May 15 (TM) Situated along the South Coast, Mirissa was the place to be for those looking to escape city life – a slice of paradise that offered adventure and entertainment. But with the Covid-19 pandemic holding the world hostage, both businesses and residents in the area have had to grapple with a crisis like no other. It was the 90s when Mirissa truly took off as a tourist destination, mainly due to surfing and whale-watching. more..

May 15 (FT) “Mitra Innovation is delighted to announce its partnership with Creatio (formerly bpm’online), a leading low-code, process automation and CRM company,” said Mitra Innovation Founder and CEO Dr. Ashok Suppiah. “We chose Creatio because they are market leaders in CRM with low-code and Business Process Management. The Creatio partner program complements Mitra’s offerings by providing rapid innovative service to our customers.” Mitra Innovation is a digital more..

May 15 (CT) Following former Head Coach Thilaka Jinadasa's departure recently, the Queens of Asia are without a coach, and SL Netball Federation (SLNF) are on the look-out for a suitable replacement to continue till 2022. "We haven't yet appointed a new head coach. After the situation in the country is brought under control we will call for applications for the position of Head Coach. We are considering appointing the new coach to take charge till 2022, so that players will be able to settle more..

May 15 (Island) Sri Lanka Cricket has sent an e-mail to their counterparts at Board of Control for Cricket in India requesting the possibility of resuming bilateral cricket later in July. India were slotted to tour the island in mid-July for a six match series (three ODIs and three T-20 Internationals). However, the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill and so has sporting events across the globe. more..

May 15 (TM) SL tile manufacturer Lanka Walltiles PLC believes the recent restrictions imposed on imports, if persisted by the Government, will serve to minimise the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its business. In a disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) on 11 May, Lanka Walltiles PLC Managing Director J.A.P.M. Jayasekera said that this ban, which includes tiles and related accessories, is expected to have a positive effect on the company’s operations in the medium term. more..

May 15 (DN) For the first time in Sri Lanka’s sporting history, local hockey players have been given an opportunity to play professional hockey in the Netherlands. This historic opportunity was created to Sri Lanka though the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and it was initiated by Technical Director, NOC, Jelmer Kuyvenhoven. President NOC, Suresh Subramanian told the Daily News that Netherlands has won the Hockey World Cup eight times and their League standard too is very high. more..

May 15 (ST) More than 50,000 people stranded in Colombo are being sent to their home districts in batches, with the latest group being dispatched yesterday, ending their six-week-long hardships. Most of them said they were struggling to find food and proper accommodation while they were running out of cash to buy day-to-day needs. Factory worker A S P Tilakaratne, 31, said the Katunayake factory where he worked more..

May 15 (Island) Healthy growth in business volumes and an extraordinary contribution from other income, before the slowdown attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, have enabled the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC to make a steady start to 2020, despite the continuing increase in impairment charges quarter-on-quarter. Sri Lanka’s benchmark private sector bank has reported a gross income of Rs 39.444 billion for the three months ending 31st March 2020, recording a growth of 12.87%. more..

May 15 (Island) Pan Asia Bank is now offering a unique not to be missed investment opportunity with the Special Deposit Accounts that offer unbeatable interest rates for new foreign currency deposits in a bid to support country’s efforts to attract fresh foreign currency funds. This opportunity is open for 6 and 12 month foreign currency Fixed Deposits placed in a range of currencies including USD, EURO, GBP, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars. There is no minimum deposit amount or more..

May 15 (Island) Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested, on Wednesday, that China and Sri Lanka, while ensuring COVID-19 prevention and control, should gradually resume practical cooperation in various fields, advance major cooperation projects, in an orderly manner, and promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road initiative. Xi made the remarks in a telephone conversation with President Rajapaksa. more..

May 15 (ST) Sri Lanka’s corporate sector is scrambling for cash to recapitalise and restructure operations hit by COVID -19 pandemic at a time when the country’s economic activities resumes shortly. Although the Monetary Board has unveiled a raft of measures to assist affected companies; there was an urgent need to improve liquidity and minimise funding requirements. With the economic impact of the pandemic likely to affect the country for several more months or till the end of this yr, more..

May 15 (FT) Secretariat of Parliament, which was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed duties this week. Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake and other Heads of Departments reported to duty and held a meeting, at which it was decided to call the other employees to work, according to a list of duty assignments prepared by the respective Heads of Departments. All measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Parliamentary Complex are now being more..

May 15 (Island) The govt should provide necessary funding to ensure that schools could carry out the necessary preparatory actions, prior to opening schools, Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Association (CTU) Joseph Stalin said. When schools start there should be a number of things that should be provided for the safety of students and teachers. Among them were adequate facilities to wash hands, disinfectants, more..

May 15 (DN) Sri Lanka’s main markets, Japan Europe and America were gradually opening up and over 30 local garment factories have been given permission to manufacture Health and safety equipment with secured orders for over US$ 500 million, Director General of the Board of Investment of SL, Sanjaya Mohottala said. Mohottala said these orders could go up to US$ 1 billion and if that happens the garment industry could take a buffer from the otherwise collapsing situation. more..

May 15 (Island) Dialog Axiata PLC announced, Wednesday, its consolidated financial results for the three months ended 31st March 2020. The Dialog Group’s all key business segments, viz. Mobile, International, Tele-infrastructure, Digital Pay Television and Fixed Line contributed to record a consolidated revenue of Rs29.2Bn for Q1 2020, demonstrating a marginal decline of 1% Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ), resulting from challenges to core revenue growth, albeit growing 1% YoY. more..

May 15 (PMD) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has requested the banking sector to deviate from conventional thinking and practice to support the country’s striving to rebuild the economy badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The govt was able to keep the corona virus under control. The biggest challenge we face right now is to rebuild the collapsed economy. It will take a long time for the apparel industry to recover. more..

May 15 (AD) SriLankan Airlines has operated another passenger flight since the mechanism to restore normalcy in private and public sector entities in Colombo and Gampaha districts came into effect. This Japan-bound flight (UL 454) has taken off from Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at around 7.20 pm on Thursday (14). It is scheduled to touch down at the Narita International Airport in Tokyo. A total of 157 passengers including 16 Japanese nationals had boarded the flight. more..

May 15 (FT) Lanka IOC said it has revised petrol prices to match those of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). The retail selling prices of Lanka Petrol 92 was revised from Rs. 142 per litre to Rs. 137 per litre. “With this revision, the prices of both Petrol and Diesel are same as applicable at CPC filling stations,” said Lanka IOC. “We have always been extending best value proposition to all its customers in the form of state of the art automation, premium fuel offerings, best in class facilities” more..

May 15 (CT) Had the State Intelligence Service (SIS) not downplayed their own findings and warnings, the Police could have taken steps to either prevent or mitigate the damage of the 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday massacre, said Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon. He was testifying before the PCoI appointed to probe the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Adding that a letter issued by the SIS had been sent to DIGs by the then more..

May 15 (FT) A total of 272 Sri Lankans who were stranded in various parts of Australia were brought back home to Sri Lanka on UL 605, daybreak 10 May. Amongst these passengers were 31 students following higher studies in Australia who opted to return and be in the safe custody of their parents. A family who wishes to be anonymous voluntarily offered to be the group leader on behalf of all parents and they coordinated this return with much communication between the Prez, PM, more..

May 15 (AD) Commander of the Army, Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva says that of the 10 positive cases of Covid-19 identified yesterday, 8 are navy personnel. The other two cases are relatives of navy personnel. Total number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus reported in Sri Lanka rose to 925 as of 10.30 p.m. last night and accordingly 471 active cases are currently under medical care. The number of recoveries has increased to 445 while the death toll due to the virus in Sri Lanka is 9. more..

May 15 (AD) The isolation of Bandaranayake Mawatha in Colombo 12 and Suduwella in Ja-Ela have been lifted, Lt Gen Shavendra Silva said. Accordingly there are currently no isolated areas due to Covid-19 in Sri Lanka, he said. Bandaranayake Mawatha in Colombo 12 and Suduwella in Ja-Ela were declared as isolated areas last month after the discovery of two major clusters of Covid-19 cases from those areas. more..

May 15 (FT) Gradually, SL is dragging itself into an abyss without sight of a bottom. The navigators who steer the craft of SL or the passengers on board it do not seem to have any idea of the peril ahead. SL has become a helpless country, caught in a series of crises that emerged, one after the other. The corona crisis broke out at a time when the country’s social and political system and the economy were in dire straits. It has doubled, perhaps trebled the magnitude and the complexity of the crisis more..

May 15 (FT) It is two months since students in Sri Lanka had any face-to-face learning. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools and higher educational institutions to a halt, rendering academic calendars futile. We still do not know when schools and universities might re-open. But increasingly, the University Grants Commission and many educational administrators are pushing online education as the only solution for these times. While some teachers are embracing more..

May 15 (DM) On 12 May, writing a detailed piece to Daily FT on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) debacle the previous day, Nisthar Cassim titled it Stock market loses Rs. 84 b in seconds. In his insightful write up he says, “During the two weeks between 09 March and 20 March the CSE lost Rs. 355 billion in value and yesterday’s fall extended the figure to Rs. 440 billion.” That loss apart, this year Sri Lanka is burdened with more..

May 15 (DM) Ever since the key numbers for the Covid-19 virus became clear in mid-February, it was obvious that all countries would end up trying to control its spread. The alternative of letting the virus rampage unchecked through a country would always end up being too awful for any govt, however stubborn or stupid, to accept. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of confusion about the various strategies that countries could adopt, with a whole new lexicon of terms being thrown around more..

May 15 (EN) Sri Lanka will provide vocational training to remand as well as short and long-term prisoners under the supervision of the Department of Prisons with the participation of the private sector, the govt said. Speaking at the cabinet briefing held yesterday, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Ramesh Pathirana said that according to the program, short and long term imprisoned and remanded inmates will be eligible to receive training in selected fields for a period of six to 12 months. more..

May 15 (AD) Chairman, Board of Directors, representatives of the Management and Unions of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and Mobitel handed over a cheque to the value of Rs. 50 million to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, today at the Presidential Secretariat as a donation to the COVID-19 Health and Social Security Fund. SLT & Mobitel, nation’s leading telecom solution providers, continues to support the Govt in its commendable efforts in managing the present crisis, more..

May 15 (Island) General Secretary of the Democratic United National Front (DUNF) Ariyawansa Dissanayake yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights petition, in the Supreme Court, seeking an order to direct the Election Commission to refrain from taking steps, including allocation of preference numbers to candidates contesting the upcoming General Election, until final determination of this petition. The petitioner is further seeking an Interim Order directing the Director General more..

May 15 (EN) SL’s merchandise exports grew 0.7% to US$ 988 million in Feb 2020 from a year earlier, while imports grew 9.1% to US$ 1,562 million. The deficit in the merchandise trade account was US$ 574 million, driven mainly by remittances of 527 million dollars which grew 5.4%. SL has a deficit in the trade account as domestic players earn foreign income from services such as remittances and the govt also deficit spends more..

May 15 (AD) Four suspects have been arrested in Welisara, Ragama while in possession of 225kg 969g of heroin. The raid was conducted by the officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) on Wednesday, according to the police media division. Two vehicles used by the suspects to transport the heroin haul have been taken into custody by the police. The suspects, aged 24, 30, 50 and 55 years, are to be produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court today. more..

May 15 (NR) JVP says the country was facing a severe economic crisis prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Former MP Vijitha Herath said the govt has failed to manage the economy. Herath noted following the dissolution of Parliament, a new Parliament must be convened within three months of dissolution. He added the Gazette Notification, issued on the 2 of March, cited that the new Parliament will convene on the 14 of May. He said the Gazette was not cancelled nor was more..

May 15 (PMD) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that irrational laws should not obstruct the policies formulated to achieve the economic objectives of the people. The President stated this during a discussion with officials and ministry secretaries attached to the Plantation Industry sector yesterday.The meeting was called to find solutions to a number of issues rooted in the Plantation Industry. more..

May 15 (PMD) Sri Lanka Telecom and Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd has donated Rs.50 million to COVID-19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund. Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom, Rohan Fernando handed over the cheque for this sum to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat, today. The CEO of Mobitel, Nalin Perera and other members of the Board of Directors were also present on this occasion. The National Medicines Regulatory Authority has donated Rs. 50 m to the Fund. more..

May 15 (CT) A group of lecturers of Uni of Moratuwa advised bus passengers to wear a face mask and to clean their hands using sanitiser to protect from COVID-19. According to a request of Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, they submitted a report on ensuring the protection of bus passengers from COVID-19 after curfew was relaxed. The report noted that if someone inside the bus sneezed, there is a chance that fellow bus passengers would be affected by droplets because of the wind more..

May 15 (EN) COVID 19 lockdown has seen a significant reduction in the consumption of alcohol and tobacco the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) states. According to a study released today, May 15, ADIC said the consumption of alcohol had been reduced by 80%, and the consumption of tobacco had been reduced by 48% while 20% of users have quit using tobacco due to the restrictions. more..

May 15 (EN) SL’s insurers have so far not been hit by Coronavirus mortality or healthcare costs unlike other countries but import controls will hit insurance growth due to controls on vehicle imports, while currency depreciation will also push up claims costs. Rishikesh Sivakumar, Senior Analyst Fitch Ratings, said SL’s insurance companies have not seen claims from mortality rise unlike in other countries. Nor have health claims come, with all cases being treated at state hospitals. more..

May 15 (Island) Human Relief Foundation, Orphans in Need and Teebah Foundation, three UK Charities in association with al-Ihsan Trust another UK charity distributed dry ration hampers to the value of Rupees 5,000 each to over 3,000 Sri Lankan families in Colombo, Puttalam, Thoppur, Mannar, Kinniya, Musalli, Nikaweratiya and Malwana. This was facilitated by the Sri Lankan NGO – Laila Umma Deen Foundation. The food hampers were distributed to families irrespective of faith more..

May 15 (Island) The controversial appeal for public servants to donate their May salary, or part of it, by Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the President, underscored the enormity of the financial crisis the country was facing, in the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus onslaught, General Secretary of the Communist Party, Dew Gunasekera, said. Former lawmaker and one-time Chairman of the COPE Gunasekera said so, more..