Sep 20 (TM) SJB MP Dr. Rajitha Senarathne claimed that due to the careless demeanor of the Ministry of Health, a situation has now been created where the prices of pharmaceutical drugs are determined according to the wishes of drug importers. He said: “The prices of pharmaceutical drugs are very high at present. The main reason for this is that the drug market is functioning as required by drug importers. The Ministry has no understanding of how to control it. more..

Sep 21 (DM) Britain’s late queen Elizabeth II, was finally laid to rest on Monday, September 19, amidst scenes of pomp and pageantry the British are well known for. It is said the bureaucracy had been preparing for her demise long before the queen finally passed away. By a strange quirk of fate, the monarch is also head of the Christian faith in the United Kingdom. What is strange is that Christ - the founder of Christianity - and his lifestyle were far different from those of the British monarch. more..

Sep 21 (DM) After a lapse of almost four years, last week I got the chance to spend multiple days with a group of Sri Lankan colleagues. The Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma, Asia Pacific last week brought together 12 SL journalists to Singapore for a two-and-a-half day programme on psycho-social safety and workplace trauma safety skills. The group included some of the most senior journalists currently working as well as others who had come into the profession during the last decade. more..

Sep 21 (DM) SJB national list MP Diana Gamage made headlines for several of her controversial statements including the proposal to legalise cannabis. Her decision to vote for the 20th Amendment compelled her party seniors to expel her from the party; allegedly sans a hearing or a disciplinary inquiry and the matter is pending in Supreme Court. Recently, Gamage was appointed as the State Minister of Tourism and more..

Sep 21 (SO) Initiated by All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) in unison with many institutions, a renewable energy promoting exhibition and forum was held at the premises of the organisation in Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7 on Sept 11 and 12. Exhibition of inventions and renewable energy entrepreneurship as well as the connected forum and follow up activities in this regard was carried out in collaboration with the Inventors Commission and Bank of Ceylon (BOC), with the support more..

Sep 21 (TM) Before Sri Lanka could take a breather after the UNHRC's September session highlighted the Govt’s shortcomings on the human rights front, it was reported that the People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists at The Hague, the Netherlands, on Monday, found the SL Govt guilty of violating the human rights of murdered senior journalist, editor, and lawyer Lasantha Wickrematunge, and issued an indictment against the country. more..

Sep 21 (CT) Families of estate workers, many of whom have a number of mouths to feed, are increasingly skipping meals on a daily basis. Some even manage with only one meal each day. Due to the high cost of rice and the scarcity of flour, estate inhabitants are in a desperate search for money to eat. The community eat roti made with flour and drink plain tea as their main meals. more..

Sep 21 (GV) Among the many international institutions in Geneva is the UNHRC, set up in 2006 through a decision of the UN General Assembly (193 UN member states including SL). It replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights. The 193 UN member states elect 47 states to the UNHRC from the states that present candidatures. SL was a member of the UNHRC from 2006-2008, but in 2008, with mounting allegations of rights violations, its candidature to be elected to UNHRC was defeated. more..

Sep 21 (CT) Readers may have observed that in recent weeks I have been suggesting that with the backing of global capitalism and India and with IMF support assured (Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has backed the Staff Level Agreement), Ranil Wickremesinghe’s (RW) administration will be stable UP TO an election. It is an open question whether till then it will be authoritarian or revert to a democratic form which will delight liberals, the intellectual classes, the minorities and more..

Sep 21 (FT) Liberal Democratic Party Senior Japanese MP Martsusuta Shinpei met PM Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday at the PM’s Office to discuss cooperation between the two countries and areas of possible future cooperation. Martsusuta Shinpei said the main purpose of his current visit is to see for himself how SL is coping with the economic crisis and to find out how Japan could assist in this process. He expressed gratitude to SL for Prez’s scheduled visit to Tokyo more..

Sep 21 (Island) This article describes the experiences of a novel, evidence-based approach that involves patients, and their family members, in delivering health care, providing medical education, and conducting research, at a primary care institution, called a Family Health Care Centre. The Northern Province, in SL, is a war-ravaged region that lags behind the rest of the country, in economic development. After the COVID-19 pandemic had already squeezed the health services of more..

Sep 21 (TM) Children dropping out of school due to the impacts of the economic crisis seems to be a growing issue, with many parties claiming that parents find it difficult to bear the increased expenses of sending a child to school. To look into this exacerbating aspect of the economic and social crises, The Morning spoke to several persons with insight regarding this issue. 42-year-old father of two, Kamal Sampath*, claimed that more..

Sep 21 (TM) Celebrating a legacy of 37 years, Nawaloka Hospitals is conducting a series of events to mark the occasion which started yesterday and will continue today as well. The anniversary celebrations commenced with the unveiling of Nawaloka Hospital’s premium primary care unit, Serene Centre with an elevated, brand-new look to better cater to the comfort and convenience of its patients, along with a new radiology unit in the same building. The launch was attended by more..

Sep 21 (Island) On seeing how politicians are deified in this country despite its relatively high literacy rate, one wonders whether power politics has evolved into a religion of sorts here. It is not only the ordinary people who touch their forelocks before politicians; many religious leaders also make a public display of their servility when they meet the ruling party grandees, and at times their conduct could be unforgivably cringeworthy. But all is not lost; there are still some outspoken prelates more..

Sep 21 (EN) Stocks fell on Tuesday (20) for the third consecutive session dragged down on profit-taking while foreign buying in market heavyweight Expolanka helped the bourse to see net foreign inflow of more than three-year high. The bourse saw a net foreign inflow of 2.4 billion rupees on Tuesday, its highest since July 15, 2019. The net foreign inflow so far this year is 9.9 billion rupees after 11.3 billion rupees of net offshore buying in the last 26 consecutive sessions amid positive sentiment more..

Sep 21 (SO) We have to play more competitive Netball and have professional players said Sri Lankan Netball Goal Shooter Tharjini Shivalingam in an exclusive interview with the Daily News. The 6 feet 11 inches tall Goal shooter who joined Sri Lanka Netball team for the recently concluded Asian Netball championship in Singapore returned to Melbourne to play Victoria league Netball for two clubs in Melbourne Falcon and Geelong with several top players from the World Netball arena. more..

Sep 21 (ST) Motor Traffic Department has introduced an improved Vehicle Emission Test (VET) to mark Zero Emission Day on Sept 21. Zero Emissions Day is an int'l day of action to demand a future without air pollution which directly contributes to global warming. Emission test measures the level of fumes or pollutants released from a vehicle. This is to lessen release of harmful air pollutants into the environment. more..

Sep 21 (DM) IFS has been ranked amongst the top 100 Sri Lankan corporates by LMD (Lanka Monthly Digest) Magazine in its 18th Most Respected Entities in SL edition. In addition to being honoured as one of the most respected entities, IFS has been also ranked as a top Sri Lankan business entity in Dynamism, Corporate Culture, Innovation, Management Profile, and HR/People Management lists. The LMD’s Most Respected Entities survey includes the top 100 blue-chip companies, more..

Sep 21 (DM) Federation of Information Technology Industry SL (FITIS) applauded govt’s move to lift the import suspension on IT hardware products. “It spreads a positive message across the member companies and channels partners in the IT sphere across the country. Further, the lift of temporary suspension brought about lots of energy back to the IT Industry,” FITIS said. FITIS had previously highlighted the consequences given the suspension imposed and the impacts on more..

Sep 21 (TM) Following the discussion held with Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana on 1 Sept regarding the water bill-related arrears of very important persons (VIPs), including MPs, the NWSDB is considering granting a two-month grace period to settle the said arrears. NWSDB Assistant General Manager Piyal Pathmanatha said that following the said discussion on recovering Rs. 13 million from VIPs, & precautions to be taken more..

Sep 21 (Island) Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers and Aviators qualified for the semifinals of the Professional Cricket League 2022 after winning their matches last weekend. On Saturday morning, Doctors defeated Lawyers in the super over after scores were tied at the end of 20 overs. Lawyers scored 10/2 in the super over while Rajiv Nirmalasingham smashed a six, a four and a single in three balls to win the game for the Doctors. Earlier the game was tied with Doctors scoring more..

Sep 21 (Island) SL’s leading state owned plantation entity, Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB), expects a Rs 100 million profit this year. ‘Rs 56 million in profit has been recorded until the end of August, which could be considered a big milestone for the institution, JEDB chairman, Buwaneka Abeysuriya said. ‘In 2019 JEDB incurred a loss of Rs 1.2 billion and in the year 2020 we were able to bring down the loss to Rs 300 million and subsequently its losses shot up to Rs 400 m more..

Sep 21 (DN) Sri Lanka’s top order stroke player of the T 20 format Kusal Mendis, mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana and 21-year-old left-arm speedster Dilshan Madushanka will play in the inaugural South Africa 20 League. This is the first time Dilshsn Madushanka got chance to play franchise cricket in overseas at the player auction for the inaugural SA T20 League. A total of 533 players went under the hammer at the auction with 102 players chosen at the end of 8 hrs of bidding. more..

Sep 21 (EN) Sri Lanka will call fresh tenders for to buy coal for electricity generation, as the first awardee had refused to proceed following a controversy, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. “The company that was awarded the tender is not willing to implement it,” Minister Wijesekera said. “Now we have to go to a new tender. The opinion that was created in society, the proposals, the accusations, the company had declined to proceed.” more..

Sep 21 (DM) The govt has handed over today the first electric vehicle import permit to the recipient nominee under the newly-launched scheme for migrant workers. Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara handed over the permit to the first recipient. Daham Perera, the authorized representative on behalf of the Sri Lankan migrant workers who imported the vehicle, received the import permit from the Minister. more..

Sep 21 (AD) General Secretary of SLPP, MP Sagara Kariyawasam urged the venerable Maha Sangha to be patient for the sake of the country for a short period of time, amidst the prevailing situation in the island. He requested Buddhist monks to light oil lamps around the Bodhi trees and to engage in the Bodhi Poojas as it was done in the past. He made this observation in reference to the complaint from the Buddhist clergy regarding the increase in the electricity tariffs for Buddhist temples and more..

Sep 21 (PO) SL’s all national cricketers will undergo fitness tests on Wednesday, it is learnt. According to the sources in SLC, the list of national players to undergo these tests on Wednesday also include the World Cup squad. “All these tests will be conducted at the R. Premadasa Stadium under the supervision of our experienced trainer Grant Luden”, a top source in the SLC revealed. Incidentally, Luden will be a member of the support staff traveling to Australia with the World Cup players. more..

Sep 21 (FT) The SJB has written to the National Election Commission of SL calling on the latter to fix dates for local Govt elections immediately. In a letter to Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa, the SJB’s General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara pointed out that Punchihewa himself on several occasions confirmed that the Commission has the necessary provision under the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act, No. 1 Of 2016 to call for local Govt elections after 20 Sept and more..

Sep 21 (AD) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says that the basic plan for the restructuring of the CEB will be presented to the Parliament and passed next month. The minister also stated that a new tender system has to be implemented on purchasing coal as the previous company is unwilling to execute the tender due to incorrect interpretations in society on the matter of the coal tender. “The first coal shipment was supposed to be received in October, but now we have to move into a new tender more..

Sep 21 (FT) Lanka Confectionery Manufacturers Association (LCMA) has announced an over 10% immediate price reduction to pass on the benefits of reduced key raw material costs to the consumers. The prices will drop between Rs. 70 to Rs. 10 or 10% to 12% across all confectionery categories depending on the size of the packages. The move came following the refined sugar and vegetable oil used in confectionery more..

Sep 21 (CT) CEB electricity generation income will have had been dented by at least Rs 127 billion due to the malfunctioning Chinese built 300 MW X 3 Norochcholai Coal Fired Power Plant (NCFPP) since its full commissioning over eight years ago on 16 Sept 2014, an analysis of CEB’s data up to Monday (19) found on CEB’s yesterday’s website showed. Rs 127 billion of additional CEB’s generation costs is derived by the fact that in the 16 days to Monday, CEB’s generation income had been dented more..

Sep 21 (AD) In a letter to the President, the Chief Prelates of the three Buddhist Chapters today request for a methodical and concessionary electricity tariff policy for places of religious worship. The Mahanayake Theros, informing about the severe difficulty faced by religious places of worship due to the new electricity tariff revision, state that it is regrettable that the concessional electricity tariff system that was given to religious places until now has been cancelled. more..

Sep 21 (TM) Although President Ranil Wickremesinghe initiated dialogues with the SL diaspora community yesterday (20) as part of his visit to the UK, the two main SL Tamil diaspora organisations based in UK, namely, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and the British Tamil Forum (BTF), were not invited to these talks. BTF General Secretary V. Ravikumar noted yesterday that his organisation was not invited to the meeting more..

Sep 21 (TS) The Cabinet has agreed to recruit 10,000 workers from Sri Lanka after taking into account the state of the country which has been hit by an economic crisis, says Datuk Seri M. Saravanan. In a statement, Human Resources Minister said the SL govt had submitted an official application to supply manpower involving a quota of 10,000 workers. The Cabinet, at its meeting last Sept 14, agreed to hire foreign workers to help SL which is facing its worst economic crisis, more..

Sep 21 (FT) I wish the British were as kind to the kings of other countries that they conquered in South Asia as they are to their current monarch today. We lost our King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last King of the Kingdom of Kandy in Ceylon because the British captured him and exiled him to India, thereby bringing to an end a long line of mainly Sinhala kings and queens that had lasted for about 2,400 years. The British Empire did the same thing in India. more..