Nov 5 (AD) Seven hundred and sixty five more individuals infected with COVID-19 have made complete recoveries today, says the Ministry of Health. This is the highest number of patients discharged from hospitals in a single day. As per the situation report issued by the Epidemiology Unit, patients from the following hospitals have been discharged in this manner: IDH - 10; Welikanda Base Hospital - 05; Iranawila Hospital - 01; Minuwangoda Base Hospital - 09; more..

Nov 5 (AD) Prez Rajapaksa has instructed officials to strictly monitor the quarantine process implemented to control the spread of Covid-19, after the curfew is lifted. The families identified as close contacts of coronavirus infected patients have been self-quarantined within their own homes while this figure is now close to 84,000 persons in 31,457 homes. Within WP alone, total of 40,676 persons have been self-quarantined in 13,911 homes. more..

Nov 5 (DM) The people, who arrive at hospitals to seek medical treatment, should not be afraid of the fact that they could be exposed to Covid-19 patients, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said today. He said there was a system or process in place called triage which would prevent normal patients or hospital staff members from interacting with patients with Covid-19 symptoms. “With this system, the patients with Covid-19 symptoms are identified at the Out Patient Dept (OPD) itself. more..

Nov 5 (EN) International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is setting up a project for Prison Inmates in Sri Lanka to interact with loved ones online as face-to-face meetings are banned due to Covid 19 pandemic guidelines the organisation said. In a statement released by its Colombo office the ICRC said it will be a pilot project for detainees. “The calls will allow detainees to maintain contact with their loved ones, amidst the administrative restrictions that have been put into place,” more..

Nov 5 (DM) Although the COVID-19 pandemic was initially described by many as a great equaliser, the societal and individual impacts it has on vulnerable sections of the society are not equal. If anything, it has thrust our society’s inequalities into sharp focus. Senior Lecturer at the Dept of Sociology in the Uni of Colombo Dr. Nishara Fernando shared his insight about how the COVID-19 pandemic has showcased more..

Nov 5 (AD) SL has reached a critical juncture with regard to the number of COVID-19 related deaths as well as the spread of the virus. Editor of GMOA, Dr. Haritha Aluthge, pointed out that while there were only 13 deaths reported within the first 9 months of the outbreak while last 11 deaths have been reported within a period of 2 weeks. “Some of the deaths that we determine to be COVID-19 related are only identified during the postmortem. It means some have died in their own homes. more..

Nov 5 (AD) 7 more officers attached to the Borella Police Station are confirmed to have contracted the COVID-19 virus. The total number of infections reported from the station has risen to 48 cases. Another 17 members of the Colombo Fort Police Station have also been diagnosed with the virus. So far, a total of 180 coronavirus-infected police officers have been identified from the Western Province. A total of 257 officers have been directed to quarantine centers. more..

Nov 5 (Island) Former Health Minister and SJB MP Dr Rajitha Senaratne told Parliament on Tuesday that the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) had been hijacked by medical unionists, posing a threat to academic and professional standards of doctors as well as SL’s standing in international forums in the years to come. Participating in a debate on two regulations under the Medical Ordinance, Dr Senaratne said more..

Nov 5 (FT) Fully integrated rubber glove manufacturer and exporter Dipped Products PLC (DIPD) is enjoying a milestone year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the half-yearly after-tax profit soaring by 545% to Rs. 2.1 billion. Pre-tax profit was up 479% to Rs. 2.6 billion, whilst net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent company was up 377% to Rs. 1.9 billion. The latest interim results confirm DIPD has overtaken the FY20 full year pre-tax profit of Rs. 1.1 b comfortably. more..

Nov 5 (CT) Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated that within two hours of the reopening of the Narahenpita Economic Centre (NEC) 100,000 kilos of vegetables were sold yesterday. He said, with effect from 25 October all Economic Centres in the Western Province have been opened for wholesale businesses. The NEC was reopened after it was completely disinfected, in keeping with health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among traders and the public. more..

Nov 5 (CT) Oceanography and Marine Geology expert Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara, said another five pilot whales that beached in Panadura had died yesterday, taking the number of deaths to nine. On the previous day, four pilot whales had died. According to him, there were over 60 pilot whales that were washed ashore in Panadura and only nine animals could not make it and had died due to various reasons. more..

Nov 5 (CT) Marine Biologist and Co-Founder of Blue Resources, Nishan Perera, said there is a possibility of noticing more deaths of pilot whales, after pushing them back out to sea. When contacted yesterday, he said post mortems of the dead whales are being conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC). The reason for beaching is not that easy to find, said Perera. “We have only noticed the deaths of whales on the shore and there is a possibility to notice more in the future, more..

Nov 5 (EN) Sri Lanka has slapped price controls on several varieties of rice as price spiked amid import controls and a Coronavirus surge. The Consumer Affairs Authority, the main price control agency ordered Samba rice (parboiled) to be sold at 94 rupees, white/red raw Samba also to be sold at 94 rupees by millers and producers. White/red Nadu was ordered to be sold at 92 rupees a kilogram and white/Red raw rice at 89 rupees. Sri Lanka has concluded the Yala minor agricultural season. more..

Nov 5 (AD) Attorney General Dappula de Livera has directed the Acting IGP to brief him immediately on the investigating team appointed to look into the Covid-19 cluster that emerged from the Brandix apparel factory Minuwangoda. In a statement issued today, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said the AG, on Oct 27, instructed the Acting IGP in writing appoint a team of investigators comprising experienced, more..

Nov 5 (CT) Leader of the Up-Country People’s Front and Nuwara Eliya District SJB MP V. Radhakrishnan said that he has no objection to former MP Basil Rajapaksa entering Parliament as he can render his support for all services to the public. He said “enacting the dual citizenship for MPs under the 20th Amendment was also in favour of Rajapaksa entering Parliament. To which his Party held no objection even though he did not contest and nor was he added to the national list as more..

Nov 5 (FT) National Council for International Affairs of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) will be organising the International Buddhist Conference on 7 and 8 Nov from 2 to 6 p.m. SL time via Zoom. The theme of the conference will be Buddhism’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic and the Anusasana at the inauguration of the conference on 7 Nov at 2 p.m. will be delivered by Most Ven. Prof Kotapitiye Rahula Anunayaka Thero of the Kotte Srikalyani Samagreedhamma Maha Sangha more..

Nov 5 (AD) Central Mail Exchange in Colombo has been temporarily closed for the public, Post Master General informed. This decision is taken as an employee at the Central Mail Exchange has been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. The operations and public services at the Central Mail Exchange will be temporarily suspended until further notice. The premises will be disinfected as per the instructions of the health officials while more..

Nov 5 (CT) Ministry of Environment will launch a project under the Surakimu Ganga theme, to conserve 103 rivers. Cabinet Paper submitted by the Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, was approved. The objective of this is to conserve all river basins, by preventing pollution. “80% of the river system belongs to the dry zone. Of the 103 rivers, 16 are nearly 100 km long. It is currently estimated that the total flow of water from this river system to the sea exceeds 55,000 cubic metres every year. more..

Nov 5 (CT) I didn’t see any betterment for the people in the upcountry and the minorities from the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, and therefore I refrained from voting for it, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Vadivel Suresh said. “I’m not ready to release murderers and accused persons to come to Parliament but if the Govt enacts any type of law to release the Tamils detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, I would sign for it with my own blood,” he added. more..

Nov 5 (ABC) The brother of Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for using a fake terror plot to frame a colleague. Arsalan Tariq Khawaja was issued a non-parole period of two years and six months but could walk free from prison in June next year due to time served. Khawaja, 40, was driven by jealousy over Mohamed Nizamdeen's friendship with a woman at UNSW when more..

Nov 5 (Island) State Minister Nimal Lanza said that Prez Rajapaksa had instructed the govt to take necessary steps to keep the lives of the people intact in the face of the Covid-19 crisis and to continue the economic process as well as development activities. A discussion was held on the same day at the Wattala DS under the patronage of State Ministers Nimal Lanza and Prasanna Ranaweera regarding revitalizing the lives of the people in the Gampaha District by controlling more..

Nov 5 (CT) The livelihood of deep sea fishermen in the Ampara District has been severely affected owing to the prevailing inclement weather and the COVID-19 pandemic threat and they lamented that they are undergoing immense difficulties when it comes to covering the day-to-day expenditure. The deep sea fishermen in Maruthamunai, Kalmunai, Sainthamaruthu, Maligaikadu, Ninthavur, Addalaichchenai, Oluvil, Akkaraipattu and Pottuvil areas in the Ampara District are refraining more..

Nov 5 (AD) Five more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported in Sri Lanka, the Director General of Health Services confirmed a short while ago. These include three women and two men while the death toll in Sri Lanka from Covid-19 has now climbed to 29. One of the deceased is a 46-year-old resident of Colombo 2 who had passed away at the Pimbura Base Hospital yesterday. He was receiving treatment at the hospital after more..

Nov 6 (CT) Muralitharan is yet another name for Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu. There are two muckety-mucks in Sri Lanka, putatively ethnic Tamils, who are named after the good Lord. They have hogged the limelight for different feats. However, Muttiah Muralitharan (Murali), the cricket star, and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna Amman), the LTTE rebel-turned-renegade, share a common trait – propensity to betray. It is a lethal congenital abnormality ! more..

Nov 6 (CT) As the WHO declared COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020, everyday lives of people have drastically changed within a few weeks. Amongst other epidemiological measures, social distancing was acknowledged to be pivotal in mitigating the viral spread. As a result, a vast number of individuals and families physically isolated from the rest of the world historically. The digital platforms became the only leeway for individuals to socialise, gain knowledge, and more..

Nov 6 (SO) The recent attempts by the LTTE remnants, to get the once-most-feared terror outfit off the UK’s proscribed organisations list is not the first attempt by the LTTE. With the proscription of the LTTE in the EU and elsewhere the group lost millions of dollars worth of assets raised in those countries to fuel a bloody conflict back in SL. These assets remain frozen to date, including within the EU. The brutal conflict waged by the LTTE more..

Nov 6 (CT) Joseph Biden (77) from the Democratic Party is the expected winner at the 49th US Prez Poll held on 3 Nov at the time of writing this Editorial yesterday. A Roman Catholic, his inauguration ceremony as the USA’s 46th President will take place at Capitol Building, Washington, DC, on 20 January next year (2021), in the event he wins this Poll. A lawyer by profession, Biden, born on 20 Nov 1942, grew up in the blue-collar city of Scranton in northeast Pennsylvania. more..

Nov 6 (GV) The primary objective of Secretary Pompeo’s visit to South and South East Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Indonesia and Vietnam) was to drum up support for the US Republican team in the US presidential election. This is clear from the timing of the initiative to coincide with the height of the US presidential campaign; a strong South/South-East Asian anti-China response would boost support for President Donald Trump from a segment of the electorate. more..

Nov 6 (TM) Amidst the many land grab, encroachment, and deforestation incidents that were taking place, it was recently uncovered that state land had been occupied by its workforce who had allegedly been squatting in such lands tax-free. Out of the many institutions that have to deal with squatters, the Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) seems to be the first to take the necessary steps towards reclaiming their real estate. more..

Nov 6 (DM) There is much hate against the Muslims the world over and even those practising the faith preached by Prophet Mohammad in SL wouldn’t tend to think otherwise. 9/11 Bombing of the Twin Towers in America, the Easter Sunday Church bombings in SL and the beheading of a woman recently at a church in France are, according to radical thinkers, associated with the Islam faith. Here in Sri Lanka the ruling SLPFA decided not to seek the support of Muslim parties when more..

Nov 6 (DM) Right now many places are forced into observing a quarantine curfew. But it’s hard to keep people glued to their homes. We’ve heard of some people having travelled out of Western Province before curfew was imposed at 12 midnight on Oct 29; this was when prior warnings were given by health experts that Western Province was declared a COVID-19 hub and travelling outside this province wasn’t encouraged. And the purpose behind most of these travels was more to do with more..

Nov 6 (GV) Sri Lanka is presently in the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases with a lockdown enforced in parts of country. An island-wide lockdown earlier in 2020 witnessed the country coming to a standstill with no functioning Parliament for over five months and a multitude of entities created to tackle the pandemic. Among the many issues linked with COVID-19 is the prominence given to military personnel in the response and whether Sri Lanka’s experienced civil service, more..

Nov 6 (Island) SL opening batter Chamari Atapattu starred with the bat for the Supernovas in the opening game of the Women’s T20 Challenge at Sharjah, but it wasn’t enough as the Velocity made a dramatic comeback late in the match to pull off a thrilling win with one ball to spare. The Supernovas started off tamely after they were asked to bat first and their run rate was well below six runs per over at the half way stage of their innings. But the experienced duo of Atapattu and more..

Nov 6 (ST) Ananda was just 28 years of age when I had the good fortune of throwing myself, heart and soul, into its service as a member of the tutorial staff under Principal Fritz Kunz in May, 1914 – the historic year of the outbreak of World War I. Mr. Kunz had just succeeded M.U. Moore, who had, over just three years, not only continued the yeoman service of his predecessor, but also produced appreciable examination results more..

Nov 6 (Island) The arrival of US Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo days before the US presidential election has been a cause for much speculation. Judging from the countries he visited––India, SL, Maldives, Indonesia and Vietnam––the Secretary’s whirlwind visits were to strengthen geostrategic ties with these countries as a measure of preparedness to counter the growing dominance of China in the Indo-Pacific region. As part of this exercise what Secretary Pompeo & US Secretary Defence, more..

Nov 6 (Island) The US presidential election full of suspense is like a Hollywood thriller; it has kept everyone on the edge of his or her seat across the globe. Democratic candidate Joe Biden was inching towards victory with several key states remaining to be called, at the time of writing. The winner may be known shortly. Biden has already broken Barack Obama’s 2008 record for the most votes; Obama received as many as 69,500,000, and Biden had polled more than 73,330,000 votes by more..

Nov 6 (ST) SL Universities Sports Association (SLUSA) is gearing up for the XXXI Summer World University Games to be held next year in China. The 2021 edition of the Games is scheduled to be held from August 18 to 29 in Chengdu, China. With several modern sports venues such as the Dong’ an Lake Sports Park and Fenghuangshan Sports Park, Chengdu has successfully hosted over 100 int'l sports events more..

Nov 6 (FT) Premier blue chip John Keells Holdings (JKH) yesterday reported a sharp decline in profit for the second quarter and first half, largely owing to COVID-19’s impact on the Leisure sector, but signalled recovery post re-opening of the country has been faster than anticipated. JKH Group revenue at Rs. 32.39 billion for the quarter under review was marginally down 4% from a year earlier. Cumulative Group revenue for the first half of FY21 at Rs. 53.99 billion was down 17%. more..

Nov 6 (DN) As many as 10 former Sri Lanka cricketers are set to participate in the inaugural Mauritius Cric10 League Cricket Tournament, which gets underway at the National Stadium in Mapou on November 11. This tournament is the biggest cricket league in Mauritius and will have over 78 international cricketers from Sri Lanka, West Indies, Canada, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, England and the United Arab Emirates competing against each other. more..