Mar 24 (CT) SL’s export earnings registered a growth of 2.52% with US$ 993.73 million in February, compared to the previous year, maintaining the growth momentum recorded during the last five months, as per the provisional statistics. This is the highest export figure recorded for the month of February during the last five-years. The growth of exports was supported by increase in global demand notably for products such as more..

Mar 24 (PHC) High Commission of Pakistan and the Pakistani community based in SL celebrated the 81st National Day of Pakistan with traditional fervor and resolve to make Pakistan a strong, vibrant, progressive, democratic and welfare state. The National Day of Pakistan is celebrated on 23rd March every year in remembrance of the historic 1940 resolution passed in Lahore, calling for a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent that ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan more..

Mar 24 (Island) The GMOA faulted the govt for what its Secretary Dr. Senal Fernando called a serious shortage of doctors in the country. Dr. Fernando, in a statement to The Island said that the issue at hand could be solved by increasing the retirement age of doctors from 60 to 63 with immediate effect. However, the GMOA’s request to the govt to increase the retirement age of doctors had been held up at the Cabinet, Dr. Fernando said, pointing out that the govt delayed a decision on more..

Mar 24 (AD) The UK on Tuesday said the draft resolution on SL, sponsored by the Core Group, reflects the findings of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the island nation’s human rights situation has deteriorated, with particular concerns to human rights defenders in civil society space and members of different ethnic and religious communities. Introducing the draft resolution L1/Rev.1 the representative of UK more..

Mar 24 (CG) Director General of the Department of Govt Information Nalaka Kaluwewa has resigned. Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that Kaluwewa had submitted his resignation recently. Kaluwewa had submitted his resignation letter 3-4 days ago. He said that Kaluwewa was likely to seek an appointment in another Govt post. A former Acting Additional Secretary of the Presidential Secretariat, Nalaka Kaluwewa, was appointed Acting Director General of Information in 2018. more..

Mar 24 (CT) Agriculture Ministry will only purchase Nadu rice, as it is the rice variety which a majority of Sri Lankans consume, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said. “The Media only focuses on the price hike of Samba rice and alleges that the Govt hasn’t reduced the price of rice. However, 82% of Sri Lankans consume Nadu rice. Therefore, the Agriculture Ministry will only purchase Nadu rice and a considerable price reduction will be provided by the end of April,” he added. more..

Mar 24 (FT) Secretary to Prez and former longstanding Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera described SL’s debt as the most dramatised story, asserting it was unwarranted given the country’s unblemished track record of repayment. Speaking at the Colombo Development Symposium he said that as a responsible Govt it had approached debt servicing and management responsibly amidst multiple challenges. more..

Mar 24 (DN) A group of protestors in Jaffna who were demanding justice to those who were abducted and murdered by the LTTE and other armed Tamil Organizations clashed when instructed to bring the protest to an end. A clash took place between the two factions on March 22 at Nallur in Jaffna. The protestors who engaged in a fast had asked the individual who arrived with a letter from the Jaffna Mayor if it was a Court Order. Thereafter a heated argument was initiated and finally turned to more..

Mar 24 (CT) JVP held a protest on Monday in front of Fort Railway Station, against alleged deforestation by the Govt. JVP member Samantha Vidyaratna, addressing the gathering, said the Govt used the Yahapalana regime’s incompetence in the environment sector for their election campaigns. “They came to power promising that they will arrest the ones who were responsible for the Wilpattu deforestation, but what they are doing now is a repetition of the previous regime,” more..

Mar 24 (FT) Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was yesterday upbeat about the number of votes received by SL at the UNHRC and insisted the Govt would not deviate from a domestic mechanism despite adoption of the resolution. Even though SL received less votes than it had on past occasions, Gunawardena nonetheless insisted on describing it as the global south coalescing against its northern counterparts. more..

Mar 24 (GAC) Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement: “Canada welcomes the adoption of the UNHRC resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in SL. “Today’s resolution represents the international community’s continued support for ensuring reconciliation, accountability and respect for human rights in SL. Canada, as part of the Core Group on this resolution, worked alongside members of the council for the passage more..

Mar 24 (DM) Former Prez Chandrika Kumaratunge said there was no truth in the news that were circulating in social and other media platforms to the effect that she was plotting to bring her son to politics. A statement she had made during an interview with a Youtube channel had been misquoted and it was being used by social media, she said. Ms. Kumaratunge said she had never made any such statement and added that what she meant was if the youth came forward to more..

Mar 24 (FT) The UN’s top human rights body has brought Sri Lanka one step closer to international prosecution of wartime abuses and human rights violations committed in the island by adopting a strong resolution at its 46th Session yesterday. Amnesty International called the UN Resolution landmark, saying it marked a crucial turning point on justice and accountability in SL. Govt of SL rejected the resolution out of hand more..

Mar 24 (Island) Table tennis was one of worst affected sports due to the pandemic. One reason for this could be that most players are also engaged in some kind of coaching; hence there being a loss in income. Table tennis legend and veteran’s player Lalith Priyantha was one such player. He said that he survived a difficult period. We can’t sometimes fathom as to how Priyantha stays in shape and contests the veterans’ events. Times were hard during the past one year without coaching more..

Mar 24 (Island) Another round of the annual badger hunt is over in Geneva. The mastiffs of human rights are cock-a-hoop, having scored a victory though what they have done is like a heavyweight boxer flooring a school kid. The US, the UK and their allies are celebrating victory. However, they could secure only 22 votes in the 47-member assembly for their resolution against SL, which received 11 votes. Notable among the countries that abstained from voting were 2 Quad members—India,Japan more..

Mar 24 (FT) UNHRC’s regional composition reflects the ratios of the world’s population. Therefore, it is an accurate mirror of the world—in which we can view ourselves. Geneva 2021 was not a mere defeat or failure on the part of the Gotabaya Govt; it was the lowest number of votes ever obtained by SL at the UNHRC. Most of the abstentions, which were decisive, came from Islamic states. In short these were votes lost by the Gotabaya Govt. The Latin American vote included those of govts more..

Mar 24 (AD) Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to submit Gazette Notification No. 2214/56 issued on 11.02.2021 under the Import and Export Control Act No. 1 of 1969 for parliamentary approval. The gazette allows the importation of suspended ceramic products on a 180-day loan basis. It also permits the importation of sarees other than batik and handloom garments and textiles on a 90-day loan basis. Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by PM Rajapaksa, more..

Mar 24 (AD) All grades of schools in the Western Province have been decided to be reopened for academic activities on Mar 29. Previously, it was decided that schools will reopen for all grades in Western Province on April 19. However, it has now been moved forward by three weeks. The decision has been approved by Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena. Meanwhile, academic activities of Grades more..

Mar 24 (NR) NPP questions the govt on the tender process that was followed to grant the operation of the Independence Arcade shopping complex in Colombo to a private entity. Speaking in Parliament, MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake requested State Minister of Urban Development Nalaka Godahewa to reveal to the public the process followed to hand over the state-owned facility to a private company. MP Dissanayaka said UDA spent over Rs.700 million to build the Arcade shopping complex. more..

Mar 24 (EN) SL has selected 24 investors to invest approximately LKR28.2bn for the proposed Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Zone in Anuradhapura which aims to manufacture high-quality pharmaceuticals at a lower price for the people in the country, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. Accordingly, the land will be leased to the selected local investors for a period of 35 years with a released period for the first five years. more..

Mar 24 (EN) SL’s import controls placed to boost import substitution has strengthened monopolies, prices of sanitary ware have soared over 300%, tile-masons were jobless amid shortages, while people dreaming of house were in trouble, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said. SL has controlled imports of many items as money printing created foreign exchange shortages and foreign reserve losses, while import substitution more..

Mar 24 (AD) Former Minister Ravi Karunanayake and 07 others, who were recently taken into custody over the CB bond scam, have been further remanded until March 30. They were produced before Colombo High Court earlier today. On March 17, eight suspects including Karunanayake were ordered to be remanded over the 2016 CB Bond Scam issue. The Attorney General had filed indictments against the suspects before the two Trials-at-Bar hearing the legal matters on more..

Mar 24 (DM) A total number of 112 Sri Lankans deported from Kuwait were taken over by the law enforcement officials at the Katunayake International airport this morning, the Airport Duty Manager said. He said the SL Foreign Ministry has been informed about of these deportees. They were flown in at around 2.40 am by Jazeera Airlines. The deported Sri Lankans had been arrested by the Kuwaiti police for fleeing from the houses where they were employed, due to sudden Covid-19 outbreak. more..

Mar 24 (FT) Information filtering through the grapevine on the backroom manoeuvres underway to hijack the mandate of the National Selection Committee by the Cricket Technical Advisory Committee is extremely worrisome. Serious concerns are being raised if Sri Lanka cricket’s current string of woes is due to Sri Lanka cricket being held hostage by international syndicates through their trusted agents. more..

Mar 24 (Island) Given that fewer than 3,000 PCR tests were conducted daily in govt laboratories now, less than Rs. 10 million were spent on them daily, President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science, Ravi Kumudesh said. Kumudesh said that Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi had claimed the govt spent Rs.80 million a day on PCR tests. “This is a false statement. The govt labs do very little PCR testing now. The govt only spends around Rs. 10 million on PCR testing at present. more..

Mar 24 (CT) The Govt decided to resettle those who lost their homes in the Kajima Watte fire despite the fact that the houses have been unauthorised constructions, Madampitiya Grama Niladhari Pradeep Perera said. “The Govt is taking measures to provide compensation and materials such as roofing sheets to rebuild their homes. We are currently providing relief packages to all the victims, through donations received from the Govt, the public and various other sources,” he added. more..

Mar 24 (EN) SL’s opposition parties have hit out at the govt for its handling of the resolution passed at the UNHRC in Geneva. SJB said the outcome was the direct result of major failures on the part of the present govt, while the JVP, expressing similar sentiments, said the UNHRC resolution was an indictment of the govt’s domestic and foreign policy failures. JVP laid particular emphasis on its observation that more..

Mar 24 (FT) National Chamber of Commerce of SL (NCCSL) and the National Research Council (NRC) of SL have entered into a MoU recently. The purpose of this MoU is to develop scientific research and technology cooperation directly between the scientific community and the industries/ enterprises and to develop market opportunities. NCCSL established in 1948 with the vision to be the leading source of service and assistance to businesses countrywide for promotion of domestic and more..

Mar 24 (CT) Instructions have been issued to the Health Secretary to follow the correct process to reissue the Gazette amendments to the Medical Service Minute (MSM), GMOA Secretary, Dr. Senal Fernando said. He said that his outfit had met the Health Minister to discuss the issue with regard to the Gazette amendments, which were made during former Health Minister, Rajitha Senaratne’s time. He claimed that all stakeholders, of whom the GMOA was at the forefront, had not been consulted more..

Mar 24 (SI) The UNHRC on Tuesday passed a resolution expressing serious concern about the human rights situation in SL and giving a UN mandate to collect evidence of war crimes. This follows a damning report stressing not only impunity for serious crimes during the civil war but a deteriorating human rights situation since the election of Prez Rajapaksa in Nov 2019. The resolution was supported by 22 countries more..

Mar 24 (HT) The Tamil question in SL has posed an almost intractable dilemma for Indian foreign policy for decades. During the three-decade long civil war between Colombo and the LTTE, New Delhi moved from covert support to Tamil militants in the early 1980s to sending a peacekeeping force in the late 1980s to taking a strong position against LTTE in the 1990s after it assassinated former PM Rajiv Gandhi. It finally, quietly, supported Mahinda Rajapaksa’s final offensive against LTTE in 2009 more..

Mar 24 (AD) The govt has declared tomorrow (25) a national day of mourning in remembrance of late Maha Nayake of the SL Amarapura Maha Nikaya, Most Venerable Agga Maha Panditha Kotugoda Dhammawasa Nayaka Thero. Cabinet of Ministers gave the approval for the relevant proposal tabled by Prez Rajapaksa. The decision was taken in consideration of the immense service rendered by Most Venerable Dhammawasa Nayaka Thero to the nation, religion and Buddha Sasana. more..

Mar 24 (MB) With every passing year, the impacts of climate change are becoming more serious and frequent in SL, according to experts, officials, and the affected communities on the ground. “SL is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change,” says Sunimal Jayathunga, additional secretary to the island’s Ministry of Environment. “The country is experiencing major adverse impacts such as more..

Mar 24 (AD) Leader of JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake today filed a writ application with the Appeals Court, challenging the recommendations of the PCoI which probed the alleged incidents of political victimization. Members of the commission including its chair SC Justice (Retired) Upali Abeyratne, Attorney General on behalf of the President, PM and Cabinet members, Bribery Commission, IGP, AG have been named as the respondent of the writ application. more..

Mar 24 (AI) A new UN resolution on Sri Lanka is an important step forward and offers renewed hope of long-awaited justice for victims of the country’s 30-year civil conflict, said Amnesty International, following its adoption by the UNHRC. The resolution not only ramps up international monitoring and scrutiny of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, but also mandates the UN human rights office to collect, consolidate and preserve evidence for future prosecutions and make recommendations more..

Mar 24 (AD) Cabinet of Ministers has given the nod to purchase 7 million Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines from Russia. The relevant proposal has been tabled by Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi. National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA) recently approved the emergency use of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines in SL. The vaccine consignment is expected to be purchased for USD 69.65 million upon more..

Mar 24 (UN) The Govt of Sri Lanka and the Govt of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in accordance with the interests and desires of the peoples of both countries have decided to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries with effect from 22 March 2021. The establishment of diplomatic relations were formally done through signing of a Joint Communiqué by Mr. Mohan Pieris, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of SL to the UN and Mr. Ian McDonald Liburd, more..

Mar 24 (DM) An operation to detect vehicles with worn out tyres has been temporarily suspended. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the operation has been suspended taking into consideration the issues faced by vehicle owners. Rambukwella said the matter had been raised during the recent Cabinet meeting. He also said that steps will be taken to import tyres to meet the requirements in the market. Vehicle owners, including private bus operators, had raised more..

Mar 24 (DM) Those with a skewed walk habitually check if we are walking straight, read the slogan detached from the Lunugala-Colombo bus that skidded off the road and fell into a 200 metre precipice at Passara along the Moneragala-Badulla road. While 15 passengers succumbed to injuries, 33 others including the driver were injured and are receiving treatment at the Badulla General Hospital. more..