Mar 15 (ST) SL’s new Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) is to bring online betting onboard under a structured, high-tax legal framework in a state of rapid transition from an unregulated grey market. Online betting is now legally recognised under the GRA Act, No. 16 of 2025, a senior Finance Ministry official said. The new authority aims for full operational status by June 30, 2026, acting as a one-stop shop for all gambling activities except state lotteries. more..

Mar 15 (AD) A Japanese delegation comprising 11 members, who arrived in SL for tourism promotion under the coordination of Connaissance De Ceylan, one of the country’s leading tourism companies, has visited the Presidential Secretariat this morning (14). Primary objective of the delegation is to study and gain a deeper understanding of SL’s people’s history, the introduction and development of Buddhism, traditional culture, Ayurveda, customary practices, food culture and key economic crops, more..

Mar 15 (DM) A new pool of 150 investigative officers has been created to strengthen the investigation of misconduct in govt institutions, the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Govt announced. The move comes amid a growing number of complaints and requests for preliminary investigations received by the Ministry’s Investigation Unit from state institutions as well as bodies such as the Public Service Commission, the COPA and the COPE. more..

Mar 15 (DM) PM Harini Amarasuriya said that addressing the country’s growing drug problem must be treated as a national priority and should deliver tangible results at the ground level. PM made these remarks during a meeting held at Temple Trees to brief her on the National Strategic Plan for the Management, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Persons with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) for the period 2026–2030. The discussion, attended by officials from the Ministry of Health and more..

Mar 15 (AD) Two female Development Officers have been arrested by the Aranayake Police for allegedly hoarding a stock of relief supplies intended for families affected by Cyclone Ditwah in the Aranayake Divisional Secretariat Division, at their residences. One of the arrested officers had also been serving as the storekeeper of the Aranayake DS. The relief items had been provided by the govt and several other institutions for distribution among families affected by the disaster. more..

Mar 15 (AD) QR Code system for vehicles will be implemented for fuel distribution with effect from 6 am today (15), SL’s Energy Ministry announced. Accordingly, it said that fuel will not be issued without a registered QR Code. To create QR Code visit: https://fuelpass.gov.lk/. Issuing a statement, it said that due to the ongoing military situation in the Middle East, fuel supply routes are being disrupted and fuel demand in the country is increasing exponentially, more..

Mar 15 (EN) SL’s foreign exchange revenue from tourism in Feb 2026 edged down 4.3% from a year ago to US$352 million, central bank said, quoting tourism promotion authority data. SL’s tourism revenue has been lower since August last year compared to arrivals after the relevant authority revised down per-day tourism spending, officials have said. The monthly revenue showed a fall for the sixth time in the last eight months. It fell in July and August before rising marginally in the next two months. more..

Mar 15 (EN) National Olympic Committee of SL (NOC SL) is partnering with Carnage to boost athlete development and performance on the international stage. Carnage will serve as the official activewear partner to the NOC, supporting national athletes with high-performance apparel. “This partnership is about supporting SL athletes long before they reach the podium. We want to be part of their journey from the early stages, giving them access to performance-driven apparel,” more..

Mar 15 (ST) There is renewed expectation as SLC appoints Gary Kirsten as Head Coach of the national men’s team, just days after Sanath Jayasuriya stepped down, following yet another premature exit from the T20 World Cup that concluded last Sunday. Kirsten, the former South Africa opener who famously guided India to the 2011 World Cup title, comes with a significant amount of experience in coaching elite teams, and will officially take over in mid-April, with the immediate responsibility more..

Mar 15 (Island) Our cricket bosses didn’t earn many admirers for their choice of chairman of selectors, but they have certainly struck a chord with students of the game like us, and more importantly with the fans, in their appointment of the national team’s head coach. In Gary Kirsten, SL have brought in a man with a proven pedigree and it looks like a step in the right direction. As an opening batsman for South Africa, Kirsten never quite possessed the charm, elegance or textbook technique of his older brother more..

Mar 15 (ST) The 107th Hill Country Battle of the Blues between traditional rivals Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College played at the Asgiriya Stadium, came to an end in controversial fashion when the match was called off with Trinity in pursuit of 64 runs for victory and needing just one more run. According to sources, a slight drizzle prompted the Antonian players to begin protesting when Trinity were just six runs away from victory. Despite requests from the umpires to continue play, more..

Mar 15 (ST) A half-century in the first innings followed by a fine century in the second by S. Thomas’ College opener Jaden Amaraweera was the lone bright spark in an otherwise lacklustre and drawn 147th Battle of the Blues encounter against Royal College at the SSC ground yesterday. Right-hander, who made a composed 52 in the first innings, went on to strike an unbeaten 100 off 162 balls with nine boundaries and three sixes in the second innings as the match drifted to a predictable draw. more..

Mar 15 (SO) SL plans to attract more private sector investment to the electricity sector through the recent power sector reform process, Chairman of the newly formed National Transmission Network Service Provider (NTNSP), Nusith Kumaratunga, said. Chartered Accountant Kumaratunga said that unlike earlier years, Govt plans to introduce a more transparent, market-oriented, yet consumer-friendly power purchasing process through competitive bidding to meet SL’s growing electricity demand. more..

Mar 15 (ST) Embassy Netherlands and the Russian Embassy in SL locked horns this week over the exhibits at the World Press Photo Exhibition which opened in Colombo on Feb 27. Dutch embassy issued a statement on Wednesday in which it condemned alleged attempts of the Russian Embassy in Colombo to limit freedom of expression and the public’s right to information over demands to remove photographs related to Russia’s war in Ukraine from the World Press Photo Exhibition.” more..

Mar 15 (Island) Gotabaya Rajapaksa inherited a lower-middle income country and bankrupted it in two years and five months. Donald Trump is likely to upend the world in a much shorter time. If he doesn’t immediately – and unconditionally – end the unprovoked and illegal war he began against Iran. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the Lankan presidency with the enthusiastic backing of 6.9 million voters (almost all of them Sinhalese, and the absolute majority of them Sinhala-Buddhist), Dr Steve Turley, more..

Mar 15 (Island) War and politics are full of uncertainties and surprises. When one heard US Prez Donald Trump bragging that the US and Israel had won the war against Iran at the end of the third day of bombing itself, one was reminded of US Prez Dwight D. Eisenhower, a former Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War II, and his realistic assessment of war. Eisenhower famously said, “… every war is going to astonish you in the way it occurred, more..

Mar 15 (ST) My dear Vijitha sahodaraya, I know am writing to you at a time when you have to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. It is, of course, about your performance at that summit in India when you were quizzed by a lady journalist on the sinking of a ship and you had to answer tough questions. Needless to say, clips of what you said went viral. We saw you, looking dapper in a suit, sitting rather confidently but speaking haltingly, more..

Mar 15 (ST) Not long ago, US Prez Donald Trump ambushed Ukrainian Prez Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House during a meeting and asked him, for the whole world to hear, Are you trying to start World War Three? That was while canvassing for the Nobel Peace Prize. Overlooked for that prize, Trump has reserved the honours for himself in starting what is looking much like WWIII. The world is bracing for a prolonged war in West Asia, and countries such as Sri Lanka, more..

Mar 15 (CT) As geopolitical issues gain momentum in Sri Lanka, the war in the Middle East, reaching a crucial third week, provides a difficult test for the NPP Govt. Despite the impressive manner in which the Govt carried on its humanitarian exercise with the Iranian ship under attack by the US last week, it continues to have its inexperience in the diplomatic sphere under scrutiny. Targeted more for actions beyond its control than what they are doing on the ground, more..

Mar 15 (CT) Sri Lanka has a very dismal record of how it has treated journalists in carrying out their legitimate duty of keeping the people informed. Many innocents who were killed, from Lasantha Wickrematunge, Prageeth Eknaligoda to Taraki Sivaram, come to mind when making this argument for rights denied to practitioners of this trade. Yet, the freedoms that continued to be respected by the present Govt, be it of the average man on the road, the trade unionist who demands his worker rights, more..

Mar 15 (TM) Sri Lanka has lived with the illusion that distance offers protection. The island sits far from the geopolitical fault lines in the Middle East where great powers often collide. Yet history has repeatedly shown that in the modern global economy, distance is largely irrelevant. When wars erupt in the world’s energy heartlands, their shockwaves reach every nation that depends on imported fuel, foreign markets, and global trade routes. Sri Lanka is no exception. more..

Mar 15 (TM) The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has presented a new set of challenges to Prez AKD and his Govt, which until now was focused on the country’s economic recovery path and trying to honour its pledge to the people on system change. However, the conflict in the Middle East, which US Prez Donald Trump claimed would conclude in a few days, continues and the disruption to one of the world’s key supply routes has caused significant chaos more..

Mar 15 (CT) In times of economic strain, the moral authority of a govt rests not only on the policies it announces but also on the example it sets. When a country emerges from a period of severe financial turbulence, public institutions are expected to demonstrate restraint, discipline and a sense of responsibility towards the citizens whose sacrifices helped steady the nation. Sri Lanka today is attempting such a transition. The narrative of austerity, fiscal responsibility more..

Mar 15 (SO) Operation Epic Fury is the very public code name given to the current United States (US)-Israel war on Iran, but exactly 23 years ago, when the US and its allies commenced the Iraq War ostensibly to find its hidden Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), one code name allegedly proposed by a military planner was quickly dropped. It was apparently Operation Iraq Liberation, which was shortened to the acronym OIL. But this is no joke. Oil has been behind many conflicts more..

Mar 14 (MB) On Saturday (7), three days after the Iranian warship IRIS Dena was torpedoed by a U.S Navy submarine close to the southern coast off Galle, fishers and coastal communities noticed a thick oil patch along the coast of Hikkaduwa. Hikkaduwa is one of the most pristine coastal belts in the south of Sri Lanka, frequented by tourists throughout the year with a peak tourism season from December to March. more..

Mar 14 (FT) Internet Media Action (IMA) has expressed its profound concern regarding the arrest of veteran journalist and Lanka e News website Editor Sandaruwan Senadheera on Wednesday at BIA, following nearly 16 years of political asylum in the UK. IMA said Senadheera was compelled to flee SL during the Rajapaksa Govt, having faced death threats, enforced disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, and the arson attack on the Lanka e News media organisation in more..

Mar 14 (DN) Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Centre of Excellence for Ocean Science and Environment in Sri Lanka will serve as a hub for research, knowledge exchange and capacity building to support science-based ocean governance across the Indian Ocean Region, Deputy Minister Arun Hemachandra stated. Sri Lanka celebrated IORA Day on Wednesday by officially inaugurating the IORA Centre of Excellence for Ocean Sciences and Environment. more..

Mar 14 (EN) Three of SL’s private commercial banks have already exhausted their current loan quotas for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and the govt is looking to make additional allocations, Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe has said. “Currently, Commercial Bank, HNB & NDB have fully exhausted their loan quotas. Ministry of Finance expects to provide new allocations for these banks more..

Mar 14 (FT) CoPF has approved the proposal to determine salaries and service conditions for officers and employees of CIABOC, paving the way for recruitment under the country’s strengthened anti-corruption framework. The decision was taken when the Committee met in Parliament this week under the Chairmanship of MP Harsha de Silva. The meeting was attended by Deputy Ministers Nishantha Jayaweera and Chathuranga Abeysinghe, along with MPs Ravi Karunanayake, more..

Mar 14 (FT) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday reviewed the potential economic fallout from the escalating conflict in the Middle East as the Govt intensified monitoring of risks to energy supply, trade and domestic markets. The review took place at a meeting of the Committee on Economic Surveillance held at the Presidential Secretariat under the Prez’s chairmanship. Committee examined the possible impact of rising global oil prices, disruptions to maritime supply chains more..

Mar 14 (Island) Dept of Cultural Affairs said that a discussion will be held next Monday, under the patronage of the subject Minister, Hiniduma Sunil Senevi, to prepare the auspicious times (nekath) sheet for the upcoming Sinhala & Tamil New Year. Dept said that two groups had submitted proposals for the preparation of this year’s New Year auspicious times. It noted that the Ministry had already held four rounds of discussions with the two groups in an effort to reach a consensus. more..

Mar 14 (Island) Royal College made steady progress in reply to their arch rivals’ first innings total as skipper Rehan Peiris and Ramiru Perera guided them to 175 for four wickets at stumps on day two of the 147th Battle of the Blues at the SSC ground on Friday. ‎Royal needed only 51 overs to reach their end-of-day total after S. Thomas’ College had earlier adopted a cautious approach before being bowled out for 302 runs. ‎Royal suffered an early setback when open batsman Hirun Liyanarachchi more..