Feb 15 (Island) Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne informed Parliament on Friday (that he intended to take necessary action regarding requests made by MPs concerning allegations over USAID funding in SL. He made this statement in response to a question raised by Opposition MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, who sought a clarification on the matter. Jayasekara noted that SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa had sent a letter to the Speaker calling for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) more..

Feb 15 (EN) SL’s coconut auction volumes dropped to 21,569 nuts, with 89,687 nuts offered, recording an all time low at this week’s auction. The auction was conducted at a fixed price of 140,000 rupees for a thousand nuts for the fourth straight week on Feb 13. It is uncertain why all the nuts offered were not bought at the auction. Last week 177,362 nuts were offered, down and 173,007 nuts were sold. Volumes offered at the auction have moved down after a fixed price of 140 per nut was agreed. more..

Feb 15 (EN) Migration of skilled SL workers could slow the recovery of the island nation’s bankrupted economy, Central Bank officials warned. More Sri Lankans seek greener pastures and are going abroad for foreign jobs since the island nation declared sovereign debt default in 2022. A record 312,836 people left the country last year, surpassing the previous record high of 310,953 hit in 2022, data from SLFEB showed. more..

Feb 15 (ST) On Thursday, a day after the govt announced the minimum purchase price for paddy, farmers in Vavuniya contacted the regional office of the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) – only to be told that they could start work only the next day, as they had not received allocated funds. The disappointed farmers were turned back, and among them, some had already made up their mind to sell their Nadu harvest to a private paddy collector at Rs 125 – five rupees higher than the govt-announced price. more..

Feb 15 (Island) Japanese Ambassador Akio Isomata signed two grant contracts under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) with two NGOs, Humanitarian Development Organization (HDO) and Nuffield School for Deaf and Blind, during his first trip to the Northern Province, a press release issued by the Embassy said. The signing took place in the presence of Northern Province Governor, Nagalingam Vethanayahan, at the latter’s office in Jaffna. more..

Feb 15 (FT) Minister Vijitha Herath will attend the 8th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) to be held on 16 and 17 Feb, in Muscat, Oman. The Indian Ocean Conference is a flagship consultative forum for countries in the Indian Ocean region, organised annually by the Ministry of External Affairs of India, in association with the India Foundation. The 8th edition of the conference organised in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman will focus on the theme Voyages to New Horizons of more..

Feb 15 (EN) Rumblings of discontent with within SJB to a head, with information coming out that senior parliamentarian Harsha de Silva being denied Colombo district leadership, party officials said. “I was not given the leadership,” de Silva told reporters who crowded around his car after a party meeting Friday. “There is a no disappointment. This is not something that one can get by pressuring or crying. The leader has kept the position in addition to the national leadership.” more..

Feb 15 (EN) Central Bank has not seen a strong demand for foreign exchange despite speculations that there will be demand after relaxing the ban on vehicle imports, Assistant Governor Chandranath Amarasekara said. The new govt relaxed a vehicle import ban last month amid pent up demand to import new vehicles. However, the new imports are allowed with a 50% surcharge on the import duty. more..

Feb 15 (DM) SL’s inflation is expected to increase sizeably in the third quarter this year (3Q25), with the possibility of it hovering around 2 percentage points above the inflation target in mid-2026, the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) said in its monetary policy report that was released yesterday. “Nonetheless, headline inflation is forecast to converge to the targeted 5% level over the medium term, supported by the implementation of appropriate policy measures,” it said. more..

Feb 15 (FT) Ambassador of Türkiye in SL, Semih Lütfü Turgut, yesterday called on Secretary to the Prez Dr. Nandika Kumanayake at the Presidential Secretariat. During the discussion, Ambassador Turgut reaffirmed Türkiye’s unwavering commitment to supporting SL in achieving its economic development goals while further strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations. He also praised the Govt’s Clean Sri Lanka program and expressed Türkiye’s willingness to assist more..

Feb 15 (DM) Every year, as winter arrives, thousands of migratory birds fly south in search of food and water. Many of them find a temporary home on Mannar Island, SL’s largest island. This special place welcomes birds from over 30 countries, offering wetlands where they can rest, feed, and breed for nearly six months before returning home. Mannar is an important stop on the Central Asian Flyway, a major migration route for birds. more..

Feb 15 (FT) The National Organic Control Unit (NOCU), the competent authority for organic agriculture in SL under SL Export Development Board (EDB), launched its ambitious, islandwide initiative of awareness programs to promote organic farming practices recently. As part of the national program, the first awareness programme planned for 2025 was held successfully in Jaffna on 21 Jan at J Hotels. The event drew an enthusiastic crowd of approximately 100 participants. more..

Feb 15 (FT) The Hayleys Group has maintained its strong growth momentum during the first nine months of the financial year ending 31 March 2025, recording a 53% y-o-y increase in Profit Before Tax to Rs. 22.52 billion. Performance was upheld by improvements in the core results of several key verticals as the Group leveraged its diversity to remain resilient to external challenges as well as ongoing focus on operating efficiencies and effective management of finance costs. more..

Feb 15 (FT) Colombo stock market yesterday ended the week on the up thanks to a strong uptick in indices amidst improved turnover. ASPI and active S&P SL20 gained by 2% thereby enhancing the week’s increase to 1.2% and 0.9% respectively. Earlier in the week the indices were bearish. Turnover yesterday was Rs. 5 billion, above the week’s average of Rs. 3.2 billion. Brokers and analysts welcomed the rebound ahead of the 2025 Budget to be presented on Monday by Prez more..

Feb 15 (FT) SL’s tourist arrivals have shown a strong growth, rising 17% year-on-year (YoY) in the first half of February with 115,043 visitors welcomed. This has also propelled the year-to-date arrivals surpass 370,000 tourists in the first 14 days, marking a 20% YoY increase compared to the same period in 2024. The daily arrival average climbed to 8,849 visitors from 7,573 during the same period last year. Industry analysts opined that if the current pace continues, SL could see just over 250,000 arrivals in Feb more..

Feb 15 (ST) Dengue mosquitoes from the past as old as the 1920s, a colony of cockroaches from the present, snow-white rabbits, a flock of sheep ensconced within premises in the very heart of bustling Borella, along with state-of-the-art machines, advanced technology and trailblazing work and research. The Medical Research Institute (MRI), soon to have a name-change to the National Reference Laboratory Centre for Bio-medical more..

Feb 15 (Island) TNPF leader and MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has been summoned to appear before the Mallakam Court on 14 Feb for allegedly organising a protest in Jaffna in defiance of a court order. The court order was issued following information received by the Kankesanthurai Police that a group led by MP Ponnambalam was planning to stage a demonstration in front of the Tissa Rajamaha Viharaya in Kankesanthurai. The order explicitly prohibited any form of protest within more..

Feb 15 (Island) Norochcholai coal-fired power plant, which came to a standstill on Sunday due to an emergency grid shutdown across the country, shuddered back into life yesterday, feeding the starved grid. CEB announced that there would be no more power cuts. The public, troubled by planned power outages, which are as problematic as unplanned ones, must have heaved a sigh of relief. However, there is no guarantee that the problems that caused the Norochcholai plant shutdown more..

Feb 15 (DM) A bizarre situation has arisen in the country where Opposition parties fear to speak about the past while the ruling NPP fears to speak about the present. This is clearly evident during the talk-shows telecast in various TV channels. The politicians of the Opposition parties during these talk-shows are very fond of discussing the current issues on the rice prices, coconut shortage and the island-wide power outage that happened last Sunday after which a short power-cut more..

Feb 15 (ST) Ven Wathawana Sirisumana Nayake Thera was conferred the title Deputy Chief Sangha Nayake of the Kotte Raja Maha Vihara Chapter of the Kotte Sri Kalyani Samagri Dharma Maha Sangh Sabha of the Siam Sect yesterday at the Siam Royal Temple. Born on Apr 15, 1958 in Imaduwa, Galle, he was ordained at the age of 10 years under the tutelage of Ven Wathawana Dharmarama Nayake Thera at the Sri Saddharama Purana Vidyalaya. Thera continued his monastic education more..

Feb 15 (DM) The first part of this article published last week briefly outlined the history of SL’s national anthem being sung in Tamil. In this second and final part, the focus would be on the regress and progress of the national anthem rendition in Tamil over the years. As stated earlier the Tamil national anthem issue is in a sense symptomatic of the escalating ethnic crisis in SL. All things changed utterly in SL as the ethnic conflict escalated more..

Feb 15 (DM) Truth, the idiom goes is often stranger than fiction. Our country seems to embody this truism. Days ago we were jolted when media reported the Attorney General -whose independent status has withstood numerous changes as per the Constitution- advised law enforcement authorities that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the three persons accused of abducting the driver of - Lasantha Wickrematunge- Editor of the now defunct Sunday Leadernewspaper. more..

Feb 15 (TM) According to recent Govt statements, all State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are set to undergo reforms to improve governance and prevent corruption. The Boards of Directors of SOEs are to determine whether continuation, reforms, or private capital are necessary. In this context, the nature of anti-corruption reforms to be implemented and the measures to ensure sustainability are critical concerns. Minister Nalinda Jayatissa stated that in order to implement governance and more..

Feb 15 (TM) A dearth of evaluators and a lack of regulation of driving schools are creating challenges for the Dept of Motor Traffic (DMT), which experts say is contributing to dangerous roads. DMT Assistant Commissioner Sujeewa Tennakoon noted that on any given day, an evaluator oversaw about 40 trials, which included verification of identity, estimation of training, verification of documents and medical documents, more..

Feb 15 (ST) At a time that even the US wants to increase tariffs on imports, is there a problem if SL too increases its import controls to promote local production? This is a question that I received from a reader of my column. He had sent it referring particularly to my recent articles in this column on SL’s protectionist policies resulting in higher domestic prices of rice and other food stuff. If and when SL also develops to the US level in the future, we can then engage in this comparison more..

Feb 15 (CT) Addressing the nation on the 77th Independence Day more than a week back, Prez Anura Kumara sought to make the people a part of the struggle to ‘attain comprehensive economic, social and cultural freedom’ and not just expectant beneficiaries after they had put him and his comrades in elected power last year. He dubbed it too Aragalaya, which has a context and content of its own in the nation’s contemporary social, political & economic history. more..

Feb 14 (NF) An expert committee has been appointed to overlook the process of cleaning the Beira Lake and submit recommendations for its development. Minister Anura Karunathilaka said that the committee will consist of 12 experts in the field. Despite several attempts to clean the lake, previous projects have not yielded successful results. The Minister revealed that 21 sewage channels in Colombo, including four major ones, currently flow into the Beira Lake. more..

Feb 14 (NW) Two, including a social media activist, have been arrested for defrauding Rs. 2.9 million online under a fake account identified as Little Harts. The suspects had defrauded the public by collecting donations under the fake account. Investigations by the Computer Crime Investigation Division of the Police had led to the arrest of the two suspects yesterday. 28-year-old social media activist, identified as Dulan Maheshitha, was arrested in Pallivasalthurai area in Kalpitiya. more..

Feb 14 (AD) Attorney General has filed indictments in the Colombo High Court against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the second son of former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his grandmother Daisy Forrest Wickremesinghe under the Money Laundering Act. AG has filed the indictments against these defendants for failing to disclose how they acquired lands and properties at Sirimalwatta Uyana in Ratmalana and Dehiwala areas valued at more..

Feb 14 (AD) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Most Ven. Dr. Gallelle Sumanasiri Thera as the Chancellor of Rajarata University. The official letter of appointment was presented to Most Ven. Dr. Gallelle Sumanasiri Thera this afternoon by the Secretary to the Prez Nandika Kumanayake. Most Ven. Dr. Gallelle Sumanasiri Thera, who has been appointed as the Chancellor of the Rajarata Uni, is the Chief Incumbent of Harankahawa Molagoda Rajamaha Viharaya. more..

Feb 14 (NW) A new National Sports Council was appointed Friday by Youth and Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage to provide guidance on the development, promotion, and governance of sports in Sri Lanka. Former Sri Lanka rugby captain Priyantha Ekanayake has been named chairman of the council. Ekanayake has previously served as chairman of both the Sri Lanka and Asian Rugby Unions and has played professional rugby in New Zealand and Wales. more..