Oct 7 (DM) Efforts are underway to identify the root causes of food losses in SL, with the support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIRA), so that the local authorities are able to address the issue and create a new economic value chain. Joining hands to help design and demonstrate affordable technologies and organisational options to mitigate these losses are also the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) & Agricultural Sector of National Planning Dept. more..

Oct 7 (TM) Amidst fierce objection from the Parliamentary Opposition and independent Parliamentary groups, Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed Parliament yesterday (6) that the debate on the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill, which was scheduled to be held yesterday, will be held during the next Parliamentary session, while the speech made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday in Parliament more..

Oct 7 (FT) A statement I made on Ranil Wickremesinghe that he was the most suitable person for SL to have been chosen from among the current politicians to solve the balance of payments crisis facing the country has caused strong opposition from some critics; and I must say that I was amused by the tone of the vituperative and angry criticisms that some of them have made about it. Responding to a number of harsh comments posted on social media, I appealed to them more..

Oct 7 (FT) It would not have been easy for President Wickremesinghe to reverse the order he had signed to declare designated areas of Colombo as high-security zones. But he did it, probably because he concluded that the original order was wrong and would be difficult to defend in court. He did the right thing. It will not be easy for SLPP MPs to vote for the 22nd Amendment that would reverse most of the provisions of the 20th Amendment that they approved just 2 yrs ago. But they must do so. more..

Oct 7 (PHC) A special welcome was given to the High Commissioner of Pakistan, Major General (R) Farooq Burki HI (M), who visited Kuchaveli Pradeshiya Sabha by Chairman A. Mubarak. During this visit, a detailed discussion was held regarding the various developments in the area including Education, Health, Art, and Culture between the High Commissioner and the local hosts. Kuchchaveli area has been greatly affected by the Tsunami disaster & then the sever impact of Covid-19 more..

Oct 7 (AD) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says that Sapugaskanda refinery will be closed from today due to the shortage in foreign exchange for crude oil cargos. However, there will be no shortage in refined products as the CPC has adequate stocks of all products and the CB has made available the weekly forex requirements for refined products, he said. Minister said that the shortage of forex for payment of two Ural crude cargos already used at the refinery has led to decision to close down refinery. more..

Oct 7 (DM) The Supreme Court today granted leave to proceed with fundamental rights petitions filed seeking an order to take legal action against those responsible for financial irregularities and mismanagement of the economy. Former Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Cabinet of Ministers who were functioning in the Cabinet when the alleged impugned more..

Oct 7 (EN) SL�s GDP is expected to contract 9.2% in 2022 and a further 4.2% in 2023, a World Bank report said as the country suffers from the worst currency crisis in the history of its intermediate regime central bank. The Maldives which has the best externally anchored monetary regime in South Asia is to grow 12.4%. SL�s rupee collapsed from 200 to 360 to the US dollar n 2022 after two years of money printing to suppress interest rates, leading to a loss of foreign reserves, sovereign default. more..

Oct 7 (Island) Disabled servicemen numbering 1,041 have asked the Ranaviru Seva Authority for wheelchairs last year, but only 352 have been distributed, the Annual Report of the Authority for the year 2021 reveals. In the same year, out of over 1,500 servicemen have requested forearm/elbow crutches but only 1,000 of them have been provided with crutches. In 2021, a total of 135 disabled servicemen requested for walking canes; only 39 of them had been given canes by 31 Dec 2021. more..

Oct 7 (AD) SL�s economic crisis is deepening with unsustainable debt and a severe balance of payment crisis on top of lingering scars of the COVID-19 pandemic and debt restructuring and the implementation of a deep reform program are critical for SL�s economic stabilization, says the World Bank in its twice-a-year update, underscoring the need for SL to build resilience. Released on Thursday (6), the latest South Asia Economic Focus, Coping more..

Oct 7 (DM) Opposition MP Campika Ranawaka was today unanimously elected Chairman of the Committee on Economic stabilization today. The committee on economic stabilization was one of the new committees that have been formed. He was elected unanimously. Mr. Ranawaka has been nominated by MP Vajira Abeywardene while he was seconded by MP Mano Ganesan and Minister Nazir Ahamaed. Accordingly, three opposition members head committees in Parliament. more..

Oct 7 (FT) Astron Limited was awarded the ISO 14001 certification (Int'l Standard of Environmental Management System) by the SL Standards Institute on 15 Aug confirming the commitment of the Company towards the sustainability of the environment. Astron is a fully owned SL company that develops, manufactures, and markets quality healthcare products including pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, herbal products under the brand range healing herbs and veterinary more..

Oct 7 (CT) Four Kalmunai fishermen, who went deep sea fishing 10 days ago, have gone missing. Their relatives have filed a complaint with the Director General of Dept of Fisheries via the Assistant Director of Dept of Fisheries, Kalmunai. He said, SLMC Kalmunai MC Member, Roshan Aktharis providing his fullest support in the search efforts. One of the relatives, Mohammed Farhan alleged that the authorities were slow to respond despite being notified. more..

Oct 7 (SLN) The opening of the High Dependency Unit (HDU) at the Command Hospital (South) in Boossa, Galle was held under the patronage of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne on 05th Oct. The construction of this HDU was made possible by industrial expertise of the SL Navy and aid provided by Donor Institutions and Charity Organizations. Working in line with the Govt�s efforts to expand facilities required to treat COVID 19 contracted individuals, more..

Oct 7 (EN) The state-owned Sri Lanka Rupahavini Corporation (SLRC), Sri Lanka�s national television network, has returned to its former trilingual logo after internal and external pressure, an official said. SLRC Deputy Manager Ajantha Seneviratna said on Friday October 07: �The logo was changed nine months ago and yesterday we returned to the old logo because there were requests from internal and external stakeholders.� more..

Oct 7 (CT) The Embassy of SL in Brussels conducted a tourism promotion workshop in Namur, Belgium on 4 Oct. Governor of Namur Province, Denis Mathen, inaugurated the workshop and encouraged people in the province to travel to SL. This is the first time that a SL tourism promotion event has been held in the French-speaking Walloon region. Around 50 tour operators and agents, travel journalists, travel media and TV professionals, travel bloggers, social media influencers, more..

Oct 7 (TM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe said in Parliament yesterday (6) that Opposition parties and the Cabinet will be briefed on the IMF staff-level agreement within two to three weeks. He also noted that if possible, he will obtain the assistance of the Lazard financial and debt advisory firm in order to conduct the briefing. �I am arranging it in the next two to three weeks. We are having a Cabinet session together with that, and the leaders of the Opposition parties will get a briefing on it. more..

Oct 7 (DM) While explaining India�s vote on the resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in SL, Indra Mani Pandey, the country�s permanent representative in Geneva, said that the progress made so far by the SL govt to meet the aspirations of the Tamil minority remains inadequate. �In finding a lasting and effective solution for peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, India has always been guided by more..

Oct 7 (TM) Ceylon Teachers� Union (CTU) stated that in view of the current economic crisis, Govt should increase teachers� salaries or provide an additional allowance. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said that the country is now completely bankrupt due to the wrong economic policies of the previous and current govts. He said that due to the daily increase in the cost of living caused by the economic crisis, a situation has arisen where it is impossible for the people to more..

Oct 7 (DM) SL became among the ten friendliest countries in the world at the 2022 Readers' Choice Awards, the Cond� Nast Traveller official website said. They said the friendliest ten countries were selected while asking the readers to vote for the countries they considered to be home to the friendliest people in our 2022 Readers' Choice Awards. From the ever-beaming people of SL to the famously open-armed population of NZ, our planet is home to some seriously friendly countries, more..

Oct 7 (NR) The Ministry of Defence has issued a clarification pertaining to news items in print and social media stating that Wickramaratne Nandun Chinthaka alias Harak Kata, a notorious drug kingpin was released by the Dubai Police on the 3rd of October due to the Defence Ministry�s delay in submitting the file to Dubai authorities regarding the criminal allegations levelled against him. The Ministry said the National Central Bureau (SL Interpol) in Colombo which functions under more..

Oct 7 (AD) State Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says that the govt institutions which provide major contributions to state revenues are facing a huge shortage of officials. A competitive examination will be conducted for the young employees who are currently serving in jobs in the public service which do not match their skills, since it is not possible to make new recruitments at present, the lawmaker stated further. more..

Oct 7 (DM) The Colombo Lotus Tower and Singapore Go Bungy company has signed a contract to start bungee jumping for the first time in Sri Lanka, which would be the world�s highest bungee jump after it is launched. The adventure jumping will be launched in SL from January 1 next year. The company, Go Bungy headquartered in Singapore, is currently operating bungee jumping sites in three countries, Japan, China and Nepal. more..

Oct 7 (TM) Following the Cabinet�s approval to revise the retirement age of employees belonging to State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) on Tuesday (4), the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) has raised concerns about the new policy�s impact on the institute�s training programmes and patient care.In a letter addressed to Secretary of the Health Ministry Janaka Sri Chandragupta on Wednesday (5), which was seen by The Morning, PGIM Professor and Director Senaka Rajapakse more..

Oct 7 (DM) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's office today denied reports circulating on social media, linking the former president and his family members to the owner of Thico Group Private Ltd Thilini Priyamali who has been remanded over allegedly misappropriating large sums of money while operating a luxurious office at World Trade Center in Colombo. Rajapaksa's office in a statement said that reports and pictures circulating on social media were false and baseless. more..

Oct 7 (EN) SL is aiming to target 230 million India�s increasingly growing middle-class families as well as corporates to boost faltering tourism industry specially after the political crisis that toppled the govt and a prolonged economic crisis. Tourist arrivals to the island nation witnessed its worst last month in 11 months and the SL officials have blamed bad press for the drop citing that many foreigners still believe that SL still faces shortage of more..

Oct 7 (Island) The SL economy is expected to contract in the second half of 2022 as well, the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) has said in a statement. �As per the GDP estimates published by the Dept of Census and Statistics (DCS), the real economy is estimated to have contracted by 4.8% in the first half of 2022, on a year-on- year basis,� CBSL said. The country is continuing to be impacted by tighter monetary and fiscal conditions, continuation of supply-side constraints & uncertainty more..

Oct 7 (AD) The dates of the 2022 G.C.E. A/L Exam and Grade 05 Scholarship exams for the year 2022 have been pushed back, Dept of Examinations announced. Accordingly, Grade 05 Scholarship exam will be held on Dec 18, 2022. Meanwhile, the A/L exam will commence on Jan 23, 2023, and will continue until Feb 17, 2023, according to the Examinations Dept. A/L and Grade 05 Scholarship exams were initially scheduled to be held on Dec 4, 2022 and Dec 5, 2022, respectively. more..

Oct 8 (DM) Sri Lanka is facing the worst disaster since independence in 1948. Though the new President Ranil Wickremesinghe is taking practical steps nationally and internationally to reduce the heavy socio-economic burdens on the people, it is known that millions of people are caught in the poverty trap with some families surviving with only one meal a day and others eat rice with only polkiri. To make matters worse large-scale bribery and corruption are continuing with little or more..

Oct 8 (DM) The govt seems to be more interested in suppression of people�s agitations rather than looking into the root causes of them and resolving those issues for good. Also the authorities do not seem even to hear the people who are undergoing unprecedented hardships owing to the current economic crisis complaining about their grievances. The govt leaders who are responsible for the current state of affairs are of the view that the recent public uprising was a crime. more..

Oct 8 (CT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, who returned from a twin tour of Japan and the Philippines, told his close confidantes that he was planning to make a special statement in Parliament about the outcome of his visits as well as on economic recovery plan. Accordingly, making a special statement in Parliament on Thursday he said the country is facing the worst economic crisis in its history and more..

Oct 8 (DM) Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill presented by Minister of Justice is a shocking legislative proposal that must be rejected by the Parliament. It is misconceived, poorly drafted, inconsistent with the constitutionally entrenched separation of powers, violates protected civil liberties and offends the norms of constitutional democracy and the rule of law. I have read many valuable commentaries on this Bill published in recent days by learned lawyers, academics & concerned citizens. more..

Oct 8 (ST) I still remember something profound that I learnt during my childhood: The world is ruled by shame and fear. Certain things we learnt during our childhood days went deep down in the heart and remained there throughout the lifetime. This wise statement, wherever I learnt it, was the same; it remained to-date at the bottom of my heart like a rock edict. I am sure I may have not grasped the meaning of it fully at that time. The more I matured and improved my understanding, more..

Oct 8 (CT) The AG�s recent report, on the controversial procurement of organic fertiliser from China, which recommends that the relevant company be blacklisted and necessary legal action be taken, stirred up several debates. In May 2021, the import of chemical fertiliser was banned by a special gazette, issued by the Ministry of Finance, in order to accustom farmers to a healthy food pattern by directing them to use organic fertiliser. more..

Oct 8 (CT) Today, 6 October, UNHRC voted overwhelmingly for a resolution condemning Sri Lanka for its systematic rights violations: 20 for, 7 against. Besides the monitoring of war-time killings by our govt and our army, assistance will be provided for efforts at gathering evidence for punishing economic crimes. After lying to the world for well over a decade, few countries are prepared to believe SL�s promises about punishing our thieving ministers & our military murderers of Tamils. more..

Oct 8 (CT) SL has seen lives being taken in garbage landslides and unmanaged dump sites destroying the environment, but we are yet to formulate a long-term solution to this persistent issue. In 2017, a large section of the Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed, killing 32 individuals. Eight were reported missing in the aftermath and a total of 1,765 were affected. While the incident has been a heavily discussed since then, there is question if measures have been taken to avoid similar tragedies. more..