News
Celebrating life and work of Lester
The Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation held a special screening of his 1969 movie ‘Golu Hadawatha’ (The Silence of the Heart) in celebration of his life and work in Sri Lankan, Asian and World Cinema on Saturday.
April marks for the birth and death anniversaries of the maestro (05 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) and so it was fitting that this event be held in April. Dr. Peries made twenty films in fifty years, from Rekawa (The Line of Destiny) in 1956 to Ammawarune (Elegy for a Mother) in 2006
Golu Hadawatha is a popular romance movie with Wickrama Bogoda and Anula Karunathilaka in the lead roles of Sugath and Dhammi. It is also Sriyani Amarasena’s first film.
The movie’s story is built on the novel Golu Hadawatha written by Karunasena Jayalath in 1962, based on his school time experiences and memories. Regi Siriwardena wrote the screenplay and veteran musician Premasiri Khemadasa composed the music. Golu Hadawatha is acclaimed as a movie that set a milestone in Sinhala moviemaking.
It introduced a new cinematic format to the romance and love movie genre and is regarded as one of the landmarks in Sri Lankan cinema.Incorporated by Act No. 36 (2011) of Parliament (Sri Lanka), The Lester James Peries and Sumitra Peries Foundation is located at No. 134/2, Old Kottawa Road, Mirihana.The Foundation’s Trustee/Directors are Gayathri Mustachi, Kumar de Silva and Yadamini Gunawardena while its Directors are Nuran Gomez and Yashodha Wimaladharma.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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