Apr 19 (TM) Although Sri Lanka’s graphite has the potential to facilitate Electric Vehicle (EV) battery production, its production levels are insufficient to attract international investors. Chamber of Mineral Exporters (CME) Vice Chairman A.F.M. Farook said that the Govt should be encouraging and attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) for the manufacture of finished products related to EV batteries in Sri Lanka, instead of solely exporting the mineral. more..

Apr 19 (AT) On July 9, 2022, Sri Lankans protesting the regime of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa shocked the world when they stormed the executive mansion in Colombo. Live-streaming on Twitter and YouTube, dissidents ransacked the presidential palace and celebrated in the streets as state security struggled to contain the masses. Days later, news that Rajapaksa would resign seemed to confirm that the island nation’s watershed moment for democracy had finally arrived. more..

Apr 19 (AN) SL prisons have seen a disturbing rise in deaths among inmates, nearly 50 from suicide, as well as poor health, and violence. Last year, 209 deaths were reported, said Gamini B. Dissanayake, Commissioner of Prisons. The number this year is higher; especially alarming is suicide, which the system is failing to prevent. Seventeen cases were reported in 2023, including three foreign nationals. more..

Apr 19 (DM) A Sub-Inspector from the Mawathagama police station and a Sergeant from the Doretiyawa police station, both found to have connections with drug traffickers, were arrested by the CID today. The arrests were made following instructions from the IGP after revelations emerged during the interrogation of a suspect detained by the Mawathagama Police for drug trafficking. The arrested 56-year-old Sub-Inspector had been communicating via WhatsApp more..

Apr 19 (TM) Pelwatte Dairy announced the appointment of Mohamed Rizwie and Deepthie Wickramasuriya as Non-Executive Directors to its Board. These appointments mark a significant milestone in Pelwatte Dairy's commitment to innovation, growth, and corporate governance excellence. Pelwatte Dairy Industries Ltd Managing Director Akmal Wickramanayake, expressing his enthusiasm for the new appointments, stated: "We are thrilled to welcome Rizwie and more..

Apr 19 (AD) SL has participated in the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) in Washington DC, which brings together debtor countries and creditors, in a bid to build a greater common understanding among key stakeholders on debt sustainability, debt restructuring challenges and ways to address them. State Minister Shehan Semasinghe and CB Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe attended the roundtable, more..

Apr 19 (DM) People should not make the 2024 Prez election a regime changing poll as it has to be one which elects a custodian for the nation, UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardana said. "Prez election should be one which elects a custodian who is capable of making SL a stable country. Incumbent Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe is the only leader who has such a capability. People can use the general election to bring about a regime change. They can send all 225 MPs home including me at more..

Apr 19 (DM) To advance the implementation of the Mindfulness programme, Education Ministry plans to launch it with a Global Week Summit on May 3 and 4. Accordingly, the summit will be held at the Nāgānanda Int'l Institute for Buddhist Studies (NIIBS) in Kelaniya. However, Education Ministry launched the Mindfulness programme as a pilot programme for schoolchildren on Jan 4 in all schools. The summit was organised by Ven. Uda Eriyagama Dhammajva Thera, more..

Apr 19 (EN) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe will secure no more than 2.5 million votes if he contests the upcoming prez elections, SJB MP Ashok Abeysinghe said. Abeysinghe predicted that, no sooner the prez election is called, former UNP MPs who lost their seats at the 2020 parliamentary elections will join the SJB en masse. “This is guaranteed. But no one from our party will leave to a party on the decline,” he said, referring to comments made by UNP general secretary Palith Range Bandara more..

Apr 19 (EN) President has said regional youth centres will be established in each divisional secretariat division in a bid to empower the youth demographic. President Ranil Wickremesinghe promised “to nurture budding entrepreneurs through these centres, with intentions to engage bank executives and trade board members in the process,” at a meeting with young Members of Parliament and emerging political figures from the Nuwara Eliya district. more..

Apr 19 (DM) Sri Lanka is facing an imminent threat in its health sector with high chances of substandard medicines like human immunoglobulin entering the market in the near future, as the law enforcement body of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) has diminished to just a single officer since this week. In a shocking revelation the Daily Mirror learns that the NMRA Law Enforcement Division, more..

Apr 19 (TM) Estate sector workers are planning to intensify union action starting from next week, demanding solutions to long drawn-out wage-related issues. Even though they have been conducting various activities including protests, awareness raising campaigns, and discussions with the relevant authorities for some time, according to the All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union Secretary J.M.A. Premaratne, those attempts have not yielded satisfactory outcomes. He further said that more..

Apr 19 (Hindu) Friday (19), was a special day for K. Nalini, as the 38-year-old homemaker from the Kottapattu camp for SL refugees in Tiruchi district, became the first naturalised Indian national from her community to exercise her franchise at the booth at St. Lourdes Primary School. “My only hope is for my family and children to be able to progress and live without fear in India, as Indians,” Ms. Nalini said. “The Tamil Nadu govt has taken good care of the 450 families in our camp, more..

Apr 19 (Island) More than 90% of youth under 25 believe that they have to go overseas if they are to live comfortably, lecturer at the Uni of Vocational Technology, Gayan Madushanka, who is one of the authors of a recent study titled Better living, better opportunities: Exploring how economic distress influence the intention to migrate says. The study had been carried out between June and Aug 2023, he said. more..

Apr 19 (PMD) The distribution of fortified rice, provided by the World Food Program (WFP) on behalf of the program initiated under the instructions of Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, to provide a nutritious meal for school students, commenced today, at the Veyangoda warehouse complex. In an effort to reduce iron deficiency among school children, fortified rice is provided for school meals. This distribution will be conducted under the supervision of M.H.A.M. Riflan, more..

Apr 19 (AD) The final rites of former Deputy Minister and former UNP MP Palitha Thewarapperuma are planned to be performed this afternoon (19). The funeral procession will commence following the religious observances at this residence in Yatadolawatta, Mathugama and the remains will be buried at the gravesite he had built himself sometime back. The former Kalutara District MP died from electrocution on Tuesday (16). He was aged 64 at the time of his demise. more..

Apr 19 (EN) Sri Lanka is in discussions with China’s Sinopec to give extra land and assure water supplies after the company decided to expand the capacity of a planned oil refinery in Hambantota, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. “There are concerns on how the water supply is going to be provided for the refinery,” Minister Wijesekera told reporters Friday. The refinery will need more land and also revise conditions in a Board of Investment agreement, he said. more..

Apr 19 (Island) Health officials have reported that Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) was the leading cause of death in govt hospitals from 2010 to 2020. IHD, commonly known as heart attacks, involves heart complications due to narrowed coronary arteries that impair blood flow to the heart muscle. Dr. Sherine Balasingham, a Consultant Community Physician, emphasised the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle to reduce the risk of such conditions. “Walking is beneficial, and more..

Apr 19 (TM) The ruling SLPP said that no Govt MP has requested lower-priced vehicle permits instead of the duty free permits that they are entitled to, as claimed in media reports. Several media reports alleged that MPs from both the Opposition and the Ruling Party have encouraged Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana and govt officials to offer lower-priced car permits in the event the duty free permits that have already more..

Apr 19 (CT) The bodies of two women, who are suspected to have died under suspicious circumstances, were discovered inside a house in Isuru Uyana in the Kalutara-South Police Division. Kalutara-South Police were alerted by the 119 Police Information Centre regarding the absence of two women from the area for several days, accompanied by a noticeable odour emanating from the vicinity of the house on Wednesday (17). Subsequently, a team of Police Officers visited the scene more..

Apr 19 (DM) In light of the adverse weather conditions at the Dubai International Airport, SriLankan Airlines (UL) faces flight cancellations to the UAE hub, sources said. According to reliable sources, Flight UL 225, slated for departure to Dubai at 18:25 today (19), has been grounded due to the turbulent weather. Further, a previous UL flight bound for Dubai had to be rerouted yesterday (18), while another scheduled for departure on April 17 met the same fate. more..

Apr 19 (CP) The 19-year-old SL national charged in the mass killing of a newcomer family in Ottawa has no plan to seek bail, his lawyer says. Febrio De-Zoysa was arrested and charged in early March with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, after police found the family dead in a townhouse in the suburb of Barrhaven. He remains in custody & his lawyer said “there is presently no plan to apply for bail.” more..

Apr 19 (AD) The Election Commission says it has no legal authorization to intervene to resolve the internal rifts of the SLFP. Members of the election body convened a meeting on Thursday to study the documents submitted by the factions within the SLFP with regard to the recent changes made to the party positions. When the SLFP’s politburo met on 08 April under the patronage of former Prez Chandrika Kumaratunga, the party’s incumbent Vice Chairman MP Nimal Siripala de Silva more..

Apr 19 (EN) Inclusive growth cannot be achieved without the full participation of women, Linda Ehrichs, Charge’ d’ Affaires of the High Commission of Canada has said. “Inclusive growth and lasting change cannot be achieved without the full and equal participation of women as economic actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Ehrichs said at the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) GRIT event. The GRIT (Growth, Resilience, Investment and Training) program aims to nurture more..

Apr 19 (FT) Harsha de Silva, MP and Chair of the COPF, addressed the media in Sinhala, on 17 April 2024, shedding light on the recent breakdown of debt restructuring talks between the SL Govt and the international bondholders’ steering committee. These confidential negotiations, conducted behind closed doors, aimed to restructure over $ 12 billion of debt. However, they faltered due to discrepancies between the bondholders’ proposed baseline assessments more..

Apr 19 (FT) The Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) known in English as the Federal Party will celebrate its 75th birthday in December this year. The premier political party of the SL Tamil people known as Ilankai Thamizhar in their mother tongue was born on 18 December 1949. On that day, a group of 60 Tamils including two parliamentarians and two senators convened at the Govt Clerical Service Union (GCSU) hall in Colombo. That historic conclave resulted in the launching more..

Apr 19 (DM) With the Presidential Election scheduled to be held in the first week of October, political parties have begun vigorous campaigns in electorates as well as closed door discussions with MPs in a bid to secure a basic 50% vote base which will win them the presidency. As reported earlier, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will present himself as a national candidate who will contest from a brand new symbol and more..

Apr 19 (FT) Immigration and Emigration Dept Controller General Harsha Ilukpitiya said the introduction of new visa procedures and the rollout of an online visa issuance system are set to attract a broader range of visitors, strengthening the country’s standing as a premier tourist destination in the region. “One of the key objectives behind the implementation of the new visa system is to attract new visitors to Sri Lanka, whilst also ensuring a seamless experience for repeat visitors,” more..

Apr 19 (CT) Ambassador of France to SL, Jean-Francois Pactet, embarked on a significant visit to the Hambantota International Port (HIP) with a keen eye on fostering trade prospects between France and SL. During his recent tour of the port, Envoy Pactet engaged in discussions with key stakeholders to gauge the potential for collaboration and investment by French companies. Pactet met Tissa Wickremasinghe, the Chief Operating Officer of HIPG (Hambantota International Port Group). more..

Apr 19 (FT) Govt issued an update on the progress of the divestiture of the initial set of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) saying all transactions other than SriLankan Airlines will be concluded by Aug 2024. Timeline for SriLankan Airlines is likely to extend to end Sep 2024, said a statement from the SOE Restructuring Unit (SRU). The update comes amidst concerns from prospective investors and their advisors over the inordinate delay in more..

Apr 19 (FT) Govt has published the proposed electricity sector reforms in the gazette on Wednesday, now named the SL Electricity Bill. The crucial legislation is now set to be presented to Parliament during the next sitting week. Minister Kanchana Wijesekera noted that amendments proposed by stakeholders in January have been incorporated into the revised Bill. He also stated that the Bill allows the public a two-week window from the date of its presentation in Parliament more..

Apr 19 (FT) The counsels appearing for the former personal assistant to former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission Janaka Ratnayake, Gayathri Bimba and others yesterday objected to the conditional injunction issued by the Colombo Magistrates court under the Online Safety Act (OSA) to prevent the publication of Ratnayake's personal information on social media platforms. Ratnayake, who is also a Presidential hopeful through his counsels had filed the case under latest OSA more..