Three ASPs allocated for former President’s protection

Three new Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) have been appointed for the protection of former President and current parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to police sources. The Ministry of Law and Order has reportedly made these appointments.

Warakagoda Gnanaratana Thera Appointed As Mahanayaka Of Asgiriya Chapter

Venerable Warakagoda Gnanaratana Thera of Muthiyangana Rajamaha Viharaya, Badulla was appointed as the Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter of Siam Sector a short while ago.

The election was held at the Mangala Uposathagaraya of the Asgiriya temple.

The position of Asgiriya Mahanayake was vacated after the passing away of the former Mahanayake Galagama Sri Attadassi Thera recently.

Gnanaratana Thera functioned as one of the two Anunayakas before his appointment as the Mahanayaka today.

Lasith Malinga in Mumbai Indians squad for opening match

MUMBAI: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on new franchise Rising Super Giants in the opening match of Indian Premier League 2016 at the Wankhede Stadium on April 9.

Even though Pune are a new franchise, by no means they can be taken lightly. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the squad boasts of some prolific cricketers in Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis.

Not only a good show is assured from the new team, but they are also serious contenders for the title as well.

Mumbai, on the other hand, can take a lot of inspiration from the way they fought back last year.

Rohit Sharma and his boys were in dire straits, before resurrecting and going on to win the tournament. Their side comprises of some of the best cricketers in Lasith Malinga, Lendl Simmons, Harbhajan Singh and Corey Anderson.

Mumbai would want to do well in the initial stages of the tournament, something they have struggled a lot in the last few years.

Squads:

Mumbai Indians IPL squad: Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ambati Rayudu, Jagadeesha Suchith, Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv Patel, R Vinay Kumar, Shreyas Gopal, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Unmukt Chand, Akshay Wakhare, Mitchell McClenaghan, Corey Anderson, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Marchant de Lange, Lasith Malinga, Jos Buttler, Nathu Singh, Tim Southee, Krunal Pandya, Kishore Pramod Kamath, Deepak Punia, Jitesh Sharma.

Rising Pune Supergiants IPL squad: MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Ashwin Murugan, Ishant Sharma, Kevin Pietersen, Irfan Pathan, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Ashoke Dinda, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, RP Singh, Adam Zampa, Ishwar Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma. - Znews

Water crisis hits IPL:

NEW DELHI: Lashing out at the Maharashtra government over the wastage of water for maintaining pitches during the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Bombay High Court said that the people were far more important than cricket tournament.

Former journalist Ketan Tirodkar has sought court orders to recover Rs1,000 for each litre of water used to make and maintain cricket pitches for the matches in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune during the tournament.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed regarding the same, which also demanded extra charges be levied on IPL organizers to meet the expenses for sending water to crisis-hit areas.

Earlier, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla ruled out shifting the matches out of Maharashtra due to drought and water scarcity in the state.

There is demand from some quarters that IPL matches should not be played in the state as the preparation of grounds requires huge amounts of water.

A PIL filed in the High Court on Tuesday sought a direction to the IPL Chairman to pay tax on usage of water, claiming that about 60,000 litres of water would be needed every day to maintain the pitches.

Mumbai BJP secretary Vivekananda Gupta too had demanded that IPL matches be shifted out of the state.

The annual T20 extravaganza would kick off on April 9 in Mumbai. – Zee News

Wijeyadasa, Fonseka heated argument at the Cabinet meeting

Ministers Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Sarath Fonseka had a heated argument at the Cabinet meeting yesterday, when the latter accused of former for violating a collective agreement of the Cabinet of Ministers.

According to sources, the altercation had taken place when Field Marshal Fonseka objected to the action of Mr. Rajapakshe in tendering an apology to a Buddhist monk over a statement made by Field Marshal Fonseka in Parliament recently.

“I made a statement in Parliament where I referred to a statement made by a monk. I referred to this statement as I wanted to disclose who is going behind the Rajapaksas. But one minister of the Cabinet is violating the collective agreement of the Cabinet of Ministers. We want to safeguard the government, but some are still going behind the Rajapaksas,” Minister Fonseka had told President Maithripala Sirisena. Mr. Rajapakshe had immediately responded by saying it was he who had tendered the apology.

 “I tendered an apology as the Prime Minister or the President would otherwise have had to do so, on behalf of the government, as it is not possible to run a government without the support of the Buddhist monks,” he said. President Sirisena had then intervened and calmed both ministers down, saying the views of both of them were important.

AR Rahman postpones Sri Lanka concert

Oscar winning music composer AR Rahman on Wednesday postponed his Colombo concert indefinitely after anti-Sri Lanka posters emerged outside his house.

The protestors have questioned Rahman on how he can go ahead and collaborate with a government that is responsible for the killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The organisers, however, claim that the postponing has nothing to do with the posters. Rahman and 19 other top Indian artists were scheduled to perform for the first time in Sri Lanka.

Two new Deputy Ministers and State Minister appointed

Lakshman Seneviratne has been sworn in as a State Minister while Manusha Nanayakkara and Palitha Thewarapperuma took oath as Deputy Ministers before President Maithripala Sirisena this morning.  

UPFA Galle District MP Manusha Nanayakkara was sworn in as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Employment before President Maithripala Sirisena, a short while ago.

UNP MP Palitha Thewarapperuma has been appointed as the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs. Meanwhile UPFA MP Lakshman Seneviratne has been sworn in as the State Minister of Science, Technology and Research.

Aravinda de Silva accepts responsibility

Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva on Tuesday stood by his panel and took full responsibility for making last-minute changes to the team for the ICC World T20.

"All decisions were taken in the best interest of the team and we take responsibility," de Silva, the hero of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup win, said.

He replaced the committee headed by Kapila Wijegoonawardana, whose committee was sacked by the Sports Ministry just a few days before the team departed.

File photo of Aravinda de Silva. Getty ImagesFile photo of Aravinda de Silva. Getty Images
De Silva's committee, which also included Kumar Sangakkara, made changes to the squad picked by the previous committee.

Sri Lanka fared poorly and failed to make it to the semifinals in a woeful defence of their title won in 2014.

De Silva defended the decision to include Lahiru Thirmanne in the squad after he had been overlooked by the previous committee for poor form.

"Thirimanne is the most technically sound batsman we have right now. He needs to be backed. Marvan Atapattu was still kept in the team after making six ducks, Sanath Jayasuriya was brought up the order after his repeated failures in the middle order," de Silva said.

On Lasith Malinga's spat with the selectors, de Silva said all decisions on the pacer was taken in consultation with him.

Malinga resigned as captain just before the original team was selected. He was named in the final squad and travelled with the team before withdrawing on fitness grounds.

"His fitness will be proved soon when he plays in the IPL," de Silva said.

The Constitutional Assembly to meet in Parliament today

The Constitutional Assembly, approved recently by Parliament for formulating a new constitution and a new electoral system, is scheduled to meet for the first time today.

The House will meet at 1.00 pm and the first hour has been allocated for questions. At 2.00 pm it will be converted to the Constitutional Assembly (CA) with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya presiding.

At the last party leaders’ meeting Speaker Jayasuriya said that the CA would commence sittings on April 5 and the Sub Committees should be appointed at its first sitting as per the resolution passed by Parliament.

The Constitutional Assembly is scheduled to appoint seven deputy chairpersons. For this purpose there should be a quorum of 20 MPs in the chamber, sources said.

They said at the same meeting an operational committee of not less than 17 members including the Prime Minister, Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition and Minister of Justice would be appointed. That operational committee would be empowered to appoint any number of sub committees.

The inaugural meeting of the Constitutional Assembly will be held inside the Chamber after Parliament meets and moves the House to a committee stage.

The mace will be placed on the lower bracket of its stand.