Sep 9 (CT) Department of Examinations has complained to the CID regarding a student allegedly hacking the Department’s website and retrieving the recently released G.C.E. A/L Exam results. Accordingly, the young hacker had created a web portal to retrieve the exam results by entering only a username. Commissioner General of the Exam Department L.M.D. Dharmasena said the portal was created by a student in Grade 12 studying Information Communication Technology as one of his A/L subjects. more..

Sep 9 (TM) Ministry of Health stated that policy decisions should be made based on facts such as providing tax concessions, removing certain import-related limits, and dealing with donors in order to mitigate the impact on the people due to the rising prices of pharmaceutical drugs and medical equipment in the face of the prevailing economic crisis. A senior official said: “The main reason for the recent increase in the prices of drugs and medical equipment is the current economic crisis. more..

Sep 9 (TM) Inter-University Bhikkhu Federation (IUBF) held a protest last evening in Colombo against repression by the Government and the detention of the activists of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF), namely, Wasantha Mudalige, Hashan Jeewantha, and Ven. Galwewa Siridhamma Thera for 90 days under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA). The protest commenced near the Federation of Self-Employees’ Market (FoSE) in Colombo Fort with the participation of more..

Sep 9 (Island) Former MP M.M. Zuhair, PC, has questioned the rationale behind Sri Lanka sending a delegation to forthcoming Geneva sessions as Foreign Minister Ali Sabry,PC, has declared that the govt wouldn’t accept UN HRC mechanism to gather evidence on human rights violations. Zuhair told The Island that Minister Sabry’s stand should be examined against the backdrop of Sri Lanka allowing foreign agencies to inquire into 21/4 Easter Sunday attacks. The former Ambassador to Tehran under more..

Sep 9 (CT) The Police have launched investigations into an incident where a seven-year-old child had been buried alive after being severely assaulted. The child’s mother and another woman have been arrested in connection with the incident and operations have been launched to arrest another man and woman. Delwala Police said it has been revealed that the after assaulting the child the suspects, who thought she was dead, had thrown her body into an abandoned mine in Delwala after wrapping it. more..

Sep 9 (Island) A commendation by the Japanese Foreign Minister was presented to Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society by Japanese Ambassador in Colombo Mizukoshi Hideaki on September 06, at Studio 3, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, Colombo 07.The ceremony was part of the special TV programme commemorating the late President J.R. Jayewardene’s historic speech at the San Francisco Peace Treaty 71 years ago, the Japanese embassy said in a press release issued yesterday (08). more..

Sep 9 (EN) SL’s electricity consumers could set up a rooftop solar unit and recover the cost in four to five years, which is not so expensive compared to the money spent on bathroom tiles, industry officials said. A 3 kW system which is enough for reasonably sized house costs about 1.1 to 1.3 million rupees today, compared to the 600,000 to 700,000 rupees it cost last year before the currency collapsed, more..

Sep 9 (EN) SL will have no power cuts over the weekend Chairman of the PUCSL Janaka Ratnayake, said. He said that scheduled power cuts did not take place in the last week due to the high volume of hydroelectricity produced, and having two functioning generators in the Norochcholai coal power plant. Sri Lanka has enough coal in stock till the end of October, Ratnayake said. All groups (ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW) will experience one hour of power cuts between 6 pm to 9 pm on Monday (12). more..

Sep 9 (TM) Secretary to the Treasury has issued a circular specifying the guidelines for the preparation of Annual Budget Estimates 2023 within the medium-term budgetary framework for 2023-2025. Circular read: “The economy of SL is currently faced with the most challenging state of affairs since Independence. In these circumstances, fiscal space has become extremely tight due to the drastic increase of Govt expenditure, severely limited Govt revenue, and the diminished capacity of the Govt to borrow. more..

Sep 9 (EN) Claiming that the use of drugs among schoolchildren and the incidence of schoolchildren undergoing drug-related rehabilitation have increased rapidly in the context of the Police allegedly aiding and abetting drug traffickers, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) said that the Government should implement a programme that goes beyond primary methods such as checking school children’s bags to control the situation. more..

Sep 9 (TM) Several Sri Lankans living in Italy have alleged that the Italian Embassy in Sri Lanka has not granted visas to their children (under 18 years) and family members as certain officials are attempting to illegally make money off them. They claimed that there has been no intervention from the Govt regarding the said issue yet. “The Govt has to intervene in this issue. If our children come to Italy, they would send euros to Sri Lanka. It’s as simple as that. more..

Sep 9 (CT) Assistant Director of Media and Public Relation of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) Janaka Handunpathiraja said that a programme to relocate people living in high risk areas across the country is currently underway. Handunpathiraja added that attention has been paid to relocating people living in landslide-prone areas in the Kandy District. Assistant Director said that Director General of DMC retired Major General Susantha Ranasinghe met Kandy District Secretary Chandana Tennakoon, more..

Sep 10 (DM) Violence breeds violence. Tragically, a once peaceful SL has been wrecked and ruined by organised violence or war since the April 1971 insurrection by the JVP. Since independence in 1948, especially after SWRD Bandaranaike was elected as PM in 1956, there has been disunity between the Tamil and Sinhala communities because Mr. Bandaranaike was elected mainly on his Sinhala Only policy. In 1958, a state of emergency was declared after more..

Sep 10 (DM) In spite of any election being not around the corner and some including the ruling SLPP arguing against holding elections at this juncture citing economic crisis, several political parties and groups are busy forming new electoral alignments. 13 SLPP MPs including SLPP Chairman Prof G.L. Peiris and Dullas Alahapperuma who became independent of their party recently launched a new political party naming it Nidhahas Janatha Sabhawa (NJS) or FPC on Mar 2. more..

Sep 10 (CT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe last Saturday went to the Bambalapitiya Police Field Force Headquarters to attend the ceremony held to mark SL’s 156th Police Day. Prez emphasised that the rule of law cannot be preserved without the Police and an independent Judiciary, and that the two institutions should be protected while moving forward. He also pointed out that the country’s democracy and the rule of law must be more..

Sep 10 (CT) Recent events in SL show us several fundamental facts. 1) that there is a disconnect between the youthful generation and the one holding power and privilege in the govt and the private sector 2) that there is no credible and trusted way to empower the youths who are university educated and otherwise through gainful employment and participation in the electoral and governance process 3) that there are colonial like rules and practices continuing to burden more..

Sep 10 (GV) Things have regressed in the past five months or so. The nucleus of SL’s popular protests have ceased to exist. Its last days were a shadow of what it once was. The last batch of protesters who occupied the skeleton structures that made up the remnants of GotaGoGama were still resilient. One protester held firm in the belief that if the same crowds that gathered on July 9 came to support GotaGoGama in early August, he was certain it would make it through & continue its struggle. more..

Sep 10 (CT) A faceoff between Govt of SL (GoSL), Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and several Tamil Diaspora organisations, with a possible new resolution over rights violations in all dimensions is imminent. This time too, a strong debate is expected in Geneva, Switzerland, at UNHRC's 51st Session. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, before his departure to Geneva told local media last week that more..

Sep 10 (CT) In a tragic turn of events a 14-year-old student died on Monday after falling into an unprotected storm drain filled with rainwater, following heavy rainfall, in Vehera, Kurunegala. Sajitha Gunaratne, a student of Maliyadeva Model School, was returning home from school when he fell into a storm drain. Following a 1.5-hour search, launched by locals, Police and Army, the student was found trapped in the drain and was rushed to the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital where more..

Sep 10 (TM) The SL leopard is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with less than 800 mature leopards estimated to be alive. Encroachment on their habitat, and poaching have exacerbated the human-leopard conflict. In the last two years alone, about 24 leopards – including a rare black leopard – have been killed, with 90% of these killings occurring in the tea plantations. The Sri Lankan leopard is a subspecies unique to the island, more..

Sep 10 (Island) An unbeaten century by St. Joseph’s batsman Sadeesh Jayawardena and a good all round feat by Anandian Ayesh Sashimal were among the highlights of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ limited overs cricket tournament matches played on Monday. St. Joseph’s registered a five wickets victory over Mahanama thanks to the unbeaten century scored by Jayawardene who held their batting together with his 118 balls innings. Chasing a target of 154 runs to win more..

Sep 10 (DN) Yupun Abeykoon Italy based SL sprinter finished fifth at the Zurich Diamond League 2022 finals held in Switzerland with a timing of 10.14 seconds yesterday. He finished with this same time at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games to take the silver medal. He had to run against the world's top sprinters and great honour to end with fifth place said SL Athletic Prez Palitha Fernando who encouraged this athlete first. SLA Chief made arrangements for Yupun to join the SL Army more..

Sep 10 (CI) Yes, it was another chasing side winning in Dubai, the venue now having seen 17 victories for chasing sides in the last 20 T20Is. But this time, SL's bowlers had arguably put the legwork in for the victory, before the second innings could even begin. Pakistan's innings could never quite achieve lift-off, and when the middle overs came, Wanindu Hasaranga put in his first big performance of the tournament, taking 3/21. more..

Sep 10 (CT) Suicide is something that almost everyone thinks about at some point in their lives but only a few of us feel comfortable talking about it. Yet talking about suicide – its causes, prevalence, and risk factors as well as what people in crisis are experiencing – provides us with the best opportunity to prevent it along with many of the other problems that are associated with suicidal behaviour. People experience suicidal feelings for countless reasons, some of them understandable, more..

Sep 10 (Island) The world is mourning a lovable leader as the UK is struggling to come to terms with its unbearable loss. The new Elizabethan era has come to an end with the demise of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96; her reign was unprecedentedly long and eventful; it lasted more than seven decades. The longest-serving British monarch, she, unlike her namesake Queen Elizabeth I, presided over the decolonisation process and Britain’s transition to modernity. more..

Sep 10 (ST) Junior Golf in SL has been nurtured with dedication and commitment over the past 10 years and two talented juniors have been selected to represent SL Golf at the prestigious R&A Junior Open 2022, which coincides with the 150th British Open Championship, which took place from July 10 to 17 at St. Andrews. A dynamic two-member junior team represented SL, with Kaya Daluwatte playing in the R&A Girls Junior Open Championship, whilst Nirekh Tejwani participated in more..

Sep 10 (ST) Most buyers from foreign countries such as Germany insist that their suppliers abide by human rights conventions. Other European and West Asian countries and Japan too insist that Sri Lankans are ethically trained and have good governance, according to Shiham Marikar, CEO of the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) speaking at a media briefing in Colombo this week to announce the 30th NCE Export Awards. He said that for the past 29 years the NCE was able to more..

Sep 10 (CT) Ceylon Today has serious concerns concerning what the Govt has done to secure its claims for environmental damages caused by the fire aboard the cargo ship MT New Diamond, Greek-owned vessel chartered by Indian Oil. So far, no payment has been recovered from the fire, resulting in no opportunity for SL to seek compensation. New Diamond commenced its journey on 23 Aug 2020, more..

Sep 10 (DM) SL and Korean businesses received first-hand insight on engaging in trade with one another recently, via an event that was hosted by the SL-Korea Business Council to mark 45 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. With the goal of having a firmer economic relationship between the two countries, SL-Korea held several sessions to look at the opportunities for business and sharing experiences in trade. “As we celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations more..

Sep 10 (ST) The crisis-ridden Maharagama Urban Council was shaken by allegations that a member had misused council machinery to cut down four jak trees on different occasions in a land belonging to the UDA at Thalapathpitiya in Nugegoda. The matter was brought up at this week’s council meeting by opposition leader Ruwan Jayasinghe. He claimed the ruling party member Sumanwathi Amarasinghe, who contested under the independent group, had used council backhoes and chopped off more..

Sep 10 (FT) Former Prez and SLFP Chairman Maithripala Sirisena has slammed members of his party who recently took up State Ministerial positions under the current Govt. Sirisena said the group has done so without the approval of the SLFP. Instead, Sirisena said the party’s decision was to only accept any posts in a truly all-party interim Govt. “This was unanimously approved at the recently held 71st anniversary celebrations more..

Sep 10 (CT) SL contingent that won 1 silver and 3 bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 are still awaiting news regarding prize money, despite several weeks having passed since the Games concluded. Para Athlete Palitha Bandara won Silver in the Men’s Discus Throw F44/64 event, Weight lifter Dilanka Isuru Kumara won Bronze in the men’s 55kg event, while female wrestler Nethmi Fernando won bronze in the 57 kg freestyle. Sprinter Yupun Abeykoon was the other Bronze more..

Sep 10 (FT) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has accused Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe of unleashing repression on the people in order to protect the Rajapaksa family. Premadasa said the SJB will join the Samagi Jana Sandhanaya to fight against Govt-sponsored repression. Opposition Leader also said that the Govt has launched a cowardly attempt to suppress artists, students and the young generation of the country through the use of State brutality and State terrorism. more..

Sep 10 (CT) The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) made a generation profit of a minimum of Rs 1,914.8 million in the five days to Thursday (8 September) aided by the cheap and clean CEB Hydroelectricity Generation (CEBHG), CEB data of Friday (9 Sept) showed. All costs are computed according to CEB’s last year’s average tariffs and generation costs, according to Central Bank of SL’s (CBSL’s) 2021 Annual Report. Transmission losses are discounted in this calculation. more..

Sep 10 (DM) Sri Lanka must step up efforts to keep Japanese investments in the country, newly-elected SL-Japan Business Council (SLJBC) Prez Mahen Kariyawasam said, so that bilateral trade within the two nations can be maintained and boosted. As SL's economy is in a juncture where it needs all the support it can get to not only revive but look towards achieving growth, Kariyawasam said the need of the hour is to put special emphasis on retaining Japanese investments. more..