Nov 30 (Island) Lead scientist on Molecular Biology and Plant Taxonomy Dr. Nilanthi Rajapakse of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and her team have discovered a new species of Nelu, Strobilanthes glandulataNilanthi (Acanthaceae) based on morphological and molecular data, from the Knuckles Forest Reserve. Morphological and DNA evidence were used to distinguish the new plant species from the other closest plant species, S. lupulina. When contacted Dr. Rajapakse told more..

Nov 30 (CT) Former CB Governor Deshamanya Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday said that the perimeter for Debt that has to be treated can only be determined once the terms for the treatment of the external Debt are finalised. Delivering the 17th Sujata Jayawardena Memorial Oration, he said that the govt has signalled very strongly that the solution should not be worse than the problem that is being addressed and that the stability of the domestic financial system should be protected. more..

Nov 30 (TM) US-based New Fortress Energy Inc (NFE) is in the process of pulling out of its controversial agreement with the Govt of SL to acquire 40% of the shares of the Yugadanavi Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya, along with a monopoly over supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) in SL. NFE is currently in the process of pulling out of the said agreement, through which the NFE was to acquire 40% of the shares more..

Nov 30 (EN) Shares closed at one month high on Wednesday gaining for the fourth session on news that govt is in talks with ADB and World Bank to get a 1.9 billion dollar loan facility, brokers said. The ASPI closed 3.3% or 276.02 points higher at 8,651.23, highest index gain in since Nov 1. “Investor participation improved on the back of confirmed talks with multilateral and bilateral lenders including world banks and ADB for USD 1.9Bn after IMF board level agreement is reached,” more..

Nov 30 (FT) A challenge for all political parties. Why not a second chamber with equal representation for Tamils, Sinhalese, and Muslims? The momentum for resolving the ethnic issue that has bedevilled the country since independence has taken a fresh urgency with the President calling on all parties to convene to discuss the issue and resolve it before the 75th year of independence in 2023. As reported in Ada Derana, it is understood that political parties representing the Tamil community more..

Nov 30 (FT) Last week’s article in these columns about SL Tamil nationalist parties seeking a power sharing arrangement based on federal principles or the federal idea resulted in my getting quite a lot of responses from readers. Most of the messages as usual were from Sinhala readers while a few were from Tamil readers also. Despite differences in writing styles and usages of words and phrases among the readers who responded, there were two underlying themes in the two different more..

Nov 30 (FT) Minister Bandula Gunawardena yesterday outlined four methods to overcome the ongoing economic crisis, and insisted that a new culture should be created where the Parliament is vested with power over public finance. “There are only four methods that can fix the economy, one is to have a high income, second is to limit the expenditure, third is to maintain the budget deficit by managing the income and expenditure and fourth is to have an influx of foreign exchange income more..

Nov 30 (FT) Industry leader M. Shanthikumar made a strong case for fresh support and relief for multiple-crisis-hit hotel and tourism sectors stressing that such a move by the Govt will ensure a quicker revival generating more foreign exchange and securing jobs. Speaking at The Hotels Association of SL (THASL) post-AGM banquet, Shanthikumar who was re-elected for a second term, called for grant funding for more..

Nov 30 (Island) State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told Parliament that there would be no shortage of milk powder in the coming days due to the Customs holding a consignment of six containers of milk powder, imported into the country, for violating regulations. Minister said the six containers had 105,375 kilos of full cream milk powder, imported from NZ, via Malaysia. It reached the Colombo port on 20 Oct. more..

Nov 30 (CT) In the backdrop of doctors leaving the country en masse owing to the economic crisis, threatening the stability of the health sector, the Govt is trying to find solutions to retain them. Accordingly, foreign missions in Colombo have been requested not to grant visas to doctors if they do not have permission from the Health Ministry to go overseas and Immigration Officers at the airport have been instructed to check whether doctors who more..

Nov 30 (AD) Cabinet has granted the approval for an electricity tariff hike as the increase made in the recent past is insufficient to cover the loss of the CEB. This was disclosed at the meeting of National Council’s Sub-Committee on Identifying Short- and Medium-Term Program related to Economic Stabilization on Tuesday. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of MP Champika Ranawaka. Cabinet has approved to increase more..

Nov 30 (CT) Jaffna University Vice Chancellor Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah has refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between China’s State Agricultural Uni and Uni of Jaffna on 25 November, saying that the MoU has the hidden agenda of China to grab fertile lands under the pretext of development projects in the North and East, and the Students’ Union of University of Jaffna has appealed to the Govt not to sign MoUs with China against the will of the people. more..

Nov 30 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe says the agreements reached at COP27 have once again failed to place the nations of the world on a complementary and progressive course of redress. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Head of State attributed the biggest obstacle to success to politicisation and stagnation. “The outcome of the Summit is discouraging.” Prez Wickremesinghe, who participated in the COP 27 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, more..

Nov 30 (AD) Air quality in several parts of the island have diminished, as per statistics. Accordingly, a purple alert was issued for Battaramulla, Colombo, which ranked highest with a numerical value of 85 as at 1:15 p.m. today, warning that many people may experience severe health issues. Red alerts were issued in Vavuniya and H'tota, while less severe alerts were issued for Puttalam, Badulla, Mullaitivu & Dambulla where fairly good levels of air pollution were recorded. more..

Nov 30 (Island) The SJB yesterday threatened to leave the Chamber if what it called derogatory remarks on Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa made by SLPP backbenchers, were not expunged from Hansard. MP Lakshman Kiriella threatened to boycott the third reading debate on Budget 2023 if the Chair failed to conduct House proceedings, as per the Standing Orders of Parliament. Kiriella said that as per Standing Orders, an MP could not abuse parliamentary privileges more..

Nov 30 (EN) A controversial decision by Sri Lanka under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2020, 2021 to cremate victims of COVID-19 including Muslims and Christians was built on a lie propagated by two individuals using the media, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said stopping short of a mea culpa and claiming that the entire cabinet had opposed the move. “It was unfortunate SL chose to deny burial of Covid-19 victims more..

Nov 30 (AD) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says that the Southern and Ella tourism zones will be exempted from the 1 hour 20 minutes night-time power cuts with effect from Dec 1. In a tweet, he said that the island-wide power cuts of 1 hour during the day and 1 hour and 20 minutes during the night will be continued until the Dec 15. The minister explained that with the scheduled addition of Unit 3 of the Coal Plant to the National Grid on Dec 15, all tourism zones identified by Min of Tourism, more..

Nov 30 (TM) Chamber of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers – Oyamaduwa (CPMO) and the local investors of the Suwa Siri Pura pharmaceutical manufacturing zone in Oyamaduwa, A'pura recently had a discussion with BOI officials where they requested the top management to consider registering the Oyamaduwa under the BOI. The meeting was convened under the patronage of BOI Chairman Raja Edirisuriya, Director General Renuka Weerakone, Executive Directors, and more..

Nov 30 (AD) The stabilisation and recovery of the country’s economy is currently Central Bank of SL’s (CBSL) key objective, CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said. Speaking at the Int'l Conference on the Roadmap for Economic Recovery of Sri Lanka held in Colombo today, he attributed the ongoing economic crisis to an imbalance in macroeconomics such as large fiscal deficits and debt standstills. more..

Nov 30 (TM) State-owned SriLankan Airlines’ request to lease 10 new aircraft, to replace three aircrafts whose leases expire this year and seven more set to expire next year, has reached the Cabinet of Ministers for approval. Secretary to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Aviation K.D.S. Ruwanchandra said that the relevant Cabinet paper was added to the agenda of the Cabinet meeting scheduled yesterday (28). He said that the airline provided the required information and more..

Nov 30 (EN) Hayleys fabrics sees more opportunity in Europe and Western markets for thicker , with energy consumption expected to reduce in those markets due to an energy crisis after the Ukraine Russia war, officials at Hayleys fabrics said. Dinusha Somasiri' Head of Innovation & product development at Hayleys, said, due to the energy consumption reduction in the European countries, the customers of have requested thicker fiber to cope with the cold. “They have asked us to produce thicker fabric more..

Nov 30 (CT) In a backdrop where dual citizens are barred from holding MP posts by the recently passed 21st Amendment, the Department of Immigration and Emigration refused to reveal the names of dual citizen MPs who are in the present Parliament, citing, “Personal information will be refused if there is no relation to any public activity.” Ceylon Today sent an RTI application (DIE/LU/3/02) to the Dept of Immigration and Emigration requesting a list of MPs who hold dual citizenship. more..

Nov 30 (TM) The ruling SLPP noted that it, as a party, is pro-devolution, but that power should be devolved to the people for the economic development of their locales, and not for the purpose of, nor based on, their ethnicity or religion. SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam emphasised yesterday that his party has always been pro-devolution, but that the said devolution should be provided for development, and not for ethnicity or religion-based purposes. more..

Nov 30 (TM) The Police stated that a lack of understanding by those filing Right to Information (RTI) requests regarding the information that can be obtained from the Police under the RTI Act, No. 12 of 2016, and the fact that much of the information requested under the said Act directly or indirectly comes into conflict with national security and judicial proceedings, have led to an increase in the filing of appeals against Police to RTI Commission. more..

Nov 30 (AD) Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) says that CEB has been granted approval for power cuts until Nov 30th only. In reference to the communiqué issued by the Minister of Power and Energy, the PUCSL chairman Janaka Ratnayake said no approval has been granted yet for power cuts beyond today (30). Further, he said that the CEB’s request to impose 3-hour power cuts on Nov 25th has been rejected by the PUCSL which only granted approval for power cuts of 2h 20m. more..

Nov 30 (AD) Sri Lanka owed Chinese lenders USD 7.4 billion - nearly a fifth of its public external debt - by the end of last year, calculations by the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI) published on Wednesday showed, an estimate higher than many others. The figure was above the often-quoted 10 to 15% figures, the study said, adding a significant portion of the country’s debt to China had been recorded under lending to state-owned enterprises rather than central govt. more..

Nov 30 (DM) Just five official foreign visits undertaken by former Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2021 alone had cost the state more than Rs. 40 million, according to details provided by Prez Secretariat and the PM’s Office on a directive issued by the Right to Information Commission. Details furnished by the Prez Secretariat and the PM’s Office under the RTI revealed that two Rajapaksa brothers more..

Nov 30 (DM) A separate rest area will be constructed for local and foreign tourists coming to Yala to rest during the day. Around 400 vehicles with local and foreign tourists enter the park daily to watch wild animals. So far, these local and foreign tourists did not have a suitable place to rest during the day while visiting the forested areas. It is not allowed to wander in the forest, especially for two hours from noon to 2 p.m. So far, the vehicles have been parked at various places during more..

Nov 30 (AD) A grant of USD 28 million provided by China has been utilized to ensure the supply of 14 vital medicines required, Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella says. He stated this in response to concerns raised by MPs regarding the speculations on a shortage of medicines in the country. The lawmaker also mentioned that an allocation of USD 200 million from the Indian credit line has been made to cater to the needs of the health sector. Meanwhile, Cabinet has green-lighted more..