Oct 2 (Roar) �It's pretty clear that Pfizer provides more immunity than Sinopharm. That was why I held back from getting vaccinated,� a 24-year-old told Roar Media on condition of anonymity. He was responding to questions on why he waited at least a month after Sri Lanka started vaccinating its youth population against COVID-19 before finally getting the jab himself. Similarly, other young Sri Lankans, who have hesitated to obtain more..

Oct 2 (CT) In the Primary and Secondary Educational Sectors, Sports and physical education for children have suffered one of the biggest setbacks during the extended closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns. However, Gateway College with its usual spirit of enterprise, has met this challenge undeterred, to provide its students with alternatives for Sports Education. Aware that if designed appropriately, online physical education more..

Oct 2 (FT) For the second consecutive month, the latest LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) recorded an uptick, indicating that sentiment continues to improve. The index registered six basis points from the previous month to 104 in September. LMD notes that this represents a four month high although it marks a deterioration compared to where the BCI stood a year ago (120) and places it one point below its 12-month average. NielsenIQ�s Director � Consumer Insights more..

Oct 2 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 immunisation program on Thursday administered a COVID-19 vaccine dose to 57,121 persons. A total of 14,524,408 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 11,773,685 persons having received the second dose as well. 54.3% of the 20 to 30 population has received the first dose of a vaccine and 12.8% of the population has received the second dose as well. Approximately 95% of the population over the age of 30 has received both doses of a vaccine. more..

Oct 2 (MFA) Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris welcomed the constructive, cordial and regular engagement between Sri Lanka and the European Union (EU) in a meeting with a five-member delegation from the EU on Friday 1 October 2021 at the Foreign Ministry. The EU mission to Sri Lanka was led by Senior Advisor, Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission Nikolaos Zaimis, and Head of Division for South Asia of the European External Action Service (EEAS) more..

Oct 2 (FT) The detection of 893 Covid-19 positive persons yesterday raised the country�s COVID-19 case count to 518,775. 505 cases reported between 15 Sept and 22 Sept were added to the total case count following verification. COVID-19 patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. 8,261 PCR tests were conducted yesterday. On Thursday, 7,740 PCR tests and 3,380 rapid antigen tests were carried out. more..

Oct 2 (CI) Sri Lanka are in talks to tour Pakistan for a series of three ODIs which will be vital preparation for both teams ahead of the Women's ODI World Cup global qualifier that starts on Nov 21 in Zimbabwe. If the tour goes ahead the matches will be SL's first in 18 months, since the T20 World Cup in February-March last year. Talks for the bilateral series have happened as an eleventh-hour arrangement after the ECB pulled their men and women's teams from a tour of Pakistan more..

Oct 2 (Island) If there is a resurgence in COVID cases due to clusters forming around foreigners who are allowed to allow enter the country without undergoing PCR test at the airport, those who allowed that must be held responsible, says President of the CMLS, Ravi Kumudesh. Kumudesh said that he had earlier warned that SL was receiving a significant number of tourists from countries notorious for forged PCR test reports and thus, allowing people in without being tested more..

Oct 2 (DM) The ownership group of the Jaffna Stallions franchise that won last year�s Lanka Premier League claim they were verbally offered the rights to another team despite being deemed ineligible to retain ownership of the Jaffna franchise. While not naming the team that they claim was offered to them, which the Daily Mirror understands was the Colombo Kings franchise, the Jaffna Stallions ownership more..

Oct 2 (TM) Further to the Govt�s decision to allow tourists into the country without a Covid-19 PCR test, Association of Medical Specialists have shown concern and appealed to the Prez to reconsider the decision. In the letter addressed to Director General of Health Services Dr Asela Gunawardena, members of the Association of Medical Specialists stated that a lot of funds were set aside for the construction of the BIA PCR facility, whereas that became non-functional after just 3 days. more..

Oct 2 (FT) China�s Ambassador Qi Zhenhong yesterday expressed greater confidence of his country and Sri Lanka forging ahead to deepen strategic ties with Sri Lanka. He expressed this optimism in a statement to mark the 72nd National Day of the People�s Republic of China. �The political and strategic mutual trust between China and Sri Lanka has reached a new height,� said Qi. �Bilateral trade increased 61% year-on-year in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, we have firmly supported more..

Oct 2 (CT) In SL, 12.3% of the population is aged 60 or older, making it the country with the highest proportion of older adults in South Asia, the World Bank (WB) said. Western Province (WP) has the highest percentage of the country�s elderly at 31.7%, while the Northern Province has the least at 4.8%. In just 15 years, more than one in four � or 25% of Sri Lankans � will be over 60. The demographic transition from a youth bulge to an ageing more..

Oct 2 (ST) Exactly when Lahiru Madushanka�s T20 career was about to take off with the biggest and the best ticket to the T20 World Cup, an injury sidelining him for three more weeks, has distanced his dream of featuring in the showpiece tournament. The right-arm fast-bowling all-rounder, with only three international outings in the same format, had made a successful case in earning a call to the World Cup. But in the dead rubber T20 versus the South Africans, aimed to give Madushanka more..

Oct 2 (FT) Colombo stock market yesterday saw an end to the bull run akin to taking a breather, and closed negative with the CB's short-term Road Map failing to keep recent investor sentiment intact. The ASPI closed over 17 points down or 0.19%. However, the S&PSL20 closed on the up marginally by nearly five points or 0.13%. Turnover fell below this week's and recent average to Rs. 5.28 billion. A positive feature yesterday, however, was a small yet welcome net foreign buying worth Rs. 7m. more..

Oct 2 (Island) State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanne said that the duty on white sugar would remain at 25 cents a kilo for the time being to ensure the control price remained the same. The Lawmaker said so when The Island asked him whether the duty would be revised in the wake of the govt lifting restrictions on the import of sugar as stocks diminished rapidly. The wholesale price of white sugar is at Rs 116 and retail Rs 122. more..

Oct 2 (SLN) Special operations carried out by the Navy in Karukapane of Chilaw, Negombo and on Analathivu Island, Jaffna today (1) as well as in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna on the night of 30th Sept led to the seizure of over 4940kg of dried turmeric and more than 1111kg of Kendu leaves with 11 suspects involved in those rackets. Accordingly, SLNS Thambapanni in the Northwestern Naval Command managed to seize a stock of dried turmeric from a dinghy, during a special operation more..

Oct 2 (ST) Mullaitivu police officers were directed to a cemetery by the son of a Tamil politician when they went to his residence to serve a court order banning commemorative events for a fallen commander of the LTTE. On Friday, Mullaitivu police filed a case under the Penal Code and secured a court order against four people, including former Northern Province councillor Anton Jeganathan, who died in 2016. The police told court that Mr. Jeganathan and several others were planning to more..

Oct 2 (EN) A controversial statement attributed to public security minister Sarath Weerasekara has drawn flak from school teachers� unions who claimed the minister�s words were a clear threat to their right to protest and signalled a keenness for militarisation. Minister Weerasekara on Thursday said in a televised interview that the authorities had been too soft on teachers who engaged in massive protests in July and Aug more..

Oct 2 (USE) Nearly 800,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka this week to continue the fight against COVID-19, a gift from the American people. These safe and effective vaccines, donated by the United States and delivered via COVAX, will protect lives and increase the COVID-19 vaccination coverage in SL. �I commend SL�s commitment to public health. Increasing vaccination coverage is a critical step toward ending the pandemic,� said Alaina Teplitz, US Amb. more..

Oct 2 (CT) A Letter of Demand (LoD) has been sent on behalf of the Minister of Trade, Bandula Gunawardena, to a former board member of the CAA, Thushan Gunewardena, demanding the immediate payment of a sum of Rs 1 billion for defamatory statements made against him by the latter. Attorney-at-Law Minolie Roshanara Alexander, on behalf of the Minister of Trade, said he is promoting and defending the political policies of the Prez and the PM and has been defending more..

Oct 2 (CT) The 3-Judge Bench of the Colombo High Court served indictments, carrying 855 charges, on ex-IGP Pujith Jayasundera and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. Trial dates were set from 22 to 29 November. The case was taken up before a Bench comprising Judges Namal Balalle, Adithya Patabendige and Mohammad Irshadeen. more..

Oct 2 (FT) The assertion that COVID numbers should determine our future viability as a society is grotesque and unjustified. As we were exploring in the last article, it is inane and insane to try and control people indefinitely for the grand purpose of avoiding being exposed to a respiratory virus. Especially when it�s one that tracks normal mortality, where the average age of death is greater than life expectancy globally, and which has a 99% recovery rate outside those above 65 with multiple more..

Oct 2 (FT) There are two ways to evaluate the impact of IMF stabilisation programmes: (a) counterfactual evaluation: comparing outcome with what would have happened without the programmes; and (b) comparing results to objectives: evaluate performance against the benchmarks imposed by the policy-makers. It is not possible to apply the first approach to assess the impact of IMF programmes using data for a single country simply because there is no suitable more..

Oct 2 (MFA) Foreign Minister G.L.Peiris has sought greater access in the burgeoning Brazilian market for Sri Lankan export products. The Minister made this request during a meeting with the Ambassador of Brazil to Sri Lanka Sergio Luiz Canaes at the Foreign Ministry on 29 Sept. Foreign Minister Peiris, welcoming Ambassador Canaes conveyed Sri Lanka�s strong commitment to forge closer relations with Brazil in diverse areas of bilateral interest. At the meeting, both Minister Peiris and more..

Oct 2 (DM) Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) has facilitated online payment for applying for sand, gravel and soil transport permit from today. Launching of this facility was held yesterday and it will be put into action from today. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, GSMB Chairman Anura Walpola and Director General Sajjana de Silva and other officials participated in this event. �About 1000-2000 people visit the GSMB head office and regional offices daily to obtain sand, gravel, soil transport licenses� more..

Oct 2 (EN) An European Union delegation has reviewed Sri Lanka�s attempts reform its Prevention of Terrorism Law which has led to extensive incarceration of citizens without trial and other abuses also discussed other institution of liberty. �SL provided an update on the action in process to review the PTA, and reiterated its commitment to bring it in line with int'l norms & standards within a time bound process� more..

Oct 2 (AD) Popular SL singer, songwriter and rapper Yohani de Silva has suffered a minor injury on stage while performing in India. In a tweet, Yohani said she accidentally hit her face on a guitar during the previous performance. However, Yohani is not in serious condition. �Show must go on! Had an accident on stage during the last performance. As I was so engrossed in the moment and performing for you I knocked my face on the head of a guitar. I didn�t realize that I bruised my face more..

Oct 2 (Island) The Navy has unveiled a newly built monument for officers and men of the 4th Fast Attack Flotilla (4 FAF) that played a crucial role in the war against the LTTE. The 4 FAF facilitated sea supply missions to the Jaffna peninsula under extremely difficult conditions. It was one of the many tasks undertaken by the 4FAF that lost 259 officers and men in action during the conflict. Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne yesterday (30) unveiled the memorial. more..

Oct 2 (AD) The price of milk powder per kilogram is expected to be increased by Rs. 200 and the selling price will go up to Rs. 1,145, the milk powder importers say. Lakshman Weerasuriya, a member of the Milk Powder Importers� Association, said the revised prices will be tabled in the next meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers for approval. Accordingly, the shortage of milk powder is expected to be resolved by next week, he added. more..

Oct 2 (EN) Child protection activists in Sri Lanka called for a national child protection framework on Friday, noting that the island lags behind in its pledge to protect child rights. This is despite SL being the only country in the region to commit to the United Nations sustainability goal 16.2 to end violence against children, activists said in a forum that marked World Children�s Day. �We must remember that our country and our govts have taken on a sacred obligation on the gratification more..

Oct 2 (SLA) The sacred Abishekam Pooja of Hindu tradition, held this afternoon (1) at Mayurapathi Sri Badrakali Amman Kovil, Colombo 6 invoked blessings on the forthcoming 72nd Anniversary of the SL Army and the Army Day (Oct 10). The �Abishekam� Pooja ceremony, organized by Sri Lanka Army Hindu Association, symbolically blessed the Army Flag at first after taking it into the inner chamber of the Kovil, amidst religious rites and rituals. General Shavendra Silva, more..

Oct 2 (Island) The PHIs Union yesterday urged the Ministry of Health to reconsider a decision to authorise Grama Niladharis to release the bodies of those who die at home without PCR testing if the deceased were believed to be free from coronavirus infection. Head of the PHIs Union, Upul Rohana said that 80% of the people with COVID were asymptomatic but carried the virus. Given that testing had decreased during recent weeks, more..

Oct 2 (PTI) India and SL will carry out a 12-day mega military exercise from Monday with a focus on enhancing counter-terror cooperation. The eighth edition of the Mitra Shakti exercise will be conducted at Combat Training School in SL's Ampara from Oct 4 to 15, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday. "The aim of the exercise is to promote close relations between armies of both countries and enhance inter-operability and sharing best practices in counter-insurgency & counter-terrorism operations," more..

Oct 2 (CT) Editors� Guild of SL strongly condemned the CID�s decision to summon editors of 3 national newspapers and several journalists over the complaint lodged by Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena against former Executive Director of the Consumer Affairs Authority Thushan Gunewardena related to infamous Lanka Sathosa garlic scam. Secretary of TEGSL Sisira Paranatantrie queried the CID�s right to hunt down editors, journalists who reported the incident. more..

Oct 2 (ST) Garlic has a pungent odour, and so too it seems an unpleasant odour has emanated politically for the Govt with the break out of the Garlic Scam � the latest of scams after the notorious multibillion rupee Sugar Scam under the present dispensation. Cause for concern are the resignations of several among the elite corps of professionals who came forward to work for former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa more..

Oct 2 (NR) Another 55 coronavirus related fatalities have been confirmed, raising the death toll to 13,019. All 55 deaths occurred yesterday, the 1st of Oct. 38 males and 17 females were among the victims. 38 persons, 27 males and 11 females among the group that succumbed to the virus, were 60 years of age or above. Meanwhile, 15 individuals, 11 males and four females, were between 30 and 59 years of age. Two females below 30 years of age have also succumbed yesterday more..

Oct 2 (AD) Foreign Secretary of India, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in Sri Lanka this evening for a four-day official visit. He is undertaking this visit to the island nation from October 02 - 05 at the invitation of his SL counterpart, Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage. The visit will contribute towards consolidating the longstanding multifaceted relations and enhance bilateral partnerships between two countries. Apart from the bilateral discussion with the SL Foreign Secretary, more..

Oct 2 (DM) Whilst considering that former MP Ranjan Ramanayake is a political prisoner, SJB is to refer the issue to the UNHRC in Geneva and other local and international human rights agencies, SJB MP Hector Appuhamy said. He said that his party will discuss how to approach the UNHRC and other agencies shortly.�we are planning this exercise following the request made by Mr. Ramanayake. more..