Jul 21 (TM) State Minister Wimalaweera Dissanayake said all zoos in the country, including the Dehiwala Zoo, are in a severe financial crisis due to the loss of revenue. Zoos are expected to be opened from next week under the Covid-19 guidelines. “This has lost revenue. The zoos can’t even find funds to keep feeding the animals now. So we’re opening the zoos next Monday. Admission is by health provision. We also hope to admit those who have been vaccinated. more..

Jul 21 (Island) National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) was established in 1998, but the national policy on child protection hasn’t been implemented yet, according to the COPE. This was revealed when NCPA Chairperson Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana and other officials including the Secretary of the Education Ministry Prof. Kapila Perera, appeared before the COPE in Feburary this year. more..

Jul 21 (FT) A committee appointed by Minister of Justice Ali Sabry to review judicial service development has proposed an increase to the number of courts and judges in the country. The committee appointed to review demarcation of jurisdiction and to increase the number of court houses, including High Courts, presented its report to the Minister of Justice recently at the Ministry of Justice, in the Superior Courts Complex, Colombo 12. The report of the committee, more..

Jul 21 (HT) Arthur seemed frustrated as he made some animated gestures from the dressing room towards the end of the game against India. Muralitharan said Arthur should have stayed calm and conveyed his message to the new skipper. Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan reacted to head coach Mickey Arthur’s animated gestures from the dressing room followed by a heated argument with captain Dasun Shanka on the field after losing the second ODI to India by 3 wickets in Colombo. more..

Jul 21 (HT) Video of SL head coach Mickey Arthur and captain Dasun Shanaka having a heated argument after the 2nd ODI loss to India went viral on social media. SL head coach Micky Arthur and captain Dasun Shanaka were involved in a heated argument at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo after they were beaten by India in the 2nd ODI despite being in a winning position. The video of the Sri Lanka coach and captain arguing more..

Jul 21 (CI) 69* Deepak Chahar's score while batting at No.8 in the second ODI against Sri Lanka. Ravindra Jadeja's 77 against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in 2019 is the only higher ODI score by an Indian batting at No.8 or lower. 9* Consecutive series wins for India against Sri Lanka in ODIs. Only Pakistan against Zimbabwe (11*) and India against West Indies (10*) have won more ODI series in succession against one opponent. more..

Jul 21 (Island) It was revealed during the COPE proceedings on Monday that the National Film Corporation (NFC) hadn’t even bothered to obtain approval for the construction of a museum and a film school named after the late Lester James Peries. Construction work commenced on April 5, 2019. The COPE has instructed the NFC Chairman Dr. Jayantha Dharmadasa to complete the Rs 100 mn project following the due process. The following is the text of the statement issued by more..

Jul 21 (DM) PCoI for Appraisal of the Findings of Previous Commissions and Committees on Human Rights said in its interim report that the commission is not in agreement with the calls to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Commission handed over its interim report to Prez Rajapaksa at Presidential Secretariat last evening. The report has highlighted that the PTA should be reformed in line with the laws more..

Jul 21 (DM) While changing the direction of the power sector, attention was drawn to installing a Floating Solar System on the Diyawanna Lake to generate power for Parliament, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said. The first phase of the first Floating Solar power plant is planned to be built in Diyawanna with the assistance of a loan from the Govt of India. "The floating solar power plant with a capacity of 1.5 MW is proposed to be constructed to meet the daily electricity requirements of more..

Jul 21 (DM) Former MP Hirunika Premachandra, the daughter of slain politician Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra has filed a Fundamental Rights petition in SC challenging the legality of the Presidential Pardon granted by Prez Rajapaksa to former MP Duminda Silva. Through this petition, Colombo district former MP Hirunika Premachandra is also seeking a declaration that her fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 12(1) for equal protection of law have been violated. more..

Jul 22 (TM) Half a million Sri Lankans can now breathe a sigh of relief. After discussions with several parties and months of waiting, it was announced last week that Sri Lanka is set to receive more Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines before the end of this month from Japan. Subsequently, the health authorities announced that they had decided to administer the second dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to those who had received the first dose of the same. more..

Jul 22 (CT) Sri Lanka vis-à-vis COVID-19 vaccine coverage has been ranked 21st out of 24 countries in developing Asia, an ADB study released on Tuesday showed. Data on the ADB study showed that Sri Lanka had vaccinated 17.2% of its 22 million, population, against COVID-19 working out to a vaccine coverage of 3.8 million of its population. This has to be looked at in the context that the global average for vaccine coverage is 39.2%, i.e. more than double than that of Sri Lanka’s more..

Jul 22 (CT) General Sir John Kotelawala National Defence Uni (KNDU) Bill has sparked controversy in society in recent times due to continuous protests of politicians and trade unions. While Opposition parties and several trade unions claim the Bill is a threat to the Free Education in the country and a step towards militarising the education system, the Govt and others who are supportive of the Bill argue that there is a dire more..

Jul 22 (GV) An amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure allowing the Magistrates to visit places of detention has been turned into a political issue by a section of the govt and by some extreme nationalist elements. What this means is that the opposition to the amendment is supporting the continuous practice of torture in Sri Lanka. Torture is considered in international law as one of the most heinous crimes; it is also considered a serious crime in the SL law through the Convention Against more..

Jul 22 (CT) Last week Karu Jayasuriya, the former Speaker of the House and Deputy Leader of the UNP, summoned a meeting of all Opposition political parties for an open discussion. Given the precarious position of the country’s economy and the looming threat to the very survival of its democratic institutions, Karu J could not have chosen a better and more opportune time to summon such a meeting. In the same strain, the writer could not have chosen a more apposite time to pen more..

Jul 22 (TM) A local study on compliance with antibiotics regimens prescribed and dispensed in the setting of a tertiary care govt hospital by its outdoor pharmacy revealed alarmingly high rates of both non-compliance and partial compliance which resulted in both adverse health and economic consequences. This finding was made by T.D. Gamage (attached to the Uni of Ruhuna Faculty of Medicine pharmacy degree programme), more..

Jul 22 (CT) Sri Lanka has over 50% living below the poverty line, and malnutrition rate is estimated to be 18%. It is obvious that first priority should be given to the relief of hunger. Then to fighting COVID 19, a health care problem. It is after relieving these that money should be devoted to infrastructure, like highways. But in Sri Lanka it appears to be the other way round. Health care is a priority, but even there are we acting sensibly. On 15 July, the Director of the Health Promotion Bureau is quoted as more..

Jul 22 (ST) The country is in a multiplicity of inter-related and intertwined crises and widespread social upheavals. Apart from solutions to the specific grievances, drastic changes in economic policies are required to ensure financial and economic stability. Protests and social upheavals due to severe economic difficulties, unavailability of fertiliser, protests against the charging of fees at the Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and arrests of protestors confront the Govt. more..

Jul 22 (FT) Health Minister Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi yesterday distributed nine Nissan Urvan vans among the provinces with the objective of maintaining the proper control of COVID and improving the health systems. These vans, valued at around Rs. 90 million, were funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Health System Improvement Project and coordinated by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health has taken steps to provide these vans to the Kandy, more..

Jul 22 (Island) Protests against the Kotelawala Defence University (Amendment) Bill continue. Media reports that Parliament will take up the bill for debate soon seem to have made its opponents intensify their agitations. Mass gatherings are sure to give a turbo boost to the spread of Covid-19. Nobody seems to care two hoots about the dire warnings medical experts have been issuing about an explosive spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus. more..

Jul 22 (ST) Are you struggling to come to grips with the chemical fertiliser ban amidst a macroeconomic crisis? If so, you are not alone. We had similar questions about the policy: Whether the ban can solve the Balance of Payment (BOP) crisis; can we go 100% organic overnight and ensure food security or can we save dollars by restricting fertiliser imports, and many more. more..

Jul 22 (FT) Parliament is considering seeking the assistance of experts and researchers for its important committees, such as the Committee on Public Finance (COPF), the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA). Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said the idea was mooted at the Parliamentary Liaison Committee which met yesterday chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. more..

Jul 22 (FT) Centre for Biomedical Innovation (CeBI) will hold an online workshop under the theme Biomedical Product Development: A SL Story on 29 July from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and it is the fifth in a series of online workshops being held as part of the Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference. Participation for the workshop is free-of-charge and is aimed at healthcare professionals, biomedical equipment suppliers, engineers and clinicians and biomedical engineering students in general. more..

Jul 22 (DM) Minister Keheliya Rambukwella recently announced that 100,000 metric tons of rice was to be imported to control rice prices in the market. This was confirmed by Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage. Minister Bandula Gunawardena said that tenders had been called for the import of rice. All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) National Coordinator Namal Karunaratne said that this situation more..

Jul 22 (Island) COVID-19 has had us in its vice-like grip for over a year. It was, and still is, a pandemic that was able to inflict many a telling blow to this resplendent Motherland of ours. We have had violent cluster spread of the disease, and to all intents and purposes, bar the shouting, there is community spread in many areas of the country. We have gone through a recent debilitating lockdown from June 2021 with all kinds of restrictions and now the powers-that-be have decided to ease more..

Jul 22 (Island) SL has excelled in sprint events at South Asian and Asian athletics events and the general belief is that the country’s strength is in sprints. But of all Olympic track and field disciplines sprint events were the least competed at Olympics by SL athletes during the last four editions. The 400 metres hurdles, the event in which Duncan White won the country its first Olympic medal in 1948, is the least discussed discipline with regard to medal prospects at the international level now. more..

Jul 22 (DM) An elderly woman was accidentally jabbed with two doses of the Moderna vaccine today when she went for her inoculation at a center in Kandy. After receiving the second injection, just moments apart from her first dose, she felt faintish and developed other complications. She was vaccinated at the Ogastawatta vaccination center in Kandy where she was immediately provided preliminary treatment after which she was admitted to the Peradeniya teaching hospital. more..

Jul 22 (Island) In villages and urban areas in SL children play softball cricket, soccer, running and jumping after school, weekends and during end-of-term holidays. This article is based on my experience from 1943. Children can use space available in areas near their houses or in space available around their house. Children are creative, to plan, execute and resolve their problems and learn from their errors. It is important for children to actively take part in sports with whatever more..

Jul 22 (ST) The 20-year Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP) prepared by the CEB in keeping with the govt’s 2019 policy guidelines has been turned down by Power Minister Dulles Alahapperuma. Since it is a policy of Prez Rajapaksa that by 2030, 70% of the country’s energy consumption should be from renewable energy sources, Minister has informed the CEB to revise the plan to achieve the 70% more..

Jul 22 (DN) More than half of SL’s contingent for the XXX11nd Summer Olympic Games have now arrived at the Athletes’ Village while the rest of the competitors are due here in the coming few days. Judoka Chamara Dharmawardana, shuttler Niluka Karunaratne, gymnast Milka Gehani De Silva, shooter Tehani Egodawela and swimmer Aniqah Gaffoor have arrived at the Athletes’ Village during the past few days. Apart from those five competitors, four more Sri Lankans are due to check in more..

Jul 22 (Island) Tuesday night the national cricket team’s status can only be summed up thus; brain-dead. Literally, everyone watching the match knew that Lakshan Sandakan that day was a spent force but Chamika Karunaratne was on a roll but no one seemed to be worried to pass the message onto captain Dasun Shanka. The end result was Sri Lanka snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For a man who humbled Pakistan in their own backyard not so long ago, more..

Jul 22 (CT) All arrangements are already in place to settle a US$ one billion International Sovereign Bond (ISB) maturing on 27 July 2021, a spokesman of the CB said. “We will first pay off this $ 1 billion sovereign bond on time. Thereafter, we will take steps to reinvest over $ 300 million worth of investments made by local banks and financial institutions through SL Development Bonds and currency swap arrangements. more..

Jul 22 (Island) HNB PLC achieved another important milestone in its transformation journey, after once again securing its ranking in the UK based- The Banker Magazine’s Top 1,000 World Banks for the fifth year in a row. The magazine is the world’s premier banking and finance resource, providing global financial intelligence since 1926. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking has set industry benchmarks since 1970, providing comprehensive intelligence about more..

Jul 22 (FT) JAT Holdings Ltd. this week said the oversubscription of its Rs. 2.2 billion Initial Public Offering confirms that the appetite in the market exceeds shares made available. “The oversubscription affirms that the market interest exceeds the shares offered during the IPO, further proving our organisational and financial stability,” JAT Holdings CEO Nishal Fernando said. “In record time, the shares issued by the IPO were fully subscribed and we couldn’t be more pleased more..

Jul 22 (FT) Export of gems, diamonds and jewellery have doubled this year in comparison to the corresponding period in 2020, with officials hinting that full year performance will be robust even though the industry remains wary of recent policy changes. As per provisional data, gem, diamond and jewellery exports in the first seven months of 2021 amounted to $ 183 million as against a very low $ 90 million in 2020. more..

Jul 22 (FT) A total of 47 COVID-19 fatalities were confirmed on Tuesday, raising the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,917. The fatalities include 26 males and 21 females. In total, 2,281 fatalities have been male and 1,636 fatalities female. In terms of age distribution, 75.04% fatalities were above 60 years of age, 23.67% fatalities were between 30 and 59 years of age, and 1.29% fatalities were below 30 years of age. Of the fatalities confirmed on Tuesday, 33 were above age 60 and 14 were between more..

Jul 22 (FT) A batch of two million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine are due to arrive in the island today, with a total of 5.6 million doses of the vaccine expected by the first week of August. SL has received 9.1 million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, including today’s batch. SL’s COVID-19 immunisation program on Tuesday administered either the first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 257,033 persons. This includes 130,596 persons who received more..