Aug 11 (TM) SL’s economic growth requires stronger productive investments, but the country is failing to fully utilise its capital expenditure around Rs 1.2 to 1.4 trillion, warning that a budget surplus resulting from unspent capital expenditure should not be viewed as a fiscal strength, Gajma and Co, Founder N R Gajendran said speaking on Advocata Institute Why Tax Policy is Hurting Sri Lanka’s Economy programme on Monday (9). Speaking at the programme, Gajendran said: more..

Aug 11 (FT) AMW CEO Jawahar Ganesh has called for SL and India to establish a direct Indian rupee (INR)-Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) settlement mechanism, insisting that it could reduce businesses’ exposure to US dollar (USD) volatility and ease pressure on SL’s foreign exchange reserves. Speaking at the India Calling forum last week, he said AMW currently imports around $ 200 million worth of goods annually, predominantly from India, but continues to settle transactions in USD. more..

Aug 11 (ST) SL’s car rental industry has grown into a billion-rupee market with a 22% annual growth rate, driven by the lifting of vehicle import restrictions and a surge in tourism. Presently the sector faces security risks from organised criminal syndicates using forged documentation, high-tech GPS jamming, and identity theft, prompting major operators to implement stricter verification protocols. Due to widespread security risks, local operators now enforce more..

Aug 11 (FT) Companies and investors could be placed at a disadvantage under Sri Lanka’s beneficial ownership disclosure regime because Company Secretaries may be unable to sign declarations required for incorporation despite the statutory obligation to disclose beneficial ownership resting with shareholders, LOLC General Insurance PLC Chairman Kithsiri Gunawardena said. Addressing a seminar on Beneficial Ownership Compliance Under the Companies Act, No. 12 of 2025 more..

Aug 11 (FT) SL’s finance company sector expanded sharply in the year to June, with total assets rising 41% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs. 3.2 trillion, driven by a 47.8% expansion in lending, latest CB data showed. The sector’s loan book reached Rs. 2.6 trillion by end-June, while other investments rose 19.7% YoY to Rs. 434 billion and other assets increased 25.9% to Rs. 148.6 billion. Total assets stood at Rs. 2.8 trillion a year earlier. Funding growth was also strong, more..

Aug 11 (FT) Laptop.lk, The Technocity Ltd, recently recognised outstanding academic excellence by presenting state-of-the-art Lenovo laptops to exceptional GCE A/L students representing all 25 districts of the country. The prestigious awards ceremony was held at the 606 The Address, Colombo and was attended by PM’s Office Additional Secretary A.B.M. Ashraff, Zonal Directors from the Education Ministry, Lenovo South Asia Director Naveen Kejriwal, Lenovo India Regional Head more..

Aug 11 (FT) SL Ambassador to Egypt Ambassador Sisira Senavirathne, accompanied by officials of the Embassy, met with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association (EBA) Executive Director Dr. Mohamed Youssef, and senior officials at the EBA Headquarters in Cairo on 20 July 2026 to discuss avenues for strengthening bilateral trade, investment, and broader economic cooperation between SL and Egypt. The discussions focused on expanding bilateral trade and investment ties and enhancing more..

Aug 11 (FT) SL’s beneficial ownership disclosure regime under the Companies Act, No. 12 of 2025 requires urgent regulatory reforms to preserve its anti-money laundering (AML) objectives without undermining investment and creating impractical compliance obligations, Heritage Partners Precedent Partner Dr. Arittha Wikramanayake said. Addressing a seminar on Beneficial Ownership Compliance Under the Companies Act, No. 12 of 2025 organised by Corporate Management Consultants, more..

Aug 11 (Island) Almost two years ago, despite the JVP’s violent past, many Sri Lankans placed their trust in the NPP/JVP for two main reasons. First, widespread frustration with previous govts over corruption, abuse of power, and economic mismanagement had contributed to the country’s bankruptcy. Second, the NPP/JVP’s promises of a systemic change, accountability, institutional reform, honesty, integrity, humility, and a better economic future, convinced voters that a new political force deserved support. more..

Aug 11 (Island) Grama Niladharis (GNs) yesterday launched a sick-note campaign, crippling the lowest rung of state administration. They are up in arms over a woefully insufficient transport allowance of Rs. 600, which has not been increased since 2018. They are demanding an allowance equivalent to 20 litres of fuel. President of the GN Trade Union Alliance Nandana Ranasinghe has warned that his association will be compelled to intensify its trade union action unless its demand is granted forthwith. more..

Aug 11 (ST) When SL’s Justice Minister tells the nation that the JVP led NPP Govt is firmly of the opinion, citing its Peoples’ Mandate, that there is no need to obtain the views of key stakeholders prior to the Cabinet approving the draft 22nd Amendment to the Constitution increasing the retirement ages of sitting superior court judges, that should not be dismissed with a shrug. Implicit in this statement, extracted by the clever probing of journalist Kalindu Karunaratne during more..

Aug 11 (CT) The recent passing of Prof. Wimal Dissanayake marks a major transition in post-colonial cultural scholarship, making an anthropological engagement with his extensive legacy both timely and necessary. An objective assessment of his work requires evaluating his framework in Enabling Traditions (2005), which argues that heritage is not a stagnant, regressive obstacle to modernization, but a dynamic, generative tool for indigenous identity and intellectual autonomy. more..

Aug 11 (SO) Provincial Council elections remain on hold amid unresolved electoral issues, with the Delimitation Commission maintaining that the delimitation process itself is not responsible for the prolonged delay. The elections have not been held for a decade, following the introduction of a new electoral system that requires changes to the present delimitation arrangements. While a Delimitation Report was prepared in 2018, it was not approved by Parliament, more..

Aug 11 (TM) SL’s location, extensive coastline and sizeable exclusive economic zone should make fishing one of the country’s important economic strengths. Yet, despite these natural advantages, the fishing industry continues to struggle from one crisis to another, while successive Govts have failed to give the country’s marine resources the sustained attention they deserve. This is not simply a matter of fishermen struggling to make a living. It is about a national resource that has been poorly managed, more..

Aug 11 (GV) Corruption is not new. It appears wherever people have power over scarce resources. No country, ideology or political system is immune. It is not a rare mistake that a good leader can simply wipe away. It is a constant risk that must be managed every day. What changed in recent decades was the opportunity. Privatisation, outsourcing, deregulated procurement, tax competition and private political financing created more places where public authority meets private money. more..

Aug 11 (CT) Saliya Pieris, President’s Counsel and former President of the BASL, has been a prominent voice on constitutional governance, judicial independence and the rule of law in SL. A senior lawyer with extensive experience in public law, fundamental rights and criminal law, Pieris has appeared in numerous cases before the SC and CA. Pieris discusses SL’s unfinished constitutional reform process, risks of concentrated executive power, more..

Aug 11 (DM) Sri Lanka is once again locked in a fierce national debate over retirement ages. The govt’s proposal to amend the constitution and extend the statutory retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 65 to 67 years, alongside tiered increases across lower courts, has drawn sharp criticism. This controversy closely mirrors the nation’s healthcare crisis in late 2022, when a sudden decision to revert the public sector retirement threshold to 60 years threatened to cause more..

Aug 11 (DM) The leaders of the newly formed Tamil-speaking political parties’ platform have requested Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake to hold the long-delayed provincial council elections, as soon as possible. They made this request during their first media briefing following the launch of their platform on July 14 and on Aug 3 when they met the Prez. However, they got a response that had to be expected. Prez Dissanayake had told them that elections for all nine provincial councils more..

Aug 10 (DM) Govt is to give priority to schools facing teacher shortages, particularly in the Northern and Eastern provinces, while expediting the recruitment of teachers for key subjects such as Science and Mathematics. The matter was discussed at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Education, chaired by PM Harini Amarasuriya at Parliament. The Committee highlighted the need to identify schools and areas with acute teacher shortages and take immediate steps to fill vacancies. more..

Aug 10 (Island) Website blocking alone would not dismantle SL’s rapidly evolving offshore online betting ecosystem, digital rights researcher and disinformation analyst Sanjana Hattotuwa has cautioned, following the Govt’s decision to block 24 unlicensed gambling and betting websites, reports the Centre for Investigative Reporting SL (CIR).The CIR report said that SL blocked access to the websites on August 5 in what was the country’s first major enforcement action against offshore more..

Aug 10 (DM) Sri Lanka has been ranked 73rd out of 123 countries and regions in the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI), placing the country in the Low Proficiency category. The index, published by EF Education First, assesses adult English proficiency based on test results from more than 2.2 million people worldwide. Sri Lanka recorded an overall score of 486, slightly higher than India, which scored 484. more..

Aug 10 (NW) A complaint has been lodged with the Moratuwa Police over the illegal posting of a locally produced Sinhala film on social media, with producers stressing that such acts amount to a criminal offence. The Film Producers’ Association filed the complaint against an individual who had shared the movie of producer Janitha Marasinghe on Facebook and Telegram. Association Chairman Rasitha Jinaseena said that piracy of this nature is not a minor violation but a crime, more..

Aug 10 (AD) General Secretary of the SLPP, Sagara Kariyawasam has been released on bail by the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court today. Kaduwela Magistrate Aruna Buddhadasa ordered his release on two surety bail of Rs. 2 million each. A foreign travel ban has also been imposed on Sagara Kariyawasam by the Kaduwela Magistrate. Court issued the 17-page bail order after considering submissions made by both the prosecution and the defence. CCIB arrested Kariyawasam more..

Aug 10 (FT) Parliament’s Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Infrastructure and Strategic Development has raised concerns over delays, rising costs, and gaps in economic assessment of infrastructure serving Port City Colombo, after officials were unable to provide timelines or expected returns for key components of the Port Access Elevated Highway project. Committee, chaired by MP S.M. Marikkar, more..

Aug 10 (NW) Ministry of Health today handed over another fully equipped mobile drug test bus to the National Transport Medical Institute, strengthening the nationwide program aimed at ensuring safety in public transport. The bus, bearing number PZA – 0040, was officially presented by Minister of Health Nalinda Jayatissa, who also serves as Chief Organizer of the Government Party in Parliament, to Professor Clifford Perera, Chairman of the National Transport Medical Institute, more..

Aug 10 (Island) The govt had allocated funds to import body scanners for 33 prisons, involving visual inspection of prisoners’ anal areas, to end the practice of strip searches, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said. Minister said the decision followed concerns raised by politicians, human rights groups and prison rights activists over the use of such searches, which require inmates to remove their clothing and undergo visual inspection for concealed contraband. more..

Aug 10 (TG) A headless human skeleton with both hands bound and held against its chest has been uncovered at the Chemmani-Siththupathi mass grave in Jaffna, as excavations at the site passed their 101st day and the number of sets of human remains identified rose beyond 500. The remains were found during Saturday's excavation. The skeleton appeared to have been laid in a relatively normal resting position, but the neck had been severed and the skull was absent, while more..

Aug 10 (AD) Archdiocese of Colombo has reaffirmed its commitment to seeking justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, while stating that it does not support the imposition of the death penalty. Issuing a statement, the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said the Archdiocese remains in total solidarity with the victims and continues to seek the identification of the mastermind or masterminds and all parties associated with the attacks. more..

Aug 10 (Island) Convenor of the Joint Opposition Prof. G.L. Peiris has challenged the NPP govt to prove its much-touted claim that increasing the mandatory retirement ages of SC judges and CA judges was intended to clear the massive backlog of court cases, numbering over 1.1 mn. The former Minister said so addressing the media in Kandy over the weekend and also responding to queries after having met the Mahanayake Theras of more..

Aug 10 (DM) SL Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) will open its online registration portal today for Sri Lankans seeking employment in the restaurant and renovation sectors in Israel. The portal will open at 12 noon for registration of 4,000 applicants for restaurant jobs. Male applicants aged 25 to 40 with at least one year of restaurant kitchen experience can apply. Applicants must have completed at least eight years of schooling, possess good English communication skills, and more..

Aug 10 (NF) A man was shot dead in broad daylight today on Sangharaja Mawatha in Maligawatte in what police suspect to be the result of an ongoing conflict between organized crime groups and narcotics traffickers. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the victim was a relative of underworld figure Kanchipani Imran. Victim was reportedly standing near a building materials store when he came under gunfire. Deceased has been identified as a 54-year-old businessman from more..

Aug 10 (DM) Court of Appeal has issued an interim order preventing a SL company operating under a licence issued by the BOI from removing, exporting, shipping, transporting, selling, transferring, alienating, encumbering or otherwise parting with possession, custody or control of two 2024 Lincoln Navigator L Black Label vehicles. Accordingly, Court of Appeal has permitted an application to be heard on an urgent basis more..