Dec 10 (ST) The tussle continues between the executive and the legislature over rules for the discharge of the duties and functions of the Constitutional Council. The latest to join in is Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha, with his own three-page draft rules to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Attorney General’s Department, has pointed out that some provisions in them reportedly contravened provisions of the Constitution. more..

Dec 10 (ST) Three draft bills that will make obtaining divorces far easier are due to be presented to Parliament next month. The Matrimonial Causes Act, Recognition of Foreign Divorce Judgments Act and an amendment to the Civil Procedure Code will radically reform outdated laws that currently severely restrict grounds for obtaining divorce, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said. At present, those seeking a divorce must prove one of three grounds in court: more..

Dec 10 (ST) Medicines as well as surgical and laboratory materials worth Rs. 349 million were withdrawn from use in state hospitals last year due to quality failures, National Audit Office (NAO) has found. Other medicines worth Rs. 32 million were suspended from use for the same reason. Separately, National Pharmaceuticals Quality Assurance Research Laboratory under National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) was so poorly equipped that it was not geared to more..

Dec 10 (ST) One-and-a-half years after making sweeping changes to the national team coaching structure, SLC is looking at another major overhaul in the wake of Sri Lanka’s dismal show at the recent World Cup. However, this is in contrast to what was demanded by former players, fans and even the politicians, who wanted the entire Board to step down amidst disappointing performances and allegations of corruption. more..

Dec 10 (ST) As Russia’s war in Ukraine intensifies, the SL Embassy in Türkiye is requesting those who have joined the Ukraine defence force’s international legion to submit their names to the embassy as soon as possible. “The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Türkiye is aware that three Sri Lankans have died on the Ukrainian war front. One of them is Mr. Ranishka Hewage. The embassy is awaiting official confirmation from the Ukrainian authorities regarding all three Sri Lankans. more..

Dec 10 (SO) Officials of the Intelligence Unit of the CIABOC told the Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis on Friday, December 8 that it has launched an investigation on the 200 luxury vehicles imported to Sri Lanka, depriving the Government of over Rs. 5 billion in tax revenue. The luxury vehicles had been imported to Sri Lanka without proper Customs clearance by feeding false information to the computer data system of the Department of Motor Traffic. more..

Dec 10 (TM) The newly-gazetted Sri Lanka Electricity Bill will be re-gazetted to address minor mistakes, CEB Spokesman Deputy General Manager Noel Priyantha confirmed to The Sunday Morning yesterday (9). Reiterating the CEB’s involvement in preparing the new Sri Lanka Electricity Bill, he assured that the upcoming gazette would correct any identified errors. Concerns were raised in Parliament by Opposition political parties regarding the date of the gazette’s issuance. more..

Dec 10 (ST) Colombo Fashion Week Luxury Resortwear Edition 2023 on November 30 saw a show-stopping finale of a fashion show at the Shangri-La Colombo Ballroom. This edition had opened the previous night in an intriguingly different setting – National Art Gallery on Greenpath where the ramp was the beautifully lit paved walkways outside, a magical setting against araliya trees and the Gallery’s imposing architecture. Two designers – Amilani Perera and Rizwan Beyg presented more..

Dec 10 (TM) CEB will conduct a special investigation to determine the reason for yesterday’s sudden islandwide power outage. A major power outage was reported yesterday evening at around 5.30 p.m. CEB initially announced that the outage was due to a breakdown of the Kotmale-Biyagama transmission line. Within half an hour, the board managed to commence restoring power to certain areas and by around 7 p.m., more..

Dec 10 (ST) SL women’s cricket skipper Chamari Athapaththu suffered yet another heartbreak when she went unsold at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction held yesterday. Coming into the auction, after a prolific run at the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), Athapaththu was left without a buyer even at her base price of Indian Rs.30 Lakhs. Playing for Sydney Thunder as an injury replacement, Athapaththu turned a corner by topping the league-phase run charts (552, 2nd-best more..

Dec 10 (Island) Aitken Spence Travels, Sri Lanka’s premier destination management company, will welcome simultaneous arrivals of three cruise ships—Vasco Da Gama, Mein Schiff 5, and MS Seven Seas Navigator on December 10 at the port of Colombo. Vasco Da Gama and Mein Schiff 5 will dock at the Colombo port by 7.00am and MS Seven Seas Navigator will dock at 1.30pm with approximately 4,000 passengers from all three vessels on a single day, company said. more..

Dec 10 (DM) The female giraffe at the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala died on Thursday, However, Prez of the SL Podujana Zoological Garden Employees’ Union Krishantha Christopher alleges that the animal was killed. Addressing the media, he said that giraffes are classified as critically endangered animals. He mentioned that the giraffes in the Dehiwala Zoo received special attention from the department, symbolized by a spotlight on their conservation efforts. more..

Dec 10 (SLN) A special search operation conducted by the SL Navy near the Baththanangunduwa Island on 8th Dec, led to the recovery of a parcel weighing over 04kg of gold from the depths of Puttalam Lagoon. It is suspected that the valuable cache of gold has been intentionally sunk underwater by smugglers. The operation also led to the apprehension of 2 suspects and 1 dinghy, believed to be linked to the racket. The Navy carries out regular search operations and patrols more..

Dec 10 (TM) The proposed new Electricity Bill mandates all licensees to enter into new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), some of which have been initially established through competitive processes. Meanwhile, existing PPAs have been declared as valid for only nine months. In Section 10 (f)(i) of Part IV, licensees are required to engage in PPAs with generation licensees and transmission service agreements with transmission more..

Dec 10 (Island) Cricket is in a crisis. For the first time in the history SL suffered losses in a World Cup to teams like Afghanistan and Bangladesh. While those two teams finished ahead of SL and qualified for the Champions Trophy, the 1996 champions finished a disappointing ninth and were knocked out of the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka Cricket has borne the brunt of the criticism but the persons who were responsible for the team and players have been exempted from scrutiny. more..

Dec 10 (SO) World’s highest sport jumping from a multi-facility tower from a capital city will be introduced at the Lotus Tower next March. A foreign company will launch this service which will be the first time in the world that a sports jump is initiated from a height of over 185 metres from the tower of a capital city, said CEO of Lotus Management Company Prasad Samarasinghe. He said they will also soon sign up for the first casino to be operated in the Lotus tower. more..

Dec 10 (TM) The Japanese investor has reportedly decided to pull out of the Visumpaya deal, citing exorbitant valuations provided by the Govt Valuer. It is learnt that the Govt’s appraisal of the property is twice as high as the valuation conducted by the Japanese company. Visumpaya, which was used as the residence of many State leaders, was earmarked to be converted into a boutique hotel by the UDA to attract foreign investments to SL. more..

Dec 10 (EN) Sri Lanka’s remittances coming through official channels went up to $537.3 million in November 2023, up 40% from $384.4 million in the same month a year earlier, due to improved exchange rate after better monetary policy. The official remittances rose on a month-on-month basis for the first time in five months after falling four months in a row. In the first 11 months of this year, SL received $5.4 billion from official channels, up 63% from $ 3.3 billion in same period in 2022. more..

Dec 10 (PMD) In a historic announcement at the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Colombo Colts Cricket Club (CCC) yesterday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared his commitment to depoliticizing and revolutionizing cricket in SL by 2030. Prez outlined a comprehensive plan, emphasizing the need for an independent trust to oversee the financial administration and development of school cricket, backed by a substantial budget allocation. more..

Dec 10 (DM) Eight individuals, aged between 33 and 48 were arrested by the CID's Human Trafficking and Smuggling Bureau at a Kollupitiya hotel for possessing an unlicensed pistol and over Rs. 78 million in cash. Police said the officers acted on information leading to a raid at the Kollupitiya hotel premises, where they discovered a pistol without a license and an unverified amount of Rs. 78,750,000 in the possession of the suspects. The arrested suspects were identified as residents more..

Dec 10 (AD) Sri Lanka’s Thenura Dilruk Wickramaratna clinched silver at the 20th International Junior Science Olympiad, held in Bangkok, Thailand. 14-year-old Wickramaratna is the first Sri Lankan to win two Silver Medals at the IJSO, and is due to arrive back in the island on 10 December. Wickramaratne is a health activist from Galle, and has represented Sri Lanka in four fields, namely Chess, Mathematics, Science, and Leadership, and has won several medals. more..

Dec 10 (ST) SL Electricity Bill, which was gazetted on Friday, was plagued with errors, it was pointed out in Parliament. Opposition MPs, who claimed the publication of the Bill, with the courts due to go on vacation on Dec 15, had been timed to limit the period citizens had to legally challenge it. They also noted the horrendous list of errors in the draft. SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said the Bill’s Sinhala version also included English words. more..

Dec 10 (SO) Financial mismanagement, corruption and position abuse taking place in other sports bodies have often being ignored or overlooked by media focus directly mostly towards cricket. But with Parliament now showing interest in putting a stop to financial and position abuse, the unsupervised rot that has been taking place at the National Olympic Committee (NOC) has come to light. Branded in Parliament for the first time as most corrupt, NOC now stands in the dock accused of more..

Dec 10 (Island) The period of mourning is over, and it is open season for the hunt. Our cricket team is back. No VIP lounge, no garlands, no welcoming parties and no open decked bus for a victory ride into town, roads lined with cheering, flag waving and delirious crowds. Instead, a grim arrival with no asininely grinning officials from SLC or Ministry of Sports – even perhaps the great man himself. Little wonder, since Board and Ministry are busy, having instead to face a slew of court proceedings. more..

Dec 10 (Island) Thanks to regular columnist Vijaya Chandrasoma’s incisive contributions on political developments in the USA, readers of this newspaper have been able to get a good understanding of what is happening in one of the world’s greatest democracies, in the run-up to its prez election next year. Donald Trump is the current front-line candidate for the Republican ticket at the forthcoming election in Nov 2024, leading his four rivals by more than 40 points in latest polls. more..

Dec 10 (ST) Each year on this day, Dec 10, the world is expected to mark Human Rights Day, and this year is special as it is the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN. Regrettably, this day, this year, will be commemorated in the midst of the most flagrant violations of human rights taking place in Gaza and even in Ukraine, and in Africa. Relentless, unapologetic shelling of civilians, reducing cities to the stone age particularly in Gaza more..

Dec 10 (TM) Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt, while preparing for the announcement by the IMF on Tuesday on the disbursement of the second tranche under the EFF and concluding the 2024 Budget proceedings on Wednesday with the third reading vote in Parliament, is now moving in line with the agenda for the national-level elections next year. It is no secret that much of SL’s economic recovery plan currently hinges on the IMF more..

Dec 10 (CT) At a time when the govt has detained Tamils observing the annual LTTE martyrs’ day falling on 27 Nov under the dreaded PTA, Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s compliments for the outfit’s dead leader V Prabhakaran makes an interesting contradiction. Replying to the parliamentary debate on the budget allocation for his ministry, Rajapakshe said, though he did not approve of Prabhakaran’s ideology, he still appreciated the honesty of purpose and more..

Dec 10 (CT) 83+ days on, the peaceful protests by Tamil herdsmen continue at Sithandy in the eastern Province for their rights to grazing lands of Mylathamadu and Mathavanai, which had been approved by the cabinet in 2011. The ongoing illegal takeover of land, in effect a land grab, has caused more than 80 cattle to be stolen/hacked/electrocuted and no effective action had been taken on them (except piling of complaints at the police station and refusing some of them too), more..

Dec 10 (SO) Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, fresh from an official visit to Dubai with Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe for the COP28 Climate Summit, explains the importance of reinforcing the country’s international links and also the significance of receiving the second tranche of the IMF Extended Fund Facility in terms of economic recovery. Minister says the present economic path will have to be followed by several more years to emerge out of the crisis Sri Lanka is facing. more..

Dec 10 (SO) Any conflict has a beginning or roots. In Sri Lanka, the marginalisation of youth led to two rebellions in the South and the denial of certain rights to the Tamil-speaking people in the North led to a protracted conflict. All three turned into armed uprisings that the State had to contain by military means when peace overtures fell through. But this does not mean that the State has completely addressed the fundamental issues that led to these insurrections. more..

Dec 10 (TM) The unfortunate deaths last week of two SL ex-service personnel out of an estimated contingent of 70 or so – all duly discharged – who have chosen to battle the Russians in Ukraine over retirement in SL is an eye opener, if ever there was one, of the level of hope that the average citizen has of a better tomorrow in the land of their birth. Even though this group of 70 or so mercenaries constitute a fraction of the hundreds and thousands seeking greener pastures overseas these days, more..