The momentous event of the week-ended-today was the presentation of Budget 2024 by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance. Usually, Sri Lankan Presidents keep away from Parliament; not Ranil Wickremesinghe, and a jolly good move it is. The Island of Tuesday November 14 headlined the VI Event as: “Prez presents Budget […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, declared in Parliament that the winners of LPL (Lanka Premier League) 2023 B-Love Kandy had been sponsored by an enterprise that was banned in the country. The statement was made in Parliament on 24th August. The one-time President of the Bar Association found fault with SLC […]

Yahapalana Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s plea for Indian funding to develop Elapathagama in the memory of the late Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera remains a mystery. In terms of an agreement signed on 14 July, 2017, India provided Sri Lankan Rs 300 mn to develop Elapathagama in the Anuradhapura district. The late Sobitha Thera, a controversial character, spearheaded […]

SLC expects a considerable collection from ticket sales

ESPNCricinfo: Former ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat’s role as special advisor to the SLC will include an independent review of its governance and recommendations to the heavily indebted board on financial management, SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said. All recommendations made by Lorgat in his three-month tenure will then be made public. He will also ...

Parliamentary accountability The Parliament, as the country’s foremost representative institution, has the sole authority over national resources and financial allocations and concurrently has a prominent role to play in fiscal responsibility, the budgetary process, economic development and effective transparent economic and financial management, with a view to assuring sustainable growth an...

What does independence mean to Sri Lanka? After 64 years, one would think that the value of freedom would have waned, but that is not the case. Yet the direction of this independence and what it means to people is undergoing a change and therein lies the challenge for the decades ahead. It is true ...

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) under its outreach programme ‘Sambhashana’ discussed ‘COPE Exposure and Beyond’ at the OPA Auditorium recently. On the panel were Rajiva Wijesinha, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC and Professor A.D.V. de S. Indraratna. The moderator was Lakshman Gunasekera. Below is the presentation by Professor Indraratna: This is not the first time tha...

The Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets Bill that is to be presented to parliament soon has in it economic and political objectives that spell doom for Sri Lankan democracy as well as the economy. It would vest in the Sri Lankan government Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC which owns the Colombo Hilton that has ...

By Dinouk Colombage World Cup Organising Committee Chief Suraj Dandeniya speaking to The Sunday Leader dismissed allegations that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was facing bankruptcy. He insisted that once the International Cricket Council (ICC) gives SLC their hosting fees the debts will be repaid