Jul 11 (CI) SL had one of their great days as they levelled the two-Test series against Australia in Galle. First, Dinesh Chandimal's double-century - also his career-best - carried them to a huge lead, and then Prabath Jayasuriya completed the best figures by a Sri Lankan on Test debut with a 12-wicket haul as they surged to an-innings-and-39-run win with time to spare on the fourth evening. They were ahead when play began, but more..

Jul 11 (AD) The STF SSP who was in charge of security at PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence has been interdicted for failing to prevent the assault on a group of journalists on July 09. SSP Romesh Liyanage was serving as the Director of the PM’s Security Division of the STF. SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that, the interdiction has been implemented in accordance with the powers vested with the IGP by the Establishments Code and subject to the approval of the PSC. more..

Jul 11 (EN) The office of SL’s beleaguered leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is now in his exit process after promising to resign on July 13 said the president will be released only through the speaker, hours after the PM’s office made an announcement of his resignation. Prez Rajapaksa’s whereabouts are still unknown, but the presidential secretariat has been issuing the Prez’s statement even after he had fled the official residence when tens of thousands of people stormed it on Saturday. more..

Jul (FT) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of SL (CA Sri Lanka), yesterday called for a smooth transition of power and cautioned new authorities not to derail talks with the IMF on a support program. Following is the statement issued by CA Sri Lanka President Sanjaya Bandara: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of SL (CA SL), in its standing as the National Body of Accountants, welcomes the announcement of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down on 13 July, more..

Jul (AD) Litro Gas company says that the distribution of domestic LP gas cylinders will commence from today in Colombo and the suburbs while distribution to other areas will begin from Wednesday (13). Customers are urged to produce their electricity bill for the month of May 2022 to avoid hoarding of LP gas cylinders. Litro said that the maximum price of a 12.5 kg gas cylinder within Colombo is Rs. 4,910 and requests the public to refrain from buying at higher prices or from other parties. more..

Jul (AD) Party leaders have reportedly decided to convene the Parliament on July 15 (Friday), following the Prez’s resignation. SJB MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara said that nominations for the position of Prez will be accepted on July 18 (Monday) and that the Prez will be elected on July 20. Speaking to reporters following the party leaders’ meeting, he said that the Parliament must be summoned and informed within 3 days more..

Jul (ANI) Protesters who stormed Prez Rajapaksa's house on Saturday amid the country's worst economic crisis have recovered cash of over Sri Lankan Rupees 17 million from the mansion and handed it over to the police. The recovered money was handed over to the police. A video was being shared on social media showing the protesters counting the currency notes that were unearthed. Earlier on Saturday, SL commoners stormed into Prez Rajapaksa's official home and more..

Jul (AD) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says that the fuel cargo scheduled to arrive on the 9th of July was delayed due to weather conditions and could not be loaded on time and that the supplier has communicated the departure from India this morning. The new Laycan has been given as 12-15th of July, he said in a series of tweets. The minister added that on Friday, full payments were made to Lanka IOC with the assistance of the Central Bank of SL & Ministry of Finance more..

Jul 11 (EN) SL’s entire cabinet of ministers have agreed to resign en masse to make way for an all-party govt pending the formation of a new all-party govt and the acceptance of their resignation by the president. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said all members of the cabinet have agreed to hand over their responsibilities to a new all-party govt as soon as it is formed. Attorney-at-law Rakitha Rajpakshe, the spokesman for Justice Minister Rohitha Rajapakshe, said the president has to accept more..

Jul 11 (DW) Whoever takes power in the country in the coming days will have some daunting tasks ahead of them, including tackling the country's acute economic turmoil and healing deep political divisions. SL finds itself in the midst of an intense political and economic crisis after tens of thousands of protesters stormed the residences of the nation's president and prime minister over the weekend. The growing public fury over the acute economic turmoil — which has caused shortages of essential more..

Jul 11 (FT) The GotaGoGama activists on Saturday issued six immediate demands from all political parties and a future Prez, PM and Govt. They proclaimed their demands addressing the people and media from the Prez’s House. In their statement GGG activists said the following. The following Action Plan articulates the supreme purpose archived by the historic SL people’s uprising, launched on the demand that more..

Jul 11 (EN) SL’s imports fell to 9.7% from a year earlier to US$ 1,451 million in May 2022 data showed as a rate hike slowed credit and people were impoverished by a currency collapse. Exports were up 17.5% to US$ 892 million. The May trade deficit fell to US$ 404 million from US$ 716 million. In the six months to June exports were up 12.2% to US$ 5,266 million, and imports were up 5.3% to US$ 8.8 billion. Sri Lanka’s private credit fell to only 17.2 billion rupees in May though credit number more..

Jul 11 (Hindu) In a show of fury against the worsening economic situation, protesters in Sri Lanka stormed the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday and set ablaze the private residence of the PM. In 2021, the island nation had the best Human Development Index (HDI) among nations in the Indian subcontinent and the second-best GDP per capita. Its descent into chaos in recent months is mostly a consequence of financial mismanagement and erratic policy decisions. more..

Jul 11 (TR) Low-cost carrier Flydubai, styled as flydubai, has announced that it has suspended its Sri Lanka flights indefinitely due to immense tensions within the South Asian country generating frequent protests. From 10 July, UAE carrier flydubai has suspended flights between Dubai and Colombo Airport, formally known as Bandaranaike International Airport, until further notice. On flydubai’s website, you are only able to book a flight from Dubai to Colombo Airport from 1 Sept. more..

Jul 11 (FT) SL Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) in a statement said it advocates a stable and just Govt to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of all Sri Lankans. “SL has seen an unprecedented call for change in the past days and months, with citizens all over the country peacefully and strongly protesting. The country needs a peaceful transition to a Govt formed with consensus and stability to navigate through the political and economic challenges it faces,” more..

Jul 11 (EN) Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena retracted his own statement on Prez Rajapaksa’s whereabouts after saying the embattled leader left the country and is now on a nearby country. Abeywardena, who is now tipped to be the acting president once Rajapaksa resigns on Wednesday, told BBC that he has staying somewhere outside…in a nearby country. “He will come back on Wednesday, he will be there. more..

Jul 11 (DM) The Police Sergeant who extended his support to the people’s struggle at the Maharagama Town on Saturday has been arrested on charges of possessing a sharp weapon while entering the Prez’s House in Colombo, early this morning. They said the suspect, who was wearing a pair of sandals and wearing a police uniform, came to enter the President's House and was stopped and searched by the security forces on duty for suspicious behaviour. They recovered a sharp weapon more..

Jul 11 (DM) A group of the 43rd Brigade led by Champika Ranawaka met JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the JVP head quarters today. Champika Ranawaka, Karunaratne Paranavithana, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe, Bandula Chandrasekara and Sumeda Ratnayake attended the meeting on behalf of the 43rd Bribade while JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, JVP politburo members Sunil Hadunnetti and Lal Kantha represented the JVP. more..

Jul 11 (Island) DIMO recently introduced the first and only paddy transplanting machine in the country capable of maintaining an 8-inch gap between seedling rows, aptly named Pela Batta. DIMO has always been in the forefront of introducing innovative and affordable agri machinery to the local farming community with the aim of driving mechanization in the agriculture sector of the nation. The current machinery available for rice transplanting, in the Sri Lankan agriculture sector, more..

Jul 11 (DM) FSP which is a key proponent of the struggle (Aragalaya) said today the next govt should be formed only to realise what the July 9 public uprising campaigned for and the adoption of a new constitution along with electoral reforms with approval of people by referendum had to be prioritised. Making his remarks, FSP General Secretary Kumar Gunaratnam said that both Prez Rajapaksa and SLPP had lost legitimacy and none of their members had a moral right to be part more..

Jul 11 (TM) The boats should have been out on the water off SL’s northern coast, hauling in nets teeming with fish. Instead, on one bright, recent morning, they were spread on the beach at Mullaitivu, as waves lapped at the shore and a few people milled about under palm trees. The idyllic scenery masked, for a moment, the pain of a nation. In Mullaitivu, home to a large minority Tamil population, country’s extreme shortage of more..

Jul 11 (TM) Exporters and Industrialists fear a supply chain breakdown in the coming weeks, as the third SL Govt since April is set to resign after protests on Saturday, creating political instability that will hinder economic growth. National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) CEO Shiham Marikar said that exporters want to ensure that the value chain within the country – the Sri Lanka Port Authority, Customs, and other stakeholders that have an indirect hand in trade and exports – continues functioning. more..

Jul 11 (TM) SJB MP Rajitha Senaratne speaking to the media yesterday emphasised that he was amidst the people’s protest last Saturday (9) for roughly three and a half hours without incident, talking with the protestors and mingling, and was attacked only as they were getting ready to depart, indicating that this was a premeditated attack. “I was with the protestors for three and a half hours. We walked with a party of 3,000-4,000 people while talking with them. After all that, only when more..

Jul 12 (CT) History has proved again and again that when unarmed people come out to the streets and maidans in tens and hundreds of thousands, guns and cannons of the police and soldiers would fall silent. There is nothing to beat the power of people. Aragalaya has succeeded in awakening the conscience of Sri Lankans at last. Congratulations to those youngsters for creating a mini-human tsunami to chase out the Prez. The momentum of protest, which actually started with that spontaneous more..

Jul 12 (TM) With Prez Rajapaksa and PM Wickremesinghe agreeing to step down from their positions in the face of the unprecedented public opposition that was unleashed on 9 July, the aragalaya (struggle) has entered a new, more serious stage. This is also the stage that some warned the country about prior to 9 July. Even though the people were sure about what they wanted as far as the two leaders relinquishing power was concerned, there is now a certain more..

Jul 12 (DM) When word went round inviting all citizens to gather at the Galle Face Green on July 9, many thought that it wouldn’t be a success with the imposition of curfew the previous night. But as the govt continued to test the patience of its people, with longer fuel queues, shortage of cooking gas, power cuts etc., people realised that it is either now or never. They were determined to support the protest despite the curfew. more..

Jul 12 (DM) One may not be happy with the dramatic turn of events that occurred over the weekend, but he/she has to accept it to be the reality. No amount of restrictions by the authorities were able to prevent the people form converging in Colombo on Saturday after giving notice to the authorities that they were going to wage the final push against the incumbent govt. People from faraway places managed to throng the Capital in their thousands, braving the police curfew more..

Jul 12 (DM) On Saturday hundreds of thousands of protestors descended on Colombo demanding the resignation of Prez Rajapaksa -the culmination of a non-violent protest movement demanding his resignation- blaming him, his brothers and cabinet colleagues whom the country holds responsible for leading it, to its worst economic crisis since independence. Protestors laid siege to the Prez's official residence and finally stormed what is seen as the bastion of presidential power. more..

Jul 12 (BBC) Rashmi Kavindhya says she never dreamt of stepping inside the SL president's official residence in Colombo in her lifetime. A day after massive crowds forced their way into one of the most protected buildings in the country, thousands of people like Ms Kavindhya have thronged to see the sprawling compound. It is an imposing piece of colonial-type architecture that contains several verandas, meeting rooms more..

Jul 12 (CT) The prediction made in Ceylon Today’s Thursday’s (7), editorial published under the heading 9 July Movement has come true. To quote excerpts, “Coming Saturday’s (9), mass protest may be the harbinger leading to the overthrow of the present regime co-led by SLPP Party member and Prez Rajapaksa and UNP leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. From a terrestrial perspective, the only hope for a premature Govt change, given the fact that the next Presidential Poll more..

Jul 12 (Island) Sri Lanka found itself on the verge of a bloodbath on 09 May in the aftermath of a savage goon attack the loyalists of Mahinda Rajapaksa carried out on the Galle Face protesters. The spate of counter-violence fizzled out after a day or two although it was expected to last longer. But what was feared then will play out soon unless the appointment of the Acting President is handled carefully in case President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tenders his resignation tomorrow. more..

Jul 12 (DM) In developing countries, there is a deep-set notion that political leadership is the key to good governance and economic progress. For example, in Sri Lanka now, most people believe that a change in the political leadership will magically end existing problems of governance. Hence the loud and persistent demand for the exit of the Prez and the PM and their replacement by an all-party govt. While it is undeniable that the political leaderships which SL has had thus far, more..

Jul 12 (Island) There is an anxious calm after the unprecedented events of July 9. Presidential Secretariat, Prez’s House and Temple Trees, which contain both the prime minister’s official office and residence, are in the hands of the people rather than the rulers. Aragalaya protesters who occupy these buildings of state coexist in the same space with the security forces personnel who were stationed there to protect those state properties. There was an obvious trust among those who took part more..

Jul 12 (CI) If cricket is art, and art imitates life, then conjuring magic from crisis is Sri Lanka's medium. The approach to this Test was an untrammelled mess. The first to test positive for Covid in Sri Lanka's squad was Angelo Mathews, who apparently is so careful he basically wakes up and puts on a mask before he meets his own reflection in the mirror. Mathews was okay to play the second Test having ended his isolation more..