Dec 26 (ST) Young trainee Shalinda Amarakoon needed 10 more hours of flying to qualify as a pilot officer of the SL Air Force when he crashed off Kantale. He had already finished 84 flight sessions and there were only four more to be completed. After 50 hours of flying the trainees are allowed to fly alone, under supervision. Last Tuesday, 15 minutes after he took off from the China-bay base in Trinco in the Chinese built trainer aircraft more..

Dec 26 (DN) When the New Year dawns, in less than a week, the hope of a new look for Sri Lankan football or soccer as it is sometimes called, appears at the end of the tunnel. The proposed new Super League, the first ever world class professional football tournament, in this country, is set to kick off at the end of January 2021. SL’s Football has taken many a big blow for decades on the World and Asian stages and that too due to many reasons. At different intervals, many administrators more..

Dec 26 (Island) The Opposition keeps accusing the government of having issued liquor manufacturing licences to four of its cronies. This land like no other is already sozzled to the gills, and it defies comprehension why any more liquor should be manufactured. SJB MP Thushara Indunil Amarasena has told the media that one of the new licence holders sponsored the Viyath Maga events before the 2019 regime change, and described him as a major shareholder of Shangri-La Hotel, more..

Dec 26 (ST) Former SL and Thurstan College all-rounder Hemantha Boteju, who attained the distinction of being the youngest cricket umpire in the Emerging Panel of SLC, is relishing the challenge of keeping pace with technology in the modern game after his experience at the inaugural Lanka Premier League (LPL). “The LPL was good exposure when there was no cricket for players, officials, spectators & the country. more..

Dec 26 (Island) Sri Lanka Athletics will conduct the 98th National Athletics Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium from today. Looking back at a remarkable National Championship conducted by the athletics governing body 25 years ago. “Performance wise there has been no other National C'ship at which so many national records were created” says SL Athletics statistician Saman Gunawardena referring to the 73rd National Athletics C'ship which was held on Oct 24-26, 1995 more..

Dec 26 (Roar) Artist Layla Gonaduwa’s latest project involves a unique 3-month journey across Sri Lanka, made possible through Pro Helvetia’s Home-Not-Alone residency. As the island endures the pandemic and a new degree of social alienation, she addresses facets of migrancy from an inter-species perspective, maps ecological threats, the transplantation of alien invasive species, and explores the places where a fragile co-existence can be observed. more..

Dec 26 (CI) On their previous trip to Sri Lanka in 2014, Dale Steyn had twice scorched his way through the Sri Lanka middle order with the old ball, and delivered his team a series-defining win. This time, he was coming back from injury, and some distance from his best. But it wasn't really South Africa's bowlers that failed. Batting first, SL made a respectable - but hardly imposing - 287. Opener Dimuth Karunaratne made had 158 more..

Dec 26 (CT) Russia’s National Airline, Aeroflot, has informed Sri Lanka that its scheduled flight to Sri Lanka with 300 Russian tourists was suspended until 31 Dec, Vice Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Services (SL) Ltd, Rajiv Sooriyarachchi said. Even though Sooriyarachchi refrained from giving the reason for the suspension, Tourism Ministry Secretary S. Hettiarachchi stated, Aeroflot has announced that they are unable to engage in the quarantine process on arrival in SL. more..

Dec 26 (Island) Pelwatte Dairy Industries, the local dairy giant consents to the budget 2021 tabled recently, and it expressed its appreciation towards the measures proposed to uplift the dairy industry and the local food production as a whole. It believes that they will further support Pelwatte’s mission of significantly contributing in the upliftment of all the stakeholders in the value chain; nurturing economic growth and importantly the well-being of the public. Pelwatte Dairy remains highly committed more..

Dec 26 (Island) There was a possibility that over Rs. 25 billion in consumer deposits with the CEB would not be refunded due to the dissolution of the Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL), Secretary of the Union of Electricity Consumers (UEC) Sanjeewa Dhammika said. When a person obtained an electricity connection from the CEB, he or she had to place a deposit at the regional CEB Engineer’s office. more..

Dec 26 (CT) 20-year-old SL Army Cricketer and uncapped National player Maheesh Theekshana has been selected to play in the upcoming 4th edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 to be held from 28 Jan – 6 Feb 2021 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. He will be the youngest SL player in the tournament. He studied at Susamayawardhane MV Colombo, Sri Siddhartha MMV Sedawatte and St. Benedict’s College Kotahena. He started his career at Asoka de Silva School of Cricket in 2010 more..

Dec 26 (CT) Chairman of SL’s self-proclaimed one-stop-shop for Investment, Board of Investment (BoI) Sanjaya Mohottala said that the Govt was planning to improve Sri Lanka’s Ease of Doing Business rating to 60 within the next two years. SL in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 edition published in October last year managed to improve its ranking to 99, climbing one notch from its previous year’s rating of 100. World Bank is yet to publish Ease of Doing Business 2021 edition more..

Dec 26 (CT) The Company selected to print driving licences had since 2009 given bribes running into millions of rupees to former Ministers and a former Commissioner General of Dept of Motor Traffic (DMT), inquiries conducted in this regard disclosed. The Company in question had levied Rs 1,571 to print a single licence and had also given a Rs 10 commission to a former DMT Comm. Gen. for every licence it printed. more..

Dec 26 (ST) Serious repercussions are likely in terms of foreign direct investment and investment in Treasury bills and bonds arising out of Wednesday’s withdrawal of the US$480 million US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant, economists said. They said that investors may even pull back from investing in the money markets since the Sri Lanka govt failed to respond to the MCC grant. The MCC board on Thursday decided to discontinue the proposed grant. more..

Dec 26 (TM) The Central Bank gave its approval for the planned merger of Associated Motor Finance Company (AMFC) with Arpico Finance Company (AFC) before 31 March 2021. AMFC stated the surviving company following the merger would be AMFC. “The holders of 444,890 shares of AFC, constituting 5.98% of the issued shares of AFC, other than the 6,992,610 shares held by AMFC constituting 94.02%, shall receive 76 ordinary shares of AMF for every 100 shares of AFC,” more..

Dec 26 (AD) The secretary of the Hatton-Dickoya Urban Council and 08 ruling party and opposition members of the council have been placed under self-quarantine after a member of the Urban Council was recently identified as Covid-19 positive. Health officials said these steps were taken due to the Covid-19 positive councillor attending a social gathering held at the residence of a fellow councillor representing the opposition on Dec 19. more..

Dec 26 (MFA) Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage formally handed over two ventilators (VG70 Ventilator and Vivo 65 advanced homecare ventilator) donated by the Govt of Israel to Secretary of the Ministry of Health Major General Dr. S.H. Munasinghe at the Foreign Ministry today, 24 Dec. The two ventilators were donated through the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, which is concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka. Following the donation on 10 Dec, Foreign Secretary Colombage, more..

Dec 26 (DN) UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed party lawyers to request the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the Attorney General to resume the hearing of cases, which were halted at Hulftsdorp due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and to consider shifting the location as necessary. The party had decided to make this request owing to a number of court cases filed against individuals and local representatives of the party who had vouched their support and joined other political parties more..

Dec 26 (DM) It is essential to carry out an investigation to determine as to how the COVID- 19 pandemic came into being, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said. Speaking during the midnight Christmas service at St. Sebastian's Church, Kandana, Cardinal Ranjith said the Pandemic seemed to have not come into the world through natural means but it was something that had come through man's greed. more..

Dec 26 (AD) State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara says the govt intends to impose a special tax on imported readymade garments from April 1 next year. He said this step will be taken in order to protect the local readymade garment industry. State Minister of Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Products added that necessary steps will be taken to stop the importation of substandard garments into the country. He said that they are expecting to introduce a tax system which would increase more..

Dec 26 (Island) The govt was responsible for turning the cremation of Muslims who died from COVID19 into a socio-religious issue, SJB National Organizer, MP Tissa Attanayake said. Attanayake said that now whether to allow Muslims to bury their dead had become a racial issue and social division would be created no matter what the outcome would be. The SJB MP said that the govt should have immediately appointed a committee of experts to determine the best way to dispose the bodies of those who more..

Dec 26 (Island) Investigations into the Mahara prison riot that claimed the lives of 11 inmates and wounded over 100 recently have taken a new turn with eight post mortems conducted so far revealing that all of them died of gunshot injuries. In the run-up post-mortems conducted by a five-member team comprising four consultant judicial medical officers and a ballistic expert from the Govt Analyst’s Dept, both police headquarters and more..

Dec 26 (DM) The Astra Zeneca-oxford vaccine candidate is presently seen as the best for Sri Lanka against COVID-19, an official said yesterday. Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardane said, the final decision on the use of any vaccine would, however, depend on a myriad of other factors such as approval by the WHo and purchasing agreements. He said SL was in touch now with different stakeholders on the availability of an effective vaccine against Covid-19. more..

Dec 26 (DM) Those familiar with the systematic attack on agriculture in South Asia over the last decades will not be surprised at the ongoing farmers’ protests in India. It could have been Pakistan, where farmers protesting for support prices were beaten up and arrested in Lahore only a month ago, or Sri Lanka, where shortages of imported fertilizers and declining subsidies has led to farmers’ outcry. In the middle of a long simmering rural economic crisis pushed over the cliff more..

Dec 26 (Island) Unfolding events make me wonder whether it is the Constitution that would ultimately save Buddhism in SL. I am not talking of saving Buddhism from external threats, for I fear the biggest threat to it comes from Buddhists themselves. Whilst claiming that we have the most pristine form of Buddhism they seem determined to disregard the liberating message of the Buddha and subjugate themselves to supernatural forces, as can been seen during present distressing epidemic. more..

Dec 26 (DN) This year’s Sri Pada pilgrimage season begins on the 29th (Unduvap Poya Day), but pilgrims have been barred from converging in the area because of the rising number of COVID-19 infections, the Central Province Governor said. Governor Lalith Gamage said that the decision was made after lengthy discussions with officials and Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) regarding the spread of COVID-19 in the Nuwara Eliya District. He told the media at the COVID-19 Provincial more..

Dec 26 (BBC) The forced cremation of a 20-day-old Muslim baby in Sri Lanka has highlighted the govt's controversial order to burn the bodies of all those who died of Covid. Critics say the decision is not based in science and only intended to target the minority community. Mohamed Fahim and his wife Fathima Shafna were thrilled when their baby boy Shaykh was born on 18 Nov after a six-year wait. more..

Dec 26 (EN) Sri Lanka is allowing the import of coconut dried coconut slices with the seed coat for domestic processing, under a state monopoly, the state information office said amid higher domestic prices for coconut. The import which will months will be a monopoly of the state-run British Ceylon Corporation (BCC). BCC is one of a series of firms that were expropriated by native rulers after self-determination in 1948, undermining property rights and ratcheting up regime uncertainty. more..

Dec 26 (AD) Refuting the reports on being ousted, Nushad M. Perera has stressed that he stepped down as the chairman of Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE). Taking to his Facebook account this morning, Mr Perera said he will continue to chair Lanka Sathosa. Reports circulated yesterday read that Mr Perera was ousted from Sathosa chairmanship for causing losses to the govt to the tune of several billions of rupees, due to his alleged involvement in a sugar racket. more..

Dec 26 (ST) The Department of National Archives is embroiled in controversy over allegations that copies of historical Dutch records in the custody of the institution have been sold to outsiders. Accusations mostly target the Dept’s Director General, Nadeera Rupesinghe, a young historian educated in the Netherlands, who senior staff insist has been tirelessly streamlining and modernising the institution. more..

Dec 26 (EN) The decision by the Danish govt to incinerate the remains of millions of Mink who were slaughtered and buried after a variant of the Covid 19 virus spread among the animals is refuelling the debate over the funeral rites of Muslims who die of the disease in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka and China are the only countries in the world that mandate that the remains of Covid victims are cremated without deference to the religious preferences of the deceased person’s families. more..

Dec 26 (NR) 712 persons who contracted the novel coronavirus have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals, raising the number of recoveries to 32,051. 110 persons were discharged from the Kopai Treatment centre, 61 from the Bingiriya Treatment centre, 59 from the Dambadeniya Treatment centre while 58 individuals were released from the Punani Treatment centre during the past 24 hours. Accordingly, 7,545 persons including three foreign nationals are more..

Dec 26 (ST) They managed the pregnancy for nearly one long month because it was too early for the babes to be born – but then came the day when they could delay no longer, for the condition of the young mother was deteriorating. They also pored over medical literature from all over the world to get some guidance on how to manage this pregnancy and deliver the babies, but could not find any. more..

Dec 26 (CT) The provincial authorities and principals have been instructed to cover subjects using a suitable programme, at school level, during the first two months of the new term of 2021, if a school has not covered the syllabus for 2020, the Education Ministry noted. The new school term for 2021 will commence from 11 Jan. Schools are open to students of all grades, including Grades 1-5 in all schools where the new school term begins. However, schools in the Colombo, Gampaha more..

Dec 26 (Island) Buddhist Advisory Council commended the Prez for initiating measures for the formulation of a national education policy, a mechanism to protect national heritage and steps taken to formulate a Constitution, which will change the path of the country, amidst many obstacles including those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Buddhist Advisory Council commended Prez Rajapaksa for his unwavering commitment to establishing national policies despite more..

Dec 26 (AD) A two-minute silence will be observed island-wide in Sri Lanka at 9.25 am this morning to commemorate the thousands of people who died in the 2004 Tsunami. Today marks the 16th anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, one of the world’s deadliest and most destructive natural disasters, struck over 10 countries in the Indian Ocean. A powerful undersea megathrust earthquake, which registered more..

Dec 26 (NR) Wanindu Hasaranga today became the 151st player to represent Sri Lanka in Test cricket. Hasaranga won his maiden test cap on the back of an impressive showing at the recently concluded Lanka Premier League. He helped Jaffna Stallions to win the LPL trophy in the inaugural season. Meanwhile, this afternoon Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the first match of the series in Centurion. SL opted for a six-five line up more..

Dec 26 (DM) Only nine COVID-19 positive prison officers and 639 prison inmates are receiving treatment as at today, Prison Spokesman Chandana Ekanayake said. He said the number of COVID-19 positive prison inmates has decreased to 639. "Only five deaths were reported. 2,850 inmates and 112 prison officers have recovered from the disease," he said. Accordingly, 813 inmates have been found infected with the virus at the Welikada Prison and 827 in Magazine prison. more..

Dec 26 (Island) Hundreds of people gathered yesterday outside the Kegalle residence of Dhammika Bandara, the producer of Dhammika peniya which is being touted as a cure for COVID-19, to obtain the syrup. The crowds gathered despite warnings by health authorities to reduce travel and not to gather in large numbers. A few days earlier co-cabinet spokesperson Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said that the Pharmacology Section of more..