Sep 6 (EN) SL’s main rice millers are making 50 billion rupees in profits in a single season Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said as import controls prevented imports coming into the country allowing billion to be made in many import substitution sectors. In the past two cultivation seasons farmers had produced around 5.3 mil kg of paddy from which would 3.2 million metric tonnes of rice can be produce, more..

Sep 6 (Island) SL’s Ambassador in Myanmar Prof. Nalin de Silva says Adhil Mohamed Samsudeen, 31, shot dead by the police in an Auckland supermarket last Friday, had received refugee status there, in 2013, two years after entering New Zealand. He questioned the rationale in New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern naming the ISIS inspired terrorist as a Sri Lankan instead of as a person accepted as a refugee nearly a decade ago. Samsudeen was from Kattankudy and migrated to New Zealand more..

Sep 6 (CT) It is reported that 17 of the 52 State-run institutions, including the CEB, have registered losses totalling Rs 131.62 billion in 2020. According to the Finance Ministry’s annual report for 2020, the largest loss was Rs 62.56 billion recorded by the CEB. This was followed by SriLankan Airlines, which showed a loss of Rs 58.07 billion. Airport and Aviation Services (SL) (Pvt) Ltd suffered a loss of Rs. 3.75 billion. SL Transport Board, State Engineering Corporation, more..

Sep 6 (Island) A committee appointed to review the local Govt Election System has pointed out the need to reduce the number of elected local govt members. During the previous administration the parliament unanimously agreed to expand the LG system leading to an increase of members from 4,000 to 8,600. The expansion caused a massive increase in the expenditure causing a tremendous burden on those bodies. more..

Sep 6 (TM) Prez Rajapaksa and PM Rajapaksa took to twitter to express his sentiments over the passing of legendary musician and leader of the Gypsies musical outfit Sunil Perera. “It is a great loss for SL’s entertainment scene as veteran musician Sunil Perera passed away. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and the people of SL. May he rest in peace.” the Prez stated. Meanwhile, PM Mahinda Rajapksa remarked that the entertainment industry in Sri Lanka will never be the same. more..

Sep 6 (Island) A team of research scientists have discovered an unusually large gecko species at Kalthota, SL. This new gecko species was named as Hemidactylus kimbulae. Due to its large body size, and so far only found in the environs ofthe Duvili Ella area, the team thought it was better to name it as kimbulae, said lead scientist Dr. Thasun Amarasinghe. The research team comprises Dr. Thasun Amarasinghe from the University of Indonesia, Suranjan Karunarathna from more..

Sep 6 (EN) SL’s decision to invoke emergency regulations to control essential food prices were not due to a food shortage but to control a food mafia, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told parliament. Prez promulgated emergency laws last week and seized sugar stocks of key importers saying they were hoarding goods they themselves had imported. The move came after sugar price jumped to 225 rupees a kg more..

Sep 6 (CT) Ministry of Health handed over three high-flow oxygen therapy ventilator machines worth Rs 11 million to the Colombo National Hospital, Colombo South Teaching Hospital, and Gampaha District General Hospital. A private enterprise in collaboration with Fight Cancer Trust (Guarantee) Ltd provided the ventilators to Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella at a cost of Rs 3,690,000 each. Director of the Gampaha District General Hospital, Dr. Saman Pathirana, and more..

Sep 6 (TM) The UNP celebrated its 75th anniversary virtually yesterday. In his speech, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke about plans related to the Iron Policy the Party has in mind for the future of SL. He explained the policy as the only way forward to regain freedom, democracy and economic stability in the country through the implementation of certain objectives the Party considers extremely important. ‘Agriculture is paralyzed. Education has come to a standstill. more..

Sep 6 (TM) Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) is willing to increase the local prices of cement if the Govt approves a price hike, in the face of sustained lobbying by cement importers amidst the SL rupee depreciation. CAA Executive Director Thushan Gunawardena stated that the requests from cement importers to increase the existing maximum retail price (MRP) are on the rise due to the present global market conditions. more..

Sep 6 (AD) SL has received another consignment of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine today. 92,430 doses of the Pfizer vaccine purchased by State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) were delivered this morning. The vaccine consignment had arrived onboard Qatar Airways flight QR-668 which had landed at the BIA at around 2.30 a.m. today. It was then transported from the airport to the special refrigerated storage facility at the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) in Narahenpita. more..

Sep 6 (TM) SL hotel industry is not aware of the newly proposed Act to cover workplaces with factory equipment, through which employees in hotels, bakeries, and supermarkets will be covered. The said new Act is expected to cover areas that are not covered by the existing Factories Ordinance No. 45 of 1942, which only provides for the regulation of workplaces that are registered as factories, employment of workers therein, and for the administration of health and more..

Sep 6 (TM) The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the real weaknesses Sri Lanka had in terms of its economy for the past four decades. With the foreign exchange shortage worsening day by day, many fear that the country will go back to the pre-1977 era of ration cards to purchase essential food items, as the importation of such goods will be impossible in the near months. SL needs economic reforms that will decide the fate of the country more..

Sep 6 (AD) The total number of people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in SL soared yet again as 180 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Sunday (5). The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in SL to 10,320. The latest victims include 97 males and 83 females. As many as 133 deaths were reported among elderly people who are aged above 60 years. In addition, 40 individuals aged between 30-59 years and more..

Sep 6 (Hindu) SL’s economic emergency declared by the country’s Prez Rajapaksa last week to control spiralling food prices and declining foreign reserves has exporters in India worried as the curbs placed by the island nation on imports and foreign currency may worsen payment problems they are already facing. While India’s exports and imports may be the first to be affected by the crisis in Sri Lanka, its investments in development projects and areas such as petroleum retail, tourism & hotel, more..

Sep 7 (DM) The UNP, the SL Grand Old Party celebrated its 75th anniversary on Sunday via Zoom technology. And the leader of the party and former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe put forward his parties Greater Sri Lanka programme based on fourfold security through iron policy framework which he said that would not change of governments. The UNP is the third political party in SL representing all communities and regions after Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) & Communist Party of Ceylon more..

Sep 7 (DM) Ahamed Aadhil Mohamed Samsudeen, Islamic State-inspired SL born terrorist who knifed six shoppers in a shopping mall in Auckland last Friday had been awaiting a decision on an appeal against his deportation back to SL. In the meanwhile, authorities in NZ, who had been trying to deport himfor years, had also been scheming to keep the SL authorities in the dark over would-be deportee’s conviction in terror-related offences, involvement with Islamist extremism. more..

Sep 7 (CT) Amidst the deadliest pandemic we have ever known, SL is continuously distracted with other battles. Foremost issues of the past months have been the protests from the farmers over the agrochemical ban and principals and teachers over salary anomalies. It was during these commotions that certain traders chose to hide enormous stock of sugar. Their intention was to artificially increase prices by creating more..

Sep 7 (TM) Death and destruction are not the only things the Easter Sunday attacks wrought upon Sri Lanka; they also left us with a plethora of questions about the country’s security, our law enforcement agencies’ effectiveness and accountability, inter-religious harmony, and most importantly, how easily extremism can grow. Two years after the Easter Sunday attacks in SL and the Christchurch attack in New Zealand, last week the latter reported an extremist attack carried out by a Sri Lankan more..

Sep 7 (CT) This is not an article in which I attempt to take buried things from a graveyard. However, I guess the Easter Sunday attack on April 21 is still being misinterpreted and taken on stage in the wrong direction, especially in terms of justice. Christian and biblical teaching on justice on one hand is strong theological speculation, on the other hand, it gives shapes a society with responsibilities. April 21 attack was willingly and consciously planned out a group of political slaves in this country. more..

Sep 7 (TM) A considerable portion of the issues the world is facing at present is mainly due to differences in opinions and people’s inherent tendency to construe what they believe as right and more appropriate than what is believed by another. This has caused much larger issues than mere disputes. However, it is this difference that can lead a nation and community to initiate an open discourse on protecting everyone’s right to have more..

Sep 7 (GV) In his acclaimed book on the subject of gifts, Lewis Hyde remarks “When we are moved by art we are grateful that the artist lived, grateful that he labored in the service of his gifts. If a work of art is the emanation of its maker’s gift and if it is received by its audience as a gift, then is it, too, a gift?” These questions are key to how we perceive Lunuganga and how we continue to engage with it today. Hyde also speaks of gifts as agents of change, and we look to the garden more..

Sep 7 (Island) The Opposition makes mountains out of molehills. It is given to blowing any issue out of proportion to gain political mileage. The govt does exactly the reverse; it tries to make molehills out of mountains, so to speak, and seeks to downplay even serious issues albeit without success. The truth, in our book, is always equidistant from the two extreme positions the govt and the Opposition take on any issue. As for essential goods, there are shortages of some of them despite the govt’s more..

Sep 7 (ST) Justice Minister Ali Sabry’s remarks to the media about the recent controversial seminar/webinar for lower court judges and magistrates left enough loopholes to drive a couple of bull elephants through. Either he had a bad brief or his defence was as leak-proof as a sieve. Whichever was the case, it not only left a bad taste in the mouth; it would surely have left the public with several gunny bagsful of doubts and concerns. Mr Ali Sabry was cited as telling one website more..

Sep 7 (Island) The newly gazetted Emergency Regulations regarding essential services isn’t a simple replay of the same old script. It cannot be that this regime regards every hyphenated designation with the word General in it, as making mandatory, the appointment of an Army General! The new Commissioner of Essential Services is an Army General. In the history of independent Ceylon/SL the post has usually been held by a senior civil servant. more..

Sep 7 (CI) It's not often that a young Sri Lanka batter walks into the national team and begins to perform almost immediately, but seven innings into his career, this is what Charith Asalanka has been doing. A former SL Under-19 captain, Asalanka began with scores of 0 and 3 in England, but has been far more assured at home, making scores of 38, 65, 24, 72, and 77 since then. Vitally - and here's another area in which he more..

Sep 7 (CI) The tussle for a (perhaps temporary) spot in the automatic qualifying zone on the World Cup Super League table will be decided in the series finale on Tuesday where 10 crucial points and a trophy, are on the line. Both Sri Lanka and South Africa are flirting too close to the line of having to pass through a qualifying tournament to make it to the 2023 World Cup and victory in this match will put either of them into the top five, and their minds at ease for now. Perhaps more pressingly, more..

Sep 7 (CT) Sri Lankans who have been waiting impatiently to resume international travel are being offered an opportunity by Emirates to lock in special fares for the rest of the financial year by booking early. An invitation to fly with confidence on Emirates to any Emirates destination via Dubai, these special fares are available to the 120 plus destinations currently served by Emirates or any others that may open up for travel in the weeks ahead. They can be booked between 6th and 19th Sept more..

Sep 7 (FT) The Govt said efforts to set up 500 production villages and assist 200,000 self-employed businesses and start-ups countrywide are progressing well. The Saubhagya Production Villages program, which focuses on building an economic link between remote communities and the city, is expected to establish 500 manufacturing villages and financially assist 200,000 under Self-Employment Empowerment program. more..

Sep 7 (FT) Calling all fintech and insurtech companies! SL’s Best Life Insurance Company (awarded by Global Banking and Finance Review for 2019 and 2020), AIA Insurance kicked off the AIA Sri Lanka Hackathon Challenge 2021 recently. Both local and int'l technology companies and start-ups are invited to submit their proposals before 19 Sept to stand a chance to win a total cash prize of $ 5,000 and be given an opportunity to pioneer industry transforming solutions by being a part of more..

Sep 7 (FT) In line with the Govt’s policy of developing regional industrialisation, the Board of Investment of SL (BOI) recently entered into a supplementary agreement with Jay Jay Mills Lanka to lay the foundation to an initial investment of $ 4 million to establish operations in the Kappalthurai Industrial Zone in Trincomalee. The agreement, which was signed by BOI Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala and Jay Jay Mills Lanka Managing Director B. Srikumar, will boost more..

Sep 7 (FT) The apparel industry says the export target of $ 5.1 billion for 2021 would be a tough task, given the latest wave of COVID-19 in the country and companies operating 15% below capacity. However, with key markets showing signs of bouncing back, the industry opined that there was hope, but keeping up with customer expectations remained a mounting challenge. “Real benchmark we set ourselves as an industry is 2019. more..

Sep 7 (DN) SL’s Paralympic Gold Medallist Dinesh Priyantha Herath and Bronze Medallist Samitha Dulan along with the rest of the team members will receive a red carpet welcome when they arrive in the island today after competing in the 16th Tokyo Para Games in Japan. SL Paralympics Team will arrive at 5.10 p.m. on SriLankan Airlines flight UL 455. Herath won a Gold Medal with a record breaking effort of 67.79m in the Men’s javelin throw F46 event while Dulan secured the Bronze more..

Sep 7 (CT) After 2010 Sri Lanka’s exports to the European Union (EU) have increased by 60% but half of it is through the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) plus, stated EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka Denis Chaibi, speaking at a virtual conference organised by Colombo-based think-tank Advocata Institute. Vietnam increased by 400% and Bangladesh by 150% during the period from 2010 to 2019, thus to stay ahead of competition, GSP plus is significant for Sri Lanka, stated Chaibi. more..

Sep 7 (FT) SL’s daily COVID-19 detections remained below 4,000 for the sixth consecutive day with 3,182 COVID-19 positive persons detected yesterday. Since 1 Sept, between 3,000 and 4,000 COVID-19 patients have been detected daily and the country’s total COVID-19 detections currently stand at 465,949. The patients detected yesterday include 3,173 persons from the New Year cluster, which has grown to 359,587 patients. more..

Sep 7 (Island) Do you think Bhanuka Rajapaksa merits selection in the 50 over format? Well, numbers don’t just match up. He wasn’t covering himself in glory in domestic cricket representing BRC in the last season. But his social media appearance seems to have upset the selectors who eventually caved in to public pressure not only recalling him for the T-20 format but giving him a go in the 50 over format as well. Public opinion can earn you back what you deserve. more..

Sep 7 (FT) Only 58,994 persons were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Sunday, with 25,921 persons receiving the first dose of a vaccine and 33,073 persons receiving the second dose. According to the Epidemiology Unit, 20,284 persons received the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday and 268 persons received the second dose. The first dose of the vaccine has been administered to a total of 375,097 persons, of which 191,758 persons have received the second dose as well. more..

Sep 7 (TM) As the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Act No. 9 of 2003 as amended only enables setting a control price for goods and initiate legal action against traders who sell goods beyond those control prices, the only way to provide the people with essential food items without any shortage is to enforce emergency regulations on the provision of essential foods under the Public Security Ordinance, claimed Justice Minister more..