Oct 7 (PMD) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced that the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks will be expedited, and steps will be taken to ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again in the country. He assured that justice will be delivered to the victims. Prez made these remarks during a discussion held today (6) at St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Negambo, with the families of those killed and injured more..

Oct 7 (TM) Ministry of Public Security stated that the investigations carried out into the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 are continuing based on all the facts including the recent revelations regarding the same. Public Security Ministry Secretary, retired SDIG Ravi Senevirathne said: "The investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks had already commenced, and they are continuing. The recent revelations made regarding the terror attacks are also being looked into." more..

Oct 7 (SO) Greenpeace Southeast Asia, the regional office of the global environmental organisation, Greenpeace, has called on Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake to take steps for SL to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty to safeguard ocean biodiversity, support climate change mitigation and the future of the next generations. Greenpeace South Asia Campaigner in SL, Anita Perera said that India, Bangladesh and Maldives have taken historic steps to ratify the globe ocean treaty and more..

Oct 7 (FT) Former SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva has accused Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the NPP of breaking their pre-election promises regarding the IMF agreement and debt restructuring. He claims that the NPP’s statements before and after the election are contradictory, misleading the public on critical economic policies. Dr. de Silva highlighted the inconsistencies in the NPP’s approach. more..

Oct 7 (TM) The Ministry of Finance says the special import tax on potatoes has been increased by Rs. 10 per kilogram. Meanwhile, the special import tax on a kilogram of big onions has been raised by Rs. 20. Accordingly, the Government has implemented measures to increase the import tax on potatoes from Rs. 50 to Rs. 60, an increase of Rs. 10, and the tax on imported big onions from Rs. 10 to Rs. 30, an increase of Rs. 20. more..

Oct 7 (FT) Govt has appointed new Chairmen for the four key tourism institutions. Buddhika Hewawasam has been appointed as the Chairman of both the SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and SL Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). In addition, Dheera Hettiarachchi has been appointed as the Chairman of the SL Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) and SL Convention Bureau (SLCB). Hewawasam, an aviation and travel industry professional, is also the Manager of more..

Oct 7 (DM) A team of students from Dharmapala College, St. Sebastian’s College & Elizabeth Moir School achieved international recognition by winning the Zhang Heng Award for Engineering Design at the 6th Global Challenge Robotics Competition 2024, held in Greece, from Sept 26 to 29. Competing against 193 countries, team—Raveen Akuretiyawa, Tharul Senanayake, Heveen Ramachandra, Supul Baddegama & Malik Radigal—won Zhang Heng Award for Engineering Design. more..

Oct 7 (NW) Forty foreign nationals have been arrested in Gampaha and Hanwella over their involvement in large-scale online financial scams. CID made the arrests during raids conducted at a hotel on Hanwella Road, Gampaha, and a private establishment in Hanwella, based on a tip-off. Among the arrested suspects are 30 Chinese nationals, 4 Indian nationals, and 6 Thai nationals. The group includes 29 Chinese men, 1 Chinese woman, 1 Indian man, 2 Indian women, more..

Oct 7 (ST) The govt will proceed with the last administration’s controversial decision to procure an urgent stock of N-series machine-readable passports (MRPs) from a consortium of Thales DIS Finland Oy and its SL agent, Just In Time (JIT) Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, to solve an unprecedented shortage of travel documents caused by a bungled tender. “We are not stopping that order from Thales,” said Minister Vijitha Herath, who took more..

Oct 7 (Island) After nearly a decade of lingering in the lower half of the rankings, SL’s national cricket team is on a compelling upward trajectory. Their recent historic series win against New Zealand, the first in 15 years, has catapulted them from sixth to fifth place in the ICC Test rankings. For years, SL hovered in the shadows of the top teams, often finding themselves in the bottom half of the table. But in a stunning turnaround this year, they have won six of their eight Test matches, more..

Oct 7 (DN) The Inland Revenue Dept (IRD) announced a new initiative to recover unpaid taxes from individuals by visiting their premises, after September 30 to collect taxes from those who have not paid before the deadline (Sept 30). Earlier, taxpayers were notified to settle all outstanding tax payments under the self-assessment system by September 30. A significant number of individuals have already paid their dues. However, Inland Revenue Commissioner General more..

Oct 7 (FT) The UN Global Compact regional flagship event, Forward Faster Now|Asia & Oceania, held in Kuala Lumpur on 5-6 August, marked a pivotal moment for sustainable business action across the region. Organised by the UN Global Compact in collaboration with 16 Global Compact Country Networks and Country Offices, the inaugural event brought together high-level executives, govt leaders, and sustainability experts from across Asia and Oceania. more..

Oct 7 (EN) SL’s external current account recorded a US$ 415 million surplus in the second quarter of 2024, central bank data shows, as debt repayments and reserve collections at an appropriate interest rate, allowed outflows from through the financial account. So far in 2024, the current account is about US$ 1.1 billion in surplus and economy is staring to recover. SL started to record current account surpluses from around the third quarter of 2022 when central bank stopped printing money more..

Oct 7 (Island) March 12 Movement, which consists of election monitoring groups and civil society outfits, has asked political parties not to field those who have been found guilty by courts on corruption charges and other criminal offences, at the parliamentary election scheduled to be held on 14 Nov. Executive Director of PAFFREL Rohana Hettiarachchi, who is also the co-convenor of the March 12 Movement, said that if those facing more..

Oct 7 (AD) Public Health Inspectors’ Union has reassured the public that there is no need for undue concern regarding imported coconut oil. Commenting regarding the rising suspicions surrounding the safety and quality of coconut oil entering Sri Lanka, the Chairman of the Public Health Inspectors’ Union Upul Rohana said: “When coconut oil is imported to Sri Lanka, a special inspection is conducted by food inspectors from the Food Control Unit at SL Customs. more..

Oct 7 (DM) A teledrama actor who had in his possession a stock of illegal intoxicant Methamphetamine (ICE) and attempted to escape arrest by offering a bribe of Rs.1 million to the police was taken into custody by Thanamalwila police. Suspect Edirisinghe Arachchige Asanka (26) was produced before the Wellawaya magistrate and detained for further questioning till Oct 11, on court order. He is alleged to have offered a gratification of Rs.1 million to HQI Thanamalwila police to more..

Oct 7 (DM) The collection of information about the population in SL and their residences will begin tomorrow, Census and Statistics Dept Director General Ms. Anoja Seneviratne said. While issuing a mid-year web release of the dept, she said births, deaths and migration are the main factors that affect the population change of a country. As births, deaths and migrations are a continuous process, population of a country more..

Oct 7 (FT) The SL Automobile Component Manufacturers Association (SLACMA) yesterday extended best wishes to Anura Kumara Dissanayake on being elected as the new Prez of Sri Lanka and said it looks forward to NPP’s futuristic industrial policies to uplift the automobile industry. “It is commendable to see automobile assembly and automobile component manufacturing included in the NPP policy statement,” said the Association’s President Dimantha Jayawardena. more..

Oct 7 (CB) Chamari Athapaththu, SL skipper, highlighted the inability of her batters to adjust well to the slow and low tracks of Sharjah which has resulted in two losses in as many games of their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. After being restricted to 85 for 9 against Pakistan, Sri Lanka could only manage 93 for 7 against Australia - a score overhauled in only 14.2 overs by the defending champions. Explaining the reasons for the failure of the batters, Athapaththu said, more..

Oct 7 (FT) Tourism earnings in September dipped to a four-month low in tandem with low arrivals amid the visa crisis. Sept saw tourism revenue rise by 19% YoY reaching $ 181 million, but lower by 20% in comparison to August due to decline in arrivals, a development attributed to complications emerged from the outsourcing of the visa processing system — a challenge which adversely impacted the industry’s growth in recent months. With the Govt restoring Electronic Travel Authorisation more..

Oct 7 (SO) In the landscape of SL sports, cricket, rugby and athletics have long dominated the headlines, capturing the lion’s share of attention, funding and resources. However, one sport with a proud history of international success often remains overlooked: boxing. In his passionate appeal to the nation, Dr. Anuruddha Bandara, newly elected President of the Boxing Association of SL (BASL), is determined to change that narrative, urging the govt and Corporate bodies to recognise more..

Oct 7 (DM) CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) expressed optimism that recent changes in the leadership and management of the CEB will lay a much-needed foundation to avert a looming power crisis in 2026-2027. Over the past two and a half years, under the former Minister of Power and Energy, CEBEU highlighted that politicisation of the CEB reached new levels. Key management positions, including that of more..

Oct 7 (Island) Before the 1970s, anthropology in SL, as an academic discipline, was relatively confined to a few studies. The country had only a few trained anthropologists, and the scope of anthropological research needed to be expanded. This reflected a broader trend in the social sciences in SL, where subjects like sociology and anthropology are still required to be fully institutionalized or widely pursued. However, discipline began to change significantly in the subsequent decades, more..

Oct 7 (DM) As I went through countless election campaign videos and scrolled through dozens of photos of canvassing something stood out. Senior citizens were always in the front lines of these efforts. But were they truly there out of choice? Were promises of financial rewards, or even just a pack of rice, dangled in front of them to secure their participation? Was hunger the key tool to drag our seniors to these meetings? Did they understand what was written on placards they were more..

Oct 7 (Island) The process of submitting nominations for the 14 Nov, general election is currently underway. It is popularly thought that a person who wins the presidency stands a much better chance of steering his or her party to victory at a subsequent general election. But anything is possible in politics, where upset wins are not uncommon. What if a party other than Prez Dissanayake’s NPP wins the upcoming parliamentary polls? Dissanayake has been one of the bitterest critics of more..

Oct 7 (TM) Sri Lanka is increasingly vulnerable to online scams and identity theft, with more citizens using digital services. Last week, concerns were growing about a phishing campaign targeting customers of several Sri Lankan banks via social media posts and ads. The risk of a focused campaign against Sri Lanka’s banking sector cannot be understated. The risk to personal wealth and financial stability of the victims can also leave them in a dire situation. more..

Oct 7 (CT) In the past five years, Sri Lanka has witnessed a significant rise in the percentage of students failing the GCE O/L Exam. This trend has raised concerns across the country about the quality of education and the preparedness of students. Growing failure rate points to underlying issues within the education system that need to be addressed urgently to safeguard the future of the nation’s youth. From 2018 to 2023, more..

Oct 7 (DM) SL people have voted again for great change. They have elected a president from outside the political mainstream and rejected the political elite who have ruled the country since independence. Yet any prez that comes to power now is in an unenviable position, as they inherit an economy that is at its most fragile moment since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It is the contradiction between the fresh breath of political change and the stale forces dictating the economy that more..

Oct 7 (ST) Is the Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) Presidency which came into power on a reformist election platform able to legally justify the invocation of Section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance (PSO) using special powers to call out the armed forces for the maintenance of public order? Speaking to me soon after, a colleague ruminated as to whether this was a routine act, the signing of a gazette placed before the Prez by a staffer, the issuing of which was not so much more..

Oct 7 (DM) At the opening ceremony of Japan’s 214th Extraordinary Session of the National Diet (Parliament), SL’s Ambassador Rodney Perera, who was attending the event inaugurated by Emperor Naruhito, met the newly appointed PM Shigeru Ishiba, along with the new Cabinet of Ministers. Ambassador Perera extended warm congratulations on the new govt of SL to the new Japanese PM and the ministers. more..

Oct 7 (CT) SL celebrated the International Children’s Day on 1 Oct with several events in Colombo with the participation of the new PM, Dr Harini Amarasuriya, and other officials related to children’s issues. Both the PM and the new Prez, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, issued commendable statements related to broad children’s issues, but the two issues that I am raising here now were not directly addressed. One is the so much of Kunu Harupa (filthy language) used by social media more..

Oct 7 (DM) During the post presidential period of electioneering, all credible presidential parties and groupings save the faction led by ex-Prez Wickremesinghe, made promises of renegotiating the IMF agreement. Presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and his NPP promised to reverse the unpopular steep tax hikes, raise public servant salaries and renegotiate the unpopular IMF bailout secured by then President Wickremesinghe’s regime. more..