Colombo is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the Municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is itself within the urban/suburban area of Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life, colonial buildings and monuments.
ETV is an English language television channel in Sri Lanka owned by EAP Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of EAP Holdings. Launched in 1995 as ETV 2, it was a sister channel of ETV 1. The channel's owner Extra Terrestrial Vision (Private) Limited, who had been incorporated on 6 July 1992, changed its name to EAP Network (Private) Limited on 30 April 1996 following the acquisition by EAP. At that time ETV 2 was re-broadcasting Star TV. ETV 1 was re-launched as Swarnavahini, a mass market Sinhala language channel, on 16 March 1997. ETV 2 was re-launched as ETV on 1 May 1998. EAP Network (Private) Limited changed its name to EAP Broadcasting Company (Private) Limited on 16 May 2012, EAP Network (Private) Limited on 31 October 2012, EAP Network Limited on 28 August 2013 and EAP Broadcasting Company Limited on 11 September 2013. In 2019, EAP Broadcasting Company parent company EAP Holdings was acquired by Lyca Group. EAP Broadcasting Company is a subsidiary of Ben Holdings along with Lyca Productions.
Mass media of Sri Lanka consist of several different types of communications media: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and Web sites. State and private media operators provide services in the main languages Sinhala, Tamil and English. The government owns two major TV stations, radio networks operated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), and newspaper titles in Sinhala, Tamil, and English.
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, population 245,974 (2012), is a large municipality in Sri Lanka, covering 2,109 ha. It lies south of the Colombo Municipal Council area and is separated from it by the Dehiwala canal which forms the northern boundary of DMMC. Its southern limits lie in Borupana Road and the eastern boundary is Weras Ganga with its canal system and it includes some areas to its east. This town has experienced extensive population growth and rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in recent years. It is home to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Gardens, which remains one of Asia's largest. Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila and Colombo Airport, Ratmalana are some important landmarks in this area. Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia and Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte being two large suburban centres of the city of Colombo function together as one large urban agglomeration in the Region. The overspill from the City in residential and commercial uses of land has rapidly urbanised these suburban centres. Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia and Sri Jayawardenpaura along with Colombo Municipal Council form the most urbanised part of the core area of the Colombo Metropolitan Region. Dehiwala and Mount Lavinia lie along the Galle Road artery, which runs along the coast to the south of the country.
Independent Television Network Ltd also known as ITN Ltd or simply as ITN is a Sri Lankan state-governed television and radio broadcaster located in Wickramasinghepura, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka. It is a Shrama Abhimani Award winner , broadcasts content to a wide demographic within Sri Lanka as well as the expatriate community. The programmes are broadcast in three languages: Sinhala, Tamil, and English. The ITN broadcast coverage extends to 99% of the island of Sri Lanka.
The Galle Face Hotel, founded in 1864, is one of the oldest hotels east of Suez. It is located on Galle Road, Colombo. The Ceylon Hotels Corporation is now part of the Galle Face Hotel Group. The hotel is a member of Select Hotels and Resorts International. The current chairman of the hotel is Sanjeev Gardiner, since the demise of his father Cyril Gardiner in 1997. It is listed as one of the "1000 Places to See Before You Die" in the book of the same name. It received the "Best Heritage Hotel" title three years running at the Presidential Awards for Travel and Tourism, held in June 2010, June 2011 and September 2012. In addition it won the first-ever PATA award for Best International Heritage Hotel, in 2012. In September 2012, it became the first hotel in Sri Lanka to be featured on a postage stamp, along with three other iconic buildings in Colombo.
Black July was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated, and was finally triggered by a deadly ambush on a Sri Lankan Army patrol by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 23 July 1983, which killed 13 soldiers. Although initially orchestrated by members of the ruling UNP, the pogrom soon escalated into mass violence with significant public participation.
Swarnavahini is a Sinhala language general entertainment and news television channel in Sri Lanka owned by EAP Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of EAP Holdings. Launched in 1994 as ETV, it was one of Sri Lanka's first privately owned television channels. Its sister channel ETV 2 was launched in 1995 when ETV was re-branded ETV 1. The channel's owner Extra Terrestrial Vision (Private) Limited, who had been incorporated on 6 July 1992, changed its name to EAP Network (Private) Limited on 30 April 1996 following the acquisition by EAP. At that time ETV 1 was re-broadcasting BBC. ETV 1 was re-launched as Swarnavahini, a mass market Sinhala language channel, on 16 March 1997. EAP Network (Private) Limited changed its name to EAP Broadcasting Company (Private) Limited on 16 May 2012, EAP Network (Private) Limited on 31 October 2012, EAP Network Limited on 28 August 2013 and EAP Broadcasting Company Limited on 11 September 2013.
The Church of Ceylon is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extraprovincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at Kurunegala.
Cargills (Ceylon) PLC is a Sri Lankan consumer company which is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. It is a market leader in the Modern Retail (supermarkets), FMCG, and Restaurants industries and also has a presence in the Banking, Real Estate, and Cinema sectors. The controlling interest in the company is held by C T Holdings PLC.
Challenges is a 2011 Sri Lankan Sinhala romantic comedy film directed by Udayakantha Warnasuriya and co-produced by Ranjith Jayasuriya, Pravin Jayaratne, Ajith Priyantha and Udayakantha Warnasuriya for Sunflower Films. Remake or based on the Telugu movie Bommarillu. Starring Siddharth & Genelia It stars Sheshadri Priyasad, Pubudu Chathuranga and Roshan Ranawana in lead roles along with Lucky Dias and Vasanthi Chathurani. Music composed by Sai Gurunath. It is the 1154th Sri Lankan film in the Sinhala cinema.
Soma Edirisinghe was a Sri Lankan corporate executive, film producer, philanthropist and social worker. She was born in Meegoda, Sri Lanka on 5 July 1939 to a family of nine daughters, and died on 5 November 2015 at a private hospital in Colombo. She was married to EAP Edirisinghe and they had four children: three sons, Jeewaka, Nalaka and Asanka, and a daughter, Deepa.
Majestic City, traded as C T Land Development PLC, is a seven-storey commercial and shopping complex, located in Bambalapitiya, a suburb of Colombo, near the Bambalapitiya Railway Station.
Velupillai Suppiah Thurairajah was a Sri Lankan Tamil architect who designed many buildings in Sri Lanka and abroad.
The Cinnamon Grand Colombo, trading as Asian Hotels and Properties PLC and formerly called the Hotel Lanka Oberoi, is a luxury five-star hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Cinnamon Grand is located at 77 Galle Road, Kollupitiya, Colombo.
Tsunami is a 2020 Sri Lankan Sinhala disaster drama film directed by Somaratne Dissanayake and produced by his wife Renuka Balasooriya for Cine Films Lanka. It stars Niranjani Shanmugaraja and Darshan Dharmaraj in lead roles along with Himali Sayurangi and Bimal Jayakody. Music composed by Rohana Weerasinghe. The film is based on incidents occurred in Sri Lanka during 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004.
EAP Films was originally founded as Edirisinghe Cinema Theatres in 1972. It has the largest share of the Sri Lanka theatre market with more than 15+ screens island-wide. It started producing films in 1994 and its first release was Dhawala Pushpaya (1994). The company has been listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange since the 2000s.
C T Holdings PLC, formerly known as Ceylon Theatres Limited, is an investment holding company and one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka. The company was incorporated in 1928 by Chittampalam A. Gardiner and quoted on the Colombo Stock Exchange ever since. In 2019, Brand Finance ranked C T Holdings eighth amongst the most valuable conglomerates in Sri Lanka with a brand value of LKR18,981 million. C T Holdings also ranked eighth in the LMD 100, a list of leading listed companies in Sri Lanka by the business magazine, LMD. The company holds a 71% stake in Sri Lanka's largest food company, Cargills (Ceylon).
The 2022 Sri Lankan protests, commonly known as Aragalaya, were a series of mass protests that began in March 2022 against the government of Sri Lanka. The government was heavily criticized for mismanaging the Sri Lankan economy, which led to a subsequent economic crisis involving severe inflation, daily blackouts, and a shortage of fuel, domestic gas, and other essential goods. The protesters' main demand was the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and key officials from the Rajapaksa family. Despite the involvement of several opposition parties, most protesters considered themselves to be apolitical, with many expressing discontent with the parliamentary opposition. Protesters chanted slogans such as "Go Home Gota", "Go Home Rajapaksas", and "Aragalayata Jaya Wewa". Most protests were organized by the general public, with youths playing a major part by carrying out protests at Galle Face Green.
Yugathra is a 2023 Sri Lankan Sinhala-language romantic fantasy psychological drama film written and directed by Channa Perera. The film stars Channa Perera, Mashi Siriwardena in the lead roles. The film was showcased for a premiere at the Scope-Sarasaviya Film Festival in September 2020 by Scope Cinemas especially during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The soundtrack of the film as well as the official trailer of the film were launched in a special event which was held at Colombo City Centre on 14 February 2023 coinciding with the Valentine's Day.The soundtrack and the songs has been composed by Dinesh Subasinghe. The film had its theatrical release on 20 April 2023.
