Oct 10 (ST) Artificially managing the currency will not mark the return of dollar export earnings, exporters say. “Generally, most exporters carry retained earnings to their respective countries for global market promotions. The major portion of this is used as an operational expense. These earnings depend on the appreciation of foreign currency to be competitive in the world market. A free float would redirect export earnings to the host nation. more..

Oct 10 (ST) SAJ Associates Pvt Ltd has been working over the past two years amidst the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic to launch a unique one-of-a-kind collection of Moringa (drumstick) product range. Company Managing Director of Founder, Jayampathy Arambepola said that these premium quality products can challenge any international product or brand in this segment of the market. All products in the Moringa range are 100% Sri Lankan, herbal, natural and healthy. more..

Oct 10 (ST) The Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) will host a public webinar series in conjunction with the release of IPS’ annual flagship report Sri Lanka: State of the Economy 2021 on October 11, 13 and 14 from 3-4 pm. This year’s report focused on the theme Pandemics and Policy: Protecting Health and Promoting Economic Recovery, examines some of the critical socio-economic issues and policy choices facing SL today as it transitions to a new normal, more..

Oct 10 (SO) While several SL sports administrators join the new rich in a free-for-all, a wrestling manager has seen greener pastures on the other side of the fence: The contingent of SL wrestlers who went on tour to contest the 17th World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway returned to the island without its manager who has reportedly decamped and has stayed back in the saga of missing athletes and vanishing officials. more..

Oct 10 (TM) The 2018 budget speech introduced a new form of tax, implemented with effect from 1 Jan 2019, which was one of the reasons why children in rural areas had to climb trees and mountains to get better connectivity to engage in their online learning. The Cellular Tower Levy was brought in by the previous Govt where the telecom companies in the country were asked to pay Rs. 200,000 for each tower they own per year. This was brought forward despite many concerns from the industry, more..

Oct 10 (Island) Thirukumar Nadesan who is under investigation by the bribery commission over his alleged offshore assets paid a deposit of $1.3 million to buy Cyprus citizenship, according to the Pandora Papers leak of secret financial documents. The investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reported that Nadesan, the husband of former deputy minister Nirupama Rajapaksa, had tried to secure Cyprus citizenship sometime after 2014. more..

Oct 10 (TM) Despite local media reports stating that the Ministry of Energy will be seeking assistance from China to purchase more fuel on a long-term credit basis, Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila vehemently denied such an allegation. When inquired if he had mentioned to local media that SL had held discussions with China through the Chinese Ambassador to purchase fuel for six months on a sovereign bond – more..

Oct 10 (TM) Commenting on the removal of the maximum retail prices on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), milk powder, wheat flour, and cement, State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna said that action would be taken if the prices of these products were increased unreasonably. Alagiyawanna said he held a meeting with the relevant companies and importers of the above-mentioned products last Friday and had instructed them to refrain from unfairly increasing prices. more..

Oct 10 (Island) Parliamentary committee tasked with probing managerial efficiency and financial discipline of the Govt – says that overall financial and performance compliance average of government institutions during the Yahapalana period had a steady progress. A report tabled in Parliament by COPA Chairman Prof Tissa Vitarana shows that the average of overall financial and performance compliance of all institutions are 64% for the financial year 2015, more..

Oct 10 (Island) Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera’s recent statements promoting mono-ethnic supremacy have exacerbated communal divisions in the country, says the JVP. Former JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake said that people have a constitutional right to speak their minds and support the brand of politics they favour. “It is not a right they have been given by the Prez or the govt. That right has been upheld by many SC decisions. more..

Oct 10 (ST) The Cabinet has decided to allow unlimited imports of rice in a fresh attempt to prevent traders from exorbitantly increasing prices following the withdrawal of the gazette notification on maximum retail prices. The imports will be currently confined to the state sector and supplies will be made available through Lanka Sathosa, Co-operative outlets and suppermarkets. Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena said the objective was to provide certain varieties of rice at prices more..

Oct 10 (Island) SJB alleged that the Govt was attempting to sweep the Pandora papers under the carpet and the investigation will be mere eyewash. SJB MP SM Marikkar told Parliament that the govt appeared to be intent on hushing the issue by linking the time of the commission of the alleged offence to a non-Rajapaksa regime era prior to 1994. The aim of linking the issue to those years was because money laundering regulations were introduced in the country only in 2006. more..

Oct 10 (TM) The Govt is working with an overseas service provider to rectify a technical anomaly in the QR code system provided for Sri Lanka’s vaccine passport, which will meet current standards of international travel, including that of the UK, The Sunday Morning learnt. The entry criteria announced last week by the UK and the US for fully vaccinated individuals caused concerns among Sri Lankans anticipating foreign travel. more..

Oct 11 (DM) It is perhaps time to accept that SL’s inability to manage economic crises brought on by the pandemic and its vulnerability to these externalities most certainly flow from the incoherence of Vistas of Prosperity as a policy document. The foreign exchange shortage and accompanying volatility are directly linked to the deteriorating external credit profile of SL’s Treasury. The root cause was a drastic reduction in Govt revenue projections caused by more..

Oct 11 (CT) Every crisis in SL’s checkered history both before and after independence began and ended with a political crisis. More accurately, perhaps, every crisis got extended, for nothing ever ended except the war. Ironically, it is the Rajapaksas, who claim sole ownership for ending the war, that are now caught all ends up in all manner of crises. What is strange and paradoxical about their situation is that for all the crises that they are the primary cause of and are being more..

Oct 11 (ST) Last week was a bit hectic for many Tamil politicos due to the visit of Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. Many of them, even from newly formed parties tried to get an audience with him but with little success. It was said that those who met him took up the Tamil cause and issues faced by the community. Northern fishermen who staged a protest on Friday against the assault of two local fishermen from Jaffna by more..

Oct 11 (ST) First the Panama Papers, then the Paradise Papers, now the Pandora Papers, next will we have the Pappadum Papers, a wag may well cynically question? That passing query has hidden meaning in SL, given that the pappadum, a flamboyant looking and delicious tasting puff lends little nutritional value to the meal that it accompanies. Likewise, the continuing exposes of politically exposed Lankans, caught in the net of the global elite who stash their money in tax more..

Oct 11 (CT) Ever since the landmass of Lanka separated from the Indian sub-continent, several millennia ago and today’s Sri Lankan elephant was confined to its forests, they had been peacefully living in co-existence with the indigenous people as well as the Sinhala-Aryan settlers who merged with them around the 5th century BCE for nearly two millennia until the British in around 1850 began the opening up of tea, rubber and coconut plantations by clearing the forests in the montane and more..

Oct 11 (CT) The Pandora Papers’ recent disclosures of wealth amassed by world leaders and several influential people around the world have resulted in these people denying the accusations made against them and making public declarations of their innocence. Among the world leaders who have been named in the Pandora Papers are PM of Czech Republic, Andrej Babis, King Abdullah II of Jordan and more..

Oct 11 (Island) An unfortunate incident where a woman burnt her five-year-old daughter’s mouth with a firebrand by way of punishment for lying has been reported from Kilinochchi. This mother from hell is not alone in harming hapless minors. Some children undergo extremely cruel punishment at the hands of their parents in other parts of the country as well, especially when the results of competitive examinations are released. The fifth-graders who face a fiendish scholarship examination more..

Oct 11 (Island) October marks the 40th anniversary of the Sunday Island and we celebrate this occasion today by publishing two articles, one by the first editor of this paper, Vijita Yapa, and the other, a condensed translation of another that appeared in the Irida Divayina last week. Upali Wijewardene who founded Upali Newspapers Ltd. (UNL), was a nephew of D.R. Wijewardene, the Beaverbrook of SL, whose Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (ANCL), best known as Lake House, more..

Oct 11 (ST) The sordid secrets of the shady rich and the extreme measures taken to stash their loot through a complex financial maze in offshore accounts were revealed last Sunday when the explosive findings of a six hundred strong battalion of investigative journalists went public. It took over 600 journalists of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) over a year to wade through the murky labyrinth and unearth from 12 mil documents & 3 terabytes of stored data, more..

Oct 11 (ST) A highly motivated Sri Lanka badminton squad will embark on a month-long tour to Europe, from the island today with four members set to leave Colombo. The four members flying out today are Buwaneka Goonathilleka, Sachin Dias, Ranthushka Karunathilaka and Kavidi Sirimannage while the Karunaratne siblings — Niluka and Dinuka — are expected to join them midway. Originally the contingent had five members, but one half of the Women’s Doubles pair, Thilini Handehewa more..

Oct 11 (CI) Sri Lanka have finalised their 15-member squad for the men's T20 World Cup, making four changes to the one they had announced a month ago. The injured Lahiru Madushanka and Nuwan Pradeep, and the pair of Praveen Jayawickrama and Kamindu Mendis have been left out, and Pathum Nissanka, Akila Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara and Binura Fernando have been brought in. Offspinner Dananjaya was an integral part of more..

Oct 11 (Island) The person at the other end of the phone calling from Nallur was very angry. “Mr Editor, you have killed me in your paper today”. I did not ask him where he was speaking from, as he may treat it as an insult. I did not know what he was speaking about and asked what story he was referring to and after listening to him, told him to call me back in half an hour. There were no ubiquitous mobile phones at that time nor easy access to telephones in the eighties. more..

Oct 11 (FT) SL’s COVID-19 detections rose to 526,383 following the detection of 720 COVID-19 patients on Sunday. The 720 patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster. 7,073 PCR tests were conducted yesterday. The previous day, 5,853 PCR tests and 3,178 rapid antigen tests were conducted and 726 COVID-19 patients from the New Year cluster were detected. A total of 421,751 patients have been detected from the New Year cluster, in addition to 82,785 persons more..

Oct 11 (FT) Private sector borrowing has spiked to a record Rs. 134 billion in August, propelling the first eight months’ figure to Rs. 625 billion. August borrowing reflects a high 15% growth and comes notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact. Analysts attributed the record borrowing to rebound in business sentiment prior to the third-wave-induced lockdown. Prior to August, highest pte sector borrowing was in March at Rs. 112 b. more..

Oct 11 (Island) David Pieris Holdings and Avonet Technologies announced the launch of a new joint venture which will power Affiniti FinTech Solutions where David Pieris Holdings is investing Rs. 100 million to accelerate Affiniti’s global expansion. Affiniti is a suite of Fintech solutions that digitally transforms end-to-end delinquency management and customer relationship management processes. Currently, Affiniti enables automation of collection and recoveries of BFSI, Telco, Utility and more..

Oct 11 (DM) The countdown for the ICC T20 World Cup has begun. The upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 will be played from Oct 17 to Nov 14 in the UAE and in Oman. Former T20 World Cup Champions and three-time finalists -Sri Lanka- along with Bangladesh will be competing with the minnows of the cricketing fraternity -Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and Oman- for a spot in the final group stages. A big comedown for a once proud cricketing nation. more..

Oct 11 (FT) Information and Communication Technology Agency of SL (ICTA) said that the revenue license issuance at Divisional Secretariat offices is experiencing interruptions due to the higher citizen turnout to obtain licenses accumulated during the COVID lockdown period. The software system implemented by ICTA in collaboration with provincial authorities of the Dept of Motor Traffic forms the backbone software solution for issuing approx. 6.5 million vehicle revenue licenses annually more..

Oct 11 (FT) Sri Lanka has been ranked amongst the top five Wellness Tourism Destinations in the world by the Global Wellness Institute. The announcement was made by Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga in Paris during a meeting of the tourism ministers held in parallel to the IFTM Top Resa in Paris, France. Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Egypt Tourism Minister Khaled El-Anany, Greece Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, more..

Oct 11 (ST) The tourism industry is set to bounce back as Sri Lankan hotels are moving out of their pandemic-related operations and resuming their hospitable welcome to the travellers which is set to roll in much needed foreign exchange to the cash-strapped nation. Sri Lanka relaxed travel restrictions on Sept 28, opening its doors to travellers fully vaccinated to walk right through with no more PCR tests and more..

Oct 11 (FT) COVID-19 vaccinations were administered to 117,587 persons on Saturday and a total of 57.01% of the country’s total population has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to date. 14,698,140 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 12,360,162 persons have received the second dose as well. On Saturday, 11,260 persons received the first dose of Sinopharm and 71,838 persons received the second dose of the vaccine. more..

Oct 11 (FT) Health officials confirmed 35 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, raising the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 13,331. 7,449 fatalities are male and 5,882 fatalities are female. Of the COVID-19 deaths confirmed on Saturday, 18 were male and 17 were female. Thirty COVID-19 fatalities confirmed on Saturday were over the age of 60, four fatalities were from the 30 to 59 age group, and one was below the age of 30. 76.5% of the total fatalities are over the age of 60, 22.34% are from more..

Oct 11 (TM) Despite the increase in milk powder prices, the supply of milk powder to the local market is not expected to reach optimum levels for at least another one-and-a-half months. Industry sources assured that they will be doing their utmost to rectify the existing milk shortage in the local market by releasing their existing stocks. However, their current existing stocks are limited as the repeated accumulation of losses over more..

Oct 11 (DN) Two international oil drilling companies have responded positively to further explore the possibility of extracting oil and gas resources hidden in the Mannar Basin, said Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila. He said that there are strong indications that over US $267 billion worth of oil and gas resources are in the Mannar Basin which could generate three times the country’s total debt and that to extract this over USD 3 million which is twice the investment of Colombo Port City more..

Oct 11 (DM) Credit card spend by Sri Lankans bucked the two-month long contraction, swinging to a sharp increase in July, days after the country removed month long restrictions in June in what appeared to be a reflection of some semblance of economic normalcy which was short lived. According to data, the total outstanding credit card balance soared by Rs.3, 027 million in July to Rs.121.66 billion. The rise in July in fact only managed to restore the credit card balance to the level more..

Oct 11 (ST) A decision to let out suspects from custody to cut the spread of COVID in overcrowded prisons has partly backfired with numbers of them repeatedly engaging in crime after being bailed, police said. Now, with lockdown and curfew rules being relaxed, senior police officers stationed in various parts of the country said they expect more complaints about crime. They said crime had been gradually increasing as more..