Sep 26 (Island) Pure Ceylon Tea, authentic SL cashew and spices attracted large number of visitors to the Sri Lanka stand at the World Food Istanbul Trade Fair which was held from Sept 9 – 12 in Istanbul, the Colombo foreign office said. The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Ankara organized B2B meetings through virtual platform for the Sri Lankan companies which displayed their products at the Sri Lanka stand which was frequented by prominent Turkish and foreign companies at the fair. more..

Sep 26 (ST) Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has got off free despite his much publicised fixing allegation related to the 2011 World Cup final between SL and India being proven a blatant lie. A year after these were made, the case has been relegated to the bin, with no evidence having been found to support any of his claims. Aluthgamage, now holding the agriculture portfolio of the present cabinet, more..

Sep 26 (Island) The hottest potato now on the lap of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is an unsolicited proposal from a giant U.S. corporation, New Fortress Energy (NFE), a NASDAQ quoted company on the New York Stock Exchange, to build a new offshore LNG (liquefied natural gas) receiving, storage and regasification terminal in Colombo. A framework agreement to go ahead with this proposal has already been allegedly signed but very little of this was known to the wider public. more..

Sep 26 (Island) Amal Silva spoke little English those days. During the Lord’s Test in 1984, when Ian Botham said not so complementary things about Amal’s mother, the opening bat was asking the non-striker and captain Duleep Mendis what’s going on. Both Moratuwa boys, they were playing contrasting knocks. Amal took 255 balls for his hundred while Duleep raced to 94 in 97 balls. The latter was dealing in boundaries particularly targeting Mr. Botham. more..

Sep 26 (TM) SL are most likely to tour Pakistan on a quickly-arranged int'l cricket tour on the request by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). SLC President Shammi Silva said that they are ready to send the national team to Pakistan but the only obstacle could be the tight schedule of the SL national side towards the last 3 months of the year. Yet he assured there could be a window available after SLC’s annual 20-over (T20) league, more..

Sep 26 (Island) Chilaw, except for its bustling bazaar, is a town which is seemingly wrapped up in a don’t worry me mood. Located 128 km from Colombo via Negombo one has to pass it on the way to Puttalam from which the road branches off, one leading to A'pura and beyond, and the other to Jaffna. But first how did it get its name? According to records the name is derived from the Tamil word Cilapam meaning pearl fishery. Pearl banks referred to as paars was where the divers operated. more..

Sep 26 (SO) Sri Lanka’s leading light fly weight (49kg) pugilist Sajeewa Nuwan Kumara of the Army lived up to his promise to deliver on the international stage by winning a bronze medal at the 58th World Military Boxing Championships in Russia. Armed with sound technique, the 29-year-old Lance Corporal has been almost unbeatable at home but has been found wanting against international opposition even failing to win a medal at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu. more..

Sep 26 (TD) For weeks headlines have hit news platforms around the world that SL is experiencing food shortages. Reports of essentials such as food and medicine being in short supply have created a very grim picture of the island nation and its citizens. The SL govt has been busy denying these reports, calling them blatant falsehoods, citing inaccuracies in such reports. Sights of long queues at the state-owned retailer Sathosa however, paint a different picture, which has since been used by more..

Sep 26 (SO) St. Mary’s College, Dehiwela ruled the roost in the schools boxing arena during the 1960s and 1970s and produced several national boxing stars such as Chavo de Kauwe who won a silver medal at the Asian Boxing Championships in 1973. Apart from the Van Cuylenberg brothers, there were the Tisseras, Van Heers, Foulstones, De Zilwas and Rozairos to name a few, who made the little-known school from Dehiwela a force to be reckoned with. The majority of the former Marian boxing more..

Sep 26 (Island) Justice Minister Ali Sabry PC ;ast week announced that a program to allow prisoners with a record of good behaviour to make home visits under strict conditions. “Prisoners need to prove their good behaviour to be qualified for this privilege,” Minister said after visiting the Welikada prison on Thursday to look into the issues and demands of a group of death row inmates engaged in a roof top protest for several days. more..

Sep 26 (ST) Former St. Peter’s cricketer Andri Berenger is in line of emulating the feat of one of the greatest batsmen SL has produced — Mahadevan Sathasivam, who had the honour of representing three national cricket teams. Sathasivam represented SL, then known as Ceylon, Singapore and Malaysia during the famous Bradman era. Prolific batsman Berenger is now on the verge of representing Qatar, where he is presently based. This will be his 3rd national team appearance more..

Sep 26 (SLN) A special operation conducted by the Navy in coordination with the Nilaveli Police made way to the apprehension of a suspect with a cache of explosives, at 08th Mile Post in Nilaveli on 24th Sept. The apprehension was made while suspect was illegally transporting the explosive items among which were; 27 water gel sticks - a type of commercial explosive and 500 non-electric detonators. During a coordinated search conducted by SLNS Vijayaba in the Eastern Naval more..

Sep 26 (TM) Controversial decision by the Govt to include a 5-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreement along with the sale of the Treasury-held 40% stake of Yugadanavi Power Station to US-based energy giant New Fortress Energy Inc. may send contradictory signals to potential investors interested in energy exploration in the Mannar Basin. Govt agreed to grant New Fortress a 5-year LNG supply deal to recover more..

Sep 26 (Island) The Lankan Angel Network (LAN), the country’s largest network of angel investors, has appointed Chandi Dharmaratne as its Chairperson for 2021/2022, at its most recent Board Meeting held in September. Ms. Dharmaratne is the first woman to lead the Lankan Angel Network. As she steps into this role, Ms. Dharmaratne succeeds Mano Sekaram, Founder/CEO – 99x, who welcomed her by stating; “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Chandi to take the reins of LAN/Angel Fund. more..

Sep 26 (ST) SL’s Finance Ministry, worried about falling levels of migrant worker remittances and foreign investment, is currently devising a streamlined and integrated mechanism to enhance investments and remittances. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has directed ministry officials at a high level meeting to formulate short and long-term policies in accordance with the new mechanism aimed at enhancing the quality and outreach of the rural remittances’ infrastructure system. more..

Sep 26 (ST) In a new twist to the forex crisis, overseas corresponding banks are refusing letters of credit from local banks. Importers lament that they faced several instances during past month where certain banks overseas refused to honour their letters of credit (LCs) but did not give a good reason for doing so. “But we know that they don’t have any confidence in SL’s situation. This is why they are wary of honouring these LCs,” more..

Sep 26 (ST) Workers, as a result of the current crisis on the tea plantations due to the ban on chemical fertiliser, will be directly affected with earnings likely to drop by about 30%. By next January workers will lose about 25-30% of their earning capacity due to the lack of crop, Planters Association Media Spokesman Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said. Owners of Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) predict that due to the loss of fertiliser, weedicide and fungicides the workers will also face a loss of earnings more..

Sep 26 (TM) The Ministry of Finance maintains that neither the Monetary Board nor the Treasury was involved in the recent reshuffle of several senior officials at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), The Sunday Morning learnt. Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle said the transfers or reshuffle of senior officials at CBSL were done by the Central Bank’s management and not by the Ministry or the Monetary Board. “The appointments to the Monetary Board are done by the President,” he added. more..

Sep 26 (ST) Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena warned the cost of living was expected to rise in the next few weeks as traders were faced with a crisis finding US dollars to pay import bills. he said world market prices had also increased and the prices of milk food, domestic gas, wheat flour and cement, among other items, were set to increase locally. “We cannot hide the fact we are facing a crisis over US dollars while more..

Sep 26 (Island) Consultative Committee on Defence has given its nod to amend the Immigrants and Emigrants Act No. 20 of 1948 to increase the current visa issuance period for foreigners from two to five years. The decision was made during the Defence Ministry Consultative Committee meeting held at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday. Accordingly the committee decided to permit the presenting of Immigrants and Emigrants (Amd) Bill to Parliament for a second reading. more..

Sep 26 (Island) The UNP said that it would not believe the story floating around that Cabinet ministers were in the dark about the govt’s signing a deal with the US based New Fortress Energy to build an offshore liquified natural gas (LNG) receiving, storage and regasification terminal. UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena said that the cabinet paper to the effect had been first submitted to the cabinet meeting held on Sept 9. “The agreement was signed on Sept 18. more..

Sep 26 (ST) A European Union delegation will arrive tomorrow for a routine review of whether Sri Lanka’s level of adherence to 27 international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance warrants a continuation of the GSP+ trade concession. It is not a sign, however, of the country having been placed on notice, authoritative sources here insisted. more..

Sep 26 (AD) The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines will be administered only to students who go abroad for higher studies, the Commander of Sri Lanka Army General Shavendra Silva stated. In order to obtain the aforementioned vaccines, it is mandatory to submit documents proving that the relevant student is leaving the country, he said. The Army Commander pointed out that it has not yet been decided to give Moderna or Pfizer vaccines to students at local universities. more..

Sep 26 (SO) Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the authorities are exploring the possibility of reopening the country on Oct 1, subject to restrictions. He said the final decision in this regard will be taken on Sept 30. Responding to questions raised by journalists following an inspection tour of the Nawalapitiya District Hospital yesterday, Minister said the present situation is being closely monitored, adding that the prevailing situation is somewhat favourable to reopen the country. more..

Sep 26 (TM) Thirty additional plots of land from around the country have been identified and earmarked by the UDA for investment projects on a 99-year lease basis. Accordingly, the investments would be carried out by the UDA without the involvement of the state property development entity, Selendiva Investments Ltd. In the recent advertisement published by the UDA, seven such plots of land were advertised for investment projects. more..

Sep 27 (DM) Traditionally the general debate of the UNGA is the most high-profile UN event of the year. Not unexpectedly, Prez Rajapaksa like a number of other world leaders chose to attend in person this year’s sessions that began on the 21st of this month. The UN General Assembly is the world’s parliament, where all the UN’s 193 member states are represented. Each sovereign state gets one vote so it is not exactly representative of the world’s population, more..

Sep 27 (DM) The recent fantasized prison tragedy, Lady goes to Gallows reminds a line in the traditional Appalachian old time folk song, The Maid Freed from the Gallows— it’s about a damned maiden pleading, Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while; Think I see my friends coming. Over the conduct of a minister inside the A'pura prison, where he threatened to kill two LTTE prisoners by brandishing a gun against their heads, six days after his raid on Welikada accompanied more..

Sep 27 (CT) With the rapid spread of COVID-19, it is important to understand that digitalising several systems can help to minimize the spread and it will also help to continue several processes without any interruptions or delays. Digitisation has made a positive impact in many countries and industries for several years and with all the available technology that exists today, every problem has a solution; a digital solution. more..

Sep 27 (ST) As Prez Rajapaksa accompanied by his spouse paid tribute a few days ago to Americans slain in 9/11, both with white roses in their hands at the memorial in New York, it is hard not to imagine how powerfully symbolic that gesture would have been if replicated on this country’s soil for countless victims of all ethnicities in Sri Lanka. At least, that, one might say to the cynics who will undoubtedly and with good reason protest that symbolism, by itself, is not enough. more..

Sep 27 (TM) Before SL could even assess its performance and the overall developments at the recent UNHRC session, the country is now required to deal with a EU delegation visiting the country to hold some decisive discussions that may have a direct impact on the GSP+ trade concession. The EU delegation is scheduled to visit SL from today (27) to 5 Oct, and meet representatives from civil society, trade unions and govt. What SL is facing at present is a risk of losing GSP+ concession. more..

Sep 27 (GV) Hours after losing the presidency, Mahinda Rajapaksa climbed on to a windowsill in his ancestral home and informed a crowd of grieving supporters, We must remember they got their majority vote from Eelam,. Medamulana Declaration reframed the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa by Maithripala Sirisena as a defeat of Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lanka by Tamils, Muslims and Christians. more..

Sep 27 (CT) Fears are mounting in Afghanistan as the Taliban tightens its grip on women’s rights, cutting access to work and denying girls the right to secondary school education. Last week, the Taliban excluded girls from secondary schools with only boys and male teachers allowed back in. After pledging a softer version of their brutal and repressive regime of the 1990s, the Taliban have been stripping away at freedoms one month after seizing power. more..

Sep 27 (Island) The behaviour of the coronavirus bears resemblance to a high-speed magnified video of Darwinian evolution. The virus changes in front of our eyes and variants emerge as the fittest that survive. Genome surveillance has succeeded in reading the genetic changes accurately and sees how the genotype expresses as phenotype. Genotype being the chemical-genetic constitution and phenotype, characters as manifested in the environmental background. more..

Sep 27 (AD) A woman was found strangled to death inside a house in the Rajagiriya area at around 3 am last morning (25). A man named Hewawatte Vijitha Kumara alias Jinti Ranji has been arrested on suspicion of the incident. CID arrested the suspect while he was hiding in a house in the Rajagiriya area. The suspect was arrested less than 24 hours later with aid of CCTV footage. It is revealed that the suspect had previously strangled a woman to death in the Athurugiriya area and robbed her more..

Sep 27 (GV) Before the current lockdown, the SL govt asked its employees to come back to work in early August but the escalation of the pandemic and a new lockdown put a halt to its plans. Now many, especially political and business leaders, are keen to go back to business as usual; the rhetoric of a new normal, often uttered at the onset of the pandemic, seems long forgotten. Yes, the lockdown and lack of economic activity hurt people, businesses and the nation. But is the solution going back to more..

Sep 27 (Island) Chain snatchers swallow the necklaces they are making off with when they fail to outrun their pursuers, who however beat them black and blue before handing them over to the police for recovering the valuables with the help of laxatives. The incumbent govt is apparently in a similar predicament. When it struck a shady deal with a US energy firm, the other day, behind the back of its coalition allies and the public, more..

Sep 27 (FT) SL’s COVID-19 immunisation program on Saturday administered COVID-19 vaccines to 148,306 persons, raising the number of persons to receive both doses of a vaccine to 11,593,990. The first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 14,367,807 persons. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said COVID-19 vaccination could be made mandatory through legal provisions if required. On Saturday, 62,385 persons received the first dose of Sinopharm and more..

Sep 27 (FT) Health officials on Saturday confirmed 71 COVID-19 deaths, which raised the country’s COVID-19 fatalities to 12,680. 39 fatalities confirmed on Saturday were female and 32 were male. Of the total COVID-19 fatalities, 7,084 are male and 5,596 are female. 76.43% of COVID-19 deaths confirmed in Sri Lanka belongs to the over 60 age group, 22.4% belongs to the 30 to 59 age group, and 1.17% belongs to the below-30 age group. The COVID-19 fatalities confirmed on Saturday more..