Apr 4 (CT) �Thanks to a very successful propaganda campaign focused on the poor and the suffering, the Nazi Party rose from only 12 seats in Reichstag in 1928 to becoming the largest Party at the 1932 Parliamentary Poll with 230 seats�.' The leader of the Nazi Party was Adolph Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, responsible for World War II. Hitler not only believed that Germany was a superpower, he also believed that the Germans were a superior race, even to the more..

Apr 4 (FT) Trincomalee Consultations � 2018 was conducted by The Pathfinder Foundation�s Centre for Indo-Lanka Initiatives recently in Colombo. The event, convened in collaboration with two New Delhi-based think-tanks Carnegie India and Vivekananda International Foundation, was sponsored by Japan. Theme of the conference was A Secure and Safe Bay of Bengal for Common Development and Prosperity. Countries attending the event were Bangladesh, India, Japan, more..

Apr 4 (DM) UNF MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera said he could not vote against or in favour of the no-confidence motion against PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. He told Parliament that the no-faith motion was brought in against an act of misusing state funds and added that even though he could not come to a conclusion until the court decide the culprit, as a Buddhist monk, he could not vote against or in favour of the motion. �It is not acceptable for a Buddhist monk to engage in more..

Apr 4 (DN) Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the second son of former President Rajapaksa, whose passport was impounded by Court as part of the Magisterial inquiry over alleged money laundering at Carlton Sports Network (CSN), was yesterday permitted to travel abroad for a period of eight days by the Colombo High Court. While permitting Yoshitha Rajapaksa to travel to the UAE, Colombo High Court Judge ordered the Kaduwela Magistrate�s Court to temporarily release his passport. more..

Apr 4 (Roar) Sinhala and Tamil New Year is almost upon us, and as preparations begin for the festivities that mark the end of the harvest season, we thought we�d take a look at some of the traditions and customs that have come to characterize the holiday. In Sinhalese, the new year is known as Aluth Avurudda, while in Tamil the new year is known as Puthandu or Puthuvarusham. For the Tamils, holiday marks the first day of more..

Apr 4 (AM) State Ministers Palitha Range Bandara and Wasantha Senanayake, who were strong advocates of the no-confidence motion previously, said they would vote against it. They said they would support PM Ranil Wickremesinghe at the vote tonight. Range Bandara earlier said nearly 27 MPs from the UNP supported the no-confidence motion. During today's press conference, he said all these MPs will now oppose the no-confidence motion against the PM. more..

Apr 4 (NR) The JVP says the No-Confidence Motion tabled against the Prime Minister also applies to the President. Speaking during the debate on the No-Confidence Motion this afternoon, MP Bimal Ratnayake said the Head of State was also involved in the preparation of the No-Confidence Motion. The MP said President Maithripala Sirisena received the people�s mandate against corruption. MP Ratnayake said the Bond Commission report and the 34 stolen reports were not released adding that more..

Apr 4 (DM) Police released a photograph of a suspect seeking public assistance to apprehend him for allegedly involved in a financial fraud of over Rs. 210 million. An individual, a resident of Nawala had lodged a complaint at the CID stating that he was defrauded by the suspect who is a resident of Rajagiriya. According to the complaint, victim had given Rs. 210,623,250 money to the suspect Sanjeewa de Silva Pandithasekara more..

Apr 4 (Island) The SLFP�s vote percentage had drastically dropped the first time in its history since the appointment of Minister Duminda Dissanayake as the party�s General Secretary, said Minister Susil Premajayanth on Monday in Kandy. Addressing the media after attending a ceremony at the Institute of Fundamental Studies (IPS) Hantana, Minister Premajayanth said that it was far better to fight against wrong rather than supporting the wrong-doers. more..

Apr 4 (DM) The son of self-styled Gemunu from the South had married an Iranian girl and the wedding was held at Mount Lavinia Hotel the other day. Gemunu had invited all his onetime Diyawanna colleagues to his son�s wedding. The Green leader and a good number of Green party Diyawanna members had attended the wedding. Blue party purohita from the South holding secretarial status too had been invited, but he was not seen at the wedding, they say. more..

Apr 4 (EN) A cut it SL's ceiling policy rate by 25 basis points to 8.5%, was to signal that a tightening cycle with inflation falling and growth also slowing, CB Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said. "The monetary board (the governing board of the central bank) felt it is timely at this juncture to give signal that the tightening phase of monetary policy should end now," he said. "Up to now there had been a strong period a tightening bias to more..

Apr 4 (DN) The annual expenditure of the state health sector records Rs. 500 billion each year, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said. The Govt allocates around Rs. 235 billion for the health sector every year and the rest of the funds are obtained through various cabinet papers, foreign aid etc., Minister said. He said this addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the new building complex at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle recently. more..

Apr 4 (AD) State Minister Harsha de Silva, says that the UNF will defeat the no-confidence motion against the PM without any trouble. He also claimed that it appears that the JO, which had presented the motion to parliament, has been let down by SLFP by promising nonexistent numbers of votes. �Match over! So ultimately looks like the SLFP let the JO down by promising nonexistent numbers... We, the UNF, will defeat the No Confidence Motion against the PM without any trouble,� de Silva said. more..

Apr 4 (CI) South Africa had been scheduled to play three Tests in Sri Lanka in July, but one of those Tests has been traded for a five-match ODI series and a T20I. Earlier, too, South Africa Tests in Sri Lanka have been either postponed, or commuted to limited-overs matches, most notably in 2013. The reasons, then as now, are commercial: Sri Lanka Cricket loses money on all Test tours not involving India, England, Australia and Pakistan. more..

Apr 4 (VN) Pope Francis appointed a new auxiliary bishop to the Archdiocese of Colombo. Father Anthony Jayakody is the new Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo. He takes over from Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Marius Joseph Peiris who has stepped down having reached the canonical retirement age of 75 in 2016. Fr. Jayakody, a cleric of Colombo, has been the Episcopal Vicar for priestly formation and rector of St. Mary Vianney Archdiocesan Seminary. With his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop more..

Apr 4 (CT) National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection (NMCRP) has lodged a complaint with the CIABOC regarding the salary drawn by the Director General of the Board of Investments (BOI). Meanwhile, Chairman of the NMCRP Ranjith Vithanage has requested the BOI to furnish information, based on the Right to Information Act, regarding several matters raised by them. The first issue raised by the NMCRP is the monthly salary drawn by the Director General of BOI. more..

Apr 4 (AD) MPs from the govt and the opposition are presently expressing various views during the ongoing debate on the motion of the no confidence against PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. However, political analysts point out that regardless of the final outcome of the vote, either the defeat or victory of the motion would signal the end of the National Govt, formed by the country�s two main political parties. more..

Apr 4 (CT) Sri Lanka Development Journalists Forum (SLDJF) is organizing the second National Youth Summit (NYS) under its Sri Lanka Forum Theatre Programme (SLFTP), to provide a platform for young peace-builders in SL, to come together and reflect on the role of the youth in achieving sustainable peace and development in SL, while encouraging them to share their innovative ideas for collective and effective peace-building. Summit will be held in Colombo on 20 and 21 April. more..

Apr 4 (PSL) Avurudu Neketh Seettuwa (the document containing the auspicious times for the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year) was handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena today at the President�s Official Residence in Colombo. In keeping with the tradition, this was handed over to the President by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs, S. B. Nawinna. Avurudu Neketh Seettuwa includes the time of the dawn of the New Year, more..

Apr 4 (AD) 12 MPs of the SLFP including ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers with the govt say they will vote in favour of the no-confidence motion against the PM. The SLFP MPs made this announcement while attending a press conference within the Parliament Complex today. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, W.D.J. Seneviratne, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Chandima Weerakkody, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Dilan Perera, Susil Premajayantha, Susantha more..

Apr 4 (AD) Co-cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne says that a Cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place on Monday, based on the decision of the no-confidence motion. He said that the no-confidence motion against the PM is a turning point of the govt. He stated that the no-confidence motion will only further strengthen the govt and that it will be used as the basis for addressing the shortcomings in the govt. more..

Apr 5 (CT) Today, 4th April 2018, is the date set for the stoning of the PM of this country. Sri Lankans by now have become famous for seeking and finding a scapegoat on whom our troubles can be cast, that somehow magically solves all our problems! That is until we set our sights on another scapegoat. To be sure, the Prime Minister of this country has indeed succumbed to the error of blindly trusting his friends and then covering up for them. This was clearly evident in the case of more..

Apr 5 (DN) Dr. Tush Wickramanayaka is a family physician, licensed in both Sri Lanka and the UK, with a long history of helping children in their time of need. Part of her job description, quite literally, is to identify what pains a child and do what she can to fix it. But lately, Wickramanayaka has been using not just medicine but advocacy and activism to try and achieve that goal. In early March, on International Women�s Day, Wickramanayaka launched Stop Child Cruelty, more..

Apr 5 (CT) State Minister Harsha De Silva says that last year the dollar depreciated only by 2%. �Inflation has been reduced to 3%. It is a very good result. Also the most amounts of Foreign Direct Investments were received in the year 2017.� Q: The economy has collapsed. The President abolished the PM�s Economic Committee and the Central Bank is no longer under his Ministry. When you consider all of this, what we have to ask is, more..

Apr 5 (CT) Laws delays a worldwide issue, currently resolved in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth and United Kingdom from where we inherited the current adversarial system. The main players in the system are lawyers and Judges. It is where the State is providing funds for administration and catalyzes independent judicial appointments and independence of the Judiciary, Law enforced institutions, and efficiently run the legal and more..

Apr 5 (CT) Can the Muslim political leaders afford not to support the No-Confidence Motion against Ranil Wickremesinghe? In 2015, the entire Muslim community sided with the rainbow coalition. They did so because they fell hook, line and sinker after swallowing the surreal reasoning told by the regime changers with regard to an incident, occurred in Aluthgama, which was engineered by a tall, lanky wolf, pious politician who is garbed in national costume, customarily. more..

Apr 5 (ST) The father of Lankan cinema Dr. Lester James Peries will turn 99 on April 5. His wife of a half a century and more, the celebrated film director Sumitra Peries will give him the best gift of all � her latest film Vaishnawee (Divine Messenger) to be released on the same day, its script based on a �synopsis� done by Lester many years ago. �When I told Lester that the film is to be released on his birthday on April 5, more..

Apr 5 (DN) Universities are the highest educational institutions in any country. They take the leading role in imparting knowledge to students. There are 15 National Universities in SL. Universities have not been functioning for more than one month due to the strike of non-academic staff. It is a well-known custom in the SL university culture that the university staff or students will close the universities for months and months without thinking about the adverse consequences of the strike. more..

Apr 5 (Island) They broke the mould when they made Lester James Peries, 99 years ago today. And, Lester with his nonpareil creations, which set a still unsurpassed high-water mark, in his chosen field, broke the mould of what passed for the Sri Lankan cinema, at the time of his baptism of fire. He has been a rebel to the core, but no ordinary one. He has been a liberation fighter sans compare. Having left journalism to pursue a career in filmmaking, Lester courageously more..

Apr 5 (CT) Part 1 of this article showed the UNHRC�s prolonged reliance on the Sri Lankan govt to prosecute members of its armed forces and senior political leaders, cannot be sustained any longer � those responsible for some of the worst crimes in the 21st century. And it was obvious a hybrid court is definitely not in SL�s agenda. Part 2 herein makes crystal clear UNHRC�s prolonged reliance on SL to prosecute its armed forces is unsustainable, examining the role played by more..

Apr 5 (DN) There had been a sharp drop in vegetable prices at the Ampara district, recently. This price plummet had also affected vegetables transported to the district from the Nuwera Eliya, Welimada and the Dambulla Dedicated Economic Centres. Beans, cabbages, beetroot, carrots, leeks and other yams are among the affected produce. Okra, brinjals, bitter gourd, long beans, snake gourd and tomato prices, which were around Rs. 150-180 per kg, had dwindled to Rs. 50-70 per kg. more..

Apr 5 (CT) The country�s much-vaunted Right to Information Act has been hailed as a major breakthrough in the field of information dissemination. While the intentions may be good, in the operations aspect, there is much to be desired. We, randomly, checked the websites of Ministries and tried contacting Information officers for feedback and here are some of our findings. Right to Information (RTI) Act became operational in SL on 3 Feb 2017. more..

Apr 5 (CT) Sri Lanka will be expected to fight hard against Indonesia in the Davis Cup BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Zone Group II play-off that gets underway in Colombo on the 7 and 8 April at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts in Greenpath. The losers of this tie will be demoted to zone group � III in 2019. Sri Lanka was in group III of the Davis Cup last year and got promoted to group II with an unbeaten record after the group III event held in Colombo last year in June. more..

Apr 5 (CT) Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) decided to pull out from the XV a side Asia Championship Division 1 Tournament which is scheduled to be played in June. Due to the busy International Sevens rugby calendar SLR has decided to skip this year�s tournament. This year Sri Lanka Sevens team will have a busy International Sevens calendar where they are in line to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, Asian Games in Indonesia and in the Three Leg Asian Sevens Series. more..

Apr 5 (DN) Though the opening ceremony of the XXIst Commonwealth Games was delayed by four hours it was held on a grand scale and attended by a huge crowd which packed the whole stadium. Prince Charles along with his wife Camelia was greeted by the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation Louise Martin and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull. A thunderous ovation was given by the crowd to the chief guests. more..

Apr 5 (Island) Sydney based sports physiotherapist and fitness trainer Thilina Vitharana advocated the introduction of pilates as a part of the routine training regime for elite athletes like Rumeshika Rathnayake. Thilina says the Sri Lankan sprinter would benefit immensely from pilates. Rumeshika is currently in Sydney undergoing an intensive training regime under Thilina�s overall supervision as part of her preparation for the Commonwealth games. Two weeks ago Rumeshika improved her more..