May 30 (DN) Sri Lanka will have a fresh round of discussions with China towards signing a Free Trade Agreement with China, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry at the IORA Business Conclave at Shangri La Colombo on Tuesday. He said that due to this FTA with China where there is a population of 1.4 billion and 71.7 million in Thailand, SL exporters will have access to this huge population with several tax advantages. Sabry who was the Chief Guest at the event conducted under more..

May 30 (Island) Fomer Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said that he had resigned from Mawbima Janatha Party (MJP) with immediate effect as it had joined forces with racists to form an electoral alliance. He said that during his political career he had never had any deals with racists or extremists. He said that he never approved of resorting to opportunism and misleading people for the sake of votes, and it was his intention that the MJP would engage in politics for the sake of more..

May 30 (DN) LPL Tournament Director Samantha Dodanwela appeared before the Special Police Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Wrongdoing in Sports for the second day yesterday to give a statement regarding the accusation that the UK and Bangladeshi national, who is said to be the owner of the Dambulla Thunders team and is currently under remand, suggested to the players to cheat the matches. The investigating officers obtained statements for about 2 hours from director more..

May 30 (FT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised that none of the candidates aspiring to run in the presidential election have announced their intention to abolish the executive powers associated with the position. He highlighted the dual nature of the executive presidential system, noting its advantages and disadvantages. He emphasised that the executive power vested in the Presidency played a pivotal role in the economic development more..

May 30 (Island) Japanese Embassy announced that a new skills test in the field of Building Cleaning would be introduced in July 2024 in Sri Lanka for those seeking jobs in Japan as specified skilled workers. Together with the existing skills tests in Nursing Care, Food Service and Agriculture that have been in place since 2022 as well as recently added Construction, Airport Ground Handling and Accommodation Industry, skills tests will be available in seven fields in SL with the addition of more..

May 30 (FT) Chartered Institute of Taxation of SL (CITSL) President Ranil Abeywardhene recently requested the Govt to legally recognise the profession of “Tax Consultant” to ensure continuous improvement measures to uplift the tax education and the profession of tax consultancy in Sri Lanka. “In this endeavour our Institute has already taken measures to register the title of Chartered Tax Consultant under the Intellectual Property Act,” said Abeywardhene at a ceremony to celebrate more..

May 30 (DM) National Teachers' Power (NTP) has decided to launch an islandwide two-day sick leave campaign starting today, demanding the government to resolve the salary anomalies of school principals and teachers. NTP national organiser Amuthu Bandara said that they had protested on the streets during the past 27 years in search of solutions to the salary anomalies. "We held a sick leave campaign on March 28, and we gave the rulers of the country a chance, but they did not listen. more..

May 30 (SLG) A widespread campaign against perceived Indian hegemony gains momentum in Sri Lanka, sparked by a contentious issue at the airport involving the delegation of visa issuance authority to a foreign entity, reportedly linked to India. The protest underscores deeper concerns about economic control and sovereignty, as demonstrators decry what they see as a pattern of Indian encroachment across strategic sectors of the Sri Lankan economy and state apparatus. more..

May 30 (FT) A group of legal professionals called for a sweeping investigation into alleged financial irregularities within Bar Association of SL (BASL). In a letter to the five-member Inquiry Committee investigating the JICA project scandal, the group including ten Prez’s Counsels and over 80 Attorneys-at-Law, demanded that any BASL member potentially involved step down from their positions for the duration of inquiry. more..

May 30 (IG) Gobinath Sivaraja, Media Manager of the SL National Olympic Committee, was arrested by the Katunayake Airport Police last Monday, while attempting to travel to Dubai on a flight from Kuwait, despite a travel ban imposed in connection with a fraud case involving the SL National Olympic Committee. Following the arrest, the 39-year-old suspect, who is being investigated by local authorities for forgery, fraud and corruption, was handed over to Colombo Fraud more..

May 30 (CT) Doctors warned that they would be forced to close peripheral healthcare institutions if those responsible officials in the Health Ministry failed to update the number of doctors serving in the country. Secretary of the GMOA, Dr. Haritha Aluthge said over 400 hospitals and specialist medical units islandwide were crippled due to the shortage of doctors. Therefore, those hospitals and units will have to be closed as a trade union action if a positive solution is not found for the issue, more..

May 30 (TM) The recent gazette notification stipulating that various institutions, such as financial institutions including banks, should provide details about individuals’ assets to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) applies to all citizens, not only personal income taxpayers, according to the IRD. An officer attached to the IRD’s media committee explained that the said gazette was issued in accordance with existing law, more..

May 30 (FT) First as tragedy, then as farce. Marx’s legendary riff on Hegel springs to mind when forecasting the political future of Sarvajana Balaya, the rebranded bloc of Islamophobic ultranationalists from the Zombieland of the Gotabaya Presidency and old Leftists. I expect it to be extinguished through Sarvajana Chanda Balaya (universal franchise) at the forthcoming Parliamentary election just as the SLFP’s allies were in 1977. Its rancid ultranationalism is anathema to the youth more..

May 30 (FT) Minister Alles and Deshabandu Tennakoon, IGP, have repeatedly proclaimed the success of Yukthiya (means justice in Sinhala), the anti-drug operation they launched in Dec 2023. The facts say otherwise. As of 22 May 2024, 113,974 persons have been arrested as part of Yukthiya, with the majority of such persons released soon after arrest either after being fined or on bail. Releasing most arrested persons within a few hours of arrest demonstrates that the intent more..

May 30 (DM) Thailand’s cabinet approved a range of visa promotions to attract more tourists from other countries, including SL, Minister M.U.M. Ali Sabry said. He said these measures include visa-free and visa-on-arrival schemes, longer stays for students, and reduced compulsory health insurance for retirees. SL tourists, along with visitors from 36 other countries including Albania, Cambodia, China, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Romania, more..

May 30 (EN) Authorities have received complaints on about 455 Sri Lankans who are in the Russia-Ukraine war front from family members, State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya said. “Sri Lanka is working closely with the Govt of Russia to repatriate Sri Lankans who are in the front lines. We are optimistic that we will be able to resolve this matter swiftly with close cooperation between both govts.” The first meeting with SL diplomats and Russian officials is to be held today. more..

May 30 (AD) A Gazette notification has been issued by the Minister of Sports Harin Fernando suspending the SL Cycling Federation, SL Rugby Federation, SL Automobile Federation and SL Netball Federation with effect from Wednesday. Extraordinary Gazette also appoints Director General of Dept of Sports Development, Shemal Fernando, as the competent authority only for the limited purpose of holding elections more..

May 30 (FT) MillenniumIT ESP, via its Singapore subsidiary, in collaboration with Veritas Technologies LLC and Oracle MySQL, successfully hosted the CIO Conclave 2024 on 9 May, at The St. Regis Singapore. The event brought together over 30 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from a variety of industries, providing a unique opportunity to explore the latest advancements in data management and analytics, with a focus on education. MillenniumIT ESP Singapore played more..

May 30 (AD) Veteran SL music composer Dr. Shelton Premaratne has reportedly passed away this morning in Australia. This was confirmed by SL musician Keerthi Pasquel in a Facebook post. Dr. Premaratne was aged 94 at the time of his passing. Dr Shelton Premaratne was a legendary SL composer, instrumentalist and music director. At a time when Sinhala music directly emulated Hindi and Tamil music from India, Dr Premaratne was a pioneer in developing a music style that more..

May 30 (DM) A contempt of court application has been filed before the Court of Appeal against former Prez Maithripala Sirisena for allegedly disregarding an order made by the Colombo District Court regarding the SLFP chairmanship. SLFP activist Montague Sarathchandra filed this application seeking an order to punish Maithripala Sirisena for the offence of contempt of court for alleged violation of the interim injunction more..

May 30 (CT) With the increasing egg production and the termination of egg imports from India, All Ceylon Egg Producers’ Association (ACEPA) urged the Govt to help increase egg consumption to prevent a surplus which would force farmers to even destroy their produce. ACEPA Secretary, Ratnasiri Alahakoon, yesterday, said a mechanism to boost consumption should be introduced with this increasing egg production. Following the dilemma regarding the cost of eggs local egg farmer more..

May 30 (AD) Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has taken custody of a ship which had caused an oil spill while anchored at the Colombo Port. Legal action has been initiated against the company that owns the ship and the relevant insurance company regarding the oil spill. Under Marine Environment Protection Authority Act, MEPA is seeking compensation for the incident. Ship, owned by an Indian company, had recently arrived at the Port of Colombo for more..

May 30 (DN) Supreme Court on Tuesday decided that three police officers attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) have infringed the fundamental rights of a person by torturing him while in their custody after being arrested in 2016. It was decided by the Court delivering the judgement of a Fundamental Rights petition filed by, Hettiarachchige Gemunu Tissa of Nagalingam Street, Colombo 14 who had been arrested and tortured by Sub Inspector Lionel Jayaratne, more..

May 30 (CT) Cabinet Media Spokesperson Minister Bandula Gunawardena announced that the Cabinet has approved a compulsory retirement compensation system, to be implemented in connection with the merger of Lanka Fertiliser Company Ltd and Colombo Commercial Fertiliser Company Ltd. He stated that 264 employees have expressed their preference to retire under the mandatory retirement compensation system, to be implemented after the merger of the two more..

May 30 (DM) If the responsible parties do not intervene in increasing the approved number of doctors for the hospital system in the country, the GMOA today warned that they will take a decision on the closure of terminal hospitals that are crippled without doctors. Its media spokesman, Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe, said that the above decision is for the upcoming Central Committee meeting of GMOA. "Due the approved number of doctors for more..

May 30 (DM) UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara said he will explain on Monday his proposal of extending the terms of the Prez and Parliament by two years. "On Tuesday I talked about extending the term of the Prez and Parliament through a referendum. Many have come up with various remarks on it. I will hold a media conference on Monday June 3rd and come up with a detailed explanation on what I said," he told the media. "I will respond to all questions on that day," more..

May 30 (CT) Colombo Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage ordered the five accused directors involved in the Onmax DT financial fraud case to immediately submit a comprehensive report detailing all the depositors and their respective deposits, to the FCID of the CID. Magistrate also directed CID to provide a report to the Court on the number of depositors and the amount each has invested in the institution. Additionally, the Court instructed the CID to collaborate with the Central Bank more..

May 30 (AD) Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) reports that nearly 50 deaths occur daily in SL due to smoking, totaling approx 20,000 deaths annually. ADIC highlighted the importance of World No Tobacco Day, observed tomorrow. Theme of World No Tobacco Day 2024 is Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference. The cigarette consumption among young people in SL is rapidly decreasing, more..

May 30 (AD) Dept of Irrigation says that the water level of the Mahaweli River has risen following the heavy rainfall experienced in the Central Hills. The Director of Irrigation S.P.C. Sugeeshwara stated that the water levels of the upper catchment areas of Mahaweli River and its tributaries have increased and consequently, it is dangerous to travel along the tributaries as well as bathing in them. Meanwhile, the water levels of Gin, Kalu and Nilwala rivers have also increased significantly today (30). more..

May 30 (EN) A six-member delegation from Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is in SL to conduct a comprehensive study of airport and immigration department operation systems. “The purpose of this visit is to provide cooperation to improve SL’s immigration system by achieving the same standards as Singapore and integrating advanced technology,” Ministry of Public Security said. “This will greatly contribute to SL’s efforts to modernize & improve all processes more..

May 30 (Island) Thrower Dilhani Lekamge finished sixth in the women’s javelin throw at the Belt and Road World Athletics Bronze lable Continental Tour event in Chongqing, China yesterday. While Lekamge finished sixth, Aruna Dharshana did not feature in the men’s 200 metres final despite advancing to the final as one of the favourites. Dharshana was also the winner of the men’s 400 metres final which was held on Tuesday. Lekamge cleared a distance of 53.52 metres in her more..

May 30 (AD) The owner and the manager of a licensed foreign employment agency who were arrested and remanded for allegedly sending Sri Lankans for employment in the Russian army to fight in the Ukraine war, have been further remanded until July 13. The order was issued when the relevant case was taken up before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court today. Based on 7 complaints received regarding the racket operated by the agency, two suspects were arrested by officers of SLBFE more..

May 30 (AD) The Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) has directed the officials of the Welfare Benefits Board to prioritise the criteria that can be verified and determined in order to accurately identify poverty while selecting the Aswesuma beneficiaries. Drawing examples, the committee pointed out that individual poverty can be identified better based on the electricity bill amount considering the electricity units consumed more..

May 30 (EN) Sri Lankan businesses have opportunities to strengthen relations with businesses in the Indian Ocean Rim Association Countries, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Duminda Hulangamuwa said. “IORA consists of countries with different sizes and shapes, different economies, and different cultural thresholds,” Hulangamuwa said at the IORA business conclave organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. more..

May 30 (DM) The World Bank organized a high-level roundtable discussion on advancing energy transitions in Sri Lanka, yesterday. Chaired by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the discussion had been attended by senior officials of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, USAID, International Finance Corporation, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and other global corporations on renewable energy. The officials made more..