Mar 15 (CI) SL cricket team can be very generous on overseas tours, by which I mean they consistently collapse, to give touring journalists a day or two off. So on what should have been day five of the first Test, we cut right across Indian Punjab. Over the Sutlej and Beas rivers - two of the five waterways for which the region is named. Past fields of wheat, onion, and mustard - cannabis lurking deviously on the edges. Across land so flat, all you need to do to get a view for more..

Mar 15 (FT) COVID-19 vaccination numbers were low on Sunday, with only 8,103 persons receiving a COVID-19 vaccine dose. 4,933 persons received the booster dose on Sunday, for which the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is being used. In total, the booster dose has been administered to 7,570,290 persons. First dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 16,952,784 persons and the second dose has been administered to 14,262,840 persons. more..

Mar 15 (CI) What must it feel like to be Dimuth Karunaratne? Let us slip on his gloves, put on that helmet, scratch out a guard, inhabit his world. These are not particularly difficult shoes to walk in. There are no frills to the guy. No lavish backlift. No quirky set-up. Head down. A couple of taps. He's ready. In person, he's no different. After a tough innings, he'll talk to you about what he struggled with. When he felt vulnerable. more..

Mar 15 (EN) Sri Lanka has reached a moment of crisis with a great deal of potential for change, and the conditions for significant change are rife except for leadership, senior political scientist Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda said. In a phone interview with EconomyNext on Monday (14), Uyangoda said Sri Lanka is in the abyss economically, with citizens taking the political process into their own hands in the absence of meaningful political leadership from opposition actors. more..

Mar 15 (DN) Ten SL weightlifters (6 men and 4 women) have qualified to compete at the Commonwealth Games which is scheduled to be held from July 28 to Aug 8 in Birmingham, England. The performances from the period of Jan 1, 2021 to Feb 28, 2022 is considered for this qualification while Sri Lankans who really performed well at the last Commonwealth weightlifting championship in Uzbekistan last Dec and Singapore Int'l championships held in Singapore last Feb more..

Mar 15 (FT) SL yesterday welcomed the first set of participants of the popular Raid Amazones, the annual adventure trail originating from France that features female athletes competing in numerous challenges including riding, running, orienteering, mountain biking, canoeing, archery and others. This is Raid Amazones third visit to the country and first major adventure-tourism oriented event post-pandemic giving a much needed boost to SL. This year�s event will take place at Sigiriya more..

Mar 15 (Island) Anula Vidyalaya opener Kaushini Nuthyanga cracked an unbeaten 374 in 133 balls to establish a new batting record in Inter School Under 19 girls� cricket yesterday. She joined Shikari Ranahansi for Anula Vidyalaya to amass 552 for no wicket in 30 overs against Marapola MV in the match played at Veyangoda. In reply the girls from Marapola MV could muster only 40 runs. Former Devapathiraja player Kaveesha Dilhari�s triple century (in a 25 overs a side match) more..

Mar 15 (Island) Former Deputy Governor of CB, Dr. W.A. Wijewardena says the country wouldn�t have been in the current predicament had the Monetary Board floated the Rupee in April 2021, six months before Ajith Nivard Cabraal succeeded Prof. W.D. Lakshman. Consultant on banking, finance and economics, Dr. Wijewardena said so when The Island sought clarification regarding declaration on Sunday more..

Mar 15 (FT) Colombo stock market began a fresh week on a negative note continuing from where it ended on Friday as investor sentiment remained depressed with activity dipping to a new time low. Both the All Share Price Index and S&P SL20 Index were down by over 1%. Turnover was only Rs. 1.3 billion involving 51.3 million shares. Asia Securities said the indices remained in negative territory due to price declines in EXPO (-1.8%), BIL (-2.7%), RCL (-6.2%), CLC (-4.1%) and AEL (-5.4%). more..

Mar 15 (FT) Supreme Court yesterday began the hearing of Fundamental Rights Applications filed against the state for its failure to prevent the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on 21 April 2019 despite having prior knowledge. Fundamental rights petitions filed against former Prez Maithripala Sirisena, former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former IGP Pujith Jayasundara and others were taken for hearing before a 7-judge bench of apex court. more..

Mar 15 (CT) SLPP MP Udaya Gammanpila, while lashing out at SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, queried whether he was going to demand Minister of Energy Gamini Lokuge�s resignation following last Friday�s fuel price increase, which is the highest in SL�s history. Gammanpila said that he remembered how Kariyawasam demanded his resignation when the price of a litre of diesel was increased by more..

Mar 15 (DM) Now we stand together & fight this economic crisis together. #WeAreWithGota,� said Minister Keheliya Rambukwella in a twitter message. Days after several individuals on social media launched a campaign #GoHomeGota, calling Prez Rajapaksa to step down, the govt backing politicians and individuals also launched a campaign to back the President with #WeAreWithGota. �We are facing the greatest economic crisis this world has seen. #lka is now feeling its effects. more..

Mar 15 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 case count rose to 656,386 following the detection of 345 COVID-19 patients yesterday. The patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. The previous day, 311 persons tested positive for COVID-19 and all patients were from the New Year cluster. 3,023 PCR tests and 2,109 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Sunday. A total of 551,565 patients from the New Year cluster, 82,785 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,154 patients from Prisons cluster more..

Mar 15 (DN) Measures are being taken to establish another 105 MW Thermal Power Plant at the Kelanitissa premises, said Power Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi. She also noted that steps will be taken to streamline home roof mounted solar power generation, adding that urgent steps are being taken by the Govt to address the power crisis that has arisen as no power generation plants had been added to the National Grid in recent times to meet the growing demand. more..

Mar 15 (AD) Prez Rajapaksa informed Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud that he would like to invite Saudi Arabia to make direct investments in several sectors. Prez made these remarks during a meeting held with the Foreign Affairs Minister of Saudi Arabia at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday. Prez pointed out the opportunities available for foreign investment in the sectors of agriculture, renewable energy generation, technology-based development more..

Mar 15 (EN) Sri Lanka�s cabinet of ministers had given Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa the go ahead to seek International Monetary Fund, a govt minister said as the soft-pegged rupee suffers the worst currency crisis in its history. �Finance Minister told us (at the cabinet meeting) that we will have go to the IMF. What do you say?� Minister Chandrasena said. �We all said to go. I also said to go. Nobody opposed.� more..

Mar 15 (TM) Colombo Acting Chief Magistrate Chandima Liyanage yesterday ordered 2020 Mrs. World Caroline Jurie, 2021 Mrs. Sri Lanka Pushpika De Silva and model Chulpadmendra Kumarapathirana to appear before the relevant Conciliation Board this Saturday (19) in connection with the controversial incident that took place at the Mrs. Sri Lanka 2021 pageant in April 2021. The case pertaining to the alleged removal of the crown placed on the head of De Silva was taken up more..

Mar 15 (TM) SJB MPs said that a no-confidence motion (NCM) will not be brought against Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa as the SJB believes that the entire Govt has failed, not just one Rajapaksa. �We do not care whether it is Basil Rajapaksa or whether it is another Rajapaksa. No Rajapaksa can run this country. The entire Govt has failed. We do not want to isolate Basil Rajapaksa and resolve the Govt�s own problems, at least not through no-confidence motions. more..

Mar 15 (CT) SJB said, they will lay siege to Colombo from two undisclosed points to the city and will march through all the streets today at 2 p.m. to raise their voice on behalf of the people affected by the action of the Govt. SJB MP Tissa Attanayake, invited everyone to join in the protest. �This moment is not limited to the SJB. The protest was organised on behalf of all those who are affected by this Govt. more..

Mar 15 (TM) With a widespread shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the market, The Morning learnt that a ship carrying 3,500 metric tonnes (MT) of LPG which has docked in SL was yet to be released as of yesterday due to the shortage of US dollars in the country. Well-placed sources said that two ships carrying 3,500 MT each of LPG and one ship carrying 2,000 MT of LPG had docked in SL over the past month but that only one 3,500 MT ship, one 2000MT ship had been released so far. more..

Mar 15 (TM) The health sector non-medical trade unions have pointed out that the Cabinet of Ministers, Finance Ministry and the Public Service Commission (PSC) should pay more attention to finding solutions to their issues including those related to salaries and promotions so that their trade union struggle would not resume. College of Medical Laboratory Science President Ravi Kumudesh said that although a Cabinet paper has been submitted to eliminate the salary anomalies of more..

Mar 15 (DN) Minister Gamini Lokuge assured that the prevailing crisis will ease gradually as CPC has the required quantities of petrol and diesel. �Accordingly, he said that the required amount of fuel has been supplied to the CEB and power plants. And apart from that the public will also be provided with the required fuel,� he added. He said that the power failures and lack of fuel has become a hot topic today, more..

Mar 15 (FT) IMF in February and UNHRC in March had come out with two sets of recommendations, to enable SL to pull out of its economic and socio-political sickness. Both sets are interrelated. The underlying themes of the two, one mostly economic and the other equally non-economic, are not new, and in fact, a number of home-grown economists, intellectuals and leaders of civil society groups had been reminding and warning the Rajapaksa regime of its misplaced priorities, misuse of more..

Mar 15 (FT) There is no need to hide that Sri Lanka is going through an extremely challenging time. Pandemic perils on one side and economic encounters on the other side have made our lives increasingly difficult. Why do we have to face such challenges? It is an opportune time to revisit governance in comprehending its multiple perspectives. �There are no good or bad institutions, only well-managed or ill-managed ones,� so said Peter Drucker. more..

Mar 15 (AD) Cabinet of Ministers has granted the approval to provide a one-time allowance of Rs. 100,000 will for the next of kin of a missing person. The allowance will be paid to the next of kin who possesses a certification of the missing person issued by the Registrar General, for the rehabilitation of the family depending on the particulars revealed by the Office on Missing Persons. The govt said policies have been formulated to assist in the rehabilitation of more..

Mar 15 (EN) A meeting between President and main ethnic minority Tamil party rescheduled for Tuesday was postponed again for March 25 due to a protest by main opposition SJB, sources said. The meeting between Prez Rajapaksa and TNA, has has been repeatedly rescheduled by the President�s office for various reasons since mid last year. Tuesday�s meeting was scheduled after India early this month in Geneva urged SL to take necessary steps to address the legitimate aspirations more..

Mar 15 (AD) Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa left for India today for a two-day official visit. The lawmaker was accompanied by Secretary to the Treasury, S.R. Attygalle. Taking to its official Twitter account on Saturday, the Indian HC in Colombo stated that India keenly looks forward to welcoming the SL Finance Minister next week. His visit will consolidate ongoing efforts to further strengthen economic partnership more..

Mar 15 (CT) Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has directed the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) to suspend the issuance of sand mining permits. Ministry claimed that sand excavation had caused immense environmental damage and had ruined the true nature of Walewatta village in Ambalantota. Furthermore, the Minister noted, crops as well as paddy cultivation too, had been destroyed. Elaborating further, Amaraweera said GSMB would send a special team to conduct more..

Mar 15 (AD) Minister of Transport Dilum Amunugama says the ticket fares will also have to be slightly revised in the future in line with the recent fuel price hike. His remarks came during today�s media briefing to announce the Cabinet decisions. The Cabinet of Ministers has given the approval for the train ticket fare revision, the minister said further. He also noted that there had been no increase in train ticket fares despite the increase in fuel prices in the recent past. more..

Mar 15 (EN) SL observed a rapid decrease in daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in March, with health officials urging the public to continue following health guidelines to maintain the downward trend. Medical Technical Services Director, Dr Anwar Hamdani said that only 28 percent of the total bed facilities reserved for COVID-19 patients in state hospitals and treatment centres are being used at the moment, while other patients have been more..

Mar 15 (CT) Govt plans to establish a Tourist Police Bureau with the recruitment of 600 additional officers. ASP Prabhath Vidanagama, a former Tourist Police OIC, said that there are only 143 Tourist Police Officers covering the entire country, but under the new expansion in place, one Tourist Police Bureau will cover three provinces. Police will call for applications and interviews will take place between 18 and 19 of March, he said. ASP added that safety of travellers is the key in order to promote more..

Mar 15 (Island) Former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe declared on Sunday that the need of the hour was to unite all potent forces to reach a common consensus to save the country from the present crisis. Wickremesinghe said: �There needs to be a united effort to reach an agreement to address the economic issue. A National Govt will not work in the current circumstances.� He said that there was a growing public displeasure against politicians as all political parties are responsible for present more..

Mar 15 (AD) Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi says the rolling power interruptions will no longer be experienced at free trade zones under the BOI. The lawmaker conveyed this during a discussion held with State Ministry of Aviation and Investment Zone Development Secretary Janaka Chandragupta, BOI Chairman Raja Edirisooriya, BOI Director-General Renuka Weerakoon and several other officials of the board. The officials told the minister that nearly 14 free trade zones are currently under more..

Mar 15 (CT) SL will face a huge economic crisis in the future, if it fails to implement a proper system to overcome existing issues, said TNA MP S. Sritharan. He said the current economic situation has severely impacted the day-to-day lives of the people and it raises questions as to whether the citizens can survive in the future, in this country. He further said the Govt has not implemented any proper policy plans and not taken advice from professional advisers to overcome the financial issues of more..

Mar 15 (CT) Free Trade Zone and General Services Employees Union (FTZGSEU) urged Prez Rajapaksa to clarify the Govt�s temporary remedial steps to manage the forex crisis till the end of the year, as well as to suggest his long-term plan to permanently resolve the crisis. In a letter to the Prez, Joint Secretary of FTZGSEU Anton Marcus stated that, while the administration raising prices of necessary products beginning midnight on more..

Mar 15 (EN) Sri Lanka cabinet has awarded a long term contract of importing diesel to United Arab Emirates-based Coral Energy DMCC Company for eight months through October this year, a govt document said on Tuesday (15). A special procurement standing committee has recommended to award the contract for Coral Energy DMCC to import of diesel (maximum Sulphur percentage of 0.05) for a period of eight (08) months from March 1 to October 31 this year, the govt said. more..