Aug 26 CT) Wild elephants have become a huge threat to farmers in the border villages of Ampara District in the recent past. They not only damage cultivations, coconut trees, plantain trees and other crops, but are also a threat to human life. An elephant ran amok in the village of Wachchikkudah on Tuesday and uprooted several coconut trees and damaged other subsidiary food crops cultivated by the farmer, who was not around at the time. The villagers say elephants bathe in the pond more..

Aug 26 (DM) Former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe today urged the govt to extend the lockdown in accordance with the heath expert advice. �Just as much as we have supported the current ten day lockdown, whole country will support an extension of it,� he said. �Mangala Samaraweea, Raja Mahendran, President Council D.S Wijesinghe and eminent personality Gowri Thawarasah has passed away due to COVID. Six people whom I know also passed away recently. more..

Aug 26 (Island) There was no evidence to prove that the recent protests had contributed to the rapid spread of COVID-19, SLPP MP, Prof. Tissa Vitharana said. He made the statement when asked whether there was a close connection between the anti-govt protests and the rise in COVID-19 cases. Prof. Vitharana said that there had not been a scientific study on the matter, but he said he believed that the protests had little impact more..

Aug 26 (Rferl) Police in Sri Lanka say they have dropped more than half of the charges against three Russian citizens accused of illegally killing and collecting endangered wildlife. Ivan Melnikov, the vice president of the Russian branch of the International Committee for Human Rights, said on August 25 that 175 of 277 charges have been dropped on the urging of Russian diplomats, rights activists, and lawyers in the ongoing trial that started almost a year ago. more..

Aug 26 (FT) The Hotels Association of SL (THASL) in a statement commended the Govt for taking steps to commence the much-awaited destination marketing campaign targeting over 16 key countries. It said the proposed campaign will focus on eight key generating markets including UK, Germany, France, Russia, India, China, Middle East and Australia, where specific Destination Representative Companies will be appointed. THASL noted the steps taken to appoint PR agents in more..

Aug 26 (FT) SL will make a fresh effort to woo more Russian and Ukrainian tourists with a top-level industry delegation slated to visit the two countries as a new promotional initiative. Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga will lead the 5-member delegation, which is planning to hold bilateral talks with travel trade and potential investors in Moscow, followed by a similar engagement in Ukraine. more..

Aug 26 (AD) SriLankan Airlines has issued a statement, clarifying the allegations levelled by the Flight Attendants� Union against the management of the organization. The national carrier stressed that the claims circulated in social media is a deliberate attempt in tarnishing its goodwill. SriLankan Airlines categorically denied what is stated in these posts with regard deployment of COVID-infected Flight Attendants as untrue and misleading the public at a time the entire country is suffering more..

Aug 26 (Island) Colombo Crime Division has recorded statements from three prison officers on alleged death threats MP Rishad Bathiudeen issued to a doctor at the Welikada Prison Hospital. Statements have been obtained from 10 persons regarding the investigation being conducted by the Prisons Department. Among those who have so far given statements are the MP, the doctor, several officers of the Magazine Prison and several inmates. These statements have been recorded on more..

Aug 26 (Island) Attorney-at-law Nagananda Kodituwakku, in his capacity as General Secretary of Vinivida Peramuna, has moved the Supreme Court against the CIABOC, current members of the CIABOC, former members of the Election Commission (EC), SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, MP, and Chamal Rajapaksa, MP against the EC�s failure to disqualify SLPP prez candidate Gotabaya more..

Aug 26 (DM) Disabled war heroes, war widows, dependents and ex-servicemen are expected to be vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccines which will arrive in SL on Saturday as a donation by the People�s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, Defence Ministry said. They said 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines will arrive in SL on Saturday following a request made by the Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne to the Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe, more..

Aug 26 (DM) The late Mangala Samaraweera was an outstanding politician who always stood firm for his convictions, which involved a Sri Lanka where all were free and equal with human rights upheld, said UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in his condolence message. Mangala�s untimely demise is a great loss to the nation, the UNP and to me, personally. When I telephoned him yesterday (23) afternoon, I told him that I was looking forward to meeting him on recovery. more..

Aug 26 (DM) Chief of Staff to PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, Yoshitha Rajapaksa has denied rumors that he slapped musician and song writer Iraj Weeraratne, which is why Iraj submitted his resignation as director of the National Youth Services Council (NYSC). Yoshitha said that such rumors being circulated on social media were baseless and he had no association to Weeraratne. "Last I saw him was at a function I attended more..

Aug 26 (EN) Mangala was loved by many, but disliked by some. There were many who disagreed with his liberal views, but he welcomed a conversation instead of striking fear. He was not one to let populist demands dictate his worldview. Instead, he questioned what was accepted as the social norm. Mangala was a reformer in the truest sense. He was committed to building institutions in Sri Lanka that would outlast governments, and help people live a life of dignity. more..

Aug 26 (CT) The Negombo Municipal Council has decided to send all COVID-19 patients over the age of 65 to intermediate care centres (ICCs) or hospitals for treatment, even if they are asymptomatic. The COVID-19 Information Centre in the Negombo MOH Division, which runs 24 hours a day, identifies patients over the age of 65 and promptly directs them to the appropriate treatment centres or intermediate care centres with the assistance of PHIs, Security Forces, and more..

Aug 26 (FT) Research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed SL�s economy could face losses of more than Rs. 260 million for each day it remains on the UK�s disruptive and damaging red list for travel. According to pre-pandemic figures, the UK was one of the top inbound markets for SL, representing 10% of all inbound arrivals in 2019, just behind India. Based on 2019 levels, SL�s status as a UK�s red list more..

Aug 26 (Island) About five to ten workers tested positive for COVID-19 every day at every garment factory, Chamila Thushari of the Dabindu Collective that works on garment factory workers� rights told The Island yesterday. She said that though garment factories remained open during the lockdown, a significant number of COVID infections had been detected in them. �Politicians and business leaders insist that garment factories need to remain open to keep the economy going. more..

Aug 26 (EN) SL�s plan to move into organic fertilizer was a good move in principle but the sudden shift has left farmers fearful and the agriculture sector unprepared, private sector officials closely involved in agriculture have warned. �It is a noble objective. It is an objective we have to pursue but there is a certain pathway,� Dilhan Fernando, Chief Executive of Dilmah Tea Company told a forum hosted by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. �It involves re-generation of soils, multiple adaptations more..

Aug 27 (DM) When one hears a single bell toll, the message become clear. Someone within your community has passed. In the last few weeks, we have been hearing the bell toll over and over again with increasing rapidity until it reached a deafening crescendo this morning, Mangala is no more! Stop all the clocks � cut off the telephone - pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. For nothing now can ever come to any good. Many in SL looked up to him and referred to him as a True Patriot. more..

Aug 27 (DM) Three days ago, on Aug 24, Mangala Samaraweera Cabinet Minister of yester-year and a man of many parts and talents breathed his last at a private hospital. He became one of the many victims of the Covid-19 Delta (Indian) variant, which is rampaging out of control worldwide. He was 65-years-old at the time of his death. He addressed his final briefing at the Freedom Hub at T.B. Jayah Mawatha on July 25 where he warned of the debt trap the country faced. more..

Aug 27 (TM) Several months ago, Sri Lankans were somewhat sceptical about getting vaccinated, and were questioning the Govt�s ability to procure sufficient vaccine doses to vaccinate all citizens. The most pressing concern, however, was whether the Govt and the health authorities would be able to bring the country to stability as far as the Covid-19 pandemic is concerned. more..

Aug 27 (TM) It is depressing to see how Sri Lanka sweeps its priorities under the rug, or fails at identifying what should be its priorities. When the Easter Sunday terror attacks killed close to 300 people and injured scores, everyone from the then Opposition and the then Government camps came forward, vowing to be committed to giving justice to the victims of the bombings, and that was the expectation of the people too. However, that enthusiasm seems to have ebbed away. more..

Aug 27 (GV) After long years of being a politician in various capacities, JR Jayewardene had come to the conclusion that if he could rule all by himself without any restraints, he could do a better job than what others had done in the past. An opportunity for this came to him when in the 1977 Election, people gave his Party an overwhelming majority in the Parliament. Within a short time thereafter, PM Jayewardene proceeded to create a kind of power arrangement within which he could realize more..

Aug 27 (TM) One of the deficits in the present system of teaching Buddhist Studies in SL is that it is not sufficiently equipped with linguistic, philosophical, and logical tools for the objective study of Buddhism as an academic subject, observed Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Studies Asanga Tilakaratne. In this regard, he opined that SL lags behind in comparison to many other traditionally non-Buddhist countries that offer more..

Aug 27 (TM) Public health-related measures, such as wearing a face mask and maintaining social distancing practised at the community level with a view to preventing the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the virus that causes Covid-19, can also reduce the community-based transmission of common respiratory virus infections, thus leading to the decrease in the exacerbation of asthma and related hospitalisations as well as more..

Aug 27 (CT) The govt of the Pohottuwa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa should not waste anymore time. It must dissolve itself, since every day of its rule lengthens the dark shadow of failure, doubt and despair hovering over the population. It cannot plot a course as it doesn�t have a clue about where it is heading. Bereft of a vision the govt is living on a day-to-day basis trying to handle problems, like the Fire Brigade, as and when they arise. To some extent, no doubt, the Covid pandemic more..

Aug 27 (FT) India�s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will commence construction of West Container Terminal (WCT) at Sri Lanka�s Colombo Port in December, according to a report in Ship Technology. APSEZ will invest more than $ 675.68 million, what is said to be its second international project after Myanmar. In March, the company obtained a letter of intent from the SL Govt for the construction of the 3.5 million 20-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) capacity terminal. more..

Aug 27 (CT) SL�s economy is facing a deep economic crisis. But it is not alone in this situation. The whole world is in crisis. It is a systemic crisis that affects every country periodically, to a greater or lesser extent, at intervals of eight to ten years. These have led to much suffering to the people and the process of emerging from them was very slow and painful. This is an inherent feature of the capitalist economic system. Capitalism developed in the womb of feudalism in Europe more..

Aug 27 (FT) Colombo bourse and investors yesterday proved their optimism despite the raging COVID pandemic and associated challenges, propelling the market to an all-time high with its gain in value crossing the Rs. 1 trillion mark so far in 2021. The combined market value of listed companies has skyrocketed by Rs. 1 trillion so far this year as CSE�s market capitalisation amounted to Rs. 3.97 trillion, up 34% year-to-date (YTD). more..

Aug 27 (DM) SL�s wheelchair tennis champion Ranjan Dharmasena will compete in his first round match of the Paralympics at the Ariake Tennis Park Courts in Tokyo commencing at 7.30 a.m. (SL time) today. He will meet Chile opponent Alexender Cataldo in the first round and his Coach Jagath Welikala expressed his confidence that Dharmasena would triumph in this game. �We had the chance to practice at the same courts where Dharmasena will play and he was able to get the much needed more..

Aug 27 (TM) Lieutenant Commander of Sri Lanka Navy Dimuthu Thissera had been appointed as Results and Statistics and Parasport Manager of the International Military Sports Council, better known as CISM (Conseil International du Sport Militaire), which is presently headed by Colonel Herve Piccirillo. This is the first time in Sri Lankan officer in the armed forces has been appointed for a residential post in the CISM, founded in 1948 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. more..

Aug 27 (Island) The govt should present a solution to the issues faced by the Tamil people in the North and the East and the US should be the mediator that studies and approves those solutions, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said. Michelle Bachelet remained at the helm of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and that was a great advantage to gain support for the proposals made by the TNA on the issues faced by Tamils, MP said. more..

Aug 27 (SO) With the Covid-19 pandemic taking its toll on the elderly population, it is understood that the elderly people are currently facing a wave of issues in which the amount of anxiety, physical fatigue, discrimination and social withdrawal have become the most immediate among many other things. Researchers declare that to deal with health related problems, possessing a healthy immune system is a mandatory requirement. In that context, it is of great importance to improve the overall more..

Aug 27 (Island) UNP leader and former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has drawn heavy flak from some influential members of the SL Muslim community for asking the govt not to recognise the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. If one sees nothing wrong with the US having struck a peace deal with the Taliban, and the CIA chief himself having talks with the outfit, how could one ask SL not to recognise Afghanistan under the Taliban rule? Even British PM Boris Johnson has said his country is willing to work with Taliban, more..

Aug 27 (TM) A total of 7 children are currently receiving ICU-based treatment at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH) for Covid-19 while over 100 beds at the hospital are filled with children infected with the virus. �A total of seven ICU beds are currently occupied, where four children are receiving treatment for Covid-19-related pneumonia and three are receiving treatment for the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome more..

Aug 27 (FT) Global financial giant CITI expects SL to suspend debt payments by year-end in tandem with a program with the IMF, which it said was most likely. Issuing an update following media reports to the effect that SL is planning to negotiate an IMF program, CITI said: �We change our call and now expect SL to suspend debt payments by year-end as it finalises an IMF program (a final deal may spill into 2022), versus our previous base case of still repaying the Jan 2022 bond in full and more..

Aug 27 (CT) Reduction in Govt of SL's at least theoretical money printing borrowing costs (MPBCs) decelerated to 0.52% (Rs 216.77 million) to Rs 34,796.09 million yesterday due to panic selling of Treasury (T) Bonds and T-Bills in secondary market trading because of extended lockdown fears. GoSL�s face value (FV) MP debt decreased by Rs 11,770 million (0.9%) to Rs 1,296,765.25 million (Rs 1.30 trillion) yesterday, thereby partially mitigating demand pull inflationary pressure. more..

Aug 27 (FT) Health officials said the country�s total COVID-19 detections have risen to 412,370 with 4,602 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday. The patients detected yesterday include 4,597 persons from the New Year cluster and five overseas arrivals. 16,189 PCR tests were carried out yesterday. The day before, 18,051 PCR tests and 4,355 rapid antigen tests were carried out. On Wednesday, 4,464 persons linked to more..

Aug 27 (TM) College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) President Ravi Kumudesh urged the Govt to increase PCR and rapid antigen test (RAT) Covid-19-related testing to 100,000 tests per day, from its present 25,000 a day. �If the Govt wants to keep Covid-19 hotspots open, it must increase testing. We can increase testing to 100,000 a day but we have only been doing fewer than 25,000 tests.� Kumudesh also urged the Health Ministry to remove restrictions on private labs to conduct RATs. more..