May 8 (ST) In SL�s last five completed ODIs, only once did they bat the full quota of overs. Thrice, they were bowled out in under 33 overs. Batting has been their weakest link. And now that SL has been relegated to play qualifiers to earn one of the two remaining slots for this year�s World Cup, the pressure is on the selectors to get the right combination. Although the problems facing the team are aged-old�from inconsistent selection to more..

May 8 (FT) A vacancy has arisen for a Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission following the Finance Ministry terminating the appointment of Rajeev Amarasuriya by virtue of having served two terms. Multi-qualified professional Amarasuriya was appointed in March as one of the six Appointed Members by the new administration. However, last week Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena terminated the appointment. more..

May 8 (Island) The Welimada police are looking for two suspects for allegedly abducting and assaulting a teledrama and film producer. One of them is known as Tarzan.Five suspects had been arrested for the abduction and assault of teledrama and film producer Gamini Priyantha Samarakoon, who was later left on the Welimada-Nuwara Eliya Road, last Thursday, police said. A van allegedly used for the crime has also been taken into custody. Samarakoon, 51, a resident of Lunuatugama, more..

May 8 (Island) SLPP MP Gevindu Cumaratunga, now functioning as an independent, said that it would be the responsibility of Parliament to ensure that amendments, recommended by the judiciary to a Bill titled Central Bank of SL, were duly incorporated. MP said that the assurance given by Additional Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne, PC, to the Supreme Court, in concurrence with Governor of the CB Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, more..

May 8 (AD) Ministry of Health has decided to send a special team to the Gampaha district today in order to control the spread of dengue. Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella pointed out that there has been a significant increase in the number of dengue cases reported in the Gampaha district, mentioning that therefore, it was decided to deploy a special team to decide the immediate measures to be taken to control the situation. In addition, an expert committee has been appointed more..

May 8 (TM) The SLPP stated that it would support the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB) only if it is amended to shorten the broad definition of terrorism, and steps are taken to remove the powers that are to be given to Police officers to issue detention orders (DO). The ATB, if passed in Parliament, will replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, said that the broad definition of terrorism contained in the ATB could lead to adverse situations. more..

May 8 (CT) NBRO said yesterday the inclement weather will continue and early landslide warning alerts have been issued to 16 Divisional Secretariat (DS) divisions in five districts and the warnings are operational until further notice. Senior Scientist at NBRO, Dr. Wasantha Senadeera said that due to the continuing showery conditions, people living in the Central Hill Country have been requested to be vigilant of mounds in neighbouring areas and newly constructed roads. more..

May 8 (SO) The Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Ministry will amend the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Act based on consumer survey results, the Ministry�s internal sources said. Ministry is working to lift import barriers on some consumer commodities, including eggs to improve consumer access to these products and potentially lower prices. Trade Commerce and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando has decided to give the CAA more powers to regulate internal trade. more..

May 8 (FT) Health experts are calling for a local Cyclotron Unit after the breakdown of PET scanners at the National Hospital and the Apeksha Hospital causing serious concern among patients and doctors alike. Sources said securing radio isotope which is the radioactive material (FDG) used for PET (Positron emission tomography) scanners in the state health sector has become a challenge given the colossal cost it entails. more..

May 8 (CI) Matheesha Pathirana shouldn't even get close to red-ball cricket, in the opinion of MS Dhoni, his captain at Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023. Pathirana, a new-gen version of Lasith Malinga, has emerged as one of the aces in Dhoni's pack in the IPL, and picked up three wickets for just 15 runs against Mumbai Indians at Chepauk on Saturday, bowling all his overs in the back-half of the innings. "I personally think he is not someone who should play a lot of red-ball cricket," Dhoni said more..

May 8 (AD) State Minister Geetha Kumarasinghe says that a special programme has been planned in order to raise the nutritional level of small children. Mrs. Kumarasinghe points out that it has been planned to provide a type of nutrition-rich biscuits for preschool children under the proposed programme. Further, the State Minister mentioned that the relevant programme will be launched next month, adding that measures will also be taken to provide the children with more..

May 8 (FT) The National Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) former Minister, Basil Rajapaksa has left for Dubai early this morning (May 07), onboard an Emirates flight, Ada Derana reporter said. He is reportedly scheduled to leave for the United States from Dubai. The former Minister was accompanied by his wife, as per sources. However, a spokesperson from the SLPP mentioned that Basil Rajapaksa will return to the island following his brief visit. more..

May 8 (AD) A naked body of a schoolgirl who had died after falling from the third floor of a 5-story building where rooms are rented, and located next to the railway line in Kalutara city has been discovered. Kalutara-South Police said that the body was recovered last night (6), according to some information received by the police. The deceased has been identified to be aged 16 and a resident of the Nagoda area in Kalutara. Police mentioned that the body was identified by the parents more..

May 8 (TM) Ministry of Health is to initiate legal action against medical professionals who are leaving the country for foreign employment opportunities without due permission, and preparations to appoint a committee with the support of GMOA to look into the issues that have led to doctors� mass exodus. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that Ministry had planned to initiate legal action against medical more..

May 8 (DM) Bambalapitiya Police are investigating into an accident reportedly involving the son of former MP Earl Gunasekara, where a SUV had crashed on to two vehicles along the Marine Drive recently. The accident, captured on CCTV footage went viral on social media. Accordingly, a speeding SUV was captured on CCTV losing control while attempting to avoid some road construction work along the Marine Drive in Bambalapitiya and crashing on to two other vehicles. more..

May 8 (CT) Omani businessman who was subjected to assault, allegedly by a gang backed by a politico in the Gampaha District, has decided to leave the country after closing his apparel factory in Halpe, Katana. He expressed his displeasure claiming that the SL Govt has failed to conduct a fair investigation into the assault so far. As a result, he has no other option but to close the factory and leave SL, he said. The attack was carried out on 30 March by a group of individuals allegedly backed by more..

May 8 (FT) Govt expenditure in December had swelled by Rs. 1 trillion despite the country declaring bankruptcy, a cash-strapped Treasury and multiple curbs on public sector spending. Spike in December saw overall expenditure in fiscal year 2022 increase to Rs. 4.47 trillion. In the first 11 months, cumulative expenditure amounted to Rs. 3.41 trillion. However in comparison to Rs. 3.52T expenditure in 2021 more..

May 8 (FT) Sri Lanka has tremendous potential that can be tapped if we don�t waste it. Once the third-largest producer of coffee in the world, largest tea exporter in the 1990s, largest producer of high-quality latex crepe rubber, with a strategically located deep-sea port in the world, burgeoning tourist trade and leading in many other facets, SL boasts the potential to be a gateway between Europe and South Asia. Yet, there is still a missing piece in Sri Lanka�s development puzzle more..

May 8 (EN) USAID has made available its technical assistance in restructuring SL�s energy sector and developing a roadmap for reforming the state-run CEB. Minister Kanchana Wijesekara tweeted that he had met a USAID delegation along with Arindam Ghosh, the consultant assigned to the reform project that will take place over the next eight weeks. SL�s proposed energy sector reforms, particularly consequent to its ongoing IMF programme, has been politically sensitive with various more..

May 8 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe who left for the UK to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III has returned to the island early this morning. Prez joined other world leaders invited to attend the coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort of the UK respectively. Ahead of the coronation, the Commonwealth Secretariat took advantage of the gathering of leaders in London to host a Commonwealth Summit for Presidents more..

May 8 (FT) Climate change � it�s happening every second, every day. Unexpected extreme weather events in 2022 included severely impacted wildfires in Europe, storms and prolonged droughts in Africa, heatwaves, cold waves, hurricanes, cyclones and so on. This is climate change happening on a daily basis right before our eyes, something that we�re starting to see and get to grips with. The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, 2023 was held in January in Davos, Switzerland more..

May 8 (DM) Questions have been raised why the Ministry of Defence fails to stop the administration of the Kotelawala Defence Uni (KDU) and its affiliated hospital - University Hospital of the Kotelawala Defence Uni (UH-KDU) from engaging in corrupt activities that have brought the reputation of the two institutions to the lowest level in its long-standing history. Secretary Ministry of Defence Major General Kamal Gunaratne who heads more..

May 8 (PMD) Arrangements have been made to hold the National War Heroes Commemoration Ceremony with pride to honour the Nation�s war heroes who died in the Thirty Years� War in Sri Lanka under the patronage of Commander-in-Chief, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. A preliminary discussion was held at the Presidential Secretariat today under the chairmanship of Mr. Sagala Ratnayake, the President�s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of the Prez Staff. more..

May 8 (PO) SL Cricket wishes to announce that as per a request made by the Japan Cricket Association, SL Emerging Team will tour Japan during the month of May 2023.During the tour, Sri Lanka Emerging Team will play five T20 games vs Japan National Cricket Team, which is an Associate Member of the ICC. Japan Cricket Association believes this tour will provide its national team with the necessary preparations to compete in the �East Asia Pacific Regional Final� in July 2023, more..

May 8 (FT) SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne claimed the Govt has yet failed to elicit the trust and confidence of both local and foreign investors. MP said trust is one of the main factors in the development of an economy. �Whether the investor is local or foreign the main factor to them is if they can place their trust in the country. They are concerned if the laws are implemented correctly and if the courts more..

May 8 (CT) A 3-day discussion will be held between Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and MPs representing the Northern Province on 11, 12 and 13 May, Minister Douglas Devananda said. The focus of the discussion will be on taking steps to solve the Ethnic Problem and he believes that this problem will be addressed during Prez Wickremesinghe�s tenure, Devananda said. The meeting will be attended by the Northern Province Governor too. Devananda said all the people�s representatives more..

May 8 (AD) Treasury Secretary has given undertaking to the Supreme Court that the govt owned shares of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) will not be divested before June 15, 2023. Furthermore, he has also pledged that the ongoing process of divesting is being carried out through lawful means, Ada Derana reporter said. Earlier, the Secretary to the Treasury had informed the Board of Directors of SLT and Lanka Hospitals PLC that the Cabinet granted approval in principle for the divestment more..

May 8 (Island) All Lanka Consumer Investigation Officers� Association has threatened to launch a countrywide strike unless justice is served to their members who were beaten by a group of armed men when the officers tried to visit a private farm at the Narammala Bihal market to check whether they had hoarded stocks of eggs. Chairman of the Association Kosala Ranganath told the media, on Saturday, that his fellow officers of the Kurunegala District Office of the CAA had been attacked more..

May 8 (EN) Shares gained on Monday on the banking sector after interest had sparked in the largest counter after debt optimization assurances were prompted to investors, an analyst said. ASPI was up 1.09% or 96.22 points to 8,926.58, while the most liquid index, S&P SL20, was up 1.3% or 34.37 points to 2,593.44. �Trend should pick up in the days to come,� an analyst said. The market had been on continuous muted sentiments due to fears of domestic debt restructuring, poor earnings more..

May 8 (Island) Around 40% of Sri Lankans have resorted to livelihood-based coping strategies by reducing their spending on education and health owing to the current economic crisis, says the Central Bank, in its latest annual report. 73rd Annual Report of the Monetary Board of CB, has laid out the extent of the country�s worst economic crisis, in more than 70 years. It says that last year wages failed to keep up with the soaring cost of more..

May 8 (Island) Wattegama Police found a five-day-old baby left near a small shrine close to the Maliyadeva Len Vihara on Elkaduwa Road at Wattegama on Vesak Full Moon Day (6). A team of officers of the Children and Women�s Bureau of the Wattegama Police rushed to the place, acting on information given by the residents and took the infant to hospital. The police said they suspect that the infant may have been there for several hours. Infant was admitted to Wattegama hospital more..

May 8 (CT) SriLankan Airlines is racing to restore flight frequency and increase its fleet size by replacing the ones that are going off-lease by mid-2024. The GCC markets, especially Dubai and the UAE, remain vital for the airline to achieve at least some � if not all � of these goals, SriLankan CEO Richard Nuttall said. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market event held in Dubai, UAE. �It will continue to be hard work as the airline has been struggling with more..

May 8 (TM) National Olympic Committee of SL (NOCSL) maintained its stance yet again expressing that they recognize only the elected SL Rugby Executive Committee headed by its President Rizly Illyas and not any Stabilisation Committee appointed by the Ministry of Sports of Sri Lanka.This is after Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe, following in the footsteps of former Minister of Sports Namal Rajapaksa, more..

May 8 (MFA) The 25th Session of the Joint Commission between Sri Lanka and the European Union will be convened on 09 May 2023 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. The meeting will be co-chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of SL Aruni Wijewardane and Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Action Service of the EU Paola Pampaloni. The Joint Commission will deliberate on a broad range of bilateral & multilateral more..

May 8 (DM) Fundamental Rights petitions filed seeking an order directing the authorities to take legal action against the main culprits responsible for the current economic crisis in the country was today fixed for July 5 by the Supreme Court. The SC has already granted leave to proceed against former Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Finance Ministers Basil Rajapaksa, Ali Sabry, former Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundara, more..