achieve it, before the LG polls sheen wears thin. But before that, Mahinda R should prove himself to be an able Opposition Leader, more..

Feb 16 (Island) What were the reasons for the governmental crisis? The UNP arrogantly attempted a political putsch. Having promised the people that it would form a UNP Only govt if it won the Feb 10th election, which it was sure it would, the UNP then went on to make that attempt even after it resoundingly lost the election, securing 1.5 million votes less than in Aug 2015 and dropping by 13 %. In other words, having got a negative mandate for its slogan of a Govt of Greens (plus the TNA), more..

Feb 16 (Island) President�s Counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya has referred, in a commendable write-up, to the recently filed case alleging corruption under section 70 of the Bribery Act against the then Attorney-General, who later on became the country�s Chief Justice and the then Deputy Solicitor-General, who is presently a sitting Judge of the Court of Appeal. Warnakulasuriya has rightly pointed out that the legal fraternity was aghast at the accusation of corruption. more..

Feb 16 (Roar) The word revolution is often overused. But when it comes to ecommerce, how the internet has transformed retailer and consumer experience is nothing short of revolutionary. Pioneering the revolution in the fashion world for Sri Lanka is FashionMarket.lk. Presenting a diverse curation of renowned designers and new labels�available through your desktop and mobile device�alongside improving services more..

Feb 16 (Island) Polls Chief Mahinda Deshapriya had a nasty swipe at the media on Wednesday. It was, in our book, the most unkindest cut of all. In answer to a question, at a press conference, why the release of the results of Saturday�s LG elections had been delayed, he said only bookies and the media were complaining of the delay in releasing the final results. Ward-wise results had been known to political parties and people at the grassroots level on the polling day itself, he said, more..

Feb 16 (FT) Softlogic Holdings Plc yesterday reported impressive results for the third quarter with healthy growth all round. Profit before tax rose 60.6% to Rs. 2.4 billion for the nine months while reporting a four-fold increase to Rs. 1.4 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier. Profit after taxation during the nine-month period registered a strong 68% increase to Rs. 1.9 billion while quarterly bottom line reported more than a twofold increase to Rs. 1.2 billion. more..

Feb 16 (Economist) To critics of Mahinda Rajapaksa, local-council elections that were held in Sri Lanka on February 10th felt like a horror film, as the controversial ex-president rose from his silk-lined political coffin to declare victory. And what a victory it was for Mr Rajapaksa, a brash populist whose exit in 2015 after ten bloodstained and corruption-tainted years in power was widely heralded as a bright new dawn for the more..

Feb 16 (Island) All-rounder Asela Gunaratne�s bad luck with injuries continued as the 32-year-old was forced to return home after hurting his right arm during training ahead of the first T-20 International against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka Cricket in a statement said that Gunaratne hurt his arm during fielding drills on Tuesday. He has returned home after being ruled out of both T-20s. He was expected to get an MRI scan and start his rehabilitation process. more..

Feb 16 (LR) Sri Lankan Canadian Nilushi Kariyawasam founded an online platform that provides guidance and clarity to overcome challenges in pursuit of their degrees. Mississauga�s Nilushi Kariyawasam, Founder of The School of Mind-Blowing Success Inc. officially launched an online educational platform at www.mbxsuccess.com that�s specifically designed for university and college students to succeed through their degrees. more..

Feb 16 (AFP) Bangladesh's cricket board Thursday promised to improve pitches for international Tests after its two best venues were rated below average by the sport's governing body following the Sri Lanka series. The ICC penalised the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka for its subpar pitch a week after rebuking Bangladesh's other top venue in Chittagong for its shoddy ground. The latest Test against Sri Lanka ended inside three days, with the visitors thrashing Bangladesh by 215 runs more..

Feb 16 (DM) Despite the Central Bank last week issuing directives to the banks and finance companies to significantly lift the restrictions on leasing on electric motor vehicles to align with the environmentalist spirit of the 2018 budget, stakeholders were of the view that this would not lead to a boom in the electric vehicle market without further adjustments. Maximum loan-to-value ratio (LTV) for electric commercial vehicles, cars, SUVs, vans, three-wheelers and any other more..

Feb 16 (FT) Sri Lanka�s latest national branding attempt for the ICT/BPM sector IOI - Island of Ingenuity was officially launched yesterday, with the Govt assuring a Rs. 300 million investment to create a global centre of excellence in high-end product engineering, IP creation and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO). The brand was officially unveiled by Minister Malik Samarawickrama at the BMICH, more..

Feb 16 (ST) SL travel agents have been adversely impacted over the low or zero commission levels reached under new airline rules. Some travel agents noted that there had been a reduction in staff since they were unable to cope with the lack of extra earnings made through the commissions. It was pointed out that staff reductions took place in a bid to maintain the same commission level earnings they made previously. Moreover, the agents were pushed hard so much so that they were more..

Feb 16 (FT) The Supreme Court yesterday fixed for support on 3 April the writ petition filed in respect of the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha election. The bench comprised justices Eva Wanasundera, Nalin Perera and Priyantha Jayawardane. The Court on 30 January issued an interim order restraining the Galle District Returning Officer from taking further steps to proceed with holding election for the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha until the final determination of the petition. more..

Feb 16 (DN) Yahapalana govt will continue till 2020 with Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and a Cabinet reshuffle, after correcting its shortcomings with the blessings of President Maithripala Sirisena and subjecting the UNP to a complete re-organisation, UNP Ministers and MPs said. They expressed these sentiments after a meeting with PM Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees yesterday. Ministers and MPs of the UNP and more..

Feb 16 (DM) Ookla� has declared the National Mobile Service Provider, Mobitel, its Speedtest Award Winner for having the Fastest MobileNetwork in Sri Lanka. Speedtest Awards are licensed to Internet Service Providers and mobile carriers around the world that are determined by Ookla to be the fastest in their market. Sri Lanka�s Award was determined using a proprietary methodology of Ookla�s analysis of Speedtest� results from Q3�Q4 2017. more..

Feb 16 (EAF) In a bid to strengthen economic relations, Sri Lanka and Singapore signed a bilateral free trade agreement on 23 Jan 2018. In spite of the two islands� decades of warm diplomatic relations, Singapore comprised only 1.1% of SL�s exports and 5.3% of imports in 2016. Agreement underlines Singapore�s serious search for trade and investment partners beyond East Asia, and it shows Singapore�s recognition of SL�s potential as a trading hub in the fast-growing Indian Ocean region. more..

Feb 16 (FT) CB Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy rang an alarm bell over SL�s political leaders calling for a quick end to the political standoff triggered by LG poll results before it affected growth, warning there was no scope for loosening fiscal policy. CB on Thursday announced it had decided to keep policy rates unchanged despite sluggish growth and contraction of both broad money and private sector credit. more..

Feb 16 (DM) The President does not have the power to dismiss a Prime Minister according to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, Minister Vajira Abeywardene said. He told the media that the stability of the govt has been ensured by the 19th Amendment which was enacted in April 2015. He also said the President also could not dissolve Parliament till four and a half years of Parliament's term is completed. "The mandate given by the people in Jan 8, 2015 still remains intact. more..

Feb 16 (Island) The first One Belt, One Road cultural football camp organised by the private company in Shanghai Freelykick Sports Development Pvt. ended last weekend. Over 80 students from Sri Lanka, Serbia, Panama, Kenya and the hosting country China participated and this helped create deep friendships between each other. Through the One Road One Belt initiative, football has now become another platform of exchange among the youth. more..

Feb 16 (FT) CID has sought the assistance of Interpol to locate former CB Governor Arjun Mahendran. SP Ruwan Gunasekara said that Mahendran, who had been summoned to appear before the CID yesterday, had failed to make the appointment. �He did not show up to appear before the CID. So now the CID, through Interpol, has requested Singapore for the location of Mahendran,� he said. more..

Feb 16 (DN) EU Ambassador Tung-Lai Margue said he is worried the promised reform agenda could stall with reports that the govt might change following the ruling parties� poor performance in the recent elections. �The reform agenda: that�s the big worry that the international community has got,� Margue said in an interview yesterday. �We understand that it has always been a shaky coalition, and obviously recent actions have shown that a lot of people are not happy.� more..

Feb 16 (Hindu) Decks have been cleared for the release of 109 fishermen arrested by SL Navy on a charge of trespassing into the territorial waters of the island nation during January and early February. After concerted efforts by the Tamil Nadu govt, the Centre prevailed upon the Sri Lankan govt and secured the release of the fishermen ahead of the annual St Antony� church festival in Katchatheevu, scheduled for February 23 and 24, official sources here said. more..