Aug 8 (DM) The QR code system introduced to reduce fuel queues has been a success so far. However, even with such a system in place people are still waiting in queues due to the failure of the Govt. At present there aren’t sufficient fuel stocks to be distributed. Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Chairman Janaka Rathnayake recently said that the fuel imported by the CPC could be sold to the public 200 rupees less than current price per litre. more..

Aug 8 (ST) Lanka is caught badly between the devil and the deep blue sea as the Indo-Sino tussle over the Indian Ocean brews to a full-blown storm, threatening to wreak havoc on the nation’s plans for early economic recovery. At the epicentre of the crisis is a Chinese vessel on course to dock at Hambantota Port on Aug 11, much to the ire of the Indian Govt. SL has been inexorably plunged in the middle of this unwanted tug of war between two regional giants, compelled to walk tightrope more..

Aug 8 (ST) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s nonchalant claim that the law operates equitably in SL (the law is the same for you, me and everyone) in a carefully calibrated address at the ceremonial opening of the ninth session of Parliament this week, bears an uncanny resemblance to what his Presidential predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa had been fond of saying. That Rajapaksa mantra was taken to the extreme point of deputizing a Buddhist priest, known for inciting communal hatreds, to head more..

Aug 8 (TM) Govt is confident that it can muster adequate support to pass the proposed new 22nd Amendment (22A) to the Constitution which will be tabled in Parliament soon, Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said. According to the Justice Minister, the amendment, now approved by Cabinet, will see governance return to a model that was more progressive than the 19th Amendment (19A). more..

Aug 8 (TM) Agriculture Ministry has planned to suspend the importation of rice until December of this year, noting that there is a risk of farmers not getting a sufficient price for paddy due to the excessive importation of rice and the availability of sufficient stocks of rice in the country. According to Ministry officials, such a ban is being contemplated due to the possibility of certain rice mill owners buying paddy from farmers at cheaper prices due to the further importation of rice. more..

Aug 8 (CT) Media recently, quoting Police, said that 23 persons have been shot dead in the country since 30 May of this year. This translates to 23 killings in 38 days discounting three other killings, including two such killings reported yesterday. Media further reported that members of organised crime gangs, linked to drug trafficking, were involved in the shootings. He said that it has been uncovered that most of the victims were individuals involved in criminal activities. more..

Aug 8 (DM) Searching for the meaning of the word legitimate, I referred dictionaries. Piled up a cross-section of the meaning in Collins, Webster’s, Cambridge and Britannica, as given below: They define legitimize/legitimacy as to make something legal or to make it acceptable, permissible or correct.- to give official or formal sanction; to authorize, to make lawful; give legal status. In law, legality is distinguished from legitimacy. An act can be legal but not legitimate or more..

Aug 8 (DM) Tourism along with foreign remittances offers SL the fastest, most impactful way to scale up the country’s foreign currency reserves. To enable this, SL tourism needs to make some tough and radical strategic choices. According to MTI Consulting, the conventional approach to develop international tourism would be to first work on brand positioning the country, then run marcom campaigns and then let the consumer (tourist) respond to it. This works well when the country is in normal more..

Aug 8 (TM) Ranil Wickremesinghe-Dinesh Gunawardena Govt faced its first major foreign policy test last week, over the planned visit by a Chinese satellite tracking vessel to SL this week. The Foreign Ministry is in discussion with China, in an attempt to convince it to replenish the State-owned satellite tracking vessel at a different port to avoid the geopolitical conundrum the island nation is faced with due to the vessel’s visit. more..

Aug 8 (Island) The past few days have seen a surge in efforts to form an all-party govt. Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has so far held a spate of meetings with other political leaders and civil society activists on the matter, but nothing definitive has come of them. They are not likely to reach a consensus any time soon. Almost all stakeholders have so far met the Prez, who has given them a patient hearing and agreed to take their views on board. They have spoken well of the proposed national govt more..

Aug 8 (FT) A top policy specialist opined those stable macroeconomic policies and underlying framework in a country are more effective to attract FDIs than extending tax incentives. “Many countries or regions have used tax incentives to attract FDIs for years and continue to do so. However, tax incentives are not the most important factor. Doing Business environment, access to the productive labour force and infrastructure are more important factors than tax incentives,” more..

Aug 8 (ST) Faced with vistas of bankruptcy and hunger, 32 Sri Lankans boarded a flight every hour, every day, numbers having more than quadrupled in the first 181 days of this year, data revealed. This is apart from the number fleeing illegally by sea either to southern India or Australia. On Friday, the Australian Border Force repatriated 46 Sri Lankans who tried to enter that country illegally bringing the total number more..

Aug 8 (ST) A diver’s belly flop at the 2022 Commonwealth Games prompted gasps from the watching crowd and sympathy from the TV commentators. SL diver Dulanjan Fernando endured an unfortunate landing into the pool in the men’s one-metre springboard preliminary, mistiming a 2.5 somersault tuck to enter the pool horizontally. He was left gasping for air after landing on his front. His dive was met with plenty of gasps and oooohs as he hit the water, more..

Aug 8 (FT) Japanese PM Fumio Kishida has extended his heartiest congratulations to newly elected Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ambassador of Japan to SL Hideaki Mizukoshi, who called on the Prez last Friday, delivered the letter of congratulation from PM Kishida. In the congratulatory message, Japanese PM extending the best wishes of the Japanese people and Govt said he is happy to see that Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been dedicated to the economic & social development of SL more..

Aug 8 (ST) SL’s start-up ecosystem is 10 steps behind with all the current issues it is grappling but industry officials say certain innovative businesses are taking shape after changing their business model to match the new normal. SL also lacks funding for the growth stage of start-ups which in turn impacts the country’s economic growth, officials say. Start-ups are heavily affected by the current economic situation. Some start-up firms don’t see any signs of continuation but in others, more..

Aug 8 (DM) Strengthening trade relations with the world is essential for countries to fulfil their economic aspirations, however, efforts will have to be made by individual countries to strengthen ties as within the South Asian region and trade integration will not happen, said Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. “There will have to be bilateral agreements with whoever we want. There is too much politics involved for there to be a regional trade agreement in South Asia,” Prez told a fully-packed audience more..

Aug 8 (DN) SL’s youngest medallist in the history of the Commonwealth Games 18-year-old Nethmi Fernando is determined to bring more laurels to the country in the international arena after her epoch-making feat at the Coventry Arena in Birmingham. The student of Welpalla Sangarathana Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala overpowered an opponent 12 years her senior Australia’s Irene Symeonidis to win a historic bronze medal more..

Aug 8 (FT) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera asserted that the fuel quotas will remain unchanged for this week, whilst noting the National Fuel Pass QR system will be automatically updated. “Fuel Quotas will be automatically updated at midnight today and it will remain the same for next week. After analysing data this week, necessary changes will be done where possible next Sunday,” Wijesekera opined. As per the data, over 5.5 million motorists have registered with National Fuel Pass system. more..

Aug 8 (EN) SL’s daily scheduled power cuts will be restricted to one hour from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10, after no power cuts during the weekend. All areas ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW will have one hour of power cuts between 6.00 pm and 9.00pm. A CEB spokesperson stated that power cut durations were shortened from the earlier three hours due to increased inflows due to heavy rains and economic downturn in the country resulting in a drastic drop in electricity consumption. more..

Aug 8 (CT) SL Junior team went through agony just to get to Cali, Colombia, where two athletes even missed their events when they failed to reach Cali on time. However, after a week they have produced some amazing results, which justified their outcry when officials failed to do their duty. Javelin Thrower Rumesh Tharanga became the first SL field athlete to finish among the best eight at World Athletics U-20 Championship, more..

Aug 8 (AD) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena says that the SLFP has decided to support any good step taken by the govt to get the country out of the difficult situation it is currently facing. For this purpose, the question is not “whether the Prez is black or white,” he said. "We need to give ourselves some time to work freely to get the necessary concessions nationally and internationally. Those int'l financial institutions & int'l economic powers help us by looking at our political stability. more..

Aug 8 (Island) SL’s No.1 Bancassurance provider, Union Assurance, joined hands with The Truly Sri Lankan Bank, Pan Asia Bank, to expand the scope and reach of Bancassurance in the country. Pan Asia Bank has consistently introduced ground-breaking customer solutions to Sri Lankan consumers. This strategic alliance will offer an array of best-in-class insurance solutions comprising savings, protection, and investment coupled with comprehensive financial solutions. more..

Aug 8 (Island) Federation of University Teacher’s Association says the govt has launched a campaign to suppress political dissent and that reminds it of the dark days of the bheeshanaya (terror) in the 1987-89 period and the suppression of fundamental freedoms of the people during the 2009-15 period. “It is truly ironic that this repression has been unleashed by a govt led by Ranil Wickremasinghe who fashioned his entire political career on the basis of his so-called liberality,” FUTA said. more..

Aug 8 (ANI) General Secretary of Amarapura Maha Sangha Sabha, Pallekande Rathanasara Thero has condemned the controversial arrival of a Chinese ship on August 10 at the Hambantota port. "At the present time when SL is looking up to India, the Western world nations and international monetary institutions for humanitarian assistance and a bailout from the current acute economic crisis, particularly IMF, the arrival of the ship is likely to destabilize the ongoing efforts to secure such assistance, more..

Aug 8 (AFP) Ten members of crisis-hit SL's Commonwealth Games contingent in Birmingham have disappeared in a suspected attempt to remain in Britain, a top sports official from the island nation said. The nine athletes and a manager vanished after completing their events, the official said. Three of them -- judoka Chamila Dilani, her manager Asela de Silva, and wrestler Shanith Chathuranga -- had disappeared last week. more..

Aug 8 (DM) Sinopec, biggest petrochemical company in China, is likely to enter SL market for fuel importing, distribution and selling petroleum products. Cabinet of Ministers in June approved a proposal to allow more companies from oil-producing nations to import oil and start retail operations in SL. The proposal, prompted by severe foreign exchange shortage, was tabled by Minister Kanchana Wijesekera. At present, 90% of SL’s fuel supply is through the State-owned CPC, more..

Aug 8 (CT) The basic requirement for the system change that the people want is legal independence and a transparent audit mechanism, Bishop of Chilaw & Kandy Dioceses, Rev. Fr. Valence Mendis said. Fr. Mendis queried about the fate of the Bribery Commission. “Before all this, at the very least, the previous 19th Amendment should be reinstated,” he said, adding that everyone should have realised this by now. “People cannot be duped indefinitely by childish stories laced with rhetoric.” more..

Aug 8 (FT) President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday put the onus on the critical support program with the IMF to all parties and MPs. “The program with the IMF is the only solution. Whether we like it or not we have to deal with the IMF,” Wickremesinghe said, adding that “The whole Parliament has to consider this issue. Any member or party doesn’t agree, we have the right to ask what is your solution or alternative.” more..

Aug 8 (FT) All proposals submitted by political parties willing to be part of an all-party Govt during last week’s discussions with Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe will be given to all political parties that attended the talks for consideration today. Wickremesinghe had promised the parties that all proposals submitted will be shared with them during the discussion held on Friday with leaders of the 11 independent parties in the Parliament and the 43 Brigade regarding formation of an all-party more..

Aug 8 (DM) Finance Ministry has lifted the import ban on the popular weedicide glyphosate with effect from Aug 5 while allowing glyphosate imports into the country subject to import control license requirement. According to the Gazette Extraordinary No 2291/44 signed by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies, N-(phosphonomethyl) Glycine and its salts and derivatives (Glyphosate) has been removed from the ban list of goods specified more..

Aug 8 (TM) Amidst a potential diplomatic clash with far-reaching consequences, the Govt of SL (GoSL) is engaged in quiet diplomacy to persuade China to agree to its request to defer the docking of the Chinese vessel Yuan Wang 5 to dock at the Hambantota Port this week, diplomatic sources said, while the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka had requested an urgent meeting with senior SL authorities over the matter. more..

Aug 8 (FT) This is the 600th article in this series commenced from Jan 2011. It appeared every Monday without failure. They educated the readers of the local as well as global economic issues of the day. The objective of the series was to simplify the complex and incomprehensible economic issues for the benefit of those who have no previous formal training in economics. Hence, the target group was not formal economists but those who are engaged in other professions like medicine, engineering, more..

Aug 8 (Island) The Aragalaya, Porattam, Struggle is a truly people-based movement. It is messy, diverse and hugely contradictory in the views expressed, positions held. It cuts across classes, and at the same time, represents the weakest and the most oppressed. It is truly representative, on a mass scale of people’s dissent and consent. The materiality and vocalness of the Aragalaya ask for the broadest possible representation in governance. It militates against the rule of a single person, more..

Aug 8 (EN) A British National was found dead in a lodging in Koggala, on Saturday. The deceased, aged 54 was found dangling by a piece of cloth tied to the headboard of his bed in a suspected suicide. The man was a long term resident of SL, the police said, and the body had been discovered by the manager of the hotel he was residing at in Habaraduwa, Koggala. Police said a postmortem will be conducted once a representative of the British HC and the deceased’s relatives arrive to more..

Aug 8 (AD) General Secretary of CTU Joseph Stalin has been granted bail by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court. He was arrested at the CTU head office last Wednesday, for allegedly violating a court order during a protest at Bank of Ceylon Mawatha on May 28. He had been remanded until August 12 by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court. Many trade unionists and politicians had arrived at the Fort police station premises following the arrest of the trade union leader. more..

Aug 8 (AD) SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne assures that the SJB would support the govt when they follow the right policy and certainly the govt will receive its support on economic and financial matters. He said it is a favourable condition that the govt has already appointed international advisors to work out the debt restructuring which is of paramount importance for sustainability. He said this while speaking at a press conference more..