Jan 10 (TM) China is not welcome in the North and East while India has a legitimate role to play, asserted TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran in an interview with The Sunday Morning. Commenting on potential Chinese projects and investment in the North and East, in the backdrop of the high-profile visit to the Northern Province in mid-Dec 2021 by Chinese Ambassador to Colombo Qi Zhenhong, Sumanthiran firmly stated, more..

Jan 10 (AD) The Court of Appeal has stated that its decision on granting leave to proceed with the revision petition filed by former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka will be announced on Jan 24. The SJB MP had filed the revision application seeking a court order suspending the hearing of the case filed before the Colombo High Court accusing him of concealing evidence and fabricating evidence in relation to the 2016 road accident in Rajagiriya, which resulted in serious injuries to a youth. more..

Jan 10 (TM) A new tax pricing formula for cigarettes is awaiting Cabinet approval and will include current inflation rates as a factor. National Authority of Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Chairman Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa said the pricing formula had been handed over to the Cabinet of Ministers. “We submitted the new pricing formula to the Cabinet in December. It is now up to the Cabinet to approve it so that it can be implemented,” he said, adding that new formula was based on several factors. more..

Jan 10 (TM) Port trade unions last week questioned why Sri Lanka was paying 20% of the cost of gantry cranes on order from China for the East Container Terminal, alleging that there were irregularities in the contract. All Ceylon General Ports Employees’ Union (ACGPEU) Secretary G. Niroshan queried why a payment had to be made to the Chinese company when cranes would only arrive in 2023. more..

Jan 10 (EN) SL’s Ceylon tea and gemstones have a huge demand in China and they were snapped within a few seconds when there was an online promotional sale last month, the Chinese Ambassador to SL said on Sunday. “Ceylon tea and gemstones have a huge demand in the Chinese market,” Qi Zhenhong told reporters when asked what products Sri Lanka could export more. He said SL Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona last month attended a Livestream sale in China on more..

Jan 10 (AD) The CEB has released the manual load shedding schedule which includes the times and areas where there could be possible power cuts in the future. In the event CEB is compelled to take demand management measures due to inadequate generation as result of fuel shortage and unavailability of generators, such measures will be limited to the schedule given below, the CEB said. It is to be noted that all the feeders assigned to a particular group might not be interrupted more..

Jan 11 (DM) The COVID-19 situation in the country is such that the media has stopped releasing daily tally of new infections. The number of new infections has been almost static between 500 and 700 for several weeks instilling confidence in the general public while withering away the media enthusiasm on the pandemic. But, are we out of the woods? Going by the latest reports in the Western developed countries where the leaders hoarded several folds vaccines than their population while more..

Jan 11 (CT) Beijing’s message to Colombo vis-à-vis its Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s two-day visit to Colombo, which concluded on Sunday, was that its interest lies in trade not aid. SL’s single largest import market is Beijing, while in the obverse, its top three export markets are led by, in PM Sirima Bandaranaike’s phraseology, the rapacious West, ie the USA, EU Region and the UK, in that descending order. Meanwhile, Global Times, Beijing’s mouthpiece, with reference to Wang’s visit, more..

Jan 11 (DM) Daily Mirror spoke to former Minister Chandima Weerakkody on the New Fortress Energy deal, the crisis Sri Lanka is faced with and the political situation of the country. Q: SL is in a catastrophic situation on all fronts. I don’t want to go into details as not only Sri Lankans but the entire global community is well aware of the disaster SL has fallen into within two years of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration. more..

Jan 11 (ST) All these years I thought that saying hoo, especially hurling it at others as a sign of grievance or anger, is a national trait. Well, it has been around for a long, long time. As they say, hoo has a history. So those who publicly express concern about preserving national traditions and habits might seriously think of giving it some consideration. In fact, it is even used in remote areas to indicate distance from one place to another. Many years ago travelling from Colombo more..

Jan 11 (GV) The available foreign reserves of the country can be used to either repay foreign creditors or to finance imports of essential goods and services required by its citizens. This is the dilemma facing SL today. Repaying the full value of the bond using the limited foreign reserves available would provide a windfall gain to those currently holding these bonds. But it will be at great cost to the citizens of the country who will face shortages of essentials like food, medicine, and fuel. more..

Jan 11 (TM) In the backdrop of a growing trend by the Govt of removing public administrative officials from ministries, state ministries and other State-Owned Enterprises, the recent removal of Dr. Susil Premajayantha, who held the State Ministerial Portfolio of Education Reforms, Promotion of Open Universities and Distance Learning, shows that this wave has now reached the top seats of ministries and state ministries more..

Jan 11 (DM) A major breakthrough is how Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga had proudly announced SL recording nearly 200,000 tourist arrivals in 2021 amidst the pandemic, reported Daily FT on Jan 3, 2022. The news report said the Minister expects around 100 - 125,000 tourist arrivals during this month of January. Another news report on January 5 said the minister has fixed a target of around 2.3 million tourists for this year (2022), with a $4.5-billion foreign income. more..

Jan 11 (TM) The CEB is now officially permitted to impose power cuts if it wishes to do so, depending on the necessity, and the coming few months could therefore turn into a torrid time for electricity consumers. This permission was granted by the main state utility regulator, Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL), in a context where the CEB is struggling to manage the provision of electricity as it used to. One issue that prompted the CEB to consider power cuts is mammoth more..

Jan 11 (Island) It is feared that scheduled power cuts will be upon us soon. Minister of Power, Gamini Lokuge, has said there will be an uninterrupted power supply. But the CEB has received approval from the Public Utilities Commission of SL for power cuts, which an official has said may be imposed at night. These contradictory statements have led to much confusion. Prez Rajapaksa yesterday instructed a group of senior state officials representing the CEB, etc., to explore ways more..

Jan 11 (FT) COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 10,627 persons on Sunday, the majority of which received the booster dose. Third dose was administered to 9,081 persons on Sunday and a total of 4,334,126 persons have received the booster dose to date. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is being used for the third dose and 29.6% of the country’s population over 20 years had received the third dose as of 8 Jan. 74.46% of the country’s population has received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine more..

Jan 11 (Island) Given SL’s excellent show in the T-20 World Cup last year, there was hope that we were beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel after the national cricket team’s transition had taken longer than people had wished. The performances of two players stood out towards the tail end of last year as Mickey Arthur’s side turned things around across all three formats. While Dushmantha Chameera was the highest more..

Jan 11 (FT) SL’s COVID-19 case count rose to 592,128 with the detection of 461 COVID-19 positive persons yesterday. The patients detected yesterday include 456 persons from the New Year cluster and five overseas arrivals. The previous day, 417 persons from the New Year cluster, 13 persons from the Prisons cluster, and six Sri Lankan overseas returnees tested positive for COVID-19. 5,266 PCR tests and 2,696 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Sunday. more..

Jan 11 (GV) Visible urban poverty disrupts the gilded cityscape. It shatters the sanctity of the urban metropolis and perhaps, most importantly, it isn’t good for business. The beautification of urban spaces has been central to a new program of neoliberalisation for postwar state building. Championed by the Rajapaksa administration, the urban renewal of Colombo serves as a crutch for political support and consolidates a cosmopolitan playground for high commerce, more..

Jan 11 (FT) Private sector yesterday categorically informed Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva that they are unable to extend the Rs. 5,000 allowance to private sector workers until the economy improves. These views were expressed by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) at a meeting chaired by the Labour Minister to discuss on the matter to extend the Rs. 5,000 allowance to private sector workers, more..

Jan 11 (Island) Krishan Wickramarathna of Vidyartha College, Kandy OBA and Ayla Chitty of Ladies College, Colombo were crowned champions at the Aarya Plus Challenge Trophy Table Tennis Championship – 2021 conducted by the Nugegoda Table Tennis Club conducted at the Bandaragama Indoor Stadium over the weekend. Wickramarathna beat reigning National Champion Senura Silva of Ananda College, Colombo 3-2 in the final of the men’s singles event while more..

Jan 11 (DN) The first ever cycle race to be held on a Highway will be worked off on January 14 from Meerigama High way entrance at 8.30 a.m. The race covering a distance of 80 km from Meerigama to Kurunegala towards the highway road marks a new chapter for the cyclists as for the first time, they will be able to participate in a race with out any road traffic. The cycle race will be conducted by the Cycling Federation in collaboration with the Sports Ministry. more..

Jan 11 (CT) Govt has spoken of both Rupee and Dollar shortages. The severity of these problems is reflected in the following startling data points. On the lack of Rupees (or fiscal space) for the Govt, interest payments alone account for over 70% of revenue. This is possibly the highest in the world. In addition, salaries and pensions account for over 90% of revenue. So, interest and salaries/pensions together amount to over 160% of revenue. It is hardly surprising, therefore that CB’s net credit more..

Jan 11 (EN) Central Bank has said a part of its gold holdings were sold to improve liquidity of its reserves, which had been going down from 2014. In 2008, gold holdings were US$ 92 million or 3.6% of gross officials reserves of US$ 2.6 billion. In 2021 gold reserves were reduced to US$ 175 million which was 5.6% of gross official reserves of US$ 3.1 billion. By end 2014 when gross official reserves rose to US$ 8.2 billion, gold reserves were increased to US$ 893 million or 10.9% of more..

Jan 11 (FT) Moody’s said that the recently announced Rs. 229 billion worth relief package would support SL’s economic recovery but warned it would compound the Govt’s fiscal challenge. It said that the Govt-announced fiscal relief package would support the economy and alleviate the impact of higher consumer prices on low-income households. “While the size of the package (1.6% of forecasted 2022 GDP) is moderate and more..

Jan 11 (DN) Ministry of Industries is providing 39 acres of land from the existing industrial estates to investors who in turn will invest to the tune of Rs. 5.3 billion in them. These projects will generate over 3,200 said Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa. He was speaking as the chief guest at the handing over ceremony of lands in industrial estates owned by the Ministry of Industries to new investors under the Dinana Rata Awakening Industries program held at BMICH last week. more..

Jan 11 (DN) The govt announced a fiscal relief package (FRP) worth Rs 229 billion ($1 b, 1.6% of our 2022 GDP forecast) to support the economy and alleviate the impact of higher consumer prices on low-income households. While the size of the package is moderate and will be fully funded via reallocations from the budget (6% of budget expenditure in 2022), it reduces the scope for fiscal and debt consolidation at a time when fiscal flexibility is already severely limited by more..

Jan 11 (EN) With vaccinations made available for children aged 12 and up, schools all over Sri Lanka reopened at full capacity on Monday (10) after operating at 50% capacity from last Monday. Spokespersons for several leading schools in the Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Matara districts said that the turnout was better than expected. They also noted that all staff members are fully vaccinated, more..

Jan 11 (DM) WindForce Ltd, SL’s largest private sector renewable energy producer, has withdrawn its offer to acquire 92.5% stake of Fairway Waste Management (Pvt) Ltd. as the sellers failed to fulfil the conditions stipulated in the share sale and purchase agreements (SSPAs). With the aim of broadening its alternative clean energy portfolio, WindForce Limited signed three SSPAs with Hemaka De Alwis and Milinda Amarasinghe of Fairway Holdings Ltd in May last year, more..

Jan 11 (AFP) Facebook posts purport to share a quote from the leader of a SL opposition party apparently telling a YouTuber that the cash-strapped island should produce box office hits like Spider-Man to tackle its foreign exchange crisis. The claim is false; the politician made no such comment in an interview with an online talk show host, while his party said the quote was a complete fabrication. The purported quote was shared on Jan 3, 2022 on a Facebook page with more than 68,000 more..

Jan 11 (Island) The current US dollar crisis and high US dollar rate discourage investing in SL because the investment cost has doubled during the last few months, a leading end-to-end auto care specialist said. “We were planning to invest in Sri Lanka in a big way but abandoned our plans due to the high US dollar rate and shortage of labour for the auto care industry. Skilled labour problems arose during the Covid 19 lockdown period; most of them left the country for higher salaries, more..

Jan 11 (FT) CB Governor Nivard Cabraal via a tweet issued a rebuttal to yesterday’s Daily FT’s exclusive feature of leaders of the CCC and top economists’ call to defer foreign debt repayment via rescheduling and use scarce resources to meet essential imports. In a tweet, Cabraal said” “The individuals who screamed that SL wouldn’t be able to pay the $ 500 million ISB maturity on 22 Jan are now screaming that we shouldn’t pay it when we are ready to make payment.” more..

Jan 11 (Island) The stage is set for a major clash between the ruling SLPP and its second largest constituent, the SLFP. SLPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris flayed the SLFP for the latter’s backing for SLPP MP Susil Premjayantha, who was stripped of his portfolios following his criticism of the govt. Prof. Peiris said that the former Prez and SLFP leader Maithripala Sirisena’s position that instead of more..

Jan 11 (DM) Prez Rajapaksa has brought about changes in ministerial subjects in an extraordinary gazette notification. In this exercise, the subjects and the institutions held by sacked State Minister Susil Premajayantha has been brought under the purview of Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardane. They are the National Education Commission and the National Institute of Education. The president also scrapped the State Ministry of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation. more..

Jan 11 (CT) The Colombo Crimes Division yesterday (10) arrested the Managing Director and Chief Engineer of Sakura Aviation Ltd over the recent emergency landing in Kimbulapitiya, Katunayake. A light aircraft belonging to the private aviation company made an emergency landing in Kimbulapitiya, Katunayake on 27 Dec 2021. The commercial flight had developed technical difficulties en route to Koggala from Sigiriya, Air Force spokesman, Dushan Wijesinghe said. more..

Jan 11 (TM) A proper Cabinet memorandum on the Yugadanavi issue had not been made available to the Cabinet of Ministers, Uditha Egalahewa, President’s Counsel told the Supreme Court yesterday. President’s Counsel Egalahewa appeared for petitioner-Cabinet Ministers, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila. They have filed fundamental rights violation petitions more..