Sep 23 (DM) The executive committee of the Public Health Inspectors (PHI) Union yesterday assured that the statement made by the union’s head, Upul Rohana regarding the toxic Thriposha stocks was correct. PHI President M.N.H. Nihal claims that the Thriposha stocks distributed to pregnant and breast-feeding mothers and infants contain more Aflatoxin than Mr. Rohana claimed. Moreover, the union claimed that the distributed Thriposha was not suitable for human consumption more..

Sep 23 (HT) SL high commissioner Milinda Moragoda met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to review the status of bilateral relations. The meeting was part of the regular and ongoing dialogue between the two sides, according to a statement from SL’s HC. Moragoda met Doval at his office and the discussions “centered on a comprehensive review of the status of the relations between India & SL”, statement said. “Priority areas for future cooperation were also discussed,\” more..

Sep 23 (DN) SL is the only country in the world where there are no employment opportunities for graduates, said Past President Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) Dr Lalith Wijetunge. He said that multiple issues such as misdirected education systems, mindset problems are the key to this. “If you take India we have seen PHD holders applying for Office Assistance (peons) jobs but back in SL graduates insist on a job to suit their qualification and this mindset results in over more..

Sep 23 (DN) Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) delivered Misje Vita, a 5,000 DWT Eco Bulk Carrier built for Misje Eco Bulk AS, Norway (Misje) bringing in the much needed foreign exchange to the country. CDPLC signed and executed shipbuilding contracts with Misje Eco Bulk AS (Misje) a Norwegian company, in March 2020 for four vessels and in Dec 2021 for another two vessels and reservation of dock slots for additional four vessels in Sept 2022. Misje Eco Bulk AS is CDPLC’s first European more..

Sep 23 (TM) Airlines that promised to operate flights to and from Palaly Int'l Airport did not fulfill their promise by bringing in flights, according to Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, who stated that the Govt would provide concessions if these airlines brought flights to the Palaly Airport. Minister said that the Palaly Airport did not operate any international flights in the last two years as the airlines that promised to bring in these flights did not do so. more..

Sep 23 (DM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to leave for Japan on Sept 26 to attend the funeral of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Abe was Japan's longest-serving PM, holding office from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020 before resigning due to health reasons. He died from excessive bleeding in July at the age of 67 after being shot while giving a public campaign speech. Prez is scheduled to meet Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and high-level representatives of more..

Sep 23 (HT) State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya stated that it is not possible to recover the losses caused by the controversial sugar tax scam, nor will it be easy to take legal action against those who prepared the relevant policies. He said: “Legally, if there was any fraud while reducing the taxes on the import of sugar, there is no way to recover the losses by raising the taxes again. Also, it is not easy to prosecute those who have made the relevant policies. If the policymakers say that more..

Sep 23 (EN) SL’s debt re-structuring efforts were backed back Japan, France and other countries at an ambassador’s forum with Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, an official said. “Several missions, including Japan and France, extended their country’s support towards SL and its debt restructuring efforts,” Dinouk Colombage, Director Int'l Affairs for Prez Wickremesinghe said. Prez had updated ambassadors of 23 Paris Club and more..

Sep 23 (FT) In what sense does the Aragalaya become important to us? What expectations has it generated? Has it been successful in achieving them? It can be considered as the biggest and the most popular uprising that erupted since SL had entered the modern era. It was organised in a few days. Hartal of 1953 was an aggressive public uprising that took place in one day. It was smaller in size compared to the present Aragalaya. The Aragalaya has recorded the most active more..

Sep 23 (FT) If we fail to tell the people the whole truth, the continuing problems can snowball into an explosion of violent dissent all over the country. The sad truth is that whoever is Prez, whoever is PM and whoever is in the cabinet, cannot wave a wand and solve our economic problems overnight. Regardless of who has the reins of power it will be a long hard journey ahead. There is nothing complex about what is the truth about our problems. We have two problems. more..

Sep 23 (SLN) Navy apprehended 12 persons who are suspected to be on an illegal migration attempt to a foreign country via sea. The apprehension was made during a special operation conducted in the beach area of Oluthuduwai, Mannar on the night of 22nd Sept. SL Navy conducts regular search operations and patrols in coastal as well as sea areas around the island to thwart illegal activities stemming from sea routes. In a similar operation conducted by SLNS Gajaba in more..

Sep 23 (AD) UN Permanent Representative to the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome Ambassador Cindy McCain will visit SL from Sept 25-28 to highlight U.S. food assistance programs in SL and reinforce the U.S. commitment and lasting partnership with the island nation. In addition to meeting with senior govt officials and aid organizations in Colombo, Ambassador McCain will join U.S. Ambassador to SL Julie Chung to travel to Central Province to visit schools, more..

Sep 23 (EN) SL’s public administration ministry will likely issue a circular allowing state workers to wear suitable attire of their choice to work, an official said. The decision came after saree prices shot up amid SL’s prevailing currency crisis, the worst in the history of the country’s central bank. Last week, state banks had announced that female employees must report to work in sarees instead of company T-shirts more..

Sep 23 (EN) SL Agripreneurs’ Forum (SLAF) has recommended to Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera a 10-point proposal to overcome a possible food crisis amid the country’s worst currency crisis in decades. At a meeting held with the minister and other stakeholders on September 06, the SLAF said in a statement that it had recommended, among other measures, issuing fuel to farmers under a prioritised quota system, lifting the TT limit of USD 50,000 for agri input more..

Sep 23 (TM) Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena today announced to the parliament the list of MPs who have been nominated for the National Council, which was established as per the proposal of PM Dinesh Gunawardena. The National Council consists of members representing parliament from the respective political parties. Speaker of Parliament will serve as the chairman. National Council will consist of the PM, Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Govt Whip, more..

Sep 23 (EN) SL’s state-run Lanka Coal Company will call for a fresh international tender to purchase coal after the cabinet canceled the tender awarded to UAE-based Black Sand Commodities FZ-LLC following a legal case filed over awarding the tender. Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the coal tender that was awarded on Aug 25 was canceled by the Cabinet on Thursday on the request of the ministry as the selected supplier more..

Sep 23 (DM) Fundamental Rights petitions filed challenging the legality of the detention order issued against Convener of IUSF Wasantha Mudalige two others under PTA were today fixed for support by Supreme Court. The court was informed that the Attorney General is expecting to file objections against the petitions and thereby the respondent parties were directed to file objections within two weeks. Ven. Welwewa Siridhamma Thera and Hashan Jeewantha, undergraduates of more..

Sep 23 (Island) Minister Prasanna Ranatunga told Parliament yesterday that Marxist leader Dr. Colvin R. de Silva referred to those who become independent MPs as three-headed asses. Responding to a question raised by SLPP-rebel group head Prof GL Peiris on not allocating time for them to speak in the House, minister said: “All MPs have the right to speak in Parliament. The House has two sides as the govt and the Opposition and time for the MPs are allocated either from more..

Sep 23 (TM) Sri Lanka Tourism is to host roadshows to promote SL as an attractive tourism destination across India expanding its bilateral and cultural ties with its Indian counterparts by venturing into a series of roadshows in key Indian cities from 26-30 Sept 2022. Accordingly, the first roadshow is to be held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi on 26 Sept, followed by another at the St. Regis Hotel in Mumbai on 28 Sept, and closing with the Hyderabad Roadshow at Taj Krishna Hotel on 30 Sept. more..

Sep 23 (Island) The govt was trying to mislead Sri Lankans and the int'l community by setting up a national council that did not have the support of most political parties, independent MP Sarath Kumarasiri said. Kumarasiri added that they had asked former Prez Rajapaksa to establish a genuine all-party govt and a national council five months ago to get the country out of trouble. “We told him on 19 April that the people were angry because economic situation was deteriorating. more..

Sep 23 (DM) Supreme Court today issued an interim order directing the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to prevent Royal Park murder convict Don Shamantha Jude Anthony Jayamaha from leaving the country, without court permission. This interim order will be effective until the final determination of this fundamental rights petition. Women & Media Collective organization had filed this Fundamental Rights petition more..

Sep 23 (TM) Sandhya Ekneligoda, the wife of disappeared journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, said that Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe should answer the questions of those such as herself, who have suffered injustices and are seeking justice, as Wickremesinghe was part of a Govt that co-sponsored a UNHRC Resolution on accountability and human rights. Speaking to The Morning from Geneva, Switzerland, where the UNHRC’s 51st session is being held, she said that more..

Sep 23 (EN) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has allowed glyphosate, a widely used weedicide for all crops in the next Maha season in a bid to boost agricultural production. Glyphosate was banned by during the so-called Yahapalana administration by Prez Sirisena. Later it was allowed for tea as alternatives which leave residues made it difficult to export some markets. “The ban and restrictions on glyphosate has severely impacted many types of crops, & prices have also gone up,” more..

Sep 23 (Reuters) Japan, one of SL's main creditors, will back the South Asian nation as it seeks to restructure about $30 billion of its foreign debt and find a way out of a crippling economic crisis, Tokyo's envoy to the country said on Friday. Reaching an agreement with creditors is key to SL securing a $2.9 billion bailout package from the IMF. "Japan stands by SL in support of the debt restructuring negotiation process so that more..

Sep 23 (DM) A 34-year-old man was arrested yesterday for beating his wife (22) like a wrestler slams his opponent on the ring, the Moratuwa Police said. They said the suspect was arrested for domestic violence. The suspect cuddling his knees together and kept jumping on his wife laying her on bed and repeated the action. The police said the husband was arrested based on a complaint received from his wife that he came home drunk and beaten her like a wrestler. more..

Sep 23 (TM) National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) of Ministry of Health stated that even though there is currently a shortage of chemicals such as malathion (an insecticide used to control mosquitoes) used for fumigation in order to control dengue mosquitoes, it has however not hindered dengue control activities. NDCU Head Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said: “There is currently a shortage of chemicals such as malathion for fumigation, which is one method of controlling dengue mosquitoes. more..

Sep 23 (NR) A letter has been handed over to the Speaker requesting the establishment of a Select Committee to consider the situation faced by the local film industry and to re-establish its business principles, compile a list of priorities, re-establish audience attraction as it was during 1971-1979 today. The letter, which includes the signatures of a number of opposition MPs, states that it is an essential factor to update the local film production and post-production process in view of more..

Sep 23 (GUK) The UK is providing urgent food and farming support to Sri Lankans hit hardest by the economic crisis, Lord Ahmad announced today. More than one third of people are struggling to eat and are suffering shortages of fuel, power, and medicines. SL has the fifth largest food price inflation in the world, up 93.7% last month, with rice costing 150% more than this time last year. In a meeting with SL Foreign Minister Ali Sabry at the UNGA Lord Ahmad will set out the UK’s package of more..

Sep 23 (TM) The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) will file a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in the Supreme Court (SC) in early October, against titanium exploration and mining in the Mannar District. Since the explorations have concluded now, the mining activities will commence in December. The relevant companies have concluded the exploration for titanium near the Mannar bridge, in Pesalai and more..

Sep 23 (TM) All-Ceylon Farmers’ Federation National Organiser Namal Karunaratne requested the authorities to increase the price of liquid milk due to the current situation. He said that the production cost has increased by 300% and that the farmers cannot bear the cost. “It’s funny to say that the price of one litre of milk, which is around Rs. 110-115, is less than the price of one litre of water. This has to be changed.” Meanwhile, he also said that milch cow breeding is also an issue due to more..

Sep 23 (TM) China has offered an additional $ 400,000 worth of food and other humanitarian assistance to SL, and has requested PM Dinesh Gunawardena to provide a list of the country’s immediate requirements, a press release issued by the PM’s office said. The humanitarian assistance had been offered to SL during a discussion between Gunawardena and the Chinese Ambassador to SL Qi Shenhong at Temple Trees last Wednesday (21). While thanking the Ambassador for more..

Sep 23 (Reuters) Sri Lanka expects the International Monetary Fund board to approve a $2.9 billion loan by year-end, officials from the country’s central bank told investors during a virtual presentation on Friday, sources participating in the event said. Sri Lanka is struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, which has led to shortages of essentials and the ouster of a president. more..

Sep 23 (AD) Cabinet has approved the proposal by Minister of Mass Media to appoint a Ministerial sub-committee to submit recommendations for the setting up of an Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Act in SL. The govt says that currently there are no fundamental laws to regulate the content on television, radio and new media in SL, adding that sometimes various parties confront a variety of problems in issuing licenses to such media and while broadcasting audio-visual content more..

Sep 23 (TM) Minister Ali Sabry, addressing the informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on Wednesday in New York, noted that Sri Lanka hopes that the forthcoming CICA summit would lead to greater dialogue and co-operation resulting in enhanced development and security in the region. He noted that Member States of the CICA have robust institutions & therefore, sharing experiences more..

Sep 24 (CT) In a letter to Prez Wickremesinghe, Mahanayake Theras of Malwathu, Asgiri and Ramanna Chapters requested for a methodical and concessionary electricity tariff policy for places of religious worship. While informing the Prez about severe difficulties faced by religious places of worship, due to the new electricity tariff revision, they stated that it is regrettable that the concessional electricity tariff system that was given to religious places until now has been cancelled. more..