Jun 7 (DM) A 12 year old schoolgirl from Munkilaaru in Mullaitivu had slipped away from home and made a long journey to Hatton in search of a young man whom she had fallen in love with through social media. The girl's father told police that she had stolen money and a mobile phone and left a note saying that she would be leaving home and told her parents not to look for her. The girl's father told police today that he contacted her over the phone and came to know that she was in Hatton. more..

Jun 7 (DM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe should give credit to me as he was able to become the premier of this country because of him, SJB MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said today. He told Parliament that Prez Rajapaksa called him hours before Mr. Wickremesinghe was sworn in and wanted him to accept the premiership. He said however, he laid down certain conditions. “I told him that I would only accept PM’s post only if more..

Jun 7 (MFA) Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Governor of the CB Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and the Secretary, Foreign Affairs Aruni Wijewardane as well as heads of all overseas missions participated in a webinar, discussing current economic channellings that the country is experiencing and seeking remedies through the overseas missions on 7 June. Chairing the meeting, Foreign Minister Peiris highlighted the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka and more..

Jun 7 (TM) Colombo District Court today issued an enjoining order preventing Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva from being stripped of all party positions from the SLFP. De Silva was recently appointed as the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation. Earlier, SLFP Chairman and former Prez Maithripala Sirisena stated that SLFP MPs who accept ministerial portfolios will be removed from the party immediately. Sirisena had further reiterated that SLFP Central Committee had only decided more..

Jun 7 (EN) SL is in discussions with suppliers to allow them to bring aviation fuel, stock them in state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s facilities and pay them later from the revenue earned from sales, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. SL is short of aviation fuel due to the inability of the CPC to find foreign exchange to pay suppliers, who are demanding pre-payment as the state-run firm has a monopoly on aviation fuel. more..

Jun 7 (AD) Fiscal Officer of the Colombo Commercial High Court, who implemented the court order for the detention of the Russian Aeroflot flight at the BIA, has been interdicted for over-riding his official duties. Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms said it has taken steps to suspend the fiscal officer of the Colombo Commercial High Court who has been accused of abusing the judicial process in enforcing the interim order issued by the Colombo Commercial HC more..

Jun 7 (AD) SJB MP Dilip Wedaarachchi’s son & daughter-in-law, who were arrested on charges of obstructing the police officers on duty on the Southern Expressway and criminal coercion, have been remanded until tomorrow. Couple was produced before the Walasmulla Magistrate’s Court today. Former Chairman of Tangalle UC, Ravindu Wedaarachchi and his wife Nethmi Harindika Silva were arrested yesterday after surrendering to the Weeraketiya Police, over the recent incident more..

Jun 7 (DM) All arrangements have been made to conduct the 2022 national Poson festival targeting the sacred cities of (Atamasthana) in Anuradhapura, Mihintale and Thanthirimale. The national Poson festival will be held for the 2330th time under the theme Let's liberate the country from myth. The Pahan Perahera will start from the Isurumuniya Rajamaha Viharaya on Sunday (10). The annual Hewisi Puja will be held at the Ruwanweli Maha Seya and Mihintawalawa sacred lands. more..

Jun 7 (AD) Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris will travel to Singapore for a bilateral visit from 8-9 June 2022, on the invitation of his counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan. During his visit, Minister Peiris will hold bilateral discussions with Foreign Minister Balakrishnan and meetings with the Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, Minister for Law and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam and other senior officials. more..

Jun 7 (TM) CTSU has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education to prevent any obstacles to the functioning of schools in the face of the prevailing economic crisis. Commenting on the said proposals, CTSU General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said that the number of Sisu Seriya buses currently in operation should be increased to provide relief to school children and teachers. He also said that in the current situation, more..

Jun 7 (TM) Fishermen are losing their livelihoods due to the fuel crisis, noted former National Fisheries Federation Vice President Indranath Ranawaka. He said that they have been badly affected by the fuel shortage in the country, and that due to them not being able to engage in fishing, they have difficulties in purchasing essentials such as rice as well. “The new manufacturing economy describes the role of advanced manufacturing in the rise of the new economy. more..

Jun 7 (TM) Ministry of Health has stated that anyone over the age of 20 years can now obtain the fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine regimen. Dr. Hemantha Herath said: “The fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine regimen is now available to anyone over the age of 20 years. Anyone who wishes can obtain it from the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) offices and hospitals islandwide.” According to him, the US-German-made Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is being administered as more..

Jun 7 (TM) “Death row prisoners are locked inside most of the day. They have extremely limited freedom to engage in recreational or industrial activities that other prisoners have access to. They are not being rehabilitated. They are not being released. They are not being executed. They have just been left to die inside prisons.” Even though most of us may be unfamiliar with the above mentioned conditions, these concerns, more..

Jun 7 (EN) Stocks slipped 2.21% on Tuesday (7) to its lowest close in one month as concerns over PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s parliament cautioned on further fuel price hike amid fuel and gas shortages in the next three weeks dented investor sentiment, brokers said. Foreign investors sold a net 112 million rupees’ worth of shares on Tuesday. The market has witnessed a total foreign outflow of 1 billion rupees so far this year. PM on Tuesday said the next three weeks will be tough for Sri Lanka more..

Jun 7 (NR) Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has filed an appeal against his suspended prison sentence. The attorneys representing Minister Ranatunga handed over the appeal to the Colombo High Court to be submitted to the Court of Appeal. Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced Minister Ranatunga to a 2 year rigorous imprisonment, suspended for 5 years, over intimidating an individual and extortion over a land dispute. Court also imposed a Rs.25 million fine on Minister Ranatunga and more..

Jun 8 (DM) Whatever happens from here onwards, SL as a country is going to go through a few years, at least, of hardship, shortages, scarcity and a lowering of general life standards, like never experienced before. People need to realize that austerity measures are an absolute necessity and that they cannot enjoy the kind of life they have had prior to this economic meltdown. The unprecedented meltdown of the economy has more to do with mismanagement, corruption, stealing by more..

Jun 8 (Island) There is a fallacy being promoted by the reconstituted Rajapaksa regime that political eforms such as the proposed 21st Amendment, are not really necessary, or at least have already occurred through the change of PM and a reconstitution of the regime and the need of the hour is urgent measures to resuscitate the economy because people are suffering economic hardship and their misery must be alleviated. Undoubtedly, the people are suffering, and their misery more..

Jun 8 (DM) While a catastrophe looms, essential medicines on shelves are disappearing in Sri Lanka while doctors turn to prayer and politicians turn to wishful thinking. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe last Wednesday (25) called a meeting with essential stakeholders and instructed the authorities of the Health Ministry to submit an immediate report on the availability of essential medicines. The meeting was attended by, more..

Jun 8 (GV) Today, Colombo’s tent city GotaGoGama is a hive of activity but sustaining this energy will undoubtedly strain resources as participation waxes and wanes. I am reminded of another such space which celebrated its 50th anniversary in April 2022, The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, a persistent claim of unceded sovereignty that interrupts the symbolic power axis between Australia’s old and new parliaments and the war memorial. more..

Jun 8 (CT) Wearing masks, a group of aragalaya (struggle) protestors rooted for Elon Musk to buy strategic and scenic SL, at the centre of the Indian Ocean, for just $ 50 billion last weekend. They were marking 50 days at Galle Face Green marine front amid real and staged food, fuel, fertiliser, and medical supply shortages across the country. Could Musk save SL from debt bondage to the IMF and US-based ISB traders, whose law firms are lined up to asset-strip the strategic island nation? more..

Jun 8 (CT) With the current economic crisis in the country, consumers have seen nothing but overnight price hikes on every product. When everyone is striving to purchase essential items including milk powder and fuel Ceylon Today focused on a main product that holds stake on the reproductive health of 5.3 million SL women. Short supply and price hikes on sanitary napkins, pads and period products during more..

Jun 8 (CT) Year 2022 is similar to 1980 when crude oil prices increased by 80 per cent, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, according to the Central Bank's 1980 Annual Report. “Total crude oil expenditure increased by over 133% in 1980 over 1979. Expenditure on fertiliser also increased due to price increases as well as on import volumes,” CBSL’s 1980 AR said. Currently, crude oil prices have increased by a similar percentage due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. more..

Jun 8 (Island) Newly-appointed Tourism Minister Harin Fernando has sought to reach for the stars, as it were, in a bid to revive tourism in these troubled times. He has unveiled an ambitious destination marketing programme to be implemented with the help of some Bollywood stars, and three roadshows are scheduled to be rolled out in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, we are told. Tourism is a money-spinner, and there is no gainsaying that it has to be revived urgently if SL is to lift itself out of more..

Jun 8 (CT) We Sri Lankans are born suckers due to our gullibility worsened by a short attention span. How else could one explain how the beleaguered Gotabaya Rajapaksa struggling to hang on to his presidency would have dared to appoint the hugely unpopular Ranil Wickremesinghe as PM? Wickremesinghe along with the Rajapaksas would most likely be the most unpopular/disliked politicians in SL. There is considerable print media hype that Wickremesinghe has accumulated more..

Jun 8 (DM) On June 2, 2022, Russian Aeroflot flight A330-343 was detained in Colombo by aviation authorities, at the request of Irish Aircraft Leasing Company Celestial Aviation Trading Limited on an order made by the Commercial Court of the land. The story of the Russian flight barred from returning to Russia, made front page news in most national newspapers, as well as in the international media. The media instantly recognized the gravity of that act, and so was govt despite initially saying more..

Jun 8 (CI) By the end of the Powerplay, Sri Lanka were a healthy 59 for 0. Halfway through their innings, they'd got to 87 for 1. They were like a sports car traveling rapidly through the night, until they missed a turn and crashed through the barriers. In the end, their plunge into the ravine was more dramatic than their rush through the early overs. Having got to 100 for 1 in the 12th over, Sri Lanka plummeted to 128. more..

Jun 8 (CT) Sri Lanka will be up for a daunting task when they take on Uzbekistan in their opening Group C match of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers 2023 today at the Markaziy Stadium in Namangan. Led by custodian Sujan Perera, the Golden Army were seen playing a positive brand of football throughout the recent past tournaments, and if they are to stop the rampaging Uzbekistan forwards, they will once again need to raise the tempo and attack to smoothly overcome their opponents. more..

Jun 8 (DN) Sri Lanka ‘A’ will meet Australia ‘A’ in their first ODI which is scheduled to be played today (8) at the SSC grounds. This is going to be a real test for both teams as some of the players are waiting to gain National team slots during this series. Dhananjaya De Silva the experienced all rounder will lead the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side while wicket keeper Niroshan Dickwella, Oshada Fernando are the two other experienced players having played National Test, ODI games earlier. more..

Jun 8 (CI) Cowardly… I am disappointed to see we even have such leadership: Wanindu Hasaranga. Disgusting… Intentional and planned: Kumar Sangakkara. Entire world can see how pathetic your actions are: Mahela Jayawardene. They did not take any action to prevent this: Roshan Mahanama. Disgusting behaviour: Sanath Jayasuriya. These are all quotes from tweets by SL's biggest cricketing stars, more..

Jun 8 (FT) Unilever SL has been honoured with the ISO 14001:2015 certification for its Horana based manufacturing facility by the SL Standards Institute (SLSI). Internationally accredited standard recognises the company’s commitment to identify, manage and reduce its impact on the environment from its operations, through a comprehensive Environmental Management System. Unilever SL Supply Chain Director Gerard Irudayaraj said: “With great diligence and commitment, more..

Jun 8 (Island) Maris Stella College has produced a number of track and field champions including current national record holder in the men’s high jump Ushan Thivanka. On Tuesday when the Junior National Athletics Championship recommenced from where it was interrupted last month, Thushan Silva emerged as another future prospect from the school from Negombo as he won the Under 18 boys’ pole vault. Thushan’s feat reminded the impressive feats of Ushan who too started excelling more..

Jun 8 (FT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday suggested that all paddy farmer loans must be written off in their entirety as well as free State land to people in agriculture areas. He made this key suggestion during his special statement in Parliament. “We know that farming families who cultivate paddy on small lands are in a very precarious position. Farmers’ loans obtained by farmers with less than two hectares of land will be stopped immediately,” PM said. more..

Jun 8 (FT) Board of Investment (BOI) said yesterday it has set up a paperless documentation platform where any enterprise registered can submit relevant documents electronically without coming to its office physically. The sole objective of this system is to provide a speedy service to our valued enterprises where processes and procedures have been simplified and streamlined. The system is open for both local and foreign enterprises who aspire to embark on an investment journey with BOI. more..

Jun 8 (Island) Asia Siyaka tea market report for sale no. 21, covering the period May 31- June 1, indicates a production drop of nearly 10 million kilos compared to 2021. Results for the year up to the above dates, report said, was 111.5 million kilos. Comparatively, for the same period in 2021, production recorded was 122.25 million kilos, indicating a minus variant for the comparative period of about 10 million kilos. more..

Jun 8 (EN) SL’s gross foreign reserves grew to US$ 1,920 million in May 2021 from US$ 1,812 million in April. Foreign currency reserves grew to US$ 1,805 million from US$ 1,602 million, special drawing rights fell to US$ 29 million from US$ 115 million. Gold reserves were flat US$ 28 million. The central bank is borrowing dollars from the Reserve Bank of India through a deferment of payments under the Asian Clearing Union and has been getting deeper into debt, after running out of reserves. more..

Jun 8 (FT) With the subject of national food security gaining increasing urgency, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in association with the National Science Foundation will conduct a webinar on addressing the challenges of food security from 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm on 7 June. With impending food shortages in the coming months emerging as a distinct possibility, the impact of the non-availability and reduced availability of required inputs for agricultural production, poultry, and livestock, and fishery output, more..