Oct 11 (TN) Omaima Sohail’s five-wicket haul propelled Pakistan women’s cricket team to a five-wicket victory over SL in the Asia Cup’s 21st match at Sylhet on Tuesday. While chasing a target of 113, Pakistan wrapped up the match in 18.5 overs. Nida remained the top scorer for the green caps and went on to make an unbeaten 26 off 28, followed by Ayesha Riaz’s 20 off 26. Ayesha Naseem played a fiery cameo and remained scored unbeaten 16 off 5. During this Naseem clobbered 2 sixes. more..

Oct 11 (TM) NCPA is to investigate allegations of violence inflicted by the Police against women and children that took place during the peaceful protest held at Galle Face, Colombo, on Sunday, as well as whether the parents used their children as human shields in these incidents. “There are two sides to this matter: One is about the Police taking action against parents with children present, and the other is about parents intentionally exposing more..

Oct 11 (AD) An extraordinary gazette notification has been published, revising the levies charged for the issuance of vehicle driving licences. The communiqué was issued by Minister of Transport & Highways Bandula Gunawardane on October 10. As per the document, the fee charged for an application for a learner’s permit and a new driving licence (for one class) under the normal service is now Rs. 2,500. Under the one-day service, Rs. 3,500 is charged for this. more..

Oct 11 (AD) Court of Appeal has acquitted the former chairman of Akuressa Pradeshiya Sabha, Saruwa Liyanage Sunil, who was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 15 years for molesting an underage girl in 2012. The verdict was delivered by Appeals Court Judges Kumaran Ratnam and Sampath Abeykoon today, taking up an appeal filed by the defendant seeking his release. The former PS chairman was arrested by the Children and Women Bureau of Matara Police in July 2012 more..

Oct 11 (CT) ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam claimed that the Tamils detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) had been held for more than 5,000 days with no strong charges filed against them. He claimed that Mahinda Rajapaksa’s family, who wrecked the country with the Rehabilitation Act, as well as those who have sided with this govt, should be rehabilitated. more..

Oct 11 (CT) The SJB claimed, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe does not want to hold the Local Govt elections and was making excuses so, he could buy more time. SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna noted that during the discussion with the professionals, the President gave an explanation about the future elections, where he said that the number of members of the local government elections will be reduced by 50%. He said that there is a lot of criticism of parliamentary elections more..

Oct 11 (AD) Monetary Board of the Central Bank, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, has promoted K.M.A.N. Daulagala, Assistant Governor and the Secretary to the Monetary Board, to the post of Deputy Governor, with effect from Oct 7. Mrs. Daulagala has over 31 years of service at the CB in different capacities in the areas of supervision and regulation of non-bank financial institutions, macroprudential surveillance, finance, international operations, risk management, more..

Oct 11 (AD) Former Minister Johnston Fernando and two other defendants were again served indictments today at Colombo High Court today for allegedly incurring a loss to the government by using the employees of Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (Sathosa) for political activities while serving as the Minister of Cooperatives and Internal Trade. The indictments filed by the Bribery Commission were handed over to former Minister Johnston Fernando, former CWE chairman Eraj Fernando more..

Oct 11 (ICC) SL openers Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka got their team off to a flying start as they put on a 57-run stand in just five overs. The partnership was broken when Brad Evans dismissed Nissanka for 21, but Mendis carried on and made his way to a fifty. Mendis was threatening to take the game completely away from Zimbabwe, but Ryan Burl gave them a much-needed breakthrough as he had the SL batter caught for a well-made 29-ball 54. 27-year-old hit six fours and three sixes more..

Oct 11 (TM) Allegations have been levelled against Nochchiyagama DS Asanga Rathnayake for aiding in a land-grabbing scheme in the buffer zone of the Wilpattu National Park, bordering Nochchiyagama. “The law states that although the DWC does not own the buffer zone, any development activity that takes place in the buffer zone needs recommendation and approval from the said department. more..

Oct 11 (EN) SL will seek parliamentary approval for a gazette issued in September allowing expatriate workers who send forex into the country to import an electric vehicle, cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said. Expatriates have questioned the legality of the Import and Export (Control) Regulations gazette issued on Sept 23, minister said explaining the reason for presenting it to parliament. With SL going through its worst forex crisis in decades, Minister Manusha Nanayakkara more..

Oct 11 (DM) The price of a 12.5kg domestic LAUGFS gas cylinder has been brought down by Rs. 500 from midnight today, LAUGFS Holdings said. Accordingly, the new retail price of the 12.5 kg gas cylinder will be Rs. 5,300. The selling price of a 5 kg gas cylinder will be Rs. 2,120. The price reduction is mainly due to the fluctuation in global gas prices, the company said. On August 17, 2022, the price of a 12.5kg domestic LAUGFS gas cylinder was reduced by Rs. 1,050. more..

Oct 11 (CT) T Federation of Health Professionals (FHP) warned they would resort to trade union action if the retirement age limit was extended only for one particular profession in the health service. Convener of FHP, Ravi Kumudesh, in a letter to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, alleged that the Cabinet subcommittee was considering a Cabinet Memorandum recommending the extension more..

Oct 11 (DM) A group of 263 students of the Karapitiya medical faculty of the Ruhunu Uni were forbidden entry into the faculty for causing inconvenience to the freshers during a recent ceremony to welcome them. Vice Chancellor Prof. Sujeewa Amarasena said a group of second year students of the medical faculty were forbidden entry into the medical faculty. He said the students had arbitrarily removed the address of the Dean of the Faculty from the agenda and compelled more..

Oct 11 (NR) Former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjun Mahendran and nine others have been released from charges in the first Treasury bond case by the Permanent High Court at Bar. Court ordered their release over charges related to the Public Properties Act. The Permanent High Court at Bar stated that the charges cannot be continued under the Public Properties Act. The majority verdict was issued by judges Sanjeewa Morais, Damith Thotawatte and Namal Ballale. more..

Oct 12 (CT) SL is now in a never-ending loop of human rights violations, that have cost lives and has gotten negative Int'l attention over a numerous times. Authorities have however turned a blind eye to the violations and instead of addressing the issue, their actions have further aggravated the situation. It was not long before that there were several attempts to sabotage anti-Govt protests leading to several human rights violations. These violations were heavily criticised not just by local human more..

Oct 12 (ST) Listening to that man for all seasons and minister for all portfolios, Ali Sabry struggling to present a defence at a news conference in Geneva, zoomed to prepare a home audience for what was an obvious outcome at the UNHRC voting, one should not have been surprised at its sheer lack of acuity. Sabry was backed up by SL’s permanent representative in Geneva C.A. Chandraprema, who had a few digs at the media before falling back on a dubious numbers game more..

Oct 12 (TM) The rapidly unfolding economic crisis has dealt a massive blow to the food security of SL. The soaring prices of essential food items have forced Sri Lankans to reduce the quantity and quality of the food they consume, or skip their meals altogether. Parents are struggling to feed their children adequate amounts of nutrients and calories to thrive. Are these evident levels of undernourishment a result of economic crisis more..

Oct 12 (CT) SL faced its worst ever defeat at the UNHRC last week when it voted on Resolution No 51/1 titled Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in SL, against the wishes of the govt. SL was able to only obtain the support of seven of the 47 countries that had been elected to represent the int'l consensus on human rights by the UN General Assembly. This was the 9th UNHRC resolution on SL that different govts, including the present one, have refused to accept. more..

Oct 12 (DM) The people of Sri Lanka are going through extremely difficult times. They are hungry and rightfully they are protesting. This is especially true of those involved in the unregulated sectors of employment. Persons commonly referred to as - temporary workers - count over 500,000 in Colombo and its suburbs alone. These workers earn a pittance of between Rs. 1,000 to 1,500 - a day. They do not receive work daily and their monthly wages do not exceed Rs. 25,000. more..

Oct 12 (SO) Fraud is a common occurrence in SL society and has been in existence from immemorial ranging from false foreign job offers, bogus investment schemes to get rich pyramid schemes. In the most recent case, popular business woman Thilini Priyamil has been accused of defrauding people and misappropriating millions of rupees. The accused, a known film producer and a mother of two is a resident of Averiwatta. more..

Oct 12 (TM) Reiterating a sentiment that has been heard for many years, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe noted earlier this week that the country needs a national policy that does not change with every govt that comes to power. He also invited everyone to commit to building the country in line with one national policy, setting aside party differences. At a time when the country has started acknowledging that one of the key root causes of the ongoing economic crisis is unstable, short-sighted, more..

Oct 12 (Island) The resentful public is demanding elections, but the govt is offering electoral reforms instead. Prez has said that unless political parties co-operate with the govt to reform the electoral system, the people will be consulted thereon directly at a referendum. He seems to think the people are still with the govt! There is no gainsaying that electoral reforms are necessary, but the govt’s preoccupation with them at this juncture is only a ruse to postpone polls, which it is scared of. more..

Oct 12 (DM) On April 1 this year I awoke to over 500 messages that had accumulated on my phone overnight. For weeks, my home country of Sri Lanka had been engulfed in public protests as skyrocketing prices forced more and more people on to the streets. Overnight, protesters had gathered near the private residence of then Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a popular agitation location. This time however, as the protestors marched towards the house they were met with teargas and water cannons. more..

Oct 12 (TM) Late US Prez Abraham Lincoln once said: You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time. This was clearly evident in what the Core Group of Countries on SL at the UNHRC said on 6 Oct in the 51st session of the UNHRC, when they tabled the resolution on SL. Since J.R. Jayewardene’s Presidency, SL has adopted the practice of using someone more..

Oct 12 (TM) Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL), which has commenced a special probe with regard to the incident on 9 Oct when the Police dispersed those attending an event at the Galle Face Green to commemorate the aragalaya deceased, has informed IGP Chandana Wickramaratne to submit a report within 24 hours explaining the basis on which the event held at Galle Face Green on 9 Oct was dispersed. more..

Oct 12 (CT) MTV Channel (Pvt) Ltd, the Network that owns and operates Sirasa TV, Shakthi TV, TV-1, News 1st and Stein Studios, has been appointed as the Official Television Rights Holders in SL for the long-awaited ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, to be held in Australia from 16 Oct to 13 Nov. Every one of the 45 exciting matches will be telecast live on Sirasa TV, along with special telecasts on Shakthi TV and TV-1 for the benefit of cricket lovers in SL, where hopes are high that SL’s team more..

Oct 12 (FT) A complaint has been filed at the Police HQ against OIC of the Fort Police Station, Chief Inspector Sagara Liyanage for attempting to take a journalist’s mobile phone by force. The incident had allegedly taken place yesterday when Journalist and Young Journalists Association of SL President Tharindu Jayawardhana along with Attorney-at-Law Tharindu Ratnayake visited the Fort Police Station to lodge a complaint against ASP Nalinda Dilruk and SSP Roshan Dias for obstructing a peaceful more..

Oct 12 (Island) SL should expedite signing Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with big countries like China and also expand the current scope of the FTA with India, rather than sign FTAs with small countries, State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya said. “At present India has signed FTAs with several countries and could use SL as a spring board to penetrate those markets through India, Balasuriya said. He added: “SL has signed FTAs with India, Pakistan & Singapore & currently negotiating more..

Oct 12 (Island) During the course of his address, as Chair of the 55th Annual meeting of the ADB, SL’s Prez, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said, “As they say, in many of our countries, when the elephants fight, it is the grass that is crushed”. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, its strategically significant location in the Indian Ocean makes it the turf for the rivalry between the QUAD made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia on the one hand, and China on the other, to manifest itself. more..

Oct 12 (TM) On average, Rs. 1 billion worth of cheques have been returned on a daily basis in the second quarter of 2022, as the overall cheque returns in SL rose by 30% in the second quarter of 2022 (2Q22) compared to 1Q22, with the economy contracting by 8.4% in 2Q22. According to the payments bulletin released by the CB for 2Q22, a total of 251,400 cheques have been returned during the quarter, with a total value more..

Oct 12 (DN) The VAT system, one of the most important sources of tax revenue, is underperforming from the beginning in SL mainly due to frequent changes of tax rate and exemptions given on over 130 items in the VAT system and many others. Noting that SL does not have a proper mechanism for tax policy making, Suresh Perera-Principal, Tax and Regulatory-KPMG SL stated that inconsistency of policies in SL’s tax system and the retrospective laws impacts all the businesses more..

Oct 12 (ST) Liyara Mananayaka, 10, is an aspiring martial arts athlete, living in the United States of America, with deep Sri Lankan roots. The daughter of Kavinda and Aruni Mananayake, Liyara started her taekwondo journey with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA) when she was five-years-old. She earned her first degree black belt at the young age of eight in March of 2020 and earned her second degree black belt in January of 2022. After the ATA tournament was called off more..

Oct 12 (FT) Confusion reigned yesterday over SL’s status in the world after the Cabinet backed a move to reclassify the country as low income whilst the Prez’s Media Office said the nation will remain middle income. “SL will remain a middle-income country despite a decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday, Prez’s Media Division said. The PMD notification came minutes after Minister Bandula Gunawardena more..

Oct 12 (FT) Medical Professionals of SL for System Change has recommended all Police personnel be provided clear and up-to-date training regarding psychological and ethical aspects of behaviour following the incidents that took place at a peaceful protest held on Sunday at the Galle Face Green. Police have been accused of manhandling crowds including young children at a protest held to commemorate those who died during the Aragalaya. Human Rights Commission of SL has also more..

Oct 12 (FT) Uniquely located in the heart of the Central Business District, the World Trade Center Colombo celebrates 25 successful years, continuing to mark its presence as the city’s most iconic commercial landmark and sought-after business address. In 1991, founder and chairman of the Shing Kwan Group, Singapore S.P. Tao, with visionary foresight and entrepreneurial spirit, set course to develop a futuristic commercial complex in the island. To achieve his goal, Tao acquired more..