Nov 29 (Island) Out of the 19 species of birds listed as critically endangered, five are breeding residents while the remaining 14 are breeding residents with a migrant population, and the Red List category applies only to the breeding population. None of the endemic species have been listed as Critically Endangered species. Out of the 14 species of breeding residents with migrant populations, the breeding population of 11 more..

Nov 29 (EN) Sri Lanka is targeting revenues of US$ 1.5 billion from exports in 2023 and is expecting to finish 2022 with US$ 1.2 billion, Niraj de Mel, Chairman of SL Tea Board, the industry regulator and promotion body. In 2023, the Tea Board expects a total production of 290 million kilos, and exports of 275 million kilos. In the first 10 months of 2022, SL has shipped 211 million kilos of tea and has earned an export revenue of US 1.05 billion. “When it comes to production there is a reduction of more..

Nov 29 (DM) SL face an uphill task to secure direct qualification to next year’s 50-over World Cup, with Afghanistan confirming their spot following Sunday’s washed out second ODI in Pallekele. The Afghans and the hosts took five Super League points each, keeping the visitors in seventh place in the table and guaranteeing them at least eighth position. Hosts India and the seven highest-ranked other teams earn direct entry to the 2023 tournament. SL are now among four teams scrapping more..

Nov 29 (AD) The third secretary of SL Embassy in Oman, E. Kushan who was arrested earlier today in connection with the human trafficking ring, has been placed behind bars on remand until Dec 13. He was produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court after the CID officers arrested him upon arriving at the BIA in Katunayake early this morning. Following his arrest, the suspect was taken to the Human Trafficking, more..

Nov 29 (DM) Sri Lankans can now hold $10,000 worth of the Indian rupee (INR) in a physical form, though the INR would not be legal tender in SL, after India approved a Sri Lankan request to designate the INR as the foreign currency. This will provide the SL much needed liquidity support to help it tide over its economic crisis amid inadequate dollar liquidity. The decision is also in accordance with the Indian govt’s efforts to popularize the Indian Rupee among Asian nations and reduce dollar dependence. more..

Nov 29 (DM) Both Cabinet and Parliament should question Central Bank officials about the recent decisions they have made with regards to the economy, Minister Bandula Gunawardena told Parliament yesterday. “We will be able to question the decisions which Central Bank officials have made during the recent past if they are summoned to Parliament and the cabinet,” the Minister said. “It was the CB which made decisions on issuing bonds, on exchange rates and interest rates. more..

Nov 30 (DM) Last we heard of a drug menace of this magnitude in Sri Lanka was almost four decades ago. With the war came the narcotics. Now in the midst of country’s biggest economic crisis in modern history, Sri Lanka is hit with Ice or crystal methamphetamine. Schoolchildren and young adults are falling prey to this drug at an alarming rate that health authorities, doctors, the Dangerous Drug Control Board and even politicians have started talking about its risk in public. more..

Nov 30 (DM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe is the most literate, widely read and informed president we have ever had, after CBK, or alongside her. R. Premadasa tried hard, and his love of the arts was genuine. But he didn’t have Ranil’s wide reading and erudition. JR Jayewardene had a massive library (now used by scholars) but just how much he read remains a mystery, and his contempt for literature and our own writers negate any attempts now to portray him as a man of learning who more..

Nov 30 (CT) Minister Mahinda Amaraweera guaranteed delivery of high-quality organic fertiliser for the Maha Season to motivate farmers. To make good on this promise, Amaraweera is closely monitoring the distribution of organic fertiliser to ensure that standards are met. In view of this, Minister was compelled to blacklist a company for supplying liquid organic fertiliser in plastic bottles that could contaminate it with pathogens. more..

Nov 30 (CT) In a backdrop where countries are increasingly moving towards developed methods of power generation, Sri Lankans have been pushed to a chaotic situation where we plan our days around daily power cut schedules. The hindrance caused to several operations by power cuts is not one that should be taken lightly as it only resulted in the public being stuck in a loop of crises. Although one would expect the length of power cuts to reduce over time, it only increased with power cuts more..

Nov 30 (Island) The Nazis of SL (read the members of the current SLPP-UNP govt, whose leader, Prez Wickremesinghe, has called himself Hitler recently in Parliament) have gone into overdrive to suppress democratic dissent. They invaded an auditorium at Hanguranketha, on Sunday, in a bid to sabotage a conference held by a group of SLPP dissidents. Thankfully, they failed in their endeavour. Fact that the SL police are functioning as the Sturmabteilung or Brown Shirts under 3rd Reich in Germany more..

Nov 30 (TM) Despite the fact that scientific knowledge regarding the quality of air has a significant and direct impact on the lives of people, there is a lack of such knowledge being conveyed to and grasped by ordinary citizens. The first step towards helping the people make informative decisions on air quality and have a greater understanding on how the quality of air impacts their lives, air quality-related data should be made more..

Nov 30 (TM) CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) has warned that the country may have to experience daily power outages longer than 10 hours from July to October of next year due to the non-procurement of coal on time. It claimed that of 38 ships carrying 60,000 metric tonnes of coal expected to reach SL by April of 2023, 10 were expected to reach the country by now, but only four such shipments have done so. In a context where the country is grappling with a severe scarcity of foreign reserves to more..

Nov 30 (Island) Prez Wickremesinghe’s warning that he is prepared to declare a state of national emergency and use the military to suppress any public protests for change of govt would reflect the pressures he is under. The manner in which he has used the security forces to deal with the protest movement has been unexpected. His words and deeds are contradictory to what he has previously stood for as a five-time former prime minister. This is especially true in the case of the ethnic and more..

Nov 30 (ST) Colombo Rowing Club’s (CRC) men’s won the male’s tally reading 48-2, and the Women’s of Madras Boat Club (MBC) won theirs 15-10, at the – 81st Madras-Colombo Regatta – last evening at the CRC by the Beira Lake. The series, resumed after a three-year hiatus, and returned to Colombo, since it was the capitals’ turn to host. Boat race, Main segment of the regatta, carrying 12 points, was won by CRC captained by Manilka Gunaratne. Men’s of CRC won the overall winning more..

Nov 30 (ST) In an effort to make the most popular leisure more reachable to the general public, Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) introduced Air Badminton, a new version of the racket sport at a national launching ceremony held in Pelawatte recently. Simultaneously the launch took place at five bases around the country at centres located in St. Thomas’ College in Guruthalawa in Uva Province, at Vavuniya in Northern, at Ambalangoda in Southern, at Anuradhapura in North Central and more..

Nov 30 (FT) The export sector notched the fifth consecutive month of over $ 1 billion performance in October, sustaining its resilience, despite an unprecedented economic crisis. As per provisional data, merchandise exports in October were over $ 1.09 billion a negative growth of 8.18% compared to a year earlier. However, the first 10 months› haul was up 9.33% to over $ 11.07 billion compared to corresponding period of 2021. more..

Nov 30 (FT) Ruling party MP Madhura Withanage said the world should be shown that Sri Lanka is a suitable country for investments. MP made this observation recently at the very first Select Committee meeting of Parliament to study the practical problems and difficulties that have arisen in relation to enhancing the rank in the Ease of Doing Business Index in SL and make its proposals and recommendations held. The Chairman pointed out that in order to overcome current economic more..

Nov 30 (FT) People’s Bank announced the results for its nine months period ended 30 Sept, recording pre-tax profit of Rs. 17 billion on a bank solo and Rs. 21 billion consolidated basis. The total operating income rose by 41.3% to reach Rs. 91 billion, whilst total operating expenses grew by only 9.6% to Rs. 31.4 billion reflecting prudent cost management amidst a highly challenging macro-economic environment characterised by, amongst other, an 80% currency devaluation and more..

Nov 30 (DN) We are going to comeback hard in the final ODI game against Afghanistan today said SL Opener Pathum Nissanka at the final training session before the match at Pallekele yesterday. We have game plans and it can change match by match while for this final game we have a special plan to win convincingly, said Nissanka. We are focusing for the next World Cup in India next year and all these matches are very vital to get direct qualification and we are ready to work hard to achieve it, more..

Nov 30 (TM) Achieving the tax revenue target of Rs. 3.04 trillion as estimated by Budget 2023 could prove extremely difficult, given the negative economic growth estimated for 2023, said Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Commissioner General Ranjith Hapuarachchi. Attending the meeting of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) held on Monday (28), he said that the IRD will have to collect taxes in 2023 during an economic contraction, which he said will make tax collection difficult. more..

Nov 30 (FT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe said for the first time, he gave approval to a bill to register a discourse that empowers the Maha Sangha to protect Sangha discipline. Speaking during the debate on the expenditure heads of Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs in Parliament, Prez pointed out that many problems arise when the Sangha does not act according to the Dhamma, more..

Nov 30 (Island) PickMe has taken its technology interface a couple of notches higher, with the platform modifying its algorithms to introduce a new product that will provide more benefits for the company’s customer base, increase growth of its merchants and enhance rider income. Zulfer Jiffry, CEO of PickMe says the company’s new product, PickMe Pass is a natural progression for any technological platform that deals with algorithms. “We live in an era where the digital economy more..

Nov 30 (FT) The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday agreed to sign a MoU between the Export Development Board of SL and the Import Promotion Programme run by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Activities. The move will pave the way to motivate and broaden the opportunities for SL export products to gain access to the European market. In a bid to broaden the opportunities for SL’s export products to gain access to the European market, In a bid to broaden more..

Nov 30 (Island) Former Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris has questioned the rationale behind Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s warning that the military will be deployed to curb protest vis-a-vis a Foreign Ministry undertaking to boost foreign trade and investment. Addressing the Parliament, Prof. Peiris said the Foreign Ministry couldn’t expect to succeed in economic diplomacy while the govt was resorting to repressive measures. more..

Nov 30 (AD) Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has sent a letter in response to the executive council meeting summoned by former President Maithripala Sirisena as the Chairman of the UPF on Nov 30. Stating that former President Sirisena has no authority to convene an executive council meeting, Amaraweera said it is he, as the general secretary of UPFA, who is authorized to do so. The letter says that the executive council meeting convened by Sirisena is unlawful and unconstitutional. more..

Nov 30 (ST) With payment dues by renewable energy​ (RE)​ companies piling up for the past one year, banks are requesting the CEB to change their accounting methods to better accommodate RE sector payment dues. They are requesting to convert RE Net Accounting and Net Plus contracts to​ Net metering where the user consumes electricity generated by the rooftop solar system and excess electricity is injected into the grid to eliminate the payment blockage for banks. more..

Nov 30 (CT) On Nov 6, 2022, popular SL national cricket player Danushka Gunathilaka, who was on tour with the SL T20 World Cup team, was arrested in Sydney, Australia, for alleged sexual assault. He was denied bail and remanded in custody. But after Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) paid $38,000 in legal fees to the Australian law firm representing Danushka, and after a surety of $150,000 was paid by a mysterious Sri Lankan female who is residing in Melbourne, Danushka was released on Nov 17. more..

Nov 30 (Island) Sri Lanka and Bangladesh can gain more from bilateral trade cooperation by strategically utilizing the two countries’ respective comparative advantages and strengths than from competing with each other for the same objective, Bangladesh High Commissioner in SL, Tareq Md Ariful Islam said in Colombo recently. “All the more so because the two countries have a similar product range which has led to a low bilateral trade volume of US$ 200-300 million,” he pointed out. more..

Nov 30 (TM) Election Commission (EC) stated that while it had received the legal advice sought from Attorney General’s (AG) Dept on whether it has the power to declare the Local Govt (LG) election following the adoption of the 21st Amendment, it is however, not in a position to reveal the advice received, noting that a decision will however be taken following internal discussions. EC Chairman Nimal Punchihewa emphasised more..

Nov 30 (Xinhua) China welcomes Foreign Minister Ali Sabry's rebuttal of the narrative of the so-called Chinese debt trap in SL, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said here on Monday. Sabry has said that when SL went to China in search of funds, China was respectful and never forced SL to take money. China also provided SL with some financial facilities and credit line, as well as some humanitarian assistance, Sabry said, adding that the debt trap is a Western phrase. more..

Nov 30 (TM) Following a recommendation by former Prez Maithripala Sirisena concerning the possibility of devolving governmental power below the Provincial Council (PC) level through District Development Councils using the existing District Co-ordinating Committees, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that he was prepared to introduce the same. Sirisena proposed the introduction of District Development Councils to devolve further power below PC level. more..

Nov 30 (ST) The Govt is considering beginning functions of the Constitutional Council (CC) with the minimum quorum of five members amid delays in filling the remaining five positions. The Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are ex-officio members of the CC. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has already nominated Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva as his nominee while Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has nominated SJB MP Kabir Hashim as his nominee. more..

Nov 30 (TM) Claiming that Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa has mixed the Buddha dharma (Buddhist doctrine) and the sangha (Buddhist clergy/monks), Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the Buddha doctrine and the Buddhist clergy should be separated, and that certain acts of monks should subjected to some control. He said: “There is the Buddha, the dhamma, and the sangha. Premadasa has mixed Buddhism with Buddhist monks. more..

Nov 30 (TM) State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said that Ministry of Finance is in the process of establishing a Casino Regulatory Board/Authority, but stated that a solid timeline cannot be given concerning its eventual establishment, as the procedure would require a lot of legal work. When queried as to when the Casino Regulatory Authority would be set up, he said: “I will not be able to give a timeline right now, more..