Aug 26 (Island) The headline for this article is adapted from The Island editorial of 9 Aug lays out where SL went wrong and what collective action desired to deter the spread of the covid-19 virus. This article calls for the govt to also recognise the contribution that alternative healthcare systems practiced in this country can make and, to co-opt such practitioners – as an important part, but is missing, in the collective action required- to the frontline as they also have robust tools to more..

Aug 26 (TM) As the famous saying goes, we see what we want to see, and we hear what we want to hear, the same goes for the current state of the Covid-19 pandemic. Govt might point out facts to substantiate their stance that SL has succeeded in managing the pandemic, while the Opposition might present reasons to say that SL has failed. It really depends on who you ask. However, the most prevalent opinion with regard to the pandemic is that SL has failed as a country to manage more..

Aug 26 (CT) Shreen Abdul Saroor, a doughty campaigner for SL women’s rights, especially Muslim women’s rights, wrote in 2016, that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) facilitates discrimination against women. And the Islamic Quazi court system in SL (which allows only males to be Quazis or judges) sharpens the blow on women. Though appointed by the Ministry of Justice, Quazis lack proper legal training and also the kind of more..

Aug 26 (ST) Many Sri Lankans are likely to make use of their fully-vaccinated status to travel overseas on holiday, meeting friends and family members during the end of the year, a top travel industry official said. “With Switzerland allowing fully-vaccinated inbound travellers without any restrictions to enter the country, we are fielding many inquiries from Sri Lankans to visit that country in Nov-Dec,” according to Parveen Dassenaike, Chairperson United Ventures, more..

Aug 26 (Island) Some MPs held a press conference yesterday to announce their decision to donate their salaries for the country’s fight against Covid-19. Their concern for the hapless public should be appreciated, but the amounts they are giving back as donations pale into insignificance compared to what they have got from the public, both legally and illegally. So, why should they make a big show of their donations? Do MPs and ministers give press conferences when they sell their duty-free more..

Aug 26 (Island) Proteas were expected to land at Katunayake in the early hours of today and as per the health ministry protocols will move for their quarantine immediately upon arrival. They will be able to resume training by tomorrow (Thursday) having spent 24 hours in their rooms provided their PCR tests are negative. Seamer Junior Dala and fast bowling coach Charl Langeveldt were forced to remain at home after more..

Aug 26 (CT) For many of us, the only hope for the country lies in getting out of the country. This is by no means a recent phenomenon: we have been seeing the best among us depart these shores for greener pastures over the last 30 years. The reason used to be the war; now it’s the political culture. It’s as though peacetime has unleashed all the ugly things about the country that the war had bottled up. Back then we had bombs in buses and snipers at day to think about; now we have bribes more..

Aug 26 (DN) The Joint Apparel Associations Forum (JAAF) has formulated a 5-point framework to coordinate the industry’s response to challenges stemming from COVID-19 and to drive stakeholder collaboration towards ensuring sustained long-term growth of Sri Lanka’s entire apparel sector. The five points are: Ensure a safe working environment for employees, enhance backward integration, high-level collaboration with the authorities on retaining and improving export market access, more..

Aug 26 (FT) High Commissioner of India to SL Gopal Baglay called on the new Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris after his assumption of duties. The Foreign Minister expressed his appreciation for the continuous support being provided by India for combating COVID-19 pandemic. Minister thanked Govt of India for supplying emergency consignments of liquid oxygen from east Indian ports, even by using Indian naval ships. The discussion also centred on enhancing religious tourism. more..

Aug 26 (MFA) The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Sri Lanka Holger Lothar Seubert paid a courtesy call on the new Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Prof. G.L. Peiris on Tuesday 24 August at the Foreign Ministry in Colombo. At the meeting, Foreign Minister Peiris underscored the significance and multifaceted nature of Sri Lanka - Germany bilateral ties ranging from political, economic relations to longstanding cultural links and people-to-people contacts. more..

Aug 26 (FT) Farmers in the country don’t want a haphazard rush towards full-scale organic fertiliser use, instead preferring a properly phased-out process supplemented with adequate advice, a new survey has revealed. This was one of the key findings of the first survey of its kind carried out among farmers on the fertiliser ban by Verité Research. Survey was conducted among farmers who cultivate paddy, fruits, vegetables, more..

Aug 26 (Island) Cameron Colombege, one of Melbourne’s top entertainers, and a gifted musician, who has entertained music lovers, in all genres, for many decades, underwent a heart bypass, at the Monash Medical Centre, in Melbourne, Australia. According to our man, in Melbourne, Trevine Rodrigo, Cameron suffered discomfort and was rushed to the Monash Hospital, in a stable condition, before being diagnosed with several blockages to his arteries, which needed urgent attention. more..

Aug 26 (Island) In a notable move cricket selectors have retained three players from Devapathiraja College, Ratgama and a player from Madampa Central, Ambalangoda when pruning the 75-member pool to a squad of 26 for the upcoming youth cricket tours including next year’s ICC Youth World Cup. Batsmen Pawan Sandesh and Jeewaka Shasheen and off-spinner Sasanka Nirmal who were part of the Devapathiraja team that featured in the Under-19 Division I Tier ‘B’ final early this year more..

Aug 26 (TM) Finance Ministry is taking steps to allocate the money needed for the Govt’s programme to pay an allowance of Rs. 2,000 to low income families affected by the prevailing Covid-19-related lockdown situation in the country, as per requests made by relevant District Secretariats (DSs), said the Finance Ministry and Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle. Presidential Task Force for Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation more..

Aug 26 (DN) Sri Lanka’s white-ball Captain Dasun Shanaka hopes that the national players will carry the same momentum into the limited overs series against South Africa after most of the key players showed excellent form during the SLC Invitational T20 League Cricket Tournament. SLC Greys led by Shanaka emerged champions when they outplayed SLC Reds by 42 runs in the final encounter played under lights at Pallekele Stadium in Kandy on Tuesday. more..

Aug 26 (FT) Govt has revised the current export charges imposed by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) apart from allowing online trading. The Cabinet of Ministers this week approved submission of orders issued by the gazette notification 2232/36 to the Parliament to give legal effect to the moves. As per the gazette notification, for gem and jewellery export consignments conducted online below the FOB value of $ 1,000 will be free-of-charge, more..

Aug 26 (Island) The govt had reduced COVID testing after imposing the lockdown, College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) President, Ravi Kumudesh said. He said that the govt had imposed a lockdown under pressure from health experts, trade unionists, and the clergy. “The govt perhaps wants to show us that lockdowns are not effective.” The purpose of a lockdown was to prevent people from coming into contact with more..

Aug 26 (AD) Showers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts, Dept of Meteorology stated in a weather advisory issued this morning. Accordingly, heavy showers above 100 mm can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Central provinces and in Galle and Matara districts. Meanwhile, several spells of showers will occur in Hambantota District. Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places more..

Aug 26 (FT) SL’s COVID-19 immunisation program on Tuesday administered a COVID-19 vaccine dose to 161,650 persons. At present, the AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik V, Pfizer, and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are being administered in the country. The first dose of a vaccine has been administered to 12,149,634 persons and the second dose to 5,949,431 persons. 51.7% of the country’s population over the age of 30 has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. more..

Aug 26 (FT) Sri Lanka’s total COVID-19 detections crossed the 400,000-mark yesterday with the detection of 4,483 new COVID-19 patients and the addition of over 4,000 delayed cases. 4,484 COVID-19 cases reported in the last five days were added to the total case count yesterday after being verified by health officials. “We have corrected 80% of the data and have 20% to fix. This will be done in the next few days,” more..

Aug 26 (FT) The BOI said that it had successfully administered the second dose of vaccinations against COVID-19 to nearly 80% of employees of all 14 Export Processing Zones (EPZs) across the country, with the support of the Ministry of Health and the armed forces. The double vaccination of employees outside the zones amounted to 70%. Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala said the BOI remained committed to the safety of the people and the continued productivity of all manufacturing more..

Aug 26 (FT) Health officials on Tuesday confirmed 198 more COVID-19 deaths, raising the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 7,948. 75.79% of the total fatalities are above 60, 23.19% between ages 30 and 59, and 1.02% below 30. The COVID-19 deaths confirmed on Tuesday consist of 146 persons above 60, 51 persons between ages 30 and 59, and one person below 30. Total of 119 fatalities confirmed on Tuesday were male and 79 were female. Of the total fatalities, 4,566 are male & 3,382 are female. more..

Aug 26 (EN) Sections of SL’s state workers are calling for a Coronavirus lockdown to be lifted as ministers warn about difficulties in paying salaries, with the tax generating private workers and self-employed no longer able to engage in productive work. While private sector workers’ salaries were cut when lockdowns began in 2020 and they have been restored only in some cases state workers have got their salaries on time more..

Aug 26 (Island) The Ministry of Health has received the second batch of cold chain equipment procured by UNICEF with funding from the Govt of Japan to strengthen SL’s delivery of immunisation services, including against COVID-19. The first batch of 500 vaccine carriers were handed over to the Ministry of Health in April, 2021. The following is the text of the Japanese Embassy statement: “The second batch includes 750 vaccine carriers, 300 cold boxes, 100 Ice-Lined Refrigerators (ILRs), more..

Aug 26 (CT) The CID has launched a probe into the disappearance of 1.1 million data files from the database of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA). Sources at the NMRA stated that they too had commenced a probe into the disappearance of the data files from the database. An officer said the probe will primarily look into the possibility of sabotage. He stated due to the incident the data that had been collated online by the NMRA had also gone missing. more..

Aug 26 (TM) Trade unions (TUs) representing the workers in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) have written to the Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva on Tuesday (24) claiming the Delta (B.1.617.2) Covid-19 variant of Indian origin has ravaged the FTZs and placed the workers in grave danger. “Many workers are falling victim to the virus with reports showing that even up to 11 workers test positive per day from each company. more..

Aug 26 (FT) The loss of Mangala Samaraweera is a devastating blow to statesmanship in SL. In the words of theologian James Freeman Clarke, “The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.” In that way, Mangala always put the truth and his moral convictions, his principles, before any election. Despite being a master political tactician instrumental in bringing three of the last four more..

Aug 26 (FT) Stephen Nathanson defined patriotism as, involving special affection for one’s own country; a sense of personal identification with the country; special concern for the wellbeing of the country and willingness to sacrifice to promote the country’s good. Jürgen Habermas further encompassed that the modern constitutional state must ensure that its political culture does not favour or discriminate against any particular subculture. Memory weakness or overlooking is a phenomenon of human more..

Aug 26 (Island) The 16th Sujata Jayawardena Memorial Oration will be delivered on Monday (30), by Professor Neelika Malavige on the topic The Covid-19 Pandemic: The way forward through impactful research. Professor Malavige is an Alumnus of the Univ of Colombo and is presently the Head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri J'pura. She is also presently the Director of the Centre for Dengue Research of the same university and more..

Aug 26 (DM) Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has certified the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) (Temporary Provisions) Bill on Aug 23, 2021,Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Dammika Dasanayake said. The Bill was passed in Parliament without a vote on Aug 17. The purpose of this Bill is to make temporary provisions in relation to situations where persons were unable to perform certain actions required by law to be performed within the prescribed time periods due to more..

Aug 26 (AD) A foreign study, which compared the efficacy of four different COVID-19 vaccines, has revealed that the percentage of deaths among the unvaccinated people above the age of 50 years is 8.1 times higher than that of the Sinopharm vaccine recipients. Prof. Neelika Malavige stated this tweeting the findings of the relevant study conducted with regard to the morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 more..

Aug 26 (FT) Military to Corporate Entrepreneurship Capsule – the second batch of 24 serving officers comprising 12 Maj. Generals, three Brigadiers, four Rear Admirals & 5 Commodores/Air Commodores took the salute recently in a fitting finale before sunset at the Water’s Edge, with Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne as Chief Guest. The initiative which is sponsored by Access Engineering PLC Group Chairman Sumal Perera was initially launched in March 2021, for retired officers. more..

Aug 26 (AD) Migrant workers who register under the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment will be given a vaccine accepted in the destination country, the Bureau said. According to the Additional General Manager of the Bureau Mangala Randeniya, a registration fee of Rs. 16,416 will be charged from migrant workers. He said, “We cannot register without a fee. We cannot refer these people to the vaccination program without confirming that they are going for employment.” more..

Aug 26 (EN) SL’s main stock index gained 1.02% on Wednesday crossing the 8,900 psychological benchmark and continuing the market gain for the third day. The index touched 8,938.25 points, its fresh record high, before retreating to close at 8,756.63 with a 88.68 points gain for the day. The S& P SL20 index of more liquid stocks gained 0.25% or 8.03 points to close at 3,183.73. “The ASPI index was driven by more..

Aug 26 (Island) UNP Chairman and former Minister Wajira Abeywardena on Tuesday called on the govt to suspend development projects immediately and use those funds instead on COVID-19 prevention and treatment projects. He said that time had come for the govt to rethink its approach to preventing the spread of the pandemic and streamline treatment processes immediately. “Many other countries have given priority to treat people over their long-term development projects. more..

Aug 26 (DM) The country has reached its worst and highest level in the COVID pandemic, GMOA General Secretary Dr. Nalinda Herath said. He said the worst situation is not only the increase in the number of deaths, but the number of health officials contracted with the virus is also increasing. Accordingly, the number of COVID patients has reached beyond the level of hospital treatment capacity. Due to the pandemic, hospital beds and intensive care facilities are spilling over, more..

Aug 26 (EN) World Bank credits and grants are funding Coronavirus vaccines, intensive care units, test kits, as well as 5,000 rupee cash grants for people in lockdown, a program review shows. World Bank started a COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project (ERHSP) and also re-directed funds from existing programs to battle the pandemic. An 80.5 million credit is now being used to buy more..