May 21 (SAMAA) Bangladesh is likely to replace SL, which is enduring its worst-ever economic downturn, as the venue for this year’s Asia Cup. It must be noted that months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines have caused widespread suffering across the South Asian island nation. Considering the situation in SL, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) could soon make a decision about the change in venue. Due to heat wave in UAE and Oman, strained relations between Pakistan more..

May 21 (ST) School examinations authorities said they are ready to hold the 2021 O/L next week and called for the support of trade unions. These exams, generally held in December, were to have been held in January and then put off to late February and early March. Examinations Commissioner L.M.D. Dharmasena said that he has sought the cooperation of all school authorities including principals and teachers. more..

May 21 (EK) Emirates and Dilmah Tea have enjoyed a longstanding partnership of brewing the finest teas on board and in Emirates’ airport lounges around the world for the past 30 years. To mark the milestone on International Tea Day, all Emirates’ customers will get a special tea box when they fly from Dubai on Saturday. In addition, First Class customers on flights to the UK will be treated to a food pairing, and Emirates’ Onboard Lounge will offer Dilmah Tea infused mocktails on Saturday. more..

May 21 (SN) “There is a great demand for fuel in Sri Lanka. Our goal is to replace petrol with a more environmentally friendly solution,” Alfred Christy from the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Agder (UiA) says. He and his colleague Souman Rudra from the Department of Engineering Sciences at UiA are working together with colleagues at the University of Jaffna to develop a product that can be used in the engines of the typical three-wheelers in Sri Lanka. more..

May 21 (ST) We need to save lives – with your support, is the strong call going out from the respected SL Medical Association (SLMA) this week, as it stepped in to help the state health sector overcome the shortage of essential medicines and equipment. Amidst the uncertainty and turmoil in SL which have reached a simmering peak, SLMA which is the national professional medical association which brings together medical practitioners of all grades and all branches of medicine, more..

May 21 (ST) A meal of fish and rice has become a luxury for the average SL family eager to maintain a diet rich in animal protein. Diesel for fishing vessels is now more costlier and so is fishing gear, largely imported. These rising costs for the fishing industry mean, the catch brought ashore is limited and prices keep rising at the wet markets and in supermarkets. “We are waiting for the new government to look into our plight. The fuel price increase and the shortage of diesel are frustrating. more..

May 21 (DM) All arrangements, including supply of fuel for public transport and examination staff, have been made for the GCE O/L examination which begins on Monday (23), Examinations Department Commissioner General L.M.D. Dharmasena said. It was announced following discussions with Petroleum Corporation, transport, and examination department officials. During the discussions, more..

May 21 (EN) A shipment of Octane 92 petrol was being unloaded in Colombo port Saturday afternoon, with another to be unloaded Sunday, to be followed by a shipment of both Octane 92 and Octane 95 petrol on May 25, minister Kanchana Wijesekara said. He said that two diesel ships and a petrol ship were also due in the next 10 days. “Two shipments are currently being unloaded. There is no place to unload the third ship at the moment, but it will be once the first two are done,” he said. more..

May 21 (IT) India women's cricket team is all set to tour SL for 3 ODIs and as many T20Is in June. This will be their first international assignment after the 50-overs World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year. The Indian team will tour SL from June 23 to July 7, a source in the know-how of the development told India Today. The BCCI senior selection committee for women will meet to pick the squads for the upcoming tour. It is expected that the selection committee will name a new ODI more..

May 21 (PTI) India on Saturday provided another 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel to SL under the credit line facility to the island nation which is grappling with its worst economic crisis. Last month, India extended an additional USD 500 million credit line to help SL import fuel as the country has been struggling to pay for imports after its foreign exchange reserves plummeted sharply in recent times, causing a devaluation more..

May 21 (AD) World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have jointly decided to support SL’s response to the ongoing economic crisis. The three institutions announced their decision in a statement issued after the first joint coordinated meeting on the 19th of May. “All three institutions are adopting a coordinated approach to sustain basic services and livelihoods and to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis on the people of SL.” more..

May 21 (IANS) Following the drawn first Test, hosts Bangladesh would be keen to turn things around when the second game of the two-match series commences at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on May 23, with vital World Test Championship (WTC) points at stake. SL's Test record against Bangladesh is one of near-complete dominance, but with the visitors missing several key players, it could change the balance with the hosts targeting a first-ever series win over the island nation's side more..

May 22 (Island) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, like all politicians, is fond of publicity. He may perhaps be like a former outspoken UNP minister in the 1965 UNP administration, Mr. IMRA Iriyagolla, who once famously said that “bad publicity is better than no publicity.” Despite the heavy demands on his time and energy, he has been able to find space for Western and other television stations to discuss current situation in our island nation where political & economic turmoil continues unabated. more..

May 22 (CT) On Wednesday I hinted at a standoff between Ranil (RW) and Gota (GR). Things have moved rapidly not by explicit declaration of war but by the stark fact that RW has taken control of the Interim Administration (IA) while GR is blank-minded. RW is in control of the emergency measures and pushing ahead including making the former Maldivian president ambassador at large to negotiate Lanka’s case in the world’s capitals. He is also dictating what crumbs will be left for GR more..

May 22 (SO) Former Minister S.M. Chandrasena said that as proposed by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, it is more appropriate to have a National Council to address the current issues faced by the country. He said when a National Council is formed, all political party leaders can become stakeholders and formulate a national policy needed for the country. He said if the SJB and JVP accept ministerial portfolios or not, we hope they will more..

May 22 (GV) May 18, 2009. The end of the war. Of the many horrific visuals of the end of the war the one that is etched in my memory is of people crossing the Mullaivaikkal bridge. At the time it was not possible to watch it without crying. Even now, it is difficult to watch without feeling emotional, if not cry. Why? In the video you see people who have been battered, suffered violence of horrific proportions, subjected to unspeakable indignities and seen unimaginable horrors. more..

May 22 (ST) It beggars belief how Ranil Wickremesinghe could assemble such a ragbag crew of adventurers, turncoats, and people-rejects – each high on patriotism and short on principles – and present, without a blush, the motley collection as his cabinet of ministers to lead Lanka’s renaissance out of the Rajapaksa dark ages. Looking more like a band hired to play aboard the sinking Titanic, to ease the alarm of the passengers finishing off their one-meal-a-day cruise more..

May 22 (SO) The scourge of LTTE terrorism was wiped out from SL by the Security Forces in 2009, proving to the world in no uncertain terms that terrorism can be eliminated if there is a will. SL’s Ambassador to China Dr. Palitha Kohona was the Foreign Secretary at the time. When the country marked this historical event, 13 years of bringing peace to all communities on May 18, Dr. Kohona recall his memories of one of the more..

May 22 (TM) Using SL taxpayers’ money to incentive migrant workers to send their remittances into the country is a wrong policy, stated CB Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe. He said that the CBSL has provided incentives for remittances, while more requests are made from the Treasury for various further incentives to be implemented, which are still being considered by CB. “But according to my personal opinion, there is no need to provide incentives for remittances sent by migrant more..

May 22 (ST) For four straight days, a House seemingly more divided than ever debated the violent events from the preceding week. On Tuesday, the govt moved the adjournment debate on the damages caused to public and private properties due to recent riots. What was initially supposed to be a two-day debate continued into Friday with many MPs whose residences and properties attacked wanting to have a say. It was a deeply personal debate for most MPs. more..

May 22 (ST) Two extraordinary developments this week may be of interest to SL watchers familiar with decades-long subversive capture of Constitutional State by agents of the Deep State. First, the Bar Association of SL’s expression of strongly worded concern to the CJ and the AG this Friday, regarding a concerted effort by certain parties to discredit the judiciary and the Bar by falsely accusing judges and members of the legal profession of promoting violence, is significant. more..

May 22 (Island) Lenin once remarked that there are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen. Much more than a decade passed last week at Galle Face. Beginning with Mahinda Rajapaksa’s desperate and disastrous attempt at retaining his premiership, events began to cascade, one after another. Praised by everyone, locally and internationally, for their peaceful veneer, the Galle Face protests turned sour when Rajapaksist goons started vandalising the protest site and more..

May 22 (ST) The guards at the PM’s Office (PMO) have been so used to opening their gates for luxury vehicles to come in. Last week when one of the old, somewhat clapped out vehicles drove up to the gate, the guards chose to ignore the vehicle assuming it was a vehicle which should not be allowed in. The driver tooted the horn, and the guards looked out but did not respond. Second time the horn was tooted, again they ignored it. more..

May 22 (TM) The uphill climb that Sri Lanka must embark on in order to simply get to where it was less than three years ago appears treacherous and daunting, a challenge the likes of which this country has never faced even at the height of the near-three-decade-long war. Before taking on that challenge, however, it is of utmost importance to first identify, expose, and punish all those responsible in some way or the other for bringing this once-proud nation and its 22 million citizens to this helpless, more..

May 22 (SO) Cohabitation can mean many things but in politics it essentially means the coming together of leaders and members of two or more political parties in a governing structure. Cohabitation is common in countries such as France but SL got its first taste of this system in 2001, when the UNP led by Ranil Wickremesinghe won the General Election while Chandrika Kumaratunga was still President. The next such instance is from 2015 when Maithripala Sirisena won Presidency more..

May 22 (Island) There was heartbreak for Angelo Mathews in Chittagong this week as he missed out on a double hundred in the opening Test match against Bangladesh. He joins 11 other batsmen to have missed out on a double hundred by one run. But he’s the only one to have been dismissed both on 99 and 199! The 99 dismissal was when Mathews was young – 22 years of age – while the 199 is when he is in the more..

May 22 (SO) An eerie calm on a rain-swept morning on Tuesday at Reid Avenue in Colombo with charred remains of buses torched during the violence on May 9 lying near the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station, brought out a vociferous band of protesters fighting for justice in sports. As workers were engrossed in the laborious task of ensuring a level playing field for players in the hallowed turf of the Racecourse, the former British playground for the sport of kings, motley group of sports officials more..

May 22 (ST) Truth is an uncomfortable nexus. A bunch of kids who have created an institution called GotaGoGama (GGG) at SL’s famous landscape, has heightened the mental state of a moribund populace, the tenet that the truth shall ultimately prevail. It has all but accounted for a surreal king who thought that a war victory afforded the blatant stripping of a land called paradise, and given ample notice to all who infest the hallowed precincts of the state legislature, that a new moral code is wafting over more..

May 22 (TM) Monetary Board of the CB has agreed and requested approval from the Finance Ministry to reduce the limit on foreign exchange notes that an individual can hold from $ 15,000 to $ 10,000, to bring more dollars into the banking system. CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said that under Section 8 of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017, there is currently a limit of $ 15,000 that a person or resident in Sri Lanka could hold in cash, up to a maximum of 3 months, more..

May 22 (TM) Privatising SriLankan Airlines is a hot topic once more, although this discussion is decades old now. Founded as Air Lanka in 1979, the airline was described by Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew as a glamour project, not of great value for developing Sri Lanka. In 1998 Air Lanka signed a 10-year management contract with Dubai-based Emirates Airline for 40% of shares and provided the Emirates management the ability to make most of the management decisions. more..

May 22 (TM) SL needs to forge a convergence of political will to establish a govt that brings both stability and legitimacy, which will enable the country to negotiate with key international stakeholders to restructure external debt, former Minister of Economic Reform and Public Distribution and SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said. According to the Opposition MP, SLPP-Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt in its current form more..

May 22 (SO) Living on hopes alone will not suffice to get over the economic crisis which needs concrete measures on the ground to stimulate the crippled economy, economists told the Sunday Observer Business on Friday. They said the country has come to the state where finding the next meal has become the pressing need for many living a hand to mouth existence. Former CB Deputy Governor Dr. W.A Wijewardena said if foreign allies come to Sri Lanka’s help that is good and encouraging. more..

May 22 (ST) SL this week named teenage fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana in the provisional T20 squad for the 3-match home series against Australia, following youngster’s dream debut at the IPL. The 19-year-old playing for Chennai Super Kings became the cynosure of all eyes due to his unusual bowling action similar to that of legendary Lasith Malinga. Pathirana, trapped Shubman Gill of Gujart Titans lbw with his first ball in the IPL to return impressive figures of of 3.1-0-24-2 on debut, more..

May 22 (ST) Recent bids at the Treasury Bill auction of the Central Bank (CB) reflect the rupee liquidity shortage in the country’s banks, economists point out. The gravity of the rupee liquidity shortage is witnessed by the bids submitted by primary dealers at spurious rates, they say. Now they bid at high rates to capitalise on high inflation followed by higher interest rates, analysts say. “They are expecting inflation to increase further more..

May 22 (EN) Sri Lanka is looking for funds to pay a ship carrying Siberian Light Crude, which is anchored off Colombo Port, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament as the country is hit by the worst currency crises created by the island’s Latin America style central bank. The ship Nissos Delos has been waiting from May 01, he said. “It has 90,000 metric tonnes of Siberian Light Crude,” PM Wickremesinghe said on May 19. “There is still no money. We will find the money.” more..

May 22 (ST) SL is expecting support from the international community to purchase fertiliser for the farmers and experts have asked to now concentrate on making preparations for the Maha season. During a meeting chaired by former Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam (heading a committee appointed by the new PM), state agriculture institutions, fertiliser importers and experts present discussed core issues facing the agriculture industry. It had been decided that a new committee would be appointed more..