Feb 25 (EN) SL saw a link between pressure to improve human rights and accountability in by a UN body and recent reports on the islands sovereign bond risks, CB Governor W D Lakshman said. Many individuals and institutions had made adverse comments regarding SL’s economic management and prospects. “In the last couple of weeks alone, 3 institutions, Standard Chartered, Barclays, ICRA published damaging reports” more..

Feb 25 (PO) Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his SL counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena on Wednesday underscored the need to expand Pakistan-SL Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to realize the full potential of bilateral trade. In a meeting held in Colombo, the two Foreign Ministers reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations and agreed to work closely to further strengthen ties and enhance cooperation in diverse fields. Qureshi stressed the importance Pakistan attached more..

Feb 25 (AJ) Pakistan has extended a $50m line of credit for defence purchases to SL, its foreign ministry says as Pakistani PM Imran Khan concludes a landmark visit to the island nation. An agreement was also made to increase intelligence sharing and cooperation on other security issues, including anti-terrorism and anti-crime operations. Khan left SL on Wednesday after a 2-day visit that saw him hold talks with his SL counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prez Rajapaksa, more..

Feb 25 (AFP) SL is seeking $2.2 billion from Chinese banks, govt said, in echoes of a borrowing binge more than a decade ago that resulted in the country having to give up a strategic port to China. Minister Nivard Cabraal said the govt was hopeful of finalising a $1.5-billion swap facility with China's central bank. "Within the next two weeks we should be able to finalise it," Cabraal said while maintaining that the funds would be more..

Feb 25 (CT) A special discussion between eight Govt. party leaders and Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, Ven. Omare Kassapa Thera, and Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera was held yesterday, to discuss the standing of the Govt. Party leaders including Ministers Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, and Vasudeva Nanayakkara participated in the meeting, which was held at the Abhayarama Temple in Narahenpita. Ven. Ananda Thera criticised the health service, more..

Feb 25 (AD) The Attorney General has received Volume 01 of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that investigated the Easter Sunday terror attacks. AG’s coordinating officer said that Volume 01 of the report was received today from the Secretary to the President. However, the Attorney General has requested the President’s Secretary to submit all proceedings, documents and materials (Volumes 2-5) of the commission to the AG’s Dept, she said. more..

Feb 25 (AD) The Executive Committee of the SLFP has decided to reject the report of the PCoI that investigated the Easter Sunday terror attacks. MP Shan Wijayalal De Silva revealed this while speaking to reporters following the meeting of the SLFP’s Executive Committee. Meanwhile the SLFP Executive Committee has also decided to re-appoint former Prez Maithripala Sirisena as the Chairman of the SLFP. more..

Feb 26 (DM) The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) recent statement that they wish to form a BJP in Sri Lanka and Nepal has infuriated many politicians and political commentators of the country. We believe it is worthy to examine this ambitious proposal, in light of the manner of functioning of political parties and the contemporary geo-politics of South Asia. Certainly, one does not need to be naïve to imagine a possibility of the BJP operating as a registered party under the commission of election more..

Feb 26 (CT) It is heartening to read the recent news item stating that the UGC is contemplating changes in the university admission policy. The current system is outdated, against international practices and thus a complete overhaul of the uni admission process is long overdue. In my previous articles on the same subject appeared previously, I have stressed the urgent need for the review of the current admission policy and the admission process in keeping with the current national context more..

Feb 26 (ST) How do you market and release a film during a pandemic? Last year, Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s second movie Paangshu, completed in February 2018 and premiered at int'l film festivals took two and a half years to navigate its national release. The pandemic then paused its release further. When cinemas opened up after the first round of lockdowns, Visakesa seized this small window more..

Feb 26 (CT) SL has had several Prez Commissions since the Executive Presidency came into being 43 years ago in 1978. The first Prez Commission was appointed by Prez J.R. Jayewardene in March 1978. Recommendations made by that Commission were carried out to the letter by the Govt in power then, legally, whereas in the case of the other commissions since appointed, they were either aborted or their recommendations not carried out, or if carried out, upon appeal to Courts, more..

Feb 26 (ST) With many aspects of life having come to a standstill amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Performing Arts have also been greatly affected. Theatre, music and dance lovers patiently await the moment concerts are announced so they may experience the thrill of a live performance. There is hope sparking at the end of this tunnel as the Lionel Wendt Memorial Fund (LWMF) brings to audiences a live-stream of 3rd edition of their annual Young Musicians at the Wendt concert on Feb 27. more..

Feb 26 (TM) While we are a little haven of biodiversity, ecological, and wildlife wonder, there is an uglier picture beneath the surface. 2020 was one of the worst years for environmental conservation SL has ever seen. Over the last year, our island, renowned for leopards and elephants, has seen the deaths of more than 12 leopards and over 400 elephants, the vast majority of which are a direct result of human-animal conflict. more..

Feb 26 (GV) The sentiments are unanimous. Under Prez Rajapaksa’s presidency and govt, Sri Lanka’s human rights defenders in the north are being threatened, harassed and intimidated on a scale never experienced before. Interviews with several of them bear out the reality of what numerous reports by the UN and human rights agencies such as AI and HRW have been saying for over one year when the abandonment of truth, justice and the rule of law in Sri Lanka began in earnest. more..

Feb 26 (CT) SLC has established a dedicated Women’s High-Performance Centre with the aim of lifting the Women’s game to reach greater heights. The new Centre was established at the P. Sara Oval Cricket Stadium following an MoU signed with the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club. According to the MoU, the P. Sara Oval Ground, Side Wickets, Indoor Nets, Gymnasium, Swimming Pool and Dormitory facilities of Tamil Union will be used to develop the Women’s game. more..

Feb 26 (CT) The proud national anthem of SL starts off with the words Namo, Namo Matha... unique is that it is a song of praise of the country alone. It does not specifically glorify any race, caste, creed, community or religion. It is non-partisan and appeals to the patriotism of all the people in Mother Lanka. Due to Sri Lanka’s strategic geographic position we were lucky to be spared from much of the world’s wars. Our own armies have not gone out solely on the intention to instill an act of terror or more..

Feb 26 (Island) It was on 3rd Jan 1972 that our family arrived in Karachi from Moscow. Our departure from Moscow had been delayed for a few weeks due to the military confrontation between Pakistan and India. It ended on 16th Dec 1971. After that, international flights were not permitted for some time. The contrast between Moscow and Karachi was unbelievable. First and foremost, Moscow’s temperature was near minus 40 degrees centigrade, while in Karachi, it was sunny and more..

Feb 26 (Island) Samantha Green, CEO of Dogstar Foundation, was recently awarded a British Empire Medal for her services to animal welfare. The organization she founded, Dogstar Foundation works exclusively in SL operating a mobile sterilisation clinic to offer a humane dog population management programme. Dogstar has currently sterilised 45,802 dogs & 3,632 cats, carried out 67,284 rabies vaccinations. more..

Feb 26 (CT) Retired opener Upul Tharanga is the latest addition to the Sri Lanka Legends team participating at the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament to be held in India next month. Earlier, former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold, Nuwan Kulasekara and Dammika Prasad joined the team led by Thilakarathne Dilshan. The Road Safety World Series is an annual T20 cricket tournament organised to create awareness among the Indian public towards road safety. more..

Feb 26 (DN) Two members of the present ruling party will be vying to hold office in the Volleyball Federation of SL (VFSL) when they conduct their AGM on April 4. The incumbent President of the VFSL Ranjith Siyambalapitiya who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and Senior Vice-President of the VFSL and former President of the Sabaragamuwa PC Kanchana Jayaratna will be eying the top post of the Federation. Minister Siyambalapitiya has submitted his more..

Feb 26 (TM) Depressed, distressed, and disheartened, a large number of Sri Lanka national and first-class cricketers are planning to migrate to USA for professional cricket, sending shockwaves to country’s cricket future, The Morning learnt. “A lot of players will soon go to America. It will happen in two categories, as emerging and national. National player Shehan Jayasuriya has already gone. Around 15 more to follow him by March,” more..

Feb 26 (DN) Ironically, when the UNHRC Chief challenged the professionalism of the Sri Lankan Judiciary and called for an international judicial mechanism, a Presidential Commission appointed by a SL President recommended that the Attorney General consider criminal proceedings against the same President as the Commission was of the view that there is criminal liability on his part for acts or omissions and advised the AG to consider criminal proceedings against the President. more..

Feb 26 (Island) PCoI that probed the Easter Sunday carnage can easily be bracketed with the PCoI on the Treasury bond scams; both have not dug deep enough to reveal the masterminds of the crimes they were tasked with investigating. Obviously, Hashim Zahran, described as the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) leader was only one of the attackers. NTJ stockpiled explosives, arms and ammunition sufficient for many attacks. It had a long-term strategy; it brainwashed children and more..

Feb 26 (TM) Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation C.B. Ratnayake denies local media reports stating that a CESS has been imposed on the country’s timber imports in order to preserve local production. Minister stated that he did not announce any information regarding the alleged tax, thereby thoroughly rejecting local media reports. “No. There is no such tax that is currently implemented or going to be implemented. more..

Feb 26 (EN) SL is expecting US$ 32 billion in inflows from exports of goods and services and financial inflows and outflows of US$ 27.6 billion leaving a 4.4 billion surplus to service debt, State Minister Nivard Cabraal said. “We can comfortably repay all the debt that is falling due,” Minister Cabraal said. “We are monitoring that carefully to ensure that they happen.” CB Governor W D Lakshman said there was US$ 3.7 billion of net debt to be paid, after discounting dollar debt held by residents. more..

Feb 26 (DM) There is no indication of a positive response on the statement made by State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal regarding the evaluation of the situation of allowing vehicle imports at the end of this year, the Vehicle Importers Association of SL (VIASL) said. While addressing the media VIASL Secretary Arosha Rodrigo said the State Minister had mentioned in his speech that no imports would be allowed during this year, but the Govt would evaluate the situation at the end of this year more..

Feb 26 (TM) Sri Lanka’s newly appointed T20I Skipper Dasun Shanaka is to miss the entire three-match series in the West Indies. The all-rounder is presently entangled in a USA visa issue for he has allegedly lost one of his passports in 2018 containing USA visa for five years. The US Embassy in Sri Lanka is reportedly inquiring currently whether some other person had entered USA by forging Shanaka’s lost passport. more..

Feb 26 (ST) Since the beginning of the year there has been an increase in real estate activity by property buyers and sellers, according to SL’s leading property portal LankaPropertyWeb. The company stated that a comparison between the number of visits to lankapropertyweb.com during the month of January in 2020 and 2021, showed an increase of 23% while leads generated to advertisers on the site increased by 20%. LankaPropertyWeb (LPW) also saw more..

Feb 26 (ST) National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) this week admitted to chronic delays in registering locally manufactured and imported pharmaceuticals blaming it on staff shortage. The State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) has now offered to step in and help clear the backlog of hundreds of applications pending registration, some almost a year. NMRA CEO Dr. Kamal Jayasinghe said the NMRA was under-staffed and was waiting for Management Services Dept to approve more..

Feb 26 (HRW) It is 11 years since tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final months of SL’s civil war. Both parties to the conflict committed war crimes and other abuses for which no one has been held to account. For nearly a decade this Council has engaged SL, including landmark consensus resolutions since 2015 to support a national process of accountability and reconciliation. Last year, soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa more..

Feb 26 (TM) Is any individual benefitted unduly by the 19 Feb Extraordinary Gazette notification 2215/47, issued by Youth and Sports Ministry? It is all but interesting that the said notification was made, repealing a previous notification on the National Associations of Sports, just five days before nominations were called for Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) AGM, scheduled for 20 May. The said Extraordinary Gazette notification was issued, pertaining to Sports Law No. 25 of 1973, more..

Feb 26 (DN) Sri Lanka Coconut Cultivators’ Association and the Ceylinco Insurance Company (CIC) under the guidance of the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) jointly launched a special Insurance scheme for the sector, which is a first for Sri Lanka. Under this novel insurance program Ceylinco Insurance proposes to compensate and provide a sustainable insurance solution to coconut cultivators on behalf of damages caused in various ways to their cultivations. more..

Feb 26 (FT) China yesterday extended further reaffirmation and reassurance of support for SL globally. This was conveyed by Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a phone conversation on Wednesday with SL Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the latter’s request. Wang said that the two countries were strategic cooperative partners of sincere mutual assistance and lasting friendship. more..

Feb 26 (AD) Director General of Health Services confirmed two more Covid-19 related deaths, increasing Sri Lanka’s death toll due to the virus to 459. One of the deceased is a 62-year-old woman from Kadawatha who had passed away on February 21 while being treated at the Colombo North Teaching Hospital. The Cause of death is mentioned as a heart disease and complicated diabetes with Covid-19 infection. The other victim is an 83-year-old woman from Wattala. more..

Feb 26 (CT) The son of a well-known businessman who was being treated for a mental illness at Durdans Hospital in Colombo 3 had escaped from his hospital room situated on the 10th floor and jumped to his death at dawn yesterday, sources said. Police said the victim was 31 years old. The incident had taken place around 3 a.m. and the body of the youth was found on the 5th floor of the Hospital. A probe into the death has been initiated by Kollupitiya Police. more..

Feb 26 (FT) A total of 466 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the country’s total patient count to 81,933. Of the patients detected yesterday, 464 were associates of the Peliyagoda COVID-19 cluster. The triple clusters that emerged from Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda and Prisons have thus expanded to 77,827 patients. Total patient count includes 2,010 SL returnees from abroad, 950 Navy personnel & their contacts, more..

Feb 26 (FT) To mark its 70th anniversary, the Central Bank has issued an uncirculated commemorative coin (aluminium bronze) in the denomination of Rs. 20 on 31 Dec 2020. Concurrently to the above, CBSL has also decided to issue a circulation standard commemorative coin (nickel plated steel) in the denomination of Rs. 20 with the same design of the uncirculated commemorative coin. The first coin was officially presented to Prez Rajapaksa by more..

Feb 26 (FT) Litro Gas Lanka and Litro Terminal SL, operating under SL Insurance Corporation (SLIC), have conducted their audits through a private company disregarding the Auditor General’s advice to have the audits conducted through them, the COPE heard this week. COPE members questioned on what grounds a private company, KPMG, was hired to conduct the audit solely on the decision of the Board of Directors when the AG had instructed the AG that there was no impediment more..

Feb 26 (AD) The Extraordinary Gazette notification allowing the burial of bodies of Covid-19 victims has been published. The gazette amends regulations made by the Minister of Health under Sections 2 and 3 of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance (Chapter 222). It states that regulations published in Gazette No.7481 of Aug 28, 1925 is further amended by the substitution of the words, more..