Jul 3 (DM) SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) yesterday lodged a complaint with the IGP over an incident involving a Police Officer and a tourist at the petrol shed in Galle on Friday. SLTDA Chairman Priyantha Fernando said a video is being circulated on social media showing a senior police officer refusing to allow a tourist on a motorbike to get fuel from the shed in Galle. "This video clip has been in circulation reaching millions of people not only in SL but in most foreign countries. more..

Jul 3 (ST) The annihilation it faced on Friday could force the SL cricket team’s think-tank to restrategise ahead of the second and final Test against Australia starting at the same venue next Friday. Australia steamrolled the hosts inside two-and-a-half days to record a comprehensive 10-wicket win in a Test that lasted just 153.2 overs in all. The beating was so painful that many thought SL had shot themselves in the foot by preparing a wicket that turned and bounced as early as in the first hour of play. more..

Jul 3 (ST) St. Joseph’s College held off their nerves to record a thrilling 30-28 win against S. Thomas’ College and claim the Lady Jayatilleke Trophy in a Dialog School Rugby League Championship 2022 match played at the Havelock Park yesterday. From the moment of kick off, to the final whistle excitement was intact in this thrilling match, with both teams equally challenging the other, but it was the Josephians, who prevailed eventually. Despite scoring a try during the extra time, more..

Jul 3 (TM) The Govt has made part payments for two fuel shipments expected to arrive in SL between 11-15 & 22-23 July. Two consignments are for a 40,000 MT diesel shipment from a Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) supplier, expected to arrive between the 11 and 15 July, and a 35,300 MT petrol consignment on order from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) under a Govt-to-Govt agreement, which is expected on 22 July. more..

Jul 3 (CT) Actor Jackson Anthony and two others have been admitted to the Anuradhapura General Hospital after the vehicle they were travelling in collided with an elephant. The incident took place at around 10 pm today (2), in Thalawa, along the Anuradhapura – Thambuththegama Road. While the identities of the other two persons are yet to be confirmed, one of the individuals is also believed to be a member of the Anthony family. The three are currently receiving treatment at the ETU, more..

Jul 3 (AD) The prevailing windy condition is expected to enhance further in the western and southern sea areas and in the southern half of the island due to the active Southwest Monsoon condition, the Department of Meteorology warns. Showers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-Western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts. Accordingly, parts of Sabaragamuwa province and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara more..

Jul 3 (ST) COPE is to summon the chairman of Litro Gas and its officials to inquire into allegations that a recent deal with Omani company OQ Trading was marred by irregularities. COPE sources said the officials would be summoned pursuant to a request by a COPE member MP S.M. Marikar to examine these allegations. On Thursday Litro Gas said it has successfully procured 100,000 metric tonnes more..

Jul 3 (ST) Amidst allegations of irregular deals in the oil business, comes the latest controversy: The case of a missing shipment of 40,000 metric tonnes of fuel which didn’t arrive as planned! This shipment of 40,000 MT ordered by one of the suppliers registered with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) was initially due to arrive in Sri Lanka on June 23 but delayed by almost two days. It was off the shores of Sri Lanka and then seen moving away from the Colombo Port, more..

Jul 3 (ST) While Sri Lanka is facing its worst-ever fuel crisis, one Western mission in Colombo has warned of a closure in a week due to the shortage of fuel, while others are cutting back on their consular services. A high-ranking diplomat at this Western mission stressed that the Foreign Affairs Ministry had failed in its international law obligations to ensure foreign diplomatic missions could function properly. On Friday, the Western mission’s senior diplomat told the Sunday Times: more..

Jul 3 (TM) Over 1,000 fuel stations under the CPC have been forced to shut down, leaving approximately 15,000 personnel without steady employment. Responding to a question, Petroleum Dealers’ Association Secretary Kapila Naotunna said that nearly 1,160 fuel stations in the CPC distribution network had completely shut down due to the lack of fuel supplies over the last few days. The CPC network is the largest fuel distribution operation in the country. more..

Jul 3 (ST) Current investor sentiment in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is led by the exhausting fuel shortages exacerbated by the general difficulties stemming from this while high interest rates are also pushing traders to fixed income analysts said. The fuel shortage has curtailed the movement of people, and which will hit the bottom lines of companies at large, Murtaza Jafferjee CEO JB Stockbrokers said. Analysts said a deep decline in the share market is inevitable. more..

Jul 3 (ST) SL’s jet fuel crisis is still weeks away from a solution despite the Govt inviting private sector bunkering companies to import and supply the country’s airports. While the bunkering industry is trying hard to procure jet fuel, suppliers demand letters of credit confirmed by first-class int'l banks. These are not forthcoming, owing to SL’s abysmal credit ratings. This is an impediment the bunkering sector is working with suppliers more..

Jul 3 (ST) A 50 kilogram bag of chemical fertiliser is selling at about Rs. 43,000 in the black market. Agriculture Ministry had earlier proposed to sell the fertiliser at the subsidised price of Rs. 15,000 but farmers’ associations had stated that they would find it difficult to buy at that price under the prevailing circumstances and had instead proposed a price of Rs. 10,000. About 65,000MT of urea fertiliser bought under the Indian credit line is expected in the country around July 10. more..

Jul 3 (Island) Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says that the need of the hour is the initiation of a high profile investigation to find out how this country was dragged down to its present plight of being a beggar nation, fix responsibility for these crimes and find ways to recover the money stolen from the people. “People have a right to know how the foreign reserves that had been at around seven to eight billion US dollars had dropped to zero within two years,” the Cardinal said more..

Jul 3 (ST) Opposition parties have labelled the draft 22nd Constitutional Amendment as a sham, stating that it does not significantly curtail the powers of the Prez and is a drastic dilution of the 19th Amendment. Opposition politicians said that the draft amendment fell far short of what the govt had initially promised. When Prez Rajapaksa addressed the nation on May 11, he promised to bring back 19th Amendment and even said he was open to more..

Jul 3 (TM) Thermal power stations run by the State-owned CEB are at risk of coming to a halt in mid-July unless diesel or furnace oil supplies resume within the next two weeks. It is learnt that the CEB has now completely stopped operations of all diesel power plants as its diesel stocks have dried up, and the remaining furnace oil is said to be sufficient only for the next two weeks. The low stocks heighten the risk of the CEB running out of generating capacity, while one unit (approximately 300 MW) more..

Jul 3 (TM) Another 300 MW generation unit at the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai is scheduled to be shut down for a major overhaul, following the completion of the ongoing maintenance of a similar unit. According to CEB Chairman N.S. Ilangakoon, the ongoing maintenance activities of unit 2 are scheduled to be completed within the next two months and soon after it resumes operations, unit 3 is scheduled to be shut down for its planned maintenance. more..

Jul 3 (ST) For the first time since independence in 1948, lack of fuel has paralysed a nation, and a hydra-headed Gotabaya–Ranil govt is pulling in different directions to grapple with the crisis. They are sure only about one thing — there will be no fuel stocks arriving in the country until the end of this month. The reason: no orders have been placed for the import of fresh stocks. Sagala Ratnayaka, who now goes as Senior Advisor more..

Jul 4 (ST) Fuel-less, power-less, gas-less, food-less, school-less, work-less, dollar-less and hopeless: that’s the gaunt face Lanka wears this Sunday morn as she glares at the progress report of the nation’s leaders, which starkly manifests on Lanka’s streets and needs no retelling why the landscape lies bleak, shrouded in a pall of gloom. Had the Prez scored such damning minuses in all of his subjects at his school’s half-term tests, he would, no doubt, have been given six of the best and sacked. more..

Jul 4 (DM) Protests come in waves and July will be a month of struggle. The great mass of people are all talking politics. They are questioning the rulers for hours while waiting on petrol queues. Farmers and fisher folk are cursing the rulers as they stay idle without fuel for days and weeks, watching their fields go dry without irrigation and staring at the sea as they cannot go fishing. When the cooking gas goes out, the kerosene supplies runs out, food is unaffordable and their children go hungry, more..

Jul 4 (DM) Energy is a vital factor for any country’s economy and in SL there is much public focus on the subject because of the power cuts the people are experiencing every day. The power cuts have an impact on every home, people’s life style and children’s education, especially in the post-COVID environment where many are learning online. On economic front it affects all businesses while its impact on production is severe more..

Jul 4 (ST) Notwithstanding those nava gilunath baan choon (lets make merry while the Titanic sinks) citizens obsessed with SL being thrashed by Australia in the Test series opener played in Galle, as the NZ Herald rather impolitely put it this Friday, there was a different and far more serious development happening alongside. This was when the police and the army, on orders from above prevented and in some cases, forcibly removed lawyers and citizens asking Prez to Go from more..

Jul 4 (DM) SL is in the grip of simultaneous fuel and food crises, brought on by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a downturn in tourism and led to a shortage of foreign currency. To make matters worse, Prez Gotabaya in his wisdom suddenly decided to ban the import of chemical fertilizer, weedicide, herbicides et al on the pretext of greening the country. Everyone realized the prez’s decision was based on a belated realization where the country was not in possession of more..

Jul 4 (TM) Fuel-less, power-less, gas-less, food-less, school-less, work-less, dollar-less and hopeless: that’s the gaunt face Lanka wears this Sunday morn as she glares at the progress report of the nation’s leaders, which starkly manifests on SL’s streets and needs no retelling why the landscape lies bleak, shrouded in a pall of gloom. Had Prez scored such damning minuses in all of his subjects at his school’s half-term tests, more..

Jul 4 (TM) Sri Lanka is desperately seeking the international community’s support to help it overcome the worst economic crisis it has faced since Independence, and it has pinned its biggest hopes on the IMF out of all potential saviours. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said last week on Twitter that any IMF agreement with Sri Lanka must be contingent on the independence of the Central Bank of SL, strong anti-corruption measures, and promotion of the rule of law. more..

Jul 4 (CT) The queue sector, a phenomenon that has emerged to dominate SL’s political and socioeconomic landscape after a lapse of 44 years, since last year, is here to stay! The cause, as virtually everyone knows, is the spiriting away of the country’s spartan US dollar reserves due to corruption at the highest level. And the result, insufficient dollars to import essentials including medicines, food, fuel, cooking gas among others as SL is an import- dependent economy. more..

Jul 4 (Island) Angry protesters have set the Libyan Parliament building on fire. They have been calling for elections. Continuing power cuts, soaring prices, months of political deadlock, etc., have driven the Libyans to extreme action although their demands have been endorsed by the interim PM, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who has also agreed in principle to the need to overhaul all state institutions. Libya is in chaos today with rival parties vying for power and killing one another because of more..

Jul 4 (Island) The long-awaited 22 nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill (22A) of the Gotabaya-Wickremesinghe govt (or, should we say, the SLPP Government in which UNPer Ranil Wickremesinghe is PM?) was published in the Gazette on 29 June 2022. This means it could be placed on the Order Paper of Parliament seven days after that. Citizens and citizens’ organisations would be able to challenge the Bill in the Supreme Court within seven days of the Bill being so placed. more..

Jul 4 (FT) A natural shutdown of the country or key sectors looms as millions of people languish in queues and the economy loses billions of rupees as the fuel shortage worsened over the weekend with no signs of the situation improving for many weeks. The Govt yesterday announced a week-long shutdown of all schools as public transport with minimum service remains inaccessible. more..

Jul 4 (EN) Two cruise ships, MV Arius and MV Gem, with a passenger capacity of 800 each have been berthed for a month-long layup in the China-backed Hambantota Int'l Port (HIP). Ships are laid up when they are taken off profitable service. ships’ crew will also remain in the ships until the layup is completed. “These types of vessels contribute to increasing awareness among ship owners and ship managers, of the diverse portfolio of services HIP can offer,” Lance Zuo, General Manager said. more..

Jul 4 (Island) When South Africa hosted the 2003 World Cup, their first major cricket event to be staged in the country, Dr. Ali Bacher and his team put up a superb show. They were quite sure of going through all the way as well but their cockiness came back to hurt them as they were knocked out in the first round itself. The manner in which they failed to qualify made South Africa the laughing stock as they made an error with calculations of their target in rain affected games. more..

Jul 4 (CT) Olympian sprinter Yupun Abeykoon dazzled in Switzerland, becoming the first South Asian sprinter to clock under 10 seconds in the 100m, as he clocked 9.96 seconds and set a new South Asian Record. Competing in Resisprint Int'l the Italy based sprinter won the 100m final beating Cuban Mena Reynier (9.96) and France’s Meba Michael (10.00). 6 out of the 8 athletes clocked their personal best. more..

Jul 4 (EN) Ceylon Petroleum Corporation will issue fuel on a guaranteed quota to companies that can pay in US dollars, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said as the country grapples with the worst currency crisis in the history of its soft-pegged central bank. SL is facing severe fuel shortages (cannot convert rupees to dollars) with after the central bank printed money, imposed a surrender requirement and smashed the credibility of a pegged exchange rate regime now called a flexible exchange rate. more..

Jul 4 (EN) Ceylon Tea exports to Ukraine dropped 55% to 755,120 kg in the five months to May 2022, down from 1.6 million a year ago, after Russia invaded the country. Exports to Russia also dropped 19% to 8.4 million kg up to May 2022 from 10.5 million a year ago. There was also a steep drop in exports to Turkey, which shares a border with Ukraine. Shipments of tea dropped 57%. Turkey also has a CB like SL and its currency has collapsed after money was printed to keep rates down. more..

Jul 4 (ST) In the first four months since January, the govt expenditure surpassed govt revenue by 83% resulting in a fiscal deficit of Rs. 524.1 billion. This is 0.7% higher than the Rs. 520.5 billion budget deficit in the same period last year. The govt expenditure increased by 15.2% to Rs. 1,155.2 billion in the first four months, compared to Rs. 1,002.8 billion in the same period last year while recurrent expenditure grew by 4.2% to Rs. 1,016.8 billion in the first four months due to the increase in expenditure more..

Jul 4 (FT) Department of Immigration and Emigration announced that the issuance of passports under the one-day service will commence from today in Matara, Vavuniya, and Kandy regional offices. “At the beginning, this service will be given for only 100 applicants who have already reserved a date and time at the specific regional offices,” Department noted. Previously, the issuance of passports under one-day service was only possible at its head office in Battaramulla. more..