Nov 28 (DM) The dissolution of Parliament is once again being challenged before a Fuller Bench. This writer believes in and dedicated to the rule of law and unmitigated justice. The writer also has utmost reverence to those magnificent men and women who preside over the fate and destinies of many a man and woman, many an organization and many a company. Those who sit in eventual judgment on a case firstly look at the facts of more..

Nov 28 (ST) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)�s Battaramulla headquarters is buzzing with activity. It�s a Poya, Thursday. Roads are empty and quiet. But inside the maroon-and-white two-storey building, workers are noisily erecting a cubicle. A new trade union office is about to be opened to accommodate a growing membership. A woman in a crisp white lungi is busily sweeping the dust out of Basil Rajapaksa�s office. more..

Nov 28 (EN) Sri Lanka's political crisis should be resolved as soon as possible to enable the launch of a global promotional campaign in March 2019, the head of an industry body said. "We're planning to launch our global media campaign in March," The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka President Sanath Ukwatte said. "To arrive at that, we need the tourism authorities to function," he said. "We need to call for tenders and more..

Nov 28 (DM) Prez Sirisena instructed the authorities to look into the possibility of introducing paying the fines for minor crimes including traffic offences through an Electronic Payment System. President instructed them to implement a speedy procedure with stringent rules to control crimes, drug smuggling and the underworld activities introducing necessary legal reforms. He told them to examine the possibility of implementing more..

Nov 28 (FT) I can�t agree with the comments in your editorial Sri Lanka turmoil points to China�s increasing role that China is becoming a supplier of political instability and sets a debt-trap for Sri Lanka and other countries. China and Sri Lanka have long been friendly neighbours that always support each other in their major and core interests. The co-operation between the two countries is win-win and mutually beneficial. more..

Nov 28 (AD) Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne has arrived at Fort Magistrate�s Court to appear before the court over allegations of harbouring Navy Sampath. The former Navy Commander is accused of aiding and abetting Lieutenant Commander Chandana Hettiarachchi, also known as Navy Sampath, the main suspect in the abduction, unlawful detention and murder of 11 youths in 2008 and 2009. more..

Nov 28 (CNA) A Facebook executive has admitted that the company made a mistake in not removing a post that incited racial hatred in Sri Lanka, an int'l hearing on fake news and disinformation in London heard on Tuesday. Mr Richard Allan, Facebook's vice-president of policy solutions, was questioned by Singapore MP and Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong over a post, written in Sinhalese in March, more..

Nov 28 (AD) The Cabinet of Minister has approved a proposal to present an Interim Vote on Account in order to secure provisions for the first four months in 2019, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said. Accordingly the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, to present a proposal for entire expenditure of Rs 1,735 billion (Vote on Account). more..

Nov 28 (FT) At his Sunday meeting with foreign correspondents, Prez Sirisena did not play any trump cards. It appears that he has either put all his cards on the table or has run out of trumps. He will not reappoint Ranil Wickremesinghe. He has wiped the slate clean with Mahinda Rajapaksa. He has concluded that the former President is a forward-thinking type in comparison to Ranil, whom he has likened to a privileged Pinocchio with a duplicitous nose as drawn out as bond comm. report. more..

Nov 28 (CT) President J.R. Jayewardene as the first Executive President, had a roller coaster ride, supported by a Parliament, in which his party the UNP had a record 5/6ths majority. However, his thorn in the flesh was the Judiciary, which at least twice ruled that his acts or the acts of his agents were either unconstitutional or required a referendum to become law or were unlawful. The first was in 1981, when his Kalawana MP Abeyratne Pilapitiya lost his seat by being absent from more..

Nov 28 (AD) Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar today heard the case against former Prez�s Chief of Staff Gamini Senarath and three others for allegedly misappropriating Rs 500 million in funds belong to Litro Gas. The case was taken up before the Special High Court 3-judge bench comprising Justices Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne and Champa Rajaratne. Special High Court recorded statements from the former Deputy Registrar of Department of the Registrar of Companies more..

Nov 28 (GP) Teargas against peaceful protesters, butter knives in parliament, and #FakePM hashtags on Twitter are some of the things that have characterized Sri Lanka�s politics in the past few weeks. With two men claiming to be the prime minister, recent developments in the island nation send worrying signs that its democracy is in fragile shape almost a decade after the civil war. Sri Lanka�s political crisis began in late October when President Sirisena dismissed the PM, more..

Nov 28 (Island) The Security Division of SriLankan Airlines had covered up the detection of weapons carried by employees at the BIA and various irregularities committed by security officers, the PCoI was informed. Highlighting glaring security lapses at the BIA, the AG�s Dept officials expressed concern that dangerous materials could be smuggled into the country without detection unless the SriLankan Airlines Security Division got its act together. more..

Nov 28 (DM) Two members of a fringe Tamil nationalist party were arrested on Tuesday for putting up banners with slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's photos at Mehul Circle at Mulund's New Junction. Mathiyajagan Sundaram (33) and Palanivel Ravindra (24) have been booked for defacing public property. Sources said the members of Naam Tamilar Katchi, led by film director-turned-politician Seeman, erected the banners for Prabhakaran's 64th birth anniversary, more..

Nov 28 (DM) Several photo journalists and cameramen who were at the Fort Magistrate�s Court premises to cover the case in which Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Ravindra Wijegunaratne allegedly involved in, had been attacked by several men who arrived on motorcycles a short while ago. CDS Wijegunaratne appeared before Colombo Fort Magistrate this morning, over his alleged involvement in the case of harbouring former Navy officer Prasad Hettiarachchi alias more..

Nov 28 (FT) The super luxury passenger vessel MV Mein Schif 3 of TUI Cruises with 2,430 passengers and 995 crew on board made her maiden call at the Port of Colombo on 26 Nov. The vessel was welcomed at the East Container Terminal (ECT) of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). In order to mark the maiden call of the vessel at the Port of Colombo plaque exchanges were held between the Master of the vessel, more..

Nov 28 (Island) Sri Lanka came third in a list of South Asian countries in recording average real wage growth during 2008-17, according to a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Reflecting more rapid economic growth than in other regions, workers in Asia and the Pacific have enjoyed the highest real wage growth among all regions over the period 2008-17, with countries such as China, India, Thailand and Viet Nam leading the way, the Global Wage Report 2018/19 said. more..

Nov 28 (DN) The 1990 Emergency Ambulance Service, which expanded island-wide recently under Indian grant assistance, is now available in seven provinces. The service has been available in Northern Province since July; in Uva since August; in North Central Province since September; in North Western Province since October; and Central Province since November 2018. The service will also be available in the other 2 Provinces (Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Province) soon. more..

Nov 28 (NR) The JVP says President Sirisena must reveal to the country as to how he intends on repaying loans next year without a legitimate govt in power. MP Sunil Handunnetti said the country will face a massive debt servicing crisis in January. He said the so-called Cabinet that does not hold a majority in Parliament, has decided to hand over certain container operations of the Colombo International Terminal to 2 Chinese-owned more..

Nov 28 (CT) The fallen heroes day, which was held yesterday (27), was commemorated by a majority of students at the University of Jaffna. The memorial, which has been built at the University, to commemorate the people who died during the war, was decorated and students offered flowers and lit oil lamps to commemorate them. The lecturers and the academic staff had also helped, Uni Students Council said. The students obeyed the orders given by the Jaffna Magistrate S. Sadeekaran and more..

Nov 28 (NR) Transparency International SL provided a detailed statement to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption to the Commission today, pursuant to a complaint filed on TISL by 5 Nov, relating to allegations of attempts to bribe MPs. TISL officials highlighted CIABOC investigators to the contents of that telephone conversation recordings by MP Palitha Range Bandara shared with the media recently, clearly indicate an offence under Section 14 of the Bribery Act. more..

Nov 28 (CT) In an Order seen by Sri Lanka�s financial analysts as having far reaching impact on accountable investments of EPF funds, the Right to Information Commission yesterday directed the Central Bank of SL to release details of all govt. securities market transactions of the EPF in 2015 and 2016. Details ordered to be released related to secondary transactions of the EPF including date of purchase, date of bill/ bond issue, more..

Nov 28 (Island) Security Division of SriLankan Airlines had been asked to stop spot checks on pilots and cabin crew of the airline after security officers had found two cans of high performance vehicle oil a cabin crew member had brought in, Titus Kannangara, Senior Manager at the airline told PCoI. "We have discovered a number of commercial items which were to be used in flights with them and there were also some objections by the unions about the checks," Kannangara said. more..

Nov 28 (NR) The Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, recalling the statement issued by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on the 8 Nov 2018, have once again expressed their Deep Concern at the implications of the continuing political crisis for the rule of law in Sri Lanka. Issuing a joint Statement they called upon all parties to the present conflict, to observe scrupulously and more..

Nov 28 (DM) UPFA MP Dullas Alahapperuma yesterday said the judiciary is being dragged into the ongoing conflict between the Executive and the Legislature. He said convening of parliament when two cases are pending in the Supreme Court over the dissolution of parliament was one example of judiciary being dragged into this conflict. �The parliament, which represents the supremacy of the people, more..

Nov 28 (NR) UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara says a decision must be reached in future pertaining to restricting the importation of vehicles with low engine capacities. He said the importation of vehicles with higher engine capacities can be discouraged with the imposition of taxes. MP claimed they cannot exhaust funds in the govt reserves claiming it also affects the value of the rupee. He stated the importation of vehicles reduced drastically last month in comparison to more..

Nov 28 (DM) The top men of the new regime have not given up the idea of hooking some green members at whatever cost despite opening a can of worms with audio clips containing voice- cuts relating to political horse-trading going public. Wiser by experience, they have now decided to give up the direct approach and fall back upon more discreet methods to hook a few greens to clear the 113 hurdle. They have felt that the most effective method is to approach the targets through better-half more..

Nov 28 (EN) President Sirisena has removed the state and deputy minister posts under a caretaker govt, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said. "This is a caretaker govt. Therefore, the President has said there will be no state and deputy ministers," he said. He was responding to a question on why Keheliya Rambukwella, who was appointed as a disputed state minister and co-cabinet spokesperson was not present at the cabinet media briefing. more..

Nov 28 (DM) Minister Udaya Gammanpila today wrote to the Editor of the Hansard over an alleged distortion of the Parliamentary Affairs on Nov 14. The Opposition MPs handed over a No-Confidence Motion to the Speaker on Nov 14 and Speaker announced that the motion was passed. In a letter to the Editor, the Minister said what had happened on November 14 after the debate on the No-Confidence Motion was held, should be reported as of Speaker saying he would take up the vote by voice. more..

Nov 28 (DM) The annual convention of the SLFP will be held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium on Dec 4 chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena, Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said. He said President Sirisena was expected to made a special announcement at the convention to be started at 2 pm on that day. Minister Jayasekara told reporters at the party head office yesterday that though the UNP was in a move to put the blame on the govt for the current economic and social woes, more..

Nov 28 (NR) Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, accused of harbouring and aiding the main suspect in the 2008 youth abduction case to flee the country, has been remanded until the 5th of Dec. The order was issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake this evening. Magistrate�s Court previously ordered the arrest of Admiral Wijegunaratne after the CID, investigating more..

Nov 29 (CT) Prez Sirisena is many things to many people. But he has only been a bane to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was Sirisena, who, leading an alliance representing a wide spectrum of political parties and civil organizations, defeated the seemingly invincible Rajapaksa in Jan 2015. After a brief period in the political wilderness, Rajapaksa bounced back strongly, forming a political party of his own that pulled off an unexpected victory at the last LG election. more..

Nov 29 (CT) Mahinda Rajapakse and his family spotted trouble for them well in advance after their defeat at the polls in 2015. This is how the Mahinda Sulanga, meetings were organized at the outset- beginning Nugegoda. That move did not suffice and, next, they moved into a different ball game, namely to work on President Maitripala Sirisena and play mind -games with the latter. What Sri Lankans witness now is the success of that Machiavellian strategy. more..

Nov 29 (SO) The illegal gathering, transportation and distribution of animals is considered as wildlife smuggling or trafficking. Currently, this is done internationally and domestically and is the third most illicit commercial activity in the world. This illegal trade is still spreading globally and it encompasses the illegal exportation of native species, illegal importation of exotic species and unauthorised, internal trade in indigenous more..

Nov 29 (Island) President Maithripala has proved that he is a very bad enemy. (He is not a very good friend either, according to his critics who are urging the public to read his daughter�s book on him.) He is ready to do whatever it takes to prevent his erstwhile comrades who have risen against him from making a comeback. When the UNP mounted a counterattack following the sacking of its govt last month, and challenged the dissolution of Parliament in the Supreme Court, Prez Sirisena bragged more..

Nov 29 (CT) Comrade Vijitha Herath of JVP on 23 Nov, tabled a motion in Parliament, drawing attention to the recent happenings in this august legislature. After seconding this motion, his Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake had the floor. It cannot be surmised if the Leader of the JVP deliberately chose to speak what he spoke. Anyway, his articulation was without doubt highly relevant. He not only delivered an extremely important speech but also a historic one, considering this country�s more..

Nov 29 (CT) The Trade Union which boasts of having the largest number of doctors in its membership, the GMOA has been the talk of the town, for taking up many issues with the govt, in the recent past. They were even blamed for seemingly meddling in issues that did not concern them, and also of being politically motivated. However, in an interview with the Ceylon Today, Assistant Secretary of the GMOA, Dr Naveen D. Soysa spoke more..

Nov 29 (Island) In a democracy, constitutions can be drafted, revised or replaced by the people as they wish, but when such a sovereign nation is disintegrated through a constitution (or by some other means), it can hardly be reintegrated into unity. Sri Lanka is today being threatened by one of the worst existential crises it has ever encountered since independence in 1948. According to one predominant point of view, there appears to be a constitutional conspiracy backed by more..

Nov 29 (GV) Mr. President, A single arbitrary and unilateral decision taken by you, on the 26th of Oct, set in motion a sequence of events that now has thrown an entire country and all of its people into an abyss of confusion and chaos. Since that day, the economy of our country has almost collapsed. Since that day the political culture of our country has deteriorated to a level of national disgrace and an international spectacle. If this is not stopped and reversed, it is very likely more..