Sri Lanka was for long a bastion of Western culture in social and political behavior. But these markers, which distinguished it from its neighbors in South Asia for decades after independence from British rule, are fast disappearing in the political sphere.
Politics in Sri Lanka is now a crass and unabashed pursuit of self interest and power, irrespective of its impact on institutions so painstakingly built up and so carefully nurtured over the years since 1931 when universal adult franchise was introduced in the island for the first time in the British Empire.…
Colombo, Nov 14 (newsin.asia) – The following are the foreign exchange rates against the Sri Lankan rupee released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Buying Selling Australian Dollar 124.24 129.57 Canadian Dollar 130.41 135.35 Chinese Yuan (Renminbi) 24.69 25.88 Euro 195.08 202.11 Japanese Yen 1.5155 1.5722 Singapore […]…
There was no debate, and no vote as such was taken. But the Speaker said that voices and the look on the faces of the MPs showed that the motion had the approval of the majority of the members.…
Colombo, Nov 14 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s political crisis heightened further on Wednesday when ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former president Mahinda Rajapakse both claimed they would continue in government following a heated debate in Parliament earlier in the day. Hours after a no confidence motion was submitted on the floor of Parliament against […]…
Colombo, Nov 14 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Parliament erupted in severe chaos on Wednesday after a no confidence motion against new Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was presented to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, which prompted Parliament to be adjourned till Thursday. The no confidence motion on the new Prime Minister and the newly elected government was presented […]…
"I don't know how or from where Nasheed is getting this information. I really want to meet Nasheed and inform him the truth. In fact I invite Nasheed to meet me so that I can brief him," the ambassador Zhang Lizhong said.…
Cabinet Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva said that the stay order applicable till December 7 given by the Supreme Court, did not mean that the Presidential proclamation dissolving parliament had been set aside. The case is still on, and will be argued on December 5 and 6. Until the final verdict is given, the Prime Minister and his cabinet will remain in office, he said. …
Colombo, Nov 13 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Parliament which has been embroiled in a political crisis since Oct 26, will convene on Wednesday after it remained shut for over two weeks following a prorogation issued by President Maithripala Sirisena, the Speaker’s office said in a notice issued late Tuesday. Speaker of Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, in […]…
The stay announced by a three-judge bench chaired by the Chief Justice Nalin Perera will be in effect until December 18. The Supreme Court further said hearings on the 12 petitions will take place on the 4th, 5th and 6th of December.…
Colombo, Nov 13 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s new Foreign Minister, Sarath Amunugama has said the newly appointed government will abide by the ruling given by the Supreme Court on the early dissolution of Parliament by President Maithripala Sirisena, local media…
The threat to Pakistan is clearly from the growing power of extremist Islamic groups, which, ironically, have been fostered by the State’s long standing policy of appeasement aimed at gaining peace in the short run, and political legitimacy in the long run in an avowedly “Islamic” Pakistan. Basically, the trouble lies not in the power of the Islamic extremists but in the weakness of governments, argues P.K.Balachandran in Daily Mirror.…
Earlier, before the 19th.Amendment was passed in 2015, the President had the authority to dissolve Parliament of his own accord after one year. This was changed through Article 70 which now states that he may proclaim, summon, prorogue or dissolve Parliament, provided that the President does not dissolve Parliament until the expiration of a period not less than four years and six months. Also he cannot dissolve Parliament unless it requests the President to do so with a two-thirds majority (150 of the 225 MPs). Article 70 (1) and 33 (c) do give the President power to dissolve Parliament but limits for the exercise of that power are also stated,the opposition lawyers pointed out. …
The first rake is part of an export order of 6 rakes of Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMU) to Sri Lanka. Each DEMU rake consists of 12 coaches – two driving power cars that have economy-class seating, two driving trailer coaches with economy seating, two air-conditioned chair cars, two business class chair cars that are similar to the first-class of suburban trains, and five economy-class coaches that are equivalent to second-class seating cars in suburban trains.…
Colombo, Nov 12 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s main political parties, on Monday filed legal challenges in the island’s Supreme Court, against the early dissolution of Parliament by President Maithripala Sirisena. The parties which filed a Fundamental Rights petition included the…
Rajapaksa was invited even before he was sworn-in as Lankan Prime Minister on October 26. But he will attend the inaugural as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, his personal staff said. With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attending the function, a Rajapaksa-Modi tete-e-tete is on the cards where Modi will be briefed on the developing situation in Sri Lanka and the impact the changes will have on the fate of India-funded project in the island. …
In an open confrontation with the Executive President of the country which could have far reaching consequences, the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya on Sunday appealed to public servants to defy illegal orders of the “unconstitutional” government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Later in the evening, President Sirisena made a statement over Derena TV lambasting the Speaker for his unwarranted comments. He said that Speaker Jayasuriya’s "most peculiar” behavior was one of the reasons why he dissolved parliament and ordered fresh elections to be held on January 5, 2019.…
In his telecast on Sunday, President Maithripala Sirisena said that the Ranil Wickremesinghe government’s complicity in the multi-billion rupee Central Bank “robbery” and the defiant and questionable conduct of parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, forced him to dissolve parliament and order fresh elections. Secondly, it appeared to him that, if he allowed Parliament to be convened on the 14th, without dissolving it, it could have brought about commotion and fights, in every city and every village would lead to very unpleasant and difficult situation for the average citizens of Sri Lanka.…
Colombo, Nov 13 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s new Foreign Minister, Sarath Amunugama has said the newly appointed government will abide by the ruling given by…
The threat to Pakistan is clearly from the growing power of extremist Islamic groups, which, ironically, have been fostered by the State’s long standing policy of appeasement aimed at gaining peace in the short run, and political legitimacy in the long run in an avowedly “Islamic” Pakistan. Basically, the trouble lies not in the power of the Islamic extremists but in the weakness of governments, argues P.K.Balachandran in Daily Mirror.…
Earlier, before the 19th.Amendment was passed in 2015, the President had the authority to dissolve Parliament of his own accord after one year. This was changed through Article 70 which now states that he may proclaim, summon, prorogue or dissolve Parliament, provided that the President does not dissolve Parliament until the expiration of a period not less than four years and six months. Also he cannot dissolve Parliament unless it requests the President to do so with a two-thirds majority (150 of the 225 MPs). Article 70 (1) and 33 (c) do give the President power to dissolve Parliament but limits for the exercise of that power are also stated,the opposition lawyers pointed out. …
The first rake is part of an export order of 6 rakes of Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMU) to Sri Lanka. Each DEMU rake consists of 12 coaches – two driving power cars that have economy-class seating, two driving trailer coaches with economy seating, two air-conditioned chair cars, two business class chair cars that are similar to the first-class of suburban trains, and five economy-class coaches that are equivalent to second-class seating cars in suburban trains.…
The US-led IMF had threatened to ask Pakistan to cut down on projects linked to the China-funded multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which Washington describes as a “debt trap”, and the Trump administration had clearly stated that it will not disburse funds to help Pakistan if the objective is basically to repay its debt to China, thus forcing Pakistan to look out for financial packages from Saudi Arabia and China.…
"We are closely following the changes in the situation in Sri Lanka. The changes in Sri Lanka are internal affairs. We believe the Sri Lankan Government, political parties and people have enough wisdom to deal with the internal situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.…
The bridge, which connects Hong Kong and Macau with mainland China, is 55 km long and six lanes wide. The project is aimed at bringing these three places closer by reducing the journey time to just about an hour long. Reportedly built using more steel than as many as 60 Eiffel Towers, the multi-billion dollar project has been touted as the result of an international collaboration.…
China has said that it supports the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in carrying out an objective and professional evaluation of Pakistan’s financial situation, adding that the relevant measures should not affect normal bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan.…
Five years after the High Court ruled that the Jamaat-e-Islami’s status as a political party be revoked, the Election Commission has executed the orders in a gazette. The gazette got delayed because of the delay in getting the full verdict, EC Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told bdnews24.com on Monday. The commission could not publish the gazette until now also because an appeal against the High Court orders was being heard, he said.…
South Asia’s multi-religious countries, namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, started off with a noble wish to be ‘secular’ and keep religion out of the business of the State.But it did not take long for all the three South Asian States to regress from secularism and begin to be overly influenced by the majority religious community. …
WHO’s regional champion for autism in South Asia Dr Saima Wazed Hossain says, autism has reached alarming numbers worldwide, and that it may reach epidemic proportions in Sri Lanka. But the causes of autism are still unclear,she told Manjula Fernando of Sunday Observer. …
"The qualitative aspects of improved governance that have a strong correlation with human capital development cannot be and have not been captured by the way the HCI has been constructed," the Indian government said. The gap in data and methodology overlook the initiatives taken by a country and, in turn, portray an incomplete and predetermined picture, it said, adding this, in fact, makes the case for the adoption of the index by more countries somewhat remote. …
Sri Lanka’s connection with Kerala is reflected in history, folklore and oral traditions, rites, rituals and festivals, architecture and lifestyle and, of course, in food, notes South Asian cultural anthropologist Dr.Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai …
Kerala’s links with both the Tamils and the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka have been obliterated by political expediency, with the Lankan Tamils wanting to link up with Tamil Nadu (where there is sympathy for their cause) and the Sinhalese wanting to reach out to North India and the Central Indian government in New Delhi, by stressing their relations with North India from where came their religion, Buddhism, and their highly Sanskritized language, Sinhala, came, writes P.K. Balachandran in Daily Mirror.…
The Enforcement Directorate said in the charge sheet that "as per rules and FDI policy of Government of India in 2006, Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister was empowered to give approval of the foreign investment to the proposals involving foreign investment up to Rs 600 crore (UDS$ 81.8 million) only. The foreign investment proposal of Global Communication and Services Holdings Limited should have been referred to Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) but it was not done and was approved by Chidambaram under a conspiracy.”…
The Pakistan government has agreed to the Islamic radicals’ demand that Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, who had been acquitted in a blasphemy case, be prevented from going abroad by putting her on the Exit Control List. …
Asia Bibi’s lawyer Saif ul Malook on Friday said he is leaving Pakistan as his life is in danger, even as country-wide demonstrations led by the Islamic-radical Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) were called off. Talking to The Express Tribune, lawyer Malook, however, clarified that he would return to Pakistan to represent Bibi at hearing of the review petition if the army provided him security.…
Pakistan’s Supreme Court, its Prime Minister Imran Khan, and lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook, have all used Islamic principles to buttress their arguments in the Asia Bibi blasphemy case and in handling the violence which was unleashed by Islamic radicals after her acquittal. But even as the demonstrations ceased on Saturday, Asia's lawyer Saif ul Malook said that he fears a threat to his life and will be leaving Pakistan temporarily. …
Pakistan High Commissioner Dr. Shaheed Ahmad Hashmat reiterated Pakistan’s support for the continuance and consolidation of the democratic process in Sri Lanka. HE expressed the hope that the ongoing political problems will be overcome peacefully and amicably in accordance with the constitution of Sri Lanka and the aspirations of the Sri Lankan people. …
Colombo, Nov 14 (newsin.asia) – The following are the foreign exchange rates against the Sri Lankan rupee released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Buying Selling Australian Dollar 124.24 129.57 Canadian Dollar 130.41 135.35 Chinese Yuan…
Colombo, Nov 13 (newsin.asia) – The following are the foreign exchange rates against the Sri Lankan rupee released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Buying Selling Australian Dollar 123.35 128.66 Canadian Dollar 130.17 135.10 Chinese Yuan…
Colombo, Nov 12 (newsin.asia) – The following are the foreign exchange rates against the Sri Lankan rupee released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Monday. Buying Selling Australian Dollar 123.90 129.22 Canadian Dollar 130.45 135.41 Chinese Yuan…
