Jun 17 (DM) Although the Colombo Appeal Court ordered the release of former CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekera and another suspect on bail, the Gampaha. Magistrate Manjula Karunaratne ordered them to be remanded until June 30 since the bail conditions relating to the release had not yet been forwarded to the Gampaha Magistrate until last evening. SSP Abeysekara and former SI of Embilipitiya police Sugath Mendis had been in remand on suspicion of fabricating evidence more..

Jun 17 (FT) A total of 2,436 COVID-19 patients were detected yesterday, bringing the country�s total COVID-19 patient count to 230,692. 18,257 PCR tests were carried out yesterday. Among the persons who tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday are 2,419 persons linked to the New Year cluster. A total of 223,713 patients have been linked to the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons and New Year clusters. more..

Jun 17 (FT) Minister Udaya Gammanpila yesterday described the move by the SJB to file a no-confidence motion against him as childish and expressed his confidence in defeating the motion if it was taken up. He told journalists that he saw a copy of the proposed motion which he said looked like it had been written by a child. Gammanpila also said the move against him, the subject Minister, was absurd as it contradicted SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa�s earlier assertion that more..

Jun 17 (CT) Deputy DG of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath says if the public intentionally flout the ongoing travel restrictions, imposed to curb the spread of the third wave of the COVID19 pandemic, then there would be no alternative left for the health authorities but to further extend the restrictions for a further fortnight. He said the rate of new infections to the virus has shown a drastic reduction compared to the past few weeks but stressed that it was imperative that the masses follow more..

Jun 17 (TM) Finance Ministry approved the request made by the Excise Department to allow the sale of liquor online yesterday and the final approval for the move is likely to be provided by the NOCPCO Task Force today. Excise Deputy Commissioner Kapila Kumarasinghe said that the NOCPCO Task Force would likely give approval to allow purchase of alcohol online today after which the Dept would implement the decision. more..

Jun 17 (FT) When Sinhala peasants standing in the fields and the Catholic Cardinal at the altar both call on the divine to punish the unrighteous in powerful positions, one knows that the crisis is deepening and widening as never before. The de-forestation, corporate farming fence-off of grazing land and water, displacement of elephants and above all the ban of chemical fertiliser, constitute as devastating an attack on the Sinhala peasantry as was the Waste Lands Ordinance of colonial occupier. more..

Jun 17 (FT) MV X-Press Pearl was a container ship carrying approximately 1,500 containers that arrived at Colombo on the late hours of 19 May. Awaiting the port entry, it was then anchored outside the harbour at about 9.5 NM (18 km) away from the shoreline. A fire was reported at around noon the following day. Despite swift firefighting, the fire was not able to be extinguished and continued to escalate, partly supported by the monsoon winds. After several days of fire, on 25 May morning, more..

Jun 17 (AD) South Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka Woonjin Jeong has assured the Foreign Minister that the facilities required for the Sri Lankan youth who are eligible for employment in Korea to travel to Korea will be provided shortly. He was speaking at a discussion on the delays faced by young people who are eligible for jobs in Korea, chaired by the Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday (16). State Minister Priyankara Jayaratne, more..

Jun 17 (DM) The Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) today requested people, who had obtained their first jab of the Sinopharm vaccine at a CMC vaccination centre, to visit the Sugathadasa Stadium vaccination centre to get the second jab if they have missed it. CMC regional Epidemiologist Dr. Dinu Guruge said that the people have been requested to visit the said vaccination centre every day to obtain their missed dose. Vaccination rollout is still underway more..

Jun 17 (DM) The Delta (B.1.617.2/Indian variant) has been detected from the community for the first time in Sri Lanka, Director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of Sri J'pura University, Dr. Chandima Jeewandara said. The Indian variant was detected in five samples obtained from Aramaya place, Colombo 09 (Dematagoda). He said they had conducted 13 samples out of which 5 were Indian variants more..

Jun 17 (DM) A 5 member TNA delegation led by MP R. Sampanthan today met Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay where they discussed Various aspects of devolution and developmental aspirations of the people in the North and East. Leader of ITAK Maavai Senathirajah, TNA MPs Dharmalingam Sithadthan, Selvam Adaikkalanathan and MA. Sumanthiran were present during the meeting held at the India House. The meeting focused on development of the North & East more..

Jun 17 (AD) Following an extensive long-running investigation carried out by Panadura Walana Anti-Corruption Unit, several individuals were arrested on Wednesday (16) in connection with a narcotics network, the Police said. A 41-year-old woman linked to the racket was first taken into custody from Kalagedihena area in Thihariya along with 4 mobile phones and 13 ATM cards. Subsequently, a man was arrested in the area of Hanwella on charge of maintaining bank accounts under more..

Jun 17 (EN) Dismissing objections raised by Indian fisherman against Sri Lanka�s artificial reef project, State Minister of Fisheries Kanchana Wijesekara said India must ban the destructive practice of bottom trawling instead. Fisherfolk in Tamil Nadu have objected to a Sri Lankan initiative to submerge discarded buses in the island�s northern waters in an effort to create an artificial reef. Twenty such buses were submerged more..

Jun 17 (TM) A police entourage of four police vehicles and roughly thirty officers walked into SJB MP Harin Fernando�s residence this afternoon (17). �I was resting in my home this afternoon when a number of police officers and vehicles surrounded my residence before entering my home,� Fernando said. According to the MP, he was never given a proper explanation of why the officers entered his home. �They never gave me a proper explanation. All they said was that there was more..

Jun 17 (Island) SL would have to clean the beaches affected by the MV X-Press Pearl for months on end, senior environmental lawyer and Chairman of the Centre of Environmental Justice (CEJ), Ravindranath Dabare said. �The beach clean-up must go on. If you look at similar incidents in other countries, debris keeps piling up on beaches for months. We have to keep at it and that will cost money.� Dabare said that the CEJ had filed a fundamental rights petition in the SC more..

Jun 17 (AD) A fundamental rights petition has been filed at the Supreme Court seeking a ruling that the govt�s decision to import 227 luxury vehicles for MPs violates the Constitution. The petition was filed by former JVP Provincial Councilor Mahinda Jayasinghe. 31 persons including PM Rajapaksa, the staff of the Finance Ministry and its Secretary S.R. Attygalle, Bank of Ceylon, Director General of Customs, Director General of Import and Export Control, and AG have been named more..

Jun 17 (TM) Chairman of COPE Prof. Charitha Herath has decided to hold a special Committee meeting on the 22nd in Parliament, the Parliament said in a press release. COPE Committee Meeting scheduled for its members will review the progress of the implementation of recommendations given by the Committee to all institutions listed on the 02 reports which has been submitted to the 9th Parliament. The COPE Committee Chair Prof. Charitha Herath further stated through more..

Jun 17 (AD) Former Director of CID Shani Abeysekara and former Sub Inspector of CID Sugath Mendis have been released after fulfilling their strict bail conditions. The Court of Appeal, yesterday (June 16), ordered for the duo to be released on a cash bail of Rs 25,000 and two personal bonds worth Rs 1 million each. In addition, a foreign travel ban was imposed on the suspects while ordering them to inform the court more..

Jun 17 (Island) A section of of the int'l community was planning sactions while SL was moving from crisis to crisis, the National Peace Council (NPC) said. Sri Lanka had been one of the richest nations in Asia in 1948 and due to actions of all govts, the country was now among the poorest, the NPC said. NPC head Dr. Jehan Perera said: �Unless there is a strong will and genuine commitment to have a unified country with law that applies to all in equal measure we may not see positive more..

Jun 17 (CT) Police recorded 464 cases of homicide last year, of which not a single conviction was reached by the end of that year, 10 were disposed of, 341 were still being investigated by Police, while another 112 cases were before Court and the AG�s Department, Police grave crime data released on Monday showed. Police statistics also showed that there were 28 cases of human trafficking recorded last year, of which number too Police were unable to secure any convictions by end of that year, more..

Jun 17 (CT) Illicit drugs were the single largest crime in absolute terms seen last year, with 6,811 cases recorded, crime data released by the Police on Monday showed. Of this number, Police were however able to get only 279 convictions; total number of cases disposed of 293, still investigating by the Police 4,859, and before Court/AG�s Dept 2,659. Next highest was housebreaking (6,499). more..

Jun 17 (EN) SL police recorded the highest single-day arrests of 1, 561 for violating the unofficial COVID-19 lockdown, police said. There has also been an increased number of attempts to cross provincial borders. Police checked 6,003 vehicles at 14 entry points to the Western province in a 24 hour period that ended at 6am June 17, of which 105 people in 61 vehicles had to cross provinces despite travel restrictions. Some of these people were warned and asked to turn back while more..

Jun 17 (EN) SL has disclosed a 14.1% of gross domestic product deficit for 2020, in Finance Ministry accounts audited by the Attorney General amid a controversy over a smaller deficit claimed on inconsistent accounting principles. Finance Ministry had claimed an 11.1% of GDP deficit for 2020, claiming that arrears of 2019 were settled in 2020, deviating from a cash-basis accounting principle applied in preparing budget data in the past. The 2019 deficit of 6.8% of GDP was slightly more..

Jun 17 (CT) A cross section of MPs spoke to this newspaper on the decision taken by the UNP to nominate its leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as its National List MP to Parliament following the results of the last General Election. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, said the decision of the former Premier to enter Parliament was a renege on the pledge given to the country by Wickremesinghe, after the latter had publicly claimed that more..

Jun 17 (DM) The old De Soyza building, located on Malay Street in Slave Island, which was of archeological value, collapsed last night, police said. The building is reported to have been over 200 years old and had been left abandoned for a while. Police said the owner of the building had previously requested for permission to demolish the building but this was denied by the Archeological Department. Police said no injuries had been reported but the area has been cordoned off. more..

Jun 17 (DM) COVID-19 task force has decided not to allow consumers to purchase liquor online through supermarket chains, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said. Though the approval was granted to the Excise Department by the Finance Ministry to allow consumers to purchase liquor online, govt later decided not to go ahead with the proposal considering the number of objections from the health association and current Covid-19 situation. more..

Jun 17 (EN) Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said there was no fuel stabilization fund, a key strategy of the current administration which rejected market pricing of fuel while in opposition. SL last week raised fuel prices in move that the IMF usually asks countries with soft-pegged exchange rate regimes, which print money and gets into troubles to do. Minister Gammanpila had likened the fuel sector losses and debt was dangerous more..

Jun 17 (TM) Despite Sri Lanka achieving middle-income status, the country faces a triple burden of malnutrition spanning undernourishment, over-nourishment and micronutrient deficiencies, Minister of Agriculture, Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated. He made these statements in his message to the participants of the National Food System Dialogue which was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture to identify challenges in building sustainable food systems in SL, ranging from production, more..

Jun 17 (ANI) With SL deciding to proceed with the China-backed Colombo Port City project, India said that it is closely following the development and hopes that SL remains mindful of security in the maritime domain. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: "Regarding the Colombo Port City project, We have been closely following recent development from our security perspective. We have also noted the concerns that have been raised in SL regarding several aspects of the framework more..

Jun 17 (EN) A govt decision to allow online delivery of liquor during Sri Lanka�s ongoing COVID-19 lockdown has been overturned by the country�s epidemic task force. Excise Department of Sri Lanka announced June 16 that the Finance Ministry had approved a proposal to issue limited and conditional permits for the online sale of liquor. However, the NOCPOC on Thursday (17) decided to scrap the move, more..

Jun 17 (Forbes) The great nephew of former British PM Anthony Eden, Jack Eden has been living and working in Sri Lanka for the past 20 years. After visiting on holiday with his young family, in the mid-1990s, Eden quit his Hong Kong-based banking job to buy and renovate a historic property in Galle Fort. How did you get the idea for Eden Villas? Soon after arriving in SL in 1998, my wife and I invested in a house located within the historic Galle Fort�a UNESCO World Heritage site�and, more..

Jun 17 (AD) Investigations have been launched into the theft of 30 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. Sinopharm doses valued at around Rs. 90,000 have been stolen by a driver and a minor staffer attached to the Habaraduwa MOH Office. Subsequently, Medical Officer of Health (MOH) of Habaraduwa has reported the incident to the Habaraduwa Police on Wednesday. Acting on the information received, SSP of Galle has directed the Divisional Crimes Detective Bureau to probe more..

Jun 18 (DM) After an in-house battle among members of the top management of the Consumer Affairs Authority during the past few weeks whether or not to take legal action against the arbitrary Litro Gas price hike, all arrangements have been made to file action against Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. Earlier, when this newspaper contacted CAA Director Legal Deepthi Tissera whether the authority (CAA) would go to courts against Litro Gas Lanka Ltd for the price revision, she said that there are no provisions more..

Jun 18 (CT) This newspaper, in two articles carried yesterday and on Wednesday, highlighted the seriousness of laws delays plaguing the social fabric of Sri Lanka for decades. Yesterday�s article published on page three ran a self-explanatory heading, 464 homicides in 2020, not one conviction. Meanwhile the other story carried on Wednesday, which was the lead story of this newspaper on that day, ran the heading, Police fail to secure a single conviction. It was in respect of more..

Jun 18 (DM) Information helps save lives and during a pandemic a free-flow of vital, accurate information is paramount. Access to information has been recognised as a basic necessity apart from essential goods and services in the context of a pandemic. But ever since the COVID-19 outbreak, misinformation, disinformation and fake news have added to the mounting challenges. In this backdrop the public has to place its trust on statistics more..

Jun 18 (DM) The UN yesterday marked the world day to combat desertification and drought with this year�s theme being Restoration. Land. Recovery. SL also has major problems relating to desertification, drought and other crises relating to climate change. Environmental experts allege that thousands of acres of land are being given to big companies which cut down forests and put-up buildings for their businesses and make huge profits at the expense of farmers and other poverty-stricken people. more..

Jun 18 (DM) A few leaders would throw a wrecking ball into a big chunk of the economic machinery, worse still when it is stumbling under the weight of a coronavirus pandemic and a full-blown foreign exchange crisis. Alas, that is exactly what Prez Rajapaksa is doing to the country�s agricultural sector through his misplaced fertilizer ban. The agricultural sector employs one-fourth of the SL workforce (CB Data 2018), and is still the largest sector of employment in sheer numbers. more..