Apr 23 (TM) Ever since we became a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the UN in 1948, our political and civil democrats constantly agitated for free and fair elections whenever elections are called. This phrase was based on Article 21(3) of the Declaration which reads as follows: �The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the Govt; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage more..

Apr 23 (TM) In a recent media interview, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith stated that so far, the Govt investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks on 21 April 2019, had been unsatisfactory and unacceptable. He said: �The official channels of justice have not been fair to us all along. There has never been a serious, committed investigation into the Easter attacks, its� causes, players, and authors and any other forces.� He warned that a related application more..

Apr 22 (CT) Nothing is forgotten� nothing is ever forgotten. Great memorable words quoted from Robin of Sherwood, are sentiments that could be voiced as the island of SL commemorated the 21 Apr 2019, Easter Sunday carnage, one of the most shocking and devastating tragedies to rip through the country following the 2004 Tsunami. But it is doubtful as to whether one could compare a natural disaster to the Easter Attacks, more..

Apr 23 (FT) Board of Investment (BOI) said its Customs Declarations (CUSDECS) system is a major breakthrough to simplify and streamline the procedures for investors. The sole objective of this system is to provide a speedy service to BOI�s valued enterprises through processes that have been simplified and streamlined to improve business conditions in the country. The system is launched already, where the final sector of construction approval is also intact, making more..

Apr 22 (FT) The UNFPA Sri Lanka will implement the new project ENSURE: Ensuring access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health and providing gender based violence prevention and response services for women, girls and vulnerable groups with the funding by the Japanese Govt. This $ 4.6 million-worth project and will provide mobile clinic service and essential commodities such as hygiene kits to women, girls and vulnerable groups affected by the current crisis in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 22 (Island) The Daraz Group recently convened its strategic management meetings in Colombo. The leadership teams and senior management from the Daraz�s offices in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore and Dubai met in Colombo for this forum where the Group strategy and direction for the new financial year was discussed and finalised. Commenting on the opportunity, Managing Director of Daraz SL, Rakhil Fernando opined, �We are honoured and privileged to host our more..

Apr 22 (FT) Walahanduwa estate in Galle recently began planting 100 acres with tea, coconut, rubber and cinnamon crops as model new crops to boost the production and livelihood of the community. The project was launched under the leadership of Industries and Plantations Minister Ramesh Pathirana and the participation of State Plantation Industries Minister Lohan Ratwatte. The initiative was a collaborative effort of many institutions under Plantation Ministry & State Plantation Corp more..

Apr 22 (FT) The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) has once again informed former Attorney General Dappula de Livera to present himself at the TID on Monday to provide a statement on certain comments he made in May 2021 about the Easter Sunday attack. This is the third time the TID has had to re-issue summons to de Livera after he failed to appear before the TID on 19 and 21 April despite being informed. more..

Apr 22 (FT) DIMO, a leading diversified conglomerate in Sri Lanka, with its recent expansion into pharmaceutical sector has now realigned all its healthcare operations under new identity of DIMO Healthcare. DIMO has been at the forefront of the nation�s healthcare sector by providing state-of-the-art medical equipment in the fields of radiology, ophthalmology, neurology, cardiology, and oncology for over seven decades. Adding more value to country�s healthcare sector, more..

Apr 22 (DM) Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is in negotiations with US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) for a grant to set up a cutting-edge submarine cable construction and deployment training facility, at its training centre located in Welisara. �US govt, through the USTDA, is in discussions for a possible grant. If we secure this grant, we will try to set up a training facility for submarine cable construction, deployment and so on. Nothing has been finalised; we hope more..

Apr 22 (CT) All hell broke loose when Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the govt, or rather his Ministry, was mulling a plan to send about 100,000 toque macaques to China to be displayed in zoos as an effort to control the monkey population which is causing massive crop damages in SL. A committee was to be formed to hold discussions with a group of Chinese representatives while another committee was mooted, comprising officials from AG�s more..

Apr 22 (Island) Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera said, taking part in an event to commemorate those who were affected by the terror attack, that those in power should ensure that justice was served for the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings. He commended the Catholic Church for its continuous struggle to seek justice to those who were affected by the Easter Sunday terror attacks. �Selfish politicians directed the blind rage of religious extremists to achieve political ends. more..

Apr 22 (DM) SriLankan Airlines said that the five aircraft are on ground owing to a global shortage and not because of a lack of finances as incorrectly stated in some news reports. Explaining the circumstances of the five grounded aircraft reported in certain reports, the SriLankan stated "the aircraft, belonging to the Airbus A320 NEO family, are currently awaiting engines after shop visits as the global industry faces a shortage of engines and long lead times for engine repairs for this type of more..

Apr 23 (FT) Colombo stock market ended a dismal week with both indices suffering declines amidst low turnover as investors remained unenthusiastic about prospects for listed equities. ASPI and S&P SL20 lost by 1.6% each whilst recording an average daily turnover of Rs. 994 million, down from Rs. 1.3 billion last week. The negative week was completed with indices closing lower yesterday - ASPI by near 19 points and S&P SL by over 1.5 points. Turnover was Rs. 967 million involving 59 million shares. more..

Apr 22 (CT) Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Matheesha Pathirana has revealed how skipper MS Dhoni motivated him after a costly first spell in the team�s IPL 2023 encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday (17). In a video shared by CSK on their social media handles, Pathirana stated that he was nervous after conceding 28 runs from his first two overs. The fast bowler mentioned that Dhoni had a word with him, asking him to remain calm. more..

Apr 22 (DM) The Chairman of the PUCSL Janaka Ratnayake launched a scathing attack on stupid politicians saying they were responsible for the power crisis in SL. He also said that the developing situation in the country has forced him to consider entering politics. Minister Kanchana Wijesekera is pushing for the removal of Ratnayake after he had refused to back the electricity tariff hike, but Ratnayake said he will not quit. more..

Apr 22 (FT) General Secretary of SLPP Sagara Kariyawasam maintains that the party�s AGM for 2023 scheduled to take place today is well within the law, in response to its Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris�s claims that it violates the party constitution. Kariyawasam said AGM has been called not according to the party constitution as assumed by Peiris but instead according to electoral laws in the country. He said accordingly the AGM is in fact being held according to the law, despite more..

Apr 22 (Island) SL could have achieved better results if it had taken legal action against those who operated the X-Press Pearl container ship while its crew members were still in the country, Ariyaseela Wickramanayake, Chairman of Master Divers said. He said that there had been a long delay in securing compensation for the great environmental damage caused by the X-Press Pearl disaster in 2019. Wickramanayake said that his company had been involved in salvaging ships more..

Apr 22 (DN) SL has a good batting lineup and they made massive total of 591 for six wickets in the first test played at Galle. This is a good move before the World Cup. A cricket expert pointed out the consistency of the batsmen is very important in any type of format test, ODI or the T-20 s. Our batting lacks consistency and that's a major issue. But even in the first innings our batsmen get a good total but in second innings they get bundled out cheaply. This has to be corrected very soon. more..

Apr 22 (NR) Muslims in SL will celebrate the Eid-Festival today. The festival is being celebrated today after the crescent for the month of Shawwal was sighted in several parts of the country last evening. The decision was announced by the Colombo Grand Mosque last evening. Accordingly, SL will mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan where Muslims observed fasting during the day and offered prayers in the night. The month of Ramadan is considered the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. more..

Apr 22 (FT) The Chief Prelates of all three Buddhist sects have written to President Ranil Wickremesinghe on the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill and have urged him to remove certain concerning provisions from it before passing it in Parliament. Prelates noted that a strong opposition has arisen in the society against provisions that will violate the right to expression and peaceful dissent which are key components of a country�s democracy. more..

Apr 22 (Island) Federation of University Teachers� Associations (FUTA) Chairman, Dr. Shyam Banneheka told journalists that even if the govt declared education an essential service, it would not be able to have answer scripts evaluated. The FUTA Chief said that his Association would make a final decision on paper marking soon. �We would support the President�s move if he also takes steps to ensure that all children have access to quality education,� he said. more..

Apr 22 (TM) We, as the Sri Lanka Police, will make sure to ensure protection for the public to engage in their religious activites, specially during the night, said SSP Nihal Thalduwa. Speaking on the upcoming Ramazan festival held on the 22nd of April he stated "The Police have organized a special program on the day of the Ramazan festival , as the Police were given instructions to ensure security for the mosques and around cities where religious activities take place," adding that more..

Apr 23 (FT) The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says he along with the victims of the Easter Sunday attack cannot place their trust in the current leadership to deliver justice. He said while President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Minister of Public Security have expressed their willingness to hold an honest dialogue on the matter, it is questionable if they intend to continue their duplicitous policies during the discussions. more..

Apr 23 (GV) March 20, when the IMF Board approved an Extended Fund Facility for SL, now seems a long time ago. For many people this felt like a major step toward the resolution of the country�s economic problems. It certainly seemed to indicate that there was int'l agreement on how to deal with the govt�s bankruptcy. Some people will have been surprised to see that on April 17, in Washington DC, govt and its creditors launched formal negotiations on what actually to do about the debt, more..

Apr 23 (CT) Prez Wickremesinghe is finally, and not surprisingly, making it look official, that he will be a candidate at the next prez election. Every prospect would seem to lean in his favour, but even the best laid presidential plans could still go awry. The more important question is what would be left of the country after Ranil Wickremesinghe finally fulfills his grand desire to be, and gets to be, an elected president. Going euphoric about Ranil�s clever maneuvering, more..

Apr 23 (ST) In a move that shocked most people, the Cabinet has decided not to allow political gatherings, rallies and musical shows at Galle Face Green from April 20. Govt defended the decision, noting that Rs. 6.6 million had to be spent to repair Galle Face Green due to the damage during last year�s aragalaya period. It said from April 20 onwards, Galle Face Green will be used exclusively for the people to relax, enjoy scenic beauty more..

Apr 23 (ST) The traditional New Year has ushered in a new round of speculation that a National Govt is in the making. No doubt, from the outset of the President�s ascendancy to high office � and the hot seat � as a result of the unprecedented socio-political-economic explosion of last year, he has called on all parties in and out of Parliament to support him to extract the country from the deep economic hole it has fallen into. But it fell short of a call for a National Govt. more..

Apr 23 (ST) My dear Easter attack victims, I thought of writing to you this week as we remember all of you, those who are not with us now, as well those who were affected in some way or another, four years after the event. Four years and four different types of investigations and inquiries later we are all still in the dark about how it happened. We in Paradise are notorious for our short memories. We seem to have forgotten the events of one year ago, when the country was in turmoil and more..

Apr 23 (SO) Minister Ramesh Pathirana said that Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has extended an open invitation to all the political parties in Parliament, not only to the SJB to get together at this critical juncture to form a broad coalition to resolve the matters of national importance. Minister said that he is under the impression that some of the Opposition MPs are talking to the Prez to ensure that they would extend their support to form more..

Apr 23 (SO) There is a wider debate in society on the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB), with a firm emphasis on national security. This is often thought of in terms of just one dimension � physical threats to national security, such as terrorism. Even though the war ended nearly 14 years ago, one cannot dismiss the latent threat posed by sympathisers and rump groups of the separatist movement. In fact, this newspaper reported a couple of weeks ago that India�s National Intelligence Agency (NIA) more..

Apr 23 (TM) A reputed Italian tyre maker exactly a quarter century ago coined the now world-famous advertising tag line power is nothing without control. This advertisement not only conveyed a powerful message through the sporting icon Carl Lewis, but also highlighted a simple home truth that is often taken for granted. In a country like Sri Lanka where political power is everything and the craze for it knows no bounds, the sad fact is that once power is acquired � often by hook or by crook more..

Apr 23 (Island) The Chinese Embassy tweet on the toque monkey export issue that grabbed media and public attention in recent days has ended the brouhaha like a proverbial storm in a teacup. The embassy made clear that China as a country had no hand whatever in the proposal to export some 100,000 monkeys (rilaw) that have a pinkish tinge in their outer appearance in contrast to the larger grey langur, the other common monkey species widely present in this country. more..

Apr 23 (Island) SL Navy is under fire for having a Buddha statue on the Katchatheevu/Kachchativu Island, situated 50 nautical miles from the northern mainland. Responding to accusations, Navy hq emphasized that as most of the naval personnel, attached to the Naval Detachment, on the Kachchativu Island, were Buddhist, they pay homage to a modest Buddha Statue installed in close proximity to their billet. Those deployed on the island are accommodated in more..

Apr 23 (ST) Despite Sri Lanka being forced to play a qualifying tournament to earn one of the two remaining spots for this year�s World Cup, Chief Cricket Selector Pramodya Wickeramsinghe sees light at the end of the tunnel. Once the pace-setters in the one day format, SL, with seven wins, 14 losses and three no results, stands at number 10 in the ICC Men�s Cricket World Cup Super League points table more..

Apr 23 (ST) Sri Lanka is likely to call up either left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya or rookie leg-break bowler Dushan Hemantha for the second Test starting Monday as the hosts look to clean sweep the two-match series against Ireland. After batters gave them a mammoth total, their spinners claimed 15 wickets in the first Test to wipe out Ireland inside three days by a record margin of an innings and 280 runs. On a traditionally spin-friendly track, Sri Lanka employed two seamers � more..