Jun 27 (GV) During the period March 2020 to 24 June 2021 there were reports of six cases of encounter killings, 27 cases of police violence, eight deaths in police custody, four deaths in prison, one case of torture in prison and two instances of prison riots precipitated by fears about the spread of COVID-19, that led to the death of two persons in the first riot and 11 in the second riot. Around 117 persons were injured in the second riot. Eleven incidents of violence by members of more..

Jun 27 (ST) Govt statistics confirm that the Cost of Living index on food has risen by 10% in the 18 months this Administration has been in office. Some will contest these figures, but only that they are too conservative; prices have shot up way above 10%. Whatever the statistics may be, the sporadic but snowballing protests seen throughout the country in recent weeks, from farmers to fishermen to transporters to housewives indicate that the ordinary folk are beginning to take to the streets to more..

Jun 27 (TM) In the weeks leading up to former PM and incumbent UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe�s re-entry to Parliament as the solitary representative of the UNP in the Chamber, the political world of SL has been rife with rumours and speculations of what his return signifies. We sat down with Wickremesinghe to uncover if there was any truth to such claims. He also expressed his views on some of the burning issues faced by more..

Jun 27 (ST) Hello machan Dumi, I didn�t think I would be writing to you so soon, although I knew I would have to, sooner rather than later, knowing that Gota maama would grant you a pardon one day. Honestly, I can�t understand why all these people are expressing their shock and horror � we all knew this was on the cards, didn�t we? I was disappointed, though, that you chose to leave the prison through a rear exit. I think you should have left it through the main entrance at Welikada, more..

Jun 27 (Island) Three important happenings last week further bedeviled the country�s already vapid governance and political mess. First there was UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe�s return to Parliament nearly a year after the last election to take its single National List seat after months of foot-dragging, waffling and, indeed, prevarication. Then there was dual citizen Basil Rajapaksa�s return home (or second home?) after an absence of over a month in the USA on personal business. more..

Jun 27 (SO) Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said SLPP founder and former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa�s organising skills are needed by the Govt. Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication Presidential Task Force Head Basil Rajapaksa, who left for the United States on May 12 on a personal visit, returned to the country on Thursday. Minister Ranatunga told the media in Gampaha on Thursday that former Minister Basil Rajapaksa is an excellent organiser. more..

Jun 27 (CT) PM Hirunika Premachandra issued a scathing rebuke of Prez Rajapaksa on Thursday after he pardoned her father�s murderer Duminda Silva. Hirunika Premachandra is the daughter of SLFP trade-unionist and long time ally of current PM Rajapaksa, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra who was brutally murdered by Silva and his goons in Oct 2011. Silva was convicted of the murder by the High Court and the judgment was subsequently upheld by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court. more..

Jun 27 (ST) An exchange took place between the Government and Opposition in Parliament on Tuesday regarding the plight of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa pointed out that many LTTE suspects arrested under PTA had been held for years without charge or had their cases still pending in court. He called on the Govt to either file charges against more..

Jun 27 (ST) Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) has made plans to conduct a special selection trial on July 25 at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo to pick athletes for the World Junior Athletics Championships to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in two months. SLA selects athletes for international and regional events based on the performances of the National Senior and Junior championships, but the athletic governing body of SL has been forced to sacrifice its core events during the period of more..

Jun 27 (SO) The niece of former Olympic Silver medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe has booked a place in a 10-member Sri Lankan contingent taking part in the Indian inter-state championship. Eighteen year old Medhani Jayamanne was one of the members of the tour party that left the island this week for the meet and is said to be following in the strides of her mother�s sister Susanthika Jayasinghe who is one of only two Sri Lankan Olympians to win a medal, the other being Duncan White. more..

Jun 27 (CI) England completed a 3-0 clean sweep over SL in the T20I series with a crushing 89-run victory at the Ageas Bowl. It was the fourth-largest victory margin in terms of runs England have achieved in the format. Despite the loss of both regular openers to injury, England posted a century stand for the first wicket to grasp a firm hold on the match which they were never to relinquish. Dawid Malan was named Player of the Match more..

Jun 27 (SO) Ex Olympic runner Wimalasena Perera has an unforgettable memory but for a marathon he cannot remember finishing in Mexico and slams insecure office bearers for blocking former athletes entering administration: One of the greatest long distance runners Sri Lanka has ever produced, Wimalasena Perera, believes past Olympians such as Sriyani Kulawansa and Damayanthi Darsha should have a bigger role to play if athletics is to regain its past glory. more..

Jun 27 (DM) Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. The goal of the Zonta International Young Women in Public Affairs (YWPA) Award Program is to honour young women of age 16 to 19 who demonstrate a commitment to leadership in public policy, govt, and volunteer organizations. Tehani Chandrasena was the nominee from Zonta Club II of Colombo who was then selected as the winner of the YWPA more..

Jun 27 (ST) Ministry of Education has decided to forego the National Schools Sports Festival, for 2nd year running, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic state, which promises exceedingly slim hopes of resuming sports activities at school level. The MoE had to shelve the Schools Sports Festival in 2020 and with very little time to make logistic planning, the edition for 2021 too has now been termed as abandoned by the authorities. more..

Jun 27 (ST) Manufacturers are reducing the orders they accept in the face of the current COVID-19 outbreak in the country since they are compelled to work with a limited staff at the factories. �We will have to reduce the number of orders we accept,� Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) General Secretary Dhammika Fernando said adding that certain organisations are reducing the orders due to the situation as a result of an absence of employees and closures. more..

Jun 27 (SO) Central Bank expects GDP growth in the first quarter this year to be a little higher than its initial expectations due to the recovery in industrial and overall economic activities in recent months. Central Bank Director Economic Research, Dr. Chandranath Amarasekera said that the GDP growth for the first quarter this year could be higher than the initial forecast due to the recovery in industrial and other economic activities following easing of travel restrictions. more..

Jun 27 (ST) Local banks are fast depleting their dollar reserves and denying importers� Letters of Credit (LCs) in a crisis mirroring a devastating time bomb, with the long-run consequences yet to be determined. Bankers, importers and exporters the Business Times reached out to, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the shortage of foreign currency has triggered a major crisis. more..

Jun 27 (SLN) The inauguration of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Exercise-2021 popularly known as CARAT got underway at Naval Dockyard, Trincomalee under real-time virtual setting today (24). Working shoulder-to-shoulder in their commitment to expand relationships and broaden maritime awareness, this year�s exercise is joined by the SL Navy, US 7th Fleet and Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF). The sequential phases of this naval exercise are scheduled more..

Jun 27 (ST) IMF is keeping options open for SL to obtain financial assistance to overcome the foreign reserve depletion issue if the local fiscal and monetary authorities are willing to fulfil necessary requirements, IMF Mission Chief Masahiro Nozaki assured. In response to an email request for comments on the current status of IMF support to SL, he noted that that they have not received a request for financial support from SL recently, but stand ready to discuss options if requested. more..

Jun 27 (SO) Elites of Jaffna society including Catholic Bishop of Jaffna, Rt. Rev. Justin Gnanapragasam, President of the People�s Council for Peace and Goodwill, Prof. P. Balasundarampillai along with the families of the prisoners have hailed the release of sixteen Tamil prisoners and the sensible speech by Minister Namal Rajapaksa in Parliament emphasising the need to release Tamil prisoners & get rid of PTA. more..

Jun 27 (DM) A container ship left adrift in the Indian Ocean after an engine room fire was being towed to Singapore on Saturday (26), SL navy said. The Indian coastguard helped extinguish the blaze after it erupted aboard the MV MSC Messina on Friday about 425 nautical miles (787km) from Port Blair in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. "We were informed that the fire was completely doused by this afternoon and the ship is being towed to Singapore," SL navy spokesman Indika de Silva said. more..

Jun 27 (TM) A lawsuit is expected to be filed by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) against Laugfs Gas for releasing 18-litre Liquefied Petroleum (LP) gas cylinders to the market without obtaining prior approval from the CAA. Speaking to us, CAA Executive Director Thushan Gunawardena said that the CAA has already filed a case against Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. for doing the same, and will pursue a similar course of action against Laugfs Gas PLC pertaining to their 18 L cylinder product. more..

Jun 27 (ST) Central Bank has told banks not to request dollars from the banking regulator�s depleted foreign currency reserves, and instead find it in the cash-short market as the country faces a major scarcity of dollars in the forex market. This has resulted in several private banks being unable to pen Letters of Credit (LCs) to importers even for essential items such as pharmaceutical products. According to a Central Bank directive, more..

Jun 27 (Island) Agency SL�s Talent, Nimmi Harasgama, has been nominated for Britain�s 2021 National TV Awards in the best Drama Performance category for her portrayal of Nurse Mari in the third Series of The Good Karma Hospital. With this nomination, actress, producer and writer Nimmi has once again done SL proud. The Good Karma Hospital airs on ITV in the UK and worldwide on a variety of platforms and networks. Born in SL and raised in Britain, Nimmi returned to her more..

Jun 27 (ST) In an unprecedented move, SL will be issuing a special coin to commemorate a foreign political party, the Communist Party of China (CPC), in view of its centenary celebrations. A senior Central Bank (CB) official confirmed the decision but did not give details. The CB�s practice of issuing commemorative coins to mark significant milestones of diplomatic relations with foreign countries, has been extended, for the first time, to a foreign political party, the Sunday Times learns. more..

Jun 27 (TM) Following the cabinet decision to approve the proposal made by Minister Bandula Gunawardana to import 100,000 MT of rice, the Minister stated that the Govt intends to use this measure to control the increasing prices of rice in the domestic market that are the result of the actions of rice millers and traders. Stating that rice millers continue to maintain artificially inflated prices, thereby creating an artificial rice shortage, more..

Jun 27 (ST) A Govt-appointed committee of officials headed by the Deputy Treasury Secretary is to take over the purchase of gas for the state-owned Litro Gas Lanka Ltd for the next six months, turning down a request by the company to increase prices. The move came after the Cabinet sub-committee on proposed gas price increases this week put forward proposals on minimizing losses, a committee member and Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said. more..

Jun 27 (AD) State Minister of Prison Reforms Lohan Ratwatte stated that attention is being paid to commute the sentences of 253 prisoners who have been condemned to death. He said that the relevant report has been submitted to the Minister of Justice. �We have forwarded that request to the Minister of Justice. We have called for life imprisonment for death row inmates. When a prisoner is reintegrated into society, our hope is to make him a good citizen who can work for society.� more..

Jun 27 (ST) Chinese manufacturer of Sinovac vaccines, which SL plans to procure in the millions, has placed a condition on its purchase contract: if the price of the jab is disclosed or even spoken about in public, the deal is off and there could be legal trouble. �They [Sinovac Lifesciences Co. Ltd.] have said that if the price in the agreement is disclosed to the public or spoken about in public it will be subjected for termination of agreement more..

Jun 27 (Island) There has been no response so far from the Singapore flagged ship, X-Press Pearl owner and insurance brokers to SL�s initial claim for compensation, an official said. They have still not gone beyond saying the �damages caused will be assessed�, he said. �We have asked the Singaporean govt to exert pressure on the ship�s owner to expedite the process of removing the wreck of the gutted feeder vessel�, he further said. Meanwhile, committee studying the 5 sectors more..

Jun 27 (NR) Rights Activist Asela Sampath who was arrested by the CID, has been released on bail. The order was issued by Colombo Additional Magistrate Kanchana Silva. He was released on two surety bails amounting to Rs.500,000 each. Asela Sampath was arrested based on a complaint lodged by the NMRA. The complaint states that Asela Sampath, through his social media, publicly claimed that authorities were mixing various substances into the Covishield vaccine, in turn diluting the dose. more..

Jun 27 (ST) A motley collection of tractors, earth movers, vans and buses carried the SJB MPs last Tuesday from their office to Parliament to protest the steep rise in fuel prices. A reporter asked Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa are you not wasting fuel on these vehicles? An embarrassed Premadasa exhorted angrily that this protest is for people who can understand. He may be right. more..

Jun 28 (CT) June 24 was Poson Poya Day. The Daily Mirror and the Daily News editorially reminded Sri Lankans of the significance of Poson, the most important Buddhist festival after Vesak. It was on this day, 2300 years ago, King Devanampiya Tissa encountered Emperor Ashoka�s son Arahat Mahinda in the jungles of Mihintale. Their encounter led to SL�s first formal religious conversion of the King himself and ministered by the missionary prince from India. Daily Mirror editorial called on more..

Jun 28 (ST) Stirring scenes of Sri Lanka�s ancient grandeur in the backdrop of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s speech to a nation in tumult this Friday does not minimise the frightening disconnect between perception and reality that emerged from what the Prez thought it fit to speak (or rather, fulminated) about. This must surely concern all Sri Lankans, even those who voted with eyes criminally wide open to bestow a two-thirds majority on this Presidency and Govt in 2019 and 2020. more..

Jun 28 (GV) The 93 year old woman had died of Covid-19. Her body was brought to the Mathugama cemetery in a hospital ambulance, placed inside crematorium, then hastily removed and returned to the ambulance. For a VIP hearse has arrived bearing another Covid-19 body and armed with an order from above. Against that dictate the PHIs were powerless. The ambulance, a life-saving vehicle, especially in pandemic times, more..

Jun 28 (CT) The existing governing body has led the society to a point where they are convinced to believe that the only way out of the pandemic is to get infected and survive by a miracle, even at the lapse of more than one year from the initial outbreak. The preventive measures seem to be hardly effective. In the midst of a bundle of massive jokes provided by the govt, people of our great nation are realizing a lot of realities. It is a fact that the pandemic is a global crisis but being more..

Jun 28 (CT) The silence of the human rights champions when Donald Trump pardoned 237 prisoners using his executive clemency power during his 4 years of Presidency was deafening. Although a section of the Western Media criticised Trump�s decision to give clemency to some of his friends convicted for financial frauds at the tail end of his term as Prez, the UNHRC did not find anything wrong in Trump�s decision. Perhaps the lack of reaction from the UNHRC was due to the fact more..

Jun 28 (SO) Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said if the main Opposition SJB believes that because the SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam issued a statement that a certain group in the Govt would extend their support to the SJB sponsored No Confidence Motion against Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila, that would never happen. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer more..

Jun 28 (CT) It is not unusual for moderate socialist govts of the past, in this country, to have conspiracies hatched against them to bring them down no sooner they get elected to power unless the conspiratorial moves are nipped in the bud. The wave of loud protests being launched now smack of such treasonable activity rather than genuinely manifesting bona fide democratic opposition. It was not long after Prez Rajapaksa was elected to office that the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect more..