Nov 21 (Island) The ministerial consultative committee on water supply is considering a proposal for another water tariff hike.The consultative committee on water supply, which met at the parliamentary complex last week, received the proposal to increase water tariffs. Committee also discussed a new tax to be levied on bottled water and the current state of the water supply projects countrywide. Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella, and Ramesh Pathirana, State Ministers more..

Nov 21 (CT) Govt is now focused on resolving issues that have arisen around cannabis, which has put student education in SL in jeopardy, Director of Gelioya Vidyapathi Pirivena Ven. Galaha Siri Shantha Thera of the Ramanna Maha Nikaya said. He said the Govt was engaged in an issue that will destroy education in SL. He was referring to the on-going debate on cannabis cultivation. The Thera was speaking following a ceremony at Gelioya, Veluvanarama, Sucharithwardena Dhamma more..

Nov 21 (TM) Against a backdrop of stationery and school item prices going up by 200-300% over the last few months, the Ministry of Education has stated is prepared to request the Cabinet to look into the matter, while teachers’ trade unions together with parents are to protest the Govt’s lack of attention to the education sector. Several traders, parents, and students said that the prices of stationery, including exercise books, pens, more..

Nov 21 (DM) SL Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) has temporarily halted the registration of women who acquire private visas for untrained and domestic employment in Oman and the UAE. A circular in this regard was issued by SLBFE Chairman Mahendra Kimarasinghe today. Accordingly, the SLBFE has decided to discontinue the process of registering female domestic workers and low skilled female workers who are leaving for foreign employment on a self-employed basis more..

Nov 21 (NR) Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera says a decision has not been reached to remove the QR code system from next month. Minister taking to Twitter refuted claims made in this regard by certain media and on social media. He said the QR system will continue until fuel requirements can be fulfilled. National Fuel Pass QR Code system was officially rolled out in August following the fuel shortages owing to the lack of dollar reserves in SL to purchase fuel. more..

Nov 21 (TM) Against the backdrop of Minister of Justice, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC claiming that the CIABOC is working ineffectively and questioning the purpose of maintaining it, The Morning learnt that out of 1,861 complaints that have been received by CIABOC within the course of this year, number of complaints that have been closed without investigation is higher than the number of complaints that are being investigated. more..

Nov 21 (CT) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena claimed that the Rajapaksas wilfully misplaced forensic audit reports on the Bond scam in 2007. He said when the Bond scam took place during his presidency, the PCoI into Treasury Bond scams comprised SC judges and that while giving the report, they concluded that something more than this had occurred since 2007. Sirisena made these remarks while attending the Crisis, Budget, and Future Budget conference hosted by SLFP more..

Nov 21 (DM) SJB MP Dilip Wedaarachchi staged a satyagraha inside Parliament chambers today calling for immediate relief for fishermen. MP Wedaarachchi who was clad in black made firery remarks and called for immediate relief for fishermen. "The fisheries industry in SL has died. I am going to perform a Satyagraha calling for immediate relief," he said and walked towards the well and sat on the ground. The parliamentary sessions went out of control with MPs from more..

Nov 21 (TM) Ministerial Consultative Committee on Investment Promotion advised the Board of Investment (BOI) to clearly communicate to the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) and the Treasury that there is no Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) coming in under the new enhanced capital-based package, and that a new package should therefore be introduced. This issue was addressed at the first meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Investment Promotion held recently (15), more..

Nov 21 (DM) The Chief Sanghanayake of the Ramanna Sect, Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera stressed that the Mahasangha and the Buddhists in Embilipitiya will not allow the govt to implement the proposed project to cultivate 10000 acres of Ganja in Embilipitiya. Addressing the ceremony to mark the appointment of Ven. Itthedemaliye Dhammairi as Chief Sanghanayake of Kolonna Korala, prelate said the govt is planning to cultivate Ganja under the pretext of economic development. more..

Nov 21 (EN) Sri Lanka’s former ruling party strategist Basil Rajapaksa returned to the country from the US in a move what analysts and his close sources see as to save the divided nationalist SLPP and navigate it in a future election. Rajapaksa, who also holds US citizenship, left the country on September after SC granted permission to the former Finance Minister to travel overseas until Jan 15, 2023. more..

Nov 21 (DM) The govt held talks with South Africa’s Prez Cyril Ramaphosa to explore the possibility of getting his country’s support for the establishment of the domestic truth seeking mechanism as part of reconciliation process, a Minister said. The South African leader was in SL for a short time on Nov 16 on his way home from Bali after attending the G20 summit. In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to investigate political crimes during the apartheid era. more..

Nov 21 (TM) FSP activist Duminda Nagamuwa, addressing the media yesterday, said that, as the workers’ struggle centre, the FSP guarantees to invade the streets before the Budget is finalised to express its disappointment in the newly implemented economic principles. “Before the Budget is approved on 8 Dec, we guarantee to fire the first shot of disapproval at the new economic principles brought forward by it along with all trade unions in the country,” Nagamuwa said. more..

Nov 21 (Reuters) National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) slowed year-on-year to 70.6% in October after a record 73.7% jump in September, the statistics dept said on Monday. Food inflation was 80.9% in October, while non-food inflation was 61.3%. SL has been struggling with soaring inflation for nearly a year, partly triggered by its worst financial crisis in seven decades and a ill-thought out ban on chemical fertilizer more..

Nov 21 (DM) Lotus Tower Management Company (Pvt) Ltd (LTMC) last Friday entered into an agreement with Singapore-based renovation and interior design company Kreate Design Pte. Ltd to lease out one floor of the tower base of the Lotus Tower for a casino and entertainment area, including water sports. LTMC is expected to receive US$ 1.4 million a year for the leasing out the floor consisting of 44, 000 sq.ft. However, during a media conference held on Friday to sign agreement, more..

Nov 21 (AD) CEB says that it will look into the media reports alleging that the electricity supply to the street lights in the city of Colombo could be cut off at night due to non-payment of electricity bills by the RDA. It was reported today that the RDA has not paid electricity bills for several months and are due an amount of around Rs. 15 million for unpaid bills. When inquired from the CEB in this regard, a spokesperson emphasized that since there are outstanding bills of around Rs. 40 billion more..

Nov 22 (CT) Similar to how Princess Viharamaha Devi had to give her life to atone for her father’s sin and to ensure the safety of her homeland; SL women are presently paying the ultimate price for the injudicious decisions made by the country’s egocentric leaders. Women in SL are now becoming victims of human trafficking as they attempt to flee the country’s raging economic turmoil. Sri Lankans saw worse things as the economic crisis hit its lowest point, and the worst is currently more..

Nov 22 (DM) As former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa celebrated his 77th birthday last week, one might have pondered over the legacy of Rajapaksa or more accurately, of the Rajapaksas, the familiocracy he presided over. Social media reaction to his birthday celebrations revealed little public affection. As a journalist quipped, rata kapu un, den cake kanawa (Those who ate the nation are now eating cake). Social media may not be the ideal barometer of leadership popularity, but it is unlikely more..

Nov 22 (TM) Govt will not aim to please people and is determined to take the unpopular decisions required to correct SL’s course, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitya said last week. He argued that the State had no choice but to enact tough measures to improve State revenue, despite the risk it may pose to the banking and export sectors. Downplaying criticism regarding the 2023 Budget, State Minister stated that more..

Nov 22 (TM) As climate change continues to be among the top threats to the world, a historic agreement was entered into at the recently convened UN Climate Change Conference, or the COP27 summit, in Egypt. Under this agreement, which is now being referred to as a loss and damage agreement or a fund, rich nations will pay poorer or vulnerable nations for the damages, especially economic damages, caused by climate change. While this is a progressive step towards more..

Nov 22 (GV) Chandrakumari whips out her smart phone and prods it sharply with one finger. She wants to display the website that says Sri Lankan Tamil girls are being held as sex slaves in Dubai, unable to communicate with the outside world. After seeing her photograph in Maithripala Sirisena’s 2015 presidential election pamphlet, Jeromi is convinced that her daughter is being held in some army camp. Pallavinathan has vowed not to shave his straggly white beard until his son comes home. more..

Nov 22 (DM) Islamic revolution in Iran, in 1979 saw the overthrow of the US and British-backed Shah (Monarch). Since its founding, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been in conflict with the US and Britain. Shah was installed in a 1953 coup orchestrated by the US CIA in the aftermath of Iran’s then-elected PM Mohammad Mossadegh’s nationalisation of Iran’s oil industry. Britain which had controlled Iran’s oil resources appealed to more..

Nov 22 (CT) The 2023 Budget presented by President Wickremesinghe on November 14 is notable for a number of unique firsts. Ranil Wickremesinghe is the fifth President to sequester the finance portfolio instead of assigning it as an exclusive portfolio to a cabinet minister, but he is the first to prepare and author most or the entirety of the budget speech. The budget is shot through and through with Wickremesinghe economics, or Ranilonomics as it is now commonly called. more..

Nov 22 (DM) The last week’s revelation of a seeming sex trafficking racket by a group consisting of employment agents and state officials is not something that we hear for the first time. So many times before we have seen SL women speaking from so-called safe houses in Middle Eastern countries over social media explaining the horrifying experience they have been undergoing. We have read thousands of newspaper reports on such incidents since the early eighties when more..

Nov 22 (DM) In that detailed missive, the veteran Tamil MP pinpointed several measures being enacted under the current regime affecting the Tamil people. Chief among these was the alleged move to construct a new road within precincts of Trinco’s much venerated Saivaite Thirukoneswaram temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The following excerpts are from the Tamil leader’s letter to SL Prez. “In recent days there have been some proposals which I wish to bring to your notice. more..

Nov 22 (ST) The Colombo District Court has issued an interim injunction preventing an apartment developer from transferring a unit already sold to a buyer to a third party due to a payment dispute arising from the developer demanding payment over and above the originally agreed amount. The complainant claims that the developer is trying to recover costs due to recent price escalations for building materials and is trying to pass the costs down to the buyer outside the contract. more..

Nov 22 (ST) Sri Lanka is currently heading towards a youth bulge, with an increasing unemployed youth population, when the world population passed the historic eight billion mark on Nov 15. The world population has increased eight fold within roughly 200 years, with the population of 1800 being one billion, said Prof. Indralal de Silva, Emeritus Professor of Demography at the University of Colombo. more..

Nov 22 (Island) Former PM of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, 97, has suffered an ignominious electoral defeat, the first in 53 years. He has lost not only his parliamentary seat in the Langkawi island constituency but also his deposit! He became the PM of Malaysia in 1981 and held that post until 2003. He pulled off a stunning comeback in 2018 and served as the PM again until 2020. Interestingly, the news of his humiliating defeat came close on the heels of the celebration of the 77th birthday more..

Nov 22 (Island) Healthcare is in crisis. Medical doctors, and other health professionals, are leaving the country in droves. The WHO (2010), in its Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, while discouraging the active recruitment of health workers from developing countries (p. 7), urges source countries to address the geographical misdistribution of health workers and to support their retention in underserved areas (p.8). What is the govt doing to more..

Nov 22 (ST) That was a brave act indeed. Having a tough-as-nails Dirty Harry serving the nation as an enforcer of the country’s laws deserves a national award- another Deshabandu, perhaps. Like the heroic Horatius who single-handedly held the bridge across the Tiber, Sri Lanka’s khaki-clad warrior not only stopped two peaceful women protesters from crossing the boundaries of Panadura but he almost felled one or two female cops by holding them by the scruff of their necks. more..

Nov 22 (CT) SL women’s rugby sevens team has pulled out from the third leg of the Asian Sevens series scheduled to be staged in Dubai this weekend. Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) had expected financial support from the Ministry of Sports, and since positive feedback was not received, it was decided to withdraw the women’s team from the tournament. Team showed pathetic level of rugby in South Korea, ending up in sixth place, and it turned out to be worse when team captain more..

Nov 22 (TM) Although the much-anticipated FIFA World Cup 2022 kicked off yesterday (20) in Qatar; SL Tourism is yet to receive bookings despite the promotion campaigns it conducted in this regard. Hotels Association of SL (THASL) President M. Santhikumar stated: “Arrangements have been made, but up to now, there have been no bookings. Perhaps bookings will originate closer to the match dates.” more..

Nov 22 (FT) As per the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) October 2022 update, consumer confidence remains deeply pessimistic. It said despite fluctuations during the month, all three of IHP’s consumer confidence indices realised minimal net changes by end-Oct 2022. The Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS), the broadest measure of the public’s view on their personal economic status and the national economy and which ranges from zero to a potential maximum 100, more..

Nov 22 (FT) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday in a statement called for the independence of the Central Bank. The statement said the Chamber is firmly of the view that institutions like the Central Bank of Sri Lanka should be allowed to function independently in performing its mandate as in most other countries, particularly at this stage when the country is grappling with a major economic crisis. “We emphasise the need to reintroduce the Central Bank Act which more..

Nov 22 (TM) National Police Commission (NPC) Chairman Chandra Fernando denied the allegation made by the SJB, that he had travelled to the BIA to welcome SLPP Founder Basil Rajapaksa, who returned to SL from the US on 20 Nov, and claimed that he had only said hello to Rajapaksa in passing. SJB MP Nalin Bandara Jayamaha stated in Parliament that Fernando and another member of NPC, M.P.P. Perera, more..