Aug 23 (ST) If the opposition MP who posed an important question the other day to the Speaker of the country�s renowned Parliament (renowned for what could be said on another occasion) expected a revealing and enlightening answer, he is living in that dream world of bloated optimism inhabited by those who regurgitate promises of a Sri Lanka in the upper-bracket of nations in the next 25 years or earlier. That is if this whole Resplendent Isle is sold wholesale along with the family silver and more..

Aug 23 (TM) Over the last few years, small states have been increasingly finding themselves in a position of having to make some choices and calibration in the backdrop of much sharper US-China relations, said Prof. David Capie, one of New Zealand�s pre-eminent foreign policy thinkers and analysts. In this context, principles that are really important for a small state like NZ include respect for international law, sovereignty, more..

Aug 23 (Island) During my tenure as the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), Uni of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA), Colombo, I had opportunities to work with numerous postgraduate students coming from various disciplines, including performing arts, architecture, town planning, and media studies. Even now, I am supervising a couple of full-time research degrees: MPhils and PhDs. I have encountered many situations where our postgraduates grapple with various difficulties more..

Aug 23 (Island) Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has said, SL exporters have parked an eye-popping USD 100 billion overseas. His revelation has coincided with media reports that SL is struggling to pay back a 200-million-dollar loan obtained from Bangladesh. Abolition by Yahapalana govt of tough foreign exchange control laws in 2017 has stood unscrupulous exporters in good stead; they have been able to carry out their sordid operations without fear of being arraigned on criminal charges. more..

Aug 23 (DM) The Daily Mirror recently reported on the misdeeds occurring at the only Sinhalese National School in Dehiattakandiya Education Zone of Ampara District. It is also evident that, following the article�s publication, education authorities have given these issues at the school careful consideration. At present, the Ministry of Education has entrusted Duminda Peiris, Dehiattakandiya Zonal Director of Education, with the authority to allocate surplus teachers from more..

Aug 23 (CT) In a global landscape of rapid change and progress, nations are witnessing the migration of their skilled workforce seeking better opportunities abroad. However, in Sri Lanka the situation is entirely different. Following the crippled economic situation, the country is grappling with the exodus of its healthcare professionals, a phenomenon that, if not urgently addressed, could lead to the collapse of its medical sector. SL Authorities have a history of reactive measures. more..

Aug 23 (TM) She has been studying the largest animal on earth for decades and finds it extremely rewarding. Dr. Asha de Vos is a globally acclaimed marine biologist who was just recently named the Equality and Diversity Champion 2023 by the British Ecological Society UK, adding yet another to the host of accolades that she has amassed for her groundbreaking work with whales, especially the blue whale. more..

Aug 23 (FT) Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) is rallying countywide businesses under the Alliance of Lankan Entrepreneurs Chamber (ALEC) Unit and Rebuild banner. COYLE organised a special forum where entrepreneurs from all scales and backgrounds in SL came together under ALEC. The gathering focused on the strength of unity among entrepreneurs and the need for stable policies to foster business growth and economic expansion in the country. more..

Aug 23 (TM) SriLankan Airlines expects to access three to four more key cities in India, including Ahmedabad, within the next one-year period, employing a two-pronged strategy of increasing frequency with a target of 200 weekly flights to India by 2025, according to SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall. Nuttall said that the airline plans to increase the frequency of daily flights by double in order to generate more traffic to make use of the rise in spending power as well as the number of more..

Aug 23 (Island) St. Peter�s College made amends for the restricted season in 2022 by bagging the 2023 Dialog-sponsored Inter-school Under 19 Fifteen-a-side League Rugby Tournament under the captaincy of Ashain Madugasge and the coaching of Sanath Martis. The Peterites, before this present winning spree, bagged the league tournament way back in 2010 under skipper Keith Gurusinghe. That year too, the Peterites were coached by Martis. Last year school from Bambalapitiya more..

Aug 23 (ST) Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) has earned an income of Rs. 51.3 million from the project permit fees of renewable energy projects during 2021/ 2022, but it has so far failed to recover over Rs 30 million due to the authority, a government audit inspection observed. Only Rs.5.5 million has been recovered in 2022 out of the registration fees amounting to over Rs. 35 million due from renewable energy projects generating 700 megawatts of power. more..

Aug 23 (FT) Land Valuation Indicator (LVI) for the Colombo District has displayed robust growth in the first half of 2023 achieving a remarkable score of 215.3, Central Bank said. Annual increase of 15.2% signifies a noteworthy expansion, reversing the declining trend observed in the LVI over the last two years. The rise in LVI has been attributed to consistent upticks across all sub-indicators; Residential, Commercial, and Industrial LVIs, more..

Aug 23 (Island) SL websites maintain very high standards and could compete with top global websites, LK Domain Registry CEO Prof. Gihan Dias said. �BestWeb.LK is a unique annual competition conducted by the LK Domain Registry since 2009. Current competition is the thirteenth in the series of such events which recognize the high quality web presence of organizations in a diverse range of categories. Over 600 websites vie for awards that will bring them prestige and recognition, more..

Aug 23 (FT) In a significant move towards bolstering financial consumer protection in SL, Central Bank of SL (CBSL) has introduced the Financial Consumer Protection Regulations, No. 01 of 2023. This landmark step is taken under the purview of Section 10 (c) of the Monetary Law Act, No. 58 of 1949, and was officially published in the Govt Extraordinary Gazette No. 2344/17 on 9 Aug 2023. The newly instituted regulations are set to provide a uniform framework for all Financial Service Providers more..

Aug 23 (TM) Opposition Parliamentary groups led by SJB are to inform the UNHRC session, to be held next month, about the crisis that has arisen in the country's health sector. The country's health sector is currently in a state of crisis due to several issues such as the shortage of pharmaceutical drugs and medical equipment, frequent deaths due to the alleged use of substandard drugs, migration of more..

Aug 23 (DN) School Netball players will get an opportunity to showcase their talents when more than 360 teams (4320 players) in the age group under 13,15,17 and under 19 play in the final stage of the 30th SL Schools Milo Netball Championship which will be held at Gallella Public grounds Polonnaruwa from Sept 2 to 4. This time more then 1400 teams participated in the first round of this Milo tournament which was conducted on a centre basis. Last year only 700 teams took part in first more..

Aug 23 (FT) Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA), called for a balanced approach to the relaxation of import regulations for commercial vehicles and buses. While the CMTA acknowledged the positive step of easing these restrictions, it emphasised the need for a sustainable approach to manage foreign currency expenditure on vehicle imports. CMTA previously put forth a proposal to reintroduce imports of commercial vehicles and two-wheelers with initially higher duties more..

Aug 23 (DN) In a bid to elevate the sport of swimming within the nation, the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU) has taken the initiative to extend invitations to the World Aquatic Federations and their athletes to participate in the upcoming National and Junior National Short Course (25m) Swimming Championships. The prestigious event is scheduled to take place at the Hillwood College Swimming Pool in the Hill Capital from December 26 to 30. more..

Aug 23 (FT) The country�s ongoing dry spell has severely affected around 280,000 people in 19 districts. Latest DMC data showed that the current dry weather has made it difficult for 279,739 people from 81,035 families to access drinking water in the districts of Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Badulla, Mannar, Vavuniya, A'pura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Badulla, Monaragala, Hambantota, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Matale, Gampaha, Kurunegala and Puttalam districts more..

Aug 23 (Island) MONLAR said that organised groups had assaulted two farmer leaders at Mayurapura, Walawe. MONLAR has condemned inaction of officials regarding the brutal attacks on the leaders of the farming communities. MONLAR has said: �The farming communities of the entire Mayurapura area have been adversely affected by water shortages following the delay in releasing water for farming in yala season. more..

Aug 23 (DN) The increase of electricity tariff though may have an impact on consumers, it paved the way to clear the backlogs of payments running to several billions due to the renewable energy (RE) sector operations. Due to this backlog of payments due to RE sector by Ceylon Electricity Board for over six years which ran to over Rs. 20 billion, providers were faced with huge financial issues and it also deprived new entrepreneurs investing in this segment, said M.J.M.N. Marikkar, more..

Aug 23 (DM) A health emergency has been declared at the Galle prison due to a contagious disease spreading among the inmates. The Health Ministry said today that the disease spreading within the prison is Meningococcal disease, which is contagious. Speaking on the matter, Prisons spokesman Chandana Ekanayake said nine inmates have been hospitalized with fever and skin infections. Two inmates have died on the 13th and 20th of this month due to this illness. more..

Aug 23 (Island) Opposition political parties and civil society organisations said that the govt should conduct the much-delayed LG elections without trying to deceive the public. PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said that there was no point in conducting workshops for Local Govt officials in the absence of people�s representatives. The civil society activist said so responding to the conclusion of a 3-day workshop for LG officials in the Southern Province. more..

Aug 23 (Reuters) Central Bank is expected to further loosen monetary policy on Thursday, albeit by a smaller degree than previously, as it looks to use the rapid decline in inflation as an opportunity to foster growth and put the economy firmly on a path of recovery. The median estimate in a Reuters poll of 15 economists and analysts predicts a 100-basis-point cut in both the Standing Deposit Facility Rate and the Standing Lending Facility rate, taking them to 10% and 11%, respectively. more..

Aug 23 (CT) State Minister for Ports and Aviation Premalal Jayasekara alleged that the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, under Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, had leased 13 acres within the Colombo Port to China�s CM Port to construct South Asia�s biggest logistic centre, without calling for tenders, procurement or govt evaluation of the land. CM Port also runs the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) more..

Aug 23 (DM) In the context of the contagious Meningococcal disease spreading among the inmates at the Galle prison, medical experts opined that there is a risk of bacteria spreading in society. Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, Senior Consultant Physician at the IDH said that since it is a contagious disease, there is a possibility of bacteria moving out of the prison if those individuals who had visited the prison had maintained close contact with infected inmates. more..

Aug 23 (AFP) China has requested permission for a research ship to dock in Colombo said Tuesday, following a visit by a spacecraft-tracking vessel last year that sparked security concerns from neighbouring India. SL foreign ministry spokeswoman said Beijing had sought permission for the Shi Yan 6 to dock, but that no date had been set and the request was being processed. Chinese state broadcaster CGTN calls the Shi Yan 6 a scientific research vessel more..

Aug 23 (Island) Declaring that the Bar Association of SL (BASL) steadfastly protected the independence of the judiciary, its President Kaushalya Navaratne said that senior members would be consulted to decide what he called, the best possible course of action. Navaratne said so when The Island sought his response to the simmering controversy over Prez Wickremesinghe�s alleged interference in judicial matters. more..

Aug 23 (FT) SL's political decisions and policies defy logic and reason and basic understanding of the working of institutions and economies. This has caused prodigious policy failures which are at the heart of the recent discontent among the masses. All economic and social rights in SL, notably poverty, right to food security, education and healthcare have been seriously affected, especially, since 2021. The most recent estimate is that 7 million people are poor in Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 23 (FT) In 2016, MullenLowe Sri Lanka embarked on an ambitious mission to realign everything around its business, people, and culture. These years, especially, the recent 3 taught us more things than at any earlier time. Totally unprepared, we were pushed deep into a hitherto unexplored territory, having to learn and unlearn in quick succession from both successes and failures, recalibrating the business on a course to fiercely thrive, then survive. more..

Aug 23 (EN) Lyca Productions Sri Lanka, a unit of UK-based communications and Indian entertainment group said it has been financing six movies in the South Asian island, which will be released in the Middle East, Europe and North America. Of the six movies to be produced, five will be in Sinhala and one will be in Tamil. �Every film we have announced to release today has come with heavy investments on our part, which cannot be recovered in the Sri Lankan market,� more..

Aug 23 (DM) Referring to the health emergency condition at the Galle prison, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige urged people not to panic as the situation is now under control. He noted that all preventive measures have been taken to contain the spread of the bacteria within the prison. �In addition, we have taken swift measures such as tracing the contacts of the inmates and administering suitable medication in order to make sure that the bacteria do not spread in the community,� more..

Aug 23 (DM) Sri Lanka�s strategic positioning abutting the world�s major trade arteries and in close proximity to key markets in the region makes it a leading investment destination. The successive govts, more or less, have made various attempts to attract investments. The country is still at a loss despite its enormous potential. Things have moved at a snail�s pace, leaving people largely at the receiving end in a land with promise. more..

Aug 23 (SLN) Separate operations conducted by the SL Navy in Puttalam, Palaviya, Chilaw and Negombo areas on 22nd and 23rd Aug led to the seizure and recovery of about 2447kg of smuggled Kendu leaves. During these operations, 1 suspect and 1 lorry in connection to these illegal acts were also taken into custody. SL Navy conducts regular search operations and patrols in the coastal and sea areas of the island, with a view to prevent the influx of contraband into the island. more..

Aug 23 (EN) Andrew Patrick presented his credentials to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe today, becoming the new High Commissioner for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in SL. �The last 75 years of our relationship has shown how much our countries can achieve together, and the significant contribution of the SL community in the UK,� HC Patrick said. �I look forward to building upon those 75 years through strengthening cooperation to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future more..