Jan 22 (CT) What took place as a result of the 1972 and 1978 constitutions was the change of the normative framework of the legal system of Sri Lanka. One aspect of the explanation lies in how language affects understanding. Words derive their meaning from what exists in the outside world, whether it will be nature or social realities. However, when it comes to abstract ideas, when a word is used to express an idea that is outside of reality, the word itself acquires a fixed meaning more..

Jan 22 (CT) Cabinet having approved a proposal by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to suspend the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement has appointed a four member committee headed by Dr. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan to study the deal and propose further action. If the Government based on the Gunaruwan Committee findings, decide to proceed with the acceptance of the MCC grant, subject to the project scope being amended from the presently agreed three focus areas, more..

Jan 22 (Roar) Early last November, Colombo woke up to an unusual smog lingering over the city. At first, many thought it was a mist brought about by the impending cold weather. But by late morning, news had begun to filter through that Sri Lanka�s air quality had turned unhealthy. Almost as widespread as the smog was the rumour it came from Delhi, India. But although almost half the 50 most polluted cities in the world are in India, more..

Jan 22 (DN) Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. So said the visionary South African leader, the late Nelson Mandela. Education is indeed a life-changing experience, where the ultimate aim is to produce good citizens who can make a positive contribution to society. But the education sector in Sri Lanka is riddled with many problems, some of which have been persisting for decades. One silver lining is that SL is one of the few developing countries more..

Jan 22 (DN) Almost through the entire history of our Parliament, we have tolerated the recurring, unprofessional conduct and unproductive contributions from many of our politicians, who make a mockery out of august assemblies such as the Provincial Councils and the Parliament. In a scenario of bulging packages of high-cost fringe benefits offered to undeserving and unqualified politicians, the time has come to break the shackles of convention and listen to the disillusioned more..

Jan 22 (CT) Exposure of Ranjan Ramanayake voice recordings has thrown a cloud over the judiciary and people have started to question the veracity of their judgments. The confidence instilled in the judiciary by the trusting public was shattered and caused massive damage to the respect and confidence directed to such bodies that have been appointed to implement and maintain law and order more..

Jan 22 (TM) With the UNHRC meeting at the end of next month in Geneva for its regular session, Sri Lanka has already commenced diplomatic-level discussions to secure support to counter any pressure which may be exerted on the new Govt. Govt sources said that both Russia and China have already reiterated their support for Sri Lanka and similar support is expected from Pakistan and other countries that have in the past opposed any interference in Sri Lanka�s domestic affairs. more..

Jan 22 (TM) The much-awaited decision on the leadership of the UNP was once again delayed, as last week�s meeting ended with the failure to reach a conclusive resolution and Sajith Premadasa�s camp adamant to form its own alliance from within the party to face the next general election. During the UNP parliamentary group meeting held on 9 January, it was indicated by the current leadership that it was crucial to regain the Sinhala-Buddhist vote � the loss of which many believe was more..

Jan 22 (Island) The Malaysian government has set an example to its counterparts in the developing world in handling foreign garbage. It has told the exporters of plastic waste, in no uncertain terms, that they must stop trying to turn Malaysia into a waste dump and matched its words with action; it has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 countries, including Sri Lanka, during the last several months, according to a news item we published yesterday. more..

Jan 22 (DN) Legendary left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has urged Sri Lanka Cricket to revamp the first-class cricket structure. Herath is not the first past Test cricketer to call for a change in the current inferior first-class domestic cricket structure and he won�t be the last either. �Our domestic cricket structure must improve if we are to compete against formidable teams,� was Herath�s plea to Sri Lanka Cricket. Several past cricketers including the present Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne more..

Jan 22 (CI) Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis led Sri Lanka's steady progress on day three, as the visitors finished just 63 runs adrift, with six wickets still in hand. They lost a wicket in each session on what was a still placid Harare Sports Club surface. The most likely route to a result in this Test may be for Sri Lanka to establish a big lead in the first innings, then dismiss Zimbabwe cheaply. While Mathews started slowly, more..

Jan 22 (Island) The recently deceased Jayalath Manoratne was a verbal artist par excellence. He was a Sinhala dramatist and playwright, poet, creative writer, scholar, lecturer, cultural critic, humanist and philosopher. A product of Peradeniya University under Prof Ediriweera Sarathchandra, he believed in a single humanity and expressed that belief in his art, to which he was dedicated. Mano was never after money or fame. He had the courage to refuse, on principle, award under Prez JRJ more..

Jan 22 (Island) UNP leader of over 25 years, Ranil Wickremesinghe, is obviously an avid baseball fan. Clearly believing that the rules of that quintessential American sport, applies to the UNP leadership states. In baseball, you need three strikes to be out. Mr. Wickremesinghe has already struck out twice. He lost the party�s nomination for the prez election, something he sought and fought for until the eleventh hour. He subsequently also lost the attempt to be the leader of the opposition. more..

Jan 22 (CI) West Indies will tour SL in February for 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. West Indies are expected to arrive in SL on Feb 10, and they will play two warm-up games on Feb 17 and 20, before the first ODI on Feb 22. First of the two warm-up matches will be an unofficial encounter at the P. Sara Oval, while the second game against a Board President's XI at Katunayake will mark official start of the tour. more..

Jan 22 (Island) Foreign Policy (FP) represents the long arm of the State protecting and imaging its national interest and projecting overseas all aspects of an independent sovereign State. As such, Foreign Policy is essentially based on a fundamental principle - that is to protect the country, State and people thereby reserving its Right to defend. Recognizing and contextualizing Sri Lanka�s historical, physical and strategic location in the central Indian Ocean Rim, more..

Jan 22 (FT) More French and Belgian tourists are anticipated following the conclusion of a mega PR exercise involving 20 leading journalists from these two European markets. The commendable initiative was by Chairman and Managing Director of Connaissance de Ceylan and Theme Resorts and Spas Chandra Wickramasinghe, organised in collaboration with Sala�n Holidays, a leading tour operator in France. Twenty journalists from print, magazines, radio and TV from France and more..

Jan 22 (FT) A new long-term marketing plan to boost Sri Lanka Tourism has been finalised for the consideration of the industry and the Government within the next few weeks. SL Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando said that the new strategy has been finalised and will be tabled at the first meeting of the new Board of Directors of SLTPB tomorrow, and if approved, to the Cabinet subsequently. She said that as an initial phase, marketing will be focused on eight Tier 1 destinations, more..

Jan 22 (SLN) Indian Naval Ship (INS) Airavat arrived at the port of Colombo today (20) and she was welcomed by the SL Navy in compliance with naval traditions. Meanwhile, the Commanding Officer of the ship, Commander Sunil Sankar and a group of Indian officers met the Commander Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe at the Western Naval Command Hq. They held a cordial discussion on several matters of bilateral importance. Mementos were also exchanged more..

Jan 22 (CT) Anuradha Yahampath another Viyathmaga stalwart elevated to the post of Governor Eastern Province and also like her contemporary Dr. Seetha Arambepola the Governor Western Province, continues to be in violation of the country�s constitution, as she too currently operates as a Director of Kandyg�s Handloom Exports Ltd, Colombo Telegraph can reveal. more..

Jan 22 (Island) Spinner Abhishek Anandakumar picked up five wickets (13-2-34-5) as Trinity ended Nalanda�s unbeaten run inflicting an innings and two runs defeat in the Mahela-Sanga Trophy Under 19 cricket encounter in Kandy on Tuesday. Commencing the second day still needing 115 runs to make the home team bat again, Nalanda could muster only 113 runs to the overnight total. Only three batsmen made contributions of note as Anandakumar led from front. more..

Jan 22 (Island) Executive Director of PAFFREL Rohana Hettiarachchi, addressing a seminar in Kandy, said that clergy should not be given nominations at elections as they should be above laymen. He said political parties should ensure that members of the clergy did not contest elections. Only clean candidates had to be fielded, Hettiarachchi said. "Political parties must not give nominations to people who are involved in activities such as bootlegging and narcotics trade. more..

Jan 22 (FT) Additional Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne PC has been appointed as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) by PM and Minister of Finance Mahinda Rajapaksa. His appointment, however, is being termed as bad in law since the SEC Act refers to only appointed members from the non-State sector. As per the SEC Act, there is provision to appoint six persons drawn from more..

Jan 22 (FT) SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) newly appointed Director General Chandani Werapitiya resigned from the post from last Friday. The resignation comes within weeks of her appointment, and the SLTDA will now advertise the post with an acting appointment in the interim. SLTDA Director Tourism Planning and Development Dr. Prasad Jayasuriya is tipped to be appointed as the acting Director General. Werapitiya was a senior banking professional more..

Jan 22 (AD) Embilipitiya High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya has been interdicted over the controversial phone conversation he has had with UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake says the Judicial Service Commission. A series of audio recordings of phone conversations between the MP and several high-profile officials in the country including former Director of the CID Shani Abeysekara and justices, were leaked to the media earlier this month. Recordings contained phone conversations more..

Jan 22 (EN) SL�s soaring food prices are due to bad weather and intermediaries, and they will come down in time for April New Year, Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said as the island wallowed in a period of stagflation after a currency collapse. �It is well-known that vegetable prices wrere going up rapidly in the last few months,� Yapa said. �The main reason for this is the climate anomalies which resulted in excess rain more..

Jan 22 (GTX) GTX Corp (GTX), a pioneer in the field of wearable GPS, people and asset tracking Location-Based Services (LBS) and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), today announced it has received an initial test order from the SL Ministry of Defense. Over the past twelve months, GTX has been working with the SL govt to get its GPS and Track & Trace solutions approved for sale and import into the country as part of a large scale requirement from the SL Army, DMC, more..

Jan 22 (FT) State Minister Arundika Fernando revealed that SriLankan Airlines has been requested to consider resuming flights to Germany and France with the option of the Govt extending a subsidy. �We have started discussions with the national carrier on the need to resume services to either Frankfurt in Germany and/or Paris in France. These are hubs for the rest of Europe, and direct flights will boost arrivals,� he said, adding that if such flights needs to be subsidised, Govt will consider it. more..

Jan 22 (Island) SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris said that a simmering leadership crisis in the UNP plagued by lawmaker Ranjan Ramanayake�s phone scandal would even discourage those who voted for Sajith Premadasa at the 2019 presidential from doing so at the forthcoming parliamentary poll. Prof. Peiris said that the UNP crisis proved beyond doubt that the party was in disarray in the absence of consensus on the leadership change. more..

Jan 22 (DM) The JVP requested the Speaker to allocate two days to debate the forensic audit report on the CB bond scam. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed his gratitude to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on his decision to table the report despite the Attorney General�s advise to keep it under wraps. He said just tabling the report was not good enough but pointed out that it was vital to debate the report as it had revealed the names of those involved in the bond scams. more..

Jan 22 (DN) State Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana alleged that Rs. 2005 million from the Central Cultural Fund (CCF) had been allocated to construct temples, kovils and churches during the past one and half years without the Management Board�s approval. He further said that it is compulsory to have the approval of the CCF Board of Management comprising the PM as the Chairman of CCF, Subject Minister, Finance Minister, Hindu Religious Affairs Minister, Education Minister, more..

Jan 22 (DM) CID informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate�s Court that an analysis of phone recordings revealed that some people including former CID Director Shani Abeysekara and former Lake House Chairman Krishantha Cooray were involved in the alleged abduction incident of Swiss Embassy employee Garnier Banister Francis. This information was revealed in Court when the case in which Ms. Francis was named as a suspect more..

Jan 22 (ABC) A guest recorded this video of a wild elephant casually walking the hotel lobby and heading down a hallway. It stops from time to time, poking items with its trunk. This particular hotel is near a wildlife sanctuary in Sri Lanka, and while elephants are often seen on roads, having them wandering hotel hallways is rare. The person who posted the video from her mother said the elephant, named Natta Kota, has been a regular, friendly visitor to Jetwing Yala hotel for several years. more..

Jan 22 (TOI) India has emerged as the largest exporter of tea to China � the world�s biggest tea producer � in 2019, overtaking SL, riding on the rising demand for Indian varieties of black tea among Chinese millennials in the mostly green tea-producing country. Indian tea export to China has trebled in the last five years, with 12 million kg (mkg) sold to that country between Jan and Nov 2019, up from 3.6mkg of 2014. SL, 2nd-largest importer of tea to China, imported 9mkg in the same period. more..

Jan 22 (Island) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s govt would not continue with any agreement that was detrimental to the country, Minister and Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena said in Parliament yesterday. Gunawardena said so in response to a special statement made by JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who asked whether the govt would continue with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact. more..

Jan 22 (DM) The many battles in the SL political field at present underscores one prominent fact; it�s time for two seasoned campaigners to say adieu to politics. UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President of the country and SLFP stalwart Chandrika Kumaratunga have come under pressure from by the next generation of politicians. Whether they�ll take a cue from this message of rejection and call it a day depends on how adamant they are to remain in politics and enjoy perks and more..

Jan 22 (DM) An Indian professor of Agriculture in Kerala, Mani Chellappan, who is known for his experiments on scaring away crop damaging birds and other animals has successfully experimented methods of scaring away birds including pea-fowls. This Kerala based academic has improved on the tried and tested method that uses polypropylene coated ribbons in the fields to drive the birds away. These holographic ribbons which shine for the sun light are available in the market. more..

Jan 22 (DM) At 26, Noor* was a divorcee, a widow and a mother of a 9 year-old-boy. She was married twice, first at the age of 17 and later at the age of 23. She was deserted by her first husband when she was 18, just days after their son was born. She later found out that her husband had been cheating on her and then applied for divorce. Noor had to bring her son up as a single mother. Her family married her off again, but more..

Jan 22 (EN) Ranil Wickremesinghe is refusing to step down as Leader of the UNP but is open to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya leading the charge at the upcoming Parliamentary General Elections, sources close to the former PM said. Efforts to make Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa the Party Leader and spearhead the campaign for the elections expected in the last week of April have thus far failed. more..