May 6 (CT) SL celebrated Sinhala and Tamil new year on April 13. Astrologers wield considerable influence over the people and political leaders in Sri Lanka. However, many believers may not want to remember that the elder Rajapaksa, despite favourable astrological predictions, failed to win a third presidential term. This year there was a squabble among 42 astrologers employed by the Ministry of Culture to decide upon the auspicious date and time for new year rituals to start. more..

May 6 (CT) If the SL voter had thought that there would be some clarity about the Presidential Poll candidates, from the multiple May Day rallies by different political parties and groups, they would have been left even more confused. Yes, SJB�s Sajith Premadasa and JVP�s Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) are already in the fray and the keen question upper-most in the voter�s mind was whether Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe would declare his candidacy and/or if the SLPP under-writer more..

May 6 (ST) With Canadian politicians scrambling for every vote they can get, PM Justin Trudeau has again fallen foul with the Indian Govt for attending an event organised by a group of Khalistan Sikhs in the country. India is accusing the Trudeau administration of giving space to Khalistan extremists, who are demanding a separate state in India. No different is his own support for sections of the SL Tamil community in Canada more..

May 6 (ST) Do the actions of the Wickremesinghe Presidency and his Cabinet reflect strategic decision-making on the cusp of majorly significant national elections in SL? The latest controversy to erupt is over the Cabinet outsourcing the handling of on-arrival visas to foreigners at the national airport to a private company. This is in the wake of a SL�s fury at the company�s representatives refusing a visa for his wife at Katunayake going viral on social media. We are told by Presidential Secretariat that more..

May 6 (DM) May Day came and went. Yet very few words were spoken regarding working conditions in the country. Strangely, it was the head of state that raised the problem of wages while addressing the CWC May Day rally in Nuwara Eliya. Prez Wickremesinghe announced a pay rise for estate workers and justified the upward revision of payment with reference to the historic role the upcountry Tamil estate workers continued to play in keeping our country�s economy afloat. more..

May 6 (ST) In the past under British rule, SL used characters for vehicle identification. In the past, vehicle registration in SL utilised alphanumeric combinations like EN for cars (from CEYLON) and IC for heavy vehicles. However, following the country�s Independence, the system shifted to numbers, such as 1 Sri for cars and 22 Sri for heavy vehicles. Later on, in the late eighties, the format evolved further, more..

May 6 (TM) Sri Lanka�s gaps in maritime domain awareness and marine research is slowly being plugged by friendly nations. Last weekend, visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced that the Japanese Govt would offer Sri Lanka a vessel equipped for underwater surveys, which would aid in capacity-building to conduct hydrographic research and chart Sri Lanka�s maritime domain. During her speech, the visiting Japanese Foreign Minister stated: more..

May 6 (Island) Fear is being expressed in some quarters that the upcoming elections may bring the country under a pall of political uncertainty again, adversely impacting the ongoing economic recovery efforts in the event of a regime change and/or an unstable govt. SJB and NPP have declared their intention to renegotiate the IMF bailout programme, but it is not likely that the IMF, which has the whip hand, will agree to radical changes. IMF bailout programmes are extremely hurtful more..

May 6 (DM) President Ranil Wickremesinghe made a groundbreaking announcement during the May Day rally of the Ceylon Workers� Congress in Kotagala, revealing a substantial seventy percent hike in the daily wage for plantation workers. This remarkable increase, raising the wage to 1,700 comes as a recognition of the significant hardships faced by these workers and underscores their invaluable contribution to the economy, particularly in the realm of tea harvesting. more..

May 6 (Island) The greatest challenges confronting the nation-states in the current era revolve around; deplorable debt, depleted natural resources, and degraded environment. Economic growth and future prosperity for all living beings are stalled due to the varying degrees of the 3D problems emerging out of ill-conceived policy divergences propelling the linear economic activities for centuries in many countries. Sri Lanka hit its worst economic setback, since independence, in 2021, more..

May 6 (ST) The visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pledged to resume economic collaboration with Sri Lanka including yen loans, after the signing of MOU on debt restructuring with the Official Creditor Committee and SL. The visiting Minister conveyed the Japanese govt�s position when she called on Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe last evening. Minister Kamikawa commended leadership under more..

May 6 (FT) OKLO Ltd., a leading SL digital solutions provider with an emphasis on the tea industry, has announced a ground-breaking achievement in the world of tea exports. Following a rigorous public tender process, OKLO has succeeded in securing, and then modernising the East African Tea E-auction process, marking a significant milestone in the global tea industry. The East African Tea e-auction, based in Mombasa, Kenya, stands as the largest tea exporter in the world. more..

May 6 (ST) The new National Association of Sports Regulations No. 01 of 2024 has introduced a term limit of eight years across the board for all presidents and secretaries of any registered national sports body, along with a 16-year term limit for all executive members. On Friday, Sports Minister Harin Fernando said he signed the new rules and sent them to the Govt Printer for gazetting. They will also regularise the election processes of national bodies, citing that more..

May 6 (ST) A governance-linked bond has been proposed by the group of creditors as a way of overcoming the current impasse in debt structuring talks between the SL Govt and the Group of creditors involving US$12 billion in bond investments. Talks between Govt and Group of creditors at a two day session in London on March 27-28 ended inconclusively where the governance-linked bond proposal developed by SL�s Verite Research, top economic consulting agency, more..

May 6 (ST) The govt has been involved in bringing out this new wage structure for estate workers following discussions held recently with estate sector trade unions without considering the proposals put forward by the Planters Association (PA) or other stakeholders. The latest wage hike has been gazetted just ahead of key elections scheduled to be held later this year and could be crucial to gaining ground. At a recently held meeting there had been proposals put forward by trade unions more..

May 6 (FT) VFS Global, which styles itself as the world�s leading outsourcing and technology service specialist, on Saturday dismissed security and cost concerns and described the new electronic visa processing arrangement in Sri Lanka as progressive. In terms of security, a VFS spokesman said that its first customer was the Govt of the US way back in 2001 followed by Australia, Canada and UK which naturally have more..

May 6 (FT) In a bid to ensure integrity and efficiency of SL�s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, Govt in September last year considered and in November approved an unsolicited proposal from the Singapore-based GBS Technology Services in partnership with VFS. The policy decision to outsource the processing of the ETA scheme came amidst SLT-Mobitel which has been the solutions provider for the Dept of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) since 2012 being ready to roll out more..

May 6 (FT) Sri Lanka Tourism is gearing up to launch its inaugural comprehensive global public relations (PR) and digital campaign, targeting 15 key identified markets to boost the sector. The initiative, slated to kick off on 15 May, marks a significant milestone for the industry, with the first phase focusing on five key markets which include; India, UK, France, Germany and China. Second phase will be launched in the latter half of the year, with a specific focus on Russia, UAE, Scandinavian more..

May 6 (TM) The PAFFREL has urged the Elections Commission (EC) to address the alleged Govt-run political promotion programmes disguised as development projects, occurring while the LG election has been called and the Prez Election is expected to be announced soon. In a letter addressed to EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Ratnayake, PAFFREL Executive Director, Rohana Hettiarachchi pointed out that more..

May 6 (Island) After the Olympic qualifying opportunity at World Relays in Bahamas went awry due to visa issues SL men�s 4�400 metres relay team will eye Asian Relay Championships in Bangkok later this month to grab one of the two remaining spots at Paris Olympics 2024. SL Athletics has finalized teams for all five relays of the Asian event which will he held on May 20 and 21 at the Supachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok, where the team anchored by Kalinga Kumarage more..

May 6 (TM) Required renovations for the 40-year-old Parliament building have been identified and preparations are underway to commence them soon, State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. It was recently reported that some sections of Parliament building are in a dilapidated condition due to lack of renovation in almost 40 years. State Minister said that both the Govt and Parliament were aware of the issue, and that urgent renovations needed to the building complex were identified more..

May 6 (DN) SL �A� skipper Nishan Madushka hit a superb knock of 115, but it was in vain as Afghanistan �A� recorded a thrilling 4-wicket win with 2 balls to spare in their fourth unofficial ODI cricket match played at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Int'l Cricket Stadium yesterday. In fact, this was the first win for the Afghan team in this series, but SL A had already won the series 3-1 with one match to spare. Afghanistan �A� chased a target of 276 runs and reached their target in 49.4 overs more..

May 6 (CT) Following the dawn of Sinhala and Tamil New Year, up until Vesak, in the following month even, it is common to see Avurudu festivals being organised in every town, village and small community. These Avurudu Uthsawa include a lot of fun and exciting games � some, old fashioned and has been in practice for so long and some, new and innovative � are for all to take part, young and old alike and promote camaraderie, teamwork, excitement and enjoyment. more..

May 6 (FT) The Indian High Commission in Colombo yesterday announced that the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in India and Kankesanthurai (KKS) in Jaffna, which was launched in October 2023 by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), will resume on 13 May tentatively. Accordingly, the ferry service will be operated by a private operator, IndSri Ferry Services, selected by SCI in consultation with the Govt of SL. more..

May 6 (DN) The young man who sells flowers to tourists with an enchanting smile and vibrant energy has been identified as 17-year-old Dilip Madushanka from Kotmale. Madushanka who gave up schooling at the age of 10 is now selling flowers as his main livelihood and to support his family. His father and mother are engaged in a vegetable selling business, but as their income is not enough to meet the daily expenses of the family, Madushanka says he decided to sell flowers. more..

May 6 (DN) Marking a first in Sri Lanka, National Television Rupavahini yesterday took steps to present a Sinhala news programme using Artificial Intelligence technology. The Rupavahini using AI technology used replicas of leading TV anchors, Nishadhi Bandaranayake and Chaminda Gunaratne during their 8 pm news telecast. A major portion of the news telecast was presented in this manner bringing the latest experience of AI technology to the audience. more..

May 6 (DM) The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Padiyatalawa Police and a soldier's wife were seriously injured after an army soldier attacked them with a pestle after he discovered his wife's affair with the OIC. Police said the OIC was admitted to the Badulla Teaching Hospital, while the woman was taken to the Mahiyangana Hospital for treatment. The injured 52-year-old Chief Inspector of Police, a resident of Bibila, is currently receiving intensive care at the Badulla Teaching Hospital. more..

May 6 (DN) Sri Lanka women�s team, led by Chamari Athapaththu, put up a superb team effort to beat UAE by 15 runs in the semi-final of the T20 Women�s World Cup Qualifying cricket fixture held in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Despite UAE�s best efforts, they could only manage to score 134/7 in their allotted 20 overs while chasing a target of 150 runs set by Sri Lanka. With this win, Sri Lanka has qualified for the final against Scotland, which will take place tomorrow. more..

May 6 (EN) Cabinet of ministers have apparently lost the ability to give free tourist visas with the controversial decision to hire, IVS-GBS-VFS Global, a private contractor which is charging unusual fees to process applications. SL�s cabinet of minister have approved tourists from China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan to be given free visas up the end of May 2024. more..

May 6 (AD) The suspected gunman in the shooting incident that took place in Horana this afternoon (05), has been arrested at the BIA while attempting to flee to Dubai, DIG Nihal Thalduwa said. The arrest has been carried out after he was identified through the automated facial recognition system installed at the airport in Katunayake, the police revealed. One person was injured and hospitalised following a shooting incident that took place in the Graceland Estate, Horana today. more..

May 6 (DM) Nearly 10,000 soldiers who deserted the SL Army have received legal discharge as of May 4 during an amnesty period declared by Ministry of Defence. SL Army, under the Ministry of Defence's directive, has announced a General Amnesty from April 20, allowing all Army absentees to receive an official discharge from their service. The general amnesty is in effect for one month, from April 20 to May 20, 2024. During this period, Army absentees have been given the opportunity more..

May 6 (DN) The GCE O/L Examination 2023 (2024) will begin at 3,527 countrywide centers today and will be continued until May 15. A total of 452,979 candidates including 387,648 school candidates and 65,331 private candidates are expected to sit the examination this year. 535 coordination centers and 33 regional collection centers will be operative countrywide during the period of the examination. more..

May 6 (FT) The two main opposition parties, National People�s Power or NPP and Samagi Jana Balawegaya or SJB, have locked horns in a call for a pointless debate to prove the superiority of the economic policy wisdom possessed by each. To make matters worse, the debate gets postponed each day, drawing the sarcastic Sinhala proverbial qualification, the Balagiri Dosha meaning that the thing will happen tomorrow and not today. Since tomorrow will never come, it is a non-event. more..

May 6 (FT) Recent moves by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF) to re-examine the effectiveness of excise tax must be lauded, with the objective of safeguarding State revenues and public health. During 2023, excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products rose twice to over 40%. The significant impacts on Govt earnings were visible throughout the past two quarters, and the Govt has taken note. Despite concerns raised by several quarters, Govt adopted this new excise tax formula more..

May 6 (AD) Former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and 7 others have been further remanded until 20 May by the Maligakanda Magistrate�s Court over the import of substandard human immunoglobulin vials. This order was issued when the relevant case was taken up before the Maligakanda Magistrate�s Court today. Meanwhile, one of the suspects who was arrested and remanded in connection with the case was released on bail today. Accordingly, the former Deputy Director of Medical Supplies Division more..