Sep 29 (FT) President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday congratulated javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage on winning SL’s first Asian Games Gold medal in the event, pledging continued State support as the athlete turns his attention to the Olympics. In a post on ‘X,’ Dissanayake said Pathirage had made the entire nation proud. “On behalf of all Sri Lankans, I wish you continued success as you set your sights on the greatest prize of all: Olympic gold,” Prez said. more..

Sep 29 (Island) After all the euphoria of Headingley, SL’s men’s cricket team came crashing back to earth, suffering an embarrassing defeat in front of a capacity crowd at The Oval on Sunday. SL have been playing ODI cricket for more than 50 years and this was their fifth heaviest defeat in the format and their worst against England. Defeats hurt, but over the years good teams have used them as motivation to bounce back. With SL, however, there appears to be precious little light at the end of the tunnel. more..

Sep 29 (NW) A Bill proposing a new statutory framework for the governance of Sri Lanka Cricket has been published in the Gazette. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Bill proposes establishing SLC as a body corporate responsible for regulating, promoting and developing cricket in the country. It was published in a Gazette supplement dated Sept 25 and issued on Sept 28. Proposed board would have 14 members: 7 Independent Directors more..

Sep 29 (Island) SL’s leading hospitality training organisation, Institute of Hospitality (SL) will present International Hospitality Leaders’ Conference 2026 at Cinnamon Grand Colombo from 8 am onwards today. Over 200 senior industry leaders will converge in Colombo today for a full day confab, focused on one defining question: What changes should the SL hospitality undergo to remain competitive by 2030? Bringing together more than 200 hotel owners, General Managers, commercial leaders, more..

Sep 29 (FT) DHL Express has announced price adjustments that will take effect on 1 Jan 2027. “Int'l trade continues to create new opportunities for businesses, while supply chains are becoming increasingly interconnected and complex,” said DHL Express Country Manager for SL Dimithri Perera. “We remain committed to helping our customers navigate this evolving environment by investing in our global network, digital capabilities, security infrastructure, sustainable logistics solutions. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Bank lending against gold grew by more than Rs. 200 billion in the first six months of 2026. That was the second-largest increase of any sub-sector, only just behind financial and business services. Pawning loans rose Rs. 211.9 billion, or 23.6%, in the first half of 2026, from end-Dec 2025 to end-June, to Rs. 1.11 trillion. Lending by Licensed Commercial Banks to financial and business services rose Rs. 212.7 billion, more..

Sep 29 (FT) SL’s emerging luxury boutique hospitality sector has received a significant international endorsement, with W15 Hanthana Estate and W15 Ambuluwawa of the W15 Collection receiving recognition at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2026. The recognition was presented at the 33rd annual World Travel Awards Asia, Oceania and Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony, held at Crossroads Maldives on Sunday. Event brought together senior figures from int'l travel & tourism industry more..

Sep 29 (DN) SL women’s under-19 cricket team will embark on a tri-nation T-20 series in Pakistan from Oct 3. Bangladesh is the other country in the tournament. SL lasses left to Faisalabad yesterday. Before their departure, Lankan skipper Chamudi Praboda said that she is armed with a well balanced team and ready to take the challenge in the forthcoming Tri-Nation tournament. The 15-member Lankan women’s team is coached by Ruvin Peiris. Matches will be played in Faisalabad more..

Sep 29 (FT) Mintpay has partnered with the Curtin Colombo Student Guild (CCSG) to introduce Mintpay Vouchers as part of the rewards and benefits available to students at Curtin University’s Colombo campus. Under the partnership, CCSG will distribute Mintpay Vouchers at selected campus events and guild-led activities throughout the academic year, adding a practical rewards component to initiatives designed to strengthen student engagement and participation. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Sri Lanka has invited Malaysian businesses to actively collaborate with the strategically located Indian Ocean island nation to enhance the competitiveness of Malaysian corporates, establish strong and sustainable supply chains, and become key partners in SL’s next phase of growth. Speaking at the business networking event themed Business Beyond Borders, held on 22 Sept at the Commonwealth Club, Kuala Lumpur, to discuss trade and investment opportunities, more..

Sep 29 (ST) IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya commended the Institute of Chartered Accountants of SL (CA SL), highlighting that the newly launched specialised Faculty of Forensic Accounting and Investigation was a timely national initiative. Speaking at the ceremony at the launch of the Institute, IGP Weerasooriya, who was the Chief Guest said, “Law enforcement agencies, including SL Police, require strong collaboration with more..

Sep 29 (Island) There is an important change in the way peace is being understood in Sri Lanka. The notion that peacebuilding is not simply the responsibility of govts, politicians and peace organisations, but is also a responsibility of educational institutions, appears to be permeating the consciousness of at least a section of the academic community. This was visible on International Peace Day at an event held at Eastern Uni by the Faculty of Health-Care Sciences. more..

Sep 29 (Island) The govt is busy concocting various theories in a bid to justify the manner in which the 22nd constitutional amendment (22A) was enacted. Its leaders claim that even in India, the retirement ages of judges have been increased recently, but there have been no protests. Their reference is to an order of the Indian Supreme Court in All India Judges Association v. Union of India case, directing seven states to raise the retirement age of district judicial officers from 60 to 62, more..

Sep 29 (GV) Pallegama Hemaratana Thero is no longer the Atamasthanadhipati. Accused of child rape, he was officially removed from that august position in May 2026 by the chief prelates of his nikaya. Yet there he was a few days ago, posing for the cameras while gifting a Sri Maha Bodhi sapling to retired Rear-Admiral Sarath Weerasekara, SLPP politician, Rajapaksa acolyte and minister of public security under Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Mr Weerasekara took the sapling in procession more..

Sep 29 (TM) CAA's announcement that it seized more than 1,400 non-compliant plastic and baby feeding bottles during a nationwide inspection drive ought to reassure the public. Instead, read alongside the regulation it enforces, it tells another story: one of good rules arriving years before the will to enforce them. The standards in question, SLS 1616 for reusable plastic bottles and SLS 1306 for baby feeding bottles, were gazetted a year ago and became compulsory only this April. more..

Sep 29 (TM) SL’s troubled coal procurement has moved beyond questions of tender procedure and fuel quality to a more immediate problem: the country’s only coal power plant has lost thousands of megawatt hours of low-cost generation after running short of coal. Around 32,350 MWh of generation from the 900 MW Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai had been lost after the replacement for a rejected emergency coal shipment had more..

Sep 29 (TM) In 2019, poverty in SL stood at 11%. By the height of the 2022 crisis, it had more than doubled to 25%; some estimates now put it above 30%. Out of that collapse came Aswesuma, the country’s biggest welfare overhaul in a generation. Dr Thisuri Wanniarachchi helped build it. She is a public policy scholar and former Govt official who has worked in international development, advising Govts and multilateral institutions on social protection policy and investment operations more..

Sep 29 (ST) JVP led NPP Govt pointed an accusing finger at critics of the 22nd Amendment in Parliament this week, alleging that a constitutional bogeyman (billa) has been manufactured. But three fingers turn back towards the Govt equally accusingly. If the intent to increase the retirement ages of serving judges from the Supreme Court downwards had been purer, Govt would not have been crucified by its own actions; namely its secrecy until the very minute that it was sprung from more..

Sep 29 (SO) Sri Lanka’s economy has remained broadly stable during the NPP Govt’s first two years despite a series of domestic and global shocks. But with the country now facing a slowing global economy, energy pressures and weaker conditions in key export markets, the next phase will require reforms that can generate sustained economic growth, says Advocata Institute CEO, Dhananath Fernando. more..

Sep 29 (CT) SL’s Muslims have lived through a few decades of organised hostility, and it has found a new home online. Sinhala nationalist networks have long stirred suspicion against the community. Today, a series of recent events, some domestic and some far away, is fuelling a fresh wave of social media abuse. Whether the govt, with a determination to rid the country of its racist politics, can repair the enormous damage done by decades of past failures, is one of SL’s most important challenges. more..

Sep 29 (DM) In Sept 1951, Ceylon’s Finance Minister J. R. Jayewardene rose to speak at one of the most consequential diplomatic gatherings of the post-war world: the San Francisco Conference on the peace treaty with Japan. Representing a nation barely three years independent, he argued for restoring Japan’s sovereignty, equality and dignity without qualification. The New York Times described the moment as one in which the voice of free Asia dominated the proceedings. more..

Sep 28 (DM) As SL marks World Rabies Day today, the country’s approach to controlling the deadly disease has come under sharp criticism, with the Veterinary Surgeon and Animal Welfare Coalition (AWC) alleging that authorities have placed greater emphasis on treating people after dog bites than preventing rabies at its source. A veterinary surgeon associated with the AWC alleged that billions of rupees were being spent on post-exposure treatment of people while insufficient more..

Sep 28 (AD) The Western Province Civil Appellate High Court today rejected a request by MP Dayasiri Jayasekara seeking to be recognised as the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). MP Jayasekara had filed a case before the Colombo District Court seeking an order recognising him as the party’s General Secretary and an interim injunction preventing Duminda Dissanayake from functioning as General Secretary and Nimal Siripala de Silva from serving as party Chairman. more..

Sep 28 (NW) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has accused the Govt of undermining SL’s solar power sector through recent policy changes, claiming that the measures favour fuel and thermal power generation. Premadasa made the remarks during a visit to the Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL), where he raised concerns over the Govt’s decision to discontinue Net Metering & Net Accounting for new rooftop more..

Sep 28 (NW) Department of Wildlife Conservation has decided to take legal action against motorists who feed wild elephants along the Kataragama–Buttala road, amid concerns that the practice has caused elephants to remain near the busy roadway and increased the risk of attacks on vehicles. Wildlife officials say around eight wild elephants have become accustomed to stopping vehicles along the road in search of food. More than 2,000 vehicles use the Kataragama–Buttala road daily, more..

Sep 28 (DM) President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in an apparent reference to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, claimed that a former President had requested 16 cooks after retiring from office. Dissanayake said his Govt had not provided a single cook to any former President since assuming office. Addressing a rally in Gampaha yesterday, he said the NPP Govt had changed the country’s political culture from one based on privileges and benefits to one focused on public service. more..

Sep 28 (NF) SL's remarkable year in athletics reached its greatest moment yet on Monday as Rumesh Tharanga won the gold medal in the men's javelin throw at the Asian Games 2026, becoming the first SL athlete ever to win an Asian Games gold medal in javelin throw. Competing in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, the SL star entered the final carrying the expectations of a nation and the reputation of being the world's top-ranked more..

Sep 28 (NW) The Colombo High Court will deliver its ruling on October 8 on the preliminary objections raised by the defence in the corruption case filed by the CIABOC against former State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa and two others. The three defendants, who are currently out on bail, are former State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa, former Director of the Office for Reparations Sepalika Saman Kumari, and former Director General of the Mahaweli Authority Keerthi Kotagama. more..

Sep 28 (NW) An arrest warrant has been issued for SL cricketer Chamika Karunaratne after he failed to appear before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court in connection with a maintenance case involving a child whom he is alleged to have fathered, an allegation Karunaratne denies. Colombo Additional Magistrate Kasun Dasanayake ordered that Karunaratne be arrested and produced before court after he was absent when the case was taken up on Sept 28. However, Karunaratne is currently in more..

Sep 28 (DM) The Supreme Court today dismissed at the inception two petitions filed against DIG Shani Abeysekara, Public Security Ministry Secretary Ravi Seneviratne and Rev. Father Cyril Gamini, alleging that they had committed contempt of court. The petitions were filed by retired Air Force officer Shantha Jayathilaka. The petitions were taken up before a 3-judge bench of the SC comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeyesekere. more..

Sep 28 (DM) MP Namal Rajapaksa has been named as a suspect in a case being investigated by the CIABOC before the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court in connection with the Krrish deal. The case has been filed by the CIABOC over allegations of financial irregularities and bribery involving Krrish, a prominent Indian property development company. Investigations and court proceedings into the matter are continuing. Following an order obtained from the court on Sept 24, more..