Feb 28 (CT) Maternal, newborn and child malnutrition remains a major problem in Sri Lanka, with many children experiencing acute malnutrition (wasting) and chronic malnutrition (stunting), stated the UNICEF. This was stated in a Media release about a proposal outlining a vision to end child malnutrition in Sri Lanka, jointly developed by the UN, World Bank & UNICEF, which was presented to Prez Rajapaksa on 26 Feb. more..

Feb 28 (AD) Six suspects arrested over a cash robbery of Rs 4.4 million, including the two individuals involved in the controversial ‘white van’ press conference, have been remanded until March 11. The suspects were ordered remanded after being produced before the Gampaha Magistrate today. Ten suspects were initially arrested over a robbery of cash amounting to Rs. 4.4 million, which had taken place on Feb 2 in the Gampaha area. However, only 6 of them were charged more..

Feb 28 (CT) The GMOA, said that it would keep a close watch on the Minister of Health, Pavithra Wanniarachchi and the new Govt, to see how the pharmaceutical crisis will be resolved. GMOA Secretary, Dr. Haritha Aluthge, said his Union would watch how the Govt and the Health Minister proposed to resolve the injustice caused to patients owing to the alleged drug shortage and the poor quality drugs that were being made available. The Union itself had submitted several long-term more..

Feb 28 (DM) The UNP working committee meeting ended today without a decision on the symbol to be used by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) to contest the upcoming general election but unanimously approved the alliance constitution subject to some amendments. "The UNP working approved the constitution of the new alliance led by Sajith Premadasa was unanimously approved by the UNP working committee. more..

Feb 28 (CT) DIG in charge of the Sabaragamuwa Province, Lalith Pathinayake yesterday, testified that if the Colombo North Police Superintendent, Sanjeewa Bandara had taken prompt action on receiving information of a possible terror attack by the Leader of the National Thowheeth Jama'ath, Zahran Hashim, the consequences of the 21 April 2019 Easter Sunday attacks could have been minimised. Testifying at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter attacks, more..

Feb 28 (AD) Uber announced the introduction of several new safety features such as an Uber Safety Helpline, RideCheck - a feature that detects trip irregularities - and Pin Verification to keep its community of riders and drivers safer. The new features, which will be available in a few weeks, underscore Uber’s continued global commitment to making safety one of its highest priorities across all regions. Today’s safety announcements included the following new features: more..

Feb 28 (DM) Considering the contribution made by more than one million Sri Lankan expatriates to the national economy, the Cabinet has decided to introduce a contributory pension scheme for them, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said today. He said a committee would be set up to prepare a mechanism on how to implement this project with the assistance of foreign countries where a large Sri Lankan community lived. more..

Feb 29 (CT) The official announcement by the Govt of SL that it will withdraw from co-sponsorship of UNHRC resolution 30/1 comes as no surprise. During the presidential election campaign, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had pledged he would not honour the previous govt’s commitments to the UN. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, now president, was defence secretary from 2005 to Jan 2015. UN rights body resolution had blamed Govt forces, notably the 58th Division commanded by Shavendra Silva of more..

Feb 29 (CT) Recently, a group of female domestic aides arrived at the BIA on a SriLankan Airlines flight from Kuwait. At the airport arrival lounge, they lamented how they experienced numerous hardship, varying from mental to physical harassment, and the worse was not being paid their wages. They also complained how their employers neglected them when they were ill. This latest group of 45 women, who returned from Kuwait, was facilitated by SL's Bureau of Foreign Employment and more..

Feb 29 (CT) Former UNP General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake, says Sajith Premadasa has already announced, that the names of politicians rejected by people, will not be on his nomination lists. Q: You performed a major role in the operations of the Presidential Election. What is the role you are playing now? A: I will not take any position in terms of this election. The reason is, I will contest from the Kandy District. more..

Feb 29 (CT) SL’s withdrawal from co-sponsorship of UNHRC Resolutions 40/1, 34/1, and 30/1, is a disappointment to the Tamil people of the North-East and worldwide. However, this decision comes as no surprise. Minister Gunawardena’s announcement in Geneva yesterday closes a decade. For ten years, Sri Lanka regularly undertook obligations toward the int'l community—and with equal regularity, refused to honour them. In fact some of us objected to the American Representative to time being more..

Feb 29 (CT) Once founder leader of the ITAK the late S.J.V. Chelvanayakam when he faced with the failures of Banda-Chelva pact and later the Dudley-Chelva pact, said only God could save the Tamils in the country. So, several decades after Chelvanayakam's demise even now what he said remains relevant and it was evident at a special prayer attended by TNA leader R. Sampanthan at the temple of his guardian deity Sri Badrakali Amman Temple in Trincomalee on Wed more..

Feb 29 (Roar) A programming language is what people use to communicate and give instructions to machines. With hundreds of programming languages in existence, and many more being created every day, what use do we have for another one? Although it would initially seem that having one standard language would make learning and using code much easier, multiple languages allow programmers to create applications more..

Feb 29 (DN) The continuing spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 is raising major concerns of a pandemic, while health authorities are cautioning against such fears, although they admit the window of opportunity keeps narrowing. The virus is now spreading more quickly in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world than China, where the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year. The number of new infections in China was for the first time overtaken by more..

Feb 29 (DN) We are indebted to Robert Knox for recording his observations of 17 Century Sri Lanka, the land in which he spent nearly 20 years, a guest of the Kandyan king, willy-nilly. By the time he marooned himself here, the island had been exposed to European influences in various forms, mainly Portuguese and Dutch colonizers, for more than two centuries (For perspective, it is only 70 years since independence, and so much has changed in the country, in these 7 decades. more..

Feb 29 (Island) Time was when Sri Lankan cricketers used to beat the living daylights out of their opponents consistently so much so that the latter held the former in awe. They turned the one-day game on its head and dominated it for years. Cricketing greats such as Arjuna and his colleagues put the game before self and brought the coveted World Cup home. They are still loved and respected for that singular feat. Today, it is the spectators who get beaten! more..

Feb 29 (Island) The late Mano Tittawella, in his capacity as the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM), instructed SL’s Permanent Representative (PR) in Geneva, A.L.A. Azeez, to accept resolution 40/1 on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). Tittawella recently passed away in Melbourne, Australia. His ashes were flown to Colombo from Australia, early this week and it was kept at the Respect funeral parlour at Borella. more..

Feb 29 (Island) Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has said at least one thing that rings true in the minds of most SL people. It is the lack of belief in the appointment of another Commission of Inquiry by the Govt. Her concern was about addressing impunity for past violations of human rights. Our objection is much wider. We seem to be the country with the world record for PCoI with more..

Feb 29 (Island) Bawantha Jayasinghe took crucial wickets either side of a Savindu Uthsara-Leshan Amarasinghe partnership before scoring an unbeaten half century for Thurstan on a closely contested day one of the 57th Battle of Brothers Big Match at SSC ground on Friday. After containing Isipatana to 210 runs Thustan lost four wickets for 54 runs before Jayasinghe came up with an unbeaten half century for thme to post 131 for five wickets at stumps. Jayasinghe gave Thurstan more..

Feb 29 (Island) MillenniumIT ESP recently formed a strategic partnership with MintHRM, a cloud based Human Resource Information System provider, to serve its key markets with a diverse portfolio of solutions focusing on human capital transformation and management, a MillenniumIT ESP press release said. It adds – Human capital transformation and management is a prime focus area for businesses embarked on their digital transformation journeys around the globe. Known for transforming more..

Feb 29 (FT) Ahimsa Wickrematunge, daughter of slain journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, has lodged a complaint with the CIABOC alleging that CID Director SSP W. Thilakaratne and other officers in the Department are colluding with the intent to confer a wrongful and unlawful benefit, favour, or advantage on SL’s former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, who is facing charges under the Public Property Act more..

Feb 29 (ST) The queen of the International Schools Athletics Championships (ISAC) 2020, Shelinda Jansen sets her eyes on winning at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships to be held from May 14 to 17 in Bangkok, Thailand. “I am having the South Asian Junior Athletic Championships trials. This is coming up in April. Soon as this finishes, I am going to start training the next day because I want to train for that before anything else. That is my ultimate goal for this year,” said Jansen, more..

Feb 29 (ST) Horseracing enthusiast, animal lover and prolific public figure Nihara Jayatilleke Rutnam created history by becoming the first female President of Royal Turf Club (RTC), which is also a first for the region of Asia. Nihara has been an active member of RTC since its inception in 2016 and was an executive committee member during the past four years. She will take charge of the leadership role of RTC as the fourth president after Suranjith Premadasa, Panduka Keerthinanda and more..

Feb 29 (CT) In the backdrop of Sri Lanka Cricket's existing contract for media and sponsorship rights coming to an end on 31 March 2020, SLC launched three separate tender processes for television and radio rights - broadcasting rights, digital rights and production services in respect of the ICC Men's Future Tour Programme for 2020-23, by issuing three separate invitations calling for expressions of interest on 24 Dec 2019. On 31 Jan 2020 SLC issued 3 separate invitations for TV/Radio more..

Feb 29 (FT) Cabinet on Thursday gave approval to a proposal by the Minister Prasanna Ranatunga to extend the grace period given for the payment of the Tourism Development Levy for another four months up to 30 April. The levy was suspended for all tourism establishments registered under SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) till 31 Dec 2019 after last Easter Sunday terror attacks in April last year. Cabinet proposal noted that as the expected increase in the number of tourist arrivals more..

Feb 29 (FT) Sri Lanka’s inflation accelerated to 6.2% for the 12-months to February 2020, from 5.7% in January as the credit system recovered from a currency collapse in and the central bank cut rates. Food prices eased from unusual highs in January, but non-foods continued to edge up. Colombo Consumer Price Index, the most widely watched indicator was flat at 134.6 points in Feb, with the food index up 0.2% more..

Feb 29 (ICC) India’s spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 semi-finals is already safe but captain Harmanpreet Kaur insists they won’t take Sri Lanka lightly in their final group game. Kaur’s side were the first to sail through to the knockout stages after securing wins against hosts and defending champions Australia, as well as Bangladesh and New Zealand, in the first week of the tournament. Victory over Sri Lanka on Saturday would see them top Group A and head into the semi-finals more..

Feb 29 (FT) The Govt will soon ink a MoU with India to develop the Jaffna International Airport, a top Minister confirmed. The Govt of India has agreed to provide a grant of Rs. 300 million for the development of the Jaffna International Airport and the Cabinet also granted approval to sign the MoU in the near future. “We are in the process of expediting the signing of the agreement and the development activities will be commenced soon,” Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said. more..

Feb 29 (FT) Govt has decided not sign the $ 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement, taking into consideration the recommendations of a four-member Committee that studied it and found some of its features threaten national security and social and economic welfare of Sri Lanka, Minister Bandula Gunawardena said yesterday. The four-member committee headed by Professor Lalithasiri Gunaruwan, more..

Feb 29 (Island) A report published by the World Bank says that Sri Lanka has the worst road fatality rate among its immediate neighbours in the South Asian Region. It adds Sri Lanka needs to make US$ 2 billion additional investments over the coming decade to achieve a 50% reduction in national road crash fatalities. Study by the World Bank points out, that the estimated annual road crash deaths per capita in SL is twice the average rate in high-income countries and five times that of more..

Feb 29 (CT) The CID yesterday informed Mount Lavinia Chief Magistrate, Udesh Ranatunga that they were carrying out a probe to ascertain whether any offences had been committed as per provisions in the Offences against the Public Property Act, related to finding Sathosa documents from the residence of Parliamentarian, Rishad Bathiudeen's spouse. Suspect Mohammad Imran who has been remanded in connection with the case, was produced in Court by Prisons Dept officers. more..

Feb 29 (PMD) The first of the series of District Coordinating Committee Meetings was held in Rajagiri Len Viharaya, Homadola, Udugama in the Galle District today (27) under the patronage of Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A large number of issues including urban and rural economic development, disaster management and tourism industry were discussed during the meeting held at one of the poorest villages in the Galle district. more..

Feb 29 (FT) Cabinet gave approval on Thursday to continue the implementation of a microfinance credit facility program for the debt-burdened people of the Northern and North Central Provinces, by increasing the maximum credit limit to Rs. 60,000 per person. The Treasury has released Rs. 542 million to facilitate this program, and it will operate as a revolving fund. The loan scheme is implemented through Co-operative Rural Banks and Thrift and Credit Co-operative Societies, more..

Feb 29 (FT) UAE Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ahmed Ali Ibrahim Al Mualla gifted 10 high end hospital beds, worth over Rs. 2 million to update the facilities of four hospitals in the Kurunegala District. This was in response to a request made by North Western Province Governor A.J.M. Muzammil. The hospital beds were distributed at a ceremony held at the Kurunegala Town Hall. Accordingly the beds were distributed as follows: two hospital beds to the Bhikku ward at Kurunegala General Hospital, more..

Feb 29 (PMD) On the recommendation of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA), govt bodies which have achieved a high performance level in the year 2018 were presented with awards at the Parliamentary Complex, today (28) under the patronage of Prez Rajapaksa. Of the 844 institutions of State, Provincial Councils and Local Govt that have been evaluated, 109 institutions were finalized to be awarded. more..

Feb 29 (NR) Two Sri Lankans who arrived in the island from Italy have been directed to the Infectious Diseases Hospital owing to suspicious symptoms. The Director of the IDH Dr. Hasitha Attanayake said samples obtained from the duo have been directed to the Borella MRI to determine if they have contracted the coronavirus. Director noted that the two showed symptoms of fever and a cough. Four others who also contain suspicious symptoms are being treated at the IDH. more..

Feb 29 (FT) Out-going Chinese Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan on Thursday paid a courtesy call on Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa and said it was an honour to work as the Ambassador to SL. Ambassador Cheng will be leaving to take up his new promotion. Some of his best memories in foreign services were made in Sri Lanka, he noted. He promised to continue to support SL in whatever capacity that his new post allows. He was deeply appreciative of both the SL Govt and the SL people for the support and more..

Feb 29 (Island) Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has said that the decision to co-sponsor Geneva Resolution 30/1 was taken by the yahapalana govt under the leadership of then Prez Maithripala Sirisena. Samaraweera, in a statement issued on withdrawal from Resolution 30/1 and subsequent resolutions extending its mandate in UNHRC, has said: "At a time when SL was in dire straits, govt changed in Jan 2015, more..