Sep 3 (DM) Two scanning machines worth Rs. 50 million were installed this afternoon at the arrival terminal of the SL Customs at the BIA. The new machines will help speed up baggage clearance for the 20,000 passengers who arrive daily, while also improving efficiency in Customs operations. German-made scanners can produce 3-dimensional images of items inside passenger luggage. They have been allocated for use at Red Channel for businessmen and No Disclosure channel, more..

Sep 3 (TM) National Committee on Women will soon be upgraded to a National Commission on Women with a legal mandate, Deputy Minister Dr. Namal Sudarshana said. He said that the proposed Commission would have the authority to discuss and make recommendations on laws relating to women, adding that the necessary approvals for its establishment have already been received. “National Committee on Women has been intervening in matters related to women since 1993. more..

Sep 3 (FT) A Parliamentary oversight committee has flagged land allocation delays as a major bottleneck for industrial growth, with lawmakers told it can take up to four years to secure land for new projects. Parliament Secretariat yesterday said that allocating land for industrial development was a major issue that arose when the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Economic Development and International Relations more..

Sep 3 (DN) Sri Lanka Economists Association (SLEA) has decided to hold its 2025 Annual International Conference on the theme Transforming the Service Sector for SL’s Economic Revival later this year. The international conference will be held based on articles and research papers prepared by experts representing various fields such as social, economic, and political, explaining the importance of the agriculture, industry, and service sectors for the development of the Sri Lanka economy. more..

Sep 3 (DN) Three Lankan weightlifters Indika Dissanayake, Dilanka Isuru Kumara and Sandu Jayawardena have qualified for Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow. 37 SL weightlifters took part at the recently concluded Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships held in Hyderabad and were able to clinch 14 medals (6 silver and 8 bronze). It was a great achievement by SL lifters. This meet conducted in three categories Junior, Youth and Senior while five SL Youth more..

Sep 3 (ST) The developer of the govt’s e-procurement website, promise.lk, has hit back at the Finance Ministry’s claims that it has delayed the expansion of the platform to accommodate large-scale international and national competitive (ICB and NCB) projects. Theekshana Research and Development states that the Ministry’s Electronic Govt Procurement (eGP) Secretariat had given contradicting requirements. The eGP Secretariat is responsible for implementing more..

Sep 3 (TM) With the global order being upended by arbitrary action from the Trump administration, concerns about global leadership are causing a turbulent period. Trump’s return to power in the US has triggered Europe and US allies around the world to face the grimmest security crisis since the end of World War II, and perhaps the Korean war in its aftermath. The last time something like this happened, the British empire was in dsia-cup-with-zimbabwe-t20is-1501166more..

Sep 3 (DM) Supreme Court held that the former Acting OIC of the Hatharaliyadda Police Station had violated the Fundamental Rights of a 16-year-old boy by subjecting him to wrongful arrest, torture and unlawful detention. Court found that Acting OIC Inspector Weerakoon, not only failed to produce the minor before a magistrate within the timeframe required by law but had also inflicted severe physical and psychological abuse more..

Sep 3 (Island) The FSP yesterday accused the ruling JVP-led NPP of storming and seizing its Yakkala office at Salmal Uyana, Kirindiwela Road, Yakkala in the Gampaha District. FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda told a media briefing that a group of govt-backed thugs had forcibly entered the premises, around 6 am, assaulted party members, and thrown them out before taking control of the office. Six of its members were injured in the incident and hospitalised. more..

Sep 3 (FT) NSBM Green University Founding Vice Chancellor Prof. E.A. Weerasinghe was honoured as Most Visionary Leader – 2025 at the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year (SLEOTY) Awards 2025 by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL). Prof. Weerasinghe was also conferred two Gold Awards for NSBM Green University: Gold Award in the National Extra-Large Category and Gold Award in the Western Province Extra-Large Category. more..

Sep 3 (ST) Minister Ananda Wijepala said the five notorious criminals arrested in Indonesia will be detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), enabling the authorities to obtain detention orders and question the suspects. The minister said that although the govt planned to repeal the PTA Act soon, the law would be used to detain and question hardcore criminals and crack down on organised crime until a new law was adopted. more..

Sep 3 (FT) The CIABOC received 3,937 complaints in the first seven months of 2025, of which 3,836 were valid after removing repeated complains to existing files, a progress report for the period showed. 2,682 complaints were reviewed by its committee, with 288 sent for investigation, 1,011 dismissed for insufficient facts, 489 referred to other institutions, and the balance directed for statements or further reports. At end-July, 1,154 complaints remained under review. more..

Sep 3 (FT) Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that it has approved a $ 106.9 million financing package to strengthen SL’s secondary curative care services, improve communicable disease prevention and control, and enhance the healthcare sector’s governance and management capacity. The funding for the Strengthening Integrated Health Care and Governance for Universal Health Coverage Program consists of a $ 100 million loan from the ADB and a $ 6.9 million grant from more..

Sep 3 (ST) SL’s capital markets industry is waiting with bated breath as to what the market operator will do about the CEO position at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) placed its Director General, Chinthaka Mendis, on compulsory leave, a decision that has been ratified by Finance Minister President Anura Kumara Disanayake. Mr. Mendis, who formerly served as the Litigation Director before becoming Director General in 2019, more..

Sep 3 (TM) With the global order being upended by arbitrary action from the Trump administration, concerns about global leadership are causing a turbulent period. Trump’s return to power in the US has triggered Europe and US allies around the world to face the grimmest security crisis since the end of World War II, and perhaps the Korean war in its aftermath. The last time something like this happened, the British empire was in decline, and the United Kingdom abandoned their duties more..

Sep 3 (DN) Sri Lanka team led by Charith Asalanka will get good match practice before the Asia Cup when they meet Zimbabwe in their first T-20 game of the three match series today at Harare Sports Club grounds, commencing at 5pm (SL time). The two teams have met six times in this T-20 format and SL has dominated by winning five matches, while Zimbabwe has only managed one victory. However with the home advantage Zimbabwe more..

Sep 3 (DM) Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, invested heavily in newly independent India’s relations with the People’s Republic of China, which New Delhi was among the first to recognise. Comradery with China was not just a pillar of his policy of non-alignment. It was part of Nehru’s civilisational outlook, which defined what India would become: A secular multiparty democracy, with a strong judiciary, and a military firmly under civilian political control. more..

Sep 3 (ST) Ever since the last parliamentary election perceptively changed the country’s political topography, there have been constant discussions and debates on where Sri Lanka would head in the coming decade or so. Not that the country’s politically conscious population has not been averse to sensitive change or had shut their eyes and ears to what might be ahead, sharply and devastatingly as we did some years back, imposing political and severe economic revival. more..

Sep 3 (FT) Social media is an indicator of public opinion. The quotation marks are there to indicate the imperfection of the indicator, privileging the most shrill and polarising voices. But it’s an indicator nevertheless, one that cannot be ignored. I could see that I was not winning popularity contests by pointing to the procedural flaws in the arrest of Prez Wickremesinghe. But the reactions reached a new level when I reposted a statement that former MP Nimal Lanza had been remanded more..

Sep 3 (Island) A FSP office in Yakkala came under attack yesterday morning; four persons suffered injuries. The FSP, an offshoot of the JVP, blamed a group of JVP politicians for the attack, demanding that the police arrest them forthwith. The FSP activists said the attackers were forcibly occupying their office, and named the JVP politicians who had allegedly led the attack. But the police ignored their call. What one gathers from a video footage of yesterday’s incident is that the manner more..

Sep 3 (TM) Yesterday (30) marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. This week, the second-phase excavations at the Chemmani mass grave site in Jaffna resumed after an 18-day pause. By Friday (29), day 37 of the second phase, 187 skeletal remains had been identified, of which 174 have been fully recovered. The exhumed remains are now stored at the University of Jaffna, pending next steps. more..

Sep 3 (CT) As law abiding citizens we are happy to note the developments in the arrest of most wanted criminals who operate criminal offences living in exile having fled the country. This is a menace that we were plagued in an unprecedented manner in the recent past. The wave of crimes, some blatant open day light massacres in callous disregard of Law and Order of the country and the Law enforcing authorities were shockingly incredible. There is no doubt that citizens love to live in a peaceful more..

Sep 3 (CT) Justice delayed, they say, is justice denied. For SL’s coastal communities, who lost their livelihoods in the wake of the X-Press Pearl disaster, justice has not just been delayed. It has been smothered under layers of red tape, official excuses and endless meetings. Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Agriculture & Resource Sustainability has now confirmed what affected fishermen already knew. Money meant for them has been gathering dust in the State coffers. more..

Sep 3 (CT) “The domestic salt industry, which suffered a severe setback for nearly six months due to inclement weather last year, and led to a severe shortage of salt in the local market, is returning to normal, thanks to the ongoing favourable weather conditions. The newly set production target to meet the rising demand is expected to be achieved within the next couple of months”, said Lanka Salt Ltd Chairman more..

Sep 3 (SO) Is the prison hospital a shield for privilege? In this island fractured by politics and power, where protestors still gather in the streets of Colombo, the hospital has taken on a role beyond healing. For some, it has become a refuge—a softer alternative to the harshness of a prison cell. Those with influence, a name, or simply the means to afford connections are often escorted not to the cold floor of remand, but to a prison hospital. Here, comfort tempers consequence, and justice wears more..

Sep 3 (Island) Katchatheevu Island is located in the Palk Bay, one and half nautical miles from the India-SL International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), on the Sri Lankan side of IMBL. This boundary line was ratified in 1976 in a tri-lateral Maritime Agreement signed by India, the Maldives and SL; it indicates territorial waters, Contiguous Zones and Exclusive Economic Zones of three countries and agreed/ ratified by the United Nations. So, Katchatheevu Island is Sri Lanka territory. more..

Sep 2 (AD) Police have obtained detention orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to detain and interrogate five high-profile underworld figures, including Kehelbaddara Padme, Commando Salintha, and three others, for a period of 90 days. The suspects, who were arrested in Jakarta, were brought to the country last Saturday. Of the five suspects, three are currently held in CID custody, while the remaining two are in the custody of the Western North Crime Division. more..

Sep 2 (AD) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake has affirmed that no opportunity will be given for the resurgence of racist politics in the country. Prez made this statement while participating in the inauguration ceremony of the national program කප්තුරු සවිය. Prez emphasized that racist politics have never served the general public and have merely been a tool used by politicians. He further stated that if such racist politics were to arise in any form or place, he firmly believes more..

Sep 2 (DM) For years, plantation workers’ demands for fair wages have been dragging through negotiations, court rulings and collective agreements. Yet many like Janaki remain uncertain whether any promised increase will reach them. She worries, but her need is urgent. She had to support an unwell husband and help her son continue his studies. Fifty-two-year -old Sivalingam Janaki, plantation worker from more..

Sep 2 (EN) A state-of-the-art banana tissue culture planting material production laboratory has been set up in SL’s North Central Province, with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme with China. The lab is at the North Central Provincial Agriculture Department’s In-Service Training Institute in Maha Illuppallama. It will provide high-quality banana tissue cultured planting materials to farmers more..

Sep 2 (AD) Wildlife photographer Lakshitha Karunarathna has once again brought pride to SL by being awarded at the world-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competition, organized by the Natural History Museum, London. This marks his second recognition at what is often described as the Oscars of Wildlife Photography, making him the first Sri Lankan to be awarded multiple times in the competition’s 61-year history. The WPY, which began in 1965, more..