Feb 23 (ST) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has suffered a major blow as Sony Pictures Networks, its longstanding media rights holder, has pulled out from the bid to earn rights for the next three-year cycle. This has left the board few options to choose from. The sale of broadcast rights contributes significantly to the board�s coffers. SLC will now, in all probability, be forced to go to the market once more, seeking a competitive bid more..

Feb 23 (ST) Rising public debt and spending rationalisation has prompted the present govt to bring public-private partnership (PPP) to the forefront in revitalising loss-making and defunct state-owned enterprises. Ministry of Small and Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply chain Management will be reviving all crippled state owned entities through PPPs, a senior official of the ministry said. The govt has made it clear that it would not subsidise more..

Feb 23 (MFA) Ahead of the upcoming 43rd Session of the UNHRC scheduled to commence next Monday, Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha briefed the President of the HRC Ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger on the decision of the Govt of SL to withdraw its co-sponsorship of Resolution 40/1 of Mar 2019 on Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, which also incorporates and builds on preceding Resolutions 30/1 of Oct 2015 and more..

Feb 23 (TM) The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has spent close to Rs. 1 billion to procure nearly 40 luxury apartment units from Fairway Holdings while there is growing discontent among SLAF officers over the new staff quarters provided for them due to high maintenance charges, The Sunday Morning learnt. The apartment units had been procured by the SLAF from Fairway Holdings during Air Chief Marshal Kapila Jayampathy�s tenure more..

Feb 23 (AD) UNP MP Ajith P. Perera says that the UNHRC resolution 30/1 has done no harm to the country thus far. The govt says the withdrawal from co-sponsorship of the UNHRC resolution 30/1 is because it has caused damages to the country, but at the same time they have said they will withdraw from only two UNHRC resolutions, the MP commented, while questioning the govt�s move to withdraw from only two proposals when it can withdraw from entire consensus resolution. more..

Feb 23 (ST) Malaysia's Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Saturday said the defunct organization LTTE will remain listed as a terrorist organisation, setting aside a suggestion by Malaysia's Attorney-General Tommy Thomas for a review. Tan Sri Muhyiddin said countries including India, Canada, US and Britain continue to list the LTTE as a terrorist group. He issued a statement a day after Tan Sri Thomas controversially dropped charges against 12 individuals, including two state lawmakers more..

Feb 23 (CT) Aviation authorities have launched a massive revamp of the entire security system at the BIA, in a bid to stamp out mass-scale irregularities and corruption in all divisions at the facility, a top-level official said yesterday. "The BIA is rocked with corruption at every level, this has snowballed into a major security headache for the authorities. Therefore, plans have been drawn to tackle the problem at the very earliest. more..

Feb 23 (ST) Parliamentary elections are to be held on April 25 after Prez Rajapaksa dissolves Parliament at midnight on March 2. Nominations will be called by the Elections Commission between March 12 and 19. These dates emerged as the ruling alliance led by the SLPP registered it for a second time with the National Election Commission. If the previous one was the SLPP as a political party, the second registration is together with a list of political parties that will form more..

Feb 23 (Island) Prez Rajapaksa will inaugurate the Southern Expressway extension from Matara to Wetiya this afternoon. The section of the extension from Wetiya to Hambantota and Mattala via Andarawewa was commissioned on Nov 7, 2019. With today�s commissioning of the extension of the Southern Expressway, motorists will be able to travel up to Hambantota and Mattala. Work on the 96-km extension of the Southern Expressway from Godagama in Matara to Mattala and more..

Feb 23 (ST) Two of the country�s oldest political parties � SLFP & UNP � face bad forebodings with Parliamentary elections now set for April 25. Prez Rajapaksa is to dissolve Parliament at midnight on March 2. Nominations are to be held between Mar 12 and 19. A later date for the polls, it has been found, was not possible since the Muslims� fasting month of Ramadan is expected to begin on Apr 26, or the next day, more..

Feb 24 (ST) When President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa reportedly articulates that, unnecessary judicial interventions are harmful to democracy (The Island, Feb 21), one is intrigued. Pray, what would a Presidential definition of unnecessary be, it might be necessary to ask? That question becomes pertinent in the context of strange developments in Sri Lanka during recent months impacting on the very function of judges, judiciary and the law, which have been the theme of this column for some weeks now. more..

Feb 24 (CT) A journalist asked me: There are various articles by Sinhalese complaining about your message regarding the ban on the travel of Shavendra Silva and his family to United States� soil. They fear you have a political road map for the Tamils to separate. What is your take on that? My response was: Rubbish! Firstly Shavendra Silva is a wanted man for war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide. What is wrong in congratulating any country for such Country more..

Feb 24 (ST) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa hosted his predecessor Maithripala Sirisena to lunch at the Prez Secretariat banquet room on Friday. It was to mark the successful conclusion of talks between the SLPP and SLFP to contest under the former�s name and symbol. Both are vegetarians. There was a wide array of dishes � largely curries � for both veg and non-veg. Most had served hummus and Arabic bread. more..

Feb 24 (CT) EXIT ISLAM, ENTER FREEDOM. This should be the debate among those with grey matter. Demarcate the areas distinctly and develop the discussion intellectually. Forget Islam but, remember human rights. This will not be possible if the mind is preoccupied with a hidden motive and is irrationally shackled. Then, unknowingly, comprehension takes leave and confusion is substituted. The normal is thrown out and the �new normal� sets in. Islamophobic? Anti-Muslim? more..

Feb 24 (CT) "These people are mine. No one can talk to them without my permission. How can you just sneak into the estate and talk to them and ask about their salary and their trade union fee? They have been paying this fee for a long time and no one from their community questioned it; now you are here to ask about their trade union fee and salary when the elections are around the corner." These were the concerns raised by the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) Maskeliya Party Office more..

Feb 24 (ST) At the onset of a new year when the existence of a CD collection containing private phone conversations between film actor turned politician turned one man one shot rogue buster Ranjan Ramanayake and his coterie of unsuspecting phone pals secretly recorded and stored by the actor himself, came to light following a court authorised police raid on his house, it sent tremors through the establishment, the court houses, parliament, fashion houses, more..

Feb 23 (TM) The UNP has once again stolen the spotlight from all other political issues and this time over elephants and hearts. Last Monday�s (10) Working Committee (WC) meeting was to resolve all issues related to the formation of the alliance with the appointment of its General Secretary by the Alliance Leader, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. However, with Premadasa and Co. moving to register the proposed political alliance along with a new symbol, the official UNP more..

Feb 24 (SO) The internal tug of war within the UNP regarding the leadership, symbol and the proposed alliance took a new turn at the UNP Working Committee meeting at Sirikotha on Wednesday (19), when some party heavyweights manhandled others over disagreement on the symbol to be used by the UNP-led alliance at the upcoming General Elections. Heated arguments ensued between the two factions on symbol more..

Feb 24 (Island) The next general election is expected in a few weeks, and politicians are already seizing moral high ground and condemning their rivals in a bid to woo the public. These holier-than-thou worthies are levelling various allegations against one another. They would have the people believe that they alone are capable of draining the swamp and should, therefore, be elected. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has urged the people to vote wisely & help cleanse P'ment. more..

Feb 23 (ST) The trio was at the gate having a go at Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, and pulling his leg. Aney miss, kaeme tikak ganna-ko (Miss, please buy some food), he pleaded. �Issaravela oya kiyanna-ko corona virusaya gena monavada danne kiyala (First tell us what you know about the coronavirus),� cajoled Serapina, the youngest of the trio. �Aney miss, mama kisi deyak danne neha. Magey wede maalu paan ha banis viku-nana eka (I don�t know, my job is to sell maalu paan and buns),� more..

Feb 23 (TM) The UNP is fast becoming a divided national party given its inability to reach a consensus on forming an alliance to contest the upcoming general election. The irony is that usually issues of this nature are faced when forming an alliance between different political parties, but with the UNP, the issues are between factions within the same party. Last week also saw UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe sending a message to more..

Feb 24 (EN) State fertilizer firms have ordered 79,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertilizer to be distributed to farmers in the upcoming cultivation season. National Fertilizer Secreariat said there were also stocks within the country, but asked farmers to use only the recommended volume of fertilizer, as overuse was harmful to health. Cabinet had cleared the award of the import contracts by Lanka Fertilizer Company and Colombo Commercial Fertilizer for deliver in late Mar 2020. more..

Feb 24 (Island) All praise to Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa for protesting against the decision of the Trump administration to ban Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva from entering the US. Many of us who were once great admirers of the US are no longer interested in visiting the US as we are sick of its duplicity. But still there are many admirers of the US, in Sri Lanka, who are convinced that the West is the best! Though Lt. Gen. Silva is not concerned about the travel ban, more..

Feb 24 (EN) The women MPs are appealing to voters at the upcoming General elections to send more women to the House in order that there is more protection for Women and Children in the country. There are only 12 Women MPs in the current House and that constitutes only 5% of MPs. Such a small number of women means that formulating policies concerning Women and Children is an issue, these MPs said. more..

Feb 24 (CT) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa announcing the withdrawal from cosponsoring the UNHRC Resolution 30/1 of 2015 has pointed out that by bringing the resolution the former regime had undermined the dignity of the country. PM has also criticised the TNA, JVP and UNP for being supportive of the UNHRC Resolution 30/1 of 2015. Soon after PM Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the Govt's decision to withdraw from cosponsoring the UNHRC Resolution, TNA MP and more..

Feb 24 (ST) After tasting just one win, from a forfeit, and five draws in 24 international games, giving away 65 goals and scoring seven and losing seven slots, from 200 to joint 205 in FIFA rankings, the Football Federation of SL (FFSL) replaced the self-proclaimed expert Nizam Packeer Ali with UEFA Professional Coaching License holder Amir Alagic. An Australian citizen born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alagic has a rich track record as a coach spanning a career of over more..

Feb 24 (MoD) Defence Ministry has established a Task Force (TF) to monitor the progress to speed up the on-going investigation by the CID into last year�s Easter Sunday serial terrorist attacks in the country, which had claimed more than 250 lives. Six-member TF, which includes top officials from various intelligence agencies and is headed by Chief of National Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Jagath Alwis, has been instructed to submit weekly more..

Feb 24 (FT) Hotels Association of SL (THASL) is crying foul over the licence levy based on 1% of turnover that the Municipalities and Provincial Councils are proposing to charge exclusively on the hotel industry, where all other industries are charged Rs. 6,000 as trade licence fees. THASL President Sanath Ukwatte condemned the imposition of an arbitrary and counterproductive levy which hoteliers describe as a self-defeating attempt to tax the goose that lays the golden egg. more..

Feb 24 (SO) A media launch of the Sri Lanka versus West Indies series on Wednesday almost turned into a fireworks display between a loud-mouth non-cricket covering reporter from the Sinhala media and the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket Mohan de Silva over claims of match-fixing. Event presenter Roshan Abeysinghe speaking in English advised journalists at the start of the proceedings to confine their questions to the impending series meaning what was only relevant to the occasion. more..

Feb 24 (Island) Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, in a statement, in Sinhala read out at churches, on Sunday (23), called for a thorough investigation to find out why the political leadership and the security authorities had failed to act in spite of having specific intelligence on the Easter Sunday carnage. The Cardinal said the political leaders responsible for the lapses that had led to Easter Sunday tragedy should be probed. more..

Feb 24 (FT) Business tycoon Harry Jayawardena-controlled Melstacorp Group has acquired Ishara Nanayakkara-fame Browns� hospital business for Rs. 1.6 billion in a move to get aggressive in the booming healthcare industry. Melstacorp PLC said its fully-owned subsidiary Melsta Healthcare Colombo Ltd. bought the entire shareholding of Browns Health Care Ltd. from Brown and Company on 19 February for Rs. 1.6 billion. Browns Health Care is in the business of operating more..

Feb 24 (Island) NDB Investment Bank (NDBIB) continued to execute milestone transactions in 2019, reiterating its position as the unrivalled leader in investment banking in the country recording approximately Rs. 62.0 Bn in fund raising. All business segments, namely, equity raisings, debt capital markets and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) witnessed heightened levels of activity, despite macro-economic headwinds faced during the year. The shift towards equity and more..

Feb 24 (Hindu) Successful regional integration � both economic and security � depends on the SAARC becoming fully functional at the highest levels, SL�s former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said. Emphasising the need for countries in the region to link up both strategically and economically, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the postponement of the Kathmandu SAARC Summit in 2017 due to heightened tensions between more..

Feb 24 (FT) DFCC Bank said yesterday it was continuing with its growth strategy despite the turbulent macro situation which had resulted in dip in profit though top-line saw improvement. DFCC Bank, the largest entity within the group recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 2,828 million for the year ended 31 December 2019, excluding the fair value loss on Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC (CBC) in comparison to PAT of Rs. 3,646 million recorded in the comparative year. more..

Feb 24 (SO) The future of the world is digitalisation and this trend needs to be embraced in going forward. 5G, the next generation technology, could be used to transform Sri Lanka into a digital nation, an IT industry expert said. �The Information Communication Industry (ICI) has become the fastest growing industry in Sri Lanka. The technology will help to do the transformation. A country cannot progress rapidly without adopting technology. more..

Feb 24 (CT) The SL health authorities, yesterday, imposed a 14-day observation period for all persons arriving from South Korea, as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) spread further in that country, a topmost official said. Starting from yesterday morning, it has been made mandatory for all those arriving from South Korea, both locals and foreigners, to enter all their personal details on a form provided to them on board prior to more..

Feb 24 (SO) If the Prez dissolves Parliament on Mar 2, nearly 60 MPs will lose their pension rights as they have not completed their full term in Parliament. To get the pension, a MP has to complete a 5-year term in Parliament. Therefore, if the Prez dissolves Parliament on Mar 2, nearly 60 MPs will lose their pension. However, there had been instances where the pension had been given to 3 or 4 MPs who had another few months to complete their full term in P'ment based on sympathetic grounds. more..

Feb 24 (DS) Twenty-four SL fishermen have been arrested from the Bay of Bengal on charges of fishing illegally inside Bangladesh's maritime boundary in Chattogram, said police. Four fishing trawlers have also been seized during the drive, they added. The detainees were handed over to Patenga Police Station on Friday night, while a court in Chattogram sent them to jail yesterday, said police sources. An official press release from Bangladesh Navy said members of BNS Omar Faruk more..

Feb 24 (FT) Sri Lanka has requested a meeting with the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet as the country begins to work towards the closure of a contentious UNHRC Resolution on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka at the 43rd Session of the Council in Geneva later this week. A request has been made for Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to meet with Bachelet, more..