Sep 16 (Island) State Minister of Prison Reform and Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte said that he had informed Prez Rajapaksa that he would step down immediately from his post as the State Minister of Prisons. However, he will continue to be the State Minister of Gem and Jewellery Industries. Minister Ratwatte said that had decided to step down after taking responsibility for the incidents that took place at the Welikada and Anuradhapura Prisons. more..

Sep 16 (TM) The Wildlife and Forest Conservation Ministry will be accepting the resignation letter of the National Zoological Gardens Dept Director General Ishini Wickremesinghe, according to Ministry Secretary Somarathne Vidanapathirana. �I have been forwarded a copy of Wickremesinghe�s resignation letter, which cites personal reasons for her resignation. We will be accepting that,� Vidanapathirana said. Wickremesinghe�s resignation followed a Court decision on 6 Sept which more..

Sep 16 (PTI) SL may end its month-long lockdown soon if the high-powered committee meant to decide on COVID-19 related matters in the country recommends it during a meeting later this week, the panel's head General Shavendra Silva said on Wednesday. The island nation went into a lockdown on Aug 20 due to the sudden rise in coronavirus infections. Silva, who is also the SL Army chief, said that a recommendation on how to reopen the country under strict lockdown would be made more..

Sep 16 (TM) The Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) Chairman Dr. Jatal Mannapperuma tendered his resignation from the post yesterday citing several reasons for his decision, but refused to specify any reasons to the media. �No one would resign without a reason. There were several reasons for my resignation. I don�t like to talk about them to the media though,� he explained when The Morning contacted him. more..

Sep 16 (TM) Approximately 20 patients are currently receiving treatment for the Long Covid-19 syndrome at the National Hospital of SL (NHSL) in Colombo, and are experiencing symptoms which are continuing past the 14 days infection period of the Covid-19 virus. �We are increasingly concerned about Long Covid-19 symptoms in patients now. Although a vast majority of patients recover after the 14 days period of the virus, currently about 20 patients are receiving treatment at the NHSL more..

Sep 16 (CT) The SJB said it would be a disgrace to Sri Lanka if UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has to intervene to ensure the existence of democracy in the country. SJB MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar said the Sri Lankans in Italy are pushing the international community to protest because of the loss of democracy and the loss of human rights of people in Sri Lanka. �Yesterday (15) was an important day, as the United Nations declared it as the Day of Democracy in 2007. more..

Sep 16 (TM) Public Security Ministry is ready to take action against the former Prison Management and Prisoners Rehabilitation State Minister Lohan Ratwatte, who resigned yesterday in connection with recent incidents that took place at the A'pura and Welikada Prisons involving him, if a complaint is made. Public Security Minister, Sarath Weerasekera said that the Ministry, under the purview of which the Police Dept comes, more..

Sep 16 (FT) In resolute defence of fair play for SL, I had successfully resisted two UN High Commissioners for Human Rights, Louise Arbour and Navi Pillay as PR in Geneva. I would have been even more combative towards their successor Zaid al-Hussain. I must confess though that I could not have, in clear conscience, taken on High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet�s oral report of 13 Sept�or her previous presentations and reports on SL�because there was no substantive more..

Sep 16 (AD) Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella announced that schools will re-open sooner than expected with grades 1 to 6 set to resume academic activities within the next two weeks. This was mentioned during a special meeting held with the officials of health and education sectors at the Health Ministry today. The attention of the discussion was drawn to the reopening of schools with strict adherence to health and safety protocols. Speaking in this regard, more..

Sep 16 (MFA) State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya undertook an official visit to Ukraine from 8�10 Sept 2021, to participate in a SL tourism promotion campaign and to discuss the potential for enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries. During the visit, the State Minister participated at a media and tour operator networking session. The event, organized by the SL Tourism Promotion Bureau, attracted representatives from leading media and travel organizations in Ukraine more..

Sep 16 (DM) Five suspects have been arrested while two policemen sustained injuries during a raid on a heroin hideout at Dematagoda this evening, police said. Six policemen attached to the Colombo Crimes Division led by a Sub Inspector of Police engages in the operation to arrest a drug trafficker following a tip off at Kalipulla in Dematagoda, Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said. During the raid, the officers arrested a suspect with 10g of heroin during the raid. more..

Sep 16 (EN) SL�s Catholic church has called for an investigation into a claim attributed to a controversial Buddhist monk of an impending terrorist attack, while also denying a claim by the same monk that he had warned the head of the church in 2017 of an imminent attack. Archdiocese of Colombo in a statement today said the claims, made by Galgoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero on a TV interview, were serious enough more..

Sep 16 (FT) Customer complaints are not unique to the SL internet and telecommunication landscape but it is a common theme that needs to be addressed and provided an expeditious resolution to fix the defects. The regulatory and the ombudsman need to be two independent organisations in the policy setting in order to address grievances and complaints effectively. The inadequacy of system capacity, footprint and limited scalability to meet the growth, are key factors for the increase more..

Sep 16 (DM) Security has been beefed up at the Bandaranaike and Mattala airports after a threatening email was received over a possible attack, a senior official said. However, following an immediate probe, it was later declared as a false alarm. Although the information received is unconfirmed and most like false, as precaution security at the airports has been beefed up, sources confirmed. It was reported that the CAA had informed the authorities to tighten security more..

Sep 16 (AD) There is no need for an external mechanism to solve the internal issues of Sri Lanka, Secretary to the Foreign Ministry, Admiral (Prof) Jayanath Colombage stated. The Foreign Secretary also pointed out that the UNHRC has not been given the power to set up such a mechanism, adding that solutions are available for all the problems of the country within SL�s domestic legal system, PMD stated issuing press release. more..

Sep 16 (EN) SL�s Finance Leasing Companies have been hit by import controls as new car imports were banned, Fitch Ratings said, while second hand prices had also surged. �Higher second-hand vehicle prices due to limited new vehicle supplies have reduced affordability and will most likely weaken future demand for vehicle financing,� Fitch said. Instead of raising rates to half money printing and restore monetary stability, SL has banned vehicle imports and now also restricted underwear more..

Sep 16 (DM) As SL is only two months away from its 2022 budget, the govt is facing the tough choice between raising the taxes to bridge an expanding budget hole caused by the pandemic-induced disruptions and maintaining a stable tax policy, which the govt assured and made good on for two years since coming to power. As the virus-related restriction were introduced since April this year, it shattered the govt�s original revenue targets set for 2021, while the country was forced to more..

Sep 16 (EN) SL�s foreign reserves are still low despite an US$ 800 million special drawing rights allocation from the IMF in August, Moody�s, a rating agency said. �Some modest amount of inflows materialised in August, while Sri Lanka also received an IMF Special Drawing Rights allocation of around $800 million,� Moody�s said in a credit update. �However, such inflows are piecemeal and boost FX reserves only temporarily more..

Sep 16 (DM) In such a situation where the speculations on lifting current lockdown are on the spotlight, the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) urged the Govt to further extend the lockdown until the beginning of October. The AMS said the country had just started to witness the positive impact of sustained lockdown with gradually declining case load, oxygen requirement and mortality. "A further period of extension of these travel restrictions will be required to reap more..

Sep 16 (DM) Fully vaccinated SL citizens returning from overseas will not be required to stay at a hotel for PCR testing, if their test result proved to be negative during the on-arrival testing at the BIA or Mattala airports from next week, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. �Sri Lankans who are returning who have been fully vaccinated with an accepted WHO vaccine, won�t be required to stay in hotels to get their PCR tests from next week as the Ministry of Health will conduct the PCR test soon after more..

Sep 16 (AD) Minister Udaya Gammanpila says that Sri Lanka has enough petroleum resources in Mannar to sort out the country�s USD 47 billion debt many times over. Addressing an official media briefing to announce the first airborne survey in SL to map oil and gas resources at the Mannar Basin, minister said the country is set to earn valuable foreign exchange by selling the data obtained from the survey. more..

Sep 16 (Island) Hambantota Port has signed deals with more than 30 countries as it looks to promote its operations globally. Hambantota Int'l Port Group (HIPG) said that the promotional activities have garnered commendable results despite the gloomy market situation experienced globally. �We are rapidly moving to diversify HIP�s industrial zone portfolio and at the same time we are widely promoting the location internationally. We have signed with more than 30 investors more..

Sep 16 (EN) While SL�s monetary meltdown acceleration with historic low interest rates driven by money printing after the tax cuts of 2019, the storm gathered pace from 2015, when rapid foreign debt accumulation greater than the annual foreign financed deficits began. That was due to monetary instability coming from a non-rule based monetary regime of flexible exchange rate and flexible inflation targeting with built in contradiction of epic proportions which created forex shortages more..

Sep 16 (TM) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) today said it vehemently denies allegations leveled by certain media reports, which cited that some of the players in the SL national team, who played in the T20i series against South Africa, did not fully commit themselves or deliberately underperformed on the field. �SLC has not received such a complaint from the Team Management against any player of the national squad.� more..

Sep 16 (TM) Amid reports of several patients diagnosed with mucormycosis or black fungus, MRI Consultant Mycologist Dr Primali Jayasekara stated that there are even more worrisome fungi varieties in the air that infect immuno-compromised post Covid-19 patients. During a press briefing today, Dr Jayasekara explained that there have been more immuno-compromised patients who suffer from post Covid-19 fungal infections caused by Aspergillus and Candida fungi varieties. more..

Sep 16 (TM) Bar Association of SL has questioned former State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners� Rehabilitation Affairs Lohan Ratwatte�s eligibility to hold office in the govt any longer, while adding that they are deeply disturbed by the reports of the alleged criminal conduct on the part of the State Minister. �The allegations that Mr. Ratwatte forcibly entered the prisons at Welikada with other persons and that he flew to A'pura and forcibly entered the prison there more..

Sep 16 (TM) Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021, Pushpika De Silva has denied media reports suggesting she had accompanied State Minister Lohan Ratwatte during the latter�s forced entry to Welikada Prison premises, where reports state that Ratwatte and a group of his friends had engaged in various antics within the Prison while under the influence of liquor. She claimed: �I was at a photo shoot on the said date in Matara and more..

Sep 16 (TM) Human Rights Commission in SL (HRCSL) visited A'pura prison yesterday following the incident that took place last Sunday in which Former State Minister of Prisons Lohan Ratwatte was allegedly involved. During this visit, HRCSL was able to the speak to the prisoners and the jailers at the A'pura Prison Complex. �The prisoners and jailers had two different things to say. Prisoners said that the alleged incident involving Ratwatte did happen. more..

Sep 16 (AD) Total number people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in SL moved up as 118 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Wednesday (15). The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in SL to 11,817. The latest victims include 61 males and 57 females. As many as 95 deaths were reported among the elderly people aged above 60 years. In addition, 23 individuals aged between 30-59 years have also more..

Sep 16 (TM) The teachers trade unions (TUs) have warned of a huge shortage of teachers arising in schools Islandwide by 2022, if the Govt does not take immediate action to recruit teachers for all schools under the Provincial Councils and the Central Govt. Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) President Priyantha Fernando claimed that more than 50,000 teachers currently in service are due to retire by the beginning of 2022. more..

Sep 16 (USE) Today, the US provided $40 million in financing to SDB Bank in order to bolster SL�s Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME) sector and assist women entrepreneurs. The loan is part of $265 million in funding the U.S. Int'l Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is providing to SL banks, including SDB Bank, DFCC Bank, and NDB Bank, to promote int'l investment and inclusive economic growth. SDB bank will use the $40 million to provide over 1,400 loans, ranging from LKR 500,000 more..

Sep 16 (DM) Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said that authorities will present recommendations and guidelines to the Prez tomorrow at the Presidential Task Force meeting on Covid-19 to take a decision with regards to the current quarantine curfew. During the previous meeting, the Prez did instruct the experts and authorities to submit reports as to what type of restrictions and guidelines should be maintained after opening the country, he said. more..

Sep 16 (AD) A delegation of the European Union is scheduled to visit SL on Sept 27, the Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage said. The EU envoys are expected to engage in discussions with the SL authorities on the concessions granted under the GSP+. The GSP Plus is a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance. It completely slashes the tariffs for exports from more..

Sep 16 (CT) Sri Lanka expects to receive a total of 120,000 second doses of the Sputnik V jab on Monday (20), Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. Following a review discussion on the importation, storage and distribution of drugs yesterday Minister said the batch of second doses that were to reach the island would be administered to recipients of its first dose in Kandy District. Thereby, they would be fully vaccinated. 150,000 persons in the district had been administered more..

Sep 16 (DM) The number of present daily COVID-19 cases which ranges around 2,300 is still unbearable to the health system, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said today. He said that the number of patients reported daily requires to reduce further if the country feels comfortable. �There was a time where zero COVID cases were reported within the country, but only the overseas returnees were added to daily count,� he said. �There was also a time where only more..

Sep 17 (Roar) Fatigue, shortness of breath, and an inability to concentrate � many patients who had contracted COVID-19 described the feeling as a brain fog. These refer to some of the complications that can last for weeks or months after the infection has gone away. �It took me about four months to fully recover from COVID-19,� Haren Gunawardena, a 23-year-old software engineer, said. �My energy levels fell instantly [after contracting the disease] and I had some insane brain fog. more..

Sep 17 (DM) When the Govt security forces fought the Tiger rebels, the island�s citizens were united in throwing their weight behind helping good defeat the bad. Several years later the emergence of the Covid pandemic was viewed as a bigger challenge than fighting a terrorist outfit. But sadly the citizens of this country are divided when addressing this national issue. We hear false perceptions being spread that youngsters getting vaccinated would not be able to contribute to task of adding to the population. more..

Sep 17 (TM) Last month, nine-year-old Oshini Devindya Gunawardena became the very first Sri Lankan, to win the FIDE World Youth Chess Championship 2021 in the under 10 girl�s category. Devindya beat Megan Althia from Paraguay, US to bag the title. There were over 150 players from 100 countries who competed under this category. Devindya said that her ambition is to become one of the top 10 chess players in the world. more..