Mar 9 (DN) Based on complaints made to Hotline 118 by women who were being blackmailed, two persons have been arrested by the Police, Minister Sarath Weerasekara said, adding the women need not fear in the future and called on them to provide information on any person who tries to blackmail them. He assured that the law would be strictly enforced against such perpetrators. Public Security Minister said this at the ceremony organised to establish Public Security Committees in more..

Mar 9 (AD) Grade 5, 11 and 13 of all schools in the Western Province will resume academic activities from Monday (15), says Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris. In addition, academic activities of other grades are expected to resume on the 19th of April after the school vacations, he said. Academic activities for students of all grades in other provinces are, meanwhile, expected to begin from the 15th of March. Further, classes for children who more..

Mar 9 (FT) Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday withdrew what was dubbed as a contentious circular issued in Jan 2021, followed by a clarification in early February. The circular centered on regulatory measures on monitoring credit exposure undertaken by stockbrokers and dealers. The withdrawal follows stockbroker firms making representations with regard to system limitations and practical constraints regarding the submission of certain information required more..

Mar 9 (DM) Following the weekly cabinet briefing, the Govt had approved streamlining the duties of Traffic Police and Road Safety Division using digitized solutions. The decision was taken to focus on giving priority to reduce existing traffic congestion in urban areas. Cabinet spokesman said the Police is a leading body empowered to ensure the safety and security of the public and to maintain law and order. Police also provide multiple services to people across the country, the spokesman said. more..

Mar 9 (EN) Sri Lanka’s govt is asking Heath Officials not to accede to political pressure when carrying out the country’s vaccination programme against the Covid 19 pandemic. Speaking at the weekly cabinet briefing held this morning, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirana said that Prez Rajapaksa and Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi have instructed officials to make sure that no political more..

Mar 9 (Island) A tender had been approved for the installation of 20 new solar power plants at 20 grid substations in various parts of the country, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said. He said the procurement of the solar power plants was carried out under five packages consisting of four grid substations per package. Procurement for these projects had been done in accordance with the international competitive bidding system, he said, adding that the Public Finance Department more..

Mar 9 (CT) Kadawatha Police are carrying out a probe where a lawyer attached to the Mahara Court and a Sergeant serving at the Mahara Prison had exchanged fisticuffs. The incident took place within the Mahara Court premises. Sources said at the end of Court proceedings at around 3.30 p.m. on 7 March, a suspect’s lawyer had spoken to the suspect who was held in the Court cell and then attempted to hand over his mobile phone to the suspect. more..

Mar 9 (EN) Garnier Francis, the Swiss Embassy employee has been indicted under the Penal Code by the High Court for allegedly providing false information to a Public Official, her lawyers said. The indictments were made in the High Court Number 3 in Colombo presided over by Judge Namal Balalle. Francis is alleged to have complained to police that she was detained and sexually harassed by a group of men more..

Mar 9 (NF) Ranjan Ramanayake appeared at the Sri Lanka Press Council on Tuesday (09) with regard to the examination of three complaints filed by him against an article published in a newspaper causing insult to him. Prison Officers formed a protective circle to accompany Ramanayake into the premises. When he was being taken out back to Prison, he was seen falling on the ground at one point and thereafter, prison officers were seen dragging him into the prison bus. more..

Mar 9 (TM) State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal said in Parliament today that the govt is adopting a methodology to increase the amount of foreign exchange flowing into the country. He said this in response to several remarks made by former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, who recently said that the country’s economy was at risk. State Minister Cabraal stated that the govt has managed to control interest rates without allowing the rupee to depreciate. more..

Mar 9 (Island) More than 40 acres of forest at the Bogahapattiya proposed sanctuary in the Central Province had been bulldozed on Sunday and the clearing of the forest was going on yesterday as well, environmentalists said last night. Some environmentalists reported the land grab to the police via the 1997 hotline, but no action had been taken until this edition went to press. Environmental Scientist Supun Lahiru Prakash said: “The proposed Bogahapattiya Sanctuary is being destroyed. more..

Mar 9 (EN) SL will set up a pharmaceutical investment zone in Millewa, Horana with an initial investment of 8 billion rupees, Minister Ramesh Pathirana said. “After the current govt came to power, steps have being taken to establish several Pharmaceutical Zones in the country giving priority to the manufacture of medicine locally,” he said. Two pharma zones had already started in Arabokka in the Hambantota district and Oyamaduwa in the A'pura district linked to the SPC. more..

Mar 9 (Island) Speaking at the Int'l Women’s Day Celebrations, organised by the female councillors of the Matale District Local Govt institutions, SJB MP and member of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus, Rohini Kavirathne, said that one of her male counterparts in Parliament had called for a boycott of the ceremony held at Pallepola in Matale on Sunday. Out of 12 members of the Women MPs Caucus invited to more..

Mar 9 (AD) Post mortem on the female body found in a suitcase in Dam Street has revealed the woman had been died before being decapitated. The decapitated body stuffed in a suitcase was found abandoned at the said location on Monday (1). The DNA test carried out on headless body confirmed that the DNA samples obtained from the decapitated female body matched with that of the mother and brother of a 30-year-old woman from the Kuruwita area, previously suspected to be the victim. more..

Mar 9 (Island) Permanent Representative of SL to the UN, Mohan Peiris, said on Friday that SL govts had done its best to negotiate a settlement with the LTTE. Speaking during consultations on the Seventh Biennial Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, Peiris said: “For nearly 30 years, we tried a cocktail of mechanisms from peace talks to ceasefires with the aid of our interlocutors, however the high price, to bring the group of non-state actors responsible for more..

Mar 9 (FT) The leader of the UNP and former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the govt is printing money in the manner of printing Sunday newspapers. He made these remarks at a meeting held in Borella with the youth of the Green Blood organisation affiliated to the party on Sunday, regarding the current situation in the country. Responding to the questions posed by the youth members, Wickremesinghe said more..

Mar 9 (AD) Gas companies have requested the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) for an increase of the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices claiming that they are facing a financial crisis due to rising gas prices in the world market. Currently, a 12.5 kg domestic LPG cylinder sells for Rs 1,493 in the local market. When the govt reduced the price of gas by 240 rupees from Rs 1,733 to Rs 1,493 in 2019, the gas price in the world market was USD 360 per metric ton. more..

Mar 9 (DM) Plans are afoot to provide Tab computers to 1401 national and provincial level schools in the country within the months of March and April, State Minister Susil PremaJayantha said. He told Parliament that 96,919 Tabs have already been purchased from Abans (Pvt) Ltd., for this purpose. Abans was chosen among several bidders through a bidding process and added that funds were allocated from the 2020 budget to purchase them. Cabinet decision was taken not to more..

Mar 9 (Island) The govt had decided to conserve the Muthurajawela wetland under the UDA as the Wildlife Ministry and Department could not afford to pay for the immediate acquisition of some of the land, Urban Development State Minister Nalaka Godahewa said. Godahewa said that his Ministry had both institutions with the relevant technology and capability to conserve the ecosystem. more..

Mar 9 (AD) SJB MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today filed a writ application seeking the Court of Appeal to revoke the recommendations of the PCoI appointed to probe the alleged incidents of political victimization. The Attorney General, Secretary of the PCoI and its three commissioners – SC Justice (Retired) Upali Abeyratne, Court of Appeal Judge (Retired) Daya Chandrasiri Jayatilake and IGP (Retired) Chandra Fernando have been named as the respondents of the writ application. more..

Mar 9 (AD) A prison official has been interdicted over a selfie taken by SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna along with incarcerated MP Ranjan Ramanayake during prison visit. Commissioner-General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya mentioned this during a media briefing held today. On Monday (8), MP Rajakaruna visited Ranjan Ramanayake, who is currently detained at the Angunukolapelessa Prison and later posted a selfie they had taken together on his official Facebook account. more..

Mar 9 (DM) Member of COPA Dr. Harsha de Silva quoted the report of the committee said that the govt had lost Rs. 15.9 billion due to sugar scam. The report of the Public Finance was tabled in the House by its Chairman Anura Priyadharashana Yapa this morning. The report disclosed that a small group of individuals have benefited from the scam either to the fullest extent or part. Dr. de Silva, said that the the issue was, whether more..

Mar 10 (DM) During a recent online presentation for the Manila-based Asian Centre for Journalism, I was asked to define the term dangerous information. This was a term that I had used in my talk. I was trying to show how the dynamics of online information including fakes and misinformation had changed in the past year with the lockdowns. Dangerous information is a different entity from fakes and misinformation in that it can be authentic and verified information. But it could still be dangerous or more..

Mar 10 (ST) Residents wait outside a ramshackle old building, the door is padlocked (there is no proper keyhole). As the govt official, the most important in the area, arrives and opens the padlock, residents trickle in one by one, causing the official to tell them to wait in line outside, in the hot sun, as the office doesn’t have enough space. Inside, the official sits at an old table filled with files and begins dealing with the public. The official is the Grama Niladhari (GN), formerly known as the headman more..

Mar 10 (DM) MP Harini Amarasuriya discusses gender and harassment, online and offline. “I thought the obvious choice was Bimal,” Harini Amarasuriya recalled. “He was on the list, he was our number one. He was my choice.” The 2020 general election changed academic-turned politician Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s life in ways she never imagined. A choice had to be made when the NPP only secured three seats in Parliament. more..

Mar 10 (CT) President’s Media Division’s (PMD’s) website on Monday ran a story under the heading Families possessing Govt lands without ownership receive grants under Prez’s patronage. PMD further said, to quote excerpts, “Families who had been in possession of Govt lands without clear ownership started receiving grants under the patronage of Prez Rajapaksa today (8) at the Presidential Secretariat. Govt’s objective is to ensure that every family owns a land with undisputed ownership as more..

Mar 10 (CT) I write to respond to your letter dated 21 Jan 2021 (your ref: NPC/PCID/HO/61/2020), in which you address the complaint I lodged with the Commission on 17 June 2019 on the above subject. I drew the attention of the NPC to the fact that it appointed Mr. Prasanna J. Alwis as CID Director despite the CID having previously caught him tampering with evidence in the investigation into my father’s murder. I asked the Commission to investigate how this happened. more..

Mar 10 (DM) Women’s participation in politics has been a topic that has been subject to debate. Increasing the female quota in Parliament is still a goal Sri Lanka needs to achieve even though she had produced the world’s first woman PM, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Today, even though women constitute a majority of the population, men continue to take lead in many professions. With a vision to honour and value the contribution made by more..

Mar 10 (DM) For the past 73 years the Palestinians have sought justice for crimes committed against them since the newly-created world body - the UN - set up the State of Israel within Palestine on Palestinian lands. Palestinians have accused the State of Israel and Israeli organisations of continuously committing War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. Over the years, the cries of Palestinians have gone largely unheeded, with the US blocking efforts to investigate allegations more..

Mar 10 (CT) SL is currently being discussed at the level of the UNHRC along with notorious countries such as North Korea, South Sudan and now Myanmar after its military coup. There is no question that it is unfair by the SL people and the SL state to be bracketed with such countries. This has happened due to the failure of successive govts to deliver on pledges made to address the longstanding ethnic conflict and to repair the psychological and developmental damage more..

Mar 10 (Island) This addendum to the topic is based on the incisive analysis of the plantation wages: Collective Bargaining or otherwise by Gotabaya Dasanayaka (GD) in The Island of 01st March 2021. The eminent labour legislation specialist, former Director General of the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has most undoubtedly hit the nail on the head drawing the attention of the readers to more sensitive aspects revolving round the importance of the time-tested more..

Mar 10 (Island) The Black Sunday protest was a huge success. Thankfully, some politicians who sought to make political capital out of the event failed in their endeavour. It became a people’s agitation campaign led by religious dignitaries. Their message was loud and clear; they are deeply disappointed at the outcome of PCoI probe into the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The govt had better heed their voice and act accordingly instead of trying to take cover behind the flawed PCoI report, more..

Mar 10 (Nikkei) Portugal's colonial involvement in SL ended in 1658, but the colonists left behind a vocabulary that is still audible in the baila that reverberate across the South Asian island. The word, derived from bailar, the Portuguese for dance, refers to the catchy tunes that get Sri Lankans dancing at festive occasions such as wedding parties and cricket matches. But this musical genre - also popular in Indian coastal state of Goa, more..

Mar 10 (FT) People’s Bank announced the results for its year ended 31 Dec 2020, reporting consolidated net loan growth of Rs. 315.7 billion; representing a 21.6% growth year on year and accounting for close to one-third of overall net sector credit extended during the period. Close to two-third of credit was to State and State-Owned Enterprises. Its consolidated assets reached Rs. 2,400.6 billion up 17.1% from Rs. 2,049.8 billion at end 2019 whilst its total deposits grew 21.8% to reach more..

Mar 10 (FT) SL Institute of Directors (SLID) and Institute of Chartered Corporate Secretaries of SL (ICCSSL) announced a collaboration to provide an interactive platform for public and private sector company board secretaries, enabling the sharing of best practices and building of key competencies required to perform their roles effectively. Accordingly, an MOU was initiated between the SLID and ICCSSL to inaugurate the Board Secretaries Forum, with the virtual inauguration more..

Mar 10 (FT) The total COVID-19 patient count rose to 86,343 with the detection of 304 COVID-19 patients yesterday. This includes 283 associates of the Peliyagoda COVID-19 cluster and five persons linked to the Prisons cluster. Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda and Prisons clusters have expanded to 82,052 patients. The total patient count also includes 2,174 SL returnees from abroad, 950 Navy personnel and their contacts, more..

Mar 10 (FT) Health authorities yesterday confirmed four more COVID-19 deaths and the country’s COVID-19 death toll currently stands at 511. An 81-year-old individual from Uduvil tested positive for COVID-19 at a private hospital in Colombo and was admitted to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. However, she died of blood poisoning, COVID-19 and acute diabetes yesterday. A 57-year-old individual from Akurana was admitted to the Teldeniya Base Hospital after he tested more..

Mar 10 (TM) Fitch Ratings yesterday noted that SL banks’ foreign-currency (FC) exposures pose capital and FC liquidity risks, with pressure most likely to come from significant FC exposure to the CCC rated sovereign. “We believe that the sovereign’s credit profile is likely to present a challenge to banks’ access to and cost of external funding. Consequently, SL banks’ ratings continue to be constrained by the sovereign rating,” the rating agency noted in a dashboard released more..