Oct 11 (DM) Minister Namal Rajapaksa has denied claims he travelled to Kenya on a chartered flight. Rajapaksa said he had travelled on a scheduled flight to the Kenyan capital and not a special flight. There were claims the PM's son had booked an entire Srilankan Airlines flight to travel to Kenya. Minister said that he was in Kenya on an official visit for talks with Kenyan Ministers and officials. While in Kenya he had talks with the Ministers of Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs. more..

Oct 11 (CT) Minister Wimal Weerawansa said the trust placed in the present Govt has begun to erode in the eyes of the public, as this Govt is doing what it has not promised at the last national elections, the Minister said in a Facebook post. He also found fault with a few social media sites who had twisted his comments related to the Prez and the Cabinet. Weerawansa called for a broader dialogue within the Cabinet ahead of taking critical decisions related to the country’s national resources or assets, more..

Oct 11 (FT) Price of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been increased from today after the essential item was removed from the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) regime. Litro Gas Ltd. said its 12.5 kg LPG cylinder has been increased by 84% to Rs. 1,257 and it will now be sold at Rs. 2,750. Previously, the 12.5 kg Litro LP gas cylinder was sold at Rs. 1,493 and the new price reflects a Rs. 50 reduction from Litro’s actual cost. more..

Oct 11 (AD) Former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe called on the govt to abolish the 20th Amendment, which he says even the president has conceded is not successful, and to continue under the 19th Amendment. The UNP leader stated that today’s newspapers have reported an important matter that when he met with the ministers, Prez had accepted that his political experience is limited and that therefore the PM should come forward to work collectively together with the other more..

Oct 11 (DM) The authorities have raised serious concern over people's carefree attitude in the aftermath of the lifting of curfew in the country. State Minister Channa Jayasumana said the people are seen gathering in large numbers in places of worship and other places. He said that Sri Lanka is still not out of the woods as yet in terms of the COVID-19 situation. Minister said people seem to be taking things for granted and enjoying themselves without realising the imminent danger. more..

Oct 11 (Island) Teachers and principals will not report for work when schools reopen on 21 Oct, if the govt fails to come up with a solution, by that date, teacher unionists say. General Secretary of the JVP-led Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union, Mahinda Jayasinghe said that the Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Union Alliance had decided not to report for work on 21 Oct, if the issue of teacher-principal salary anomalies could not be more..

Oct 11 (Island) The US Embassy in Colombo has taken an initiative to assist to enhance the first responders’ knowledge and skills among Lankan lifesavers. It is vital that lifesavers are equipped with proper knowledge, technology, and practice to take necessary action during sudden water-related accidents and disaster situations. Sri Lanka Life Saving (SLLS) is the National body for life-saving and water safety-related activities in Sri Lanka. The US Ambassador to SL, Alaina B. Teplitz more..

Oct 11 (Island) On the instructions of Prez Rajapaksa, a high-level committee, chaired by Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne, has explored the possibility of utilising certain provisions of the Counter Terrorism Bill formulated by the previous administration. The 10-member committee has been asked to propose whether to amend the PT) (Temporary Provisions) Act of No 48 of 1979 or draft a new counter-terrorism law. The UNHRC, and a section of the international community, more..

Oct 11 (AD) President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa today urged all Sri Lankans to extend their support to move the country forward accurately, under the notion of one country and one law without corruption. “No need to give excuses. Extend your support to move the country forward accurately, under the notion of one country and one law without corruption.” He stated that economy had fallen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. more..

Oct 11 (AD) The Bakery Owners’ Association says that the price of a loaf of bread will be increased by Rs. 05. The association said the price of a 450g loaf of bread will be increased by Rs. 05 with affect from midnight today. Earlier today, the Canteen Owners’ Association had also announced an increase in the price of several food items and beverages, in the wake of price hikes in LP gas, wheat flour and milk powder. The price of a packet of rice and curry has been increased by Rs. 10 per packet while more..

Oct 11 (FT) Air India, which was losing $ 3 million a day on average (over $ 1 billion per year) has been sold for what amounts to loose change for a conglomerate the size of Tata Sons: $ 400 million plus the assumption of $ 2 billion out of the massive debts in excess of $ 8 billion accumulated by the state-owned carrier over the years. But this is a good deal for the people of India. It is one that we in SL should study and emulate. Air India, founded by the Tatas in 1932, was expropriated by more..

Oct 11 (FT) Prema-chandra Athukorala who held the position of professor of economics at the Amdt-Cordon Department of Economics of the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, celebrated his 70th birthday last week. Coinciding this, he went into retirement as a listed don on the payroll of the university. But given his crave for knowledge, and the inner fever for disseminating the same, he will never retire from academic life. more..

Oct 11 (Island) The govt had decided to hold provincial council elections soon following the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said. He added that the elections could be held by amending the existing law and in 2019, he had presented to Parliament a draft amendment aimed at helping conduct the election. “Only a minor change is required to the law to hold the election and I have presented this in Parliament. Parliament agreed with my amendment and more..

Oct 11 (EN) Prices of several basic foods in SL cement, and cooking gas saw a sharp increase after the govt aborted its failed price controls, while price increases in fuel, which is also a source of taxes expected. Admitting the govt’s price controls created shortages, Sri Lanka on Friday abandoned price controls amid a weakening of the rupee against the dollar. Prices of a raft of essential foods including rice, wheat flour, bread, rice packers, and more..

Oct 11 (AD) A speeding car crashed into the back of a truck, parked near the TV Derana recording studio in the Delkanda area on the High-Level Road, before bursting into flames and destroying both vehicles in the fire last night. The truck, which had transported production equipment required for the recording of a TV programme at the studio, had been parked on the roadside as workers were onloading the equipment from the truck. A car traveling at high speeds had suddenly more..

Oct 11 (EN) Vaccinating students, academic and non academic staff of state universities who are aged 20 to 29 commenced on Monday (11) at all govt universities and will continue for five days. Chairman of UGC, Sampath Amaratunga said that all academic and non academic staff in universities above 30 years of age have already received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Amaratunga said vaccination centres have already been established in uni premises in all uni and uni affiliates. more..

Oct 11 (DM) A lobby group in SL has threatened to go to courts to get a certain type of COVID-19 vaccine banned in SL, it was reported. Attorney-at-law and a member of the Committee to Reduce COVID deaths, Chanaka Abeywickrama said his organization will take legal action if COVID 19 vaccines produced based on MRNA mechanism is administered to children. "Given the danger of vaccinating children with MRNA vaccines, more..

Oct 11 (DM) Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga instructed to launch an extensive investigation into the incident in which an American tourist who arrived in Sri Lanka had to return after a 5 hours stay in SL due to inconvenience. George, a tourist from the US who arrived in Sri Lanka on Oct 7, made a statement about the difficulties he faced in SL, which is widely circulated on social media these days. According to his statement, he arrived in Sri Lanka for a visit and returned within five hours more..

Oct 11 (DM) The body of a 14-year-old schoolgirl who went missing three days ago has been found in an abandoned house at Kalogaha Ela in Dambulla, the police said. The deceased has been identified as Buddhini Piyumali, a Grade 9 student. Police said a friend and the stepfather of deceased girl who came in a motorcycle took the girl a few days ago. However, the mother of the deceased girl lodged a complaint with the Dambulla Police about her missing daughter from home for two days. more..

Oct 11 (Island) All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) says it is alarmed over media reports warning that SL may face another terrorist attack similar to the Easter Sunday bombings on Apr 21, 2019. ACJU has, in a media statement, encouraged the Muslim community to pray and make Du’a to Almighty Allah (SWT) to protect SL and all its people from all forms of tragedies and disasters. It has also appealed to more..

Oct 11 (AD) Cement companies say that the price of cement will be increased with affect from today. Accordingly, the price of a 50 Kg cement bag has been increased by Rs. 93. This will bring the new price of the 50 Kg cement bag to Rs. 1,098. Following repeated requests from the relevant companies and importers, govt last week decided to remove the price controls imposed on milk powder, LP Gas, wheat flour and cement. As a result of this, milk powder importers decided to increase more..

Oct 11 (TM) The Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army (COAS) General Manoj Mukund Naravane, including his spouse and a five member delegation is due to arrive in SL tomorrow on a five-day long goodwill tour. Naravane accepted the invitation by SL’s Army Commander General Shavendra Silva. This was confirmed through a Media Release from the Sri Lanka Army Headquarters. During his stay, Naravane is scheduled to pay courtesy calls on Prez Rajapaksa, PM Rajapaksa, more..

Oct 11 (Island) SLPP National List MP Gevindu Cumaratunga says they expected the realisation of Prez Rajapaksa’s much touted assurance to place the proposed draft Constitution before the people ahead of the second anniversary of his victory at the Nov 2019 presidential election. Lawmaker Cumaratunga, who leads civil society organization Yuthukama recalled how Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC, on behalf of more..

Oct 11 (Hindu) If the refugees get involved in criminal cases, they would be lodged in a special camp after they obtain bail. SL refugees can either choose to reside in any one of the 107 refugee camps or stay as an out refugee elsewhere on their own and report before the local police station. However, they will lose these privileges if they get involved in an offence and thereafter, their place of stay could possibly be only in the special camp in Tiruchi until govt decides to dislodge them, more..

Oct 11 (Island) University Islamabad in Pakistan (CUI) and General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) in Sri Lanka have inked a Document of Understanding to collaborate on advanced biomaterial research. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tabassum Afzal, Rector CUI and Major General Milinda Peiris, Vice Chancellor, KDU signed the document of collaboration at a ceremony held online, COMSATS said. The Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, more..

Oct 11 (Island) MEPA Chairperson Dharshani Lahandapura, said that removal of debris of Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl that sank in SL waters is set to start early Nov. She said: “The Coastal area from Mannar to Dondra is cleaned daily. We have spent around 30,000 man-hours in the cleaning operation. Around 400 workers have been deployed for this work that has been going on daily for some time now. more..

Oct 11 (NR) 23 individuals have succumbed to the coronavirus. The Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health said the deaths were confirmed to have been reported yesterday. Accordingly, Sri Lanka’s coronavirus death toll increases to 13,354. 11 males and 12 females were among the victims. 18 individuals, 10 males and eight females, were 60 years or above while five persons, one male and four females, were between the ages of 30 and 59. more..

Oct 11 (AD) The Litro Gas company has revised its prices of LP gas cylinders, just hours after announcing a hike in prices. The price of a 12.5 Kg domestic LP gas cylinder has been reduced by Rs. 75. Accordingly, the new price of the 12.5 Kg cylinder is Rs. 2,675. Meanwhile the price of the 5 Kg cylinder has been reduced by Rs. 30 and the 2.5 Kg cylinder by Rs. 14. The new prices will be Rs. 1,071 and Rs. 506 respectively. Litro Gas had initially announced an increase in LP gas more..

Oct 11 (EN) Sri Lanka wishes to hold the country’s long-delayed provincial council elections before March 2022 but it will not be due to pressure from India or any other foreign govt, foreign minister G L Peiris said. Peiris denied that India’s foreign secretary Harsh V Shringla who was on an official visit to SL last week had put pressure on the govt to hold early elections. “That’s a complete myth. Indian foreign secretary didn’t come here and more..

Oct 11 (CT) “An extent of 215,000 acres of lands coming under the purview of Senanayake Samudraya would be brought under paddy cultivation during the forthcoming 2021/2022 Maha Season in the Ampara District, while 10,200 acres would be allowed to be cultivated with sugarcane in the district,” said District Secretary of Ampara D.M.L. Bandaranayake at the cultivation meeting to decide the calendars of the Maha Cultivation of Ampara District held at the Akkaraipattu DS recently. more..

Oct 11 (Island) The SJB would suffer several splits soon, Minister Fernando said on Saturday during a ceremony held at the Provincial Council auditorium in Kurunegala to launch aqua farming entrepreneurs in the district. Responding to questions by journalists who asked the minister to comment on recent statement by SJB MP Diana Gamage that the party would split into several groups, the Minister said the Opposition party’s leader Sajith Premadasa had lost twice and party followers had no hope more..

Oct 11 (EN) The general public must adapt to the new normal with more responsibly in order to maintain the level of control Sri Lanka’s health authorities have gained on the COVID-19 epidemic, an official said. State Minister Channa Jayasumana said large gatherings have been observed outside Colombo despite an ongoing travel ban between provinces. “Yesterday I went to A'pura and we saw a large number of people gathering more..

Oct 11 (TM) Further to a statement issued yesterday (10) where the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka condemned the research done by the Sri Lanka’s National Plant Quarantine Service stating the presence of the Erwinia bacteria in the organic fertiliser imported from China, State Minister of Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Products Dayasiri Jayasekara stated that an issue would arise where China would not be happy that Sri Lanka is purchasing Indian fertiliser. more..

Oct 11 (DM) If the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) does not receive any concession from the govt and unable to bear the loss, there will be no choice but to increase the fuel prices, Petroleum Minister Udaya Gammanpila said. He said, "Considering the current situation, there is nothing to hide and I am not doing anything to hide it." If the govt is able to provide relief to the CPC and take a decision not to increase the fuel prices, then they should do it, Gammanpila said. more..

Oct 11 (TM) While claiming that the Govt came under local and foreign pressure to hold Provincial Council elections, resulting in the decision to hold the same under Proportionate Representation (PR) system, TPA Leader Mano Ganesan said that it is not possible to hold elections under Mixed system. “If the elections are to be held in a mixed system, the demarcation of boundaries has to be redefined. This is a long term process,” more..

Oct 11 (CT) In a historic move to mark the 72nd Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Army also known as Army Day (10 Oct), promotions have been given to 567 Officers and 10,368 Other Ranks (ORs), the SL Army said. The promotions have been made with the approval of Prez Rajapaksa, Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces on the recommendation of General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army and the Ministry of Defence. more..

Oct 11 (DM) Claiming that the Govt had not removed control price on a number of essential commodities due to the Dollar crisis, the JVP today said control price on rice would not have to be removed if that was the case. JVP MP Vijitha Herath told a news conference that neither the President nor the Govt had been able to decide rice prices but it was done by the rice millers. He said prices of gas, milk powder, wheat flour and cement were decided by the Companies by now. more..

Oct 12 (DM) There was no any sign of enthusiasm on the part of the people in the country over Prez Rajapaksa’s assurance on Sunday that steps would be taken to amend the Constitution and introduce a new electoral system within next year. He gave this assurance at a ceremony held at the Gajaba Regiment Hq, Saliyapura in A'pura to mark the 72nd Anniversary of the SL Army. However, even some pro-govt newspapers seemed to have thought it fit to carry the picture of the Prez playing cricket more..