Nov 11 (CT) The IMF staff level agreement, that was supposedly a confidential document, is now in the hands of some and the danger of the same is far-reaching while it could also be a blessing in disguise to some. As reported in this paper on 10 Sept, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed the House that details of the IMF staff level agreement cannot be disclosed in Parliament as it contains some sensitive matters with regard to taxes. However, the confidentiality seems to more..

Nov 11 (DM) Schools and universities are again producing news for all the wrong reasons. The last few days we heard of how two primary school kids were brutally abused for allegedly stealing money from a teacher’s purse. We have also read much about how ragging is raising its head at universities; the worst of it being reported in universities of Peradeniya and Kelaniya. All these issues make parents, and the loved ones of school children and university students ask the question whether more..

Nov 11 (DM) It has been a year and five months since the vessel X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank. What the islanders are left with is the massive ocean and coastal pollution which resulted from the accident involving the vessel. Receiving compensation is unlikely to happen due to the mistakes committed by SL authorities. According to several environmentalists the institutions handling the compensation process are now operating more..

Nov 11 (DM) Opposition political parties are again accusing that the govt was going to postpone the elections, especially the local govt elections. This is the third time these parties have been making this allegation within a period of a month. It was when Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe on Oct 9 made several suggestions to the country’s electoral system during a meeting with a group of professionals that they first made this allegation. And then they repeated it when Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe more..

Nov 11 (CT) Prez Wickremesinghe has taken control of four different ministries in addition to defence. Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies; Ministry of Technology; Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Environment; and the Ministry of Investment and Promotion have fallen under his direction. In other words, he has created a mega or super ministry expecting the State Ministers to assist him. The rationale behind this super control is not clear. more..

Nov 11 (TM) Verité Research; an independent think tank that provides strategic analysis for Asia in the areas of economics, politics, law, and media, recently published a study on the Costs of Doing a Job for Urban Women in SL exploring how cost factors affect the choice of women entering or exiting the labour force in SL. The study revolved around three categories of working-age women – currently employed, previously employed, more..

Nov 11 (TM) For a country that proudly displays, in front of one of its main prisons, a slogan that reads prisoners are human beings too, how much Sri Lanka has achieved when it comes to making prisons a liveable place for inmates remains in question. In fact, providing solutions to some issues in the prison system that have persisted for over a decade are still on the authorities’ to-do list. The lack of capacity, or unmanageable congestion, within prisons is one such issue, more..

Nov 11 (TM) In Sri Lanka, access to decent work opportunities is limited, and even when jobs are available, not all workers have the same access to decent work. This situation has resulted in only 20% of the working-age population having access to formal work, and access to formal employment is much lower than the overall average for females, low-skilled workers, and youth. That is also slightly lower for workers of old age and rural sector workers. more..

Nov 11 (GV) News broke on the morning hours of Oct 18 that Shehan Karunatilaka had become the first SL author since Michael Ondaatje to win the Booker prize. The following hours, days and weeks saw Sri Lankans bask in the glory and recognition this had brought the country. Amidst a tired and difficult year, this was something to be happy about; a Sri Lankan making the news for the right reasons. Along with the novel’s increasing appeal and recognition came a process of meditation more..

Nov 11 (Island) Parliament has reportedly decided to provide schoolchildren who visit it with a glass of milk each. This is a welcome measure. Milk has become a luxury of sorts that only the rich can afford thanks to the MPs on both sides of the House, who have ruined the country. It is the public who will bear the cost of milk to be given to children at Parliament, and they deserve thanks. What will the MPs give the children at their expense? They should give back a fraction of what they get from the public, more..

Nov 11 (TM) Addressing Parliament, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe invited all Tamil MPs for a discussion scheduled next week in regard to issues faced by the Tamil people and to resolve them amicably without any outside interference prior to the 75th Independence celebrations. Prez said: “We are discussing issues of the Tamil people in the North. For now, we have released a number of prisoners and there are many to be released. more..

Nov 11 (CT) SL will have a tough opening fixture when they take on Hong Kong on the opening day of the 2022 Asia Rugby (AR) Men’s Sevens Series second leg which begins on Saturday at the Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium in Incheon, South Korea. This will be a massive challenge for the SL Tuskers, who will be making their first appearance in this year’s series after having missed out the Thailand leg owing to a suspension imposed by AR. However, after having considered a request more..

Nov 11 (ST) When the moon is full, you have a holiday? Wow…! Foreigners often are surprised when informed that every full-moon day is a holiday in SL. Term poya day is not an internationally known day, except for Sri Lankans or particularly the SL Buddhists; therefore, full-moon day may be the simple way of designating this extra holiday every month that Lankans have inherited. Discussions as such often get extended further, because naturally there are other questions, comments to more..

Nov 11 (DN) The cream of the schools' Netball will compete in the SL Schools Milo Netball Championship which will be held from today to Nov 13 at the Albert F. Peiris Stadium in Wennappuwa. The three-day event organised by the SL Schools Netball Association under the guidance of the Ministry of Education. This event is sponsored by Nestlé Milo for the 29th year. Nirodha Abeywickrama, the President of the Schools Netball Association and also the Principal of more..

Nov 11 (FT) SL’s most diversified blue chip Hayleys has posted exceptional performance in 2Q and 1H of FY23 despite global and domestic challenges. Consolidated pre-tax profit in 2Q had soared by 70% to Rs. 10 billion and by 180% in 1H to Rs. 30 billion. After tax profit improved by 62% to Rs. 7.1 billion and by 192% to Rs. 23.4 billion respectively. Hayleys bottom line in 2Q was up 45% to Rs. 4 billion and by 193% to Rs. 14.5 billion in 1H. The impressive profitability comes on top of 64% increase more..

Nov 11 (TM) Relatives of missing persons noted that they themselves are joint witnesses of their loved ones surrendering to security forces at the end of the war, and queried how the Army, therefore, could deny the evidence of those who surrendered. Association for the Relatives of Enforced Disappearances Secretary Leeladevi Anandanadarajah queried how the Army could claim a lack of evidence regarding those who more..

Nov 11 (DN) SL Under 19 Women’s Team led by Vishmi Gunaratne left yesterday for India to take part in a T20 quadrangular cricket tournament. This is the first time the National Under 19 team is going on an int'l assignment and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has organised this tour to get more exposure. SL Under 19, India Under 19 'A' and 'B' teams, and the West Indies Under 19 Women’s team will take part in this tournament and keen tussle is expected among these four teams in Visakhapatnam, India. more..

Nov 11 (FT) The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Group has posted a strong operational performance in the first nine months as well as in the third quarter despite the continuing adverse effects of macroeconomic variables which have necessitated a tripling of impairment provisions for the nine months ended 30 Sept 2022 and reduced profits for the quarter as well as the year to date compared to the corresponding periods of last year. Nevertheless, the Bank reported that the third quarter more..

Nov 11 (TM) Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe noted in Parliament that at present, prisons are holding 25,000 inmates, whereas the maximum capacity for such is only 13,000, and added that a mechanism is being prepared to pardon and release elderly and terminally ill prisoners as a measure to reduce overcrowding in prisons. He made these remarks in response to a question posed by SJB MP Mujibur Rahman more..

Nov 11 (FT) Questions Govt on its failure to implement the National Action Plan on persons with disabilities raises concerns about accessibility issues at state institutions for those with disabilities calls on Govt. to improve facilities and services provided to the community. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa highlighted the many issues faced by persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka including the lack of services available to them. Noting that nearly 1.7 million persons out of the population more..

Nov 11 (FT) SL’s tourism industry has lauded the arrangements made by the Govt for industry stakeholders to participate in the WTM 2022 that concluded in London, UK. Two leading industry bodies The Hotels Association of SL (THASL) and SL Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) in a joint statement, said that they were grateful for Minister Harin Fernando and the team at SL Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) for making all necessary facilities to participate at this year’s WTM, more..

Nov 11 (FT) SJB MP S.M. Marikkar slammed the Govt for failing to take new steps to introduce new revenue generation plans. “Does the Govt have any plan to earn revenue other than increasing taxes,” Marikkar queried from Govt benches during his speech in Parliament. In that context the SJB MP called for the greater promotion of medical tourism in SL as a new foreign exchange earning strategy. Marikkar said education and medical tourism are the most lucrative businesses in the world today. more..

Nov 11 (FT) The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court yesterday directed the CID to submit a report in Court on 15 December to ascertain whether State Minister Diana Gamage had obtained a Sri Lankan passport despite being a British citizen. Colombo Chief Magistrate Nandana Amarasinghe made this direction to the CID following the submissions made by Lawyers of SJB during the inquiry into a case filed by the CID on a complainant made by Oshada Hearth before Colombo Magistrate Court. more..

Nov 11 (TM) TNA MP Charles Nirmalanathan appealed to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe to take necessary steps to hand over the SL migrants rescued in Vietnam on Monday to the UN rather than repatriating them to SL. “Among the 303 migrants, some are from the Northern Province; some of their relatives from Mannar contacted me to urge for the safety of their family members. I appeal to Prez to take the necessary steps to more..

Nov 11 (DM) Minister Susil Premajayantha warned the officials to leave from their positions within the next 2 months and hand them over to the young generation, who can help with the system change to develop science and technology in the country. While addressing the National Science Day- 2022 at the Ministry, he said if the education system does not change, the younger generation will lead to another system change. "Science, technology, and innovation should take the same path." more..

Nov 11 (Island) A Delhi court on Friday rapped the Indian Enforcement Directorate (ED) for adopting a pick-and-choose policy, and asked why the agency had not arrested SL-origin Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez despite issuing a lookout circular against her in a INR 2-billion money-laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted Ms Fernandez interim bail, reserved order for Friday on the bail plea of more..

Nov 11 (DN) Katunayake Export Processing Zone (EPZ) has focused on attracting reinvestments from existing companies and four out of the 33 large tenants in the zone have initiated expansion with a pledged investment of $26.5 million and almost 1,000 employment opportunities,” Alex Irwin-Hunt, one of the judges at Intelligence’s Free Zones Awards 2022 and global markets editor at fDi Intelligence stated. EPZ, the largest zone in SL, operating under the purview of the BOI, more..

Nov 11 (CT) Muthu Raja, the tusker gifted by Thailand to SL, will be flown back to Thailand soon. The tusker was allegedly abused and neglected at the Kande Viharaya Temple, Aluthgama, prior to being brought to the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwela two days ago. In 2001, the tusker was gifted to the SL govt by the Queen Mother of Thailand, Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara. The Thai Govt thought that he would carry the sacred tooth relics at the Kandy Esala Perahera. more..

Nov 11 (Island) Senior lawyer Cader sayas that it was the responsibility of Parliament to enact legislation to enable the country to seek UN support for the recovery of stolen public assets. Cader, senior partner at Julius & Creasy emphasised the urgent need to address the issue at hand as part of the overall efforts meant to stabilise the economy. The lawyer said so responding to SLPP MP Prof. G.L. Peiris’ recent declaration more..

Nov 11 (DM) In the wake of a statement by former Legal Head of the SLC Chanaka Senaratna that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has hired an attorney-at-law to represent cricketer Dhanushka Gunathilake, SLC said that it has not authorized or retained any lawyers in SL to represent or make any kind of statement representing SLC or cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka. "It is observed that some of the recent public statements made by a lawyer pertaining to Danushka Gunathilaka give an impression more..

Nov 11 (Island) About 50% of factories had been closed and the others were operating at sub optimal levels, Dhammika Samarawickrama, head of the Micro Electric International (Pvt) Ltd said during a TV interview on Wednesday night. “This is a big problem. A lot of factories have been closed, and the others are working only for about two weeks a month. This is because the demand has dropped and there is no point in running the factory throughout the month, he said. more..

Nov 11 (EN) President Ranil Wickremesinghe called on China and Japan to complete debt talks by December as the country tries to get a sign off from the IMF to tap official credits. Wickremesinghe said he met the Managing Director of IMF at the climate summit in Egypt and was assured support. “We now have to complete discussions with India and China. China told us to talk after the party congress. We have done it now. more..

Nov 11 (FT) What is the root cause of the great collapse, failure and bankruptcy of SL? The most popular belief has been that it was due to corruption of politicians and the bureaucracy. Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, one of SL’s foremost biodiversity experts in his recent speech at the convocation of the Sri J'pura Uni, stated that the actions initiated by the Govt disregarding common sense is the root cause of the present crisis facing the country. Printing money in enormous amounts more..

Nov 11 (FT) We hear suggestions being voiced favouring the legalisation of cannabis (marijuana) to increase foreign earnings to Sri Lanka. I, as a responsible citizen of Sri Lanka and a cardiologist engaged in public health in Sri Lanka, ask the question, why do we need to promote encouraging the cultivation of cannabis that is sure to endanger public safety and damage health? SL is a country renowned for its natural beauty and hospitality, and attracts tourists from across the globe. more..