Mar 16 (TM) Deviating from the initial plan of the Covid-19 vaccination programme has raised a myriad of questions as to whether the country would be able to meet the demand with the limited supply of vaccines in the world pharmaceutical market. More than 720,000 people have been vaccinated as of now in SL, and it received the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility last week. According to the WHO, more..

Mar 16 (TM) There has been a slight decrease in the attendance of students in several leading schools in the Western (WP) yesterday (15) after schools opened for Grades Five, 11, and 13. This was said by Secretary to the Ministry of Education Prof. Kapila Perera. However, he said that more than 60% of the students in said Grades, who started classes yesterday in WP schools, had attended. The General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examination concluded last week. more..

Mar 16 (FT) A Cabinet paper to ban the wearing of face veils, such as the Burqa and Niqab, was not taken up at yesterday�s cabinet meeting. The controversial move by Minister Sarath Weerasekara to ban the two types of face veils worn by some women of the Islamic faith drew criticism from many groups, including religious groups and some in the diplomatic community. Weerasekera said that he had signed the Cabinet paper to ban the wearing of face veils including the burqa last week, more..

Mar 16 (CT) Members of the track & field high-performance pool and Dept of Sports Development signed a contract for a one-year period yesterday following several negotiations. Earlier all athletes had refused to sign the contracts as presented due to several concerns, including the fact the agreement did not include how much funding they would receive, though the agreement included clauses which bound them in other ways. more..

Mar 16 (FT) Premier blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) yesterday made a formal disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) on the proposed West Container Terminal (WCT) of the Colombo Port. It said that a consortium consisting of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., and JKH have received a Letter of Intent from the Ministry of Ports and Shipping and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, acting on behalf of the Govt of SL, to develop and operate the WCT more..

Mar 16 (Island) High jumper Ushan Thivanka improved his personal best and the Indoor National record for the second time within a month as he won the men�s high jump of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship in the USA, where he is pursuing higher education. Former Maris Stella College athlete cleared 2.26 metres to improve his Indoor National record by one centimeter. Representing Texas A&M University, Ushan cleared 2.25 metres last month to take under more..

Mar 16 (FT) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday said the Govt is well aware of the challenges faced by the local apparel industry and assured that it is ready to extend its fullest support to enhancing productivity and quality. The President made this remark at a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday with representatives of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF). more..

Mar 16 (GV) A destructive civil war, social upheaval, market forces and plastic have all played a part in the gradual erosion of Jaffna�s rich legacy of arts and crafts. A major dyeing and weaving centre before colonization, its skilled artisans have gradually disappeared, taking with them a wealth of irreplaceable knowledge. At one point, almost ten percent of the northern population was involved in the craft industry. For a fledging industry that relies on tourists and diaspora clients, more..

Mar 16 (TM) Vehicle importers are planning to submit, this week, a quota for vehicles to be imported to SL, following a Govt directive requesting that they do so while considering the need to save foreign exchange reserves. Vehicle Importers� Association of SL (VIASL) President Sampath Merenchige told us that the organisation is in the final stages of discussions with its members in finalising the quota. �The proposal consists of the mechanism of registering its members, more..

Mar 16 (ST) The Govt will strictly adhere to prudential financial management and monitoring in obtaining foreign loans for development projects specially focusing attention on the repayment capacity. The Finance Ministry has planned external borrowings of project and programme loans mostly through bilateral and multilateral sources amounting to around US$1.8 billion, as well as foreign commercial loans around $1.4 b for budgetary support. more..

Mar 16 (DM) A young student who complained of the unchecked ecological destruction going on in the Sinharaja Forest reserve due to unauthorised construction of buildings in the Sinharaja rain forest environs during a TV programme, was questioned and a her statement recorded by the Rakwana police. OIC Rakwana police B.Navaratne said her statement had been recorded for future investigations. He said the statement was recorded at the students residence at Kajugaswatta more..

Mar 16 (FT) Purchasing Managers� Indices (PMI) for both Manufacturing and Services activities expanded in February, propelled by an expansion of new orders and higher levels of production, CB said. Manufacturing PMI sustained its expansion in Feb 2021 recording an index value of 59.4, owing to the expansion in Production and New Orders. Further, Stock of Purchases and Employment, as well as Suppliers� Delivery Time, remained expanded supporting to sustain the overall more..

Mar 16 (FT) Commissioner General of Inland Revenue H.M.C Bandara told a Parliamentary Committee that billions of rupees in tax arrears for many years could not be recovered due to the lengthy judicial process and delays in the courts. He told a recent meeting of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) that tax evaders are taking advantage of the delay in the judicial process to delay their payments. COPA Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitharana emphasised more..

Mar 16 (CT) Colombo High Court Judge Adithya Patabendige yesterday acquitted former SDIG Vaas Gunawardene and his wife from a a forgery case. Vaas Gunawardene, who is already on death row, and his wife Shayamali Perera had been charged with illegal acquisition of a one-and-a-half-acre land in Maharagama by forging a deed. The accused were acquitted following the withdrawal of the case by the AG�s Department. AG�s Dept told Judge Patabendige that as the case has been more..

Mar 16 (FT) Indian tycoon Gautam Adani yesterday expressed his gratitude to SL leaders for the opportunity granted to develop the West Terminal in the Colombo Port. In a tweet promoting the formal announcement of the new venture, Adani said: "Grateful to the leaders of Govt of India, Govt of SL, SLPA and John Keells for the opportunity to build WCT, Colombo. This partnership is a symbol of the deep strategic relations between countries with great intertwined history. more..

Mar 16 (FT) 331 COVID-19 positive patients were detected within the day, bringing the total number of patients detected in the island to 88,238. The patients include 225 associates of the Peliyagoda COVID-19 cluster and 23 persons linked to the Prisons cluster. The Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda and Prisons triple cluster currently stands at 83,746. COVID-19 patients detected in the island also include 2,303 SL returnees from abroad, more..

Mar 16 (FT) Five COVID-19 deaths were yesterday confirmed by health authorities increasing the country�s COVID-19 death toll to 532. A 94-year-old individual from Kalutara North tested positive for COVID-19 while receiving treatment at the Moratuwa Base Hospital and was transferred to the Homagama Base Hospital, where she died of blood poisoning, COVID-19, and acute diabetes on Sunday. On 13 March, an 86-year-old individual from Jaffna died of COVID pneumonia and more..

Mar 16 (DN) Born on 2/23/1989 in the Southern coastal Hamlet of Talalla, Roshan Abeysundera is a born swimmer whose forte being open water swimming. The rough waves of Talalla and famous swimming destination, Polhena in Matara have been a blessing to sharpen his swimming skills from a very tender age. He entered competitive swimming as a schoolboy when he was studying in grade six at the Matara Central College under the guidance of his school coach H.G. Prasad. more..

Mar 16 (FT) Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ), yesterday announced that it has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Ministry of Ports and Shipping and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), acting on behalf of the Govt of SL, pursuant to approval from the Cabinet of Ministers, for the development and operations of West Container Terminal (WCT) in Colombo. APSEZ is India�s largest private Ports & Logistics more..

Mar 16 (CT) Bribery Commission informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala the case filed against former MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena was being withdrawn by the prosecution due to technical shortcomings. The former MP had been charged by the Commission with regard to alleged misappropriation of a sum of Rs 883 million while functioning as the CEO of Mihin Lanka. Accordingly, the Magistrate announced that with the decision taken by the Bribery Commission to withdraw more..

Mar 16 (CT) Colombo High Court Judge Damith Thotawatta yesterday, read out the Court of Appeal order acquitting and releasing former President�s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and former head of the TRCSL Anusha Palpita, from the Sil Cloth case. The duo had been earlier convicted by the High Court over the distribution of Sil cloth at State expense in the run-up to the 2015 Presidential Poll. When the said case was taken up yesterday, both Weeratunga and Palpita were present in Court and more..

Mar 16 (FT) SJB will hold a series of protests in the coming days demanding solutions for problems faced by the public, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa said, calling on the public to join them in the streets in a show of force. Opposition Leader made the remarks addressing a rally held at Hyde Park to mark the first anniversary of the SJB party. He was joined by SJB MPs and leaders of partnering political parties. more..

Mar 16 (CT) Medical Administrators� Forum (MAF) accused the GMOA of misleading its membership regarding the third amendment to the Medical Service Minute, gazetted on 9 Mar 2021. MAF Secretary, Dr. Priyantha Karunaratne, said the GMOA was giving step-motherly treatment to medical administrators who were also a part of its membership. Dr. Karunaratne said the Govt had issued the Gazette that gave medical officers who had completed their postgraduate studies in more..

Mar 16 (TM) Chairman of Central Environmental Authority (CEA) S. Amarasinghe said that there are no construction projects especially for hotels, within the Sinharaja Rainforest Reserve. Speaking at a news briefing organised, Mr. Amarasinghe said the govt is committed to upholding the integrity and wholeness of the Sinharaja. �Nothing has happened to Sinharaja forest. There are no projects inside the Reserve. In fact, plans are being made to expand the buffer zone of the Reserve. more..

Mar 16 (EN) SL�s Roman Catholic Bishops are united in expressing their dissatisfaction over the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks and will continue to protest and agitate until the planners and the funders of the strikes are identified and punished, the Archbishop of Colombo said. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says he speaks for all the Catholic Bishops when he says protests will not stop �unless and until justice is done more..

Mar 16 (FT) That the outcome of next week�s vote in the UNHRC was/is far from preordained is best evidenced by UK Minister of State & C'wealth Lord Tariq Ahmad�s frank adult-in-the-room reply to a letter from the UK-based Tamil associations. He says: �The 2021 composition is particularly challenging for consideration of country resolutions. The risk of losing a vote is very serious�. So, if the Gotabaya Govt loses the vote, it would have lost a vote that might have been won. more..

Mar 16 (Island) The govt is in the same predicament as an ant struggling to stay afloat in a jar of sugar syrup. The Opposition is in overdrive, inveighing against the SLPP for a sugar import racket, which has come to be dubbed the sugar scam. A controversial govt decision to reduce import duty on sugar for the benefit of one of its cronies is believed to have caused a loss of about Rs. 15 billion to the state coffers. Ruling party politicians and some public officials loyal to them have denied more..

Mar 16 (Island) Terrorist Investigation Division has commenced an investigation into Rs. 980 million in an account maintained by an extremist group at a bank in Trincomalee. Preliminary investigations have revealed that several drug dealers in SL too have made financial contributions to the extremist outfit. This was revealed when a resident of Kehelwatta, Panadura, arrested in connection with drug dealing, said that he had donated money to an Islamic extremist organization, DIG Ajith Rohana said more..

Mar 16 (DN) The Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) yesterday informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate�s Court that they had not received instructions from the Attorney General (AG) to arrest the Peliyagoda Police officers who were involved in the assault on law student Migara Gunaratne. When the matter was taken up before Colombo Additional Magistrate Bandara Nelumdeniya, CCD officers stated that they were still conducting an inquiry regarding the incident. more..

Mar 16 (AD) There is no issue with the AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine currently used in SL, Minister Ramesh Pathirana said. He mentioned this at the press conference to inform Cabinet decisions. Minister pointed out that only one batch of the vaccine has been suspended in the countries which has halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19. However, SL has not received the vaccine from more..

Mar 16 (AD) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the McLarens Maritime Academy recently entered in to a MoU where CCC appointed surveyors will have an opportunity to undertake training programmes to enhance their technical know-how in the fields of bunker and draught survey. In addition to theoretical knowledge, the above training courses will deliver On the Job Training (OJT) on board in their own fleet of vessels through practical on-field experiences to apply theories learned in the classroom. more..

Mar 16 (FT) The Govt has extended fresh support to businesses and individuals engaged in passenger transportation sector given the continued challenges faced owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central Bank last week announced the extension of moratorium on lease instalments (capital and interest) for six months or shorter period as applicable starting from 1 April, considering the financial difficulties faced by the eligible borrowers in the passenger transport sector. more..

Mar 16 (Island) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in terms of the PCoI report on the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage has issued specific instructions to the Police/CID and other relevant authorities to expedite investigations, SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris said. He said that Prez Rajapaksa intervened on behalf of the govt whereas the Attorney General proceeded with own actions. Prof. Peiris said that the entire set of PCoI more..

Mar 16 (DN) A programme will be implemented at Grama Niladhari level to empower 25,000 women entrepreneurs who are also Samurdhi recipients, said PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. PM was speaking during a discussion on Development Programmes of the State Ministry of Samurdhi, Home Economy, Micro Finance, Self Employment and Business Development at the Randora Auditorium of the Ministry of Finance. State Minister Shehan Semasinghe explained the purpose of this more..

Mar 16 (SLN) A naval operation conducted in seas off Talaimannar made way for the apprehension of 02 suspects who were attempting to smuggle about 349kg of turmeric and 156kg of cardamom into the island, on 15th March 2021. As an extension of naval operations in place for the prevention of illegal activities off shores, the North Central Naval Command had intercepted a suspicious dinghy loaded with 349kg of turmeric in 14 sacks and 156kg of cardamom in 06 sacks. more..

Mar 16 (FT) 20 plantation companies yesterday filed a writ application before the Court of Appeal seeking an order to invalidate the gazette notification issued last week to increase the daily wage of plantation workers to Rs. 1,000. The application names the Labour Minister, Ministry Secretary and the Wages Board as respondents. The petitioners argue that increasing the plantation wage by the Labour Ministry puts the industry more..

Mar 16 (AD) One person was killed and close to 20 others were left wounded and hospitalized after a bus collided with a train at Talaimannar. The incident had occurred at around 2.30 p.m. today when a train traveling from Colombo Fort to Talaimannar hit a private bus at the railway crossing in Talaimannar. The wounded passengers of the bus have been admitted to the Mannar Hospital while at least two of them are said to be in critical condition. The driver of the bus has been taken into police custody more..

Mar 16 (TM) The fleet of Sri Lankan Aviation Company Ltd would be expanded to include an additional aircraft which would be obtained on a lease basis to transport goods, the govt said today. The Cabinet of Ministers has yesterday granted approval to obtain the aircraft subject to international competitive procurement methodology. �The fleet of Sri Lankan Aviation Company Ltd is comprised of a large number of economical narrow body aircraft. As a result, more attention has been paid on more..

Mar 16 (AD) Govt has not taken a decision to ban the wearing of the burqa and niqab as of yet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. Ministry pointed out that the recent media reports have highlighted statements made in regard to a proposal to ban the wearing of the burqa and niqab in SL. Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage has said that a decision has not been taken by the Govt to impose such a ban and more..