Aug 6 (CT) Nations Trust Bank PLC announced the appointment of Chief Executive Officer Priyantha Talwatte to its Board of Directors with effect from 19th June 2020. Talwatte has been an integral part of the Nations Trust Bank’s Corporate Management team, for over 17 years and took over as Chief Executive Officer on 02 April 2020. Leading and overseeing the Consumer Banking business, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Bank’s sales and service culture. more..

Aug 6 (EN) Candidates contesting parliamentary polls held today have spent a sum of Rs 2.2 billion over the course of the campaign period, an election watchdog said. CMEV National Coordinator Manjula Gajayanake said individual candidates have spent nearly Rs 80 million each since campaigning began. “We studied a wide range of figures when analysing this. At last November’s prez election, candidates spent Rs 1,897.3m. more..

Aug 6 (DN) The SLASU, one of the oldest governing bodies in the country with a history of over eight decades, has produced some talented swimmers to represent at international events who brought glory to the country. Nethru Nanayakkara, the incumbent president of SLASU, is very optimistic to restart the tournaments and get going but is very particular about the written approval from the related authorities. According to him, China has extended an invitation for sea games only for 2 more..

Aug 6 (Island) The murder convicted SLPP Ratnapura district candidate Premalal Jayasekera, sentenced to death over a killing in Kahawatte during the Prez Election in 2015, had not been allowed to vote at yesterday’s general election, CaFFE Executive Director Manas Makeen said. Although Jayasekera was sentenced to death there was speculation that he would be allowed to vote. The shooting, which took place on Jan 05, 2015 caused the death of a supporter of then more..

Aug 6 (FT) The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) yesterday said the polling day was peaceful and no election violence was reported during the time polling was conducted. Speaking to reporters, National Coordinator Manjula Gajanayake said 161 election law violations were reported but that they would not affect the overall election result and noted that compared to previous elections, the situation was peaceful. more..

Aug 6 (CT) Dialog Axiata has abandoned its plans to acquire VSIS Enterprise Solutions (Pvt). According to a disclosure published on the CSE, both Dialog Broadband Networks, a fully owned subsidiary of Dialog Axiata and VSIS Enterprise Solutions, a fully owned subsidiary of VS Information Systems (VSIS) have decided to terminate discussions on acquisition. In February this year, Dialog Axiata announced that it was planning to acquire 100% stake in VSIS Enterprise Solutions. more..

Aug 6 (CT) Two persons died in separate incidents while they were assembled at polling booths to cast their votes yesterday. 81-year-old Garlin Peiris, father of two dropped dead while waiting in line to cast his ballot at a polling booth at a location in Bekkegama in Panadura. The man was pronounced dead on admission to the Panadura Govt Hospital. In the other incident, a 69-year-old woman collapsed and died while at a polling booth at the Walagamba Maha Vidyalaya in Aluthapola, Minuwangoda more..

Aug 6 (FT) Sri Lankans braved COVID-19 health risks to exercise their franchise at yesterday’s Parliamentary Elections with around 71% of the 16.2 million registered voters casting their vote. The highest polling was in the Hambantota district, where around 76% of voters cast their vote while the lowest was in the Puttalam district, which had around 63% of the votes cast, EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said. more..

Aug 6 (EN) Inadequate political knowledge among Sri Lanka’s younger generation is the biggest reason for the country’s low level of development, a Colombo-based election violation monitoring organisation said. “The political knowledge of the young generation is much lower than we expect,” Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) National Coordinator Manjula Gajanayake said. “We all know how to vote, but that doesn’t mean we have political knowledge” he added, more..

Aug 6 (FT) Browns Investment PLC has obtained a stay order on the purported acquisition of a five-acre land in Trincomalee, Nilaveli beach, by the SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). SLTDA had attempted a purported acquisition and attempted to eject Browns Investment from the said land it owned and possessed in Kuchchaveli, Trincomalee. Petitioner, Browns Investment, inter alia, alleged that the notice was bad in law for the reason that the notice has not been properly more..

Aug 6 (CT) SL’s quarterly GDP growth contracted for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2001 with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the already troubled economy. According to statistics, GDP contracted 1.6% during the first quarter of this year. Many countries are facing economic downturns this year and experts have labelled the year’s growth as the worst slowdown since the 2001 world economic recession. more..

Aug 6 (CT) The Parliamentary Election was held in a peaceful manner with just 29 complaints filed yesterday. Meanwhile, no serious incidents were reported, said Police Media Spokesperson. This included 6 election-related offences and 23 Election Law violations. 34 individuals were arrested in connection with the complaints while nine vehicles were seized by Police. 418 complaints had been filed during the entire election period with 104 election offences, 314 election law violations more..

Aug 6 (Island) The rainy weather over the south-western parts of the country is expected to increase within the next few days. The Met Dept said that showers would occur at times in Sabaragamuwa, Western, Central and North-Western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts. Heavy rainfalls above 100 mm are likely at some places in Sabaragamuwa and Central provinces and in Galle, Matara and Kalutara districts. The Met Department has issued a weather advisory for naval communities more..

Aug 6 (CT) General Election 2020, South Asia’s first Election to be held amidst the COVID-19 pandemic concluded last evening with nearly 71% voter turnout and in a relatively peaceful environment. EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya at the completion of voting said the Election was held under strict health guidelines and the overall voter-turnout was encouraging. “Approximately 71% overall voter-turnout was reported. more..

Aug 6 (DM) SLPP Founder and its National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa said the SLPP is all ready to form a new govt as the party's victory has been confirmed. He expressed these views after casting vote at D.A.Rajapaksa Maha Vidyala at Medamulana. Mr.Rajapaksa said his party would make history as the only party to come into power within a short span of time since its formation, defeating other old political parties. "The SLPP, which was formed as a party that respects more..

Aug 6 (DM) The number of SL casualties in the massive explosion in Lebanese capital Beirut, on Tuesday, has risen to ten, SL Embassy in Lebanon said. According to the SL Ambassador to Lebanon Shani Karunarathne, the ten injured Sri Lankans are currently being treated in hospitals and their conditions are not critical. Several boarding places of Sri Lankans have also been damaged due to the explosion, Karunarathne said. “Embassy has taken action to send dry rations for the affected more..

Aug 6 (MB) In the early 1990s, whale watching opportunities in SL were few and far between as both opportunity and access were rare. Whale watching requires both whales and whale watchers, such as tourists, naturalists and so on, to be within viewing distance of one another. Capturing whales and holding them in marine parks is one way of doing it, but this raises serious ethical concerns and also deprives participants of more..

Aug 6 (FT) Interdependence and bandwagoning has been central to the new foreign policy dynamics of smaller states in the recent years. In the 21st century, the power matrix between bigger and smaller nations will be determined by this paradigm. SL’s foreign policy as an island nation should be to promote its national interest in synchrony with mainland India without compromising its relations with other major nations. For stabilisation of the Indo-pacific region, these small strategically more..

Aug 6 (FT) This column appears on the day after E-Day. It is a good time to discuss thematic political issues, including those that go beyond the elections. Most pressing are two core issues which I had flagged back in 2013, the answers to which we shall know with the results of this election. Interviewed at length by this newspaper in 2013, I stated (in response to a question posed by Chamitha Kuruppu) that: “…there has been an intra-regime change. The centre of gravity is shifting from more..

Aug 6 (AD) Attorney General has directed the Acting IGP to obtain warrants from court and arrest five individuals including the Mayor of Kurunegala and Municipal Commissioner, in connection with the demolishing of the Buwaneka Hotel, a building of historical value in Kurunegala. AG has ordered the arrest of the Mayor of Kurunegala Thushara Sanjeewa, Municipal Commissioner, Engineer and two others more..

Aug 6 (AD) The final cumulative results of the Galle District have been released by the Elections Commission. SLPP secured a comprehensive victory in the district with 430,334 votes (70.5%) and managed to win 07 seats. SJB is second with 115,456 votes (18.93%) and only secures 02 seats from the district. JJB is third with 29,963 votes (4.91%) and the UNP is in fourth place with 18,968 votes (3.11%). However, both parties failed to secure any seats in the district. more..

Aug 6 (NR) The SLPP secured six Parliamentary seats from the Matara district after polling 352,217 votes. The SLPP won all the polling divisions of the district, Devinuwara, Deniyaya, Hakmana, Matara, Kamburupitiya, Weligama and Akuressa at the 2020 Parliamentary Election. The SJB obtained 72,740 votes and claimed one seat from Matara. Meanwhile, the NPP received 37,136 votes while the UNP obtained 7,631 votes, however failed to secure a Parliamentary seat. more..

Aug 6 (TOI) Though SL gangster Chandana Perera alias Angoda Lokka escaped from Colombo using a fake passport and landed in Chennai in 2017, he was operating his gang in the island nation through WhatsApp calls till his death on June 3 in Coimbatore. According to the SL police, Angoda Lokka was arrested by the SL police in 2014 in connection with a murder case. Later, he obtained bail and came out of prison. more..

Aug 6 (EN) Police are saying an unknown gunman armed with a T-56 Assault Rifle shot and killed alleged underworld figure Eron Ranasinghe also known as SF Lokka yesterday at a railway crossing in Anuradhapura town. SSP Jaliya Senaratne said that the unidentified gunman had arrived and fled on a motorcycle. He said that the investigations revealed that a T-56 gun was used by the gunman for the assassination and that the police had recovered 7 bullet shells from the scene. more..

Aug 6 (AD) Ten districts have been affected by the inclement weather that prevails across the island, DMC says. 483 houses island-wide were damaged by the gusty winds. Accordingly, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kegalle, Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Nuwara Eliya have experienced the adverse effects of the blustery condition. Five individuals have sustained injuries owing to the prevailing situation and many roads were blocked by the fallen trees. more..

Aug 7 (CT) This is a note on an aspect of the election. The SL intelligentsia belongs to roughly two categories. One is the camp which regards itself as the jathika or nationalist intelligentsia, is more exactly defined as the Sinhala nationalist intelligentsia and is probably most precisely defined as the Sinhala-Buddhist ultranationalist intelligentsia. The other camp is broadly definable as the pluralist democratic intelligentsia, which includes the liberal-cosmopolitan intelligentsia and more..

Aug 7 (CT) Elephants are in the processing of being eliminated in many countries including SL. Currently it is recorded that many elephants die or are killed in SL every year. I therefore wrote and published a book titled Save the Elephants in 2019 Dec and this book is available at Vijitha Yapa. In this book I have recorded that elephants are killed not only for the tusks and bones but also for the skins! A small hand bag for leaders made out of elephant skin will cost about US $ 1000 (Rs 190,000). more..

Aug 7 (WION) Indian PM Narendra Modi has called and congratulated PM Mahinda Rajapaksa for leading his party SLPP to victory in parliamentary polls in the country. Mahinda Rajapaksa took to Twitter and thanked Narendra Modi for his wishes. He said: "Thank you PM @narendramodi for your congratulatory phone call. With the strong support of the people of #SriLanka, I look forward to working with you closely more..

Aug 7 (FT) Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday congratulated the Chairman and members of the Elections Commission as well as health, security and all other public officials for the model election they conducted amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. “The successful conclusion of the election shows the strength of our public service, when independent,” he said. He also expressed his appreciation to the 71% of voters who defied the health risks posed by COVID-19 more..

Aug 7 (AD) Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has managed to secure a victory in Trincomalee district after polling 86,394 votes (40.56%). The SJB has won 02 seats in the district. SLPP obtained the second highest number of votes in the district with 68,681 votes (32.25%) and secured one seat. Meanwhile the ITAK came in third with 39,570 votes (18.58%) and also won one seat. EPDP received 3,775 votes (1.77%), AITC – 2,745 votes (1.29%) and JJB – 2,226 votes (1.058%). more..

Aug 7 (FT) The UNP yesterday said they accepted the verdict of the people, and would take necessary measures to restructure the party and emerge stronger at future elections. Speaking to reporters in Galle, former Parliamentarian and senior UNP member Vajira Abeywardena said the public had placed their trust in the SLPP, and as a party they would accept the verdict of the people. This was the first time that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe lost his seat since 1977. more..

Aug 7 (AD) SLPP has secured the victory in the Ratnapura district with 68.86% (446,668) of the marked votes. The party has bagged 08 seats from the district. SJB obtained the second-highest number of votes with 155,759 (24.81%) votes, with 03 seats allocated for them. Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) came in third with 17,611 votes (2.72%) while the UNP gained 12,349 votes (1.90%). Our Power of People Party (OPPP) has come in fifth place in the district obtaining 3,944 votes (0.61%). more..

Aug 7 (AD) The SLPP has bagged the most votes and secured a total of 08 seats, according to the final results of the Kalutara District. Accordingly, SLPP has received 448,699 votes (64.08%) to win 08 seats while the SJB placed second with 171,988 votes (24.56%) to claim 02 seats. JJB came in third with 33,434 votes (4.77%) and the UNP has managed 16,485 votes (2.35%). However, they both failed to secure any seats from the district. more..

Aug 7 (CT) SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara charged that a group of persons from a legal unit attached to the UNP had been engaged in counting the preferential votes of UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. He alleged that measures had been covertly undertaken by the UNP, flouting provisions contained in Articles of the Constitution and the Election Laws. As per the said Laws, a political party could lay claim to more..

Aug 7 (AD) SLPP has secured the victory in Nuwara Eliya district with 54.47% (230,389) of the marked votes. Party has bagged 5 seats from the district. SJB obtained the second-highest number of votes with 132,008 (31.21%) votes, with 3 seats. Nuwara Eliya Independent Group 1 came in third with 17,107 votes (4.04%) while the UNP gained 12,974 votes (3.07%). SLFP has come in fifth place in the district obtaining 6.227 votes (1.47%). With 5,043 (1.19%) JJB has ranked sixth in the district. more..

Aug 7 (AD) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has polled the most votes and secured 04 seats, according to the final results of the Polonnaruwa District. SLPP has received 180,847 votes (73.66%) to win 04 seats while the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is second with 47,781 votes (19.46%) and claim a single seat. Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) comes in third with 6,792 votes (2.77%) and the UNP has managed 6,525 votes (2.66%). However, they both fail to secure any seats from the district. more..

Aug 7 (AD) A comprehensive list of the allocation of parliamentary seats to parties and groups that contested the General Election 2020 has been released by Election Commission. The number of National List seats allocated to each party has also been announced. SLPP leads the list with a total of 145 parliamentary seats. SLPP has been allocated 17 National List seats, to be added to the 128 seats won by them in the polls. In second place, SJB has been allocated 7 National List seats. more..

Aug 7 (AD) ITAK has bagged the most votes and secured a total of 3 seats, according to the final results of the Jaffna District. ITAK has received 112 ,967 votes (31.46%) to win 03 seats while the AITC placed second with 55,303 votes (15.40%) to claim 01 seats. SLFP came in third with 49,373 votes (13.75%) and the EPDP has managed 45,797 votes (12.75%). Both parties secured one parliamentary seat each. TMTK coming in fifth with 35,927 votes (10.00%) claimed one seat as well. more..

Aug 7 (AD) The SLPP has obtained the highest number of votes in the district with 220,566 (57.26%) and secured 05 seats. SJB polled 80,183 votes (20.8%) and won 02 seats. Muslim National Alliance (MNA) came on third in the district with 55,981 votes (14.53%) and has secured a parliamentary seat, while the JJB is fourth with 9,944 votes (2.58%). The UNP has received 7,985 votes (2.07%) and OPPP polled 5,393 votes (1.40%). more..