Nov 2 (Island) Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne has issued the following summary of his statement at a recent media briefing on the current crisis: A constitutional crisis has been precipitated with President Sirisena purporting to remove PM Ranil Wickremasinghe and purporting to appoint Mahinda Rajapakse MP as PM on 26 Oct 2018. Before the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution (which came into force on 15 May 2015) Article 43 of the Constitution provided as follows: more..

Nov 2 (Island) News websites reported yesterday that the govt had decided to re-convene Parliament on Nov. 05. One may have wondered whether the Sirisena-Rajapaksa administration had buckled under pressure or was confident that it could engineer some more crossovers within the next few days. The govt denied the reports after a few hours, saying that a statement by PM Rajapaksa had been misinterpreted. When politicians say something they should make sure they have said it. more..

Nov 2 (ST) Confusing times; it was only last week, a group of Lanka cricket’s stakeholders met Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha and discussed the consequences of the delays in holding tournaments. May be, it was within the periphery of the minister’s authority; the results were prompt and two weeks hence, club cricketers will be back in their dressing rooms padding up to take part in the revived under 23 tournament. more..

Nov 2 (Island) Navod Paranavithana held SL Under-19s innings together with a valuable 83 runs and spinners later toppled Bangladesh top order but an unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 58 runs helped the visitors record an eight run win according to D/L method in the rain affected second Youth ODI at Dambulla on Thursday. In reply to hosts 192 runs, Bangladesh lost four wickets for 43 runs as Ashain Daniel and Navod Paranavithana picked up two wickets each to put Sri Lanka in command. more..

Nov 2 (DN) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) are unlikely to move the second cricket Test between Sri Lanka and England from Pallekele despite a hotel mix-up that has left them looking for an alternate hotel to accommodate the two teams. SLC had booked 78 of the 104 rooms available at the Earl’s Regency Hotel which is a short distance away from the Pallekele International Stadium for both teams and support staff for the second Test match that commences on November 14. more..

Nov 2 (DN) Buwaneka Gunathilleka created a major upset at the 66th National Badminton championships being held at the Royal College Sport Complex when he beat former national champion Niluka Karunaratne in the men’s singles quarterfinal match yesterday. This is the first time that Niluka, a 16-time national champion has failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s singles event. more..

Nov 2 (ST) When England last toured Sri Lanka in March-April 2012, Mahela Jayawardena’s phenomenal consistency both in Galle and at the Sara Stadium, would have given him the edge over teammate Rangana Hearth, when it came to picking the Man of the Series. Jayawardena had an amazing run, with scores of 180, 105 and 64. Not far behind was Herath with bags of 6-74, 6-98 and 6-133. Mercurial, tempestuous Kevin Pietersen, however, in the eyes of many, more..

Nov 2 (CT) Sri Lanka’s current political tension will have no major impact on the county’s tourism sector as long as there is no violence in the country, The Hotels Association of SL (THASL) President, Sanath Ukwatte said. “We hope politicians can discuss and find a solution to this issue as soon as possible,” Ukwatte pointed out. He said that as long as tourists were safe and could travel around the country, the tourism sector should be fine. Ukwatte said some countries had already updated their more..

Nov 2 (CT) The best solution for the current political crisis is to go for a general election as soon as possible, the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) said. Leader of PHU, Udaya Gammanpila, said that the Govt would move a resolution calling for the dissolution of Parliament and hope the UNP would support this move. He added that at a general election, people would give a mandate to the party or group of their choice. more..

Nov 2 (DN) More than 10 handball teams from Germany will tour Sri Lanka early next year on the invitation of the Asian German Sports Exchange Programme. The tours have been arranged with the intention of promoting handball in Sri Lanka on a request by Sri Lanka National Handball coach D. Senaratne. Handball is an immensely popular sport in Germany and by playing against German teams the Lankan handball teams will gain the much needed exposure against foreign teams. more..

Nov 2 (DN) Former South Asian medalists Kyle Abeyasinghe and Akalanka Pieris registered comfortable wins on the opening day of the National and Junior National Swimming Championship that got underway at the Sugathadasa Sports Complex yesterday. In the Senior Boys 200 LC meter was won by Kyle Abeysinghe of Killer Whale AC clocking 2:15.51 seconds while fellow club mate Arukshan Pavalachandran secured second place with a timing of 2:19.45 secs and Gavin Karunanayake more..

Nov 2 (DM) Central Bank this week released its half yearly publication titeld: Recent Economic Developments: Highlights of 2018 and Prospects for 2019. A summary of the performance of the SL economy in 2018 as reflected in this publication is given below: The SL economy faced renewed challenges emanating from global market developments, which disrupted the steady stabilisation path observed up to 1Q of 2018. more..

Nov 2 (Island) Eshan Pieris ended the racing year by winning the 6th and final race of the Rotax Max Challenge Asia held at the Elite Speedway Circuit in Malaysia last weekend. The last Final of the Rotax Max Challenge Asia began under overcast conditions and by lap 3 there was a heavy drizzle but the DD2 drivers continued in their dry tyres. Eshan demonstrated his wet driving capabilities and pulled away from Senna Sulaiman Noor and the pursuing pack. more..

Nov 2 (Island) Sampath Bank recently handed over the renovated Ambagaha Wewa in A'pura District’s Kahatagasdigiliya and Dhanyawa Wewa in Polonnaruwa District’s Divulankadawala, Medirigiriya to members of the local communities. Thusitha Nakandala, Deputy General Manager – Branch Banking, Sampath Bank PLC presided over the ceremonial handing over of the tanks on Oct 30, along with govt officials, members of the local farmers’ associations, other representatives more..

Nov 2 (Island) Purawesi Balaya co-convenor Gamini Viyangoda alleges that what he calls the illegally constituted Sirisena-Rajapaksa govt wants to sabotage investigations into several high profile accountability and mega corruption cases. Dismissing Prez Sirisena’s claims that he had invited his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa to take over premiership due to alleged conspiracy targeting him, Viyangoda insisted that both parties more..

Nov 2 (HRW) Human rights activists in Sri Lanka are anxious. I can’t believe we are back here again, one wrote me recently. Things are getting bad, said another, fearing bloodshed. Their worries aren’t unjustified. On Oct 26, President Maithripala Sirisena abruptly dismissed the prime minister and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa – the former president linked to widespread abuses whom Sirisena had defeated in the January 2015 presidential elections. more..

Nov 2 (FT) The UNP confirmed they would be out in force when parliament is reconvened and rejected a Vote on Account as the legality of the PM’s appointment remains unsettled. Speaker positively responded to President Srisena’s request to facilitate the newly installed PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. However, the UNP would focus on the issue of establishing the legitimacy of the PM and would not be deterred by any other business of parliament including a Vote on Account, more..

Nov 2 (AJ) For a brief moment on Thursday, it appeared as though Sri Lankan politicians might be able to return soon to the country's suspended parliament to thrash out their differences over who should be prime minister - and thus end an acrimonious power struggle that has shaken the South Asian nation. The idea took shape in the morning when newly appointed PM Mahinda Rajapaksa told academics at his office that more..

Nov 2 (DM) Former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe held discussions yesterday evening on how to overcome the present deadlock, informed sources told the Daily Mirror last night. According to sources, the duo had discussed ways and means to help the country through the present impasse. This was confirmed by a prominent figure in the UNP last night, who refrained from divulging other details of the discussions that were held. more..

Nov 2 (DN) The UNP leadership was insensitive to the problems of the country and its people and the Maithri-Mahinda link is expected to be beneficial to the country, Most Ven. Warakagoda Gnanaratana Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter said. The decision taken by UNP MPs Vasantha Senanayake and Ananda Aluthgamage to join the govt ranks is a commendable decision. Mahanayake Thera expressed these sentiments when Minister Vasantha Senanayake and Deputy Minister more..

Nov 2 (CT) JVP yesterday said, that even if a Parliamentary majority was shown after convening Parliament and either MP Ranil Wickremesinghe or MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was selected as PM, they would not recognize the office of either, Premier nor would they recognize the Presidency of Sirisena. JVP slammed the powers that be claiming that horse trading was at its highest to trade in numbers to Parliament, so that more..

Nov 2 (DM) Govt would present a Vote on Account as its second item when Parliament meets, seeking approval to financial allocations to run the country for an interim period, it is learnt. The leaders of the political parties, aligned with the Govt, met with President Sirisena yesterday and discussed Parliamentary businesses. President Sirisena is slated to make a statement after the House is convened as the first item. There will be a debate on it if the opposition asks for it. more..

Nov 2 (DM) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said that one of the main objectives of his Govt was to go for General Elections and therefore, he would support the UNP if it wanted to defeat the Vote on Account. He said going for an election was a must and that defeating a Budget was the easiest way to achieve this. “Defeating a budget or me, whichever means going for a General Election. I look forward to that,” he said. “At this moment what we want is an election. If the UNP wants to do that, more..

Nov 2 (FT) UNP yesterday blamed the current political crisis of the country having a detrimental effect on Sri Lanka’s economy with agencies threatening to downgrade the country’s credit ratings. Deputy Minister of Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Govt Dr. Harsha De Silva claimed that the country’s economy has taken a serious blow to fulfil selfish political ambitions of a handful of people. more..

Nov 2 (Island) Former Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday testified before the Colombo High Court. Rajapaksa & 3 other persons have been indicted for having misappropriated Divineguma funds for electioneering purposes in Jan 2015. Deputy Solicitor General Thusith Mudalige appeared for the Attorney General. Shavindra Fernando P.C. appeared with Jayantha Weerasinghe PC for the accused. Among those accused are R.A. Ranawaka, former DG of Divineguma more..

Nov 2 (DN) A group of University academics yesterday presented five proposals to PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. During a discussion held yesterday with the university academics at the PM’s office, Prof Channa Jayasumana of the Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata Uni presented five proposals to the Premier. The new constitution process brought forward fraudulently without any transparency should be withdrawn. All investigation reports of the CB fraud which destroyed the economy more..

Nov 2 (FT) Govt announced sweeping tax concessions and slashed prices on fuel, saying it was confident of meeting the budget deficit target of 4.9% for 2018 by sharply reducing expenditure by limiting the number of ministries. Finance Ministry announced wide-ranging changes in taxes spanning multiple sectors aimed at encouraging production and simplifying the tax system. The new measures are targeted at giving relief to consumers and more..

Nov 2 (DM) Sri Lanka’s citizens are getting a bit jaded now in waiting for that politician with real leadership qualities to emerge and take charge of the nation. Even when there was a tussle for power within the UNP during the time Ranasinghe Premadasa rose in the political ranks, the Green Party had stalwarts in the likes of Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake to choose from. If we take a leaf out of that period when the Green Party reigned, we saw that UNP more..

Nov 2 (DM) SL’s democratic process, which suffered a devastating blow last Friday, is likely to be on the reverse gear in the coming months and years. The pre-2015 regime, seems to be moving hell and earth to re-establish itself in power, while the big powers have their eyes fixed on the developments in SL. The constitutional crisis that erupted on Friday night following what is widely seen as President Maithripala Sirisena’s controversial and morally unacceptable move to remove the sitting PM, more..

Nov 2 (ST) The construction industry regulator will join forces with the Health Ministry to fight the spread of dengue by downgrading builders who let mosquitoes breed on their sites. Frustrated by continued carelessness at construction sites, Health Ministry has enlisted the assistance of Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) to control dengue in the Western Province. It has requested CIDA to appoint safety officers to more..

Nov 2 (DM) The JVP said yesterday people should not accept the person who secures a majority in Parliament because it means that peoples’ representatives were bought over for money to secure the majority. JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told a rally in Nugegoda that if the person who secures a majority in Parliament was accepted as the PM, it means accepting black money. “It is black money which decides more..

Nov 2 (EN) SL’s internet connections were up 19.7% for the first half of 2018 to reach 6.6 million subscribers, compared to the previous year. Fixed internet connections grew by 25.6% and mobile internet by 18.3%. Mobile phone connections went up 7.5% for the first six months of 2018 to hit 30.2 million subscriptions, compared to last year. Mobile phone penetration (number of connections per 100 people) reached 140% more..

Nov 2 (Island) SLFP treasurer S.B. Dissanayake said that President Sirisena had refrained from taking action against the UNP in spite of the treasury bond scams perpetrated in 2015 and 2016 as he wanted somehow to sustain their marriage. In answer to a question, Dissanayake said that President Sirisena in spite of growing differences with the top UNP leadership had gone his way to save the unity govt. more..

Nov 2 (CT) Downplaying the summoning of Parliament, the SLPP yesterday said, Parliament will not convene on 5 Nov as envisaged by some and a massive protest to support the President and newly-appointed Premier, titled Ratarakina Janawegaya 113+, will commence at the Parliament Circle at 12 noon on 5 Nov. MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the Speaker has proclaimed that the President has the right to prorogue more..

Nov 2 (EN) A Sri Lanka legislator from the UNP had told Speaker Karu Jayasuriya during a meeting at Parliament that he was offered US$ 2.9 million (Rs. 500 million) to crossover, colleague Harsha de Silva said amid an ongoing political crisis. De Silva tweeted that Range Bandara, who was a State Minister, was offered US$ 2.8 million to crossover. "This is first time bribing MPs to cross has been publicly divulged," de Silva said more..

Nov 2 (BN) In a compound secured by the Sri Lankan elite special task force that protects the island nation’s top leaders, beneath framed photos of himself in army uniform, the brother of the country’s newly installed prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is mulling a presidential run. “I’m not interested in actually becoming a minister,” Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who was appointed by his brother to be SL’s defense secretary in 2005 more..

Nov 2 (BN) Sri Lanka's newly appointed Foreign Minister said he would not pursue closer ties with China at the expense of its neighbour India, following the appointment of a PM with a history of borrowing heavily from Beijing to fund infrastructure projects. Mr Sarath Amunugama took office this week shortly after the return to power of former strongman president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Oct 26. The surprise return of Mr Rajapaksa, more..

Nov 2 (DM) A resolution signed by 118 MP’s against the appointment of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the PM and the appointments and decisions that followed, was handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya today. In the resolution, the MPs said the gazette notification issued by President Maithripala Sirisena on Oct 26 making Mr. Rajapaksa the PM was against the Constitution of Sri Lanka. more..

Nov 2 (AD) Speaker Karu Jayasuriya says that President Sirisena has informed him to reconvene the Parliament on Wednesday (7). He stated that the relevant Gazette notification will be issued soon. Speaker announced this while addressing a meeting held with representatives of several political parties at the parliamentary complex today. Jayasuriya stated that although the Parliament had been prorogued more..