Jun 23 (DN) SL men’s 400m relay team won the bronze medal at the Asian Relay Championship in Shaoxing China on Sunday. SL team comprised Omel Shashintha, Kalhara Indupa Silva, Sadew Rajakaruna and Kalinga Kumarage and has finished the race in 3 minutes 03.33 seconds to win the bronze while Viatnam team (3.02.60.sec) and China (3.03.23 secs) were placed first and second. Meanwhile SL men’s 100m relay team comprising Chamod Yodasinghe, Merone Wijesinghe, more..

Jun 23 (FT) Xiaomi Sri Lanka, in partnership with Abans, has opened the country's first official Xiaomi Exclusive Store at One Galle Face Mall, Lower Ground, giving Sri Lankan consumers a dedicated destination to experience the full Xiaomi ecosystem in one place. The opening was also marked by the launch of the Xiaomi 17T, the first smartphone to be officially launched at this new store. For Xiaomi fans in Sri Lanka, this is a long-awaited moment. Over the years, Xiaomi has built a strong more..

Jun 23 (FT) Three years after pulling back from economic collapse, SL is being forced to confront a more difficult question than stabilisation: why has growth underperformed for much of the past two decades despite the country’s strategic location, educated workforce, and longstanding advantages in trade and services? That was the central theme that emerged yesterday at the public launch of the World Bank Group’s more..

Jun 23 (DM) Hela Apparel Holdings faces a trading suspension of its shares after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected its request to defer the regulatory action. The apparel exporter informed the Colombo Stock Exchange that its March application for a deferment of the trading suspension was denied by the capital market regulator. Trading of the company’s securities has already been suspended, effective June 18, 2026, due to a disclaimer of audit opinion in more..

Jun 23 (FT) Home Lands Group has marked another significant milestone with the acquisition of its second land parcel within Port City Colombo’s prestigious Central Park District. Newly acquired land parcel, spanning over three acres in extent, is similar in size and located adjacent to the land previously purchased for the landmark Central Park Boulevard Port City Colombo development, further strengthening Home Lands’ growing footprint within SL’s most ambitious urban dev. project. more..

Jun 23 (FT) Govt-led reforms have helped attract more than $ 600 million in new investment into Colombo Port City during the first half of 2026 through the approval of 71 Businesses of Strategic Importance (BSIs). The approvals represent one of the most significant investment milestones since the establishment of the Colombo Port City Special Economic Zone (SEZ), reflecting growing investor confidence in more..

Jun 23 (ST) Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to understand complex public health and social challenges, including the persistent crisis of intentional injury mortality linked to homicide and suicide. A recently published international study has now applied explainable AI to examine this issue across the Americas, while highlighting the growing contribution of SL academics to globally relevant research, according to an official media release. The study, titled more..

Jun 23 (DM) Sri Lanka and Thailand are pushing for deeper economic integration, with officials from both nations urging their respective private sectors to bridge the gap of unfamiliarity to build trust and unlock the full potential of bilateral trade and investments. Speaking at the 25th-anniversary celebrations of the SL-Thailand Business Council held in Colombo last week, both Thai Ambassador to SL Paitoon Mahapannaporn and SL Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath highlighted that more..

Jun 23 (FT) Ministry of Finance has suspended the transition to the percentage-based ad-valorem tax structure (20% Customs Import Duty + 18% VAT + 2.5% SSCL) covering palm oil imports and, instead issued an extraordinary gazette renewing the Special Commodity Levy (SCL) framework. Under this importers must continue to pay the fixed rate of Rs. 275 per kg for RBD palm oil and Rs. 250 per kg for crude palm oil, a senior official of the Finance Ministry said. more..

Jun 23 (FT) Against the backdrop of colourful South Asian handicrafts, the aroma of Ceylon tea and spices, and growing business negotiations, the 10th China-South Asia Exposition in Kunming, in the Yunnan Province, China, once again demonstrated why it has become one of the most important trade platforms connecting China with South Asia. For SL, the six-day exposition held from 11 to 16 June at the Kunming Dianchi Int'l Convention and Exhibition Centre was more than just another trade fair. more..

Jun 23 (SO) The Chairman of SLT-Mobitel Group is Mothilal De Silva. Prior to this he was a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Corporate Officer and Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of a number of Telecom and IT companies in Asia and Pacific regions for over 20 years. He is a turnaround specialist and strategist. As CEO and C level executive, he was responsible for transformation more..

Jun 23 (FT) Sri Lanka’s celebrated management guru, Prof. Gunapala Nanayakkara, a practical educational reformer in his own right, has released his latest publication, Transforming Education: The Way Forward in SL. The book is the result of his active engagement in university-level education for more than six decades and his service as Director General of the National Institute of Education after his retirement from academia. Nanayakkara created SL’s premier management school, more..

Jun 23 (Island) FCID has uncovered a large-scale foreign exchange fraud and arrested a Colombo-based businessman who is reported to have transferred millions of US dollars out of the country through a large number of shell companies since 2023. He has been allegedly involved in money laundering and illegal transfer of funds for phantom imports, according to media reports. The FCID deserves praise for its successful raid, but there is reason to believe that it is only scratching more..

Jun 23 (DN) The latest disturbing trend in the country is the selfish conduct of certain individuals. They are put the lives of innocent citizens in danger. Such negligence claimed the life of an innocent father of twins after a public road was blocked in the early morning hours last week. We cannot allow such incidents to occur, especially on public roads & in other public spaces. New legislation should be introduced to ensure that those responsible for such dangerous acts face severe punishment. more..

Jun 23 (Island) Sri Lankans have reason to take satisfaction in their country’s latest international achievement. SL has climbed 14 places in the 2026 Global Peace Index to rank 67 in the world out of 163 countries that were assessed. At a time when global peacefulness is reported to be at its lowest level since the inception of the Index, and when more countries are experiencing deterioration than improvement, SL’s progress stands out. The ranking reflects the country’s recovery from nearly more..

Jun 23 (CT) Ministry of Agriculture has reportedly collected approximately 60,000 soil samples from various parts of the country and has initiated a programme to promote 13 selected crops in a manner compatible with local soil conditions. Deputy Minister Namal Karunaratne, maintains that this was possible amid growing global challenges that are intensifying pressure on agricultural production, with countries more..

Jun 23 (ST) It does not come to every man to celebrate his eightieth birthday in the Oval Office as the world’s most powerful man. Nor is it given to every man in the White House – eighty or not – to blow out the candles on his birthday cake with a wish to honourably end a war he had needlessly begun and see it come true on the selfsame day. It seemed as if Providence had clearly earmarked Donald J. Trump as the divinely designated man to fulfil the manifest destiny of American people. more..

Jun 23 (CT) SL has emerged from the brink of economic collapse and entered a period of macroeconomic stabilisation. Inflation has moderated, foreign reserves have improved, debt restructuring is progressing, and confidence is gradually returning. These developments deserve recognition. However, stabilisation is not development. The real challenge facing SL is how to transform a fragile recovery into sustained economic growth, productive employment, and rising more..

Jun 23 (SO) SL Human Rights Commission’s verdict on the alleged police torture of Dilshan Madusankha was announced recently, marking a significant moment after years of struggle for justice. However, Dilshan was unable to fully celebrate the outcome, as he received a letter on the same day from the National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses threatening to withdraw protection granted more..

Jun 23 (TM) For decades, our environmental legislative framework has operated with one eye closed. While the CEA has gamely policed the visible and audible manifestations of industrial growth, a silent, structural menace has crept through our soil and bedrock entirely unregulated. The news that a new Environmental Bill will be presented to Parliament next week introducing dedicated legal regulations for vibration pollution is a milestone that is as welcome as it is overdue. more..

Jun 23 (GV) In November 2025, officials from the Department of Wildlife raided the home of an Anuradhapura resident. In the man’s refrigerator was a stock of illegal wild animal meat, including sambar deer and armadillo, and tortoise eggs; in a room, stacks of money (including foreign currency), gold and an ivory bracelet; inside a barrel in the garden, six black tortoises. This breaker of multiple laws was B. Jayawardane, the chief kapuwa (god-man) of the Sri Maha Bodhi. more..

Jun 22 (NW) Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court has ordered that notice be issued to former Minister Duminda Dissanayake to appear before court on a future date after he was once again named as a suspect in the investigation into a gold-plated T-56 assault rifle. The order was issued following instructions from the AG, who informed the court that sufficient evidence exists against Dissanayake in connection with the ongoing investigation. He was previously arrested in May 2025 more..

Jun 22 (NW) The overall rate of inflation, as measured by the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) year-on-year, has increased to 5.4 % in May 2026, according to the Dept of Census and Statistics. The department states that the figure is an increase compared to the 4.7% recorded in April 2026. Food inflation has also increased to 1.5% in May from the 1.1% reported in the previous month. Non-food inflation has also increased to 8.6% in May from the 7.8% recorded in April. more..

Jun 22 (Island) Former Chairman of the Election Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya strongly criticised the continued postponement of local govt elections, declaring that every day without elections constitutes a violation of both the Constitution and democratic principles. Deshapriya described the current administration of local govt institutions by unelected officials as fundamentally undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of more..

Jun 22 (Island) During the war, altogether 2,452 persons had been reported missing in the Jaffna district, a recent meeting of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), at the Jaffna District Secretariat, was told. However, Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar said that the actual number could be higher, as many cases may not have been officially documented. The JVPer also pointed out that some families had lost 2 or even 3 members during the conflict. more..

Jun 22 (DM) Nuwara Eliya District Senior Deputy Commissioner of Inland Revenue E.D. Karunaratne said that all service providers and businesses with a daily income exceeding Rs. 100,000 must register for VAT and Social Security Contribution Levy (SSCL) from July 1st. Speaking at a special awareness workshop for business owners and service providers, he said that the taxable turnover threshold, which was previously Rs. 60 million per year, has been reduced to Rs. 36 m per year. more..

Jun 22 (MB) The lagoons of Mannar in northern SL attract large flocks of pink and white greater flamingos every year, which drive a vital tourism industry in the region. However, recent fatalities of the migratory birds from collisions with power cables there have sparked urgent concerns regarding the impact of power infrastructure in the wetlands. Three flamingos recently died in Mannar after colliding with overhead power lines. more..

Jun 22 (DM) In a bid to improve competitiveness in fuel purchasing from the global market, CPC has registered two Russian state owned companies allowing them to participate in the tender process. Rosneft is one such company which is now able to participate in the competitive bidding process for the supply of fuel to the SL market in the future as long as U.S. sanctions on Russia remain lifted. According to CPC Managing Director Dr. Mayura Nettikumara, registration was done last week. more..

Jun 22 (NW) The Supreme Court has granted permission to proceed with an appeal challenging the eligibility of Minister Ananda Wijepala to hold a parliamentary seat. The order was issued after considering a petition filed by former General Secretary of the SLPP, Renuka Perera. The petition argues that Wijepala, though elected as a MP, continues to function as Chief of Staff to the President, a role that disqualifies him from serving as an MP under constitutional provisions. more..

Jun 22 (TM) Rubber Development Dept and EU-funded Green Recovery Facility recently organised a 80-stakeholders rubber industry gathering in Colombo to map out a capacity-building drive on meeting emerging international requirements on sustainability rules. Participants at the Stakeholder Consultation Workshop included govt institutions, plantation companies, smallholder farmer organisations, processors, exporters, manufacturers, industry associations & dev. partners. more..

Jun 22 (TM) Sri Lankan javelin throw champion Rumesh Tharanga arrived at the BIA in Katunayake on Saturday evening, following an exceptional international campaign in Europe and the Middle East. There he secured three gold medals and a silver medal in four major athletic competitions. Tharanga underlined his phenomenal talent at prestigious athletic meets in Morocco, Italy, Czech Republic, and Doha in Qatar competing against some of the world’s leading athletes. more..