Oct 27 (CT) The proceedings of the case filed challenging the decision taken by Ministry of Sports to reverse the Gazette issued extending the term of Federation of SL (FFSL) were terminated by the Court of Appeal yesterday. This was when the Writ Application filed by Jaswar Omar Lebbe and Upali Hewage was taken before Court of Appeal Judges Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola. The decision was taken on the basis that all parties agreed to terminate the case in view of more..

Oct 27 (EN) Sri Lanka sold 69 billion rupees worth of Treasury bills at Wednesday�s auction after offering 80 billion rupees, with most of the money coming from 3-month T-bills and yields fixed from a week earlier, data showed. The debt office sold 167.1 billion rupees worth of 3-month bills at 33.05 percent, flat, after offering 37 billion rupees. Only 1.8 billion rupees worth of 6-month bills were sold at 32.53%, also flat from a week earlier, after offering 30 billion rupees. more..

Oct 27 (DN) SL Junior Badminton team secured 20th place out of 37 countries at the World Junior Badminton Championship which concluded in Spain yesterday. SL juniors were able to beat Armenia at the group stage and then they beat Hungary 3-1 to decide their place in this event. SL junior shuttlers had to play in �G� group along with USA, Czech Republic, Armenia and Turkey but last moment Turkey withdrew their team and only four teams competed in this group. more..

Oct 27 (TM) Cabinet paper for the local cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes has been submitted to Cabinet and will receive approval within the next few weeks, claimed State Minister Sisira Jayakody. Jayakody said: �We have already submitted the Cabinet paper in order to obtain the legal approval to grow cannabis locally. We believe that within the next few weeks, we will receive approval for it.� Jayakody also reiterated that the approval for the cultivation of cannabis more..

Oct 27 (TM) Observing that the arrest, detention, and continued incarceration of IUSF Convenor Wasantha Mudalige, and IUBF Convenor Ven. Galwewa Siridhamma Thera under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, No. 48 of 1979, is unreasonable and without justification, Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL) has made a recommendation to not extend the detention order issued against Mudalige, Siridhamma Thera. more..

Oct 27 (FT) Committee on Public Finance considered five Gazettes to be presented to Parliament for approval when it met recently under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Harsha de Silva and granted approval for four gazettes after an analysis of the relevant Gazettes. The approval of the Committee was obtained for Gazette No. 2282/26, which is stipulated under the VAT Act No. 14 of 2002 as amended by Act No. 6 of 2005. This Gazette was published in relation to increasing VAT 12%. more..

Oct 27 (ST) Sri Lanka will not have its team at the next week�s Asian Squash Championship as the Ministry of Sports has burned out all its funds allocated for sponsorships. An official of Sri Lanka Squash (SLS), speaking on anonymity, the ministry had indicated mild hopes initially that they will get to send a team of 10. It is entirely based on the hope that SLS had proceeded with trials and submitted the team for endorsement to the National Sports Selections Committee and the ministry. more..

Oct 27 (Island) A senior official at the Dept of Wildlife identified the ring leaders of the recent daring escapade at the Yala National Park as the son of an SLPP MP and the nephew of a minister. Wildlife Dept and Forest Department officials along with nature lovers repeatedly urged Wildlife Dept Director General Chandana Sooriyabandara to take action against those who had wreaked havoc at the National Park. However, 7 individuals, who drove SUV inside Yala sancutary in a reckless more..

Oct 27 (Island) Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Security has discussed the possibility of retiring the police personnel who are not physically fit to be in active service. The issue was discussed at the first meeting of the committee held on 20 Oct under the chairmanship of Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles. MPs pointed out that a significant number of police personnel had submitted medical certificates claiming they were not in good health. On the basis of those medical certificates more..

Oct 27 (TM) Claiming that certain officials of the Health Ministry are working to purchase a new data system for the supply and distribution of medicines at a cost of Rs. 1 billion instead of providing solutions to the shortage of pharmaceutical drugs and medical supplies in the country, the Society of Govt Pharmacists (SGP) requested the Minister of Health, the Secretary to the Health Ministry, and Auditor General more..

Oct 27 (Island) The home-grown SL brand, Cargills Food City, marked another milestone yesterday with the opening of its 500th retail outlet in Akuregoda, Pelawatte. The unveiling of the large retail outlet was attended by CB Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe (chief guest), Deputy Chairman of Cargills Group, Ranjit Page and a host of distinguished guests representing both public and private sectors. Notably, a book illustrating the Company�s bold and dynamic 39-year journey was presented more..

Oct 27 (TM) TNA of the Parliamentary Opposition refuted the allegation that some of the party�s MPs hold dual citizenship. TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran noted that none of his party�s MPs hold dual citizenship. �None of the TNA MPs are dual citizens. I strongly refute not only what State Minister Sisira Jayakody is saying, but even what MP Udaya Gammanpila claimed in 2015, to the effect that 10 of our MPs were dual citizens. This is all absolute nonsense. None of us are dual citizens,� more..

Oct 27 (TM) Govt of SL�s planned request for assistance from the UK Police with regard to the Easter Sunday terror attacks of April 2019 will be only for the review of the reports pertaining to the investigations that have already been conducted, and not for a fresh investigation into the attacks, which claimed over 260 lives. When queried as to whether a request has been made by the Govt from the UK police authorities with regard to more..

Oct 27 (CI) Rilee Rossouw struck the first century of this T20 World Cup to give South Africa a dominating 104-run win against Bangladesh at the Sydney Cricket Ground. His big-hitting 109 helped his side to the 2022 edition's highest total, with he and Quinton de Kock adding 163 for the second wicket, second-highest partnership in the tournament's history. Bangladesh started the 206-run chase promisingly but after Anrich Nortje's three-wicket burst, batters fell apart against more..

Oct 27 (FT) Often, political scientists write on the need of structural changes to the governance systems in Sl. I am not a political scientist to analyse their views and the formulae of the proposed solutions. However, I have a problem with repeated solutions within the constitutional framework. I learnt an important lesson, especially early in my academic life, the hard way. If I do same activity, same way repeatedly, irrespective of how determined I am or how good tools I have, I will get same result. more..

Oct 27 (LR) Nirmali Warnakula from Edmonton, Alberta has been awarded the PM�s Award Excellence in Early Childhood Education in 2022. She was the only person who received this Excellence in Early Childhood Education award from Alberta and there were five all together for this category in Canada. �This is a great achievement for her career�, she says. She has more than 15 years of experience in this field both in SL and Canada. She is presently working at the Intercultural more..

Oct 27 (SLN) SL Navy and SL Coast Guard conducted a special operation in northern waters to chase away Indian poaching trawlers from SL�s waters on the night of 26th October 2022. The operation led to the seizure of an Indian trawler with 07 Indian fishermen, poaching in island�s waters south of the Delft Island in Jaffna. SL Navy and Coast Guard remain alert to foil illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers in SL�s waters and regularly conduct patrols and more..

Oct 27 (AD) An application challenging the Inland Revenue (Amd) Draft Bill was filed before the Supreme Court today. A general manager of an apparel factory by the name U.S. Ranaweera, has put forward the said application, naming the Attorney General as its respondent. The draft bill was published in the govt gazette on Oct 12. The special gazette was issued by the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization more..

Oct 27 (CI) SL have replaced the injured Binura Fernando with Asitha Fernando in their Men's T20 World Cup squad.* Fellow fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana and wicketkeeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella have also been called up as back-up players following a series of injuries in their squad. Tim McCaskill, head of SLC's high-performance center, will also travel to Australia with the players. The decision to draft Asitha in comes after left-arm seamer Binura, who himself came into squad more..

Oct 27 (CI) Fifties of vastly different moods and tempos from Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav laid the platform for India to brush Netherlands aside and move to the top of the Group 2 table with a healthy net-run-rate boost. Choosing to bat first on an SCG surface that was considerably slower than the one they played their tournament-opener on at the MCG, India put on a classic display of controlled dominance over Associate opposition, posting a par-ish total more..

Oct 27 (AD) Bar Association of SL (BASL) says that the 21st Amendment to the Constitution regrettably does not completely restore the status quo ante which prevailed prior to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and does not place adequate checks and balances on the powers of the Executive Prez. BASL notes that on the 21st of Oct, Parliament approved the enactment of the 22nd Amendment, more..

Oct 27 (FT) SL had open economic policies since ancient times and it was a shipping hub in the Indian Ocean. The ships that sailed in the Indian Ocean between the West and the East have stopped at SL. Plenty of seaports were located around the island. SL was engaged in import and export businesses and in addition to that the island was a trade centre in the Indian Ocean and was engaged in entrepot trade. SL mainly exported pearls, gems, elephants, and spices and imported mainly horses, more..

Oct 27 (EN) SL�s renewable energy sector is likely to go to court over non-payment of arrears by the state-run CEB as discussions with CEB officials prove unfavourable, Federation of Renewable Energy (FRED) said. CEB had 10 months� worth of arrears totalling 35.18 billion rupees dating back to October 2021. However, in June, govt had promised to pay back the arrears in instalments of Rs. 100 mil per day but after a few payments in June, industry said it has not received anything so far. more..

Oct 27 (Island) Making Sri Lanka proud, respected Rotarian Dr. V. Vijayakumaran was installed as the 17th President of the Asian Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry. In a very historic event the Sri Lankan was appointed in the South Korean capital, in the presence of an eminent gathering. This is the first time a SL aesthetic dentist is honoured with this prestigious position to serve the 35 Asian countries to upgrade the knowledge and clinical skills in the field of aesthetic dentistry. more..

Oct 27 (AD) A gazette notification has been published revising the scopes of several ministries with effect from today. Accordingly, the National Building Research Organization (NBRO), which was under the purview of the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Registrar of Companies which was overseen by Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy have been removed from the relevant ministries. Meanwhile, Lanka Phosphate Ltd, which was previously more..

Oct 27 (TM) Trade Union Co-ordination Centre (TUCC), with the participation of civil organisations, teachers, principals, and trade unionists representing the Government, semi-Govt, private, estate, and other sectors, have organised a mass protest today in Colombo under the themes, stop the suppression and give space to the people�s voice, while urging the Govt to provide the public with a solution to safeguard their livelihoods more..

Oct 27 (EN) SL is in discussions with a private technology group to set up a circulator route in the city using modern buses without a conductor in bid to upgrade public transport, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana said. �We are in discussions with a technology group in the Trace City to start a modern city bus service,� Minister said. �The buses will only have a driver. But the current laws do not allow public buses to be operated without a conductor. So we have to change law.� more..

Oct 27 (DM) Minister of Health today gave an undertaking to Court of Appeal to bring comprehensive regulation to control Mycotoxins (Aflatoxin is one type of Mycotoxin) in all types of food items, considering the specific levels for each food categories in separate. Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena appearing for the Minister of Health gave this undertaking in connection with a writ petition filed by Ven. Medille Pangaloka There and two lawyers. more..

Oct 27 (TM) SL�s Information Technology (IT) sector is battling heavy labour migration in its middle management, and the sector�s apex bodies are trying to reach some consensus with the Govt over taxes to avoid problems in the long run, sector leaders revealed. Cybersecurity advisor Asela Waidyalankara said that the rate at which people in the IT industry are leaving the country is quite high more..

Oct 27 (DM) Two thieves who entered a house in Maullai in Wadukkodai at the dead of night when the owners were away, had instead of carrying out the robbery, prepared a sumptuous meal and fallen fast asleep while watching TV. The owner of the house who returned in the early hours of last morning, had to his surprise found two strangers sleeping on his bed. He had quietly called the 119 but as the soon as the police team arrived the thieves had awoken and while one of them fled the scene, more..

Oct 27 (CT) Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has requested Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to appoint a Special Parliamentary Select Committee to probe the statement made by ITAK MP M.A. Sumanthiran regarding the Supreme Court during the debate on the 22nd Amendment Bill on 20 October. In a letter to the Speaker, Rajapakshe said, �During the speech, Sumanthiran said the determination of Supreme Court on the Amendment Bill was not according to Law. more..

Oct 27 (FT) The Govt has decided to declare 24 October as the National Day for the Supply Chain to enhance awareness of the supply chains for businessmen and other related people. Cabinet Ministers at its meeting on Tuesday approved the proposal submitted to this effect by Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana. �Rubber which is converted to tyres successfully from rubber milk through rubber tappers to tire factories has a great demand and reputation for SL in the international market. more..

Oct 27 (Island) During the two-and-a-half-decades of foreign affairs work with the U.S. Dept of State assigned to its Colombo diplomatic post as a Foreign Service National, this writer saw how trade, commerce, investment, aid � both economic as well as military � were well tied to diplomacy and correct understanding of both nations, and the importance of clearing perceived misunderstandings and obstacles. In 1987, a couple of months before the Vadamarachchi Offensive to combat LTTE, more..

Oct 27 (DM) At a time rising inflation is set to put a major dent in salary increases for the second year running in 2023, India is set to see the highest rise in real salaries in the world. However, ECA�s Salary Trends Survey, based on information collected from over 360 multinational companies in 68 countries and cities, sees just 37% of countries globally expecting to report real-term wage hikes. more..

Oct 27 (FT) Uni of Ruhuna (UoR) recently entered into an MoU with Youngstown State Uni (YSU) Ohio USA to collaborate in many areas related to higher education including graduate transfer scheme for higher studies, faculty exchanges, research collaborations and development of curricula for new degree programs with credit transfer schemes commencing from Jan 2023. It will commence with transfer of MSc candidates in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) based more..