May 4 (EN) There appears to be some confusion regarding the COVID-19 curfew in Colombo and other districts, as an unexpectedly high turnout of foot and vehicular traffic was observed this morning in many areas still considered high risk. A last-minute announcement from the president’s office last night sought to clarify that the previously announced staggered relaxation of lockdown measures using NIC numbers. more..

May 4 (ARY) Another group of 40 stranded Pakistanis have returned home via Sri Lankan Airlines flight here on Monday. Second Secretary, Ms. Ayesha Abubakar Fahad was present on behalf of the High Commissioner to see off the departing Pakistanis at andaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo. The returning Pakistanis acknowledged efforts of Pakistani High Commission for providing all possible support and assistance during their stay in Sri Lanka during these difficult times. more..

May 4 (NR) Dr. Anil Jasinghe says a programme to collect biological samples from residents of areas, that Navy personnel of the Welisara Navy Camp returned to on leave, has commenced. He said area residents will also be directed for PCR testing, as it has been confirmed that 60 Navy personnel had returned to their hometowns on leave. Dr. Jasinghe meanwhile said 1,636 PCR tests were conducted yesterday, which he remarked was a comparatively low percentage of cases in retrospect. more..

May 4 (EN) The TNA has stated that although it has attended the meeting called by PM Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 4, it is not and cannot be a substitute for the convening of Parliament. A statement signed by TNA leader R Sampanthan said the party is of “the firm view that the Parliament must be convened as stated in our joint statement to deal with several constitutional & legal issues that have arisen, more..

May 4 (EN) SL private sector companies are saying that they are adapting fast to the social distancing required in the post-COVID-19 era, as some of them are now in the process of providing their staff with the necessary infrastructure to allow them work from home. Working from home and flexible working hours, which were considered more or less unthinkable a few months ago for a majority of SL companies, are now fast becoming business as usual as COVID-19 is changing old ways of more..

May 4 (AD) The Attorney General has informed the Election Commission of Sri Lanka that it has to follow the procedure established by the law for the conduct of Parliamentary Elections. AG has passed his counsel as a response to advice sought by the Commission today, said the Coordinating Officer of the AG. Election Commission inquired the AG on accepting nominations for the next general election on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of May which are considered public holidays. more..

May 4 (MB) A rare new orchid described from a tropical lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka now bears the name of two of the island’s pioneering forest ecologists. A new paper published in the journal Biotaxa identifies the new discovery as Gastrodia gunatillekeorum, a species found in just three small populations comprising fewer than 100 mature individuals. That makes it both habitat specific and endangered. more..

May 4 (AD) In the view of Vesak Full Moon Poya day, slaughter and sale of meat have been banned islandwide on the 6th, 7th and 8th of May. Further, liquor shops, casinos, and betting centers are also informed remain closed on the relevant days, stated the Ministry of Public Administration. Vesak Full Moon Poya day is celebrated on 07th May, Thursday this year. The government declared the period from 04th to 08th May as the National Vesak Week. The national Vesak festival will centralize more..

May 4 (AD) Director-General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe states that only one COVID-19 patient has been identified within the day so far. The new patient raises the number of coronavirus cases reported in SL to 719. Meanwhile, 3 patients who had tested positive for Coronavirus were discharged from the hospital after complete recovery. This brings the total number of recoveries in the country to 187. Currently, 527 active cases are under medical care at hospitals across the country, more..

May 4 (AD) Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health confirmed the country’s eighth COVID-19 death, a short while ago. Dr. Anil Jasinghe stated that a 72-year-old woman, a Coronavirus infected patient, has died while receiving treatment at the Homagama Hospital today (04). The deceased was a resident of Polpithigama in Kurunegala. She had been suffering from kidney ailments prior to death, said the ministry. more..

May 5 (DM) Confusion reigns these days over many important matters ranging from using face masks to Constitutional provision. The very instruction to stay home owing to the COVID-19 threat goes against the instruction to wear face masks when one comes out from home, as nobody or very few had face masks in their possession when the government first imposed curfew on March 20, in order to enforce social distancing or physical distancing. In other words many people were able to adhere to more..

May 5 (CT) The following essay appeared several years ago in an Australian journal of post-colonial writing. Given present grave and dangerous times, I left it to Colombo Telegraph to decide whether it’ll not be without interest to some readers today. The article is included in my SL: Literary Essays & Sketches. The word fetish has several connotations, one of them being when something is endowed with value or appreciation forgetful that it was human effort that went into its creation. more..

May 5 (CT) Inginiyagala tank stored a large mass of water, despite the dry season. However, the drought was nearly burning the Gal Oya Wildlife Park that surrounded the tank. Leaves on the trees were dry and withered while the animals in the park lacked food and water. Meanwhile, poachers got sneakier and blood-thirstier when they saw the opportunity of succeeding in their game of poaching in the wildlife park as the focus of more..

May 5 (CT) There's a huge doubt about National economies, State and commercial banking, finance companies, industrial and commercial life ever witnessing a completely COVID-19 free state of being. And if we happened to be talking in the context of an arbitrary global biological turn of events, the suggestion is that those bent on sensible thinking will be both logical and futuristically wise in taking the scourge of these blows of CORVID-19 and breaking out right now into more..

May 5 (CT) Election Commission has announced that it shall conduct the General Election on 20th June 2020. Over the media, politicians, journalists, and lawyer-politicians have defended that decision by providing inaccurate interpretations of certain constitutional provisions. I do not claim infallibility, but the relevant provisions of the Constitution have been stated in such clear terms that their meaning should be obvious to all except those who view it through politically tainted lenses. more..

May 5 (TM) When tourism was at its peak, unlike now, there was great human activity in places which ideally belonged to animals in its entirety. An issue which gave rise to grave concerns and caused a stir amongst people interested in wildlife conservation was the problem of overcrowding of wildlife parks, which was sometimes believed to cause the animals distress. Taking the time off as an opportunity, more..

May 5 (Island) Coronavirus has provided parliaments, the world over, with an opportunity to be of some use to the people who have to stump up colossal amounts of funds to maintain them. The European Parliament has allowed one of its buildings, in Brussels, to be used to shelter about 100 homeless women, many of whom are said to be victims of domestic violence, during lockdowns. Offices in the building have been converted into bedrooms, and the women are provided with more..

May 5 (ST) Last Sunday when this column looked at political developments — both local and foreign — against the backdrop of a global pandemic, it did not expect to come back to the subject so soon. What prompted a quick return to it is a cluster (a commonly used word these days) of decisions and impending events that make another look singularly appropriate. But to take a step back & place political statements in their context is not without merit for they impinge on what is happening right now. more..

May 5 (DM) COVID-19 pandemic is a double whammy. It has decimated communities, killed nearly a quarter of a million people and infected millions more while continuing to do so at an exponential rate. It has overloaded health facilities in the richest societies in the world, killed more people in America within two months than the total American death toll of the Vietnam war. More people had died in Lombardy, an Italian region in a single day by the virus than by allied air raids more..

May 5 (Island) A report, titled Polls Chief needs 35 days to prepare for election, quotes the Chairman of the Election Commission as having stated: "If we are to hold an election on June 20, we need to start at least by May 15. That means the country should return to normal by that time. We must listen to health officials and also take into account how our officers feel. There should be an environment conducive to election work." (The Island, May 2, 2020). more..

May 5 (DM) The Working Women’s Front (WWF) is SL’s first women-led Trade Union (TU) to organise around labour and gender rights. Emerging from a Community-Based Organisation in the tea plantations, WWF now organises and campaigns for dignified working conditions for women across the formal and informal sectors. Krishnan Yogeshwary is the WWF General Secretary and Mythri Jegathesan is a teacher-scholar from Santa Clara Uni more..

May 5 (Island) The lockdown, and curfew, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has certainly brought out the creative talents of quite a few of our artistes. I had a call from singer Mariazelle Goonetilleke, last week, giving me the rundown that resulted in the creation of a video recording of a song, entitled Aluth Iskole. This particular song is all about planet Earth and Mother Nature. According to Mariazelle, it was Shakila Perera, a next-generation musician, from the band Chains, who came up with this idea more..

May 5 (Island) You wouldn’t notice that Upul Tharanga has notched up 6951 runs in One-Day cricket. You wouldn’t also notice that the left-handed opener is the eighth highest run getter for Sri Lanka in the 50 over format. Having played his last ODI more than a year ago, hope is fading away that Upul can make a comeback and have a crack at that 7000 mark. But he is not giving up - playing the game for his beloved NCC, maintaining fitness and keeping the selectors in the loop more..

May 5 (TM) Just as we have celebrated many significant holidays and festivals during the curfew, including the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, coming ahead is yet another increasingly important holiday on the Sri Lankan calendar. On 7 May, we will be celebrating the festival of Vesak, a time we Sri Lankans have dedicated to engage in activities such as making Vesak decorations at home, or to go out onto the streets and more..

May 5 (Island) Hatton National Bank’s loan share in small and medium enterprise segment is huge. As Covid-19 has clouded the outlook of most of these businesses for many months to come, The Island spoke with Jonathan Alles, CEO of Hatton National Bank (HNB) to learn how the Bank can support these entrepreneurs and thereby help repair part of the damage caused to the economy. Following is what he told us. "As a bank that commenced its operations over 130 years ago in Hatton, more..

May 5 (DN) At a time when most international airports are closed worldwide, a single crew transfer operation between a ship and a flight has brought in a minimum of US $ 15,000 (Rs. 30 M) in foreign exchange into SL. “This revenue figure was arrived at from the over US $ 5000 which was earned by the MRIA , over US $5000 that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation earned from refueling and the national carrier – SriLankan Airlines from the ground handling”, Chief Manager Upul Kalansooriya more..

May 5 (TM) After the position was left vacant for over two years, the state-owned telecommunication provider Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) has announced an appointment to the role of Group CEO in a bid enhance synergy amongst the subsidiaries of SLT. Yesterday (04), in a disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange, SLT announced the appointment of Lalith Mohan Seneviratne as the Group CEO, more..

May 5 (DM) CT Land Development PLC, the owners of Majestic City, announced a rental-free policy for its tenants during the curfew period, with further plans to formulate a rental-free/reduced rental scheme for an additional period, until the shopping complex gets back to full operation. Firm closed the Majestic City mall with effect from March 17, as an urgent preventive measure to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In a stock exchange filing regarding impact of more..

May 5 (TM) A new Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH) was declared open on 28 April by Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Director-General of Health Services. The new Laboratory was made possible due to funding and pledges received from private sector donors Melstacorp, John Keells Holdings, Deutsche Bank and South Asia Gateway Terminals as well as the Welfare Society of the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation and Mr. Shammi Silva who were represented more..

May 5 (ST) Some of SL’s large apparel manufacturers are likely to kick start operations next month to produce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to meet some of the global demand in the fight against COVID-19. Due to the exponential demand for PPE the current global supply chain is unable to meet the existing demand so organisations like the UNICEF have approached the Sri Lankan embassies and more..

May 5 (DN) Huawei, the global leading ICT solution provider, stepped up efforts and pledged support to SL to fight against the Corona Virus epidemic through a donation of a range of cutting-edge ICT solutions. Accordingly, 5 Sets of Huawei high definition video conference systems were provided to help government sector to make decisions with less risk by minimizing personal contacting. Further this donation includes 6 high precision thermal cameras which will be deployed to key spots, more..

May 5 (TM) Shangri-La’s senior management in SL is taking voluntary pay cuts to minimise the financial impact on lower earning employees in their properties during the Covid-19 crisis. This was revealed by Shangri-La Colombo General Manager Timothy Wright during a webinar conducted by the SL Tourism Alliance on how to survive and thrive post Covid-19. Wright explained that in parallel to these pay cuts, Shangri-La is also looking at other ways the senior management and staff more..

May 5 (FT) Taking advantage of lower global prices, Govt has imposed a fresh round of import duties and surcharges on fuel, essentially doubling taxes, aimed at shoring up flagging public revenue. Finance, Economic and Policy Development Ministry, which is held by PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, has Gazetted levying an import duty of Rs. 50 per litre on all petrol imports, including 92 and 95 Octane as well as Rs. 25 per litre on all diesel imports. more..

May 5 (DN) A special function was held on April 21, at the Chaithya Premises of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) in memory of the victims of Easter Sunday terrorist attacks last year. The programme was organized by the Buddhist Association of SLPA with religious observances of the Maha Sangha under the initiative of Daya Ratnayake, Chairman of SLPA. SLPA’s Managing Director Athula Hewavitharana, Additional Managing Director Upali De Zoysa, Director Finance Shirani more..

May 5 (DM) In an effort to provide some relief to the stakeholders of the Colombo bourse, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it would provide a series of measures that would assist the players in complying with certain mandatory regulatory requirements. The SEC, in a directive to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), said that the relief measures are extended so that the licensed and registered entities are able to comply with the regulatory requirements, amidst constraints more..

May 5 (Island) Sports Ministry secretary K.D.S. Ruwanchandra said that the possibility of conducting sports events without fans and summoning a limited number of members of some national sports pools for training will be considered when lockdown restrictions are relaxed. There had been no sports action since mid March after govt imposed a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic. "We are considering the possibility of giving green light to sports like rugby, cricket, more..

May 5 (PMD) Q: What are the districts where the curfew is on and at what? A: Curfew will be effective in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam until further notice. In the rest of the districts curfew will be on from 8pm to 5am from today (4) till Wednesday (6). Curfew which will be re-imposed in these districts at 8pm on Wednesday, May 6th will be in force till 5am on Monday, May 11th. Q: When will the resumption of civilian life and office work begin while curfew is still in force? more..

May 5 (FT) SLPP charged that if the main Opposition parties including the UNP, SJB and JVP were genuinely concerned about containing COVID-19 and supporting the Govt, they would have joined yesterday’s meeting presided over by PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. PM invited a range of former parliamentarians for a meeting at Temple Trees yesterday to discuss ways to contain COVID-19 and bring the country back to normalcy. more..