Nov 18 (DM) Members of the UNP will hurriedly meet at 5:00 pm today to discuss possible disciplinary action against senior member Ravi Karunanayake, who has allegedly self-appointed himself to the national list of the New Democratic Front (NDF). The party has won two national list seats, with plans to allocate one seat to the UNP and the other to the SLPP faction that aligned with former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Nov 18 (CT) The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) ship SAMIDARE arrived at the Port of Colombo on 17 November for a formal visit. The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the 151-metre-long destroyer in accordance with naval traditions. SAMIDARE, part of the JMSDF fleet, is commanded by Commander Naoki Koga and crewed by 199 personnel. During its visit, the ship aims to bolster bilateral ties between Japan and Sri Lanka, as both nations continue to enhance maritime cooperation. more..

Nov 18 (NW) The Ministry of Education has announced the schedule for the conclusion and commencement of the academic stages of the third term for govt and govt-approved private schools. Accordingly, the first stage of the third academic term will end on 22 Nov 2024. School holidays will be from 23 Nov 2024 until 1 Jan 2025. Ministry also noted that the A/L exam will take place during this period. The second stage of the third academic term will be conducted from 2 � 17 Jan 2025. more..

Nov 18 (AD) Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, announced plans to introduce a special seating arrangement for the country�s first-ever vision-impaired MP, in order to meet his requirements. She stated that the Parliament is also addressing technical adjustments to accommodate the unique requirements of the new MP. Sugath Wasantha de Silva, representing the NPP, has been appointed as a Member of Parliament through the NPP�s National List, more..

Nov 18 (EN) A govt of the National People�s Power will not misuse its two thirds mandate to harm Sri Lanka�s citizenry, but will work towards expanding their freedoms and equality, Prez Anura Dissanayake said after appointing 21 cabinet ministers. The NPP candidates were elected to parliament from the North, South, East and West he said. In the past, politics were done setting the South against the North, and North against the South, and promoting hate and distrust, he said. more..

Nov 18 (IPS) Now that the US election has concluded, what direction will the US�s trade policy be headed? This is one of the burning questions that many of its trading partners are asking in the aftermath of the prez election. A costly trade war was the outcome of the tariff hikes in 2018 � under the first term of Prez Trump � which was followed by retaliatory tariffs from US�s trade partners. more..

Nov 18 (AD) The Supreme Court today dismissed a fundamental rights petition filed by former Senior DIG of the CID and incumbent Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, Ravi Seneviratne. The petition has been filled seeking an order declaring that his fundamental human rights had been violated when he was arrested and remanded by Wellawatte Police in connection with a vehicular accident. The petition was taken up for consideration before a three-member Supreme Court judge bench more..

Nov 18 (NW) National Democratic Front (NDF) has nominated Ravi Karunanayake as a MP from the party�s National List. The NDF�s General Secretary confirmed that former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake will enter Parliament as one of the two National List MPs. General Secretary further states that the other nominee will be notified to the Election Commission in due course. The NDF, a political alliance of MPs and parties who supported former Prez Wickremesinghe�s campaign, more..

Nov 18 (AD) The new Cabinet of Ministers of the NPP govt were sworn in before Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo this morning. The new Cabinet of Ministers comprises of 21 Ministers including the PM while the new Deputy Ministers will reportedly be appointed later on. Accordingly, the new Cabinet will be limited to 21 Ministers, whereas Prez more..

Nov 18 (FT) With Anura Kumara Dissanayake�s recent Prez election triumph and the NPP momentous landslide victory in the 2024 Parliamentary election, SL�s newly elected Govt is compelled to address the nation�s economic challenges in a way that respects the will of the people, prioritising equitable development, social protections, and economic stability. The importance of achieving debt sustainability without compromising the welfare and long-term more..

Nov 18 (AD) Fort Magistrate Thanuja Lakmali has ordered the issuance of a letter of reminder to the Govt Analyst�s Dept as the court had not received the analyst�s report regarding former MP Sujeewa Senasinghe�s luxury vehicle, worth around Rs. 100 million, which is suspected to have been illegally assembled. Maithri Gunaratne, representing Sujeewa Senasinghe, stated that although the CID had previously informed the court that a case was being heard in the Chettikulam Court more..

Nov 18 (EN) The IMF�s Senior Mission Chief has met former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the former state Minister of Finance said. �The IMF�s Senior Mission Chief met with former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the team today,� former state minister Shehan Semasinghe said on social platform X. �They commended the remarkable efforts of the former govt in recovering Sri Lanka�s economy from its worst crisis and setting it on a path toward sustainable growth. more..

Nov 18 (FT) At the General elections held last week, voters from all over the country have overwhelmingly selected the candidates fielded by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake or AKD as legislators to frame laws for a five-year term. In his journey to presidency, AKD�s supporters sang the theme song of which an appropriate rendering in English will be, Today the whole nation in a single file will hand the country over to Anura to usher prosperity to people. But the election results showed more..

Nov 18 (FT) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake will hold several key portfolios in the new 25-member Cabinet to be sworn in today by the NPP Govt, which won a landslide at last week�s Parliamentary Election. Prez will hold portfolios such as Defence, Finance, Rural Economy, Digital Economy and Investment Promotion. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya will continue to be the PM in addition to being the Education Minister. more..

Nov 18 (ST) Politicians of different hues and leaders of some parties have reacted to the outcome of Thursday�s general elections that saw the NPP sweep the board. The victors of the day, the JVP-led NPP themselves understood the gravity of the overwhelming mandate given to them. JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said the people have trusted them and given them a majority that exceeded two-thirds, therefore they understand the importance of securing trust people have placed in them. more..

Nov 18 (DN) Former SL Olympian Sugath Tillekaratne has entered the Parliament with the 18 member National list of NPP. 51-year-old former athlete represented Olympics in Atlanta, US in 1996 and also a member of the SL Olympic team at 2000 Sydney Olympics. Sugath Tillakaratne already holds the SL record of 44.61 in the 400m event. Sugath, who has accomplished the difficult task of winning medals at all 3 meets namely the Asian Athletics Championship, the Asian Games and more..

Nov 18 (TM) A few former sports stars who contested last Thursday�s Parliamentary Election from several political parties or coalitions in their endeavor to charter a new journey in the local political sphere, have been shunned by the voters, a close perusal of the election results shows. Most prominent of the ex-sports personalities to have been spurned by the voters has been former SL cricket captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, more..

Nov 18 (AD) The Sarvajana Balaya alliance has decided to nominate the leader of the alliance and Gampaha District parliamentary candidate Dilith Jayaweera as an MP through the party�s National List, General Secretary of Sarvajana Balaya Ranjan Seneviratne said. Sarvajana Balaya announced that this decision was reached unanimously by the alliance�s executive committee. Accordingly, the Executive Committee of the Sarvajana Balaya decided to nominate Dilith Jayaweera more..

Nov 18 (AD) A team from the IMF, led by its Senior Mission Chief for SL Peter Breuer, has arrived in SL this evening (17). The team will remain in in the country until Nov 23 and during their stay will conduct the third review of SL�s economic reform program supported by the IMF�s EFF. The team, led by IMF Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer, will assess SL�s economic policies, progress on ongoing reforms, and the implementation of previous agreements with the IMF. more..

Nov 18 (TM) The Police called for assistance from tech companies and social media platforms to help investigate social media-related crimes. This in the wake of a surge in online scams and breach of election-related law on social media platforms, in recent times. �There was an increase in social media crimes this Election,� Senior DIG Nihal Thalduwa, said. �We had a discussion with the Election Commission about this. However, we are helpless, as the Police do not have the resources more..

Nov 18 (Island) The NPP yesterday released the names of its National List (NL) MPs and they include two of its candidates who failed to secure enough votes to enter Parliament in last week�s general election.They are Abubakar Adambawa and Upali Samarasinghe, who unsuccessfully contested from the Digamadulla and Vanni Districts, respectively. NPP obtained 18 out of 29 NL seats. Other NPP NL MPs are as follows: Bimal Rathnayake, Dr. Anura Karunathilake, Prof. Upali Pannilage, more..

Nov 18 (FT) Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara has emphasised that the SJB is prepared to fulfil its responsibilities as a strong Opposition in a country facing significant economic challenges. Madduma Bandara noted that while the SJB has now emerged as the main party of the Opposition, it comes with the opportunity and responsibility to carry out a significant task for the country. more..

Nov 18 (DN) Sri Lanka is ready to make history with its largest-ever contingent of 13 boxers competing at the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships, scheduled to begin on November 28 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Among the women, Nadeeka Pushpakumari, a 12-year veteran, is Sri Lanka�s top medal hope in the minimumweight (48kg) category. Joining her is Ishara Thushari Perera, a light flyweight (50kg) competitor with multiple national titles to her name. more..

Nov 18 (ST) Puttalam District�s controversial MP Ali Sabri Raheem, in spite of his defeat at the parliamentary elections, fulfilled one of his election promises of handing over tyres to threewheel drivers. He handed over the tyres to 200 drivers, today, at his election office. Mr. Raheem contested the parliamentary elections under the United Democratic Alliance ticket. He had earlier contested elections under the ACMC but later resigned from the party and contested separately. more..

Nov 18 (DM) The newly appointed Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Senior Professor Hareendra Dissabandara stressed efforts would be made to strike a balance between market development and robust regulatory oversight, with the aim of creating a secure, fair, and efficient capital market. �Ensuring that SL�s capital market operates in a secure, fair, and efficient manner is our foremost responsibility. However, we must also encourage innovation and growth, more..

Nov 18 (CP) In preparation for the first session of the Tenth Parliament, Secretary-General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, has announced that newly-elected MPs can now submit their personal information through a dedicated facility on the Parliament website. MPs are kindly requested to access the information link on the Parliament homepage (www.parliament.lk) to complete the necessary details. For those preferring an alternative, a downloadable form is also more..

Nov 18 (TM) SJB stressed that its leadership will remain unchanged despite the party's loss in the recent Parliamentary General Election. A senior member of the SJB also confirmed that Sajith Premadasa will continue as the Opposition Leader in the new Parliament. He also said that Premadasa, who served as the Opposition Leader in the previous Parliament, is deemed well experienced to lead the Opposition at a time when Govt has secured more..

Nov 18 (FT) Global giant Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has revealed that the strong mandate received by the National People�s Power (NPP) at last week�s Parliamentary Election is positive for SL. �A strong two-thirds majority allows the Govt to make constitutional amendments. With both the President and the PM from the same party, there should be fewer political roadblocks in the way of the Govt to implement its political and economic agenda. The strong mandate allows the Govt to focus on more..

Nov 18 (ST) Mired with controversies, SL�s foreign employment facilitation agency, SL Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has received complaints that certain crucial data has been deemed irretrievable, prompting an internal inquiry to identify the root cause of this. Unable to retrieve data from its website, several foreign employment agencies have complained and pointed out this issue to the Bureau. �Some agencies have complained that they cannot see data more..

Nov 18 (TM) The primary responsibility to mobilise voters to cast their votes during elections lies with political parties and their local representative, Election Commission (EC) stated. Nevertheless, the Commission stressed that they have done their best to encourage citizens to cast their vote during the Prez and Parliamentary General Elections. Nearly 3.5 million eligible citizens did not vote in the Prez Election, while 5.3 million more..

Nov 18 (FT) HNB Group has recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 38.7 billion, growing by 26% Year-on-Year (YoY), while the bank�s Profit After Tax (PAT) increased by 34% YoY to Rs. 22.2 billion for the nine months ended Sept 2024. Chairman Nihal Jayawardene said: �Having experienced five years of extreme volatility and unprecedented challenges, SL has witnessed macroeconomic stability during the year. We believe that the completion of the external debt restructuring as announced, more..

Nov 18 (FT) Sugath Wasantha de Silva, a National List candidate from the NPP, has etched his name in SL Parliamentary history as the first visually impaired MP. His appointment was confirmed through the NPP�s National List, which was gazetted yesterday. Before venturing into politics, de Silva was a well-known activist advocating for the rights of the visually impaired and disabled communities in SL. He currently serves as the President of Visually Impaired Graduates� Council (VIGC). more..