Feb 11 (EN) SL has appointed a high-level task force on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and Preparations for the island nation’s Third Mutual Evaluation which is to begin in the near future by the Asia Pacific Group (APG), the Central Bank said. The AML/CFT task force includes Retired SC Judge Buwaneka Aluwihare (Chairman), Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara, Deputy Economic Dev more..

Feb 11 (Island) This has got to be one of the most spineless Test series SL have played in their storied history stretching over four and a half decades. The Warne-Murali Trophy wasn’t just handed over – it was gift-wrapped, express-delivered, and presented with a bow to the Aussies. If you thought a lack of fight was only in politics, think again. Chamara Sampath is putting up more resistance in Parliament while Ravi Karunanayake showed more imagination in securing a National List seat for himself. more..

Feb 11 (DN) "The way we are playing the spinners at the moment, is great,” Australia skipper Steve Smith said after being adjudged Player of the Series at Galle. “We had a really good training camp in Dubai for a week before coming here, where guys were just able to work on their methods added skipper Smith who finished a memorable series at Galle to reach 10,000 test runs. “All of our batters bat differently. Usman Khawaja , Akex Carey and Josh Inglis use the sweep shot a lot. more..

Feb 11 (DN) SL ODI squad once again will be led by Charith Asalanka while the presence of white ball specialists Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Avishka Fernando and all rounder Janith Liyanage will strengthen the side. Dunith Wellalage the spin all rounder is also in the squad along with Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis who played in the test series. Jeffrey Vandersay the leg spinner also more..

Feb 11 (TM) Small-Scale Enterprise Owners’ Association/the Small- and Medium-scale Business Owners Association is demanding compensation for the losses incurred due to the islandwide power outage on 9 February. The Association's National Organiser, Niluksha Kumara, stated that the CEB needs to assess the losses caused by the outage and compensate the affected businesses. He emphasised that the CEB has repeatedly failed to address such issues in recent history. more..

Feb 11 (DN) Sustained fiscal discipline, governance improvements and investments in digital infrastructure are vital to ensuring SL’s economic recovery transitions into sustainable growth. This was opined by Senior Economist Sanjaya Ariyawansa during the presentation of the 10th Annual Outlook Report 2025 launched by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce at the Economic Review and Outlook 2025 seminar last week. Chairman of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, more..

Feb 11 (FT) Tourism Malaysia yesterday announced the launch of its Sales Mission to Colombo, aimed at rejuvenating its presence and strengthening ties with the SL tourism market. This strategic initiative follows a remarkable rise in tourism statistics, with 58,015 Sri Lankans visiting Malaysia in 2024. This is a substantial increase of 122% compared to pre-pandemic numbers in 2019, when only 26,058 Sri Lankans travelled to Malaysia. Mission highlights Malaysia’s potential as a key destination more..

Feb 11 (CT) The rugby community mourns the loss of 52-year-old Aruna Krishantha Rankothge, a respected personality and a former leading referee in SL rugby, who passed away on 10 Feb 2025. A proud alumnus of St. Sylvester’s College in Kandy, Aruna began his rugby career by representing his school from 1989 to 1991. He played as a flanker and centre for Kandy Sports Club and Kandy Youth Cricket Club. His journey into refereeing began in 1996 when he accepted the challenge of more..

Feb 11 (TM) Engaging citizens in the budget process is a core pillar of a thriving society – nurturing transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. Yet, Sri Lanka wrestles with formidable hurdles in this quest. The 2023 Open Budget Survey gives SL a score of 37 out of 100, ranking it 80th out of 125 countries and third in South Asia. As economic pressures rise, a key question emerges: can citizen involvement improve? more..

Feb 11 (DM) This year, The National Institute for Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation (NINDT) has planned a series of events to mark this significant day, aligning perfectly with the principles of awareness, education, and community engagement. Starting off the awareness campaign Dr. Rajeev Menon spoke with Dr. Sachith C. Wijesiriwardena, Acting Consultant Physician of National Institute for Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation about one of the most more..

Feb 11 (Island) Most detractors of the NPP claimed, before last year’s elections, that SL would find itself in the same predicament as Oceania in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, if the JVP-led alliance was voted into power, but thankfully their prognostication has not come true although the NPP parliamentary group is said to be under the spell of a kind of Big Brother, as evident from their regimented conduct. However, it looks as if the current dispensation needed a Ministry of Excuses, as it were, more..

Feb 11 (CT) SL once again made headlines in one of the most meme-able moments of the year with a scuffle between two monkeys reportedly causing an islandwide power outage, disrupting the entire nation’s weekend last Sunday. According to Minister Kumara Jayakody, islandwide power failure was triggered when a monkey fell onto the power lines at the Panadura grid substation. Resulting imbalance in the national grid supposedly took five hours for officials to restore power supply to the entire more..

Feb 11 (TM) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday led a high-powered SL delegation to the UAE for a 3-day official visit at the invitation of UAE Prez Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to take part in the World Govt Summit 2025, Govt confirmed. It is understood that Prez Dissanayake will explore energy supply and investment opportunities while he attends the forum. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, the public remains in the dark about what happened on Sunday when the island once again faced more..

Feb 11 (CT) In Migration and Human Resources for Health: From Awareness to Action, former Director-Organisation Development, Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, Dr. Sarath Samarage stated that migration of health human resources, was a serious problem, especially for medical officers. Some medical officers move to private hospitals or overseas to seek better salaries and work environments. more..

Feb 11 (Island) One area of focus of the Clean Sri Lanka programme, initiated by the new govt, that has enthused the people at large is the drive to clean the environment. People affected by intense noise hope that cleaning the environment will not be limited to keeping public spaces clean but will also address the issue of noise pollution. This is evident from letters to newspapers and social media posts calling upon the authorities to deal with noise pollution from varied sources, more..

Feb 11 (DM) When the repressive 15-year regime of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown by a two-month-long violent mass movement led by university students, the expectation was that sanity, peace and the Rule of Law would prevail in Bangladesh. But that faith has eroded or is fast eroding both among law-abiding Bangladeshis and their well-wishers across the world. What marks Bangladesh today, six months after the revolution against fascism, is chaos punctuated by insane vandalism. more..

Feb 11 (DM) Sri Lanka celebrated seventy-seven years of gaining independence from British rule last Tuesday (4). The occasion was of historic importance as it was the first Independence day under the presidency of Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Prez Dissanayake and his JVP led NPP Govt earned much kudos for the manner in which the 77th freedom day event was held. The 77th Independence day was celebrated with more..

Feb 11 (DM) The current controversy over the letter sent by Attorney General (AG) Parinda Ranasinghe to the CID Director to release three suspects from a case related to the murder of former Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge raises many questions. Subsequent to an uproar over the AG’s decision, his dept issued a statement stating that the letter dated 27 Jan, sent by the AG to the CID Director regarding case no. B92/2009 before the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, more..

Feb 11 (CT) Over the recent weeks two issues relating to Muslims had resurfaced to catch attention from the local media, one concerning that controversial cremation of Covid-dead Muslims during the Presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR), and the other about Rohingya Muslim refugees who started arriving in SL since 2008 when Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) was Prez. A good number of those refugees is reported to have found permanent abode in this Buddhist country, which is more..

Feb 10 (Island) ITAK leader and Kilinochchi District MP S. Sritharan sent a letter to the govt requesting that immediate steps be taken to investigate the situation concerning approximately 200 individuals from the Northern Province who are reportedly with the Russian Army, some of whom have been killed. Sritharan has said that when he inquired about this matter in Parliament, Minister Wijitha Herath had claimed those individuals had voluntarily joined the Russian Army. more..

Feb 10 (AD) Four people have reportedly died and over 25 others are injured after two buses collided on the Dambulla-Kurunegala main road in the Thorayaya area of Kurunegala, in the Doratiyawa Police Division. The incident had occurred when a private passenger bus traveling from Kaduruwela to Colombo stopped to pick up passengers, and another private bus traveling in the same direction crashed into the back of the parked bus, police said. Accordingly, the current investigation more..

Feb 10 (EN) SL’s new govt has appointed an expert panel as the first step to establish an independent prosecutor office, the Justice Ministry said, days after Attorney General’s (AG) Dept’s decision to release three suspects linked to high profile murder case. AG Dept has clearly said the move was due to lack of strong evidence to charge the three suspects. The proposed expert panel will consist two representatives from AG Dept, more..

Feb 10 (DM) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake departed Sri Lanka for the UAE today on an official visit. Invited by UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Prez will attend the World Govt Summit 2025 in Dubai and deliver a speech. He is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Prez Al Nahyan. In addition, Prez Dissanayake will meet UAE Vice President and PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and engage with several Heads of State and Govt attending the summit. more..

Feb 10 (AFP) Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne said Sunday it had been a very emotional day after his 100th and final Test ended with a defeat to Australia. The veteran opening batsman Karunaratne was given the honour of bowling the final few balls as Australia wrapped up a nine-wicket win and series sweep before lunch on the fourth day in Galle. “It has been a long career — after my family and friends, I was spending most time with my teammates," he said. more..

Feb 10 (TM) Rice prices are expected to drop during the anticipated shortage later this year and early next year given the Govt’s moves to tackle the rice mafia, according to Deputy Minister Namal Karunaratne. “The rice mafia becomes active from October to January, which is when shortages occur. That is when the State must intervene to protect consumers,” he said, revealing that rice stocks were being strategically held to counteract price more..

Feb 10 (Island) Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said that now it had been revealed that a political appointee to the CID had destroyed evidence pertaining to the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage investigations. Expressing his hope that the current govt would fulfill its promise to deliver justice for the victims of the Easter bombings, Cardinal Ranjith said that the victims were still waiting for justice, which, he said, had not been served by previous leaders. more..

Feb 10 (AD) Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Asanka Karawita has been appointed as SDIG in charge of the CID and FCID with effect from Feb 12, Police Media Division said. Furthermore, the Police Media Division states that transfers and appointments have been made for three other officers, and these appointments have been made with the approval of the National Police Commission. The following transfers have been made with effect from Feb 12, 2025. more..

Feb 10 (DM) A Beliatta-bound train from Maradana abruptly came to a halt at Koggala Railway Station last Thursday afternoon when the engine driver left the train, citing ill health. This resulted in the passengers being stranded for about 5 hours until the next train to Beliatta arrived late in the evening. Train had more than 500 passengers on board. Driver had informed the Officer-in- Charge of the drivers and left. Railway officials said they had not heard from him until the following morning, more..

Feb 10 (DM) Chairman of National Salt Ltd (NSL), Gayan Wellala, said that NSL will not rely on importing salt; instead, it will establish a new table salt plant, which is expected to produce five tonnes of salt per hour. Due to the recent shortage, the Cabinet approved a proposal to allow the import of 30,000 tonnes of salt. The first shipment, consisting of 1,485 tonnes (MT) of salt imported from India, arrived in Sri Lanka on Jan 27 to address the country’s salt shortage. more..

Feb 10 (TM) Despite the passage of over 15 years since the end of the war, 974 families remain displaced and residing in welfare camps in the Jaffna District. A recent audit report on the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing has highlighted a troubling delay in resettlement efforts, which were initially approved by the Cabinet to provide homes for these families. While the ministry has allocated Rs. 16.78 million for the upkeep more..

Feb 10 (Island) PM Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Clean Sri Lanka program is an initiative aimed at removing obstacles to living a civilized life. PM made this remark on Sunday morning while participating in the A Beautiful Beach, an Attractive Tourist Destination held at the Mattakkuliya Beach Park. As part of this initiative, beach cleaning programs were conducted simultaneously at 124 locations across the Western & Southern Provinces from 8 am to 11 a.m., with the goal of cleaning 1,740 km more..

Feb 10 (FT) Hambantota International Port (HIP) marked a significant milestone in Jan 2025, by successfully integrating High Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO) into its range of bunkering services, now offering a complete suite of marine fuels, including Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) and Marine Gas Oil (MGO/MDO). This development strengthens SL’s position in the global maritime landscape, allowing HIP to cater to a broader range of vessels navigating one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. more..