Nov 19 (FT) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament that SL’s present and future political agendas will not be written on the basis of racism, warning that defeated political forces are seeking to manufacture communal tensions as other lines of attack against the Government lose traction. Speaking during the debate on the expenditure heads of Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Public Security, more..

Nov 19 (DM) Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Minister and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said future teacher appointments will be made only after court proceedings conclude and a verdict is delivered, ensuring the process aligns with the Teachers' Service Constitution. She made the remarks following a discussion held yesterday at the Ministry with the Graduates Association and the All Island School Development Officers Association. more..

Nov 19 (DN) Sri Lanka ‘A’ team led by Dunith Wellalage will meet Bangladesh ‘A’ in their Asia Cup Rising Stars T-20 tournament fixture today in Qatar, commencing at 8pm (Sri Lanka time). This match is going to be vital for SL ‘A’ team to have hopes for the semi final of this tournament. SL ‘A’ lost to defending champions Afghanistan ‘A’ in their opening game after making a good fight but they came back strongly to beat Hong Kong in the second game by 7 wickets on Monday. more..

Nov 19 (FT) Govt is moving to abolish pension entitlements for Parliament Ministers and their spouses with the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approving the publishing of the Parliamentary Pensions Law (Repeal) Bill in the Govt gazette and submitting it to Parliament for approval. The move comes following the AG’s clearance for the Bill. On 16 June, Cabinet of Ministers approved in principle to repeal more..

Nov 19 (AD) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to participate in the rally organized by opposition parties led by SLPP, on 21 Nov. The rally is scheduled to be held on Friday in Nugegoda with the participation of supporters of a majority of opposition political parties. Meanwhile, former Prez Rajapaksa while speaking to media during his visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy to receive blessings for his birthday said he is hoping to attend the Nugegoda rally more..

Nov 19 (SO) The Govt will take action against any police officer implicated in corruption or misconduct, regardless of rank, Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala said. He said that the administration had already shown its willingness to act at the highest levels, pointing to the removal proceedings initiated against former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, whom the NPP administration moved out of office after a parliamentary committee found him guilty of multiple charges of misconduct and abuse of power. more..

Nov 19 (DN) The world has changed and small countries have been able to capture regional markets and Sri Lanka needs to drive productivity and become part of Industry 5.0 in order to achieve that feat, Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Deputy Minister of Industries & Entrepreneur Development told the National Productivity Secretariat organized “Towards Business Excellence through the National Productivity Movement event held in Colombo yesterday. more..

Nov 19 (FT) Sri Lanka’s debt crisis was driven less by macroeconomic shocks than by years of inflated, non-competitive Govt-to-Govt infrastructure contracting, with the cancelled Adani Mannar wind project serving as an example, economists from SOAS University of London warned. The now-abandoned 250 MW Adani project in Mannar, they said, encapsulated the governance failures tied to SL’s borrowing. SOAS Uni of London Professor of International Economics Dr. Pallavi Roy said more..

Nov 19 (Island) PM Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that education is a process of sharing collective knowledge, and has the power to bring people together politically, socially, and economically. PM made these remarks while addressing the conference held on Tuesday (18) at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, aimed at fostering cooperation among countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific region regarding more..

Nov 19 (Island) SL is set to significantly elevate its regional standing in the global tea industry by assuming the Chairmanship of the Asia Tea Alliance (ATA) for the 2026–2027 term. This strategic milestone was announced on Nov. 17, at a press conference at the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA). Nimal Udugampola, Chairman of TSHDA, will take on the role of ATA Chair, marking the first time in Alliance’s history that a leader from a smallholder-institution will hold the position. more..

Nov 19 (AD) The expenditure heads of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs were passed by a majority vote in Parliament this evening. The budget head of the Ministry of Defence (103) taken up for debate today was passed by a majority of 92 votes, with amendments today, the third day of the Committee Stage of the Appropriation Bill for the year 2026. Following the Committee Stage debate, at around 6:50 p.m., All-Ceylon Tamil Congress more..

Nov 19 (DN) Sri Lanka suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Thailand in their 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers – 3rd Round match at the Racecourse Grounds in Colombo yesterday, leaving the home side licking their wounds. The game was played on a soggy pitch under wet conditions, and Thailand, ranked 96th in the world, extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with their eighth consecutive victory against the islanders. Thailand drew first blood in the sixth minute. more..

Nov 19 (DN) SLC selectors have included leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth in the National Men’s Squad for the T20I Tri-Series in Pakistan. He will travel to Pakistan directly from Qatar, where he was part of the Sri Lanka ‘A’ Team competing in the Asia Cup Rising Stars Tournament. He was scheduled to leave yesterday night from Qatar to join the National team. Viyaskanth has been drafted into the squad as Wanindu Hasaranga is yet to fully recover from the hamstring tightness more..

Nov 19 (TM) Sri Lanka continues to see a decline in telecommunications development charge (TDC) revenue, which is meant to be allocated towards investments in telecommunications infrastructure in rural unserved and underserved areas, due to a decline in international call charge revenue, TRCSL Director Bandula Herath said, speaking to the CoPF on Monday. “Under the universal service fund, there is something more..

Nov 19 (FT) LK Domain Registry, celebrating 35 years as Sri Lanka’s trusted digital identity custodian, today announced myPage.lk, an innovative platform that enables anyone to establish a professional online presence in minutes without requiring technical expertise. myPage.lk addresses a critical need in Sri Lanka’s rapidly digitalising economy by providing a simple yet powerful solution for individuals and businesses to create personalised digital identity pages. more..

Nov 19 (FT) Govt has taken the next step toward fully operationalising Public Debt Management Act No. 33 of 2024, with Cabinet approving to submit newly issued regulations to Parliament for concurrence. The orders, published as Public Debt Management Orders No. 02 of 2025 in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2459/52 on 24 October 2025, set out the framework under which the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) will oversee and regulate primary dealers in govt securities. more..

Nov 19 (FT) Auditor General has issued a stinging critique of the Dept of Animal Production & Health (DAPH), flagging over Rs. 200 million in public funds tied up in failed breeding projects and questionable equipment procurement, in a detailed report for the year ended Dec 31, 2024. The audit highlighted a state-funded initiative to import high-quality Boer goats from Australia as a futile expenditure, noting that the project more..

Nov 19 (FT) JAT Holdings, SL’s leader in wood coatings and a diversified conglomerate in the manufacturing sector, continued its strong performance into the second quarter of FY 2025/26, recording a 14% YoY growth in revenue to Rs. 5.15 billion and a 29% increase in gross profit to Rs. 1.8 billion, supported by strategic cost control, product mix optimisation, and efficiencies from its backward vertical integration initiatives. Gross profit margins strengthened from 31% to 35%, more..

Nov 19 (FT) A 30-member delegation of handloom and powerloom craftsmen from SL visited India from 9–15 Nov to participate in a specialised Textile Training & Capacity Building Program. Delegation represented both the handloom and powerloom segments of SL’s textile industry. The program was organised pursuant to the announcement made by PM of India, Narendra Modi during his recent visit to SL in April 2025, offering 700 customised slots annually for SL professionals. more..

Nov 19 (FT) SL Design Festival (SLDF) has launched Palmyra Stories from the North, a special exhibition presented by the Academy of Design (AOD) with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland. The showcase opened on Thursday (13) and is hosted by Urban Island at its flagship store in Dharmapala Mawatha, Col 7, marking the first event leading into SLDF 2025 under the theme What’s Your Colombo? Palmyra Stories from the North celebrates extraordinary craftsmanship more..

Nov 19 (FT) Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando urged SL corporates to move beyond compliance-driven disclosures and embrace integrated reporting as a tool for ethical decision-making, transparency and societal transformation, warning that information asymmetry remains a persistent barrier to good governance. Addressing the CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Excellence Awards on Monday, Dr. Fernando said that despite rapid advancements in more..

Nov 19 (Island) When SL’s T20 skipper Charith Asalanka was quietly withdrawn from the tri-series in Pakistan, the early whispers blamed a bout of illness. But scratch beneath the surface and a different picture emerges — one where the captain’s defiance during the heated stand-off over continuing the Pakistan tour has come back to hit him like a nasty lifter on a cracked pitch. Fast bowler Asitha Fernando, another key figure who more..

Nov 19 (FT) For decades, SL’s apparel industry has stood as a national success story—one that stitched together foreign investment, ethical manufacturing, and export resilience. But behind the glossy factory floors of major exporters lies another story: that of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggling to stay afloat under mounting costs, tightening regulations, and shrinking access to finance. These smaller players form the invisible backbone of the apparel ecosystem—supplying trims, more..

Nov 19 (GV) We often forget something incredibly simple: every adult we know, including the ones we admire, fear, love, avoid or struggle with, was once a child. A small, helpless, curious, emotional child. Some lived in safety. Some lived in chaos. Most grew up somewhere in between with moments of warmth and moments of fear woven tightly together. Childhood doesn’t disappear. It settles into the background of our adult lives like a quiet script running underneath everything shaping more..

Nov 19 (TM) Minister Ananda Wijepala recently announced the Cabinet of Ministers has approved a monthly allowance of Rs. 7,000 for Police officers, which is to be disbursed from next month. This payment is intended to help officers meet the costs of uniforms and shoes, and that Rs. 1,100 million has been allocated this year to facilitate its distribution. While there is nothing problematic about this decision, there is a more pressing question as to how much real change will this allowance more..

Nov 19 (Island) Trincomalee temple issue has been grossly mismanaged. A tense situation arose when the Coast Conservation Department (CCD) objected to the construction of a building near Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Bodhiraja Viharaya in Trincomalee on Sunday. A protest erupted when the police rushed in and forcibly took away a Buddha statue, which had been placed at the disputed site. Some protesters, including two Buddhist monks, were injured, according to media reports. more..

Nov 19 (CT) CEO of Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL), Sanjay Banga, was in Colombo to attend the Partnership and Prosperity for People forum, organised by the High Commission of India in collaboration with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC). The forum, was attended by SL’s Minister of Power and Energy, Kumara Jayakody, Ministry Secretary Udayanga Hemapala, and several senior officials more..

Nov 19 (CT) The recent commotion over the Buddha statue in Trincomalee is yet another illustration of how easily SL can tip into agitation when religion and politics touch the same ground. In fact, the real issue was never the statue alone. It was the confusion, the mixed motives, and the eagerness of everyone involved to frame the incident as something far larger than it actually was. What began as a dispute involving land, regulations, and questionable construction practices quickly became more..

Nov 19 (CT) In the Pāli canon, the Buddha taught: Yo dhamman passathi, so man passathi (He who sees the Dhamma, sees me). This is not merely a metaphysical statement; it is a call to clarity. The recent dispute in Trincomalee — over the removal and rapid reinstatement of a Buddha statue — demands precisely that kind of discernment rather than emotional or ethno-political agitation. On the night of 16 Nov, police removed a Buddha statue from a makeshift shrine on Trincomalee’s more..

Nov 19 (TM) The markets are bustling, vegetables piled high in neat rows, but the farmers behind them are struggling in silence. Across SL, potato and big onion cultivators face a crisis that threatens not only their livelihoods but also the country’s food security. While consumers pick through sacks of produce in Pettah or Dambulla, small-scale farmers are trapped in a system that punishes them for producing locally: more..

Nov 19 (Island) NPP govt’s decision to procure 1,775 brand-new double cab pickup trucks, at a staggering cost exceeding Rs. 12,500 million, represents not merely a questionable procurement decision, but a dangerous convergence of fiscal irresponsibility, procedural irregularities, and a disturbing drift toward authoritarian governance. What the govt presents as a solution to transport inefficiencies is, upon closer examination, a regressive policy that abandons proven more..

Nov 19 (ST) The passage of the Second Reading of Budget 2026 on Friday was notable for several opposition MPs breaking ranks to vote with the NPP govt in support of the budget. The Second Reading was passed with a crushing margin of 118 votes, with 160 votes in favour and just 42 against. While the passage of the Second Reading was always going to be a formality for a govt that held a two-thirds parliamentary majority, the final vote was noteworthy for the decision by several MPs more..