Aug 24 (ST) Actor, filmmaker and script writer Jackson Anthony is ready with his newest movie based on a tale from Jathaka Katha. Planned to versions in Sinhala and English as Devi Sambula (in Sinhala) and Sambula (In English), according to Jackson this is the second film in the Sri Lankan cinema history where a film was made in to two languages. First it was in 1951 with Sinahala film Segawunu Pilithura (Hidden Secret) which was made into Tamil as Kusumalatha. more..

Aug 24 (MFA) Ambassador of Japan to SL Akira Sugiyama while congratulating Minister Prof. G.L Peiris for his new appointment, reiterated Japan's continued support and cooperation to SL when he called on the new Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris at the Foreign Ministry on 20 Aug. Ambassador Sugiyama mentioned that SL and Japan maintain excellent partnerships at all levels and emphasized that Japan is committed to complete all ongoing development projects on time, more..

Aug 24 (ST) Safeguard the other provinces from going in the same direction as the Western Province (WP) which is facing an onslaught from the rapidly-spreading Delta or the Indian variant (B.1.617.2). This was the strong plea from Prof. Neelika Malavige, who has been peering at the virus and all its variants closely. �We should pre-empt and stop Delta from creating the same havoc that it is causing in the WP,� more..

Aug 24 (CT) Unbeaten SLC Greys (top of the points table) and SLC Reds (second place after first round), will meet in the final of the Dialog - SLC Invitational T20 League at Pallekele Int'l Cricket Stadium today. Greys is led by National white ball skipper Dasun Shanaka, while former National captain Dinesh Chandimal leads the Reds. �We were able to play positive cricket from the beginning of the tournament. Our opponents have more experienced campaigners in their side, but more..

Aug 24 (ST) Winfield Sports, SL�s premier sports branding and marketing organisation with a 22-year pedigree, delivered another first and groundbreaking commercial 3D VR (Virtual) signage branding during the recently concluded Indian ODI and T20I series in SL. The 3D VR was tested successfully during the Nidahas Trophy Tri-Series in March 2018, and this was first in cricket globally. Another successful testing was done in Dheradun, India in June 2018 for a tour of Bangladesh vs Afghanistan. more..

Aug 24 (Island) The fact that those aged over 60 had not been fully vaccinated by now reflected a flaw in the inoculation programme, GMOA Secretary, Dr. Senal Fernando said. He said that the Epidemiology Unit should present statistics on senior citizens who had been vaccinated. Dr. Fernando said that failure to follow a proper vaccination process was the main reason why the country had to go into a lockdown. more..

Aug 24 (Island) The govt should expand testing capacity significantly to make the best out of the lockdown and to control the spread of COVID-19 in the months to come, Executive Director of the IHP, Dr. Ravi Rannan-Eliya said. He said that ten days of lock down wasn�t adequate and without a significant expansion of testing any benefit accruing from it would not be sustained. �I worry a lot because this lockdown comes after considerable political and religious pressure. more..

Aug 24 (DM) Prez Rajapaksa should learn a lesson from the song Menike Mage Hithe which has become an int'l hit song and listen to the suggestions of all political parties and religious leaders in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, SJB Member Niroshan Padukka said. Pakdukka said the song Menike Mage Hithe was not originally sung by the artiste who is singing it now but someone else. However she managed to make it a hit. Likewise the Prez too can claim credit if he combats more..

Aug 24 (TM) The existing milk powder shortage does not have a foreseeable solution for a long time, industry experts said, adding that this is mainly because the industry is unable to keep up with the rising prices and is currently running under heavy losses. Sources from the industry said: �The main reason is that the importer prices have gone up since March this year from about 20%-30%. It is true that the prices have come down, more..

Aug 24 (FT) Workers� remittances continue to decline with July seeing a low of $ 453.3 million, down by a massive 35% from a year earlier. The July dip also reduced the first seven months� inflows growth to 2.6% to $ 3.77 billion. In June, workers remittances inflow was $ 478 million, whilst in May, the figure was $ 460 million. As of end-May, the year-to-date growth was a high 18% from the corresponding period of last year and it reduced to 11.6% in the first half. more..

Aug 24 (FT) Health officials on Sunday confirmed 194 COVID-19 deaths, which raised the country�s total COVID-19 death toll to 7,560. The majority of the deaths are in the over 60 age group, accounting for 75.74% of the total COVID-19 fatalities, while 23.21% are between ages 30 and 59, and 1.05% below the age of 30. On Sunday, the deaths of 145 persons over the age of 60 and 49 persons between ages 30 and 59 were confirmed. 103 deaths confirmed on Sunday were female & 91 male. more..

Aug 24 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 detections rose to 394,355 with 4,355 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday. This is the second consecutive day where daily COVID-19 detections have exceeded 4,000. The patients detected yesterday include 4,353 persons from the New Year cluster and two overseas arrivals. According to the Health Promotion Bureau, 14,716 PCR tests were carried out yesterday. more..

Aug 24 (Island) Minister Johnston Fernando yesterday said that none of those who clamoured to have the lockdown had come forward with any practical solutions to revive the economy hard hit by the pandemic. He said: �A country cannot be shut down till the cows come home in fear of a virus. We should aim to return to normal across the country with massive vaccinations in the coming weeks. Prez Rajapaksa last Saturday addressing the nation explained the situation we are in. more..

Aug 24 (DM) CWC Vice President Senthil Thondaman has proposed for the officials of the COVID-19 task force to record National Identification Card (NIC) number of all citizens who make liquor purchases in an effort to exclude such persons from Govt granted relief provided to low-income families during the ongoing pandemic period. �If a person from a low-income family is able to afford liquor, then such a person will be able to afford basic rations for survival as well. more..

Aug 24 (TM) The Catholic Church has urged the authorities to conduct an inquiry into the incident where certain top brass of the Police had visited Mahanayaka (Chief Prelate) of the Asgiri Chapter of the Siam Sect Ven. Warakagoda Dhammasiddhi Gnanarathana Thera to highlight that some injustice has allegedly been caused to certain police officials through the final report of the PCoI into the Easter Sunday more..

Aug 24 (TM) Govt is looking into the possibility of importing crude oil and mineral oil products from the UAE under a long-term loan base, as a solution to the foreign exchange crisis Sri Lanka is facing. This was brought up at a meeting held yesterday between Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila and UAE Diplomatic Mission to SL Acting Head Saif Yousif Al Naqbi. Gammanpila had earlier urged the SL public, via a post on his Twitter account, to use fuel sparingly to help save foreign exchange, more..

Aug 24 (TM) Amidst reports of individuals not obtaining other Covid-19 vaccines due to their intention of getting vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, manufactured in Europe and US, Health Ministry has requested the public to obtain any Covid-19 vaccine that is available in their area of residence and not to fear any vaccine. Health Ministry Communications Director, Dr. Hemantha Herath said that all Covid-19 vaccines being administered in SL have been approved by more..

Aug 24 (TM) SL is set to receive a total of 7.3 million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm and BioNTech Pfizer vaccines by 13 Sept, beginning with a consignment of one million doses of Sinopharm which arrives today, well-placed sources confirmed. Today�s consignment of Sinopharm doses will be followed by another consignment of two million doses of the Chinese vaccine on 27 Aug, and another 4 million doses scheduled for more..

Aug 24 (FT) At present, policymakers are facing unprecedented challenges in dealing with the economic setback exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since last year, Central Bank has adopted an easy money policy including low interest rates and selective credit concessions with a view to expedite economic revival. Meanwhile, the CBSL continued to accommodate fiscal shortfalls by purchasing Treasury bills and bonds in the primary market while commercial banks more..

Aug 24 (AD) Police has arrested 639 more people between 6.00 am on Monday and 6.00 am today for failing to adhere to quarantine regulations. Reportedly, a total of 57,435 arrests pertaining to quarantine law violations have been made since Oct 30, last year. In the meantime, the police have inspected 1,369 vehicles and 2,284 people in total at the Western Province borders. Inspections at 13 road blocks set up at entry and exit points of the Western Province were beefed up more..

Aug 24 (DM) A 36-year-old man from Nugegoda was arrested for sharing fake images corpses in a foreign country and indicated that the bodies of those who died due to the Covid virus are being dumped in the the Kalubowila Hospital wards. Police said the Computer Crimes Division has arrested the suspect after he shared several pictures on social media with the wording the corpses are starting to pile up and we have no shelter? The suspect was produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court more..

Aug 24 (FT) We come from a proud and resilient group of organic farmers. We made our own organic fertiliser and bio-pesticides and were able to manage our crops successfully. However, with increasing population came the need for increasing production. When land and other essential resources are limited, the best way to go about was increasing the productivity and efficiency. Hence came the need for improved crop varieties and high efficiency synthetic fertiliser and pesticides. more..

Aug 24 (EN) Former finance minister Mangala Samaraweera passed away Tuesday in hospital where he was being treated for Coronavirus, a coordinator for the former minister said. The 65-year-old Samaraweera contracted the virus earlier this month and was receiving ICU treatment at the Lanka Hospital, despite being fully vaccinated. When unconfirmed reports surfaced last week that Samaraweera passed, sources close to him more..

Aug 24 (DM) Environment Minister instructed the officials to formulate a National Environmental Policy (NEP) that would not change the policies of certain ministries even during govt or ministerial change. Addressing the media, Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe said the NEP was initiated for the first time in the country for the protection of the environment. "By formulating the NEP, all parliamentarians, NGOs, environmental organizations that are interested in the environment, more..

Aug 24 (AD) State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura has contracted COVID-19. On Aug 22, the lawmaker announced that he is under self-isolating after his daughter tested positive in a rapid antigen test. Accordingly, the state minister was referred to a PCR yesterday, which confirmed that he is positive for the virus. Earlier this month, several Members of Parliament including Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, State Minister Prasanna Ranaweera and MPs Rohana Dissanayake, more..

Aug 24 (DM) It was revealed that a total of 82,194 vehicles have been assigned to the govt institutions, including Ministries, State Enterprises, Provincial Councils and Local Govt Institutions. This was disclosed following a report submitted including the details of the vehicles belonging to govt establishments to the attention of the Cabinet Ministers by the PM, in the capacity of the Economic Policies and Plan Implementation Minister. more..

Aug 24 (AD) Details of a deceitful operation preventing migrant workers from bringing in foreign exchange to Sri Lanka through banks have been uncovered recently. Reportedly, the racket is carried out using Sri Lankans employed in the Middle East. Allegedly, the smugglers provide the migrant workers with gold biscuits worth more than the money the workers own and buy the gold off their hands once they are in SL. As per airport sources, gold biscuits were found in the possession more..

Aug 24 (DM) Cabinet Minister had approved importing of 300,000 liters of liquid medical oxygen weekly which is required to treat Covid-19 patients who are in critical condition. As the number of oxygen-dependant patients has increased, and therefore, the cabinet ministers have approved importing of 300,000 liters of liquid medical oxygen. The approval was given at the Cabinet meeting held on May 24, to import 120,000 liters of oxygen per month to ensure the uninterrupted supply more..

Aug 24 (AD) The govt has not taken a decision to deduct the salaries of any public or private sector employees, Minister Dullas Alahapperuma reiterated today. He stated that no politician in the govt has put forward such proposal. There is no truth in the reports which alleged of such decision, the cabinet spokesperson said adding that the move to donate the August salaries of parliamentarians of the entire Cabinet is not a move to lead to up to pay cuts in the state sector. more..

Aug 24 (DM) Senior lawyer Gowry Shangary Thavarasha, one of the leading instructing attorneys in Human Rights cases, died of Covid-19 on Monday (23). President�s Counsel K.V. Thavarasha is the husband of late Gowry Shangary Thavarasha. President of Bar Association of SL (BASL) Saliya Pieris PC stated that Gowry Shangary Thavarasha was a brave lady fighting tooth and nail for her clients. Gowry Shangary Thavarasha, Attorney-at-law our friend who fearlessly took up more..

Aug 24 (CT) Prez Rajapaksa said despite the challenges and obstacles the country has to face, there are a number of national responsibilities and duties that need to be fulfilled. Prez noted that rulers throughout history believed rituals and offerings dedicated to the Sacred Tooth Relic as their foremost duty. President was speaking during the ceremony to mark the successful completion of the historical Dalada Perahera more..

Aug 24 (DM) Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera's funeral was held in Colombo today. SJB MP, Harsha De Silva, in a video post on his Facebook said his colleagues were not allowed in but the video he managed to capture showed Samaraweera's remains being taken to the crematorium. Samaraweera passed away earlier Tuesday after being treated for several days for the COVID-19 infection. He was under intensive care at a private hospital in Colombo but suffered more..

Aug 24 (CT) Govt Nursing Officers Association (GNOA) claimed that this Govt was inefficient since it wanted to deduct the salaries and allowances of public servants during the pandemic, to resolve the country�s issues caused by the pandemic. GNOA chairman Saman Rathnapriya urged the Govt to pay the salaries and pensions to the families of health sector workers who succumbed to the virus while on duty. �Why should this Govt want to deduct the salaries & allowances of the public servants? more..

Aug 24 (TM) The decision on whether to continue or abandon the trade union actions that have been initiated by the teachers and principals trade unions will be taken after considering the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee appointed to look into the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue, said the trade union representatives. The report of the said Cabinet Sub-Committee comprised of more..

Aug 24 (NIP) The State govt is planning an overhaul of facilities in refugee camps. As the first step, officials from the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils have conducted a study in all 106 refugee camps functioning across the State. Status of basic needs like water supply, sanitation complexes, roads, and housing have been assessed. The development comes a month after Chief Minister MK Stalin directed officials to identify the needs of refugees. more..

Aug 24 (AD) Cabinet approval has been granted to issue tourist visa licenses valid for 180 days for tourists who arrive via electronic visa approvals. At the Cabinet meeting held on January 04, it was decided to link the SL Tourist Mobile App under the SL Tourism Development Authority to the visa application process through Online Electronic Tourist Visa Activation System (ETA). Accordingly, tourists who apply for visas via the app will be granted visa licenses valid for up to 180 days. more..

Aug 24 (N18) The central govt�s counsel argued before the Madras high court that it cannot provide citizenship for SL refugees who enter India illegally, and that there is no room for them as per the law. The counsel also said the Centre cannot make decisions on an emotional basis. The arguments were heard by the bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Duraisamy on Monday. Some SL Tamils living in a refugee camp more..