Oct 25 (EN) SL’s ministry of finance has announced an increase in betting and gaming taxes while the annual tax for casinos has been increased by 150% from 200 million rupees to 500 million as of Aug 1. The ministry has also decided to charge an entrance fee of 20 US dollars from locals who visit casinos once new regulations come into effect. A higher than before registration fee is also on the cards. State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that with such a high spike in taxes, the govt envisages more..

Oct 25 (TM) Three of the eight prisoners who were granted pardons by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe with effect from 21 October were those accused of attempting to assassinate former Prez Chandrika Kumaratunga, who has expressed her consent for their release, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD). As per Article 34 of the Constitution, Wickremesinghe had granted pardons to eight prisoners convicted by the court for their involvement in activities related to the LTTE. more..

Oct 25 (TM) In the backdrop of a press release claiming to be issued by State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage’s media unit and a letter by the US-based Walt Disney Company making the rounds on social media, Gamage confirmed to The Morning that no such communiqué had been sent to the media by her team pertaining to the confirmation of Disney officials visiting the country and Disneyland being set up in Hambantota more..

Oct 25 (CT) Farmers in Laggala stated that they had halted ginger harvesting in several villages, coming under the purview of the Mathale- Laggala Divisional Secretariat, due to their inability to obtain a decent price for their hard labour. They stated that in the past few years they had received a reasonable sum for their ginger harvest, but they lamented that thus far, during 2022, that has not been the case. Therefore they had been forced to halt the harvesting process forthwith. more..

Oct 25 (Island) SLPP is reportedly conducting a post-mortem on the passage of the 22A sans the committee-stage changes it sought to make. Not many thought that the ayes would have it, 174 to 1, and the Bill would be passed so easily, given Basil Rajapaksa’s all-out effort to prevent his opponents from securing a two-thirds majority for the Bill containing provision for disqualifying dual citizens like him from becoming MPs. One however should not make the mistake of thinking that more..

Oct 25 (AD) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera states that the passenger transport three-wheelers should be regulated before increasing the allocated fuel quota. The minister points out that it is not possible to increase the fuel quota for all three-wheelers without proper regulation. “Currently we have allocated 5 litres for three-wheelers. When we prepare the regulation, we hope to increase this [fuel allocation] quickly through the Ministry of Transport, as we are not able to increase fuel quota more..

Oct 25 (Island) The Army and the Mahaweli security personnel nabbed seven persons for videoing the Victoria dam and the surrounding high security area using a drone camera. They handed over the suspects to the police for further investigations, yesterday. The suspects are between the ages of 31 and 32 years and are residents of Beruwala, Mount Lavinia and Weligama. Police said the group had arrived there on Saturday morning in a van and asked from the Mahaweli Engineering Office more..

Oct 25 (AD) The Director-General of Wildlife has decided to blacklist the SUVs and those who rode them in a reckless manner inside the Yala National Park. These individuals will also be barred from entering any wildlife national park in SL for 3 years, the Ministry of Wildlife said. Earlier today, the Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife announced th’ the park officials and 7 safari tour guides who accompanied a group of individuals involved more..

Oct 25 (AD) The Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife has suspended the park officials and 07 safari tour guides who accompanied a group of individuals involved in reckless driving inside the Yala National Park over the failure to control the situation. On the directives of the Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera, the park officers and the safari tour guides in question were suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into the incident. more..

Oct 25 (FT) Continued setting of overly ambitious budget targets with no clear plan for meeting them was identified as a major flaw in Sri Lanka’s budgeting process in an online discussion hosted by Verité Research. As an example, it was pointed out that the primary deficit target of 0.7% for FY 2023 requires a minimum revenue increase of 68% which would be a monumental increase in revenue achieved only once before in the country's history in 1978. World Bank Development Economics more..

Oct 25 (EN) SL’s merchandise exports in Sept 2022 grew 5.75% from a year earlier to US$ 1,093.9 million, driven by apparel & textile, and tea products the island’s export promotion office said. In the nine months to September, exports were up 11.83% to US$ 10 billion. SL is currently in the worst currency crisis in the history of the island’s soft-pegged central bank with the rupee collapsing from 200 to 360 in a failed attempt to float more..

Oct 25 (Island) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena said on Sunday that the ongoing crisis in the country had been aggravated by the absence of a friendly foreign policy. Addressing a public rally in Polonnaruwa, Sirise-na said that a friendly foreign policy had existed during his tenure. He added that the decisions made during the last three years had created an extremely problematic situation among the people as well as in the govt. Sirisena said that all the countries of the world had assisted SL more..

Oct 25 (Island) The govt would implement a set of proposals by an eight-member committee that looked into reform needs of the CEB, a senior govt official said. The proposals for restructuring the debt ridden CEB are to be submitted to Parliament next month after they were studied by the eight-member committee, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said. Minister said that the report by the committee which was appointed in August had been received and was being studied. more..

Oct 25 (FT) Economics whiz kid Aseni and her grandfather Sarath Mahatthaya of the Ministry of Finance fame are continuing their dialogue on the economics of Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, dubbed as Ranilnomics. Ranil proclaimed earlier that he took over presidency to give a life to the moribund economy and therefore, his economic policies need close examination by the citizenry. Previously, they had looked at how he should market his liberal ideology to political partners in Parliament more..

Oct 25 (CT) Regional Conference on Equality and Equity in Recognising Unpaid Care Work and Women’s Labour in South Asia, was held on 20 and 21 October at the Galle Face Hotel. The conference was organised by the Women and Media Collective (WMC), SL in Collaboration with the Social Scientists Association (SSA), SL. A number of Researchers, Activists and Advocates on Unpaid Care Work joined the event. Many beneficiaries joined Via Zoom. The concept of Unpaid Care Work was brought into focus during the conference. more..

Oct 25 (DM) A Fundamental Rights petition filed by Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera challenging the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to award the coal tender to the Black Sand Commodities Company was today withdrawn following the govt’s decision to cancel the questionable tender for the procurement of coal to the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant. Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera filed this petition seeking more..

Oct 25 (DM) Some 32 passengers were wounded in a head-on collision involving two buses in Mawanella this morning on the Kandy-Colombo main road, police said. The mishap took place in the Anwarama area near the Mawanella town where a private bus which was heading towards Pinnawala School and a SLTB bus was coming from Kegalle to Kandy crashed against each other. The injured passengers from both the buses were rushed to the Mawanelle base hospital. more..

Oct 25 (FT) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has accused the Govt of failing to place the due tax burden on the country’s wealthy. Premadasa said while taxes are necessary to increase Govt revenue, the Govt is seeking to levy similar tax rates on all, including the common man. “The Govt is attempting to come out of bankruptcy by destroying the lives of the people,” he said. According to Premadasa, any economic growth if claimed must be felt by the general public. more..

Oct 25 (EN) SL is still facing a shortage of more than 150 essential medicines due to forex shortages while the Ministry of Health expects to increase local medicine production by 30% in the coming two years, officials said. A source from Ministry of Health said Sri Lanka is facing a shortage of around 150 essential medicines in the health sector. “Out of the 300 registered essential medicines in the country, more..

Oct 25 (AD) The approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted to revise tariff rates for rooftop solar panels, Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera says. Accordingly, the current two-tier tariff rate of Rs. 22.00 and Rs. 15.50 will be revised to a flat rate of Rs. 37.00 for rooftop solar panels producing less than 500 kilowatts. Meanwhile, Rs. 34.50 will be charged for rooftop solar panels generating more than 500 kilowatts, Minister Wijesekera said further in a tweet. more..

Oct 25 (DM) There is a massive shortage of drugs which are used to treat cancer in hospitals and in other health institutions, Govt Pharmacists' Society Chairman Ajith Thilakaratne said. He said due to the shortage, a large number of patients at cancer units are in dilemma. Therefore, there is a tendency of those cancer treatment units are being closed. "So far, around 15 medicines are unavailable in govt hospitals, and therefore patients have to spend more money to buy them from private pharmacies, more..

Oct 25 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has extended his warm felicitations on the appointment of Rishi Sunak as the new PM of UK. In a tweet, the PMD further mentioned that the president has expressed confidence that the ties between the two nations would be further strengthened under the leadership of Sunak. In the meantime, PM Dinesh Gunawardena also congratulated his new UK counterpart. Gunawardena said he looks forward to work closely with Sunak to promote bilateral more..

Oct 25 (CT) COPE recommended that the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands, Chulananda Perera, update the Land Reform Commission Act and take the necessary steps to restructure operations. Accordingly, COPE recommended that a report be given within six weeks, based on the action taken in this connection. These recommendations were made when the COPE met in Parliament last week, under the chairmanship of Prof. Ranjith Bandara, to examine the AG’s report for the year 2020 more..

Oct 25 (FT) With more European carriers planning to fly into Colombo from next month, SL Tourism anticipates a busy winter season. Swiss leisure airline – Edelweiss, French flag carrier – Air France, Netherlands flag carrier – Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), and Russia’s largest charter airline – Azur Air will resume service to Colombo from the first week of November. The resumption of airline operations in SL is a reflection of the efforts more..

Oct 25 (Island) Prof. Channa Jayasumana, MP, says Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena should take tangible measures to remove all dual citizens from Parliament. The rebel SLPP MP has asserted that nearly a dozen dual citizens remain in Parliament, though Basil Rajapaksa no longer serves as a member of Parliament. The then Prez Gotabaya, Rajapaksa in April, this year, dropped Basil Rajapaksa from the Cabinet of Ministers. Now that Parliament has overwhelmingly approved more..

Oct 25 (FT) As Sri Lanka prepares to formulate and implement reforms that will enable economic revival, the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2022 organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will explore necessary reforms and their implications during Session 1 of the Summit dedicated to Economic Reforms and Implications, on 6 Dec. The session will begin with a fireside chat with former Finance Minister of Georgia Aleksi Alexsishvili who will discuss Georgia’s economic reform story. more..

Oct 25 (CI) So a stroll home for Australia in the end, thanks mainly to a mindblowing display of batting power from Marcus Stoinis. When he came into bat, Australia needed 69 off 46 balls. And then they scored those 69 runs off 26 balls, despite the fact that Aaron Finch kept stinking up the innings with his 31 not out off 42 balls, through the course of which he never seemed to find any rhythm. Sri Lanka struggled against Australia's pace, more..

Oct 25 (Island) Former lawmaker M.M. Zuhair, PC, who also served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Iran, has urged the govt to discard the proposed Rehabilitation Bill. The former State Counsel argued that the proposed law couldn’t co-exist with fundamental rights provisions, provided for in the Constitution. The following is the text of the statement: A spate of views have already been placed convincingly before the country by many against the Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill. more..

Oct 25 (EN) Stocks fell 1.95% on Tuesday on selling pressure fueled by the uncertain economic outlook continued, but foreigners bought into the island nation’s risky assets, brokers said. The market saw net foreign inflows of 529 million rupees, the highest foreign buying in two weeks. The total net foreign inflow so far for this year is 18 billion rupees. The main All Share Price Index (ASPI) slipped 1.95% or 169.12 points to close at 8,516.40, its lowest close since August 9. more..

Oct 26 (DM) Our population is aging. According to Pension Watch, in 2018, approximately 2,507,630 people were over 60 years of age and this number is predicted to reach 7,464,687 by 2050. WB figures reveal that 12.3% of our population is aged 60 or older (with the Western province having the highest percentage). Western Province comprises 31.7%, while Northern Province has the least at 4.8%. Percentages make SL the country with the highest proportion of older adults in South Asia. more..

Oct 26 (DM) The first workshop I ever attended on journalism was a fancy two-day affair. Held at the Blue Waters, funded and conducted by the European Union it was star class treatment. The buffet was sumptuous, the drinks free flowing and the banter, well, gossipy at best, but mostly defamatory. But importantly what did we gain from the whole affair? Very little by way of skills. There was no structured imparting of skills. I don’t think that was the intention. more..

Oct 26 (CT) Financial crisis-hit SL lost around USD 10 billion as a result of the Govt’s legal inaction in the first six months in recovering losses and future costs resulting from the event involving marine pollution caused by a fire on board the Singapore-registered Super Eco 2700-class container ship X-Press Pearl in May 2021, and a group of consultant scientists who probed the disaster drew the attention of SL’s Prez more..

Oct 26 (CT) When the behaviour of human beings fall short of that expected of them, they could also be a threat to wildlife as was witnessed in the Yala National Park recently, where a group of locals were seen misbehaving in a manner that was of disturbance to wildlife. Despite there being certain acts clearly classified as prohibited within National Parks and environmentally sensitive areas, such rules are conveniently ignored by those who disregard the welfare of both the environment more..

Oct 26 (GV) Pranavan (name changed), a former militant, was arrested in Vavuniya in April 2009 by people dressed in civilian clothes. Neither he nor his family were given prior warning of his arrest, which was carried out like an abduction. Pranavan, along with several others, was detained in an underground bunker and continuously tortured at the Joseph camp or at a location nearby in Vavuniya for 3 months. Pranavan was arrested under the PTA and released after nine years. more..

Oct 26 (SO) The erotic queen of finance is the new moniker coined for the alleged fraudster Thilini Priyamali who is accused of defrauding many wealthy persons. She was thus called by leading lawyer Maithri Gunaratne PC last week in open courts after it was revealed through the investigations carried out by the CID that she had used her appeal and beauty to carry out her alleged illegal businesses. more..

Oct 26 (TM) The authorities have taken stern action against the group of visitors that drove multiple vehicles in the Yala National Park in a reckless manner, which attracted public attention after a video was shared on social media platforms of the incident. It is reported that the Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Ministry has suspended the services of the park officials and seven safari tour guides who had accompanied the group of travellers over their failure to control situation, more..