Aug 17 (GV) SL is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 due to the Delta variant that mirrors the devastating surge in India in April. In the last 24 hours govt sources have reported 3,435 cases and 161 deaths bringing the total death count to 6,096. There are also serious concerns about the validity of govt data especially related to undercounting of cases. As cases have increased, and deaths being a lagging outcome, it is logical to assume that there might be an increase of deaths in the coming weeks more..

Aug 17 (DM) A damning new U.N. report warning of certain devastation from climate change has been dubbed humanity�s final wake-up call by environmental experts. UN�s IPCC climate panel has released a highly anticipated report warning that efforts to limit global warming to close to 1.5 Celsius, or even 2 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, will be beyond reach within the next two decades without immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. more..

Aug 17 (Island) As it stands, the Opposition under Sajith Premadasa has three routes to take, or to be more specific, left to take. Without considering all the cards on the table and deciding what card it should deal with, it cannot and will not go forward. Simply put, there is nothing to talk about if the SJB doesn�t evolve a consensus on tactics and strategies. Unfortunately, for reasons that are only too obvious, the regime seems to be losing as much legitimacy as the Opposition. more..

Aug 17 (Island) In a bid to revive cricket in Police, the cops have begun a recruitment drive with several high profile names expected to join them ahead of this season. The biggest signing of them all is star performer Kusal Janith Perera. The Island can confirm that he will be moving out of Colts this season after spending 12 years at the club. Along with KJP, his contemporaries at school Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Kithruwan Vithanage will move to Police. The cops have also recruited more..

Aug 17 (CT) Last week Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda shared his opinions on Tamil politics and geopolitics. This week he spoke about his Ministry and its goals to promote sea cucumber farming and tourism. He sees sea cucumber harvesting as a lucrative business for northerners due to its untouched export market. He has already issued 85 pending permits for sea cucumber farms in many parts of the island. more..

Aug 17 (FT) The country�s COVID-19 immunisation program on Sunday administered the first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 117,905 persons. According to the Epidemiology Unit, 11,879,851 persons in the country have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 4,616,266 persons have received both doses. Sri Lanka yesterday received a batch of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines and the first dose of Pfizer has been administered to 252,290 persons and 2nd dose to 31,605 persons. more..

Aug 17 (ST) Where are we heading with proposed laws to curb social media? Admittedly social media is not perfect. Then govts, whatever their ideological proclivity, are not perfect either, to judge by the plethora of broken promises that lie scattered along the road to power and privilege. Social media did not just sprout up from nowhere. If the advance of technology, especially the spread of computer use and access to users almost anywhere in the world and the ability to convey news and more..

Aug 17 (TM) More than 100 trade unions from multiple sectors have declared a day of solidarity on Thursday, 19 August in support of the actions initiated by teachers and principals demanding a solution to their salary anomaly issue, among others, teachers� unions said. CTU President Priyantha Fernando said that a number of trade unions representing the sectors of electricity, ports, railways, health, water supply and drainage, management services, more..

Aug 17 (Island) There has been a mini Cabinet reshuffle. One is at a loss to understand the rationale, if any, behind it. People would have been happy if at least one half of the Cabinet had been sacked. What made President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reshuffle only a few members of his ministerial team? Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who held the health portfolio, has been appointed the Transport Minister. The Health Ministry drew heavy flak, on her watch, for its poor response to the pandemic. more..

Aug 17 (DN) Three SL badminton umpires will officiate at the Tokyo Paralympics Games from Aug 27 to Sept 5. Lakpriya Edirisinghe has been appointed as Chief Umpire while Samantha Nawaratne and Chandana Nilantha have been appointed as line judges. This is the first time that badminton has been introduced to Para Games. International Umpire Edirisinghe is accredited with the BWF and has studied BAC Umpiring at the Badminton Asia Confederation. more..

Aug 17 (Island) Athletes in schools and those out-of-school do not currently have enough opportunities to participate in competitions. Scheduling competitions between schools within districts, and between districts for those who are out-of-school, will provide athletes with more opportunities to develop their skills and achieve a higher standard of performance. Factors that may present an obstacle to competitions include: 1) cost of ground preparation; 2) availability of qualified officials to conduct more..

Aug 17 (Island) After a disappointing start in the SLC Invitational T20 League, team Reds finally got their act together with a comprehensive ten wicket win over SLC Greens at Pallekele yesterday. Having lost both their encounters last week, Reds were under the pump and wanted their batting to click. Chasing a target of 144, skipper Dinesh Chandimal and Avishka Fernando posted half-centuries to ensure a comfortable win with 15 balls to spare. Chandimal posted 51 while Fernando smashed 82 off 58 more..

Aug 17 (FT) The top eight conglomerates posted a combined pre-tax profit of Rs. 30 billion in the first quarter after generating Rs. 364 billion in net revenue. The performance in the latest quarter was stellar in comparison to a year ago, which saw the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a quarter-on-quarter basis too, the performance of some of the conglomerates was impressive. The combined after-tax profit was over Rs. 21 b more..

Aug 17 (Island) The overall public health strategy had to be reformed and placed under a new management, Executive Director of the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), Dr Ravi Rannan-Eliya said. He said that the situation in Sri Lanka was very bad. The pandemic had got out of control with the govt running out of cash and foreign reserves, he said. �There is a widespread transmission and vaccination alone cannot curb it effectively. probably over a 1000 dying each week, hospitals overwhelmed, more..

Aug 17 (FT) Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala yesterday released former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen�s brother-in-law Shiabdeen Ismath on a personal bail of Rs. 500,000, in the case in which the suspect was alleged to have raped an underaged female domestic aide in 2016. At the onset of the matter Counsel Hematha Gamage appearing with Sampath Hewamanna, Wahabdeen Akram, Niranjan Iriyagolla, Malinda Jayasinghe and Niranjala Gunathilaka submitted that more..

Aug 17 (Island) Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has questioned the failure on the part of the Inland Revenue Department to use a building at Colpetty rented at a cost of Rs. 5.08 mn. According to the first COPA report handed over to Parliament, on July 20, by the watchdog�s Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Inland Revenue Dept abandoned plans to set up Tax Services Division due to strong objections by employees. more..

Aug 17 (CT) The country�s vaccination drive, though commendable, cannot control the current wave of COVID-19, President of the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) Dr. Lakkumar Fernando said. He pointed out that this grave situation was the inevitable result of delays in decision-making pertaining to Covid19. Although vaccination cannot stop the current wave of COVID-19, it can potentially stop a future wave. Pointing out that only 15% of the population has been fully vaccinated, more..

Aug 17 (EN) Leaders of political parties in parliament on Monday (16) decided to limit this week�s parliament sitting to just one day from four after as many as five MPs tested positive for COVID-19 within two weeks. Parliament sittings were scheduled for four days this week from Tuesday (17) to Friday. Many legislators are in self quarantine after some of their colleagues were found to have been infected with the novel coronavirus early this month. more..

Aug 17 (TM) Following months of protracted disputes, arguments, and counterarguments, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has finally decided to offer player contracts for the year 2021. �We are planning to give the contracts to the players. There will be three or four new players in the new list, who have performed well in the recent past and had not been granted contracts earlier,� a senior SLC ex-co official said. more..

Aug 17 (FT) Health officials on Sunday confirmed 167 more COVID-19 deaths, which raised the country�s COVID-19 death toll to 6,263. The fatalities confirmed on Sunday consist of 130 persons over the age of 60, 36 persons between ages 30 and 59, and one person below the age of 30. 75.41% of the total fatalities are above the age of 60, 23.49% are between ages 30 and 59, and 1.1% are below the age of 30. A total of 103 deaths confirmed on Sunday were male and 64 were female. more..

Aug 17 (TM) Colombo Mayoress Rosy Senanayake issued an urgent message to Colombo�s residents and visitors, recommending increased caution regarding the prevailing Covid-19 situation. �I am appealing to you all to be extremely vigilant and cautious in your activities. Take your responsibility to yourself, and others, very seriously,� she had stated. She had also noted that while the Govt is doing its best to manage the situation, the health system is severely stretched, and health officials more..

Aug 17 (EN) Outgoing health minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi was surprised by a snap cabinet reshuffle that saw her replaced with minister Keheliya Rambukwella Monday morning, she said. In a seemingly emotional farewell speech to officials at the ministry of health Monday afternoon, Wanniarachchi said though she does feel disappointed, she will take the decision in stride. Wanniarachchi�s was among 7 key portfolios more..

Aug 17 (DM) The hiccups and shortcomings that occurred in calculations related to COVID-19 figures are being addressed and rectified and once it is done, the death rate will slow down, Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa said. He said the death rate is normally determined considering the number of active cases and added when the actual figures were received, the death rate would come down. �We are currently coordinating with district more..

Aug 17 (DM) SJB MP Rajitha Senaratne said prioritisation of national economic development in line with the neo-liberal model at the cost of human lives would not bode well for SL. Social justice is also important at this moment. �Priority should be given to saving lives of the people rather than thinking of the economy. What is the use of a stable economy if the people die one after the other? What the pandemic has made clear globally is that social justice plays a big role as well in a society,� more..

Aug 17 (FT) Sri Lanka�s COVID-19 detections rose to 362,074 with 3,466 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday and over 3,000 delayed cases being added to the total patient count. 3,640 cases reported in the last five days to the total patient count. According to Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa, steps are being taken to fix any inaccuracies in COVID-19 data. more..

Aug 17 (CT) Director General of the Dept of Wildlife Conservation, Chandana Sooriyabandara said teams have been deployed to investigate the carcass of a mutilated tusker found in the Yala National Park on 15 August. He added Police are also investigating the incident and that legal actions will be taken against the poachers involved. The poachers had mutilated the tusker and had taken away its tusks and tail. Meanwhile, Environmental Lawyer, Dr. Jagath Gunawardana stated more..

Aug 17 (VD) A shallow magnitude 4.3 earthquake was reported early evening near Colombo, Colombo District. According to India's National Center for Seismology (NCS), the quake hit on Monday (16) at 6:15 pm local time at a shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and more..

Aug 17 (TM) The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) yesterday said that over 50% of Covid-19 patients receiving treatment at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo are dependent on oxygen (O2), while about 25 patients are receiving ICU treatment. �Approximately 600 patients are currently receiving treatment at the NHSL, of which about 305 patients are dependent on oxygen. more..

Aug 17 (FT) Amidst the foreign exchange crisis intensified in recent months, the Central Bank has been attempting hard to manage the currency float so as to prevent a free fall of the rupee. Meanwhile, exporters are reported to have been lobbying the Govt to depreciate the rupee to restore export competitiveness. The trade deficit expanded in the first half of this year despite a remarkable recovery of exports during the pandemic. This was mainly due to the substantial increase in imports of intermediate more..

Aug 17 (FT) Sri Lanka, like many parts of the world, is trapped between two unprecedented catastrophes. One is on the health front arising from the most contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, and the other on the economic front compounded by the pandemic itself. There is a vicious link between the two, which makes efforts of govts to minimise disruption to health and economy very difficult. For example, controlling the spread of the virus requires vaccinating at least the entire adult population of a country, more..

Aug 17 (DN) Certain quarantine regulations have been reinforced from yesterday to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Police Spokesman SDIG Ajith Rohana said. He noted that public events such as weddings and seminars etc. have been temporarily banned in order to prevent people congregating. �However, the registration of marriages could be carried out with the participation of just the bride and groom, parents of both parties, Marriage Registrar and the two witnesses,� he explained. more..

Aug 17 (DM) The Court of Appeal in its recent judgment held that an accused who made a confession to a police officer would be inadmissible and no confession made to a police officer should be proved as against a person accused of any offence. The Court of Appeal made these remarks while delivering a judgment into an appeal filed by four accused-appellants who were indicted in Ampara High Court for having committed three offences including the gang rape on a woman in Dehiattakandiya. more..

Aug 17 (EN) SL rupee�s non-credible peg to the US dollar which was kept to around 203 in the breach with the moral suasion has broken to 211-215 levels with most banks giving up on the earlier, rate, market participants said. Most domestic banks have started to sell dollars around 211 to the US dollar to importers while foreign banks are selling around 215. On Tuesday Commercial Bank was quoting a rate of 206.50/211.00 for Telegraphic Transfers, more..

Aug 17 (EN) Sri Lanka has inked a deal for a 2.0 billion Renminbi term loan (about US$ 308 million) on August 17, China�s embassy in Colombo said in twitter.com message. The tranche is part of a US$ 1.2 billion budget support loans agreed earlier. Two 500 million US dollar denominated loans were given in April 2021 and March 2020. The earlier loans were for 10 years. China had also given a 1.5 billion dollar equivalent RMB swap to the central bank. more..

Aug 17 (AD) Two men on a motorcycle have been shot dead during a shoot-out with the police this evening. The incident has taken place in the area of Tissamaharama. According to the police, the motorcyclist and his pillion rider had ripped off a gold necklace from a woman. Acting on a tip-off received on the incident, a team of officers attached to the Sooriyawewa Police had given chase to the two thieves. The duo had opened fire at the police jeep, however, they were later shot dead when the officers returned fire. more..

Aug 17 (AD) Three new mutations of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus have been identified in SL, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana told the Parliament today. He made this revelation delivering a statement on the current pandemic situation in the country, during the parliamentary session earlier today. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (Temporary Provisions) Bill was taken up for debate in the House this morning. more..

Aug 17 (AD) Jaffna District MP and TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has tested positive for Covid-19. In a Twitter message, the MP said that his wife, daughter and himself were showing symptoms of Covid-19 and therefore decided to get themselves tested. All three of them had tested positive for the virus, according to the test results received this morning. �We would therefore appreciate all those who have been in contact with us recently to have themselves tested and self-isolate,� the MP tweeted. more..