Dec 5 (FT) The only permanent thing in life is change. This is a quote we often hear. In the context of organisations there are two types of changes we need to be aware of, i.e. changes within the organisation and those that take place in the operating environment. If the change in the operating environment is faster and more significant than the changes within the organisation, extinction would be inevitable. Business history is full of such instances. more..

Dec 5 (VNA) The Vietnamese Embassy in SL has attended an international charity fair organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the host country together with foreign embassies, diplomatic delegations and enterprises there. The event, the first of its kind, aims to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the National Day and the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of SL. Proceeds from the fair will go to Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital in Colombo. more..

Dec 5 (FT) In a two-part article in the Daily FT on 23 and 28 Nov, Bram Nicholas and Howard Nicholas try to make a case for Why the Central Bank Act should be significantly amended by a future SL Govt. Unfortunately, their case is based on false or misleading statements and incorrect reasoning, rendering invalid their conclusions�that the Central Bank Act (CBA) should be modified to (i) remove price stability as the primary objective of the Central Bank of SL (CBSL); and more..

Dec 5 (DM) Claiming that the increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) will apply to all goods, Minister Susil Premajayantha said today a request has been made to exempt exercise books and stationery items from VAT. He told Parliament that according to the Finance Ministry, VAT increase will apply to all kinds of goods including goods that were not subject to the VAT earlier. Minister said he has requested the Finance Ministry officials to take steps to exempt exercise books & stationery items from VAT. more..

Dec 5 (DM) School grades will be reduced from 13 to 12 under the new educational reforms, the Education Ministry said. This was disclosed at the time of presenting the progress for 2023 and plans for 2024 for the budget of the Ministry of Education by Minister Susil Premajayantha. Accordingly, the educational authorities stated that through the proposed education reforms, every child will be given more..

Dec 5 (EN) Sri Lanka is taking a series of steps to speed up 1.1 million pending court cases and encourage alternative dispute solving mechanisms, Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe said. �The delay in court cases is a serious problem,� he said. �We have already taken several steps to expedite cases.� There were 5,680 cases in Supreme Court, 4,054 in the Court of Appeal, 6,168 in the High Court of Civil Appeal, 8,363 in the Commercial High Court, 28,000 in the High Court, more..

Dec 5 (AD) Ministry of Defence has refuted the media reports claiming that an outrageous sum of money has been spent in 2022 for entertaining military heads, who periodically arrive on inspection visits to the Defence Services and Staff College (DSCSC). The ministry emphasized that there is no truth to these speculations, and deemed them false propaganda. �DSCSC plays a unique role in imparting military officers of both SL and foreign nations with combat tactics and more..

Dec 5 (DM) With as many as 449 wild elephants and 169 people getting killed in the human-elephant conflict by Dec 1, this year, the relevant authorities are still at a loss to work out a practical solution to the problem. According to the latest statistics released by the Dept of Wildlife Conservation, gunshot injuries have claimed the lives of 81 pachyderms. Besides, 60 jumbos perished due to electrocution. more..

Dec 5 (EN) Sri Lanka�s legislators have politicized the topics of rape and violence without addressing the elephant in the room, Minister Jeevan Thondaman said in parliament. �All the members here are talking about rape. What happens after that? We must talk about abortion rights. That is not something anyone wants to touch on, and that is why we are in this place right now,� he said. �Despite alarming statistics on rape and violence, women are often blamed and punished for it. more..

Dec 5 (AD) Four students of the Uni of Kelaniya have been suspended over the alleged incident of assaulting a security officer of the uni, the university administration announced today. On Monday, university administration decided to close the Uni of Kelaniya, excluding the Faculty of Medicine, until further notice. Accordingly, it was announced that all hostels of the uni except for the Medical Faculty�s hostel would also remain closed, while all students were instructed to vacate more..

Dec 5 (Island) Acting on a request from the Indian security authorities, SL police are conducting investigations in respect of seven Sri Lankans who reached Dhanushkodi from Mannar on 25 Nov, seeking asylum in India. They paid Rs 300,000 for their passage across the Palk Bay that took about three hours. They were dropped at the Third Sandbar near the Dhanushkodi islet in Rameswaram by a boat operator in the early hours of Nov 27. The boatman returned to Mannar. more..

Dec 5 (CT) Equipment worth Rs 9.1 million, intended for the unsuccessful Gongala Radar project, has been reported missing and the responsible officials have not only failed to identify the missing equipment, but also neglected to take any corrective action, a report by the National Audit Office revealed. Audit report disclosed that Dept of Meteorology�s damage and loss register did not record one item, a Three-phase Jinasena water pump, resulting in a stated loss of Rs 8.74 million. more..

Dec 5 (DM) November has recorded the highest tourist arrivals for the year so far, bringing in a total of 151,496 international visitors. However, despite much confidence of the tourism authorities, the monthly target was missed by 25%. For the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2020), the island nation crossed the 150,000 tourist arrival mark. While the authorities projected an influx of 204,114, more..

Dec 5 (Island) Alarming statistics have surfaced regarding the dismal state of plastic recycling in SL during a recent meeting of the parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee. It was revealed that only four percent of plastics was recycled. Sri Lanka produces 938 metric tons of plastic daily. Only 32 percent of this amount is recycled. It was also revealed that industrialists had been allowed to import secondary plastic without any regulatory framework. more..

Dec 5 (Island) Twenty categories of architectural, artistic, and decorative elements in Parliament have been earmarked for special preservation efforts as national cultural symbols. This extensive list includes iconic elements such as the Parliament building itself, the revered Mace, the Silver Door, the Copper Door, the Lion Gate, the Bar of the House, 18 Brass Flags, Cluster Lamps, the Ceiling of the chamber, the Ceiling in front of the Copper Door, 18 Ceremonial Flags, more..

Dec 5 (CT) An attempt by certain parties, backed by a businessman involved in poultry business, to import Bermuda grass for research purposes has raised concerns with environmentalists and activists questioning the rationale behind the attempt. The interested parties have claimed that this variety is to be imported from the USA for research purposes, as it is deemed to be highly effective as fodder and more..

Dec 5 (TM) Former National Judo Coach Amal Rathnayake has written a letter to the Sports Ministry accusing National Olympic Committee (NOC) Secretary General Maxwell Silva of knowingly allowing former Judo Federation President Duminda Asela de Silva to jump ship after the Commonwealth Games held in England. The letter highlights a Judo Athlete named Rajitha Pushpakumara, who was selected for the 2024 Olympic Scholarship which is set to take place in France. more..

Dec 5 (DM) Administering rabies vaccines to 80% of the dog population is essential to attain the National Strategic Plan's objective of eliminating Dog-mediated Human Rabies by 2026, Dr. Chamith Nanayakkara said. He highlighted a concern regarding whether the rabies vaccine is being distributed to achieve maximum coverage across the dog population, utilizing the available resources to their fullest extent, under the supervision of each District Health Secretary. more..

Dec 5 (AD) Police have raided an educational institute which had unlawfully carried out its operations at Lauries Road in Bambalapitiya and arrested a woman who is said to be the Director of the institution. The 24-year-old suspect is a resident of Narangamuwa area in Giriulla, the police said. The institute which goes by the name �Evolve College of Education�, has advertised on social media platforms that it provides educational qualifications such as diplomas and more..

Dec 5 (AD) Colombo Chief Magistrate�s Court has delivered an order against a demonstration planned to be staged by teacher-principal trade unions today near the access road to the Parliament Complex in Battaramulla. Accordingly, the demonstrators are barred from causing any public inconvenience while protesting on the entry road to the Parliament from Polduwa Junction. The court order was issued by Colombo Additional Magistrate K.P.S. Harshan, after taking into consideration a request more..

Dec 5 (TM) If the relevant parties do not support the efforts of the Constitutional Council (CC) to streamline the process of appointing judges to the superior courts, the CC will finally have to do nothing but make the relevant appointments based on social media posts and statements made by certain individuals, claimed a CC member. Speaker of Parliament had, in his capacity as CC Chairman, written to the Chief Justice (CJ), more..

Dec 5 (DM) Statement by the Education Minister claiming that addressing the salary anomalies of teachers as a top priority during the current economic crisis may pose significant challenges in meeting the identified priorities for children is completely false, the Ceylon Teachers' Union (CTU) claimed. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said the budget heading for education is being discussed in parliament today. With the current economic situation, parents have to bear school costs, more..

Dec 5 (AD) The officers of Narcotics Control Unit of SL Customs have seized a variety of drugs with an estimated street value of around Rs. 43 million during the inspection of several suspicious parcels at the Central Mail Exchange. During the inspection duties carried out by the relevant officers at the Central Mail Exchange, a total of 25 parcels suspected to contain narcotics were opened for inspection, SL Customs said. Subsequently, approximately 2,193 ecstasy pills, more..

Dec 5 (DM) According to the Syndicated Surveys poll, Verit� Research found that 77% of SL adults claimed that the govt�s decision to reduce returns on retirement savings in the EPF is not necessary and not done in a fair manner. The respondents were given this information: �To help recover from the debt crisis, the govt reduced the returns on retirement savings in the EPF." They were then read out two statements, more..

Dec 5 (TM) Claiming that it is not possible to file a lawsuit regarding a statement made by a parliamentarian in Parliament according to the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ajith Rajapakse said however that there is a possibility to do so in certain cases according to the standing orders (SOs) of Parliament, which he said are legally superior to the said Act. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, citing several provisions of the said Act, more..

Dec 5 (AD) The Court of Appeal has decided to defer further consideration of the case filed against the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Interim Committee until December 13. When the case was called before the Appeals Court this morning, the attorney-at-law representing the new Sports Minister Harin Fernando sought more time for his client to deliberate on the matter and convey his stance to the bench. Accordingly, the case was fixed for Dec 13 for further consideration. more..

Dec 6 (DM) The New York Times is one of the USA�s most popular news sites. The newspaper�s print version remains the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States, and is known for its hard-hitting and critical commentary on personalities and events taking place in the country. The Straits Times on the other hand - after Singapore gained its independence in 1965 - has been referred to as Singapore�s newspaper of record. Despite its history as being largely anti-PAP more..

Dec 6 (ST) Roshan Ranasinghe turned martyr after he was sacked as Minister of Sports on Monday afternoon following his relentless crusade against corruption at SL Cricket Institute. His sacking came as no surprise. It was only to be expected. It was writ on his brow on the first day itself he launched his brave crusade against the entrenched towers of corruption at SL�s Cricket institute which has become a state within a state. It�s an Unholy See whose officials jealously protect its monopolistic more..

Dec 6 (SO) Roshan Ranasinghe, who was the Minister of Sports, exercised the powers he claimed to be entitled to and established an Interim Committee for Cricket without the Prez�s knowledge, and his actions have come under criticism recently. Former Minister Ranasinghe criticised the Prez and the Govt on several occasions and used the opportunity of the 2024 Budget Debate to criticise the Govt�s action with regard to cricket. more..

Dec 6 (DM) Two weeks back, crisis-hit Argentina elected a far-right outsider as the Prez, ending nearly eight decades of dominance of the mainstream right and left in the politics of South America�s second-largest economy. Prez-elect Javier Milei, a libertarian and a media showman, rode on a wave of public anger at the political establishment, as inflation hit triple-digit levels and the country was stuck in yet another sovereign debt crisis. Argentina is the longest-running case more..

Dec 6 (CT) Nishantha is a typical rural-educated, yet sufficiently bright to gain University entrance from the Central School he attended. Located in the picturesque valley in the hill-country where his parents owned many pieces of land which was cultivated by many for its main product which was pepper and other random spices attracted a ready buyer�s market in Colombo and other big cities. Yet that luxury also made life of Nishantha and his wife more desirable to tolerate than more..

Dec 6 (TM) As a country gifted with a large number of historical heritages, SL should pay attention to raising awareness among the general public and those in charge of such heritages. While conservation is at the forefront of the objectives of raising awareness, preventing damages to such heritages, caused by the lack of knowledge and uninformed acts done with good intentions, is a bigger issue than SL understands. more..

Dec 6 (TM) State authorities are today stumbling over themselves to point fingers at each other, and to call for investigations following the suspected bludgeoning to death of a 15-year-old boy in a juvenile detention centre in Kalmunai recently. In typical SL governance style, the responsible authorities are now planning to carry out a series of investigations and take measures to prevent such from happening again. Such knee-jerk reactions to public outcries about failure to ensure more..

Dec 6 (Island) We are a drenched and waterlogged nation at the moment � both physically and mentally. The morning newspapers and TV evening news do nothing to fill us with the joys of living. Constant repetition of the corruption in the country is an ongoing onslaught on our feelings of well-being. Resentment, dismay and anger is the order of the day with an occasional glint of sunshine at the edges of the dark clouds looming ahead. Here is a useful axiom which highlights the trouble with more..

Dec 6 (ST) We have been regaled over the last year or two about how we went feet up in our national fiscal management. The Supreme Court no less, has held a coterie of persons accountable for this dismal state of affairs that have put a whole nation into despair amid insurmountable hardship. While we bear that miserable admonition of our lives, it may be timely to consider what ails our sports, not that most sectors such as health and environment are any better. To cap it all, comes the long more..