Sep 4 (DM) Former MP Namal Rajapaksa has no chance of electoral success, even if he campaigns from village to village or house to house, Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe said. Minister Samarasinghe criticised past govts, saying, “They have been ruling from village to village, bankrupting the country, making it so poor that it is impossible to open an LC, and turning it into a nation unable to pay its debts. The people who saw that gave us a two-thirds majority. more..

Sep 4 (EN) Sri Lanka is looking for private investors to set up a Customs inspection center at Kerawalapitiya as a public-private partnership, minister Nalinda Jayatissa said. A land belonging to the SL Land Development Corporation has been transferred to the SL Customs for this purpose, he told reporters. A committee appointed to determine the methodology for the establishment of the center has submitted its recommendations for selecting a viable business model. more..

Sep 4 (AD) Cabinet has approved a proposal presented by Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization, and National Policy, to formally close down 33 non-operational State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as part of Phase 2 of the govt’s state-sector reform program. The closures will be carried out systematically after the establishment of a Special Liquidation Unit under Ministry of Finance. more..

Sep 4 (NW) Cabinet has approved a proposal to establish formal diplomatic relations between SL and Antigua and Barbuda. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the move is aimed at strengthening friendship and cooperation in political, socio-economic, and cultural fields, while securing mutual benefits for both nations. SL had earlier initiated diplomatic ties with 13 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and Antigua and Barbuda remained the last on the list. more..

Sep 4 (TM) Former Secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) Saman Kumara Gunawardana says that the sport’s domestic governing body yesterday officially conveyed to World Athletics (WA) of the temporary suspension of the registration imposed on the former by Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage, last week. He said that they had taken a bit of time to undertake the task as they had not wanted to upset the applecart of the Monaco-based global body. This was in light of three Lankan elite athletes more..

Sep 4 (TM) The Bar Association of SL (BASL) has voiced concern over recent threats of legal action against lawyers for their professional work on behalf of clients. In a statement, the BASL emphasised the independent role of attorneys in representing their clients' best interests within the law. The association reminded the public that there are established legal mechanisms for reviewing professional conduct. The BASL also cited a Supreme Court judgment from July 2021, which convicted more..

Sep 4 (EN) SL has delayed a digital services tax till April 2026, from the original Oct 1, to iron out practical difficulties, Cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said. The VAT on digital services was part of an expansion of the tax based under an International Monetary Fund program. The delay was also discussed with the IMF, he said. Service providers had also requested more time. There have been concerns that the services like Paypal, and Stripe which are financial facilitators, more..

Sep 4 (Island) US Ambassador Julie Chung and Minister Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi, yesterday inaugurated the Godawaya Shipwreck Exhibition at the BMICH in Colombo, together with the Central Cultural Fund’s Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU). The event marked the culmination of the multi-year Godawaya Shipwreck Project, funded through the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), a US–SL partnership to preserve more..

Sep 4 (SM) A fishing competition targeting the invasive predator fish species known as the Giant Snakehead (locally known as Deduru Naya) is to be held later this month. The competition is organized by the National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA), Dept of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (DFAR), and Ministry of Fisheries of the North-Western Province. It will take place from 5 am – pm on Sep 20th, near the Natiya Bridge area of the Deduru Oya reservoir. more..

Sep 4 (KT) Kuwait Airways announced that it will resume commercial flights to Colombo, starting Oct 26. The national carrier will operate four weekly flights on Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. In a press statement, the airline said Colombo remains an important tourist destination for its passengers, adding that the decision to relaunch flights reflects the company’s commitment to meeting customer demand and offering a wide range of global travel options. more..

Sep 4 (Island) Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda said that the role played by the Navy in eradicating the LTTE couldn’t be suppressed by Amazon UK stopping sale of the wartime Navy Chief’s memoirs The Turning Point: The Naval Role in SL’s War on LTTE Terrorism Karannagoda, who served as the Navy Commander during Sep 2005 to July 2009, said that he was quite surprised by the Amazon UK decision. more..

Sep 4 (Island) Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), together with the Alumni Association of KOICA Fellows in SL (AKOFE), organized donation ceremonies on August 31 and Sept 1, to support schools in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla Districts with essential educational equipment. The donations were made to Soragune Maha Vidyalaya in Haldummulla and Heewelkandura Maha Vidyalaya in Mawelagama, both of which serve students from Grade 1 to Grade 13, more..

Sep 4 (CT) The Green Climate Fund has taken steps to implement a special project that will provide direct and indirect benefits to 300,000 families of agricultural, rural, and estate communities living in villages and lower valleys surrounding the World Heritage Knuckles Forest. This programme is being implemented with the support of 89 stakeholders. This programme has been named the Dumbara Green Empowerment Project. This project, which aims to minimise the negative impacts of more..

Sep 4 (CT) Former General Secretary of the SLFP, Dayasiri Jayasekara, yesterday (2) claimed that current SLFP Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva and Acting General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake are not legally entitled to chair the party’s 74th Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was held at the party headquarters yesterday. Jayasekara criticised the 74th AGM, which he did not attend, and accused de Silva and Dissanayake of being illegally appointed to their positions. more..

Sep 4 (CT) A senior officer of the Civil Security Dept revealed that more than Rs 62.76 million owed to the Govt remains unsettled from a special rice project carried out by the dept’s Welisara Sub-Unit. According to the officer, outstanding amount relates to rice, grain varieties, and other products obtained from seven battalions during 2021, 2022, and 2023. Despite the funds being due, no payment had been made as of 13 Feb 2024. “Welisara rice project does not have sufficient funds more..

Sep 4 (AD) Cabinet has granted approval to the proposal to issue a new circular regarding the admission of students from Grade 2 to Grade 11, excluding Grades 5 and 6, in govt schools. Decision has been taken considering the need to implement the proposed new education reforms and to maintain the number of students per classroom within the approved limits. Therefore, it has been recognized that an appropriate mechanism more..

Sep 4 (EN) SL has completed the construction of a key transmission line funded by Japan which was delayed due the island’s debt default. Habarana-Veyangoda Transmission like funded with a yen loan of around 65 million Us dollars, was opened at a ceremony attended by Japan’s Ambassador Akio Isomata. “This project is a significant milestone as it is the first yen-loan project which has been completed and handed over to SL since the disbursement of eleven suspended yen-loan more..

Sep 4 (NW) Minister Bimal Rathnayake met with Eng. Suliman bin Khalid Al-Mazroua, President of the Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI), on the sidelines of the 2nd Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference in Jeddah. Talks focused on strengthening maritime and port cooperation between the two countries, including strategic collaboration between key ports in SL and Saudi Arabia. Minister Rathnayake highlighted SL’s political stability and economic progress, more..

Sep 4 (EN) SL’s renewable power generation hit 73% in June 2025, up from 62% last year, helped by sharply higher hydro power generation by the CEB and solar and other private renewable. In June 2026 CEB’s hydro generation grew 33.8% to 626 GigaWatt hours, making up 33.8% of energy, overtaking coal. Private renewable power made up solar, wind and mini hydro grew 28.7% to 413 GWh. CEB’s own wind plant more..

Sep 4 (AFP) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake did not endorse an investment scheme in the country's largest oil company, contrary to social media posts and fabricated articles that shared a video falsely claiming he announced the moneymaking opportunity. Audio was dubbed and the false posts direct users to a website of a purported Philippine investment advisory firm. "Said could not speak a word in English. Now that's over too," reads a Sinhala-language Facebook post shared on more..

Sep 4 (AD) Shanudi Amaya of Ambalangoda Devananda secures highest marks in scholarship exam. According to the results of the 2025 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination, Shanudi Amaya Ashwini, a student of the Sri Devananda College in Ambalangoda, has secured first place in the island. She obtained 198 marks in the exam. Meanwhile, Anandhasothi Lakshan, a student of the Jaffna Hindu Primary School, obtained the highest marks in the Tamil medium. He obtained 194 marks more..

Sep 5 (Island) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited Kachchativu on Tuesday amidst a campaign by some TN politicians to pressure India into seeking control of it. Among them is TVK Leader and popular actor Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar popularly known as Vijay. TN film stars, given to melodrama and known for their ludicrous celluloid stunts that not only insult human intelligence but also defy every known law of physics, bellow anti-SL rhetoric to gain political mileage. more..

Sep 5 (TM) One of SL’s long-standing failures in governance was its inability to act rationally, responsibly, and decisively on the bloated state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which have over decades grown to hemorrhage valuable taxpayer rupees, which could have otherwise been put to good use. It is indeed ironic that the NPP Govt, with the JVP as its core element, is today strapped with the governance responsibility of pushing through a reform agenda that they had stubbornly more..

Sep 5 (TM) 2nd half of 2025 has turned into one of the most turbulent periods for SL’s public services in recent memory. From undelivered letters to abandoned train stations, strikes and protests have disrupted daily life across the island. The economic toll of these disputes is mounting, measured in lost revenue and also in fractured trust, productivity slowdowns, and the long-term erosion of public confidence in State-run services. more..

Sep 5 (GV) The issue explored in this article is the extent to which the narrative of debt trap diplomacy accurately explains the relationship between China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Sri Lanka’s foreign policy autonomy. The BRI, launched in 2013, is China’s global development strategy aimed at enhancing trade and economic growth by connecting Asia, Europe and Africa through investments in infrastructure projects, including ports, highways and energy facilities. more..

Sep 5 (CT) I stood in Chemmani exactly a month ago watching THE EXCAVATION in operation. Bodies had been exhumed, cleaned, and labelled and packed for further processing. An extremely arduous and laborious task. I saw around judges, lawyers, human rights commissions, universities, civil society activists, police and security, students, professionals and relatives of the missing trying to resolve the puzzle: Who are the buried ones and who buried them? more..

Sep 5 (CT) The plight of children in SL is once again under the spotlight. Dept of Probation & Child Protection has revealed that around 14,834 children have been reported to be living in unsafe conditions across the island. Behind that staggering number lies a deeper story of institutional neglect, weak coordination, and systemic failure—one that has allowed thousands of vulnerable children to slip through the cracks of the welfare system. more..

Sep 5 (CT) Govt recently announced a Seiri Week to revitalise the State institutions. Under the umbrella of the Clean Sri Lanka initiative, the programme was carried out in the first week of September with the aim of enhancing efficiency and productivity in public service. Seiri alone might not ring that many bells, but it is neither a new concept nor is it the first time it has been implemented in Sri Lanka. It is the first ‘S’ of the world-famous Five S Concept, which originated in Japan. more..

Sep 5 (Island) State-owned Sevanagala sugar factory remains embroiled in a protracted crisis, with sugarcane farmers and transporters demanding their overdue payments. Farmers’ associations have accused the govt of trying to close the sugar factories owned by the state by allowing the country to be flooded with imported sugar at the expense of the local sugar industry. They have also claimed during their recent protests that a large stock of locally produced sugar remains unsold more..

Sep 5 (DM) Despite being the apex institution to ensure law and order in the country, most citizens look down upon the police force due to its way of dealing with citizens for minor offences. In most instances, police officers are seen arguing with people who have violated traffic laws. Some even go to the extent of twisting existing laws to impose fines just to prove that they are above ordinary citizens. There was a time when the uniform itself spoke volumes about the entire police force but more..

Sep 5 (TM) Since 2019, male-to-male transmission has become the leading mode of HIV transmission in Sri Lanka and given that anal sex carries the highest risk for HIV transmission, it is pivotal to direct targeted preventive measures toward men who have sex with men (MSM) within the 15-24-year age group. These concerns were raised and recommendations were made in an editorial on A silent surge of HIV infection among SL’s youth which was authored by Community Physician, more..

Sep 5 (DN) Today marks the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) – founder of Islam and one of the greatest reformers in human history. The commemoration, known as Meelad – un – Nabi, falls on the twelfth day of Rabi – ul – Awwal, the third month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Around two billion Muslims worldwide observe this occasion, honouring his noble character, compassion, and more..

Sep 5 (FT) National Chamber of Exporters (NCE), in collaboration with Southern Agriculture Entrepreneurs Development Centre, successfully organised a special delegation to the Southern Province to strengthen partnerships between exporters and regional producers. The event attracted over 75 suppliers, producers, and aspiring exporters from the region. They were joined by 25 NCE member companies, who engaged directly with them to explore opportunities for sourcing, more..

Sep 5 (FT) Pagariya JBN Power Conclave, an exclusive international summit for JITO’s Chief Patrons (CPs) and leading Jain business leaders, was held from 15 to 17 Aug at the ITC Ratnadipa in Colombo. Hosted by JBN Apex and JITO Chennai Plus Chapter, the 2.5-day conclave brought together over 600 influential entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders from India and across the globe. The gathering was designed to enable high-level networking, sectoral collaboration, and more..

Sep 5 (FT) Colombo stock market yesterday ended the holiday-shortened week on a mixed note amidst moderate turnover. ASPI gained by 16 points whilst the active S&P SL20 was flat. Turnover was Rs. 5.6 billion involving 306.7 million shares. During the week, ASPI and S&P SL20 lost 0.03% and 1.19% respectively, whilst recording an average daily turnover of Rs. 8.22 billion. The market exhibited high levels of intraday volatility with the ASPI ultimately closing at 20,992, up 16 points. more..