Nov 13 (AA) The first red flag that Sri Lanka was spiralling into a constitutional meltdown, a free fall, came when India�s friend-turned-smiling-foe, former President Rajapaksa, arrived in New Delhi in September, followed closely by a grim PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, signalling that a shift in the balance of power was underway in the island nation. The events that followed thereafter set off alarm bells in New Delhi as the frosty acrimony between Prez Sirisena and Mr Wickremesinghe more..

Nov 13 (FT) Civil society members, activists, and politicians alike sought the intervention of the Supreme Court as their last refuge yesterday, filing 11 fundamental rights petitions claiming Prez Sirisena�s decision to dissolve Parliament was unconstitutional. In an unprecedented move, one of the three members of the Election Commission, Dr. Ratnajeevan Hoole, was also among those who petitioned the 3-member bench, claiming more..

Nov 13 (Island) For the first time in world history a Commissioner in charge of facilitating elections had gone to the Supreme Court to prevent elections, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said, commenting on Ratnajeevan Hoole, a member of the Elections Commission, challenging in courts the President�s decision to dissolve Parliament. The previous govt had appointed politically biased individuals to all independent commissions, starting from the Constitutional Council, and the behaviour of more..

Nov 13 (Island) The Kohuwela police yesterday arrested a Pakistani who had amorous affairs with a number of SL women after acquainting them via the Internet and promising to marry them and later blackmailed them. The police first arrested an accomplice of the suspect while he was accepting money from a woman in a hotel in the area and acting on information elicited form him, they arrested the main suspect, who was staying in a tourist hotel in Negombo. more..

Nov 13 (CT) Amidst the intensifying political crisis in the country, a cross-section of MPs of the UNP openly requested Party Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa to be the UNP Leader and the PM Candidate of the UNP in any General Election in the future. While participating in recent protests against the Prez Sirisena`s arbitrary decision to dissolve Parliament, both UNP MPs Ajith P. Perera & Ranjith Madduma Bandara said more..

Nov 13 (PO) SL�s Speaker on Sunday accused Prez Sirisena of usurping parliament and urged public servants to defy his illegal orders, as the President scrambled to defend his controversial sacking of the legislature. Karu Jayasuriya said Sirisena�s actions over the past two weeks in sacking PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and dissolving parliament undermined the freedoms of the people. Sirisena triggered an unprecedented constitutional crisis last month when he sacked Wickremesinghe and more..

Nov 13 (CT) A group of students from the University of Kelaniya marched to the Ministry of Higher Education from Colombo Fort yesterday, demanding solutions for pressing issues. The protesters demanded that they be provided with proper hostels. They also said that they lack facilities at the Faculty of Technology, including labs, and demanded a permanent building for the faculty. The students highlighted that there are no doctors at the Medical Centre at the University, more..

Nov 13 (CT) All 3 Members of the Independent Election Commission (EC) were of the view that Prez Sirisena�s proclamation, dissolving the Parliament, was unconstitutional and illegal, EC Member, Prof Ratnajeevan H. Hoole said, through a Fundamental Rights (FR) Petition, filed in the Supreme Court, seeking the abolishment of the Prez�s decision to sack the Parliament and call a snap election on 5 Jan 2019. more..

Nov 13 (CT) The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), refused to divulge details on the complaint of an alleged political bribe made to former UNP MP Palitha Range Bandara, during the ongoing Constitutional standoff. �Such matters cannot be divulged, political or otherwise, since the CIABOC is covered under secrecy laws and therefore we work within that frame and nothing else,� CIABOC Director General Sarath Jayamanne said. more..

Nov 13 (DN) Chairman of the National Savings Bank Ashwin de Silva resigned his post yesterday with immediate effect citing personal reasons. �I have tendered my resignation yesterday to Treasury Secretary Sajith Attygalle and it is with immediate effect and it is for very personal reasons, he told Daily News Business yesterday. He also said that during his tenure, the NSB achieved the highest ever profit of Rs. 14 billion Post Tax Profit, lowest NPL ratio of 1.7% of total assets more..

Nov 13 (FT) SLPP said legal action would be taken against PM Ranil Wickremesinghe under Public Property Act for occupying Temple Trees after the dissolution of Parliament. Wickremesinghe continuing to remain at his Official Residence even after the dissolution was gazetted is unlawful, charged SLPP member Rohitha Abeygunawardena, and could be used to file a case against him. more..

Nov 13 (CT) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, who officially obtained the Membership of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna on 11 Nov, is expected to contest next year�s Parliamentary General Election, which is slated for 5 Jan of 2019, from the Kurunegala District, informed political sources said. These sources said though Premier Rajapaksa has had several invitations to contest from various other Districts, he has decided to contest the forthcoming election from the Kurunegala District. more..

Nov 13 (Island) A gazette notification, calling for deposits from independent candidates contesting the general election scheduled for Jan 5 was issued yesterday. Each independent candidate would have to pay a deposit of Rs. 2,000. Election Commission officials said arrangements had been made to accept the deposits at District Secretaries� Offices or District Election Offices. The number of MPs to be elected are as follows: Colombo�19, Gampaha�18, Kurunegala�15, Kandy�12, more..

Nov 13 (DM) Challenging all arguments in favour of the dissolution of Parliament, Supreme Court (SC) yesterday heard ten petitions arguing that Prez Sirisena must abide by the Constitution when exercising Executive powers, and could not act like Alice in Wonderland. Ten petitioners yesterday informed court that the President's powers to dissolve parliament under Article 33 (2) (c) of the constitution was more..

Nov 13 (DM) The news of the dissolution of Parliament is bound to bring a tremendous outpouring of views from the International Community to say nothing of what the local population has to say. But it has always intrigued me (usually irritated me) when this phrase International Community is used because to start with what does this phrase exactly mean? Who or what comprises the International Community (IC) and what possible interest do most countries have in little SL? more..

Nov 13 (DM) Prez Sirisena has dug himself into a hole. Each desperate move he made to pull himself up, has further entrapped him, and dragged the country into the worst- ever political crisis in recent times. His last exploit was the capricious dissolution of Parliament, of which constitutionality was challenged in the Court by 12 Fundamental Rights petitions yesterday. The SC began hearing yesterday afternoon, despite objections by the govt parties that they had not been served notice. more..

Nov 13 (DM) Politics has always been a messy game. It got even messier over the past few days. At a time when many debates, arguments and justifications are being brought up, one certainly wouldn�t be able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. When many were looking forward to Nov 14, President Mathripala Sirisena dissolved Parliament last Friday -another trump card out of many as he said. more..

Nov 13 (Island) "Our ancient generation has handed over a natural resource of superior quality for us and it is our responsibility to ensure its sustainability for future generations. In this regard, I have to sincerely thank the DS of Porathivupattu and ADRA for initiating this concept to protect nature and coordinate the involvement of many stakeholders and the public in the planting of palmyra seeds for an expanse of 25km." more..

Nov 13 (FT) The SLFP remained unperturbed by the spate of members leaving its ranks to join the SLPP yesterday, insisting that its main goal was winning a Parliamentary majority in the likely event of elections. Over the weekend, PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, together with his son Namal Rajapaksa and several dozen SLFP members, took SLPP membership. More key members within the SLFP ranks are expected more..

Nov 13 (DN) The UNP and JVP did not seek legal interpretation when the PM was appointed but now seek judicial intervention after Parliament was dissolved because they are all having one political agenda and they know their fate, if they face an election, State Languages and National Integration, Reconciliation Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said. He said this at a press briefing yesterday. more..

Nov 13 (DM) Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne ordered MP Ravi Karunanayake�s daughter, Onela Karunanayake to submit details of the director board of Global Transport Logistics (GTL) to the CID. It was earlier reported that the GTL is a company which MP Ravi Karunanayake�s wife and daughter were directors. When the case was taken up in Courts, Magistrate ordered the CID to record a statement more..

Nov 13 (ST) Taxes on essential food items and commodities that were reduced through an announcement by the Finance Ministry, haven�t yet been gazetted and hence, the old prices stand, officials said. �The Govt hasn�t issued a gazette notification yet, nor informed us of when one would be ready. We have to wait till the Cabinet settles first and the subject Minister issues a gazette notification. Then only can we revise the prices,� more..

Nov 13 (Island) The TNA will attempt to form a grand coalition with all Tamil political parties before handing over nominations for the coming general election, TNA leader, R Sampanthan said. The TNA leader also warned against establishing new political parties in the North, hinting at the attempts made by former Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran to form a new political party. more..

Nov 13 (DN) President Maithripala Sirisena has asked that all former MPs, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers return their vehicles and public property to the relevant Ministry Secretary to avoid having legal action taken against them under the Election law. He reiterated that strict action would be taken against any member of the govt who misuses public property for election purposes. In his address to the nation on Sunday night, more..

Nov 13 (LBO) Supreme Court adjourned till the next day as the Attorney General asked time for his submission for the Fundamental Rights petitions filed by several parties challenging the dissolution of Parliament. Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Chief Justice Nalin Perera, Justice Priyantha Jayawardena and Justice Prasanna S Jayawardena fixed the petition for further submissions tomorrow morning. more..

Nov 13 (AD) Attorney General has requested the Supreme Court to dismiss all petitions filed against the dissolution of Parliament as the President�s decision is consistent with the Constitution of SL. AG Jayantha Jayasuriya, making submissions to the court, stated that the Gazette notification issued by the President dissolving the Parliament was constitutional and that the Prez had done so through the executive powers vested in him. more..

Nov 13 (CT) The constitutional imbroglio entered its 17th day yesterday. As a result, new development projects led by multilateral and key bilateral donor agencies, with the possible exception of China and India, have ground to a halt, causing hardships to the masses. The genesis of the crisis was Prez Sirisena sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe as Premier and appointing former Prez Rajapaksa as the new Premier on 26 Oct, prorogation of Parliament, which reconvening date was twice changed more..

Nov 13 (FT) TIME: What was the immediate reason for calling an election? President Kumaratunga: I was forced into it by a total breakdown of cohabitation in govt. PM (Ranil Wickremesinghe) was determined to harass me and chase me out. He has only one obsession: he wants to be the President. And he does not seem to care what happens to the country in the process. We came to an impossible impasse. The only way to resolve it was to ask the people for a mandate. more..

Nov 13 (CI) If Sri Lanka have a half-decent Test record over the past 14 months - and they do, winning six and losing only three of their last 13 Tests - it is largely the work of their bowlers. Take the matches in the UAE last year, for example. In the first Test, SL collapsed in the second innings to leave Pakistan needing only 136 for victory, before Rangana Herath drew on his famed reserves of cricketing fortitude and body-slammed Pakistan for what felt like the millionth time in his career, more..

Nov 13 (AD) Cyclonic storm �GAJA� over the Central Bay of Bengal is now located approximately 870km away from Kankasanturai to the northeast of Sri Lanka, near latitude-13.2N, Longitude-87.2E at 05.30a.m. today. It is very likely to move west-southwestwards and intensify further into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during next 24 hours, the Department of Meteorology said. The system is expected to cross South TN coast and very likely to move closer to the northern coast of SL. more..

Nov 13 (CT) In a shock move, a member of SL�s independent Elections Commission filed a fundamental rights petition in Supreme Court yesterday, joining a dozen other petitioners in challenging the Presidential Proclamation dissolving Parliament and declaring elections as unconstitutional and illegal. Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole, a member of the 3-man Commission set up by the 19th Amendment more..

Nov 13 (CI) The track in Pallekele looks dry so it will probably turn. If there is a touch of rain in the mountain air it could swing as well. But even if the pitch starts spitting fire, and a blizzard rolls through, England might still feel confident. They feel as if they have an attack for all seasons. Cloudy skies and a new ball in hand? Have a bit of James Anderson, who bowls like he has pictures of the clouds in uncompromising positions, and so will exploit them relentlessly. more..

Nov 13 (DM) Govt of Japan hopes that the stability in Sri Lanka will continue to be ensured through due process in accordance with the law, Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry said. In a statement, Press Secretary Takeshi Osuga said as a longtime friend of SL, Japan is following with close attention and interest the recent developments in SL, including the dissolution of the parliament. Prez Sirisena dismissed PM Wickremesinghe and appointed former Prez Rajapaksa as PM on Oct 26. more..

Nov 13 (AD) Supreme Court has issued a stay order temporarily suspending the Gazette notification issued by the Prez on the dissolution of Parliament. The highest court in the country also issued a stay order on the Elections Commission preventing the holding of a general election. The stay orders have been issued effective until Dec 7. Delivering its much-anticipated decision regarding the fundamental rights petitions filed more..

Nov 13 (Menafn) The Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action for all citizens, to ensure we leave no one behind by 2030. The 17 Goals are owned by us all � Govts, everyday citizens, civil society organizations and NGOs, and, equally, the private sector. Increasingly, businesses all over the world have taken ownership of the SDGs and are using the goals to develop new inclusive and sustainable opportunities. Such firms understand that making the shift more..

Nov 13 (AD) The recovered remains of the German woman, who died after falling off World�s End at Horton Plains allegedly while attempting to take a selfie, has been transferred to the Balangoda Base Hospital by police this morning. The deceased has been identified as a 35-year-old Julia Elgar, a citizen of Germany. She has reportedly fallen off the World�s End at around 7.30 a.m. on Nov 11. Several groups of Army personnel including the Commanding Officer of Nuwara Eliya more..

Nov 13 (CI) Sri Lanka have asked for a turning pitch - a proper one this time - and they will go in with three spinners and a lone quick again, but for the hosts to level the series, the batsmen still have to pull their weight. So said Suranga Lakmal, who has captained three Tests and won all three, thanks largely to his attack. Under his leadership, Sri Lanka's bowlers have dismissed oppositions for scores such as 93, 73, 123 and 124. more..

Nov 13 (DM) Anti-Corruption Force Operations Director Namal Kumara today said that he would contest at the upcoming Parliamentary Election as the SLPP ticket. He said people had requested to contest for the election for the betterment of the country. �I have revealed many secrets and confidential recording to protect the President and the country. By revealing those things I did not expect anything. I risked my life for the country to protect the President,� he said. more..

Nov 13 (NR) SLPP says the party has not finalised its nomination papers to contest the next Parliamentary Elections. The SLPP in a tweet said it has commenced the preliminary process to compile nomination papers for the election. Meanwhile the party has also rejected reports circulating pertaining to handing over nominations to various individuals. Meanwhile earlier today, Operations Director of the Anti-Corruption Force Namal Kumara said he is hoping to contest forthcoming Gen. Election more..