Jul 31 (TM) Starting from tomorrow, the Sri Lanka Army will begin vaccinating members of the public with the second dose of the AstraZeneca anti Covid-19 vaccine. General Shavendra Silva reassured that he has requested for adequate stocks of the vaccine for this purpose from the consignment which is to arrive this evening. “We are expecting to start off tomorrow, there are some formalities which have to be fulfilled through the Ministry of Health before this,” he said. more..

Jul 31 (EN) Defeated LTTE separatists are violating the intellectual property of Nike, a US sports goods maker, by using images stamped with brand marks of both organizations, foreign ministry said. “The attention of this Ministry was drawn to a video circulating on social media of a pair of shoes, bearing the NIKE logo and LTTE insignia,” Foreign Ministry said. “On inquiry, NIKE, Inc. confirmed that the shoes depicted more..

Jul 31 (Island) SLPP MP Rohana Dissanayake has submitted a private member’s motion seeking parliamentary approval for a nationwide project to capture and sterilise stray monkeys. The motion by MP Dissanayake is included in the latest addendum to the Order Book of Parliament. The MP proposes sterilising the stray monkeys to lessen damages caused by them to crops. The MP also proposes that the stray monkeys could be captured and later be released to islands in the middle of tanks more..

Jul 31 (ST) Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has intervened to take speedy action to bring back young SL athlete Parami Wasanthi Maristela’s father and other fishermen, who have been stranded in India’s Andaman Islands for about a month after being released from custody. They were arrested for illegally straying into Andaman’s waters. Mr Gunawardena’s attention had been drawn to last week’s Sunday Times report which carried the appeal from Parami and her family, urging more..

Jul 31 (DM) COVID-19 clusters are forming within the health workers with several doctors having being infected with the virus despite being fully vaccinated in recent days. A senior medical source said that majority of the health workers including doctors who are on the forefront of the battle against the pandemic are symptomatic and are under treatment. This has led to a shortage of manpower within the health sector, more..

Jul 31 (EN) Minister Sarath Weerasekara, a former naval Rear Admiral, insists that all Sri Lankans – especially youth – need military training in camps to build a disciplined society. I am sure he intends well, but his rationale doesn’t hold up. I am uncertain what his definition of discipline is, so let’s look to the Oxford dictionary. It defines discipline as training people to obey rules through punishment and controlling behavior as a result. Is this unquestioning compliance driven by fear more..

Jul 31 (Island) Another six govt hospitals have received donations of essential medical equipment from the Commercial Bank of Ceylon as it continues to support the healthcare sector and helps strengthen emergency care facilities in local hospitals. The latest donations made by the Bank’s CSR Trust include a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) delivery device to provide respiratory support to premature babies; a Hand-held Doppler used to conduct non-invasive more..

Jul 31 (ST) The two farmers thought they were safe after chasing off a herd of elephants coming into their paddy fields. It was frightening work – elephants have killed more than 15 people around their homes in Kahatagasdigiliya, Anuradhapura in recent months. The other villagers who had been with them went home but these two farmers, both in their sixties, stayed behind to watch over their crops, thinking they were safe. more..

Jul 31 (Island) The Law Students’ Union has raised concerns against the decision by the administration of SL Law College to resume examinations without paying attention to a number of issues detrimental to students. The LSU in a letter addressed to the Principal of the Law College, Shehan Perera, points out that holding examinations while inter provincial travel restrictions were in place would leave out large number of students from other provinces since no public transport was allowed more..

Jul 31 (CT) Medical experts have warned due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the country, it will be impossible to contain a sudden spike in the number of infections and deaths due to the pandemic. Dr. Prasad Colombage said currently there is a strong tendency for the number of deaths to increase at an alarming level and warned it could increase up to 4,000 or 4,500 deaths per month before long. Under this situation Dr. Colombage warned that the daily death toll could range from 100 to 150. more..

Jul 31 (EN) Sri Lanka’s state revenues up to June were up 8% from a year earlier but was below budget targets amid Coronavirus lockdowns, Treasury Secretary Sajith Attygalle said. Usually 40 to 42% of projected revenues come in the first half and the balance in the second half due to most of the income tax coming in the second half. “In the first six months state revenuers are 8% higher than last year,” he said. more..

Jul 31 (ST) Moving to organic agriculture as an alternative tool to address the shortage of chemical fertiliser for cultivation practices has achieved dramatic progress in onion cultivation at Galkiriyagama in the Anuradhapura district. The growth of organic fertiliser has been accomplished by J.M.K. Wickramasinghe, a farmer from the Galkiriyagama Kuda Elagamuwa area. He now uses 100% organic fertiliser. Mr Wickramasinghe said with the great demand for chemical fertiliser more..

Jul 31 (CT) CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) claimed that State Minister Duminda Dissanayake’s conduct is a barrier in the implementation of the General Policy Guidelines pertaining to the electricity industry. President of CEBEU, Saumya Kumarawadu stated that energy cartels backed by Dissanayake are attempting to set an unrealistic goal of generating 70% renewable energy by 2030 knowing that this is impossible and with the intention that this would lead to giving up on more..

Jul 31 (GT) A TOURIST who was raped by a hotel worker at a glamorous resort in Sri Lanka 11 years ago has finally won her quest for justice after the tour operator was held liable. The woman, now aged in her 40s, was on holiday with her husband in July 2010 at the Club Bentota Hotel on Paradise Island for a 15-night all inclusive holiday. The couple booked the holiday through package tour operator Kuoni. In the early hours of July 17 the woman, from Glasgow, was walking through more..

Jul 31 (AD) Interprovincial bus and train services will resume from tomorrow (August 01) in compliance with health guidelines, says State Minister for Transport Dilum Amunugama. However, the public transport services will be up and running only in the morning and evening, the state minister noted. “We decided not to operate public transport services in the middle of the day as the health authorities have warned that there is still a very serious pandemic situation.” more..

Jul 31 (ST) Parents and students continue to struggle following the sudden absence of teachers from online teaching for close on two weeks but teachers say they have been waiting too long for salary increments the Govt has failed to grant. Please note that online classes will not be held today, Sorry today’s class will not be conducted were common messages sent to parents from teachers through their WhatsApp groups more..

Jul 31 (CT) Colombo Port City, the Hambantota Port, Norochcholai Power Plant, expressways have all been built with technological assistance from Chinese State Owned Enterprises, which is playing a vital role in building infrastructure in many emerging economies stated BRISL Director and researcher on Maritime Affairs Yasiru Ranaraja. “One of the driving forces of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is the State-owned enterprises (SOE’s) of China. more..

Jul 31 (ST) The social scene in Colombo has begun to pick up but restaurant and hotel associations are warning businesses not to break the 25% capacity rule. Govt approved the reopening of the hospitality industry four weeks ago. The approval for their re-openings with a 25% capacity cap came after an appeal made by the associations in Colombo and the SL Tourism Development Authority. However, despite the strict rules that were in place investigations done by the Sunday Times more..

Jul 31 (CT) A consignment of 728,460 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provided by Govt of Japan under the COVAX’s dose sharing mechanism arrived in SL this evening. The shipment had been airfreighted from Japan on SriLankan Airlines flight UL455 earlier today. This is the third COVAX allocation to Sri Lanka, all being entirely donor-funded, with no cost to the country. more..

Jul 31 (CT) Neutralising antibodies (NAbs) also known as good antibodies had significantly reduced in those who obtained the AstraZeneca vaccine after four months of administering the first dose, said Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Director of Operations and Clinical Services at Allergy Immunology, and Cell Biology Unit, Uni of Sri J'pura. He made this remark, in reference to a recent study conducted in Sri Lanka into the Immune responses to a single dose of the vaccine in healthcare workers. more..

Jul 31 (ST) Sexual abuse of children living in the estate sector is on the rise, Communist Workers’ Union Chairman Attorney S. Moranraj warned. A physician working in the area, Dr. Champika Jayawardena, said these children were vulnerable because their estate worker parents left them at home during the day and paid little attention to them. When the parents were migrant workers, the children were at even greater risk of abuse. Dr. Jayawardena, who is a member of more..

Jul 31 (CI) Allrounder Isuru Udana has announced his retirement from international cricket, conveying his decision to SLC through a letter on Friday. Udana, 33, will continue to play domestic cricket, and will be available for franchise tournaments, starting with the CPL, starting in late August. A desire to spend more time with family is understood to be a factor in his decision. "Cricket was, is and always will be my greatest love more..

Jul 31 (AD) Interprovincial bus and train services will resume from tomorrow (1) in compliance with health guidelines, says State Minister for Transport Dilum Amunugama. However, the public transport services will be up and running only in the morning and evening, the state minister noted. “We decided not to operate public transport services in the middle of the day as the health authorities have warned that there is still a very serious pandemic situation.” He stated that buses & trains are resuming operations more..

Jul 31 (ST) Prof M D Lamawansa, the present Ambassador of the Russian Federation, is to assume duties as the next Vice Chancellor of the Uni of Peradeniya. He will take up the post at the beginning of next month, after present Vice Chancellor Upul B Dissanayake’s term of office ends on July 31. In January 2020, Prof Lamawansa was nominated for the post of SL Ambassador to the Russian Federation, with a concurrent accreditation to Armenia, Belarus, Moldova & Uzbekistan. more..