Aug 12 (TM) The Co-operative Services, Marketing Development, and Consumer Protection State Ministry has stated that it would work with Prez Rajapaksa, Cabinet of Ministers, Finance Ministry, and Trade Ministry to address the current shortage of Laugfs Gas PLC liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country. State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna stated this in response to a letter sent by the Govt MP more..

Aug 12 (TM) Around 10 persons in Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) administrative areas are testing positive for Covid-19 on a daily basis, according to the PHIs Union Secretary Mahendra Balasooriya. He said that the current condition is critical as the Covid-19 pandemic situation has gotten out of hand. �Most of the Covid-19 positive cases are being reported from Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara in the Western Province, Kurunegala and Puttalam in the North Western/Wayamba Province, more..

Aug 12 (DM) State-owned retail network, Lanka Sathosa is stepping up efforts to diversify its product offering and is gearing up to open the first organic supermarket network in SL. The specialised chain will be operating under the banner Sathosa Organic Supermarket for which fresh branding efforts are already being carried out. The organic arm will carry the Sathosa logo and in green unlike the umbrella brand which uses red and yellow colours. The first outlet under Sathosa Organic Supermarket more..

Aug 12 (CT) SL�s Imports for the 1st five months of this year have skyrocketed from previous year by 61.7% to USD 1,607 Mn, with purchases of fuel rising 425.5% to USD 331 Mn, textiles and products of rising 94.7%to USD 236 Mn, and machinery and equipment accounting fora rise of 15.9% to USD 183 Mn. According to the Research arm of the First Capital Group SL�s trade balance widened to USD 716 Mn in May 2021, more..

Aug 12 (FT) Export Development Board (EDB) raised concerns on the shortage of containers as a result of multiple global supply chain bottlenecks. �Exporters are still grappling with the shortfall of containers out of the Colombo Port. The situation still remains and it is a serious concern for the exporters,� EDB Chairman Suresh de Mel told a virtual forum on Strategic interventions on COVID-hit exports in SL: How to overcome barriers? organised by the Centre of Banking Studies this week. more..

Aug 12 (AD) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced that the SLC Headquarters in Colombo has started to operate with a minimal number of employees, effective from today (11). The decision was taken, following the detection of two SLC employees as Covid Positive, and also considering the current health situation in the country, a statement said, adding that the rest of the employees will attend to regular work via virtual measures. In the meantime, at HPC, more..

Aug 12 (FT) Sri Lanka�s COVID-19 detections rose to 342,079 yesterday with the detection of 2,987 COVID-19 patients. The detections include 2,890 persons from the New Year cluster. 236,652 patients from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 7,932 patients from the Prisons cluster, and 3,059 patients from the Divulapitiya cluster have been detected to date. more..

Aug 12 (ANI) Four opposition parties in Japan, Constitutional Democratic, Democratic Party for the People, Communist and Social Democratic, demanded that the case of the death of a SL woman in the immigration center be brought before the parliamentary committee on legal issues. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa apologized for the inaction of the immigration center staff in the city of Nagoya, which resulted in the death of 33-year-old Wishma Sandamali more..

Aug 12 (FT) Ministry of Health will take steps to regulate the fees charged for PCR and antigen tests performed by private sector hospitals to identify those infected with the COVID-19. Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said the relevant Gazette notification to regulate these prices of the tests will be issued today following a special discussion with State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna. �The maximum price that the private sector can charge for a PCR test is Rs. 6,500 and the maximum price more..

Aug 12 (TM) The chairman of the BOI Sanjaya Mohottala is allegedly set to recruit 29 new executive directors, senior deputy directors, and deputy director general for a higher remuneration than that of those who are with the Board at the moment, reliable sources revealed. Escalating the allegation further, it has also been pointed out by reliable sources that a floor at the World Trade Center is being renovated, by spending more..

Aug 12 (EN) Sri Lanka received another 15,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, State Minister Prof Channa Jayasumana said. The first dose of Sputnik V to 159,081 Sri Lankans, of whom 14,516 have received their second dose. The Sputnik V rollout was put on hold on Aug 8 due to a shortage. Jayasumana said that the doses received on Wednesday will be sent to Kandy district to be administrated as the second dose. more..

Aug 12 (EN) SL Army has deployed a mobile vaccination fleet to inoculate the elderly, sick, disabled or otherwise feeble citizens that are unable to go to a vaccination centre,. The Western province-based mobile vaccination fleet will commence operations on Thursday morning at the army HQ in Sri J'pura, a task force statement said. Ten vehicles with medical teams from the SL Army Medical Corps (SLAMC) and the Directorate of Preventive Medicine and Mental Health more..

Aug 12 (EN) SL�s confirmed daily COVID-19 death toll reached a record high for the sixth day running on Wednesday with the govt information department reporting 124 deaths. Total confirmed COVID-19 deaths in SL now stand at 5,464. The govt also confirmed 2,890 new infections on Wednesday, bringing active cases in the country to 36,112. Total cases since last March are 342,079. SL has seen an alarming surge in COVID-19 deaths since more..

Aug 12 (TM) Critical emergency medical equipment including high dependency unit (HDU) beds, finger pulse oximeters, oxygen concentrators, oxygen jumbo cylinders, and other urgent supplies have been made available to 78 hospitals across the country for COVID-19 response measures. A press release disseminated by the Delegation of the European Union to SL and Maldives stated that the distribution of such equipment took place through a partnership between the WHO and the EU. more..

Aug 12 (FT) A violent demonstration is one in which the protestors throw Molotov cocktails or at least rocks, smash shop-windows, etc. There have been no violent demonstrations so far. There has been one in which there was a forceful scuffle over barricades, causing injury, which going by the repeated slo-mo replay of the moment by TV newscasts that evening, seems inadvertent. Why then are there arrests of those who participated on the occasion as well as of those more..

Aug 12 (AD) Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has granted approval to increase the prices of Laugfs Liquid Petroleum (LP) Gas cylinders. The new price of a 12.5 kg domestic gas cylinder is Rs 1,856. Accordingly, the old price of a 12.5 kg cylinder has been upwardly revised by Rs 363. In addition, the price of a mini (5 kg) Laugfs gas cylinder has been raised to Rs 743. This is an increase of Rs 145 from the previous price. However, there is no decision to increase the existing prices of Litro Gas, more..

Aug 12 (FT) It was a quiet Sunday in March, 2005 when Lakshman and Suganthi chatted with me as we sat in their verandah and sipped thambili. He painted a broad canvass of thoughts, rich in texture and resplendent in colour: they ranged from the stories behind the murals from India that adorned his walls, to the deeper meanings of the paintings of Stanley Kirinde, from the traditions that Trinity had handed down to the importance of playing one�s role with integrity in politics. more..

Aug 12 (SLA) The mobilization of the Army's first Western Province-based Mobile COVID-19 Vaccination Fleet that prioritizes the vaccination of the elderly, sick, handicapped and feeble sections in society, a combined effort of the SL Army Medical Corps (SLAMC), Directorate of Preventive Medicine and Mental Health, Directorate of Supply and Transport, SL Signal Corps, SL Corps of Military Police, Brigadier Chandana Arangala, more..

Aug 12 (Island) Glad tidings are rare in these troubled times, when news is mostly about the pandemic and, therefore, depressing. But some good news has come from India. Indian Supreme Court has brought the ruling BJP, the Congress and seven other political parties down a peg or two. It has fined them for the non-disclosure of criminal cases against their candidates, according to a report we published yesterday. Even the ranks of Tuscany could scarce forbear to cheer. more..

Aug 12 (MFA) The COP26 Regional Ambassador for the Asia-Pacific and South Asia Ken O�Flaherty congratulated Sri Lanka for timely submission of its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with ambitious commitments on renewable energy and net zero carbon, as well as a pledge for �no more coal.� He reiterated that the commitment at the highest level of policy making is the strength behind such ambitious commitments and it would no doubt bring wide accolades to Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 12 (Island) Members of Parliament couldn�t be under any circumstances compelled to receive vaccine in spite of the growing danger posed by the raging Covid-19 epidemic, Sergeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando said. Fernando said that perhaps about a dozen MPs out of 225 hadn�t taken the vaccine. Responding to another query, the top official emphasised that as inoculation was not mandatory, more..

Aug 12 (DM) Chief of Staff to PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, Yositha Rajapaksa today denied rumors that he was trying to secure a stake in the domestic gas business. He said he does not own any gas company and there was a fake propaganda spreading to tarnish his image. Yoshitha, the son of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said that such stories had been fabricated to bring the govt into disrepute. He said it was yet another blatant fabrication similar to the one that he owned a golden horse. more..

Aug 12 (EN) Traditional Kandy Perahera will be held without a physical audience but it will be broadcast live on social media and digital television, the govt said amid a worsening Coronavirus crisis. The annual festival which used to attract thousands of foreign tourists and locals will be held from Aug 13 to 23. �Due to the Covid pandemic, this year�s Perahera will be held without public participation under health guidelines,� a govt statement quoting the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy said. more..

Aug 12 (Island) Department of Wildlife Conservation has recorded 219 jumbo deaths up to August 11 this year mainly from human-elephant conflict. During the same period, 89 people were killed in elephant attacks. 160 elephant deaths and 56 human deaths had been recorded during the same period in 2020. Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle of SL Convener Supun Prakash, who is also one of the authorities on more..

Aug 12 (AD) The court has issued orders to ban four website that had published advertisements for selling a 15-year-old girl for sexual exploitation, says Senior DIG Ajith Rohana. Accordingly, the Director-General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of SL (TRCSL) has been directed to take necessary measures in this regard. The order has been issued after taking into consideration a request made by the Police Children & Women Bureau, the police spokesman stated further. more..

Aug 12 (EN) Sri Lanka has removed a travel restriction on its citizens and dual citizen holders of SL passports allowing them to arrive in the country from India without prior approvals or a 14-day quarantine. An amended directive published on August 12, 2021 by the Health Ministry said that Sri Lankans, their accompanying foreign national spouse, children, dual citizens (if using the SL passport to arrive) with a travel history (including transit) in the past 14 days to India, more..

Aug 12 (Island) SL�s High Commissioner to the UK, Saroja Sirisena, hailed the country�s phenomenal healthcare response and said she was hopeful it was on track to take it off the UK�s red list from September. Sirisena told Travel Weekly that when a country has gone through something, it comes out better prepared for things in the future. �We have been really disciplined [with Covid]. Our approach was criticised by more..

Aug 12 (DM) The island states are most likely to be affected by the environmental damage caused by global warming and the impact on countries such as SL, in particular, is very high, Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe said. He said compared to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Glasgow City, Scotland later this year, a preface has been presented by the UN Int'l Panel on Climate Change. They emphasize that global warming is out of control, Dr. Jasinghe said. more..

Aug 12 (AD) The effects of the Delta variant of the coronavirus will be severe in the coming two weeks, says Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Director of the Dept of Immunology & Molecular Medicine at Sri J'pura. He said that the Delta variant is twice as prevalent as the Wuhan variety. �This delta effect has only just begun, and the severity of this is expected to continue, especially in the next two to three weeks. It is twice as prevalent as the Wuhan variety. We could be infected if we remove more..

Aug 12 (DM) Kumbuk is a tree found in the dry zone which lives up to 300 years. The tree has the ability to purify water by reclaiming saline. These trees can be found close to tanks, dams, reservoirs, fields and private lands in the dry zone. One feels cool under the shade of a Kumbuk tree and therefore they can be seen planted on either side of roads in the dry zone. However despite all that shade and comfort promised by more..

Aug 12 (ST) The SL Army�s infantry regiment would be getting new special ballistic or bullet proof helmets made by a foreign company as the relevant procurement committee has awarded the tender for the supply of 10,000 ballistic helmets to the State Trading (General) Corporation (STC). STC, the trading arm of the Govt, has submitted its quotations in US dolalrs as it has to import these protective helmets by placing an order with a foreign company, according to Treasury documents. more..

Aug 12 (DM) The JVP today alleged that the Govt was manipulating data and information on the Covid-19 pandemic violating the people�s right to know the true situation of the pandemic. Former JVP MP Sunil Hadunnetti told a news conference that it was vital for the people and decision making bodies to know the true data and information on the pandemic situation. He said it was reported that there was a contradiction in the data and information issued by the Covid Task Force and more..

Aug 12 (TM) The UNP has presented a 21-point plan regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the UNP Working Committee unanimously adopted the plan which will be distributed to all UNP Local Govt members and Party organisers for discussions to take place with the public. Copies of the plan will also be sent to the President and other relevant Govt members as well as the Speaker of Parliament and more..

Aug 12 (AD) Cabinet Sub-Committee appointed to resolve the salary anomalies of teachers and principals have decided to meet the relevant trade unions separately within the next week. Committee members Ministers Dallas Alahapperuma, Wimal Weerawansa, Mahinda Amaraweera, and Prasanna Ranatunga held its first meeting in Colombo this morning. The Committee was appointed by Prez Rajapaksa to study and make recommendations regarding resolving the salary disparity more..

Aug 12 (AD) Govt has decided to establish a new company affiliated to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) produce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and to provide the supplies to the market at competitive prices. Reportedly, the decision has been taken during the meeting of the Cabinet held earlier this week. CPC manufactures approximately 5% of SL�s liquefied petroleum gas requirement and provides its products to the Litro Gas Lanka and Laugfs Gas PLC for distribution. more..

Aug 12 (CT) As the Western world is trying to probe the origin of the coronavirus, Chinese Ambassador to SL Qi Zhenhong has, during a discussion with Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi on Monday (9), said COVID-19 is a matter of science and should not be politicised by trying to trace its origin, as it will not resolve the problems. The Chinese Embassy in Colombo said that both, the Health Minister and more..

Aug 12 (AD) National Building Research Organization (NBRO) has issued landslide warnings on three districts. Accordingly, the warnings have been issued on Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, and Ratnapura Districts. NBRO stated that the warnings have been issued due to the prevailing adverse weather in the relevant areas. Meanwhile, earth slips have occurred in several areas on the main road at Ginigathhena due to the heavy rains experienced in the western slopes of the central hills. more..

Aug 12 (AD) Sri Lanka has registered 156 more COVID-19 related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Wednesday (August 11). This is the highest number of COVID-19 deaths reported in a single day. This also marks the fourth consecutive day that the daily count of Covid-19 deaths has exceeded 100. The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in SL to 5,620. The latest victims confirmed today include 87 males and 69 females. more..