Sep 29 (TM) Extremism is not a new term to SL; the country has been dealing with various forms of extremism for decades. Even though the war waged by the LTTE and the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019 are often viewed as the worst acts of extremism and terrorism on SL soil, the country has also seen several clashes fuelled by extremist ideologies, and they have affected the growth of the people & country significantly. more..

Sep 29 (CT) The role of a professional Foreign Secretary (FS) � public servant as opposed to a politician � is traditionally associated with being measured and articulate. It is a position that requires considerable experience, intelligence, acumen, patience and apolitical credibility in the interest of the State. FS is the first professional focal point for balanced diplomatic engagement, based on mutual respect and mutual trust. Politicisation of this role carries grave consequences. more..

Sep 29 (CT) The significance of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s speech at the UN General Assembly in New York last week was his use of the time allocated to him to provide an outline of the govt�s policies towards the challenges besetting the country. The president covered the main issues that confront the world with his focus on Sri Lanka. These included measures to contain the Covid pandemic, the economic crisis, environmental degradation and violence. more..

Sep 29 (Island) Nagarro SE, a global leader in digital product engineering and technology solutions, completed six months in SriLanka, announcing substantial expansion plans of building a team of over 500 top-tier technology professionals. Nagarro SE chose SL as its first international addition since its debut as an independent, publicly traded company in Dec 2020 at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany. It is the 26th country to Nagarro�s rapidly expanding global footprint. more..

Sep 29 (Island) It is in this context that we should examine the right to life. Access to clean drinking water, clean breathable air and clean, non-toxic food, must be non-negotiable and fundamental. Once these fundamental rights are acknowledged, food security and food sovereignty become significant factors of sustainable development. The production of food has been the domain of the farming and fishing communities, from prehistory. However, the strong links that farmers had more..

Sep 29 (FT) Daily COVID-19 detections remained below 1,000 for the second consecutive day with 932 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday. The necessity of extending the ongoing quarantine curfew after 1 Oct has been questioned given the drop in COVID-19 detections. A decision on the ongoing quarantine curfew will be announced by tomorrow. According to Gen. Silva, Prez will announce if the quarantine more..

Sep 29 (Island) Former UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake once sought to ridicule the Army, in a parliamentary speech, at the height of war, by claiming that some troops were going towards Medawachchi, thinking it was Kilinochchi, and others were heading for Pamankada, having mistaken it for Alimankada. We would have agreed with him if he had said something similar about the Police, for they are all at sea; they have proved once again that they do not know whether they're coming or going. more..

Sep 29 (NIA) Almost every social media user is currently obsessed with the viral song Manike Mage Hithe, the version sung by SL singer Yohani De Silva. With over 120 million views, the cover song has reached international fame, with it being widely spread and other cover versions being continuously released. Having grabbed int'l attention, and spurring a flurry of renditions to her hit cover Menike mage hithe, Yohani is taking her talents to India by signing up with an Indian Entertainment more..

Sep 29 (FT) Rajapaksa Govt has been forced to back out from imposing a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on the country�s staple food, as large-scale rice mill owners jacked up prices by between 17% and 40%. The Govt yesterday blamed the rice mafia and traders for creating an artificial shortage leading to the abandoning of the MRP. It was only last week that the Parliament unanimously voted tougher legislation and higher fines to more..

Sep 29 (FT) COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 93,346 persons on Monday, raising the total number of persons on the island to receive both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to 11,662,496. The first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 14,433,611 persons. This includes 11,561,171 persons who have received the first dose of Sinopharm, of which 9,221,621 persons have received the second dose as well. On Monday, 32,525 persons received the first dose of more..

Sep 29 (CT) Hockey in Sri Lanka needs to improve vastly if we are to be competitive on the world stage. Currently ranked 40 the team has the potential of being a strong force if facilities and resources are provided, and if more bilateral tournaments are organized. After participating in the Asian Games in 1978, there was a lapse of 36 years until the men�s Hockey team qualified for the 2014 Asian Games. The others in the group were Bangladesh, Oman, and Singapore. more..

Sep 29 (Roar) Having previously produced over 700 tonnes of solid waste per day, Colombo city has witnessed a considerable reduction in all manner of discarded waste since last year. This has been largely credited to the four lockdowns imposed over a period of 1.5 years in a bid to combat COVID-19. Director of Solid Waste Management at the CMC, Kailai Ramesh, said that the solid waste generated within the Colombo district has reduced from 706 tonnes a day to approx. 400-450 tonnes. more..

Sep 29 (DM) Prof. Senarath Paranavithana Memorial Shield 2021 Grand Finale, presented by the Royal College History Club is to be held today. It is for the second time in SL, that the Royal college History club presents the chance to all schools around SL to go head-to-head in an all-island history quiz competition, the only of its kind. A total of 52 teams islandwide faced each other in five rounds throughout September, in order to claim the ultimate crown of history the Prof. Senarath more..

Sep 29 (EN) Sri Lanka will be open up for fully vaccinated tourists from Sept 29 as it removes the last COVID-19 travel restriction, the on-arrival PCR test, subject to a negative result within 72 hours of departure, in a bid to boost the dollar-earning tourism sector amid a forex crisis. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella took to twitter to announce the decision, which will go in to effect from 0000hours Sept 29. more..

Sep 29 (EN) CMC, under whose purview exist the most expensive lands in the country, has urged residents to register over 67,000 assets in a bid to increase CMC revenue through taxes and registration fees. The move comes as the govt is in the process of identifying some lands to lease to foreign investors on a long term lease with the aim to raise foreign exchange. �This was an idea formulated by the CMC commissioner to generate income from unregistered properties,� more..

Sep 29 (FT) Cabinet of Ministers this week approved to allocate plots of land from 10 regional industrial parks, in a bid to establish 24 new industries. Regional Industries Development Program is a key initiative implemented with the objective of promoting industries at regional level. Describing the initiative as a progressive move, Minister Dullas Alahapperuma yesterday said the project would not only attract investments but would also generate employment at a regional level. more..

Sep 29 (TM) Stand Up Movement Lanka organisation has written to the EU, requesting that it intervene to ensure that the rights of workers in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are addressed prior to deciding on whether or not to extend the grant of the EU�s GSP+ trade concessions to SL. �There are 350,000 workers in the 15 EPZs under the BOI whose efforts pave the way for SL to earn 14% of its annual export earnings. more..

Sep 29 (CT) Govt Information Dept said the Appropriation Bill for next year has been approved by the Govt. Accordingly, this draft is to be published in the Govt Gazette in the future. The finalised estimates will reveal a surplus or deficit for the Govt budget. For the last several decades successive govts have been running a deficit. These estimates are presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance in the Appropriation Bill, which is in fact the First Reading of the Budget, more..

Sep 29 (Island) The GMOA warns of trade union action unless the Health Ministry delayed the commencement of the internship of 2013/2-14 (proper) batch. GMOA Secretary Dr. Senal Fernando has issued the warning in a letter addressed to Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena. Earlier, the relevant batch and the GMOA in a letter dated Sept 17, 2021, requested the commencement of their internship without any delay. They set Oct 19 deadline. more..

Sep 29 (TM) Despite the Cabinet approval on Monday to import 100,000 metric tonnes (MT) of rice considering the prevailing shortage of rice in the market, the Trade Ministry, which is tasked with importing the stock, is yet to decide on when it would place the orders, from which country it would be ordered from, and what type of rice it would be. When contacted by The Morning to question as to whether the Trade Ministry more..

Sep 29 (FT) Govt yesterday eased entry rules for vaccinated tourists, a move widely hailed by the industry. From 1 Oct, fully vaccinated passengers arriving who were tested negative at the time of departure, will not be required to do another PCR test at the airport on arrival but be allowed to enter without a hassle. Such passengers should be travelling after 14 days of the second dose and board a flight within 72 hours. However, those not vaccinated will be required to undergo more..

Sep 29 (DM) Govt has decided to suspend the order placed to purchase 1,080 tonnes of liquid oxygen from India, required for the next 3 weeks. Dr. Saman Ratnayake, Secretary to the State Ministry of Drug Production, Supply and Regulation said the decision was taken considering the significant decline in the number of oxygen dependent patients at present. �Govt had initially planned to procure 360 tonnes of oxygen per week to meet the oxygen shortage which prevailed at that time" more..

Sep 29 (TM) The TNA has insisted, during a meeting held yesterday with delegates of the visiting European Union (EU) GSP+ trade concessions Monitoring Mission for the Third Cycle, that the EU�s focus should not be limited to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, No. 48 of 1979 as amended (PTA). Emphasising this to the delegates, TNA Leader R. Sampanthan had stressed on the need to find a long-term solution to more..

Sep 29 (TM) Health Ministry has stated that steps will be taken in the future to provide Covid-19 vaccines to children at vaccination centres, in addition to hospitals, if a decision is made to vaccinate all children above 12 years, as well as to those with chronic diseases to whom the vaccines are being administered at present. The Morning contacted Dr. Hemantha Herath to inquire whether there is any plan to expand the Covid-19 vaccination for children with chronic diseases to more..

Sep 29 (TM) Detained poet Ahnaf Jazeem�s mother has submitted a written representation to the Advisory Board of the Prevention of Terrorism Act No. 48 of 1979 as amended (PTA), requesting his immediate release, Jazeem�s legal representative, Attorney-at-Law (AAL) Sanjaya Wilson Jayasekera said. On 25 Aug, Prez Rajapaksa appointed an Advisory Board, under Article 13 of the PTA, to which any person under a detention order under the PTA may make representations. more..

Sep 29 (Island) Former Executive Director of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Thushan Gunawardena questions the rationale behind the CID seeking to question journalists including editors of Sinhala and English national newspapers on the recent exposure of state-owned Lanka Sathosa as a corrupt enterprise. Gunawardena emphasised that the garlic scam exposed by him in his then capacity as more..

Sep 29 (Island) The planned merger between Nation Lanka Finance (NLF) & Sinhaputhra Finance (SFP) has been abandoned but the latter�s major shareholder, Singhe Capital Investment, will invest in the former via a private placement. Previously NLF and SFP were discussing an amalgamation which received conditional approval from the Monetary Board. NLF said this week that its Board of Directors in consultation with the major shareholder of SFP, Singhe Capital Investment more..

Sep 29 (DN) Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) will focus more on Asian Games and already planned to commence their National pool practices. Next year they have a busy schedule with several Int'l events. To focus on more medals on Asian Games which is scheduled to be held from Sept 16-22 in Hangzhou, China they have already planned to commence National pool practices. SLA has already formed an Elite athletic pool which consist of 24 athletes and it will increase by adding few more athletes more..

Sep 29 (TM) The Health Ministry said that a deliberate campaign of misinformation is leading to vaccine hesitancy among the youth, which has the potential to hinder future vaccination-related plans including the vaccination of other age groups who are waiting in line to be inoculated. �Due to a number of myths, the youth have shown vaccine hesitancy. I think that this is a planned and deliberate campaign to spread misinformation more..

Sep 29 (DM) Defence counsel appeared on behalf of two businessmen arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting to remove two containers with 54,000 kg of garlic belonging to Lanka Sathosa informed court that a false case had been filed against his clients aiming to protect the real culprits. Counsel Darshana Kuruppu appearing for the suspects alleged that there is a strong suspicion regarding the ongoing investigation into the garlic scam since police have failed to arrest the real culprits involved more..

Sep 29 (FT) Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike known as S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was the fourth PM of Independent SL known then as Ceylon. SWRD who was born on 8 January 1899 died due to assassination on 26 Sept 1959. This year therefore marks the 112th anniversary of his birth and 62nd anniversary of his death. Bandaranaike is widely hailed as the man who ushered in the age of the common man through the electoral revolution of 1956. more..

Sep 29 (FT) SL�s preferential access to the vital European Union (EU) market faces fresh challenges after the European Parliament�s special resolution adopted in June 2021. The resolution calls for an assessment on �whether there is sufficient reason, as a last resort, to initiate a procedure for the temporary withdrawal of SL�s GSP+ status.� The GSP+ is a non-reciprocal trading arrangement whereby SL does not have to lower tariffs in return but is required to implement certain more..

Sep 29 (DN) The allocation for the Health sector in the upcoming Budget will exceed the allocation for Defence, and it will be the highest allocation for next year, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. He said that usually the Defence and Education sectors get the highest allocations respectively in the Budget, but deviating from that pattern, the Health sector has been given prominence in the Budget for 2022. He noted that the unprecedented increase of funds for health sector is due to Covid-19 pandemic. more..

Sep 29 (EN) SL is at risk of losing access to a European trade concession worth over US$ 500 million by April 2022 if the govt does not take drastic measures to address human rights concerns, an opposition lawmaker said. TNA MP M A Sumanthiran said on Wednesday that it is his belief that the European parliament has already decided to withdraw access to the GSP+ concession as per a resolution passed in June this year. more..

Sep 29 (Island) Anunayake of Kotte Sri Kalyani Samagri Dharma Maha Sangha Sabha and Chief Incumbent of the Wadduwa Sri Bodhiraja Rama Viharaya Prof Ven Kotapitiye Rahula Thera has said that there is nothing wrong in constructing a walking path for people on the Parakarama Samudraya bund on which all types of heavy vehicles are moving, State Ministry of PCs and LG Affairs says. Ven Anunanayake Thera said so when State Minister Roshan Ranasinghe visited him recently, more..

Sep 29 (CT) Cabinet Spokesman Media Minister Dullas Alahapperuma apologised for the inconvenience caused to journalists including senior editors of two national newspapers when they were summoned to appear before the CID recently. Minister Alahapperuma yesterday said PM Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed the CID not to summon journalists who reported on the infamous garlic scam at Lanka Sathosa as it is unethical and goes against social norms. more..

Sep 29 (EN) SL has halted the importation of a China-manufactured organic fertilizer after laboratory tests proved it contained harmful bacteria for a second time, an official said. Ajantha De Silva, Director General of Agriculture at the Dept of Agricutlure said in an with the privately owned NewsFirst network that the fertilizer samples collected last Friday proved to have the harmful bacteria known as Erwinia. more..