Jan 9 (ST) The revamped National Super League (NSL) scheduled to start on January 20 with the 50-over format will see a big change of the names of the teams being switched to the cities they have been named after from the original provincial based titles. Initially, this two-format tournament, consisting of four day matches also, formally called as Provincial Tournament, was all set to go with the provincial names decided for the five main teams. However, in a big change, more..

Jan 9 (SO) SL’s women’s cricketers leave for Malaysia today facing an uphill task of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games as five teams compete for one slot. They will play against Scotland, Kenya, Malaysia and Bangladesh as the five teams battle for a solitary qualifying slot ahead of Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England in July-Aug. The matches are in the T20 format and will be played from Jan 18 to 24. “We have to finish on top and it is a very big challenge. more..

Jan 9 (CB) Sri Lanka Cricket will not provide a no-objection certificate for their cricketers for the upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League T20, scheduled to begin from Jan 21. Nine SL cricketers were picked by different franchises for the six-team tournament. As it stands, the teams are looking at replacements. Fortune Barisal announced on Saturday that they have roped in Dwayne Bravo as replacement for Danushka Gunathilaka while it is understood other franchises are also on more..

Jan 9 (ST) SL’s new draft Tourism Act has come in for sharp criticism from tourism stakeholders as the proposed new law grants impunity for state officials for any act carried out in good faith. Part 22 titled Miscellaneous Provisions of the draft Act Section 89 (1) states, “No suit or prosecution shall lie against any member, officer, staff or agent of the Authority for any act which in good faith is done or purported to be done by him under this Act or any regulation or rule made thereunder more..

Jan 9 (ST) The Army has been sent in to implement govt policy on organic farming by monitoring and educating farmers on the job they have to do. The Maha season is likely to see a 30% drop in yields but the authorities are convinced the people will not starve. Army deployment towards this project was mooted by Prez Rajapaksa since he believed the agriculture state sector officials were not supportive of green agriculture concept more..

Jan 9 (ST) Central Bank (CB) has requested at least two state banks to curtail opening letters of credit (LC) till next Tuesday to shore up reserves to meet the US$500 million sovereign bond payment due on January 17. A top importer told the Business Times that recently a state bank refused to open a LC with 180 days usance credit to bring down some essential food items. “I had to cancel that shipment.” He added that despite the relationship he has with the bank with the shortage of $ more..

Jan 9 (SO) SL’s oldest cricket playing club Malay Cricket Club that also produced the country’s first set of national players has decided to celebrate its existence of 150 years with a championship in May at its Padang ground in Slave Island where teams like SSC, NCC, Bloomfield and CCC will be in action. The Malay Cricket Club, which has a proud cricket history but until now made no approach to showcase their timeless pride, had the honour of producing an all-native (SL-born) team more..

Jan 9 (SO) The construction industry, a pivotal cog of the economy is in dire straits due to the staggering import cost of construction material triggered by the weak rupee, dearth of labourers, rising labour cost and the extension of construction deadlines which has added on to the construction cost, said a top official of the Chamber of Construction Industry SL (CCI) last week. Construction costs had shot up more..

Jan 9 (AD) Recognizing the need to revitalize tourism, European Union (EU) & United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in SL have come together to support SL to rebuild tourism as a resilient and sustainable sector. This will be realized through the Transforming Tourism in SL: Emerging from crisis as a strong, resurgent and rebranded industry Project. A key expected outcome of this initiative is to strengthen the tourism policy framework and institutional capacity at more..

Jan 9 (CT) Top-order batter Avishka Fernando will miss the ODI series with Zimbabwe after testing positive for Covid-19 ahead of entering the team bubble today. SL are likely to recall Kusal Mendis for the squad as he has passed the fitness tests after his international cricket ban was lifted. According to SLC's medical staff, Fernando has received three vaccinations. The booster dose, however, was administered less than two weeks ago. Only Fernando has returned a positive test so far. more..

Jan 9 (ST) The CEB has recommended to the Ministry of Power to impose scheduled power cuts for two and half hours daily. CEB’s Additional General Manager P.W. Hendahewa has communicated the decision to Power Ministry Secretary Wasantha Perera and urged that it be enforced immediately. However, the Sunday Times learns that unscheduled power cuts lasting for the same duration will be enforced to overcome more..

Jan 9 (EN) Over 600 fishermen in Sri Lanka’s former northern war zone have switched to sea cucumber farming, a booming trade, in the coastal belt of Jaffna and Kilinochchi where a Chinese firm started a hatchery five years ago. China’s joint venture Gui Lan hatchery in Jaffna’s coastal village of Ariyalai was started when many northern fishermen were finding it harder to catch large fish which is blamed on outlawed bottom trawling employed by Indian vessels. more..

Jan 9 (EN) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in SL for a two day official visit amid a tested diplomatic relation between the two countries after a fertilizer shipment and an unprecedented economic crisis faced by the Indian Ocean island. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit comes as both China and SL celebrate 65th year of their diplomatic relations. He also comes after SL’s state-owned People’s Bank settled 6.9 million US dollars to a Chinese company which sent more..

Jan 9 (TM) Govt of SL is to look at initiating a dialogue with China and Japan to secure financial assistance packages from the two countries, similar to the one negotiated with the Indian Govt. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa last week proposed the initiation of a dialogue on financial assistance with China and Japan to the Cabinet of Ministers in a 10-page Cabinet paper presented by him at last Monday’s (3) meeting on the current more..

Jan 9 (ST) Treasury will be empowered to collect the proposed Special Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the revised Value Added Tax in future. The move will reduce the powers of the Inland Revenue Department, confining it to the collection of income tax. A Bill proposing that the Treasury Secretary sets up a unit under the purview of a Deputy Secretary to the Treasury has been gazetted accordingly. The designated officer will be responsible for the administration, collection and accountability more..

Jan 9 (Island) Supreme Court will resume hearing petitions that have been backed by three ministers against the controversial Yugadanavi deal tomorrow against the backdrop of State Minister Susil Premjayantha being sacked for publicly criticizing the govt. Having recently told editors of national newspapers that dissident ministers, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila wouldn’t be sacked though he believed they should have quit ministerial portfolios more..

Jan 9 (TM) An acute shortage of essential medicinal drugs has been reported around the country as pharmaceutical companies are struggling to secure necessary imports due to the ongoing dollar crisis. The Sunday Morning learns that both Govt and private sectors have been affected and are expecting a severe shortage of essential medicines in a month’s time unless the Govt prioritises the pharmaceutical sector more..

Jan 9 (SO) Recent rules issued by the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) in respect of repatriation and conversion of export proceeds to SL Rupees have been misinterpreted by certain parties with vested interests, CBSL stated in a media communiqué. The media release: “Unfounded speculation has been mischievously spread that the CBSL rules require converting the entirety of workers’ remittances forcibly into rupees upon the receipt of such foreign exchange funds by licensed banks. more..

Jan 9 (Island) All health measures should be continued to control the transmission of the coronavirus from person to person, former Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe warned. Secretary to the Environment Ministry Dr. Jasinghe said that despite the fact that the Covid-19 virus was currently under control here, however, all health measures taken to control the transmission of the virus from person to person should be continued. The Secretary made these remarks while more..

Jan 9 (ST) Issues such as the Govt’s handling of the spiralling cost of living, the foreign exchange crisis, the fertiliser fiasco, LP gas related explosions and the agreement to sell shares of the Yugadanavi power plant to the US-based New Fortress Energy have been among the most prominent issues that have caused friction within Govt ranks. As the disputes have dragged on, SLPPs’ rhetoric has got increasingly tougher, more..

Jan 10 (DM) Since independence, Sri Lankans have enjoyed a relatively high degree of democratic rights and freedom. From time to time, however governments of various hues and shades have usurped these rights via the use of Emergency Regulations. Under emergency rule the freedom to protest, press freedom and other rights, including democratic rights, which we take for granted, are suspended. Using emergency law, the state has also taken the lives of large numbers of civilians more..

Jan 10 (DM) Electronic Media knew Susil Premajayantha was buying Veggies at Delkanda. “I was asked by a journalist on vegetable prices and I said the govt’s agriculture policy has been a failure. I was removed for speaking on behalf of the people,” SLPP leadership has been ungrateful to the senior party man who served the Colombo district/Western Province over his decades-long political journey, covering Kotte MC, PC Member, Chief Minister, Deputy Minister, and Cabinet Minister more..

Jan 10 (DM) Minister Namal Rajapaksa has said Sri Lanka would ease all crises this year and come out of the woods as the Govt hoped to revive the tourism sector and attract further investments. He said that Prez Rajapaksa’s decision to ban chemical fertilizer was strong but it was not implemented thoroughly by the State Minister and officials in charge. Further, Minister admitted that the Rajapaksa popularity had declined with more..

Jan 10 (ST) Even as Prez Rajapaksa is reported to have cited a decision by the SL Supreme Court (per the late Justice MDH Fernando) regarding collective responsibility of the Cabinet to justify sacking a state minister on the grounds that he criticised the Govt, he may apprise himself of a plethora of other decisions by this same Justice. These rulings constitute a clear and present warning to the Govt which he heads. That is not to say that suddenly voluble state ministers just waking up to more..

Jan 10 (ST) After clearing his office desk and handing over ministry files and vehicles to the staff, Minister Susil Premajayantha walked out of the State Ministry of Educational Reforms on Tuesday with the cheery air of a man who had just been told he had won the lottery. Such was his rush to claim and savour his prize – no doubt, much food for thought – he didn’t wait for his personal car to turn up but took the three wheeler parked outside the Ministry steps to ride into an uncertain more..

Jan 10 (CT) After the first screams and shock of having your arm bitten off by a crocodile, your next instinct might be to track down and murder the beast who de-armed you. Is this, however, a just punishment for an animal that was only acting on its instinct? Sri Lankans have an odd attitude toward the uncommon animals that kill and eat humans. Most of us do not spend much time outdoors or interact with the wild, so, our perceptions of more..

Jan 10 (CT) Schools have reopened and the Public sector is fully back at work today. A healthy percentage of the public have been fully vaccinated and we have gotten used to wearing masks, washing our hands all the time and getting our temperature checked everywhere. But, if this pandemic has taught us anything, the Covid surge, that locks down the entire country, came when we have gotten too comfortable with the new normal. Even when health guidelines are relaxed more..

Jan 10 (TM) Last week, both politician Azath Salley and poet and teacher Ahnaf Jazeem, both arrested and detained for months on end under the draconian, punitive and repressive Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 complained to the Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL). Salley was acquitted recently by a High Court of accusations pertaining to allegedly making utterances that could incite communal religious disharmony, and Jazeem was more..

Jan 10 (Island) National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) has been faulted for not turning its attention to the process of constitution-making. This is far from the truth. While the NMSJ’s current proposals are on the contents of a new Constitution, it has also initiated a discussion on the process. Last month, the NMSJ organised a discussion in cyberspace on constitution-making that the writer moderated. Among the issues discussed were: merits and demerits of present constitutional provisions more..

Jan 10 (Island) The govt claims that its Trincomalee oil tank farm deal with India is a huge win for SL. If so, Indo-Lanka Accord (1987), which the Jayewardene govt signed, should also be considered a victory for this country, mutatis mutandis. The present-day patriotic leaders protested against the Indo-Lanka pact while they were in the Opposition, didn’t they? In a desperate bid to neutralise the political fallout of the questionable tank farm deal, the govt has, more..

Jan 10 (ST) A committee that investigated the total blackout of Dec 3 last year has been unable to find evidence to substantiate the CEB's claim that its root cause was an earth fault. It has also not found grounds to eliminate the allegation that the outage, along with a similar one on Nov 29 last year, was caused by deliberate actions of the CEB staff involved in the operation and maintenance of transmission assets, more..

Jan 10 (ST) The Govt has begun talks with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to finance Sri Lankan Airlines and find US dollars to pay for its fuel, Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said. He said that although the SFD usually provided assistance for social and infrastructure projects, Govt had decided to approach the Saudi agency due to the financial situation of the airline and its fuel bills. Negotiations may be based on a short-term or long-term facility depending on SFD’s response. more..

Jan 10 (ST) Though Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena pledged to importers that he would release US dollars needed to clear containers of essential food items held at the Colombo Port, funds had not been released by Friday. As a result, more than 1,500 containers are still stuck at Customs in the Port. Customs Chief G V Ravipriya said that they were taking steps to release the perishable items such as potatoes and onions among the consignments. more..

Jan 10 (TM) Pointing out that it is the voice of the people that emerges from all quarters, including those who represent the Govt and criticise certain govt policies, State Minister Nimal Lanza said that such criticisms should not be underestimated. He said that it is the responsibility of the people’s representatives to speak about the hardships of the people, even if they represent the Govt. He said that as people’s representatives, more..

Jan 10 (CT) Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa made a public request to retired cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa to reconsider his decision to retire. Minister urged Rajapaksa to go forward by facing challenges rather than giving up. Rajapaksa (30) who announced his sudden decision to retire from all formats of the game had stated family commitment is the reason in his letter to SLC. However, Ceylon Today earlier reported that new fitness standards imposed on national players may have more..

Jan 10 (EN) A tank farm at SL’s China-backed Hambantota Port which has potential to draw bunkering business has received a fitness for services (FSS) certification from the maritime classification and compliance consultancy Lloyd’s Register. Johnson Liu, CEO of Hambantota Int'l Port Group’ expects growth in bunkering and other services offered by the port this year. “As much as we see the importance of safety protocols being maintained to highest standards within port more..

Jan 10 (Island) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has claimed that a youth recently inquired from him why a referendum couldn’t be conducted to ascertain whether the electorate approved him extending his first term by two years as Covid-19 deprived him of 2020 and 2021. Prez Rajapaksa said so addressing an event to mark the naming of Siyambalanduwa Maha Vidyalaya, Moneragala, as a national school last Friday. more..

Jan 10 (FT) COVID-19 detections during the weekend rose to 1,016 with 436 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday. The patients detected yesterday include 430 persons from the New Year cluster and six overseas arrivals. On Saturday, 574 persons from the New Year cluster and six SL overseas arrivals tested positive for the virus. 7,221 PCR tests and 4,305 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Saturday. SL’s total COVID-19 case count currently stands at 591,667. more..