Jul 18 (Island) Department of Sports Development has decided to commence events of non contact sports of the National Sports Festival after the general election in August. The top officials met on Thursday to decide the destiny of the National Sports Festival. "We decided to conduct the events of the National Sports Festival in three stages and will send the circulars advising Provincial Directors to commence District & Provincial level more..

Jul 18 (Island) This island of ours entered environmental protection with a far reaching statement, made in 300 BCE. All Kings have respected and upheld this decision. In the historical period, the role of the King was not to administer the people, that task was handed over to the village headmen. The responsibility of the King was to protect the environment and ensure that the man-made waves or reservoirs were repaired and maintained in perfect working order. more..

Jul 18 (ST) The Dehiwela Zoo looks forlorn these days: the usual crowds around the ticket gates are absent, as are the noisy vendors selling fruits, candy and toys to visitors; inside, just a few daring local families with children roam, together with a few tourists. Even its 84th anniversary on Friday last week was subdued, with only the zoo staff and the media being present. The day started with pirith chanting, invoking blessings on the zoo�s 3,000 animals, birds and other creatures, more..

Jul 18 (CT) Former Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC charged that following undue pressure exerted on the then IGP Pujith Jayasundara by former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and five other politicians, an Al-Qaeda member known as Mohammad Rifkhan, who had arrived in the country two years ago, had not been arrested. He alleged that besides Wickremesinghe, undue political influence had been exerted on Jayasundara more..

Jul 18 (ST) Visakha Vidyalaya swimmer Ganga Senevirathne belongs to the rare breed of sports stars who balances education and sports and strives hard to achieve glory despite not being born with a silver spoon in her mouth. One of six students who sat the GCE (O/L) exam while representing SL at the South Asian Games (SAG) in Nepal in Dec, Ganga achieved the distinction of winning the most number of medals � three silver and one bronze � from this group in addition to obtaining 4 As, 4 Bs and more..

Jul 18 (Island) Sri Lanka earned Rs. 84.7 billion in forex from tea during the first five months of 2020. However, these earnings were less than the corresponding earnings for 2019. Last year, the earned income was Rs.101 billion, recording a shortfall of Rs.17.1 billion. Besides, SL's cost of production in the tea sector is the highest in the world, the Forbes & Walker tea market report of last week said. Plantation sources attributed these costs to low crop caused by severe drought more..

Jul 18 (FT) Attorney General (AG) approved the draft rehabilitation regulations for de-radicalisation of suspects from holding violent extremist religious ideologies. The regulations which are to be promulgated under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were approved subject to amendments. The regulations will be promulgated under Section 27 of the PTA. Section 27 gives Minister in charge of the subject of Defence, more..

Jul 18 (Island) All officials attached to the Elections Complaints Unit of the Polonnaruwa District were interdicted following a clash that occurred after the officials were found bathing naked in a canal at Kalahagala on Wednesday, Polonnaruwa Returning Officer DA Dharmasiri said. He said that the decision had been taken following an investigation into the incident. The investigation has revealed that seven officials attached to the complaints unit had visited the Kalahagala, and more..

Jul 18 (FT) Court of Appeal (CA) will take up for consideration on 29 September a Writ Application filed by former Commissioner General of Pensions K.A. Thilakaratne and several others seeking the operation of the circular issued by the Ministry of Public Administration, last November granting a pension hike, which was subsequently suspended by the new Govt. Bench comprised Justices A.H.M.D Nawaz and Sobhitha Rajakaruna. Petitioners have cited 22 Respondents more..

Jul 18 (Island) Archdiocese of Colombo denied backing any individual, section of a political party or political party contesting parliamentary polls scheduled for Aug 5. A senior spokesperson for the Archbishop of Colombo said that the Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith or the Archdiocese of Colombo wasn�t involved with political activity in support of any party. Sri Lanka is divided into 12 dioceses. In addition to Colombo, there are more..

Jul 18 (MFA) SL�s Permanent Representative to the UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Ambassador Samantha K. Jayasuriya, as the Chair of the 7th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD), called the High Level Political forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, for multi Stakeholder partnership in post COOVID 19, to preserve the development gains and build forward. She made these remarks presenting the outcomes of more..

Jul 18 (DN) LankaPropertyWeb.com, one of the leading real estate website in Sri Lanka with over 15,000 property listings, recorded its highest traffic figures in June 2020. Visits to the site were up by 130% with over 3 million page views throughout the month. Leads given to the advertisers have followed an upward trajectory as well reaching up to 230% over the course of June. �The surge in traffic is a testament to the high level of trust the users have in LankaPropertyWeb and more..

Jul 18 (TM) Former Minister and Leader of ACMC Rishad Bathiudeen has filed an FR petition before the Supreme Court requesting the Court to grant an interim order preventing him from being arresting by the CID over the the bombings that occurred on the 21 st of Apr 2019. CID OIC, Special Investigation Unit, Ravindra Wimalasiri, CID OIC, CID Director, CID DIG Nuwan Wedasinghe, Acting IGP C.D. Wickramaratna, more..

Jul 18 (CT) The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has incurred an overall loss of Rs 45,142 million as of end-April 2020 due to a foreign exchange loss of Rs 43,890 million, though the State-owned fuel distributor saw an operational profit of Rs 1,494 million during the first four months of 2020. According to the Ministry of Finance, CPC failed to reap benefits from the drastic drop in global oil prices due to the reduction in demand for fuel during January-April. more..

Jul 18 (FT) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday directed the Tea Board to investigate 13 tea factories in the Central Province that had their production suspended and reopen within a week. Rajapaksa gave this directive during a discussion held with the owners of these tea factories at Temple Trees. The factory owners had appealed for the opportunity to recommence production as closure of the factories had resulted in about 100,000 people losing their livelihoods. more..

Jul 18 (FT) Cabinet this week gave permission for the establishment of a bio-technology innovation park and bio-technology institute on 13.2 acres in Homagama. Plans have been drawn up to set up a SL bio-technology innovation park and SL bio-technology institute in phases with the objective of promoting hi-tech exports and encouraging import substitute products. �Intention of this project is to facilitate a favourable environment required more..

Jul 18 (AD) Total count of COVID-19 positive cases confirmed in SL hit 2,697 today (17). Latest cases include 2 close contacts linked to Kandakadu cluster residing in Gampaha area, 3 inmates at the Rehabilitation Centre in Kandakadu and 3 inmates of the Senapura Rehabilitation Centre. Accordingly, 10 virus-infected persons have been found so far within the day. A 12-year-old from Rajanganaya, who is linked to the Kandakadu cluster and an arrival from India also tested positive for COVID-19. more..

Jul 18 (DM) Thalangama Police reported facts to the Kaduwela Magistrate's Court with regard to a complaint filed against Mervin Silva�s son Malaka Silva by one of his friends over death threats, OIC Chief Inspector Nalinda Dilruk said. He said that Malaka Silva had allegedly asked for money from his friend in June for the election campaign of his father. According to facts reported to the Magistrate Court, initially, the friend has agreed to make a small donation to get the posters printed. more..

Jul 18 (CT) Former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Nilantha Jayawardana placed former President Maithripala Sirisena�s life at a risk by not properly preparing a security evaluation report before Sirisena left for a visit to Batticaloa in April 2019, claimed former IGP N.K. Illangakoon. This was revealed when former IGP Illangakoon testified on 17 July before the PCoI appointed to probe 21 April 2019 bombings. more..

Jul 18 (DM) Former Minister Champika Ranawaka alleged that a govt higher-up was involved in demolishing the 13th-century assembly hall used by King Buwenekabahu II in Kurunegala while the mayor of the area was being blamed for it. �We have reason to believe there is a minister behind the move to demolish the ancient building without the approval of the Dept of Archaeology,� he said. Mr. Ranawaka said the SJB will take action against those who were behind the demolition which more..

Jul 18 (DM) Nearly 368 people including family members, who had maintained links with COVID-19 patients at the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Centre had tested negative for the virus, Army Commander Shavendra Silva said today. �The 114 people, who had visited the inmates at the Centre and their family members, have tested negative for COVID-19," he said and added that 205 family members of military personnel, who underwent quarantine, were released today. more..

Jul 18 (NR) The Extraordinary Gazette notification on health guidelines for the 2020 General Election has been issued. COVID-19 (Elections) Regulations were prepared by the Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services under section 2 and 3 of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance (Chapter 222). According to the publication all persons who intend on organising a meeting in relation to more..

Jul 18 (SLN) The Navy seized a stock of drugs belonging to the category of Kerala cannabis, during a special operation conducted in the sea area south of Mandaitivu, Jaffna on 16th July. Navy has been vigilant over drugs being smuggled into the island via sea routes. Accordingly, under the supervision of Commander Northern Naval Area, a group of naval personnel attached to the Northern Naval Command had conducted a special operation in the sea area south of Mandaitivu. more..

Jul 18 (FT) None of the party manifestos have spelt out how they will get our country from the abyss post-COVID. The whole world is fighting a hidden enemy. They are all promising free handouts. Since I can remember, our people voted for Rs. 3.50 bread, Rs. 20 dhall, 8 pounds of cereal � JR Jayewardene didn�t say you have to pay for it. We have become a nation of beggars. Has anyone thought of the paradigm shift post-COVID? The way we live, conduct business, education, schooling, etc. more..

Jul 18 (FT) coronavirus outbreak which shattered the lives of many people and sent ripples throughout the world at an unprecedented rate, has made us think about the present lifestyle of us as humans, environmental degradation and overall sustainability of the planet. Religion is undoubtedly one of the important sources that has the potential to influence human behaviour. Because the present crisis in the ecology can be attributed to a spiritual issue (human greed) which calls for a spiritual answer. more..

Jul 18 (Island) Sri Lanka has reiterated the importance of the early implementation of the UN General Assembly resolutions regarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to statehood and the attainment of a two-State solution on the basis of the 1967 borders. Following is the text of the statement by Sri Lanka at the 44th Session of the UNHRC on Occupied Palestinian Territory on 16th July 2020: Sri Lanka takes note of the report presented by Michael Lynk, more..

Jul 18 (ST) Senior CEB engineers, including the Manager of the Lak Vijaya Coal Power Plant (LVPP), have slammed Govt moves to offer a fourth unit at Norochcholai on a silver platter to China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC). Since mid-last year, it has been proposed to add a new CEB-owned 300 megawatt unit as an extension to the existing plant at Norochcholai. But the Govt is now steaming ahead with plans to form more..

Jul 18 (AD) Entry of pilgrims into the sacred city of Kataragama will be limited two weeks starting from July 21 to Aug 4, in view of the Annural Esala Perahera of Kataragama Devalaya. Accordingly, the public will not be allowed to take part in religious activities or to watch the procession during the entire period of the Perahera festival. The 2248th Annual Esala Festival of the Kataragama Devalaya, one of the most revered and nationally important cultural festivals of Sinhalese, Tamil & Muslim people, more..

Jul 18 (ST) Prez Rajapaksa has appointed an eight-member committee to examine convicted prisoners� appeals for presidential pardons, Presidential Secretariat sources said. The committee has been appointed, taking into consideration the issue of overcrowding in prisons and the danger posed to prisoners from the COVID-19 pandemic. The eight-member committee is headed by Bar Association (BASL) President Kalinga Indatissa. Its other members are BASL Vice President more..

Jul 18 (AD) The ongoing interim school holiday, which was due to come to an end this Monday (20), has been extended by another week. Ministry of Education says the decision was reached taking into account the health security of the students. Accordingly, schools will be reopened on the 27th of July, however, only for the students in Grade 11, 12 and 13. Ministry said none of the schools in Rajanganaya and Welikanda more..

Jul 18 (ST) Hard-pressed health authorities worry that the food outlets and eateries gradually opening up in cities and towns will forget about keeping COVID rules as next month�s parliamentary election heats up with rallies and meetings. �In Colombo, initially these shops catered to a very small crowd coming to the city for work. This was ideal during a time of pandemic. But now, with campaign rallies, the city is attracting huge crowds, and the food outlets tend to forget health guidelines when more..

Jul 18 (CT) There are 1,201 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Western Province alone, office of the Provincial Director of Health Services (PDHS) � Western Province in its statistical breakdown noted. The website of the PDHS �Western Province noted yesterday that the related death toll from the Province was at seven. It noted that currently 242 persons were in quarantine. The COVID-19 situation report given by the PDHS � Western Province office showed that there were 127 cases of those more..

Jul 18 (DM) The NMRA yesterday issued notices of cancellation of registrations and import licenses to five pharmaceutical companies including Hemas Pharmaceuticals and A. Baur (Pvt) Ltd for arbitrarily and unilaterally increasing the retail prices of 10 medicines. Notices of cancellation have been issued to the following companies under Section 65 of the NMRA Act No 5 of 2015 for violating pricing regulations: more..

Jul 18 (DM) The PCR testing programme which was to be conducted in Colombo North has been postponed because of a work stoppage by the public health officers (PHIs), Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ruwan Wijeyamuni said yesterday. �We hope the trade union action is settled by Monday so that we can conduct the PCR tests in Colombo,� Dr. Wijeyamuni said and added that they were hoping to call in the retired PHIs to help carry out COVID-19 prevention work. more..

Jul 18 (CT) Cabinet has granted approval to set up 10 new universities covering each district in the island but the Treasury was not providing sufficient funds to the Open University of SL (OUSL) to cover essential expenditure, Open University Teachers Association (OUTA) alleged. OUTA President, Dr. B.D. Witharana said the University was facing a critical financial crisis for the past one year, with a serious reduction in funding. �The Treasury has provided only Rs 150 million whereas more..

Jul 18 (EN) SL�s exports in June 2019 was down 26% from a year earlier to US$ 906.02 million but extended a steep recovery seen in May after Coronavirus lockdown ended, Export Development Board said. EDB calculated PPE related exports at US$ 106.46 million in June 2020. �Exports have become a national priority, now more than ever, it is certainly impressive to see a strong V shaped recovery in the export sector, more..

Jul 18 (Island) German Embassy in Colombo has provided a grant of nearly Rs 4 million to the NGO, Women In Need (WIN) for their project to commemorate the anniversary of UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in 2000 and in an effort to promote human rights in general, Strengthening the Role of Women in Addressing Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in SL. The German Embassy said: In 2000 the UN Security Council adopted more..

Jul 18 (Xinhua) China has donated nearly 300,000 face masks to SL schools, universities and the country's Election Commission, as the island nation prepared for school reopening and the Aug. 5 parliamentary election, a statement from the Chinese Embassy in SL said here Tuesday. The embassy handed over 189,000 face masks to 26 schools and five universities across the country with the coordination of the ministries of education and higher education, according to the statement. more..

Jul 18 (CT) Security Forces sources said no information has been received that Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah, wife of Katuwapitiya Church suicide bomber Achchi Mohomadu Hasthun, had fled the country after the 21 April 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. They said inquiries were ongoing to ascertain whether she was still in hiding here. Although Security Forces suspected that she too, had perished in the blast on 26 April 2019 more..