Nov 10 (CT) The victory of Joe Biden, the Democrat, in the election against the hard headed Republican Donald Trump, has brought the world to stand gazing with a sense of complacency with fingers crossed. U.S. politics continued to be dominated by two parties, Democrats and the Republicans since the American civil war period. While dominating the American political landscape with blurred separating lines in their economic policies, these two parties show varying ideas and great divergences more..

Nov 10 (SO) On the eve of Nov 2 (Monday) a pod of at least 120 short fin pilot whales became stranded on the beaches of Sri Lanka’s western coast. It was a sight never seen before in the island nation. This, in fact, was the biggest ever mass beaching incident reported in Sri Lanka or in any other South Asian country to date. According to witness accounts, a few whales were found beached in the afternoon on Monday, more..

Nov 10 (CT) Trincomalee Shanmuga Hindu Ladies’ College is a National School located in Trincomalee. Until 2012, all the teaching staff and majority of the students were Hindus. Between the period of 2012 to 2018, 5 Muslim female teachers joined Shanmuga Hindu Ladies’ College to teach various subjects. All of these teachers decided to fight against the long-standing systematic violation committed by the school administration against Muslim teachers wearing their cultural dress to school. more..

Nov 10 (DM) Kamala Harris’ journey has had many twists, like that of every woman who aims to climb every mountain, search every sea and follow every rainbow until she finds her dream. A dream that will need all the love you can give everyday of your life for as long as you live. Raised in a multi-cultural setup, Kamala Harris was born to a Jamaican-American father and an Indian mother, both immigrants who met in the US. Having walked out of her marriage when Kamala was just 5, more..

Nov 10 (GV) In their recent parliamentary election, the people of New Zealand discarded the old white men who had been running the country decades and chose instead a host of new faces who included young women, people of colour and LGBTIQ people. They gave the Labour Party and its leader PM Jacinda Ardern a second term with a resounding victory for her support for woman’s rights, equality and inclusivity more..

Nov 10 (GV) Environmentalists are up in arms once again as the government withdrew two circulars that protected 700,000 hectares of forests, which are now in danger of being destroyed so that the land could be used for agriculture or development purposes. These forests make up 5% of the remaining 16.5% of forest cover in SL. Ministry of Wildlife Resources and Forest Conservation issued a press release saying that both circular 5/2001 and circular 2/2006 have been cancelled. more..

Nov 10 (CT) At 5 a.m. yesterday, the Govt of Sri Lanka (GoSL) lifted the 10 days and five hours (245 hours) long carte blanche coronavirus or locked down curfew imposed in most areas of the Western Province (WP) since 12 midnight on 30 October. But this curfew failed to keep coronavirus down. For instance, yesterday registered one of the largest coronavirus detections, a number of 510 in the 24 hours ended at 10 a.m. yesterday, since the first detection on 27 January. more..

Nov 10 (DM) Going by the policy pronouncements made by the US President-elect Joe Biden during the poll campaign, it seems that Sri Lanka can hope for better understanding from, and fruitful bilateral cooperation with, the Biden Administration when it comes into being on January 20, 2021. US-Lanka relations will have to be seen in the context of US-China relations because as in the case of Trump, containment of China will be Biden’s focus in his policy on Asia, including South Asia. more..

Nov 10 (Island) Hundreds of traders who brought truckloads of vegetables to Colombo yesterday morning found themselves up the creek; the Manning market remained closed although the quarantine curfew in the Western Province had been lifted. They had been informed that the place would reopen on Monday. The protesting traders were directed to the Narahenpita Economic Centre. That was no solution. The reason given for keeping the Manning market closed is valid; more..

Nov 10 (DM) Amila Kankanamge, Govt appointed non-Executive Director to Mobitel & ITN Boards, is now exposed to be a scammer. Educational qualifications he has mentioned in his profile are conformed to have been falsified. The MIT, USA-from where Kankanamge is said to have obtained a BSc & MSc Combined Degree- responding to an e-mail sent by this newspaper confirmed that it doesn’t have a record more..

Nov 10 (CT) Right from the beginning of the plantation economy in SL, vested interests had kept the plantation workers economically, socially and educationally backward. The need of British planters to have large numbers of cheap and docile labourers resulted in workers being denied an education even though the rest of Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was called, was advancing educationally. In his book Confrontations with colonialism -1796-1920 P.V.J. Jayasekera says that, more..

Nov 10 (TM) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Secretary Mohan de Silva expects to stage a great Lanka Premier League (LPL). The five-team franchise league is now slated to begin 17 days from now, on 26 November at a specially created bio-secure bubble centring the Hambantota Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium. “We hope to have a great tournament. We have to be positive and move forward. There are many parties who are waiting until things go wrong and criticise us. But we are not feared,” more..

Nov 10 (CT) Sri Lanka’s exports were up 4.8% in Sept 2020 to 1 billion dollars and imports fell 10.9% 1.5 billion dollars amid a fall in tourism revenues and inflows to the govt, official Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) data shows. Estimated tourism earnings were down to zero from 205 million dollars in 2019. Total tourist arrivals remained at 507,311 during the nine months ending Sept 2020, compared to 1,376,312 arrivals more..

Nov 10 (TM) Govt’s allowance of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) to go ahead, from 27 Nov to 17 Dec at Hambantota, has caused elation among some, come as a rude shock to many, and caused utmost bewilderment among some of the public whom we talked to following the announcement of the decision last Thurs. SL needs to get used to living with the Covid-19 pandemic; we ought to start our day-to-day work and, at some point, we need to begin int'l sport, which has been halted since March. more..

Nov 10 (TM) Over here in Kandy, perhaps like all other places in the island, all sporting activities have been suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic. Kandy is deserted now due to the lack of any sport. All school and club sports here have been postponed till next year. Kandy District Cricket Association (KDCA) abruptly halted its inter-club one-day tournament halfway through, only after completing 40 out of a total of 70 games this season. more..

Nov 10 (TM) ICRA Lanka said yesterday that its recalibrated nowcasting models show the SL economy would contract by a devastating 8.2% to 10.9% in 2020. It also estimated that the economy had contracted by -17.5% in the second quarter (Q2) with a margin of error of +/- 16% and that for Q3, it had contracted by -6.1% with a margin of error of +/- 6%. GDP performance for these 2 quarters are yet to be published by more..

Nov 10 (Island) CIPM Sri Lanka – the nation’s leader in human resource management renewed its Brand Ambassador agreement with Sri Lanka Cricket captain Dimuth Karunaratne recently for the second consecutive year. “We are pleased to appoint Dimuth as our Brand Ambassador for the next year as well. We believe that he embodies everything that CIPM stands for in terms of professionalism, resilience, and high performance. He will continue to take CIPM’s value proposition to the masses more..

Nov 10 (TM) With the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) remaining open for trading during the curfew period between 26 Oct and 6 Nov, both of its indices saw an improvement, CSE announced yesterday. The All Share Price Index (ASPI) went up by 5.4% and the S&P SL20 Index (S&PSL20) grew by 3.2% in this period, which the CSE said was evidence for investors responding positively to its decision to operate despite curfew. Colombo Fort, where the CSE head office is situated at the WTC, more..

Nov 10 (TM) World Health Organisation (WHO) Resident Representative in SL Dr. Razia Pendse informed that the WHO has agreed to vaccinate 20% of Sri Lanka’s population with the Covid-19 vaccination that would be made available. Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi called for a special committee to be appointed to look into matters such as funding, determining who administers the vaccine, more..

Nov 10 (DN) Football Federation of SL (FFSL) and the football-loving public living in the North will be thrilled with the announcement of Durayappah Stadium in Jaffna to be exclusively converted to a fully-fledged Football Stadium by Minister Namal Rajapaksa, who visited there yesterday. One of the oldest stadiums in the country which was abandoned during the Civil War will be transformed and is likely to play a pivotal role in developing the world’s most popular game in the country. more..

Nov 10 (FT) Expolanka Holdings PLC has secured exceptionally strong top and bottom line growth during the quarter ended 30 Sept 2020 (2Q20), largely as a result of a focused and consistent strategy along with the ability to stay agile and optimise opportunities presented in a dynamic operating environment. Expolanka said fuelled by surging demand for emergency supplies via air freight into North American markets, Group revenue expanded by 71% Year-on-Year (YoY) more..

Nov 10 (FT) Central Bank has extended the debt moratorium offered to COVID-hit businesses and individuals by a further six months from October, following the spread of the second wave of the pandemic in the country. The necessary directive to the licensed commercial and specialised banks as well as Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) was issued yesterday. The financial sector has also been requested to offer any more..

Nov 10 (Island) The Parliament will convene from 10 am to 8 pm, on Thursday (12), to take up for debate the 2020 Appropriation Bill. This was decided at the Committee on Parliamentary Business meeting held yesterday. Parliament sources said that the second and third readings of the Appropriation Bill would take place from 10 am to 5 pm. From 5 pm to 8 pm the Adjournment Debate under a motion moved by the Opposition will take place. Session would not be open to media, according to sources. more..

Nov 10 (DN) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has set a deadline for all stakeholders of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) to be present in Sri Lanka on or before November 15. SLC has conveyed this message to their event-holder, Innovative Production Group (IPG) in Dubai, to coordinate with the respective franchises to finalise their squads by today, after several foreign players pulled out due to various reasons at the eleventh hour. This deadline will include the arrival of players and TV crew, more..

Nov 10 (AD) President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has noted that the health sector of the country is capable of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and what is needed is the support from the people. COVID-19 pandemic is a health issue. The responsibility of protecting people against the virus and steering the country forward lies with the health sector and the Govt. Prez said adding that he strongly believes that SL doctors and more..

Nov 10 (Island) All trains and SLTB buses resumed services from yesterday as usual but they wouldn’t stop in isolated areas, the Ministry of Transport said. Railway department would also operate the morning and evening office trains adhering to health recommendations. Trains would not stop at the stations in isolated areas. Trains operating on the mainline would not stop at Dematagoda sub station, Kelaniya, Wanawasala, Enderamulla, Horape sub station, Ragama, Walpola substation and more..

Nov 10 (Island) Director of the Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health Dr. Sudath Samaraweera cautioned that there could be a large number of asymptomatic coronavirus patients, moving about freely in society. He said that the public should not assume that life could return to normal after the curfew in most parts of the Western Province was lifted yesterday. The govt had decided to lift the 10-day curfew considering the needs of the people, but the risk of coronavirus spreading remained. more..

Nov 10 (FT) Cabinet approved changes to the criteria for the disposal of bodies of those who succumb to COVID-19, allowing for both burial and cremation. President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who presided the Cabinet meeting also gave the go ahead to change regulations prohibiting burials. The decision was taken after repeated requests, particularly from members of the Muslim community, to allow for burials. more..

Nov 10 (FT) High Post Committee of Parliament cleared the names of seven new ambassadorial appointees, including recently retired Air Force Commander Sumangala Dias, who was SL’s High Commissioner to Canada. The others whose names were cleared by the Committee are A.M.J. Sadiq to Nigeria, Ahamed Jawad to Saudi Arabia, Aruni Ranarajah to Netherlands, Dharshana Perera to Sweden, M.K. Pathmanaathan to Egypt, S.D.K. Semasinghe to Poland, Chaminda Colonne more..

Nov 10 (FT) Opposition members resisted an attempt by the Govt to confine the Budget debate to 11 days, citing the situation caused by COVID-19, forcing the decision to be put off for a few days. When the Committee on Parliamentary Business met yesterday, Govt side proposed that the Budget 2021 debate be limited to 11 days due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation but Opposition lawmakers said the month-long debate which was held each year should remain unchanged more..

Nov 10 (CT) Five doctors, two nurses and two minor staff members of the Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital (LRH) were confirmed COVID-19 positive and directed for treatment yesterday. Their close contacts were also identified and will be required to undergo self-quarantine over the coming weeks. The ward that these staff members were attached to was thoroughly disinfected according to hospital authorities, more..

Nov 10 (AD) SL’s Covid-19 death toll went up to 36 as a person receiving treatment at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) passed away, Director-General of Health Services confirmed a short while ago. Deceased is an 84-year-old woman residing in the Kandana area. Reportedly, she had been suffering from a long-term illness & was transferred from a private hospital to the IDH where she succumbed to the virus. Cause of death has been determined as COVID-19 related pneumonia. more..

Nov 10 (CT) Attorney General Dappula de Livera has issued instructions to the Acting Inspector General of Police Chandana D. Wickramaratne to enlarge on bail, suspects who are presently in remand custody and to file charges against them. Coordinating Officer to the AG, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne yesterday said this decision was taken by the Attorney General, in order to reduce the congestion within prisons in view of the prevailing COVID-19 outbreak in the remand prisons. more..

Nov 10 (FT) Over 14,000 COVID-19 cases have been identified in SL to date, with 356 persons testing positive for the virus yesterday. Total number of confirmed cases in the island rose to 14,285, of which 10,803 are from the Divulapitiya and Peliyagoda dual cluster. All of yesterday's cases were associates of the Peliyagoda COVID-19 cluster. Total count also includes 1,467 SL returnees from abroad, 950 Navy personnel and more..

Nov 10 (FT) The world is much brighter today. There is a clear light from across the western seas, and we feel it even in these far-flung isles of ocean. As if a part of the planet had received a spring-cleaning where it was dirtiest? That feeling may not last long. Once the toasts are poured and the roasts spat out. And the global underbelly of politics settles down to the long often dyspeptic haul of turning electoral victories into viable policies for a deeply divided polity. more..

Nov 10 (FT) COVID-19 has caused a calamitous global crisis. While tens of millions have tested positive for this virus, over a million people have suffered and died from it. The first COVID-19 case was detected in Wuhan City, China, in Dec 2019. By 31 Oct 2020, two sources of global statistics recorded about 46 million cases and nearly 1.2 million deaths in over 215 countries or territories. Today, medical research is being funded to find a vaccine to protect us humans against it. more..

Nov 10 (DM) Prez Rajapaksa yesterday instructed health authorities to look at the possibility of allocating a dry land in any part of the country to allow burials of COVID-19 victims following increasing requests by the Muslim community to halt cremation of Muslim victims. Daily Mirror learns that the matter was discussed in the cabinet meeting last evening, and Prez along with some of the cabinet of ministers had discussed the burial procedures which are presently taking place in other countries. more..

Nov 10 (DM) The banking sector asset quality held up during most of the third quarter, albeit weakening somewhat from the levels seen at the beginning of the year. According to latest data available up to end-August, SL’s banking sector asset quality, as measured by the gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio, has held up at 5.4%, the same level seen at the second quarter ended in June. The gross NPL ratio— loans in default more than 90 days— was at 4.7% of total loans in the system in Dec 2019 more..