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Port City is now picking up, after being a pile of sand for a decade. At least 150 companies have set up shop. But a closer look suggests that all may not be going according to plan. The zone has drawn local real estate speculators and questionable offshore companies, with few blue-chip investors.

The Anti-corruption Act and the 22nd amendment to the constitution passed the Supreme Court’s scrutiny this week. Discussing civil servants’ and judges’ asset declarations will soon be illegal. The government will also be able to appoint a majority of Appeal Court judges.

Part I of Richard Simon’s essay asked whether Ravana is supplanting Vijaya as the father of the Sinhalese race. Part II traces its historical origins and then why Hela Ravana took so long to penetrate Colombo’s English-speaking bubble.

For Chamari, a lottery booth doubles as a changing room. Like her, thousands of women powering Colombo’s economy struggle for dignity in a city that forgets a basic need: toilets.