Sep 7 (TM) Top officials at the Wildlife Conservation Department (DWC), speaking to The Morning yesterday (6), claimed that while the Dayaka Sabawa (council of laity) at the Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya located within the Yala National Park has requested the Archaeology Department to survey the area around the ancient Akasa Chaitya site and to renovate it, attempts are also underway to mark the site as a place of pilgrimage, and to construct a road between said Viharaya more..

Sep 7 (CT) Three cricketers from St. Peter�s College Bambalapitiya; Lahiru Dawatage, Danal Hemananda and Wanuja Sahan, have been picked in the squad of 26 by the selectors for the upcoming youth cricket tours including next year�s ICC Youth World Cup. Lahiru Dawatage: Right-hand batsman and wicket keeper, he started cricket at the school Academy in 2012 under L.H. Sunil. He represented the school under-13 team from 2014 for 3 seasons. He scored more than 900 runs during these 3 seasons. more..

Sep 7 (TM) Several senior police officials are scheduled to testify as witnesses for the prosecution in the cases filed by the Attorney General (AG) in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019, in addition to former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena. Presidential Secretariat Director General of Legal Affairs Harigupta Rohanadeera said that more..

Sep 7 (DM) The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on people�s day-to-day lives. Medical experts claim that living with uncertainty makes people anxious and this could lead to various health conditions. However, those who have tested positive for the virus may or may not experience prolonged symptoms which would last for a few weeks or longer. This condition is also known as Long COVID Syndrome and has been identified in the Sri Lankan context as well. more..

Sep 7 (Island) Govt yesterday presented a supplementary estimate of Rs 73.2 billion for the approval of the House to be spent on fighting the current COVID-19 pandemic and on other needs. Through the supplementary estimate the govt sought the approval of the House to spend on pandemic-related matters in all 24 districts, including the North & East. The govt sought to spend extra funds on the COVID treatment centres, to provide relief to those who are under quarantine more..

Sep 7 (FT) SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne heavily criticised the Govt for using emergency regulations to tackle the food crisis, saying the move was more about controlling the public than curbing the pandemic. �At a time where govts across the world are grappling with the ongoing and proliferating pandemic, Govt of SL remains more focused on stifling freedoms and rights of citizens than mitigating the pandemic,� he said. more..

Sep 7 (Island) The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna said that the country�s electoral system should be changed to introduce a mixed electoral system comprising the features of both the first-past-the-post system and the proportional representation system. Presenting the MEP�s proposals to the Select Committee of Parliament to Identify Appropriate Reforms of the Election Laws and the Electoral System and to Recommend Necessary Amendments, MEP Deputy Secretary more..

Sep 7 (CT) Matara High Court yesterday ordered the CID to facilitate the handing over of a number of luxury items and food stocks seized from a luxury shopping mall, operated with the ill-gotten money accrued by noted gangster Harak Kata in the Nakulugamuwa area of Tangalle, to the SATHOSA and other State institutions. The gangster, a noted drug peddler, is believed to be hiding in Dubai. The Court also ordered the CID to deposit the monies, received from the SATHOSA and more..

Sep 7 (Island) Prez Rajapaksa has directed intelligence services to fully cooperate with New Zealand inquiring into last Friday�s knife attack carried out by Ahamed Adhil Mohamed Samsudeen, 32, who had secured refugee status in that country, way back in late Dec 2013. Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris briefed the media about the President�s decision. State Intelligence Service (SIS) and Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) more..

Sep 7 (DM) The number of COVID-19 patients depending on oxygen has been relatively reduced in the country, Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said. Addressing a news briefing, he said this was due to a slight decrease in the number of COVID patients. �It is a great relief that the number of Oxygen-dependent patients has decreased. However, we are prepared to provide oxygen in case the number of such patients goes up,� Dr Herath underlined. more..

Sep 7 (CT) JJB Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday alleged that proclamation of emergency regulations was not for the benefit of the people, but intended to consolidate more power in the hands of the Govt. He made this remark, while participating in the debate on the proclamation of emergency regulations by Prez Rajapaksa recently. �Now, the President has enacted the second part of the Public Security Act. This has been brought forward as a means to provide relief to the people. more..

Sep 7 (DM) Around 35 acres of land out of 40 acres of the Welikada Prison premises in Borella will be set aside for investments after the prison complex is moved to Horana. During a discussion held at Temple Trees with the participation of PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, it was revealed that the UDA is already planning to set aside its chapel ward and prison headquarters building for a hotel project. State Minister Lohan Ratwatte said that more..

Sep 7 (FT) The Sept 2021 session of the UNHRC will begin on the 13th of this month with UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet�s oral update on her Report on Sri Lanka to be presented on the first day with an interactive debate on the Report to follow the next day (14th). A new Foreign Minister has been appointed who will face the prospect of a mechanism created for the first time at the OHCHR, mandated by Resolution 46/1, �to collect, consolidate, analyse and more..

Sep 7 (FT) Macroeconomic stability is crucial to sustain economic growth. The IMF, which is known as the global financial firefighter, provides support to its member countries that have problems with internal stability (inflation) and external stability (balance of payments, exchange rate, foreign indebtedness and int'l reserves). Being a member of the IMF since 1950, SL has obtained its assistance through different facilities on 16 occasions to tackle the economic difficulties from 1965 onwards. more..

Sep 7 (EN) SL will set up a state company to develop technology parks and list it in the stock market to raise funds, the state information office said. Technology Park Development Company, fully owned by the Secretary to the Treasury will set up give tech parks in Galle, Kurunegala, A'pura, Kandy and Batticaloa districts. The parks will be �commercial enterprises and in the future, the company plans to register on the Colombo Stock Exchange and allow private investors to more..

Sep 7 (AD) Minister Ramesh Pathirana says that he expects that the teachers and principals will return to work accepting the solution given by the govt for their salary issue. He noted that the teachers and principals would receive the proposed interim allowance with the September salary. �Govt�s solution to the teacher-principal salary issue was announced at the meeting, which clearly stated the salary increments that the govt could provide under the current economic and financial situation. more..

Sep 7 (DM) Senior Consultant Physician attached to the IDH, Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama has resigned from the Intercollegiate Technical Committee of the Director-General of Health Services. Dr. Asoka Gunaratne, Consultant Anaesthetist, too has stepped down from the same Technical Committee after Dr Wijewickrama resigned from the committee. �Several key decisions in respect of the Home Care Management, more..

Sep 7 (EN) Sri Lanka is giving 2,771 acres of land coming under two state agencies to five private companies to start commercial dairy farms, Agriculture Minister Mahindanda Aluthgamage said. The land will be given on 30 year leases. Access Agro (Pvt) Ltd and HBKIR International will et 700 acres from National Livestock Development Board farm in Nikaweratiya. Pesara Logistics Institute will be given 60 acres from the same farm. Farm�s Pride (Pvt) Ltd will get 811 acres from more..

Sep 7 (DM) Rejecting the media reports, the Environment Ministry has emphasized that the Crudia Zeylanica plant has not been removed from the 2020 Red Data List. They said the Red Data List published in 2012, five extinct plants from SL were included in the Red Data List. They are Rinorea decora (Violaceae), Rinorea bengalensis, Crudia zeylanica (Fabaceae), Strobilanthes caudata (Acanthaceae) and Blumea angustifolia (Asteraceae). more..

Sep 7 (EN) There has been no firm decision made to appoint a new governor to central bank, a govt minister said amid speculation that State Minister for Money and Capital Markets Nivard Cabraal may return to his old position. �Actually that has not been finalized (atther-washayenmer sthi-rer welar ne),� Co-cabinet spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirana told reporters. �That is all I can say about that� State Minister declined comment. more..

Sep 7 (EN) Sri Lanka has hiked import duty on foreign onions by 40 rupees a kilogram to protect domestic farmers, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said. �These days onion are being harvested,� Minister Aluthgamage told reporters in Colombo. �To protect them, the tax on onions have been raised for two months.� The current tax is 15 rupees, he said. He said about 60,000 metric tonnes of big onions are expected to be harvested in the current season. more..

Sep 7 (CT) SL�s low cost and environmentally-friendly CEBled hydroelectricity generation powered by the rains increased by 94.4 per cent year on year (YoY) to 663 gWh in June, CB data released last Monday (30) showed. Consequently, hydroelectricity provided 50.73% of all of SL�s electricity consumption of 1,307 gWh in June. Second in June was the dirty and imported CEB coal 24.64% (322 gWh), third non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) such as wind, solar and more..

Sep 7 (DM) First National Streaming Hub was inaugurated at the Education Ministry today under the govt's plan to bring school education closer to children through television. National Streaming Hub has been established for the children whose education has been disrupted due to COVID-19 epidemic. While inaugurating the event, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said the Broadcasting Centre was established with latest technical facilities more..

Sep 7 (AD) MP Rishad Bathiudeen, who was previously arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), has been further remanded until September 21. The case was taken up before the Colombo Fort Magistrate�s Court earlier today. The former minister and his brother were taken into custody on April 24 for allegedly aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who perpetrated the deadly bombings on April 21, 2019. They were initially interrogated under more..

Sep 7 (EN) SL�s banks are quoting rates of Rs197/203 to the US dollar on Tuesday, stronger from around 226/233 to the US dollar a day earlier, following an official request. SL has no interbank spot market to establish a rupee/dollar price and foreign exchange is matched within banks and in an over-the-counter market. The rupee had fallen to around 238 to the US dollar Monday, in the OTC market, financial sources said despite attempts by a group of banks to stabilize it at around 230 more..

Sep 7 (DM) Considering the strategies adopted in other countries, on the advice of Sri Lankan Paediatricians, Community Health Specialists and considering the limited number of Pfizer vaccines received by the country, priority should be given to start vaccinating school children, including those between the ages of 12-18 years, including children with high-risk and special needs, GMOA emphasized. more..

Sep 7 (DM) MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera today urged the Govt to introduce a joint treatment methodology with Western and Ayurvedic medical practices to treat Covid patients. He told Parliament that such combined medical practices were used in other countries such as China and South Korea to treat Covid patients. Raising a question on Standing Order 27/2, he said Covid patients have been treated successfully at Navinna Ayurveda Hospital and that most of them have recovered more..

Sep 7 (DM) In the wake of the decision taken by Dr Ananda Wijewickrama to resign from the Intercollegiate Technical Committee of the Director General of Health Services, Health Ministry today invited Dr Wijewickrama to reconsider his decision. Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath said today that it is better that Dr Wijewickrama would reconsider his decision. �Dr Wijewickrama has been one of the key medical professionals who immensely rendered more..

Sep 7 (AD) Finance Bill which was debated in Parliament today has been passed with amendments by a majority vote. During the second reading of the Bill, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella called for a division and second reading of the bill was passed with 134 MPs voting in favour and 44 voting against the bill. The Finance Bill enables individuals to voluntarily disclose undisclosed taxable supplies, income and more..

Sep 7 (CT) George Master alias Veluppillai Kumar Pancharatnam who had functioned as the Chief Interpreter during the height of the war for the LTTE had died in Jaffna on 5 Sept. The deceased who had spent the latter part of his life at an elders� home in Kaithadi area in Jaffna had been 85 at the time of his demise. The last rites of the deceased had been conducted at the Mallavi Cemetery in Mullaithiv which had been his birthplace. He was arrested following the end of the war & was detained more..

Sep 7 (CT) US Embassy in SL gifted two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and six bomb disposal suits (BD suits) to the SL Army for the use of combat convoy company (CCC) operations in UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the SLA said on Friday (3). The donation was accepted by SLA�s Chief Field Engineer and SL Engineers Corps (SLEC) Colonel Commandant, Major General Nihal Amarasekara, who is also SLEC�s 14 Chemical, Biological, more..

Sep 7 (EN) The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) has recommended administering Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca as the third dose for people over 60. Citing research conducted in the Middle East, an SLMA statement said the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is shown to be less effective for the over-60 population category. The medical body has made a set of recommendations for SL�s vaccine rollout, more..

Sep 7 (DM) SL govt has lost a total revenue of Rs 1,600 billion this year due to COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa told Parliament today. Speaking during the debate on regulations imposed under the Financial Bill and Export Import Control Bill the Minister said 70% of indirect tax revenue has been recorded since the current lockdown was imposed. �The revenue received from the Inland Revenue Department, Customs and Excise Dept had gone down drastically more..

Sep 7 (AD) Director-General of Health Services has confirmed another 184 coronavirus-related deaths for Sept 6, increasing the official death toll in the country to 10,504. According to the figures reported by the Dept of Govt Information today, the victims include 97 males and 87 females while four of the deceased, including 1 female, are below the age of 30. Forty-six of the Covid-19 deaths are individuals between the ages of 30-59 and the remaining 134 are persons aged 60 and above. more..

Sep 7 (TM) State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal has stated that he is entitled to a pension after media reports stirred a debate that he is pressuring the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to provide him his pension. In a tweet, the State Minister said that he has served as the Governor of the CBSL for over eight-and-a-half years, during the period from 1 July 2006 to 8 Jan 2015, and is therefore entitled to a retirement salary more..

Sep 7 (AD) The Commissioner General of Essential Services is tasked with coordinating and initiating all activities to maintain the supply of essential services as per the section 5 of the Public Security Ordinance, the PMD said. The statement, which clarifies the functions and the capacity entitled to the position, further read that the emergency regulations on essential food supply formulated as per the Section 5 of the Public Security Ordinance were declared in a gazette, more..

Sep 7 (DM) A special programme should be introduced to provide Pfizer vaccine to the youth between the age group of 20 to 30 in the Colombo District as there was a large number of youth who were aspiring to migrate for higher studies and employment in Colombo District, a Government MP said today. MP Premanath C. Dolawatte told Parliament that the percentage of youth who have the highest Z-score for University entrance was reported in the Colombo District. more..

Sep 7 (AD) Minister Udaya Gammanpila says that the USD 267 billion worth of oil and gas resources hidden in the Mannar Basin could generate three times the total debt of the country. He revealed this at the Consultative Committee on Energy held in Parliament today. He further stated that although investors who invest in these oil and gas drills are given 50%, USD 133.5 billion is Govt-owned and it is almost three times more..

Sep 7 (EN) SL�s controversially invoked emergency regulations are a temporary measure that will be in effect only until legislation is introduced to control alleged food-hoarding by traders, a cabinet spokesman said as allegations mounted of creeping authoritarianism. Fielding questions at the weekly cabinet briefing, co-cabinet spokesman Ramesh Pathirana denied that the regulations were an attempt to stifle dissent. �Protests have been held since Prez Rajapaksa was elected. more..