Jun 21 (TM) Embassy of SL in Doha facilitated the second air shipment of 125 Oxygen Cylinders and 10 Oxygen Regulators to the Govt of SL, in a view of strengthening the capacity of the health sector to overcome from the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon the request made by Ambassador of SL to Qatar Mafaz Mohideen, regarding the country�s critical situation, the SL expatriate community, well-wishers and Watad Group Enterprises in Doha donated these medical equipment. more..

Jun 21 (FT) The country�s tea crop in January to May has hit a three-year peak whilst select elevations have reached new recent highs, but the industry is concerned over future production owing to the fertiliser crisis. The tea crop in the first 5 months of 2021 was 134.7 million kgs, up 30.7% from the corresponding period of last year. Asia said High Grown production for the first five months was at 30.1 million kgs, the best since 2018, more..

Jun 21 (CT) A monk residing in an elders� home, in Pamunugama, Uswetakeiyawa had been assaulted to death by another patient residing in the home on 19 June, Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said. He added the home operates exclusively for elders who suffer from various mental illnesses. According to Police investigations it was revealed the murder suspect is a 73-yearold male from Ja-Ela, who was also suffering from a mental illness and was residing in the elders� home for treatment. more..

Jun 21 (CT) A MoU was signed recently between Leader of Democratic Left Front (DLF) Vasudeva Nanayakkara and General Secretary of EROS Democratic Progressive Alliance (EDPA) A.S. Nallusamie, for a mutually accepted politically oriented expectation of both parties. According to the MOU, they will work in many fields such as empowering the people, creating socioeconomic reformation to assure the livelihood of the people, ensuring and building up unity & integration more..

Jun 21 (Hindu) A widely-shared image on social media, showing a row of men kneeling in front of soldiers for reportedly violating Sri Lanka�s current lockdown, has prompted the Army to probe the incident. Issuing a media statement on Sunday, the Army said it immediately removed the personnel from their duties, after an alleged improper conduct of a few army personnel in Eravur, a Muslim-majority town in eastern Batticaloa more..

Jun 21 (PTI) 92 Indian workers at an iron works factory in SL tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The Indians were among the 128 workers at the factory in Colombo north suburb of Wattala who were found to have contracted the virus. They have been put under quarantine. The factory, which has a total of 194 workers, has been closed temporarily, a report in the Newscenter.lk said. Those who have tested negative have been put under quarantine in the factory premises, more..

Jun 21 (CI) There will be more spectators than anticipated at some of England's int'l matches in the coming weeks, after a selection of fixtures in the series involving Sri Lanka and Pakistan were given the status of pilot events. When the UK govt extended its current Covid-19 protocols until July 19, it was feared that grounds would be permitted to admit only 25% of their capacities. But it has now been announced that several games will be included in the Govt's Events Research Programme more..

Jun 21 (TM) National People�s Power (NPP) noted with grave concern the crisis that has emerged at the Open University of SL with regard to the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor, and alleged that this indicates that the Prex does not have faith in a system introduced by his own govt. These sentiments were expressed through a statement issued by the NPP today. �This situation has arisen because the Prez has arbitrarily rejected more..

Jun 21 (SLA) The SL Army, adding renewed recognition to age-old ties of goodwill and friendship rolled out the inauguration of the 7th edition of the International Yoga Day (21) in collaboration with the High Commission of India at the Sri J'pura Army Headquarters this morning (21) after transmission of messages of Prez Rajapaksa and Hon PM of India Shri Narendra Modi during SL�s official inauguration of the International Yoga Day, a gesture that reflected the high-profile regard more..

Jun 21 (DM) The govt is targeting providing integrated communication facilities and internet access throughout the country while erecting communication towers that comply with a national plan within two years, Digital Technology and Enterprise Development State Minister Namal Rajapaksa said. He said by obtaining communication facilities, a vacuum had been created in many parts of the country due to providing authority for the construction of more..

Jun 21 (FT) SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva alleged that the economy impacted by a worsening COVID pandemic is on the brink of collapse with the country facing a severe shortage of foreign exchange ahead of heavy debt repayment. �Unless SL reschedules its foreign debt and goes for an IMF program, the economy is on the brink of collapse as there are no dollars in the market for urgent imports,� de Silva claimed. more..

Jun 21 (EN) Sri Lanka has run a US$ 929 million balance of payments deficit up to April 2021, amid continued money printing, after running a record US$ 2.3 billion BOP deficit in 2021, official data show. SL�s BOP deficit was US$ 1.1 billion up to March 2021. In April Sri Lanka got a 500 million dollar loan from China Development Bank. In 2021 the central bank�s Treasury bill stock has gone up by 171 billion rupees with reserve money growing 66 billion rupees to 1,031 billion rupees. more..

Jun 21 (DM) Indian variant of COVID-19 known as Delta is reportedly found in the Pragathipura area in Madiwela, health officials said. The sample of a patient suspected to have been infected with Delta variant has been sent for research to ascertain the exact variant. Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said measures are being taken to prevent further spread of the virus. "We are carrying out all precautionary measures at the moment. It is not possible to say whether more..

Jun 22 (DM) It was only a slight difference that we witnessed on the roads last Friday; the last working day during the just concluded travel restrictions and yesterday, the first day after those restrictions ended. As yesterday, during the travel restrictions it had been difficult even to cross the road not only in the Colombo city, but also in suburban areas. It is not clear if the travel restrictions have borne results. However, one could pacify his or her own self pointing out latest numbers of daily infections more..

Jun 22 (DM) Farmers across this paradise isle are raging against a man-made disaster courtesy of a presidential directive. Holding placards in their starving paddy lands and hollowed out cash crops, they protest against a crippling shortage of fertilizer, the reason for that being a dimwitted presidential order to ban chemical fertilizer. Worst still, the ban was announced out of the blue, taking them by surprise in the height of the corona virus pandemic. Tea smallholders lament their harvest more..

Jun 22 (DM) Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi was quoted telling parliament, SL reports 230,000 new kidney and cancer patients annually due to use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides. Breaking down that number she had said 6,000 kidney patients annually and 54 cancer patients succumb daily to their tragic ailments. She had also told parliament medical experts have confirmed that these were more..

Jun 22 (DM) Though he makes a crafty backdoor entry to Parliament, Ranil Wickremesinghe has an assigned job, not to lead a political party, but give utmost of specific expertise, knowledge, talent or genius in politics to rulers, as someone skilled, experienced, and respected in political circles both locally and internationally. His decision has sent shockwaves among some SJBs; others already had prior powwows. Whatever the criticisms levelled against him, Ranil had confirmed more..

Jun 22 (CT) There were new developments in the world affairs in the recent past with the G7 summit and the NATO summit. In relation to SL the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on the current situation. It is pertinent to examine the effects of these events to the affairs of SL. EP adopted the resolution on 10th June 2021 calling on the Commission and the European External Action Service to use the GSP+ as a leverage to push for advancement on SL�s human rights more..

Jun 22 (TM) SL is grappling with the third wave of the pandemic at present, and the growing unrest among healthcare workers demanding financial benefits only seems to be adding more pressure to the already stretched healthcare sector. Members of the non-medical health trade unions conducted a token strike in hospitals across the island on 11 June, following the failure of talks held with Minister of Health more..

Jun 22 (TM) Amidst supportive and opposing opinions, after a month, the Government lifted the islandwide lockdown yesterday (21). Even though there is an intense debate as to the benefits and harms the lockdown caused, the country is ready to resume economic activities with great caution. For how long, is a question that can only be answered by the people�s behaviour and the authorities� Covid-19 management efforts. However, those two aspects depend on one important factor, more..

Jun 22 (CT) SL received a piece of good news from the Geneva-based WHO last Friday (18). That is that the country will probably receive gratis 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from its parent company in the UK itself, next month (July), to fight the COVID-19 Pandemic continuing to plague the country in all its ferocity since the first case was detected on 27 Jan 2020. Previously, ie in March 2021, SL received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility as more..

Jun 22 (TM) The extension of travel restrictions on 14 June was due to the fact that the data had been doctored, said the President at a recent press conference. No pun intended. Apparently, the doctors in charge of Covid data collation had fudged the data with regard to Covid fatalities. They had repeated some statistics, and this was discovered when State intelligence was deployed to examine details about these deaths. That the details were fudged was bad enough. more..

Jun 22 (Island) The results of 2020 GCE A/L exam held in Oct 2020 were released on May 4, 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Dept of Examinations, 301,771 candidates sat for the 2020 A/L exam and 194,297 have qualified to enter universities. At present, those qualified are in the process of submitting online applications to the UGC, and they face many difficulties in selecting suitable degree programmes. Students have little or no awareness about the large number of more..

Jun 22 (Island) A total of 2,131 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday and health authorities state that measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the Delta variant in the country. Five persons with the Delta variant have been detected from Aramaya Place, Dematagoda so far. Ten persons with the Alpha variant have also been detected. In addition to this, 278 persons from neighbouring Sirimuthu Uyana were tested more..

Jun 22 (Island) Old habits are said to die hard. Some SLPP leaders have reverted to their old ways even before the govt has completed one year in office. They do not seem to learn from their past blunders that cost them dear politically; they are busy settling personal scores with one another, the way they did towards the latter part of the previous Rajapaksa govt, whose leaders committed political hara-kiri by trifling with some UPFA seniors and even trying to smoke them out. more..

Jun 22 (DM) The foreign holdings of govt securities fell the most seen in a single week last week, as they sold the treasury bills and bond stock they held amid the worsening external and economic conditions here and due to the indications by the US Federal Reserve that it would raise its interest rates earlier than desired, to tame the inflation there. Foreigners unloaded SL treasuries worth of Rs.1,069.89 million during last week, which works out to a steeper 30.2% slump, more..

Jun 22 (TM) In what can be termed a developing tug-o-war behind the screen in local cricket administration, between SLC executive committee and Aravinda de Silva-led Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), SLC last week decided to stand firmly on its stance to hold the next edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) on time, from 30 July. Exerting more and more pressure on the SLC ex-co, the de Silva-led Committee, more..

Jun 22 (CT) Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was officially inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on the third day of the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand. Sangakkara was one of the 10 icons who entered the ICC Hall of Fame before the WTC final. His induction ceremony took place during the break on the third day�s play of the WTC final. India legend Sunil Gavaskar bestowed him with the special cap and welcomed him into the ICC Hall of Fame. more..

Jun 22 (ST) The launch of the much-awaited Delivery versus Payment (DvP) will be rolling out in July, wiping the settlement risk in share trading, and mooting foreign purchases in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The Go Live is scheduled for July 26 subject to a final round of testing and industry-wide mock runs, CSE officials said. The objective of introducing a DvP system for the stock market in SL is to minimise the asset commitment risk of sellers. Under the DvP system, the physical custody more..

Jun 22 (ST) State-owned CPC will gain billions of rupees in profits, despite assertions that it was losing money, from the sale of fuel at the new prices, however amidst owing billions of rupees to state banks from borrowings. With this increase the CPC is expected to increase its earnings/profits from daily sales by Rs. 130 million by selling 446,700 litres of Petrol 92, 394,200 litres of Petrol 95, 6,578,000 litres of Auto Diesel, more..

Jun 22 (FT) The SL Retailers� Association (SLRA), the apex body for organised retail in SL, is appealing to landlords, lessors, and business partners to reduce leases and rentals for its membership. SLRA President Murali Prakash appealed to landlords and lessors to provide a 50% concession on rentals/leases for the next six months on properties leased and rented by SLRA members. Many retailers are suffering losses due to the prevailing situation in the country caused by Covid-19. more..

Jun 22 (Island) The Sri Lankan state will exercise sovereign control over the CHEC Port City Colombo project and would remain accountable to the people of SL by virtue of the fact that the project would remain open to scrutiny by the SL parliament, Assistant Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. Thulci Aluwihare said. Besides, all revenues received by the project would be remitted to Sri Lanka�s Consolidated Fund and would remain within the country, more..

Jun 22 (FT) SL�s exports sector remains the silver lining amidst the COVID pandemic as it maintained its growth momentum on to May despite internal and external challenges. Performance in May as per provisional data released by the EDB amounted to $ 884 million, up 51% from a year earlier ($ 586.7 million) when the country was undergoing the first COVID wave lockdown. May 2021 performance is also significant more..

Jun 22 (FT) A total of 26,453 persons have been vaccinated under the country�s ongoing COVID-19 immunisation program on Sunday. Persons vaccinated on Sunday include 2,644 persons who received the first dose of Sinopharm and 8,574 persons who received the second dose of Sinopharm. In total, the first dose of the vaccine has been administered to 1,437,112 persons and the second dose has been administered to 442,657 persons. more..

Jun 22 (SLN) Navy took hold of about 174kg and 50g of Kerala cannabis and 05 kg of dried turmeric along with a dinghy and 02 suspects, during a special operation conducted in seas off Thondamanaru, Jaffna in the dark hours on 20th June 2021. The Navy has increased patrols in island waters to curb wide-ranging illegal acts including the smuggling of drugs by sea routes. Accordingly, the Northern Naval Command carried out this special operation by deploying Inshore Patrol Craft more..

Jun 22 (DM) SL�s national consumer prices in May 2021 rose at the highest level since Sept 2020, as the food prices skyrocketed due to the supply chain bottlenecks caused by the lockdowns, eroding people�s purchasing power and making them poorer. Consumer prices measured by the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) for all goods and services rose by 6.1% in the 12 months to May 2021, accelerating from 5.5% in April, more..

Jun 22 (TM) The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) recently announced changes in the Standard & Poor�s Sri Lanka 20 (S&P SL20) index constituents made by S&P Dow Jones Indices at the 2021 mid-year index rebalance, which resulted in the inclusion of Brown and Co, LB Finance, Richard Pieris and Co, and Vallibel One to the index. The exclusions were Access Engineering, Commercial Bank of Ceylon, DFCC Bank, Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, and People�s Leasing and Finance. more..

Jun 22 (FT) Sri Lanka�s market leader for wood coatings and diversified conglomerate, JAT Holdings, said it ended FY 2020/21 with a strong and solid performance, against the backdrop of challenging market and economic conditions. Despite recording a marginal net loss in the first half, owing to the pandemic, the group mounted a successful recovery in the second half, posting a healthy Rs. 621 million Profit After Tax, completely reconciling losses incurred earlier in the year, more..