Dec 11 (ST) Turning one’s head constantly to the left and right to simultaneously watch scenes of bedlam in the SL parliament and confusion in the British House of Commons is educative. Except that it gives you a pain in the neck. At the time of writing, Supreme Court has extended its stay order on Prez Sirisena’s proclamation dissolving parliament and announcing a date for parliamentary elections. So it seems we must wait for a few more days to hear its decision on the constitutionality more..

Dec 11 (ST) The longer the political crisis the more serious its adverse effects on the economy. This is especially so with respect to the balance of payments. A large balance of payments would weaken the external reserves and make the repayment of debt next year more onerous. At the time of writing, there is a glimmer of hope that the constitutional crisis and political chaos may be resolved. However, there have been so many twists and turns in the political saga more..

Dec 11 (CT) Once upon a time, the Tamil Tiger stronghold, Vavunathivu–located 8 km southwest of Batticaloa–had been a rich agricultural land with lush green paddy fields and palmyrah trees, surrounded by waterways and lagoons along with little villages cluttered in the midst of paddy lands. But the news of two Police constables found dead in the early hours of 29 Nov; murdered gruesomely with their eyes gouged more..

Dec 11 (DN) Present text was penned under the Article 14(1 – a) of the constitution of Sri Lanka. It neither concerns any particular country nor any political team. However, its writer respectfully invites the wise and the intelligent, to carefully peruse the contents and if required to intellectually relate them with an open mind, to the happening political occurrences in the country of each reader. The scrutinization by itself is not enough, consecutively and with no delay, more..

Dec 11 (DN) Since Oct 26, 2018, following the political changes effected, the country has been witnessing a series of developments emerging, culminating into a crisis situation. The removal of the PM, appointment of a new PM and a Cabinet of Ministers, Prorogation of the Parliament and the Notice of dissolution of the Parliament have been at the bottom of the incitation to this state of affairs. When we look back at the events in retrospect it becomes evident that the associated more..

Dec 11 (CT) Quite obviously I haven’t the slightest notion of what the Supreme Court verdict will be, unlike my friend Eran Wickremaratne who announced publicly (and rather curiously) that he doesn’t have the slightest doubt about it. However I do know, as a political scientist, what the implications and consequences will be if it were to go one way or the other. I tend to perceive and analyze things from the perspective of comparative global politics. more..

Dec 11 (Island) The country has come to be focused on its Constitution as never before as the judgment day draws nearer. Clarity, brevity and comprehensiveness are some of the hallmarks of a good Constitution, which should be considered sacred in that it is the be-all and end-all of the modern state. A Constitution should also be flexible enough to be amended, if necessary, but certainly not according to the whims and fancies of greedy, ambitious rulers. more..

Dec 11 (Hindu) For Chandrani Mendis, the political crisis gripping SL since Oct 26 has had a specific cost — her pension for November. “After my husband died, I had been receiving 250 rupees (roughly Rs. 100) a month as an allowance, but they stopped it last month,” said the 60-year-old, seated in her modest home in Wellawaya, Monaragala district, located in the Uva Province. As the country’s political unrest persists amid more..

Dec 11 (Island) This is in response to Dr. Nihal Jayawickrama’s (NJ) article in The Sunday Island of Dec 9, titled Why didn’t they tell the President? Referring to the President’s powers under the 19th Amendment (19A), NJ states: "That amendment removed his executive powers except three which he still enjoys: the power to appoint ambassadors, the power to appoint secretaries, and the power to appoint provincial governors". Although NJ’s comment cited above is limited only to more..

Dec 11 (DN) Sri Lanka are on the hunt for a batting coach and at the moment negotiations are taking place to have someone appointed probably ahead of the tour to Australia next month. It is reliably learnt that ex-Durham opening batsman Jon Lewis who quit as head coach of Durham on Dec 7 is one of them. Presently former SL batsman Thilan Samaraweera is the national team’s batting coach that is currently touring New Zealand. Meanwhile SL is also looking for a spin bowling coach more..

Dec 11 (EN) Efficiency of SriLankan Airlines flights have fallen in 2018, and is contributing more towards carbon emissions, but was ahead of Emirates and Singapore Airlines, in an international ranking compiled. The atmosfair Airline Index 2018, which tracked more than 33 million flights globally, said that SriLankan Airlines was the 72nd most efficient among 125 regional and international carriers in terms of carbon emissions, more..

Dec 11 (DN) Ideal Motors, a fully owned subsidiary of the Ideal Group, has commended constructing their factory in Kalutara to locally assemble new compact Mahindra SUV, the KUV100, and vehicle in SL. The company has also entered into a JV with Mahindra and Mahindra, a part of the US$19 billion Mahindra Group based in India. Ideal Motors has been a Mahindra distributor for the last nine years and Mahindra will hold a 35% stake in the JV, while Ideal Motors will have 65%. more..

Dec 11 (CI) The offspinner William Somerville, who played a starring role on debut as New Zealand beat Pakistan last week, has not been included to play the upcoming home Test series against Sri Lanka. The 13-man squad that was announced on Monday had only one slow bowler in it - Ajaz Patel, who claimed a five-wicket haul in a dramatic four-run victory in Abu Dhabi last month. Meanwhile, 26-year old opening batsman Will Young earned his maiden-call up to international cricket. more..

Dec 11 (Island) It was impractical for the Central Bank of SL to keep challenging the govt, urging it to follow the law to its letter when the spirit of the law had been followed, CBSL Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy told the PCoI commenting on issuing of treasury bonds worth over Rs. 14 billion to UL in 2012. In 2012, the govt issued treasury bonds worth Rs. 14.2 billion to SriLankan airlines to strengthen its balance sheet. more..

Dec 11 (FT) SLPP Chairperson Prof. G.L Peiris acknowledged the need for the allocation of funds for next year, conceding that Parliament was vested with the authority to allocate public funds for govt entities and this could not be done by the Executive. “We have to allocate funds for next year by 31 Dec either by the Appropriation Bill or a Vote on Account. Under Article 148 of the Constitution, Parliament is vested with the authority to allocate public funds, therefore, we need to resolve this soon,” more..

Dec 11 (CT) India Emerging team and Sri Lanka Emerging team advanced to the semi-finals from Group ‘A’ yesterday. Unbeaten India topped the group with 3 wins, while Sri Lanka were runner-up with 2 wins. India beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets at RPICS and Afghanistan beat Oman by 112 runs in the last of the first round matches yesterday. Sri Lanka scored 260 runs for 7 wickets in their allotted 50 overs with Avishka Fernando top scoring with 80 and Asela Gunarathne unbeaten on 67. more..

Dec 11 (Island) In his first interview since being appointed as SL’s Fielding Coach, Steve Rixon admitted that he will have lot of work to do with the national cricket team in a bid to raise the fielding standards. Tagged the worst fielding team in the world, SL have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory due to their poor fielding on several instances. Rixon, who has worked with three int'l teams before was confident that he will be more..

Dec 11 (Island) The hearing of the contempt of court case against MP Ranjan Ramanayake commenced yesterday before a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Sisira de Abrew, Prasanna Jayawardena and Vijith Malalgoda. Senior Deputy Solicitor General Priyantha Nawana made a brief explanation to the judges about the case. Registrar of the Supreme Court Pradeep Mahamuthugala informed the court from the witness box that legal action had been instituted more..

Dec 11 (Island) Govt of Norway entered into a partnership agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka to extend support to UNDP Sri Lanka’s flagship portfolio on SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions project for the period Dec 2018 to Dec 2020. The Ambassador of Norway to SL, Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther and UNDP Sri Lanka Country Director Jorn Sorensen signed partnership agreement amounting to more..

Dec 11 (FT) The Supreme Court yesterday deferred for support on 7 January the fundamental rights petition filed by Dambara Amila Nayake Thero of Nalanda University College challenging the acts of President Maithripala Sirisena on the removal of MP Ranil Wickremesinghe from the office of Prime Minister and the appointment of MP Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place. more..

Dec 11 (ST) 52nd Senior Nationals Basketball Tournament organised by the SL Basketball Federation will kick off on Dec. 17 with its level one matches going on until Dec. 28. These matches will be played at the Army Indoor court and Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium. Tournament will be played across three levels and will feature teams representing all 25 districts, as well as the army, air force, police, navy, schools and universities. The level two matches will be held in Batticaloa more..

Dec 11 (DN) The early awaited and long overdue Lotus Tower development project (also known as Nelum Kuluna) is now nearing completion and is expected to be opened in a few weeks adding a new landmark to South Asia. Standing at over 350 metres tall, it will be the world’s 19th tallest tower and will house TV and radio broadcasting stations, 20 telecom service providers and 50 TV broadcasters. Lotus Tower project will also offer two banquet and conference halls more..

Dec 11 (FT) Releasing their annual evaluation, the CIABOC has said that 62 convictions on bribery and corruption cases were handed out in 2018 and it stressed that several key steps had been taken to promote anti-corruption measures. Short report, which was recently posted on the CIABOC website, said that as a result of targeted prosecutions, 62 convictions took place this year, which is higher than the 57 seen in 2017. more..

Dec 11 (Island) Deputy Leader of the the UNP, Sajith Premadasa, said yesterday that the Constitutional coup perpetrated by President Maithripala Sirisena to remove PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, would be countered successfully, as UNPers at grassroots level had taken up the cause of their leader, with a great deal of enthusiasm. Premadasa said that he would not betray Wickremesinghe and spoil the good name of his late father President R. Premadasa. more..

Dec 11 (TOI) Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) is in the dock as the Madras high court has summoned him to personally explain as to why he deported a man of SL origin -- but born and brought up in India – to Sri Lanka after he returned from Australia where he was denied asylum. Questioning the rationale behind deporting S Anand to Colombo, a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice Abdul Quddhose rejected the officials’ claim that Anand entered more..

Dec 11 (CT) Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) will not sit for further wage negotiations due to death threats received from Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) members, Planters' Association of Ceylon Spokesperson, Roshan Rajadurei said. “We are not willing to sit down and talk to people who are publicly issuing death threats. They have gone and threatened managers working in the field. If there are further death threats to more..

Dec 11 (DM) The Court of Appeal's restraining order had only stopped the PM and the ministers from functioning in their offices and had not declared them unlawful, SLPP chairman G.L. Peiris said. He said there was a misconception that the posts of PM and those of the ministers had fallen vacant. “This is completely false. The court order has not removed the PM and the ministers from office but had stopped them from carrying out their duties and functioning in their posts,” he said. more..

Dec 11 (ST) The Sri Lanka Army’s top brass including its Commander, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayaka were at Dondra Point, the southern most tip of Sri Lanka, on Monday morning to cheer on disabled war hero Corporal P. K. G. G. Karunarathna who set off by wheelchair to traverse the length of Sri Lanka to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Corporal Karunarathna joined the Sri Lanka Army in September 2007 and served in the Gajaba Regiment. more..

Dec 11 (FT) Sri Lanka’s economy is currently on life support MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said calling on President Sirisena to resolve the opaque situation that has arisen over public finance by appointing a govt with Parliament’s support by Friday or risk being unable to finance over $ 1 billion in debt repayments due in the first two weeks of January. He insisted the Constitution is very clear on the point that the Executive President more..

Dec 11 (CT) SL’s stock market, Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), has become the cheapest frontier market, according to a Swedish-based fund, which said that an early election would be a positive for the Colombo Bourse. Highlighting that the current political crisis is, of course, negative for the country’s economy in the short-term, Tundra Fund said that “an early election would be clearly positive for the stock market.” Over the last 5 years, SL has faced some criticism in terms of its economic policy, more..

Dec 11 (Island) A parliament that had been dissolved had no power to call secretaries to the ministries before it, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said. "Champika Ranawaka, who has decided to live in Parliament, states that he will call secretaries to the ministries before Parliament. But no one cares about what he has to say. Ranawaka knows that he has no power to summon secretaries to the ministries and I believe that these state officials will give a proper answer to Ranawaka. more..

Dec 11 (FT) The SLFP made an appeal to the Judiciary to deliver the decision on the Fundamental Rights petitions filed against the dissolution of Parliament soon to save the country from anarchy. “We know the Supreme Court also has challenges, but we expect that the decision will come soon as it is essential to get the country back to normal,” senior SLFP member Nimal Siripala de Silva said. more..

Dec 11 (DM) Our sister paper Lankadeepa on Thursday reported that 35 students of Paanama Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya had to submit affidavits to sit for the GCE O/L examinations, as their names in their national identity cards and examination admission cards had been distorted. It said that lack of knowledge in Sinhala among the officials in Batticaloa DS had caused the blunder and this had seriously affected the young minds of the concerned candidates of the exam. more..

Dec 11 (DM) Was it on Oct 26, 2018 by Sirisena? - The conventional explosive, attached to a detonating mechanism ready to be used by any future administrator was set 41 years ago, on Sept 22, 1977 by JR Jayewardene. The creator ensured fabricating a sensational, improvised, destructive and harmful mechanism using deadly flammable ingredients and designed to destroy or incapacitate a nation. Punters in a gambling den need money for the game, they will steal and pawn wife’s more..

Dec 11 (DM) Former Minister Champika Ranawaka speaks about the current political crisis and its implications on the economy of the country. Q: How will the current political deadlock end in your view? A: The deadlock was created by President Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President can end this deadlock by giving the opportunity for the group commanding parliamentary majority in Parliament to form the govt. more..

Dec 11 (ST) The brother of Australian Test star Usman Khawaja was this week charged over an alleged terror hitlist for which Sri Lankan Kamer Nizamdeen was wrongly blamed but Mr Nizamdeen’s friends rejected allegations that a dispute over a woman triggered the affair. Arsalan Khawaja, 39, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with perverting the course of justice and forgery making a document. more..

Dec 11 (CT) Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL), in a recent book, pointed out that tea cultivation, degradation of soil quality and erosion, deforestation, extraction of resources for commercial purposes, irregular waterways management, natural disasters, irregular waste management, fires, habitat alteration, land fragmentation, illegal gem mining and invasive alien species were threats to Sinharaja Forest more..

Dec 11 (CT) People should learn to think of human rights as a part of their daily life, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), Dr. Deepika Udagama said yesterday. Marking the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), as a part of the International Human Rights Day in Colombo, Dr. Udagama observed that all people were equal despite religious, cultural, caste more..

Dec 11 (wsws) World Socialist Web Site reporters recently spoke with about 30 young Indian workers currently employed on an electricity power-line project in rural Sri Lanka. The highly exploited workers are forced to live in overcrowded and squalid conditions and not paid for long periods of time. Most of the workers are from Kargalo village, Hazaribagh District in the northeastern Indian state of Jharkhand and were recruited by more..