Oct 21 (Island) The use of low quality coal, over a period of time, had led to the developing crisis at the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant at Norochcholai that compelled the boastful NPP govt to implement power cuts, former LECO Chairman Bandula Chandrasekera said. Govt imposed one-hour countrywide power cuts on 19 Oct. Chandrasekera, now a consumer rights activist, warned that though the govt declared power cuts would be more..

Oct 21 (FT) Cabinet of Ministers has approved revising the existing agreement between the Education Ministry and SL Insurance Corporation for continued implementation of the Suraksha Student Insurance Program for the period from 1 Sept 2026 to 31 Aug 2027, with several new benefits added. The program aims to create the environment necessary for students facing obstacles due to health issues to overcome barriers and continue their education without interruption. more..

Oct 21 (TM) SriLankan Airlines expects a fleet replacement between 2031 and 2032, according to SriLankan Airlines CEO Vipul Misra, as global carriers such as Qatar Airways have retired the last of its A330 passenger jets ahead of schedule, due to rising fuel costs and reduced flight demand amidst the Middle East conflict. “The fleet needs to be renewed. These aircrafts are not manufactured anymore, unfortunately. So you have to switch into newer aircrafts, going into the next decade more..

Oct 21 (FT) Inferior-quality coal has led to losses amounting to Rs. 18.3 billion, Parliament’s Sectoral Oversight Committee Chairman, SJB MP S.M. Marikkar said yesterday, tabling an expert committee report on the losses. The report, dated 7 Oct, 2026, puts the additional cost and financial loss from the use of substandard coal at Rs. 15.7 billion between 1 Jan and 15 Sept. It separately calculates a Rs. 2.3 bil premium more..

Oct 21 (Island) Heshara Jayasinghe, Shashen Rajapaksha and Dilini Rajapaksha were among the athletes who excelled creating meet records during the morning session of the final day of the All Island Schools Games Athletics Championship at Diyagama on Tuesday. ‎Shashen Rajapaksha of Ratnayake Central Walala set the tone on the track, clocking an impressive 8:58.50 to win the Under 18 boys’ 3000 metres. Time established a new meet record and made the school’s presence felt more..

Oct 21 (TM) Hambantota High Court is set to announce its stance on 4 Dec, on ex-SL cricketer Sachithra Senanayake’s preliminary objections to his indictment over alleged match-fixing. HC Judge Duminda Mudunkotuwa scheduled the date for the pronouncement, with the pre-trial conference also fixed on the same day. Appearing for Senanayake, Defence Counsel Haritha Hettiarachchi raised preliminary objections, noting that the charges had been improperly framed and more..

Oct 21 (DM) Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera will be taken to court in his monk’s robes on Oct 23, following changes to the relevant Standing Orders, a spokesperson for the Department of Buddhist Affairs said. The Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs has informed the Most Venerable Maha Nayaka Thera of the Nikaya to which Gnanasara Thera belongs about the arrangements. Commissioner General has also sought guidance from the Maha Nayaka Thera on the proper more..

Oct 21 (EN) Cabinet approved adopting a new credit risk assessment methodology for financial institutions in line with the Public Debt Management Act, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said. This move involves assessing the risk associated with providing govt guarantees or sub-loans to state-owned enterprises according to the provisions of the Public Debt Management Act passed under the previous govt. Cabinet Spokesman said neither the Central Bank nor financial institutions that more..

Oct 21 (TM) Chemmani mass grave located in Jaffna may have resulted from an infectious disease outbreak or a natural disaster, and the site also contains some significant evidence suggesting that formal burial rites may have been observed, according to an interim report by an archaeologist involved in the Chemmani excavation, Professor Raj Somadeva. Archaeological expert overseeing the excavation & exhumation of human remains more..

Oct 21 (DN) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa questioned in Parliament whether the govt acknowledges the death of the elephant Kavantissa as a killing and requested an update on the progress of the investigation into the shooting of Kavantissa. Noting that there had been previous incidents involving threatening gunfire which environmentalists had reported months ago he demanded to know what security measures, if any, the govt had implemented in response. more..

Oct 21 (DN) SL Para sprinter Janani Dhananjana came up with a fine performances as she clinched the silver medal in women’s T -47 200m final at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya Japan yesterday. This is Janani’s debut 200m international medal and it was more significant as she clocked her personal best of 25.80 seconds to grab the silver medal. The top three athletes of the final had a close fight and Thailand’s Sasirawan Inthachot claimed the gold medal, finishing in 25.23 seconds more..

Oct 21 (NW) Sanath Jayasuriya-backed SPICEUP lauSamagi Spice Exports (Pvt) Ltd has recently launched SPICEUP, a new Sri Lankan beverage brand featuring cricket legend Sanath Jayasuriya as its brand ambassador, with plans to take value-added Ceylon cinnamon products to international markets. The launch was held at the Uni of Ruhuna in Matara, marking the company’s expansion from traditional spice exports into the beverage industry. The new beverage range, developed using more..

Oct 21 (DN) FIFA has approved a major increase in financial support for SL football, raising its funding from US$10 million to US$25 million from next year, while also approving the distribution of 25,000 footballs to support the development of the game across the country. Book Beach Resorts The decision was taken at a FIFA Council meeting in Oct 2026 which was held at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. The meeting was chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino two days ago, more..

Oct 21 (TM) A total of 784 wild elephants have died from gunshot injuries, electrocution, hakka patas explosives and train collisions in SL from 2023 to date this year, Minister Dammika Patabendi said, as Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa called for stronger protection measures. Gunfire accounted for the highest number of deaths at 303, followed by electrocution (229), hakka patas (193) & train collisions (59). more..

Oct 21 (ANI) Minister Ananda Wijepala, represented SL in the First BIMSTEC Home Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi, India, on October 13, reaffirming SL’s commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in addressing shared security challenges across the Bay of Bengal region. The inaugural meeting, hosted by Govt of India under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah brought together representatives of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, SL, Thailand. more..

Oct 21 (DM) SL’s banks expanded lending to the overseas borrowers by more than half in the year to June, channelling over a third of their foreign currency loans offshore, even as signs of stress linked to the Middle East conflict began to surface in their loan books. Lending to overseas entities, which covers the loans booked through both banks’ overseas branches and their domestic branches, grew 51.9% year-on-year (YoY) by end-June 2026, accelerating from 32.3% a year earlier. more..

Oct 21 (DM) SL’s first insulin manufacturing plant is expected to begin production in 2027, following the completion of construction and the necessary validation processes, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said. The facility, established by Premium International Injectable (Pvt) Ltd. at the Koggala Export Processing Zone in Galle, represents an investment of more than Rs. 3 billion. Minister made these remarks during a visit to the facility more..

Oct 21 (DM) Sri Lanka aims to increase the share of land allocated for industrial activities from the current 0.03% to at least one percent by 2030, as the government seeks to attract more investment, expand industrial production and support business growth while safeguarding the environment, Minister Sunil Handunnetti said. Speaking at Presidential Environment Awards Ceremony 2026, at the BMICH, Handunnetti said the land shortages remained a major obstacle to industrial expansion, more..

Oct 21 (FT) Customs data indicates that SL’s tea export earnings reached approximately $ 1.083 billion during the Jan–Sept 2026 period, compared with $ 1.163 billion earned during the corresponding period of the previous year. Despite September export volumes declining to 23 MnKg from 23.7 MnKg a year earlier, cumulative earnings in SL Rupees increased to Rs. 350 billion from Rs. 347 billion. This improvement was largely attributable to the depreciation of Rupee against US dollar. more..

Oct 21 (FT) Around 91.7% of SL’s registered individual taxpayers are yet to file income tax returns for the 2025/2026 year of assessment ahead of the November deadline, the IRD said, warning of fines, additional assessments and prosecution for non-compliance. Only about 100,000 returns have been filed since the online facility opened on 1 July, out of nearly 1.2 million registered taxpayers, leaving nearly 1.1 million outstanding, IRD Deputy Commissioner General more..

Oct 21 (FT) A delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) visited the SL Export Development Board (EDB) as part of its recent visit to SL to explore opportunities for strengthening bilateral trade, investment, and business cooperation between India and SL. The delegation was led by VKC Foot Gear Ltd., Managing Director VKC Razak and comprised Loom Solar Ltd, Director Amod Anand, Alloy Steels CEO Ravi Chandraskhekhar Dolli, Rajagiri Hospital Head of Dept more..

Oct 21 (Island) Prof. G.L. Peiris said he had not been concerned at all about being arrested when the CIABOC summoned him to record a statement regarding an ongoing investigation. Addressing the media outside the CIABOC, former Minister emphasised that his family had never taken anything from people but contributed to their welfare. Peiris said that he didn’t accept lucrative opportunities abroad but remained committed more..

Oct 21 (Island) On Oct 15, Chinese govt-owned China Merchants Port Holdings submitted a regulatory filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, formally implementing a mutual settlement agreement with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and local partner, Access Engineering. With it, the process to wind down the US$ 392 million South Asia Commercial and Logistics Hub project began. The SL media and policy circles in general reacted with predictable alarm. more..

Oct 21 (Island) The death of Tusker Kavantissa is more than the loss of one of Sri Lanka’s most remarkable wild elephants. It exposes uncomfortable questions about how we protect our natural heritage, how conservation decisions are made, and why repeated warnings have failed to produce meaningful reforms. His death should compel us to examine not only what happened to one extraordinary animal, but also the deeper weaknesses in our wildlife conservation more..

Oct 21 (GV) SL’s inflation reached 8% in Sept 2026, above the Central Bank’s 3-7% target band for a third straight month and another push is coming from abroad. Brent crude settled near $107 a barrel on Oct 19, about 75% higher than a year earlier. The war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 has widened: Houthi forces have struck Riyadh’s airport and Saudi oil infrastructure, tankers are under attack around Hormuz, and a Russia-Ukraine energy truce has collapsed. more..

Oct 21 (ST) About 10 years ago, International Trade Administration website of the US Dept of Commerce had the following introduction to trade with SL: “SL imposes a variety of import duties, which combined can result in high duty rates. US exporters should be aware that fees incurred when exporting to SL include the customs-import tariff, Export Development Board levy, Value Added Tax (VAT), Port and Airport tax, Nation Building Tax, Port Handling charges, and agent commissions, more..

Oct 21 (TM) Galgamuwa is a paradise for tuskers in SL, not only for its abundant water bodies, its rocky outcrops that elephants’ favour for breeding and its forests that shelter them by day, but also for the efforts of the Dept of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) officials who look after its elephants. Kawanthissa, Galgamuwa’s famous tusker, was described by photographers as one of the most majestic tuskers in the wild. more..

Oct 21 (TM) Suicide has been defined as an act with a fatal outcome that is deliberately initiated and carried out with the expectation or knowledge that it will result in death. For every suicide, it is estimated that there are many more episodes of non-fatal self-harm. Suicide remains a major global public health concern and is one of the leading causes of death among young people. According to data, SL's suicide rate in 2022 was approximately 15 per a population of 100,000, more..

Oct 21 (TM) At 11.43 on Saturday morning, a generating unit dropped off the national grid and, within 30 seconds, the whole country was plunged into darkness. Consequently, millions of households, shops and small workshops lost the better part of a working day. Although essential services returned by mid-afternoon, much of the island waited until around seven. Significantly, the National System Operator (NSO) has since said something worth reading twice. A generating unit tripping, more..

Oct 21 (DM) This year, SL marks 150 years since rubber was first planted on its soil, a milestone that goes back to 1876, when a shipment of young Hevea brasiliensis seedlings arrived at the Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens in Gampaha. Grown from seeds smuggled out of the Amazon by British botanist Henry Wickham and germinated at Kew Gardens in London, these saplings had travelled further than any crop had before more..

Oct 21 (DM) Sri Lanka stands at a familiar and dangerous juncture. A procedural controversy has once again been converted into a contest over identity, loyalty and political advantage. Social media has accelerated the distortion, political actors are calculating the returns, and ordinary citizens are left to absorb the tension. The question is no longer whether the country can afford another cycle of manufactured division. The present generation has already answered that it cannot. more..

Oct 21 (DM) Election Commission has expressed its grave concern over social media and artificial intelligence (AI) influence on voters, which the commission fears could reach a dangerous level in future. This is an undeniable fact given the politicisation of social media platforms, especially Facebook, where vulgar language used by content creators, especially when it comes to politics, results in grave misleading of viewers, and the nature of posts uploaded on those more..