Mar 10 (CT) The tender to award electricity installations off the islands of Jaffna, driven by solar power, to a Chinese company was taken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is the donor of the project, and not by the Govt of SL, EPDP Leader and Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said on 6 March. Devananda speaking to the Media in Vavuniya had further said that an Indian company too had tendered for this project but because of geopolitics this project is now stalled. more..

Mar 10 (DM) Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi who recently recovered from Covid-19 said that she struggled between life and death. Minister tested positive for Covid-19 on Jan 23, and was later admitted to the IDH for treatment, where she spent several weeks undergoing treatment. In an emotional interview, Minister Wanniarachchi recounted her near death experience, explaining how she had to seek the assistance of a ventilator to breathe. more..

Mar 10 (CT) Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has directed a letter to the Foreign Minister appointed by the Myanmar's Military-backed Govt, U. Wunna Maung Lwin. Maung Lwin came into power alongside the Acting Prez of Myanmar, Myint Swe after a coup d'état orchestrated by the Army against the democratically-elected Govt of Myanmar on 1 February. In the letter, Gunawardena has invited Maung Lwin to participate in more..

Mar 10 (SLN) A special operation conducted by Navy in seas off Talaimannar on th March led to the apprehension of 4 suspects who were attempting to smuggle over 1189kg of dried sea cucumber into the island. Making a strong commitment to fence off smuggling activities via sea routes, Navy has been conducting regular operations in island’s waters. In a similar operation, North Central Naval Command had searched 2 suspicious dinghies off Talaimannar and found 1189kg and 83g of dried more..

Mar 10 (AD) A 5-member judge bench of the Supreme Court has been appointed by the Chief Justice to take up a petition challenging the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. SC Justices Gamini Amarasekara, Yasantha Kodagoda, A.H.M.D. Nawaz, Kumudini Wickremesinghe and Shiran Gunaratne will accordingly serve as the members of the bench. The relevant petition, filed by public interest litigation activist Attorney-at-Law Nagananda Kodituwakku, has been fixed for support more..

Mar 10 (AD) Attorney General (AG) has directed the IGP to investigate five suspects whose names were disclosed by the report of the PCoI which looked into the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Accordingly, probes will be carried out into Abu Hind, Lukman Thalib, Lukman Thalib Ahmed alias Abu Abdulla, Rimzan and Mahendran Pulasthini alias Sara Jasmine who were named in the 17th chapter in the report. Special team of 12 legal officers more..

Mar 10 (AD) Catholic Bishops’ Conference in SL (CBCSL) has urged the govt to take immediate action to implement the recommendations in the report compiled by the PCoI which investigated the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. In a special statement, the CBCSL further appealed to the govt that full power and freedom be given to the AG to prosecute the perpetrators who aided and abetted the dastardly terrorist act and those who were found guilty of negligence. more..

Mar 10 (AD) Traffic on the Colombo-Kataragama main road has been blocked from the Ambalanthota area due to a protest by farmers. Representatives of 86 farmers’ organizations are currently engaged in a Satyagraha which has continued for 53 days since January 26. The Satyagraha is based on 06 demands including the gazette of the proposed elephant fence in Hambantota. In support of their Satyagraha, nearly 1,500 farmers’ representatives launched a protest today (10). more..

Mar 10 (EN) The Rajapaksas sold the 2019 Easter bombings to secure election victories and the PCoI has glossed over allegations that the terrorists behind the attack were once in the state’s payroll, former MP Bimal Rathnayake said. Speaking at an event in Matara yesterday, the former JVP MP accused Prez Rajapaksa and his govt of failing to find the masterminds of the attack that killed 267 and injured at least 500. more..

Mar 11 (DM) Most of the pandemonium that stalked the initial stages of Sri Lanka’s Public Vaccination Programme, appears to be gradually easing at most vaccination centres with better organization though not without a few inevitable hiccups. The rough edges in the vaccination programme could be further smoothed if the people kept properly informed through the Grama Niladhari of the division on when, where and to whom the vaccines would be administered. more..

Mar 11 (DM) In the year 1977, the TULF contested the General Election on a separatist ticket. The TULF swept the Tamil vote. That result was and is interpreted as an unofficial referendum on the Tamil people’s views on separation. And so the argument can be made as follows; if in any geographical territory the vast majority of people believe it is in their best interest to be independent of any directives however insignificant originating from any structure of authority outside that territory, more..

Mar 11 (FT) The full report of the Presidential Commission on the Easter Sunday massacre is yet to be released to the public. Even so, what is available in the public domain should have led to the posing of hard questions. How did fundamentalist Islamic terrorism gain a foothold in Sri Lanka? How can Sri Lanka be turned from a breeding ground for majoritarian and minoritarian extremisms into a haven for moderation? more..

Mar 11 (CT) The large anterior foregut of the prawn occupies much of the posterior of its head and gives the impression the prawn has crap on its head. When a person or body of persons who have crap on their own head are judgmental or talk ill of another they are said to be afflicted with the prawn syndrome. UNHRC Core Group on SL (CGSL) appears to be badly affected with the prawn syndrome. Had the Core Group got a clean slate then submitting a resolution to the UNHRC more..

Mar 11 (GV) There is a social experiment that has been doing rounds close to Women’s Day this year. To help understand the human mind, participants are asked to solve a riddle and their responses are recorded. Riddle is as follows (feel free to attempt it yourself): A father is about to bring his son to a job interview applying for a position at a large stockbrokers company. Just as they arrive at the company’s parking lot, son’s phone rings. He looks at his father who says, “Go ahead, answer it.” more..

Mar 11 (CT) Heritage Sri Lanka is an application which can provide accurate information regarding archaeological sites in SL to both local and foreign tourists. The programme head of Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), Shriyananda Ratnayake, said the objective of the project was to improve tourists’ access to correct information and satisfaction on heritage sites through a comprehensive digital source to more..

Mar 11 (TM) As a decisive week approaches for SL at the UNHRC, with the Core Group resolution on Sri Lanka to be taken up for vote, SL Govt has decided to face the vote, even with the surety of being defeated, rather than opt for a last-minute consensual resolution. The Govt, it is learnt, after deliberating the resolution and the vote, had decided to give priority to managing local optics instead of the mood of the int'l community. Govt, for its part, has also crunched the numbers and more..

Mar 11 (CT) Thank you, deputy chairman of committees for the opportunity to speak at todays’ debate. As I commence I must bring to the notice of the house that we are debating not just a report but an incident that happened almost 2 years ago, which took away 270 odd lives and critically injured more than 500 people in a series of bomb attacks, suicide attacks unprecedented not just in this country. I would say anywhere in the world that such coordinated attack at different places more..

Mar 11 (CT) Covid came, Covid saw and Covid conquered. This was despite our attempts at educating the impervious runners of govt and their men in uniform who were trying to literally gun down the virus. I was following Covid’s course in my motherland very intently to make sure my friends in the Dept of Health Services and those in power did not sidestep the process of containment. I wrote at least 12 articles to the press on Covid control in Sri Lanka, its goods, its bads, and its uglies more..

Mar 11 (FT) Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona met with China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Luo Zhaohui on 3 March. Vice Minister Zhaohui warmly welcomed the Ambassador and stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China will continue to extend its fullest support to the Ambassador in Beijing and effusively acknowledged his long standing connections with China. The long discussion that followed included cooperation and mutual support in international fora, more..

Mar 11 (Island) National level data pertaining to the use of proper commercial sanitary pads by menstruating women in SL shows only about a third of the menstruating female population uses feminine hygiene products, thus causing concern. Two thirds of menstruating women population use alternative methods to absorb menstrual fluids. Meanwhile, it was revealed that as high as 90% of menstruating female workers more..

Mar 11 (DM) Int'l Women’s Day is a much awaited date on the calendar. Various issues regarding women’s rights are openly discussed and major celebrations are held worldwide. Feminist waves have over the years made a certain amount of influence on people and their thought processes. Women are slowly penetrating into male-dominated professions. With feminist struggles, more emphasis has been placed on equality and gender parity. But pandemic posed newer challenges to women more..

Mar 11 (Island) The govt has resorted to gobbledygook to obfuscate the issue of facilitating further foreign involvement in the Colombo Port. It is notorious for signalling left and turning right, so to speak. Its plan to partner with India’s Adani Group to operate the East Container Terminal (ECT) went pear-shaped owing to protests by the port workers. It did its darnedest to put the deal through but succumbed to trade union pressure; it obviously did not want a crippling port strike, more..

Mar 11 (CI) A brilliant century from Shai Hope - his tenth in ODI cricket - led WI to a crushing eight-wicket win over SL in the first ODI in Antigua. Set 233 to win, WI knocked off the runs with three overs to spare, with the sort of ruthless efficiency it is generally so difficult to execute against SL, particularly on slower tracks that might have something in them for spinners. A 143-run opening stand between Hope and Evin Lewis, more..

Mar 11 (FT) Charith Group of Companies Chairman Dr. Clarence Kumarage added another feather to his cap when the Human Rights Organisation presented him with an Award of Excellence recently. This is taking into account the prominence of Dr. Kumarage in the field of human rights. One of the key initiatives by him was to assist employees who were shunned from their workplaces due to the employers suffering from financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. more..

Mar 11 (FT) Disgruntled tourism industry stakeholders yesterday claimed that the Govt has neglected hotel employees from the national Covishield vaccination program, despite the sector being identified as a priority. “Although the hotel industry staff, among other tourism staff, have been categorically informed that they will be given priority in the national vaccination drive, it is very unfortunate that employees have had little or no access to the vaccination rollout so far,” more..

Mar 11 (CT) Young man Dhananjaya Lakshan’s fighting half century helped Colts to register a comfortable 20 run win against Bloomfield C & CA in the Major Club T20 Cricket Tournament 2020/21 conducted by SLC yesterday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Colts openers failed to give their team a solid start as Heshan Dhanushka was sent back to the pavilion for just 5 runs and Vishad Randika (0) was also caught behind in the very next over, which put a lot pressure on Colts camp. more..

Mar 11 (DM) Cabinet nod has been received to form a new company as a fully-owned subsidiary of Lanka Salu Sala Limited to promote other local products including batik, handloom textiles and local apparel products directly, by setting up a strong international network. Based on a concept of the State Ministry of Batik, Handloom Fabrics and Local Apparel Products, Minister Wimal Weerawansa on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to form the proposed company more..

Mar 11 (FT) A total of 342 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total number of patients detected in the island to 86,685. Among the patients detected yesterday are 295 associates of the Peliyagoda cluster and five persons linked to the prisons cluster. The triple clusters that emerged from Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda and Prisons have thus expanded to 82,352 patients. The total patient count also includes more..

Mar 11 (FT) Sri Lankan citizens stranded in Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be repatriated to the country with the intervention of Minister Namal Rajapaksa. During his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rajapaksa had visited Sri Lankans, who had been stranded due to the pandemic and various other reasons, who were staying in a park near the SL Embassy. Minister had assured that those registered with the Embassy would be repatriated back to SL in the immediate future. more..

Mar 11 (FT) Govt of Japan provided a grant of $ 63,197 (Rs. 12 mil) through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) for the provision of Gravity-Fed Water System for Clean Water Supply in the Ambagamuwa DS Division, Nuwara Eliya District. The grant contract was signed on 9 March at the Ambassador’s Residence in Colombo, between Ambassador of Japan Sugiyama Akira and Adventist Development & Relief Agency Country Director W.M.P.R. Bandaratilleke. more..

Mar 11 (DN) Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena postponed the Motion for Leave of Absence for MP Ranjan Ramanayake until the CA verdict is given on the motion filed by MP Ramanayake. He said that the Motion for leave of absence for Ramanayake cannot be accepted at this point, until the Appeal Court decision is given. The Opposition accused the Speaker of being biased as he had postponed the motion for leave of absence more..

Mar 11 (DM) National Transport Commission (NTC) has decided to implement Human Resource Management (HRM) master plan to enhance customer service in the public transport service. NTC Director General Commander (Rtd) Nilan Miranda said that HRM programme will be conducted with the employees of the transport institutions as the pilot programme. The similar programme will be assigned to the SLTB office staffers, drivers & conductors. more..

Mar 11 (DM) SL batsman Danushka Gunathilaka was given out in the most unusual fashion during the 1st ODI vs West Indies today after Kieron Pollard appealed for his wicket after his foot — seemingly unintentionally — pushed the ball away from the bowler. During the 22nd over of the SL innings, Gunathilaka, who had just reached his half-century, took a couple of steps out to take a single but then decided against it. When he moved to get back to his crease, he deflected the ball away from more..

Mar 11 (FT) Govt and Opposition MPs traded charges in Parliament yesterday as the debate on the report of the commission that probed the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks got underway with some backing calls by the Catholic Church for an int'l investigation into the attacks. SLPP National List MP Jayantha Weerasinghe commenced the adjournment debate, calling for action against those named by the PCoI more..

Mar 11 (USE) Women’s groups representing SL’s diverse communities celebrated the success of a pop-up handicrafts market supported by the US govt and the Kandy District Secretariat in commemoration of Int'l Women’s Day. “The US is proud to help make a space for women to collaborate and lead the way as entrepreneurs, social leaders & peacemakers,” said Ms. Debra Mosel, USAID Deputy Mission Director. “This initiative promotes stability, social inclusion, more..

Mar 11 (RW) At least 10 world class custom-made train coaches were dispatched by India to Sri Lanka on Tuesday as a part of the $82.64 million contracts signed between the two countries in 2017 that committed India to deliver a total of 160 coaches to its Southeast Asian neighbour. The vibrant Made in India coaches arrived at the Colombo Port in a display of India-SL’s transport cooperation and fulfilment of procurement deal signed by the Govt of SL’s SL Railways and India’s RITES Ltd. more..

Mar 11 (DN) Over 700,000 Sri Lankans have received the AstraZeneca jab also known as Covishield as of yesterday. However no serious side effects or fatalities have been reported so far despite the fear over immunizations, epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige said. He was speaking at the first ever media dialogue hosted by the Media Centre for National Development which was held yesterday at Govt Information Dept. more..

Mar 11 (DM) While condemning the media reports circulating on social media and news websites, Vehicle Importers Association of SL (VIASL) and the Vehicle Importers Association of Lanka (VIAL) said there was no agreement with the Govt on obtaining permission to import vehicles under a quota system. VIASL President S.K. Gamage said that a news item is circulating these days claiming that the govt and vehicle importers have reached an agreement to re-import vehicles under a specific quota. more..