Jun 23 (Island) JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament on Tuesday that the Opposition had given the govt one week to present a plan, if any, to save the country from the present crisis, or step down. “There is no use of this Parliament if it cannot find solutions for the problems of the people. It has lost its legitimacy. There is no point in sitting of this House. The govt, if it cannot solve the crisis, should go home. Opposition parties have decided to give one week’s deadline more..

Jun 23 (FT) Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday approved amending the minimum age of females who plan to take up employment overseas to 21 years. The proposal to this effect submitted by Minister Manusha Nanayakkara was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday. At present, the minimum age to take up employment as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia is 25 years and, in other Middle East countries it is 23 years, whilst for the rest of the world, it is 21 years. more..

Jun 23 (Island) The Board of Directors of the CEB has continuously made quite significant payments to its workers in violation of a decision taken by the Cabinet-of-Ministers on 14 Nov. 2008 and Management Services Circular of No 39 of May 26, 2009. This was revealed during the proceedings of the COPE on 10 June, when the CEB top management appeared before the parliamentary watchdog. more..

Jun 23 (CT) Colombo Chief Magistrate Nandana Amerasinghe, on Tuesday approved the Illegal Assets and Property Investigation Division of the CID to summon reports from the Department of Registration of Persons, the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Election Commission, National Water Supply and Drainage Board and the CEB, to ascertain the connection to a spate of crimes committed by Ganemulla Sanjeewa alias Sanjeewa Kumara Samaratunga. more..

Jun 23 (Island) Power and Energy Ministry will take steps to release 125,000 litres of diesel for the distribution of urea fertiliser provided by the Indian govt for paddy cultivation during the Yala season. A Power and Energy Ministry official said that they were looking into the request made yesterday by Agriculture, Wildlife and Wildlife Conservation Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. The govt will take delivery of 65,000 tonnes of urea for the 2022 Yala season on 6 July under Indian credit line. more..

Jun 23 (DN) The promising off spinner Lakshitha Manasinghe had a fine figures of 5 for 82 as Austrlia’’A’ were bowled out for 254 in the first innings against SL ‘A in their second day of the second four day game played at Mahinda Rajapaksa Int'l cricket stadium Hambantota yesterday. SL ’A’ declared their overnight total of 330 for 9 wickets in the first innings and they were 27 for 2 wickets at close with a lead of 103 runs. Skipper Kamindu Mendis (14) and night watchman more..

Jun 23 (FT) Tourism Minister Harin Fernando holds special discussions with travel agents and foreign envoys in the UK, France and Germany to promote Sri Lanka. Minister Fernando, who was in the UK on a private visit, had appealed to the travel industry there to promote Sri Lanka and to help the hard-hit economy to recover from the ongoing economic crisis. Sri Lanka High Commissioner in the UK Saroja Sirisena has made arrangements for the Minister to engage with the travel trade. more..

Jun 23 (DM) The death of a two day old infant reported from Diyatalawa during mid-May sent shock waves across social media platforms. This death had been the 86th autopsy conducted by Dr. Shanaka Pathirana the JMO at Diyatalawa Hospital. His account published on his Facebook wall read that the infant who had been feeding less on breast milk had turned yellow and due to a low sugar level he had to be admitted to hospital. more..

Jun 23 (EN) An auction for 93 billion rupees of Treasury bills failed after most bids were rejected to fix 3, 6 and 12 month yields despite severe forex shortages triggering fuel, medicine and food shortages in the worst currency crises in the history of the central bank. The debt office offered 93 billion rupees of bills and sold only 30.7 billion rupees. Sri Lanka offered 40 billion rupees of 3-month bills at an auction on June 22 and only 19.8 billion rupees was accepted to fix more..

Jun 23 (FT) Expolanka Holdings thrilled investors with a hefty Rs. 8.19 per share cash interim dividend for FY23. In FY22 Expolanka paid a dividend of Rs. 1.17 per share and 50 cents per share in FY21. The interim dividend was announced after the market was closed. Yesterday the share price of Expolanka increased by Rs. 4 (2.38%) to close at Rs. 172.25. Expolanka in FY22 announced stellar results amidst global and local shocks, reinforcing its resilience and fruition of its recent strategies. more..

Jun 23 (CI) Commonwealth Games are a little over a month away, and SL captain Chamari Athapaththu is under no illusions as to how important the upcoming limited-overs series against India is in terms of preparation, especially for a side that is high on potential, but rather light on experience. "We have to play the Commonwealth Games in July, we're leaving on the 25th. This series against India is very important for us more..

Jun 23 (ST) SL’s Excise Department is in the process of enhancing revenue collection and strengthening tax administration with the aim of contributing much needed cash for state coffers in the severe economic crisis, top official of the department said. It has collected Rs. 80 billion up now this year from the set target of Rs.180 billion even during the period of economic difficulty tiding over the present crisis, Commissioner General of Excise M.J. Gunasiri told the Business Times. more..

Jun 23 (FT) SL’s Melanie Janine Kanaka, FCMA, CGMA became the first-ever Asian woman elected as the President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the world’s largest professional body of management accountants and Co-Chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), which represents the combined membership of CIMA and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). more..

Jun 23 (ST) The new Minister of Sports, Roshan Ranasinghe, raising concerns and the present status of the Diyagama Track and Field Stadium, has hinted that the facility could be transferred to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), owing the heavy cost involved in maintaining the country’s second synthetic track and field sports complex. Minister had made the desire in giving charge the authority to SLC, after making an observation tour earlier this week. Issuing a statement, Secretary to Ministry of Sports, more..

Jun 23 (TM) Fuel queues are now an eminent daily curse that everyone who owns a two-, three-, or four-wheeler has to face. This is in addition to the agriculture and fisheries sector that is also severely affected. It has become the common enemy of all these segments of consumer groups, and fuel is an absolute necessity for daily life of all citizens alike. It is a fact that there is a shortage of supply for many valid reasons, but it is critical that we manage the supply & distribution of fuel to all user groups more..

Jun 23 (CI) Is this it? Have they arrived? Is this the new Sri Lanka? The future? Bright? Blinding as the sun? Energy. Remember that? Batters who will whisk the team out of a hole. Bowlers who will make an anthill of a target seem like a forbidding Himalayan peak. Fielders who don't comically clang into each while circling under a gently descending catch. It has been long enough. Too long. Years since more..

Jun 23 (Island) SL’s rugby is set to benefit immensely with many mercantile establishments tying up with the country’s men’s and women’s rugby teams which are preparing to contest the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. All establishments backing the island’s rugby sevens teams in their capacity as sponsors had encouraging words for the players and the sport when their representatives spoke at a media briefing hosted by Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) yesterday more..

Jun 23 (Island) Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision in favour of Dhammika Perera anent a petition against his appointment as a National List (NL) MP of the SLPP, reminds us of a serious discrepancy between a section of the Parliamentary Election Act No 1 of 1981 and some provisions of the Constitution, governing the NL appointments. Strangely, this incongruity has gone unaddressed all these years, and outsiders continue to be catapulted to Parliament via the NL, some notable cases more..

Jun 23 (ST) Have some trade unions, not all, become a harbinger of bad news? This is what a colleague asked me the other day when there was outrage over reports of high salaries of a few top officials of the CEB who are powerful union leaders. No one would grumble if officials are paid handsomely for a hard day’s work (that’s an example followed by Singapore) but only if it is within the means of such state organisations to adequately compensate their workers. more..

Jun 23 (CT) Amidst a US dollar shortage crippling the economy and causing social unrest, remittances, SL’s largest foreign exchange (FX) earner since 2009, saw earnings fall for the twelfth consecutive month to last month. The reason for this is CBSL instituting a controlled exchange rate (ER) regime since 28 April 2021, complemented by artificially inflating the rupee value in the ER to control cost-push inflationary pressure and show govt’s external debt in rupee terms of being at a lower value. more..

Jun 23 (TM) In a context where SL has very limited and not-so-promising options to face the possible food crisis and the worsening economic crisis, preparing the country to minimise the impacts of the same and save resources seems to be one of the best available options. One measure that the Govt took in this regard was introducing a four-day work week for public sector employees with Fridays being declared an off-day for those more..

Jun 23 (TM) The current economic crisis is an opportunity to not only learn how to survive in dire living conditions, but also to adopt innovative ways to deal with problems. One of the major decisions the authorities have taken with regard to using new technology – firstly to reduce the spread of Covid-19, and now to save fuel and reduce other costs – was encouraging people to work from home. Online education was also a topic of discussion during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, regarding more..

Jun 23 (CT) Interim PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, on his sixth term, has just completed a month in office. Nobody expects the newly anointed PM to come charging on a white steed like a modern-day Sir Galahad to save the country from economic bankruptcy. From the start, there is a lot of skepticism about his success as PM as the fully empowered Prez Rajapaksa is riding on his back. Many protesters see him as a proxy of Gotabaya, who refuses to resign. more..

Jun 23 (TM) Sri Lanka’s students have been facing challenge upon challenge since early 2020, starting with repeated Covid-related lockdowns, during which school education more or less fell apart. Hot on the heels of the Covid recovery came the economic crisis, resulting in ongoing food and fuel shortages, once again hampering children’s education. Beset as they are on all fronts, with learning continually disrupted, more..

Jun 23 (DM) Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the worst President we’ve had. He is the worst leader, counting all presidents, prime ministers, ministers, chairpersons of local govt authorities and maranaadhara samithi. He is the worst Sri Lankan ever. Let’s assume. Let’s assume that as the all-powerful Executive Prez, all ills are attributable to him. Let’s assume that although this implies that he can lay claim to all positives, he had nothing to do with effectively handling Covid-19 situation, more..

Jun 23 (DM) It is a publicly acknowledged fact that Prez Rajapaksa, the PM and the Ministers in particular and SLPP govt in general should be held responsible for having failed and that too, miserably to adopt timely counter-measures to preempt the current political and economic crises engulfing SL resulting in farmers being left without fertilizer; tens of thousands of consumers compelled to languish in kilometre-long queues to obtain their quota of petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic gas more..

Jun 22 (EN) SL’s central bank has tightened border transactions reporting with a new system in the latest control on the people as the country suffers the worst currency crisis in the history of the intermediate regime monetary authority. International Transactions Reporting System will be implemented from June 21. A new bureaucracy called the ITRS Monitoring Unit, has been set up at the central bank. “These reporting requirements are exercised based on the powers conferred by more..

Jun 22 (AD) Fort Magistrate’s Court has granted fresh bail to SLPP MP Johnston Fernando over the incidents of violence at Galle Face and Kollupitiya on May 09. Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage ordered to release under new bail conditions the former minister, who is named as the 28th accused in the case filed over the attacks on protesters at GotaGoGama in Galle Face and MinaGoGama near Temple Trees. MP was ordered released on 2 personal bonds of Rs. 10 m each more..

Jun 22 (PTI) SL's economy has completely collapsed and it is facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe warned on Wednesday, underscoring the urgency of arriving at an early agreement with the IMF to obtain an additional credit facility. SL has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 which has prompted an acute shortage of more..

Jun 22 (CT) SL’s High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda met the External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar on Monday to discuss the way forward with regard to Indian assistance in stabilising and recovering the ailing SL economy. At the outset, High Commissioner Moragoda briefed Minister Jaishankar on the present developments in SL and thanked him for his personal involvement in continuing the assistance that India has extended to SL in the form of credits for essential more..

Jun 22 (EN) Sri Lanka is exploring the possibility of conducting tea auctions in US dollars but it requires central bank approval, Plantations Minister Ramesh Pathirana told parliament amidst the worst currency crises in the history of the 72-year old monetary authority. “We have submitted this proposal to the (Sri Lanka) Tea Board. They have said the decision to transmit dollars down the chain rests with the exporters,” Minister Pathirana told parliament on June 22. more..