Jul 13 (DM) Very often we happen to find news published in print media about seizure of illicit cigarettes in Sri Lanka. The WHO defines Illicit Tobacco Trade (ITT) as “any practice or conduct prohibited by law and which relates to production, shipment, receipt, possession, distribution, sale or purchase of tobacco products, including any practice or conduct intended to facilitate such activity”. It is already revealed that Tobacco Industry (TI) deliberately smuggled its own products. more..

Jul 13 (DM) SL politics has been a good deal of family business. It was not even the SLFP, the progenitor of the SLPP that started it; D.S. Senanayake, the first PM flouted an implicit understanding of the succession and undercut two party seniors, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sir John Kotelawala to pass the mantle to his son Dudley. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s ascension to power with the only conceivable qualification being the widow of the dead prime minister opened up more..

Jul 13 (DM) Writer Kanya D’Almeida became the first Sri Lankan to win the Commonwealth Short Story Prize awarded for the best new writing to emerge from the 54-country bloc. At an online award ceremony on June 30, the competition judges hailed her winning entry I Cleaned the— as a story that brims with humanity and appeals to both the heart and mind of the reader. D’Almeida herself says it’s a story more..

Jul 13 (DM) Ceylon Teacher Services Union (CTSU) announced on Sunday that it would refrain from conducting online teaching practices from Monday (yesterday) to protest against the Govt’s move to forcibly direct Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin and several others to be quarantined after being released on bail and until providing a solution for online teaching. Meanwhile, National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) Chairman K.D. Lal Kantha warned on Sunday more..

Jul 13 (CT) The Govt is taking firm steps to strictly deal with unscrupulous traders fishing in troubled-waters, especially at a time, when consumers are living a hard life grappling with the merciless COVID-19 pandemic, by amending the Consumer Protection Act. The Govt, by bringing in these long overdue amendments, is to finally tackle the issue. It is hoped by introducing stringent laws through these timely and vital amendments, to not only check black-marketer-profiteers, but also those more..

Jul 13 (DM) SJB MP Champika Ranawaka, speaks about his political plan. He shares his views amids speculation that he is planning to be a candidate for the 2024 prez elections. Q: We learned from media reports that the 43rd brigade, the movement led by you, is ready to give political leadership to the opposition. Does it mean you are planning to contest the 2024 Prez Elections? A: It is nothing like that. more..

Jul 13 (TM) World Youth Skills Day falls on 15 July, at a time when SL’s education system is in an unstable state. The country affected by the Covid-19 pandemic is struggling to figure out whether the ongoing and planned education reforms such as the Kotelawala National Defence Uni (KDNU) Bill and online education methods would actually contribute to uplift the country’s education system. However, when it comes to education, vocational and skills-based education takes a special place, and more..

Jul 13 (ST) Just the other day Justice Minister Ali Sabry told parliament that there would be a major overhaul of the country’s justice system. Not capable or willing to undertake that Herculean task alone, the minister has gathered 200 experts and true to help him modernise the system that has been creaking for years. Some litigants waiting a decade or more for justice have capitulated and passed away hoping they would be better served in the next world than this. more..

Jul 13 (TM) Although more than one-and-a-half years have passed since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world, given its new variants, which are reported from time to time, how long it would take to eradicate this pandemic is still anybody’s guess. The WHO has divided the variants of the SARS-CoV-2 into two main categories: variants of concern and variants of interest. Accordingly, variants such as Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Delta (B.1.617.2) & Gamma (P.1) more..

Jul 13 (Island) The Euro Cup final must have brightened up the day for the pandemic-hit world on Sunday. It was a thriller from the word go. Barely three minutes into the match, England stunned the unbeaten Italians with a volley into the net. The visitors, on a 34-match winning streak, did not know what hit them. Perhaps, it was the first unnerving shock they had suffered since Sept 2018. Euphoria erupted in the stands with electrifying chants from the English fans while the Italian supporters more..

Jul 13 (FT) Issues over the gold import licence scheme remain unresolved, but industry and officials are hopeful of a swift resolution ahead of a meeting with new Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa this week. The discussion with Rajapaksa follows the diverging opinions that emerged following last week’s Cabinet meeting, where it was decided that gold would be brought under the import licence scheme. more..

Jul 13 (FT) Major shareholders who exited from Panasian Power (PAP) last week did so with a profit, whilst for the leading shareholder, it was mixed with emotions too. Young entrepreneur and investor Dilanka Jinadasa sold a 23.47% stake of 146.7 million shares along with a 2.63% stake held by Jinadasa Brothers Ltd. His and the others exit was priced at Rs. 4.30 per share. Jinadasa's average cost is estimated at Rs. 3.20. The other two sellers were Emerald Sri Lanka Fund 1 Ltd., more..

Jul 13 (FT) In line with the recently concluded SL Investment Forum (SLIF) 2021 organised by the BOI, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Colombo Stock Exchange, the Council for Startups held a webinar on the Startup Ecosystem Landscape to attract investments via the local tech and innovation opportunities. It was noted that in a thriving/robust startup ecosystem a good investment climate and deal flow is critical. As such, the aim of the webinar was to showcase the local tech more..

Jul 13 (FT) The country’s COVID-19 detections rose to 276,106 with 1,568 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday. 12,811 PCR tests were carried out yesterday. Among the patients detected were 1,488 persons linked to the New Year cluster. This raises the cumulative patient count of the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons and New Year clusters to 268,131. The cumulative patient count includes 173,440 persons from the New Year more..

Jul 13 (CT) SL swimming star Matthew Abeysinghe will be representing his country at the Olympics for the first time. Abeysinghe who was born on 19 March 1996, first made an impact when he was 14, by reaching fourth place at the Youth Commonwealth Games 10 years ago. Then two years later during the Youth Asian Games held in China he won a Silver Medal. Since then, Abeysinghe has been impressive in the pool, and during the SAG Games staged in 2016 more..

Jul 13 (DM) Sri Lanka finally having opened up to appoint a full-time finance minister could be the solution to iron out the issues faced in the country’s public finance management, according to Colombo-based think tank Advocata Institute, as the role requires undivided attention for the overall state of the economy to improve. In the last three decades, for only seven years in total, Sri Lanka had an independent finance minister. For as long as 23 years, role was taken over by head of govt, more..

Jul 13 (DM) The govt has infused fresh equity to the tune of Rs.45.7 billion to SriLankan Airlines in two tranches through April 2021, under the capital enhancement and restructure programme announced last year to help the airline stand on its own. According to the fresh reports, govt had infused Rs.18.0 billion in fresh equity in April this year, after Rs.27.7 billion was injected in Nov 2020, which was the first such capital infusion since 2014. more..

Jul 13 (ST) While the Olympic bound athletes are all set to fly to Tokyo later this week, nine athletes are likely to compete at the Paralympics which will be held exactly a month after the start of the Tokyo Games have been finalised. The Paralympic Games will be held from August 24 to September 5 in the same facility being used for the Olympics. Five athletes including Dinesh Priyantha Herath, who won a bronze at the last Rio Paralympics, have earned direct qualification so far and more..

Jul 13 (FT) SANASA Development Bank (SDB Bank) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) for the latter to take up a 10% stake for Rs. 925 million via the Secondary Public Offering (SPO). The placement with BIO is as a cornerstone investor under the identified investor category of the SPO, which is in total is offering 88 million shares at Rs. 51.50 each to raise Rs. 4.5 billion. more..

Jul 13 (TM) Teachers’ trade unions (TUs) have claimed that trade union action launched by teachers and principals yesterday (12) in protest over the Govt’s actions last week was 100% successful. More than 15 teachers’ and principals’ trade unions had decided to withdraw from all online teaching activities from yesterday until further notice in protest of the arrest and subsequent forced quarantine of a group of trade unionists and more..

Jul 13 (Island) Last month, Kusal Janith Perera was made to look like a superstar. SL’s selectors got him to captain the side, keep wickets, and open batting. Not even the ice cool M.S. Dhoni had been saddled with that many responsibilities. This month, however, it has dawned onto the selectors that KJP is no superstar. Not only has he been sacked as the captain, he is also likely to be relieved of wicket-keeping duties. Don’t be surprised if they tell KJP to bat in the middle order during the ODIs. more..

Jul 13 (MFA) Hospital Without Borders (HÔpital Sans Frontiéres- HSF/ZZG), a non-profit organization in Belgium donated Oxygen Concentrators as a token support to SL to address the COVID-19 situation in the country. Project Manager of the Hospital Without Borders Yolande Fosset handed over the Oxygen Concentrators to Ambassador of SL to Belgium Grace Asirwatham. The Honorary Consul of SL in Antwerp who had contributed to the COVID fund and more..

Jul 13 (CT) It was revealed at the COPE that salaries amounting to Rs 583 million have been paid to 3,700 trainees recruited to the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) from 2017- 2019. Minister of Environment, Mahinda Amaraweera said trainees had not even been assigned proper duties. COPE chaired by Dr. Charitha Herath drew attention to the vacancies and surplus employees at the NHDA. more..

Jul 13 (TM) Health sector employees in professions supplementary to medicine (PSMs) are to decide on going ahead with tomorrow’s planned strike action over unmet demands, today. Joint Council of PSMs President Ravi Kumudesh said that the Health Ministry’s plans concerning the Cabinet memorandum submitted on the PSMs’ demands would be known late yesterday. Those employed in the PSMs on Sunday claimed that the Health Ministry does not yet have a proper plan for more..

Jul 13 (ST) The Ministry of Justice is conceptualising a set of rules to combat real estate fraud. “We are at the initial stages of drafting these regulations,” Ali Sabry, Minister of Justice said recently. The laws will protect unsuspecting investors and those who are prone to being cheated by fraudsters in the real estate industry, he added. Compared to other systems, money laundering through real estate in both residential and commercial sectors can be easy, calling for little planning or expertise. more..

Jul 13 (FT) BowerGroupAsia (BGA), a strategic advisory firm that specialises in Foreign Direct Investment throughout the Indo-Pacific, has cautioned its clients, claiming that SL is on the brink of severe economic crisis. BGA cited a host of recent developments to substantiate its warning. In a confidential commentary to its clients, BGA claims SL’s external finances are perilously low, foreign debt repayments are large, and weak more..

Jul 13 (Island) The Public Debt Department of the Central Bank of SL will issue Treasury bonds worth of Rs. 50 billion through an auction today (13) and Treasury bills worth of Rs. 56 billion through another auction on July 14. At the Treasury bill auction, the yield rates of 91 day and 182-day maturities will be decided below the level of 364 day maturity set at 5.25%. The issue of Rs 50,000 million Treasury Bonds will be issued under two series: Rs. 27,500 million and Rs. 22,500 million. more..

Jul 13 (DM) Former Parliamentarian Duminda Silva who was released from jail recently on a Presidential Pardon met PM Mahinda Rajapaksa in Temple Trees today. In pics posted on Silva's Facebook page, it showed him posing for a picture with the PM, likely after a discussion between the two. Silva, last month, was released from prison after he was set free on a presidential pardon after he was sentenced to death over the murder of former MP Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra in 2011. more..

Jul 13 (TM) Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has submitted a written complaint to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet about the alleged suppression of peaceful protests that occurred in the country last week and the forced quarantine measures taken by the Police against activists. CTU President Priyantha Fernando said that the complaint was submitted yesterday. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin, more..

Jul 13 (SLN) A special operation carried out by the Navy in seas off the Analathivu island, Jaffna in the wee hours today (12) led to the seizure of about 344kg and 550g of Kerala cannabis along with 03 suspects and a dinghy used for the racket. SL Navy has been conducting regular operations in island waters to ward off illegal activities including the smuggling of drugs by sea. As an extension of these operations, the Fast Attack Craft P 497 of 04th Fast Attack Craft Flotilla (4 FAF) attached to more..

Jul 13 (FT) The net foreign selling at the Colombo bourse appears to have gathered pace with Rs. 3 billion gone within just 17 market days. The year-to-date (YTD) net foreign outflow stood at Rs. 26 billion on 17 June and by yesterday it had surpassed the Rs. 29 billion mark. Yesterday’s net foreign selling was Rs. 651 million on top of Rs. 783 million on Friday. The crossing of an additional billion rupees each has come in quick succession with YTD figure of Rs. 27 billion crossed on 6 July and more..

Jul 13 (TM) The Police has vehemently denied social media based allegations that the investigation into the online sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl had been halted, following purported information that several monks were involved in the exploitation of the said minor. The Police investigation that is underway is ongoing and has not been stopped, despite such allegations on social media, SDIG Ajith Rohana said. more..

Jul 13 (Island) Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC, yesterday said it had been decided to retain an international law firm to make claims for the damage caused by the MV X-Press Pearl fire in SL waters. The process of determining the compensations due to Sri Lanka, from the disaster, would be negotiated with international insurance companies therefore the need had arisen for the government to retain the services of an international law firm, the Minister said at a meeting at his ministry. more..

Jul 13 (CT) Dulani Priyangika, wife of FSP Propaganda Secretary Duminda Nagamuwa, yesterday filed a petition in the Court of Appeal praying for a Habeas Corpus writ, ordering that her husband, who is being detained at a quarantine centre at Pallekele, by the Police, be produced in Court and released. Priyangika, through her petition, has charged that her husband was currently being detained unlawfully at a quarantine centre when a Court had not issued any order to that effect. more..

Jul 13 (Island) SJB MP Rohini Kaviratne says an attempt is being made to suppress the ongoing investigations into the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl. The govt had interfered in the inquiry following the arrest of an influential monk in connection with the high profile inquiry, the Matale District MP alleged. “We are closely watching the situation,” MP Kaviratne said, adding that she intended to raise the issue at next meeting more..

Jul 13 (FT) Amidst the growing concerns about the sinking economy, the battle at play, between some of the economic wizards from both the Opposition and the Govt on the subject matter, has turned into an interesting stage. The message we get indicates that the conclusions of the debaters are at great variance like the N and S poles. Opposition spokesmen categorically state that there is no in-between solace for the falling economy other than the assistance from IMF while the State batsmen maintain more..

Jul 13 (Island) Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday said that there was no threat of Sri Lanka losing the GSP+ concession. He said that the fears of the European Union Commission withdrawing SL’s access to the GSP+ concession were propagated by anti-govt forces. “These stories of EU withdrawing the GSP Plus are propagated by the very same people who were lobbying for the prosecution of our war heroes in international courts more..

Jul 13 (FT) There is widespread criticism levelled against the authorities of the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) in recent weeks alleging that they have printed large quantities of money since early last year. While such criticisms cannot be totally ignored, the money printing numbers quoted by some critics are overestimated, as I pointed out in the last week’s FT column. Nevertheless, the fact remains that increased lending to the Govt by the CBSL since last year, seemingly following the so-called more..