Jul 5 (DM) The use of plastic and polythene cannot be completely eliminated, but it can be done by implementing certain programmes to reduce their use, such as 3R stands, Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe said. He said the subject Minister Mahinda Amaraweera is to present several cabinet papers proscribing a number of non-essential but alternative polythene and plastic products. The Ministry is currently working on the 3R concept, which stands for Reducing-Recycling- Reusing. more..

Jul 5 (DM) Shooter Tehani Egodawela will be forced to compete in the Tokyo Olympics without her coach, U.M. Premalal. Department of Sports Development, in a letter addressed to the National Shooting Sport Federation (NSSF) of SL and copied to the National Olympic Committee (NOC), has requested to consider sending the coach along with the shooter as per a discussion held on Friday. “Whatever the chances Egodawela has on winning will be increased by the presence of her coach. more..

Jul 5 (AD) One army soldier was killed while another five were wounded and hospitalized after a fuel lorry crashed into a parked army truck in the Ambagaswewa area on the Padeniya-Anuradhapura road this morning. A truck carrying seven members of the army attached to Jaffna and Vishwamadu camps, en route to the Ambepussa army camp, had parked in the roadside at Ambagaswewa in order to rest for a while. However, while the soldiers were behind the parked truck, a speeding fuel bowser had suddenly crashed into more..

Jul 5 (TM) If the authorities do not take action today to resolve their grievances, the Complementary Medical Services Joint Board states that they will engage in a continuous trade union action from tomorrow. The Complementary Medical Services Joint Authority has commenced a trade union action from yesterday reporting sick leave based on 14 demands including granting promotions. The trade union action is to be taken today as well and if no solution is provided today, a continuous strike more..

Jul 5 (AD) Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has decided to convene Parliament for 4 days starting from 06th to the 09th of July. Meanwhile it has been decided that the motion of no confidence against Minister Udaya Gammanpila will be taken up for debate in parliament on July 19 and 20. The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amd) Bill, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Amd) Bill, more..

Jul 5 (FT) Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Capt. Nihal Keppetipola on 1 July made a special and friendly inspection tour at the private sector controlled terminals of the Port of Colombo. Here, he visited the South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) and the Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) of the Port of Colombo. The SLPA Chairman also held discussions with SAGT Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Romesh David and CICT Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Jack Huang. more..

Jul 5 (AD) The Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) demands the mobilization of everyone everywhere, grounded on a level of ambition that supercharges ideas into concrete, bold and implementable solutions. Thus, we need to renew our determination to enact a multilateral response that gears green recovery efforts through multi-stakeholder partnerships. Noting the importance of mainstreaming and contributing to the policy discourse on green development in SL, more..

Jul 6 (CT) Yesterday, this newspaper carried three stories of sexual abuse of children. One story was published under the heading NCPA records 4,000 sexual abuse complaints of minors, the second story was published under the heading, Two arrested for posting sex trafficking Ad on website and the third, Minor abused by mother’s paramour. The article published under the heading NCPA records 4,000 sexual abuse complaints of minors read, NCPA said during the first six months of this year, more..

Jul 6 (CT) A man is best defined by his actions. Actions testify to the person’s priorities. Do not lie to the people. Hide nothing from the people. This simple dictum guides all of Cabral’s actions, assertions. Cabral is a unique politician. His mind combines a profoundly humane attitude and a capacity for incisive analysis. There is hardly a match for his ability to unravel the exploitative nature of the global economic order. Cabral is the quintessential pragmatic patriot. more..

Jul 6 (DM) Political scientists’ vocabulary describes the rule by a family as familiocracy. The dual citizenship ban on public office was removed under the 20 A to the Constitution especially to pave way for future entry of the fourth sibling of the family. Basil Rajapaksa, with no specific academic or professional qualifications though, is a man to be reckoned with. His sharp acumen and skills in getting around people, electoral organization more..

Jul 6 (DM) The planned move to make the SLPP National Organizer Basil Rajapaksa a Cabinet Minister after being sworn in as an MP has occupied prominent space both in electronic and print media at least for the last couple of weeks. The SLPP, as a party, intended to make his swearing in as a parliamentarian an event of grand political celebration- a high profile occasion. True to its intention, the party has been successful in giving it such glamour through media coverage. more..

Jul 6 (DM) Teachers have decided to boycott the Regional Learning Centres that were to be unveiled by the Ministry of Education yesterday to facilitate online education as they are yet to be provided the COVID-19 vaccine on a priority basis. These centres have been established on regional basis in view of the inability to open schools due to COVID-19 outbreak. Accordingly, prior to school re-opening, the govt has decided to establish Learning centres, to provide online facilities to students more..

Jul 6 (TM) Yesterday, Sri Lanka saw people lining up in front of military hospitals to receive the Covid-19 vaccination, in a context where various opinions have already been expressed for and against the military’s involvement in the country’s Covid-19 management efforts. The country is in a dilemma, as on the one hand, SL is going through a situation where every helping hand matters, and on the other hand, more..

Jul 6 (CT) Prez Rajapaksa was bestowed an ignominious honour today (5) when he officially entered a worldwide ranking of Press Freedom Predators compiled by the international media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The global list is a who’s who gallery of political leaders who have cracked down massively on press freedom, with accompanying portraits of their predatory methods against journalists, their favourite targets and incendiary quotes justifying more..

Jul 6 (TM) Science is based on finding the truth and acting accordingly, though the situation may keep changing, as seen with the Covid-19 pandemic. One has to adjust flexibly to recognise and accept the real position and overcome emerging problems, making best use of the available resources. I hope that readers will forgive me for making mention of some personal experiences over the last few years to make clear the attitudinal changes that need to be made to help our country and its people to more..

Jul 6 (Island) Nippon Paint unveiled its breakthrough paint technology VirusGuard+ in SL recently. SL launch of premium interior paint with antimicrobial properties was followed by the overwhelming reception in Singapore & Malaysia where it was first introduced in the latter part of 2020. The paint is enriched with copper (Cu+) IONsto offer optimum protection against the current Covid19 strain while being washable, stain resistant and having low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds). more..

Jul 6 (Island) The Arts Faculty admits and graduates the largest number of students every year. The private sector tells us that most are unemployable because they lack English skills. The university’s apparent failure to instill English skills in its students is then taken as reinforcing a stereotype that already exists—the irrelevance of the Arts and Humanities degree. In this article, I look at how the Arts graduate is constructed as a failure in the public imagination, as well as the need for more..

Jul 6 (FT) State Minister Nivard Cabraal yesterday declared pandemic-prompted tough times are only temporary but collective responsible action by all will ensure they don’t prolong, as the Govt continues with measures to address multiple challenges. “Tough times are temporary and collective responsible behaviour by importers and exporters will ensure such times will be shorter than longer,” he told a media briefing, more..

Jul 6 (FT) DFCC Bank, the premier commercial bank in SL was recently awarded as the Most Trusted Retail Banking Brand and Best Customer Service Banking Brand in SL by the Global Brands Magazine, UK for the year 2021 under the category of Banking and Finance attesting to its continued status as the Bank for Everyone. These accolades highlight the Bank’s continuous efforts to create inclusive value for all stakeholders while building and securing a resilient Sri Lanka. more..

Jul 6 (EN) SL’s banks had done better than initially expected amid stimulus measures and regulatory loosening, Fitch Ratings said though a weak sovereign credit and Coronavirus undermined the operating environment. Bad loans in Fitch rated banks had fallen to 9.1% from 9.7% but was expected to grow to 10.5%, when regulatory relaxation ended. State bank loan growth was driven by lending to govt linked lending. “SL banks’ performance has been better than Fitch more..

Jul 6 (TM) The protracted dispute and tug-o-war between the proposed 24 contracted players and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), over the national players’ annual contracts, are unlikely to be sorted out even before the India limited-over series, The Morning Sports learnt yesterday (6). “The players are to sign a tour-only contract for the India series. The annual contracts are still under discussion,” a senior SLC ex-co official said. more..

Jul 6 (TM) There is no argument about the notion that the internet is a double-edged sword, and how judiciously we handle it is what most of the time determines what we get out of it. However, times have changed; people have changed. And so have the illegal trades which once were limited to usual clients and conservative methods. The entire country saw the degree to which such trades have evolved with the use of the internet, when an organised group that trafficked a 15-year-old girl online more..

Jul 6 (Island) The health sector trade unions have made the public as sick as a parrot. It looks as if they took turns to inflict maximum possible suffering on the hapless people dependent on free healthcare. No sooner had the nurses called off their strike than the Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine (JCPSM) struck work; the protesting union is now threatening a continuous strike. The sick are like the grass that suffers when elephants fight. more..

Jul 6 (FT) Daily COVID-19 detections dropped to 869 yesterday, the lowest since 25 April, taking the total number of COVID-19 detections in the country to 266,499. 15,780 PCR tests were conducted yesterday. Among the patients detected were 816 persons linked to the New Year cluster. This raises the cumulative patient count of the Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda, Prisons, and New Year clusters to 258,750. more..

Jul 6 (FT) The UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena called on the Government to disclose the rationale behind plans to sell 51% of the Kerawalapitiya West Coast Power to a US-owned company. He questioned as to why the Govt was moving to sell key stakes of the national energy infrastructure to foreign companies. “At present, 51% is owned by the Govt, 27% by the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), 18% by the Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) and the rest by LTL Holdings (LTL). more..

Jul 6 (ST) In the wake of confusion triggered with the increase in fuel price after maintaining it at a stable level for 20 months, the new pricing policy adopted by the govt has triggered a cost of living crisis, economists and analysts said. They said people should be made aware of the reason for the increase of the price of a litre of Petrol 92 Octane by Rs.20 to Rs.157, Petrol 95 Octane by Rs.23 to Rs.184, Auto Diesel by Rs.7 to Rs.111, Super Diesel by Rs.12 to Rs.144 and Kerosene oil by more..

Jul 6 (FT) Central Bank yesterday refuted rating agency concerns over letting licensed commercial banks and the National Savings Bank (NSB) invest in Sri Lanka’s International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs). It said rating agencies continue to undermine the banking sector’s stability and fuel speculation regarding investments of licensed banks in the Govt of SL’s ISBs and Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs). more..

Jul 6 (ST) As far as SL’s apparel sector is concerned there is a huge increase in consumption patterns where energy, water and global emissions are over 50 percent and there is waste creation, said Dr. Ananda Mallawatantri, Country Representative IUCN at a webinar held in Colombo last week on the topic Road Map to a Greener Apparel Sector. He said that a lot of thinking is going on to reduce the carbon footprint following the Paris agreement and many other conventions. more..

Jul 6 (FT) Cricket sensation Mahela Jayawardena has accepted the first listed company Board seat in Janashakthi Insurance PLC. “We are pleased to welcome Mahela to the Janashakthi Life Board. His long history of leadership as a legendary cricketer, coupled with his managerial expertise as an entrepreneur will be invaluable to Janashakthi Life as we continue to evolve and build deeper relationships with our policyholders as a purpose-driven insurer,” the Company said. more..

Jul 6 (TM) Although there is no objection to the Education Ministry’s plan to open schools with less than 100 students in July as a first step of reopening schools that are currently closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers’ trade unions have warned that they would not report to work if all teachers are not vaccinated prior to the reopening. Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said that more..

Jul 6 (FT) On the sidelines of the national program to manufacture organic fertiliser under the directive of Prez Rajapaksa, a manufacturing centre in the Mahaweli L Zone was officially launched at Weli Oya last week. The centre was opened under the patronage of State Minister Siripala Gamalath. The organic fertiliser requirement of the farmers in the Mahaweli L Zone is expected to be produced in this centre at Helambawewa in Weli Oya. SL Army and Civil Defence Force are assisting the centre. more..

Jul 6 (Island) CIPM Sri Lanka – the Nation’s leader in human resource management recently announced that CIPM’s foremost professional qualification – CQHRM (Chartered Qualification in Human Resource Management) received the accreditation of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) – the UK, the leading professional body for experts in people at work. With hubs in UK, Ireland, Middle East, and Asia, CIPD UK is the career partner of choice more..

Jul 6 (FT) SJB MP S.M. Marikkar unveiled a Govt Top 10 fails list compiled by the SJB, alleging that the new Rajapaksa regime has been unsuccessful in delivering the promises under the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour policy framework. According to Marrikar, the list comprised of: 1) Prez Rajapaksa for failing in his leadership, 2) PM and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for the failure of the economy and the SL Rupee, more..

Jul 6 (CT) The first-ever High-Performance Training programme for highranking Tennis players initiated by SL Tennis Association (SLTA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports, officially commenced on 2 July at the SLTA) premises, adhering to all COVID-19 safety and health guidelines. President of the SLTA Iqbal Issack, General Secretary Pradeep Goonasekera, Chairman – Coaching and Promotion Rukmal Cooray, Honorary Secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC) Thiyumi Abeysinghe more..

Jul 6 (DN) SL Captain Kusal Janith Perera admitted that his players will need to be more consistent in both batting and bowling if they are to be really successful in the international arena. The wicket-keeper batsman made these observations shortly after the third and final ODI against England was washed out at Bristol on Sunday. “There were a lot of positives that we could take back from this tough tour but we are not consistent enough in batting and bowling,” he said after conceding ODI series more..

Jul 6 (TM) The mixing of Covid-19 vaccines is set to commence in SL soon following yesterday’s arrival of a batch of 26,000 Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses, which will likely be used as the second dose for those who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine as their first dose. Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena would be releasing the guidelines regarding the administration of more..

Jul 6 (Island) Colombo Crime Division officers have questioned model Piumi Hansamali following a complaint on threats to the life of television presenter Chamuditha Samarawickrama. Hansamali said that she had visited the CCD at Dematagoda after being summoned last week. The model went live on Facebook yesterday and said that she had received a letter from the Police instructing her to appear before the CCD. Hansamali said the complaint had been made by Chamuditha more..

Jul 6 (DM) SL is not the first country in South Asia to receive the Pfizer vaccine as claimed in a tweet by Prez Rajapaksa's official twitter account today morning. According to the UNICEF, Maldives received 5,850 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on March 25, through the COVAX facility which was administered to the Maldivian public. This makes Maldives the first country in South Asia to receive the Pfizer. Then on May 31, Bangladesh became the second country in South Asia to receive more..