Jun 16 (NW) Former SL captain Anura Tennekoon has advised Indian teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi to stay focused on his game and ignore the outside noise surrounding his rapid rise in cricket. Tennekoon, who had travelled to Dambulla to watch the India A-SL A Tri-Nation Series match, met the 15-year-old after the game and offered words of encouragement. According to reports, Suryavanshi sought Tennekoon’s blessings before the former SL captain shared his advice. more..

Jun 16 (FT) SL’s manufacturing sector is undergoing a gradual shift towards greater automation, precision engineering and sustainability driven production, with companies increasingly investing in technologies aimed at improving efficiency and strengthening long term industrial competitiveness. Against this backdrop, Alumex PLC has unveiled a major expansion of its aluminium extrusion capabilities with the introduction of a new high-capacity production line at its fully owned more..

Jun 16 (FT) SL and India are exploring the potential to convert the $ 6 billion bilateral trade to Rupee basis on the basis of multiple advantages. A top level roundtable titled Rupee to Rupee: Strengthening the India-SL Commercial Corridor was held yesterday in Colombo involving multiple stakeholders to drive home the benefits as well as address challenges and tap the potential. India’s High Commissioner Santosh Jah told the forum at which more..

Jun 16 (FT) SL’s banking sector must strengthen governance, internal controls, and institutional resilience to navigate an increasingly complex operating environment marked by cyber threats, technological disruption, climate risks, and evolving regulatory demands, leading banking executives and regulators said at a webinar on future-proofing the industry. Speaking at the event, CB Governing Board Member Manil Jayesinghe said governance should remain the foundation of sustainable banking, more..

Jun 16 (DN) Australian High Commissioner Matthew Duckworth has reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to supporting SL’s efforts to strengthen evidence-based governance, emphasizing that accurate and reliable data remains the cornerstone of effective policy-making for tourism. Echoing sentiments recently expressed by Minister Vijitha Herath in Parliament, High Commissioner Duckworth underscored the importance of transparency, accountability, and and data integrity in shaping the future more..

Jun 16 (FT) SL’s fiscal position strengthened sharply in the first four months of 2026, with the Govt posting a Budget surplus of Rs. 105 billion compared to a deficit of Rs. 261.6 billion in the corresponding period of last year, driven by a surge in revenue collection led by taxes linked to motor vehicle imports. Total revenue and grants increased by 34.6% to Rs. 1.958 trillion during Jan-Apr 2026 from Rs. 1.455 trillion a year earlier, more..

Jun 16 (FT) SL stepped up efforts to position Port City Colombo as a gateway to South Asia’s fast-growing markets, using a high-level investor forum in Dubai to court Gulf capital and highlight the Special Economic Zone’s role in the country’s strategy to attract foreign direct investment, deepen services exports and strengthen its presence in regional value chains. Consulate General of SL in Dubai, in collaboration with SL Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Colombo Port City Economic Commission more..

Jun 16 (Island) Sri Lanka have little room for error when they take on defending champions New Zealand in their second game of the Women’s World Cup at the Rose Bowl today. After suffering a crushing 87 run defeat to hosts England, Chamari Atapattu’s side saw their Net Run Rate take a severe beating, leaving them with almost no margin for error. Another defeat could virtually shut the door on their semi-final aspirations. NZ, meanwhile, are also under pressure after suffering more..

Jun 16 (FT) As part of its 25th Anniversary celebrations, SL Institute of Directors (SLID) has launched the Public Sector Forum – a dedicated platform aimed at strengthening governance, accountability, and board leadership within SL’s public sector institutions and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The Forum is chaired by governance professional Arjuna Herath, who will lead its efforts to promote governance excellence, capacity building, & thought leadership more..

Jun 16 (DN) Young sailor Haren Wickramatillake of S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, created history by becoming the first Sri Lankan ever to represent the country at the prestigious International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) World Championship currently being held in Tangier, Morocco. The landmark achievement marks a major milestone for Sri Lankan sailing as Haren competes against some of the world’s best young sailors at one of the sport’s most respected youth events. more..

Jun 16 (Island) Former Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, CID to question former Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, regarding his claim that the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage was a grand conspiracy. He pointed out that the former Director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and the ex-head of State Intelligence Service (SIS) had been arrested under the PTA on the basis of unsubstantiated more..

Jun 16 (Island) Mediation Bill was passed by the Parliament on June 11. Minister Harshana Nanayakkara introduced the Bill, and explained its provisions and value for SL and global developments in the use of mediation. Encouragingly, it was passed unanimously. SL’s commitment to provide legislative support for the use of mediation is timely and most welcome. Given that the backlog of cases pending before courts is over a staggering 1.1 million, it is clear that SL is yet another more..

Jun 16 (CT) In Nov 2024, when the NPP led by Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), came to power, SL was bankrupt and in the grips of a corrupt and authoritarian govt. Poor economic discipline and reckless borrowing, coupled with the pilfering of public funds, had crippled the national economy. Supreme Court had ruled that former Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and senior officials of the CB and the Treasury had breached more..

Jun 16 (DN) Last week, a significant Cabinet decision was made on behalf of the families of migrant workers. It is the first time in SL’s history that a Govt has given focused attention to the welfare and safety of the children of migrant workers, particularly those whose mothers are employed overseas as housemaids. The approval was granted to implement the Integrated Systematic Approach Project for the Development of Migrant Worker Families. Cabinet decision noted that while more..

Jun 16 (Island) The world must have breathed a sigh of relief yesterday following the announcement that the US and Iran had agreed to sign a peace deal soon and begin negotiations in earnest to resolve contentious issues. The peace plan has renewed hope that no more lives will be lost due to military strikes in West Asia; precious assets, especially oil infrastructure, in that part of the world will be safe, and disruptions to global oil supplies will be over. Interestingly, as US President Donald Trump more..

Jun 16 (SO) Sri Lanka is expected to face increasingly complex weather in the coming months as developing El Niño activity in the Pacific Ocean begins to influence regional climate patterns. Although the phenomenon has not yet fully matured, the authorities say there are strong indications that El Niño will come into effect next month onwards and is likely to affect SL until March next year. Acting Director General of more..

Jun 16 (SO) When the Parliament of SL enacted the landmark Central Banking Act of 2023, it was heralded as a historic institutional decoupling, the legislative silver bullet required to permanently break the island’s devastating, decades-long cycle of politically motivated boom-and-bust macroeconomics. Passed under the strict conditional scaffolding of the IMF US$ 2.9 billion EFF, law stripped the Ministry of Finance of its historic, overbearing foothold within monetary more..

Jun 16 (ST) SL’s ex-intelligence head, Suresh Sallay, languishing under a Detention Order (DO) on allegations that he aided and abetted the 2019 Easter Sunday jihadist attacks on churches and hotels may well contemplate the solitary riddle as to what he has in common with a Tamil rapper, a Muslim lawyer on one occasion and a Muslim poet on another as well as scores of Sinhala & Tamil activists and journalists? This may not be quite what the mythological Sphinx posed as a question more..

Jun 16 (TM) 31 May night marked the 45th anniversary of the burning of the Jaffna Public Library in May 1981. If the Socialist Lead of Sri Lanka and South Asia (SLLA), the Revolutionary Left Faction of the Socialist Equality Party, was present at a commemoration event before the Jaffna Public Library on 31 May, and asked to address an audience of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim brothers and sisters, friends and comrades, more..

Jun 16 (GV) Dr. Devanesan Nesiah spent decades in service to a country that rarely made it easy for him. A Tamil civil servant of uncompromising integrity, he worked through pogroms, broken political compacts and civil war, holding fast to a conviction that SL’s crisis was not irresolvable, only unresolved. His death on June 12 closes a witness account that the country could not afford to lose. When the July 1983 pogrom erupted, Dr. Nesiah was Govt Agent of Jaffna. more..

Jun 16 (FT) The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) can significantly influence rainfall patterns across SL and India and may either strengthen or weaken the effects of El Niño. While climate forecasts indicate a high likelihood of a strong El Niño event during 2026, some of the claims circulating online appear overstated. Recent discussions in both social and print media have raised concerns about the potential impacts of the developing El Niño on SL. While climate forecasts indicate a high likelihood of more..

Jun 15 (DM) A private secretary to former Southern Province Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal De Silva was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over allegations of causing a financial loss of Rs. 16.5 million to the State through a procurement-related corruption offense. According to CIABOC, the suspect is accused of bypassing established procurement procedures while serving under the Southern Province Chief Ministry to facilitate more..

Jun 15 (FT) CoPF has flagged concerns over weaknesses in the measurement of tourism earnings, informal foreign exchange transactions, and the growing use of unauthorised foreign payment gateways, highlighting several blind spots in Sri Lanka’s economic data and foreign exchange monitoring framework. The issues emerged last week during a discussion with CB Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe on the compilation of external sector statistics & balance of payments data. more..

Jun 15 (AD) Sri Lanka is unlikely to experience a severe impact from the global El Niño weather phenomenon, according to the Director of the Climate Change Secretariat, Leel Randeni. He noted that El Niño, driven by rising sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, is expected by meteorologists to potentially contribute to higher global temperatures from February onwards. Randeni said SL is currently more..

Jun 15 (Island) The number of patients hospitalised due to viral illnesses, including dengue fever, had increased significantly, health officials said yesterday, adding that there had been a rise in daily dengue-related admissions. Acting Director of the National Dengue Control Unit Dr. Kapila Kannangara said Sri Lanka had recorded 41,144 dengue cases as of Saturday (13). He said more than half of the reported cases—around 51 percent—were from the Western Province. more..

Jun 15 (Island) Police have launched an investigation to arrest two assailants who broke into an ashram in Srawasthipura, Anuradhapura, and assaulted a former bhikkhu known as Rajanganaye Saddharatana, leaving him seriously injured. Police said the attack had taken place around 11.30 pm on Saturday. Saddharatana is currently receiving treatment at A'pura Teaching Hospital. The assailants are reported to have stolen CCTV cameras, a DVR unit, and victim’s mobile more..

Jun 15 (Island) Chairman of CoPF Dr. Harsha de Silva dismissed Free Lawyers’ claim that his Committee had helped delay a proper investigation into the theft of USD 2.5 mn (nearly Rs 1 bn) from the Treasury. SJB MP said that he wouldn’t comment on frivolous accusations against his Committee. “We conduct ourselves in keeping with the highest standards of professionalism and responsibility.” Dr. de Silva said so when more..

Jun 15 (NW) Police in Kandy have announced stricter enforcement against pedestrians who cross main roads illegally instead of using designated underpasses, citing concerns over public safety and traffic congestion. According to Kandy Police, the underpasses were constructed at significant cost to improve pedestrian safety and ease traffic flow within the city. However, many pedestrians continue to cross busy roads at undesignated locations, creating risks for both themselves and motorists. more..

Jun 15 (NW) SL A secured a dramatic Super Over victory over India A in the Tri-Nation A Series in Dambulla on Monday, but the match ended amid tense scenes involving players from both sides. After scores were tied at 265 apiece at the end of the regulation 50 overs, SL A prevailed in the Super Over to seal victory in a contest filled with drama and controversy. The tension spilled over after the match, with India A youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi becoming involved in a heated exchange with more..

Jun 15 (AD) Ministry of Transport, Highways & Urban Development has introduced measures to further promote the use of the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system on the Colombo–Katunayake Expressway, aiming to provide motorists with a faster and more convenient toll payment experience. Awareness programmes on the enhanced ETC facilities were conducted toda. Motorists can now make toll payments using cash, cards, or ETC system, with dedicated entry more..

Jun 15 (DM) Minister Nalinda Jayatissa has directed officials to urgently convene all relevant stakeholders, including District Secretaries from 14 high-risk districts, to strengthen measures against the ongoing dengue outbreak. The directive was issued during a special discussion held this morning to review urgent interventions aimed at curbing the spread of dengue. The meeting, chaired by the Minister, focused on enhancing national dengue control efforts, including more..