Sep 6 (FT) A panel of eminent economists last week urged that the Govt take credible and decisive action to carry out immediate trade reforms. Advocata Academic Chair Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana emphasised that “countries that have grown very fast, especially in East Asia, have understood the importance of trade reform,” further adding that the first step of such a reform agenda should be to simplify the taxes at the border by removing the so-called para tariffs that SL levies beyond more..

Sep 6 (FT) Proving that investing in shares is becoming broad-based as opposed to the misconception of being limited to few, number of accounts have seen a 55% increase between 2010 and June 2021 whilst trading volumes have grown at a higher pace in tandem with improved sentiment. The number of Central Depository System (CDS) accounts as of end June 2021 was 659,578 (excluding multiple registrations), up 55.4% more..

Sep 6 (FT) Vaccination of the 20 to 29 age category will begin today in the Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha and Galle Districts for residents. Vaccination will be carried out from existing centres. However, in Colombo, vaccination will also be carried out from Vihara Maha Devi Park, Diyatha Uyana, Panagoda Army Camp, and Army Medical Corps Headquarters Werahera. Vaccination in Colombo will also take place at Sugathadasa Stadium, Jinthupitiya MOH, Arnold Rathnayake Mawatha Community Hall more..

Sep 6 (TM) All-Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association warned of a possible wheat flour shortage in the coming days due to an attempt by wheat flour manufacturers to increase prices. Association President N. K. Jayawardana said that bakery owners are experiencing a shortage of wheat flour at the moment as well. “We had to increase the price of a basic loaf of bread by Rs. 5, other bakery products by Rs. 10 each, and 1 kg of cake increased by Rs. 100 from 23 Aug, since we had no choice,” more..

Sep 6 (FT) Health officials stated that 3,308 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, raising the country’s total COVID-19 detections to 462,767. The COVID-19 patients detected yesterday include 3,308 persons from the New Year cluster. A total of 356,300 persons have been detected from the New Year cluster, with the country’s local cases also including 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, more..

Sep 6 (Island) A crucial difference between Bonapartism and fascism is that the one responds to the public and the other regiments it. Bonapartism can deteriorate into fascism, as it not infrequently does, yet its populist-pluralist character deters it from doing so, unless its co-option by a right wing fringe group makes such a transformation inevitable. There were three Bonapartist revolutions in post-Independence Sri Lanka. The first was Ranasinghe Premadasa’s election in 1988, more..

Sep 6 (FT) Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Bill, which seeks to regulate the capital market in keeping with current international best practices, will be taken up for debate tomorrow. The new law, which will replace Securities & Exchange Commission of SL Act No. 36 of 1987, has been published in the Govt Gazette ahead of being tabled in Parliament. The new bill enhances the powers of the Commission and auditors and deals comprehensively with market misconduct more..

Sep 6 (Island) There is something special about these cricketing talents from Moratuwa. They tend to throw caution to wind taking on the best of fast bowlers and often fortune favours the brave. Young Avishka Fernando, the latest sensation from St. Sebastian’s College was putting the world’s leading fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Antrich Nortje to sword very much like his predecessors Duleep Mendis & Rumesh Kaluwitharana had done in years gone by. It was Avishka’s 3rd ODI century. more..

Sep 6 (Island) Samsung has signed music artist and youth icon Yohani de Silva as the brand ambassador for its premium Galaxy Z Series foldable smartphones, Galaxy Z Fold3 5G, Galaxy Z Flip3 5G and all its future launches. Yohani is a singer, songwriter, rapper and multi-instrumentalist (she plays the piano, guitar, trumpet and ukulele) – a genre-breaking force of nature who intermingles pop, rhythm and blues, hip-hop and alternative, with fiery yet focused fluidity. more..

Sep 6 (ST) Sri Lanka’s freshwater sources are now so polluted that the NWSDB is spending increasingly more money to refine drinking water, the National Audit Office (NAO) and officials said. The steep cost was owing to high levels of contaminants in the water obtained for treatment, said the NAO report published online. Attention was not paid to standards when discharging wastewater into inland water bodies. more..

Sep 6 (FT) Foreign funds have stepped up selling off their equity holdings on the CSE as the year to date net outflow crossed the Rs. 41 billion mark on Friday. In a repeat of exits by the billions, CSE YTD net foreign outflow figures crossed the rupee billion marks of 38, 39, 40 and 41 within a week. On 27 Aug, it was Rs. 37.8 billion and by 3 Sept, it was Rs. 41.2 billion or nearly $ 200 million. In total last week saw Rs. 3.38 billion of net outflow as against Rs. 600 million in the previous week. more..

Sep 6 (FT) Russia’s Aeroflot will commence a new direct service between Moscow-Colombo, which starts on 4 Nov. The decision was made at a top-level meeting held between Russian Aeroflot officials and Minister Prasanna Ranatunga-led six-member visiting delegation in Moscow, Russia. Aeroflot officials Igor Chernyshiv, Ivon Batanov, Anton P. Myagkov and Natalya Teimuazova participated in the discussion. Govt is making a fresh effort to woo more tourists by tying up with more..

Sep 6 (AD) Veteran singer, musician and leader of the popular band Gypsies, Sunil Perera has passed away at the age of 68. He had reportedly passed away, a short while ago, while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo. Sunil Perera had tested positive for COVID-19 last month and was only recently discharged after recovering. However, it was reported that he had been readmitted to hospital due to sudden illness. more..

Sep 6 (PTI) The Sri Lankan delegation to New Delhi will comprise 39 officers who will be exposed to the functioning of all three Service Headquarters while also getting familiarised with the routine of tri-service field formations. The Indian govt on Sunday said it has initiated a visit by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to New Delhi aimed at strengthening defence cooperation with specific focus on industrial expertise. The SL delegation to New Delhi will comprise 39 officers who will be exposed to more..

Sep 6 (ST) Fresh berries nurtured in Sri Lanka under the brand name, BerryMuch will be launched in Sri Lanka. Harvested in the salubrious environs of Elpitiya Plantations PLC, the company brings the fresh goodness of BerryMuch to all Sri Lankans. Initially, Berrymuch will offer strawberries, with plans to introduce more fresh varieties in the very near future, making it the first-time ever that these berries will be grown in Sri Lanka, Elpitiya Plantations said in a media release. more..

Sep 6 (TM) Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) yesterday stated that their recommendations to the Govt on the next steps of the Covid-19 vaccination plan include the administration of third doses to those over the age of 60 years and have received two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, and to all immunosuppressed individuals over the age of 12 who have received two doses of any vaccine. more..

Sep 6 (DM) The full effect of the vaccination drive – reduced transmissions, cases of severe disease and deaths - will be visible by the third week of October since the govt has now begun the inoculation of those in the 20-30 age category, a minister said. Already, more than ten million people have received their full course of vaccination. State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana said inoculation of people over 30 would be completed shortly. “We have started vaccinating those aged between 20 & 30 yrs more..

Sep 6 (Island) People are dying in their hundreds daily owing to the blunders of the govt which did not listen to the experts, the JVP said. Former Kalutara District JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatiss said that the reasons were to be found in an inability to learn from what was known about the virus and to act accordingly. Mistakes could have been avoided if the govt had listened to the health experts and WHO, drawn on a wider range of expertise, and been curious about experience in other countries. more..

Sep 6 (Reuters) New Zealand had tried for years to deport the knife-wielding militant who wounded seven people at a mall in Auckland last week, govt said after it released more details on the attacker following the lifting of a court suppression order. Court documents made public on Sunday identified the attacker as Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, 32, an ethnic Tamil Muslim from SL. He had arrived in NZ 10 yrs ago on student visa more..

Sep 6 (CT) The Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Unions, which are currently on strike and have withdrawn from online teaching, delivered letters to the Chief Prelates of the Asgiri and Malwathu Chapters. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, they were unable to visit the Chief Prelates. Furthermore, teacher-principal trade unions presented a letter expressing their demands to Ven. Keppetiyagoda Siri Wimala Thera, Chief Incumbent of the Getambe Temple. more..

Sep 6 (CT) Heenmanike, the wife of Vedda Chief Uruwarige Wannila Aththo died of COVID-19 at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital yesterday (4). Her death is the first reported COVID-19 death in Sri Lanka’s Vedda community. Mother of eight sons and a daughter, she was 64 years old at the time of her death. She died while undergoing treatment for the coronavirus. A quick Rapid Antigen Test in the Vedda village revealed that 44 people, including Heenmanika, were infected with COVID-19. more..

Sep 6 (Island) SJB lawmaker Manusha Nanayakkara says a section of the SLPP parliamentary group is trying to save those responsible for deleting NMRA data. He questioned the rationale behind SLPP MPs highly publicized visit to NMRA at a time the institution was under fire over deleted cloud data. The former UNPer accused the SLPP of working overtime to protect crooks, instead of having the institution investigated. more..

Sep 6 (FT) Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 death toll crossed the 10,000 mark with the confirmation of 189 COVID-19 fatalities on Saturday. The country’s COVID-19 fatalities exceeded 9,000 on 30 August and crossed the 8,000 mark on 25 August. A total of 10,140 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded to date. On Saturday, 154 persons over the age of 60, 34 persons aged between 30 and 59, and one person over the age of 30 were confirmed as COVID-19 deaths. more..

Sep 6 (TM) The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) yesterday recommended that the ongoing travel restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 be extended till at least 18 September, and suggested a gradual reopening of the country. Speaking at a press conference held, SLMA President Dr. Padma Gunaratna said that it is best if the current travel restrictions are extended till at least Saturday (18), adding that the resumption of normal activities must be done gradually. more..

Sep 6 (TM) Both Opposition as well as Govt MPs have pointed out that the Govt should not financially compensate traders who are hoarding sugar stocks with the intention of creating an artificial shortage and making huge profits when such stocks are being confiscated. SLPP MP Jagath Sumithraarachchi said that in the background of large amounts of sugar having been imported since Oct 2020, various traders are now trying to more..

Sep 6 (Island) Central Committee of the SLFP has launched countrywide blood donation programmes with over 10,000 donors to mark its 70th anniversary. The first programme commenced on Friday at Ranna Maha Vidyalaya in the Hambantota District with the participation of the Minister and Senior Vice President of SLFP Mahinda Amaraweera. It was carried out following strict health guidelines due to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic. more..

Sep 6 (FT) Amidst the doom and gloom of COVID-19, taking timely decisions based on scientific data available is crucial. Having a holistic picture with multiple implications of decisions in mind is equally important. The tension arises in reaching consensus without critical analysis where a group of decision makers might end up showing groupthink in action. Let us discuss the details in relation to the current context of combatting a contagion. When everyone unanimously agrees to something and more..

Sep 6 (TOI) Amid concerns over growing Chinese footprints in, the neighbouring island nation is looking to boost and security ties with India. An integrated country strategy paper drafted under new high commissioner Milinda Moragoda, who finally took charge here on August 30, calls for frequent joint military exercises, more high-level military exchanges, utilisation of India's $ 50 million counter-terrorism Line of Credit and for increasing the staff strength of defence advisor's office. more..

Sep 6 (AD) MP Rishad Bathiudeen, his wife, and his father-in-law have been further remanded over the case of a teenage domestic worker who died of burn injuries while serving the Bathiudeen household. They were ordered to be remanded until Sept 17, when the case was taken up today before Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya. However, the magistrate also ordered Bathiudeen’s brother-in-law Mohamed Ismat and Ponnaiya Pandaram, the intermediary who had brought the girl more..

Sep 6 (FT) The gazetted Finance Bill is an unfair piece of legislation that rewards the rich, the corrupt, and the dishonest. It allows those with undeclared mansions in SL, stacks of gold, and overflowing US dollar bank accounts to regularise these assets by paying a tiny penalty. This Bill does not just legitimise tax evasion. It allows tax evaders, who have committed a crime, to keep the gains from their fraud. more..

Sep 6 (FT) Barceló Hotel Group has announced the opening of the Occidental Paradise Dambulla in SL, a 67-room, four-star hotel located in the ancient town of Dambulla. This opening is part of the strategy announced by the company this summer by which Barceló accelerates its expansion in Asia, since it will add another new establishment in SL in November. The deal was signed in Dec 2019 with Browns Investments, a subsidiary of LOLC Group, one of SL’s largest business conglomerates. more..

Sep 6 (AD) SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of SL, and a member of the oneworld alliance has announced the launching of flights to the French capital, Paris. SriLankan’s new service will operate scheduled flights between BIA and France’s Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) from 1st Nov 2021. Accordingly, SriLankan would commence thrice weekly, non-stop flights to France every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday using a fleet of Airbus A330-300 aircraft configured for 269 economy and more..

SSep 6 (AD) The Proclamation on the Emergency Regulations for the Supply of Essential Foods enacted by Prez Rajapaksa was passed by a majority of 81 votes in Parliament today. When the vote on the proclamation of the emergency regulations was taken, a total of 132 MPs voted in favour while 51 members voted against it. Govt MPs voted in favor of the emergency regulations, while opposition parties voted against. more..

Sep 6 (DM) Permission has been granted today by the government to allow certain appliances could be fitted to trishaws such as decorations etc., Transport State Minister Dilum Amunugama said. He said that the decision was taken following discussions with three wheeler associations, department heads and the PM. The permission was granted considering trishaws as a very convenient mode of transportation during this pandemic situation. "It was hard to give permission for the modifications more..

Sep 6 (FT) Aseni, the wiz kid interested in learning anything economic, has been puzzled by the media reports that SL had got some $ 780 million worth of Special Drawing Rights, known as SDRs, from the International Monetary Fund or IMF. Some had attributed this to Sri Lanka’s reaching back to IMF for a loan to resolve its acute balance of payments problems. If it were a loan, some had charged that the Govt had increased its foreign debt levels mortgaging the future of Sri Lankans. more..

Sep 6 (EN) Sri Lanka is in danger of running out of ink at the rate money is being printed opposition legislator Mujiber Rahuman said as emergency laws were invoked to seize food stocks as foreign exchange shortages and price controls created shortages. “What has the govt done during the last one and a half years?” he questioned in a parliament which was debating the emergency laws. “They have done one thing correctly. more..

Sep 6 (AD) Saline produced in Sri Lanka will be provided to the public sector from September onwards, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana said. With this, steps will be taken to halt the import of saline to the public sector, he added. “From this month onwards, the public sector will be supplied with locally produced saline. The import of saline for the use of the public sector will be stopped completely. This factory can produce about 5,000 bottles of saline per hour. more..

Sep 6 (FT) Union Assurance PLC closed the first half of the financial year as the fastest growing life insurer, achieving a 65% growth in regular new business premiums among the top 5 life insurers in Sri Lanka amidst a pandemic-affected business landscape. The company recorded a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 6.5 billion during the six months ending 30 June with an increase in top-line growth of 29% compared to the corresponding period of last year (2020). more..