Jan 12 (DM) The traders in several areas of the upcountry demonstrated demanding the supply of adequate stocks of Nadu and Red rice varieties in view of the Thai Pongal festive season. A number of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim traders from Agarapathana, Manrasi and Dayagama in the Nuwara-Eliya District participated. They pointed out that the rice mill owners supplied rice at higher rates and that it was not able to sell it to the consumers at controlled prices. more..

Jan 12 (AD) Ministry of Defense has reiterated that the deadline for returning for inspection the licensed firearms issued for personal use will not be extended beyond Jan 20, under any circumstances. Firearms issued by the police and the army during the war, and currently held under personal licenses, must be returned to the Ministry of Defense by the stipulated date. Officials have also warned that legal action will be taken against individuals who fail to return the firearms by the deadline. more..

Jan 12 (TM) The Colombo Port is buckling under severe congestion as container volumes have surged dramatically, exposing critical infrastructure shortcomings and inefficiencies in Customs operations, according to Customs Spokesman Seevali Arukgoda. As per the statistics available with SL Customs, the number of containers passing through the ports has skyrocketed from an average of 800-1,200 per day to over 1,500, more..

Jan 12 (CT) Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazário, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, is currently enjoying a holiday in SL. Known for his incredible speed and goal-scoring prowess, Ronaldo, nicknamed O Fenômeno (The Phenomenon), has been soaking in the island’s beauty and charm. During his stay, he was seen on a wildlife safari in Udawalawa, appreciating the natural wonders of the region. Ronaldo’s illustrious career includes winning FIFA World Cup twice more..

Jan 12 (AD) The Indian High Commission in Colombo on the occasion of Hindi Diwas (Hindi Day) on Friday launched SL’s first Hindi Certificate Course through open and distance learning. “A milestone in India-SL academic ties on #WorldHindiDay2025. SL’s 1st Hindi Certificate Course via open and distance learning, a collaboration between @iccr_colombo and the Open University of SL, launched by High Commission @santjha, Deputy Min. Hon. Dr. Madhura Seneviratne, more..

Jan 12 (NW) SL Police distributed 30 advanced speed guns, valued at over Rs. 91 million, during a ceremony held on Jan 11, at Police Headquarters. Acting IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya presided over the event. As part of the first phase, the devices were allocated to divisional officers in Negombo, Kelaniya & Gampaha, as well as the Southern Traffic Division of the Western Province. Future plans include distributing the equipment nationwide, along with officer training on device usage. more..

Jan 12 (AD) Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical & Civil Rights has alleged misconduct by State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC), accusing it of awarding a tender to a blacklisted Bangladeshi company for the supply of disinfectant used to clean patients’ mouths. Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Prez of the alliance, criticized the tender decision, which he claims was made despite the company’s controversial status. “Serious tender transaction has occurred within the SPC in past few weeks. more..

Jan 12 (TM) The recommencement of all pending talks relating to the trade agreements SL was pursuing will be delayed until the relevant policy and procedural approvals are received, the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security, and Cooperative Development reveals. Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security & Cooperative Development Secretary K.A. Vimalenthirarajah said that although Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake had during more..

Jan 12 (Island) In a musical celebration marking the 87th birth anniversary of SL’s iconic composer Maestro Premasiri Khemadasa, British conductor Colin Jagger will lead a performance of Khemadasa’s New Year Symphony at Malalasekara Hall, Nalanda College, Colombo, on Jan 25. The concert, which also features a selection of the musician’s other works, is set to honour his legacy. Show is presented by Khemadasa Foundation and guest artists together with Navy Orchestra. more..

Jan 12 (ST) The Attorney General’s Department has stated that the Court of Appeal (CoA) lacks judicial authority to entertain an application seeking to suspend the election of office bearers at the Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka (CFSL). Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Manohara Jayasinghe, presenting objections, argued that the CFSL is not a governmental institution and, therefore, the court cannot issue a stay order to prevent the federation from holding its elections. more..

Jan 12 (ST) Sports Ministry has intensified its involvement in the govt’s Clean Sri Lanka campaign by taking firm action against the National Olympic Committee of SL (NOCSL), an organisation long plagued by deep-rooted corruption and manipulation. Following the NOCSL’s continuous failure to implement its own Ethics Committee’s recommendations to suspend Secretary General Maxwell de Silva over more..

Jan 12 (EN) Sri Lanka’s red rice which disappeared from shop shelves after price controls were strictly enforced, was due to the ex-Prez distributing rice, Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe claimed. “The last govt before the Presidential election did a dastardly (Alu-goth-theru, thaka-thiru wedak) before the prez election,” Samarasinghe told parliament. “They took red rice from mills in the South paying 10 rupee extra (per kilo) and distributed it around the country.” more..

Jan 12 (Island) The ideological Left and Right in Sri Lanka have staked out their positions on the country’s perennial rice crisis. In the view of the ideological Left, the country’s food crisis including the recent rice crisis is even traceable to the allegedly flawed IMF program. And the preferred solution is getting back to the future and achieving self-sufficiency in food based on a public distribution system that has been neglected and/or abandoned after 1977. What is conveniently forgotten is more..

Jan 12 (TM) SL Test Captain Dhananjaya de Silva’s elder brother Savithra Rathmal de Silva has been admitted to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila in a critical state on Friday night, according to Police. This was after Rathmal de Silva was injured in an attempt to evade a sword attack by an underworld gang at his Ratmalana residence, a source from the Police said. An underworld gang that had forcibly entered Rathmal de Silva’s house had tried to assault the latter with a sword. more..

Jan 12 (Island) It’s been a bruising fortnight for SL’s cricket fans as the team stumbled through the bilateral series in NZ. While losing the T20 series would have stung, the ODI defeats laid bare the long and winding road Sri Lanka must travel to truly compete with top-tier teams on foreign soil. For a side that once rewrote the script of white-ball cricket, watching their current struggles bring disappointment. Yet, there are glimmers of hope – pockets of improvement that, if nurtured, more..

Jan 12 (CI) Rapid half-centuries from Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka and Janith Liyanage put SL on course to a substantial total, before an electric new-ball spell from Asitha Fernando wrecked NZ's chase. Asitha swung the ball prodigiously in his five-over opening spell, taking 3 for 17 in that period. By the end of over seven, and chasing 291 for victory, NZ were 22 for 5, their chances all but dashed. Mark Chapman battled bravely for a run-a-ball 81, more..

Jan 12 (ST) Sports Minister Sunil Gamage’s bold decision to suspend the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of SL (NOCSL) over allegations of corruption and mismanagement should be commended. It underscores the minister’s commitment to clean up the deeply entrenched issues within SL’s sports bodies to ensure accountability and good governance. For years, these sports bodies have been plagued by allegations of corruption, inefficiency and more..

Jan 12 (Island) President Anura Kumara Dissanayake last week met four new ambassadors to Qatar, Russia, Kuwait and Egypt and our first high commissioner to New Zealand who will assume their assignments shortly. All of them are members of the Sri Lanka Overseas Service with no political appointee among them. The heads of mission were selected during the incumbency of the last regime and, in fact, had been cleared by the High Posts Committee of the last Parliament. more..

Jan 12 (ST) My dear Nalinda, I thought I should write to you this week, both because you are the spokesman for the govt and also because what you have said recently has suddenly become controversial and the subject of much debate. As you may have already realised in your new role, any publicity is not good publicity! In a cabinet where subjects were scientifically divided, your portfolio, health and media was an anomaly. It was like higher education and highways during yahapalanaya more..

Jan 12 (ST) Last week, the Supreme Court in the case relating to a decision to award free marks for the leaked part of last year’s Grade 5 Scholarship Exam paper made some piercing observations on public service decision-making and the independence of state officials vis-ŕ-vis higher political and supervisory officers. The judgment highlights the authority vested by law in a public functionary’—in this instance, Commissioner General of Exams—to act independently more..

Jan 12 (ST) Though it is two months now since the general election, some scandals relating to certain parties and their candidates are coming to light. It has transpired that higher-ups of a newly formed political party that contested the general elections had offered Rs. 4 million to a teacher to contest the election from their party ticket in the Colombo district. The teacher, who was in govt service, had, however, found that there was more..

Jan 12 (SO) Despite being a so-called Developing country, it seems that practically everyone in Sri Lanka has two mobile phones. This is borne out by official statistics – there were 32 million active mobile connections in Jan 2024, for a population of 22 million. Most, if not all, of these phones are data-enabled smartphones that can access the Internet. Everyone realised the value of having a smartphone during the Covid-19 pandemic when schools and most offices went online. more..

Jan 12 (CT) Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink… This is often said of sea-farers, who are stuck in the middle of the seas and still do not have potable water to quench their thirst. The island nation that Sri Lanka is, the country today does not have enough salt for your dining table, and there won’t be any local salt at least until around April. The govt has since decided to import 30,000 tonnes of salt for domestic consumption. It is not only salt that is in short supply. more..

Jan 12 (TM) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and his JVP-led NPP Govt have their work cut out for them in every sphere – economic, political, and social – this year. In fact, how AKD steers his JVP/NPP Govt and the country as a whole this year will determine the future of not only the Prez and his party but that of an entire nation as well. While being engaged in the ongoing economic recovery programme, SL has to manage more..

Jan 12 (CT) The ongoing Clean SL initiative, a signature project of the new NPP Govt, appears to have got off on the wrong foot, attracting more brickbats than accolades ever since its ceremonious launch at the start of the year at the Presidential Secretariat. While no citizen in their right mind will object to the goal of making SL a cleaner, more visually appealing nation, the main grouse an increasing number of people appear to be having with the programme is that it seems to have more..

Jan 12 (CT) When at a loose end I am in the habit of pulling a book out of my bookshelf to browse through. I do it with both pleasure and profit; passing time gives perspective, offering new insights to books read long ago or casually put aside then. While reading I also tend to look up on the author, the times and the culture he lived in. There is no uniformity in literature, although its themes are universal; passion, love, jealousy, betrayal, loss, power, corruption being common themes. more..

Jan 11 (Island) Russia is seeking SL’s assistance to confirm the identities of several ex-military personnel killed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Russia has requested the relevant authorities to facilitate the identification of dead personnel through DNA testing to pave the way for the payment of compensation. Russia has assured the previous govt of sufficient compensation for those who had been killed and wounded more..

Jan 11 (EN) Sri Lanka has hiked excise taxes on cigarettes, mineral water and plastics from Jan 11, 2025, to raise additional revenues, according to a gazette notice. The increases are lower than in previous years. Tobacco taxes were raised by around 5.9% with a lower 3.4% rate for the cheapest cigarette. The excise tax for short cigarettes below 60 millimeters which compete with so-called white beedi and beedi was raised to 18,350 rupees for 1,000 sticks from 18,720 rupees. more..

Jan 11 (DM) The lawyer, who represents one of the affected women, described how these women are left in despair after their foreign spouses leave the country post-honeymoon, forcing the women to seek legal remedies to secure divorces and compensation. In the specific case taken up before Colombo Additional District Judge, the lawyer detailed how his client had been lured by promises of a better life abroad. She married a foreign national during his stay in Sri Lanka. more..

Jan 11 (EN) SL has hiked alcohol taxes by around 5.9% from Jan 11, which is higher than the rate of inflation as advocated by some interventionists, but lower than hikes in previous years. The excise tax on a (proof) litre of special arrack has been raised to 7,244 rupees in a gazette signed by President Anura Dissanayake from 6,840 rupees. Excise on coconut arrack has been raised to 7,752 rupees from 7,320 rupees. more..

Jan 11 (FT) AASL Ltd, announced that a CTB luxury bus service is now operational between BIA and Makumbura Multi-Modal Centre, offering an enhanced transportation option for travellers. The buses stationed on the main road adjacent to the Police Station in Katunayake, ensures convenient access for passengers. The move is seen as a replacement for the previous luxury shuttle service between BIA and Colombo introduced in collaboration with the Transport and more..

Jan 11 (EN) Sri Lanka’s third evaluation on its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework is postponed by one-year and rescheduled to commence in March 2026, the Central Bank data showed. The delay is due to the two national elections held last year, a Central Bank official said. Sri Lanka is facing a risk of falling into the grey list for a third time if it fails to implement strong AML/CFT measures recommended by the global body. more..