Sep 29 (TM) SL’s stance of advocating for a domestic truth-seeking mechanism earlier this month at the 51st Session of the UNHRC to address long-standing allegations of rights violations and war crimes will do little to build int'l and local confidence in meaningful action, experts said. SL’s hurried submission to the international watchdog this year is bound to create confusion within the ranks of the int'l more..

Sep 29 (Island) Prez Wickremesinghe is reported to have had several productive meetings in Japan and received assurances of more Japanese assistance. This is certainly good news amidst reports of doom and gloom. There is something even more uplifting; Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has said, at a meeting with President Wickremesinghe, that SL should handle development finance in a transparent and fair manner in conformity with international rules and standards. more..

Sep 29 (CT) Youshra Ahmed, a 7-year-old playful child from Norochcholai, was new to the Metro Apartments in Slave Island. The view from the ninth floor in her grandmother’s apartment, the children in the neighbouring apartments, and playing hide-and-seek around the concrete pillars of the giant new building was something that she didn’t get to see often at her house in Norochcholai. Little did she know that the view from the ninth floor in the heart of the busiest city will cost her life. more..

Sep 29 (CT) The recent increase in electricity tariffs has drawn opposition from some religious organisations. The increases were necessary because the prices charged to consumers were below cost, leading to large deficits. Financing these energy subsidies through money printing contributed to the ongoing balance of payments crisis. Electricity tariffs reflect the relative scarcity of the resources used in its production. So, the level of regulated prices matters. more..

Sep 29 (Island) Arguably one of the least appreciated fallouts of the Covid-19 in SL seems to be education. According to UN’s early observations, Covid-19 related school closures were responsible for learning losses of 94% students worldwide. At its peak, schools were suspended nationwide in 188 countries affecting more than 1.5 billion schoolchildren. The world hasn’t seen an educational disruption of this scale before. Pandemic shocked the education systems more..

Sep 29 (Roar) It’s been a rough four years for the wedding industry to contend with. In 2018, SL was voted the best country in the world to visit, and the industry geared up for an influx of destination weddings. Months later, the Easter Attacks in April 2019 brought on mass cancellations, resulting in a huge loss of revenue. Less than a year on, while the country and the industry were slowly recovering from the shock of the bombings, more..

Sep 29 (FT) “Economic optimism returns as the encouraging reliefs after several months of intense hardship seem to have a positive bearing on both the Business Confidence Index (BCI) and Consumer Confidence Index (CCI),” reported business magazine LMD, in its September edition. “The BCI has risen by 32 basis points to 81 from last month’s dismal 49 points. The CCI has picked up in spite of high inflation and moved six basis points to 18, from last month’s 12 points,” more..

Sep 29 (FT) SLFP Chairman Maithripala Sirisena said the party will not be part of the National Council. Sirisena announced the party’s decision at a press conference held yesterday. The inaugural meeting of the National Council is scheduled to be held today under the patronage of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. On 23 Sept, Speaker announced to Parliament a list of MPs who have been nominated for the National Council which was established according to a proposal made by PM. more..

Sep 29 (FT) The main Opposition SJB yesterday charged that despite the people’s protest demanding systematic change in administration, the political system and economic reform, the only development was heaping additional burden on the public. SJB MP Kabir Hashim told journalists that the continued rise in the cost of living, interest rate hikes and job cuts have caused immeasurable damage to civilian life, but the Govt states these are sacrifices the public must make. more..

Sep 29 (DM) The first consignment of popular weedicide glyphosate for tea and rubber crops is expected to arrive this December, Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said. Plantation Industries Ministry is working with CPC to import the required glyphosate for the tea and rubber plantations. “We have calculated the requirement for tea and rubber. We are planning to import through CPC. End of this year, the first consignment of glyphosate will arrive in the country,” the official said. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Govt has approved the Russian flag carrier – Aeroflot to operate in SL, increasing the number of registered airlines to nearly 30. “We issued approval for Aeroflot on Monday and we are expecting the first flight to arrive on 10 Oct,” CAA Chairman Upul Dharmadasa said. He said the airline will operate to Colombo initially with two services per week on Friday and Monday. Chairman also said they were open for business now more..

Sep 29 (FT) Transparency International SL (TISL) yesterday called upon public authorities to commit towards more transparency on International Right to Know Day. Former American President Abraham Lincoln once said: “Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe.” The statement denotes that a country’s well-being is likely to depend on how accessible its information is. International Right to Know Day was initiated to create an international discourse on access to information more..

Sep 29 (Hindu) The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed the bail pleas of six Sri Lankan fishermen arrested by the Indian Coast Guard on the charge of carrying narcotic drugs. The prosecution case is that on March 07, 2021, the Indian Coast Guard ship, ICGS Varaha, had intercepted a fishing boat named Akarsha Duwa with six Sri Lankan nationals on board, and they were handed over to the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), Cochin Sub Zone, at Vizhinjam the next day. more..

Sep 29 (TM) The CTU has claimed that even though the printing of school textbooks for the next year should be completed by December of the previous year, Ministry of Education has no plan yet to print the textbooks for the year 2023. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said that according to the calculations that have been made by the Govt, a sum of Rs. 16,000 million is needed for the printing of 32.8 million school textbooks. more..

Sep 29 (TS) Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan Papon spoke to the media yesterday and what could be surmised from his words is that the Tigers are going through a rebuilding phase ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia. That rebuild will continue after the World Cup and SL appear to be the model to follow judging from the board president's remarks. It could be ascertained that some players who have not been able to cement their places will be given time. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Govt yesterday directed a probe on the Kajeemawatte Thotalanga fire which destroyed over 60 houses, displacing over 300 people and assured immediate relief. These decisions were made at a special District Coordinating Committee meeting held under the direction of PM on the instructions of Prez. Future plans regarding those displaced were also discussed at this meeting. It was revealed at this meeting that 306 persons residing in 71 houses had been displaced as a result of the fire. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Eram Group, a business conglomerate with global operations in several sectors including oil and gas, power, construction, manufacturing, travel, healthcare, IT, media, logistics, automotive and training and education held discussions with the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Chairman and Senior Officials from Colombo Port City. Eram Group with over 40 companies has its global headquarters in AL Khobar (Saudi Arabia) and regional headquarters in Dubai (UAE) and more..

Sep 29 (Island) The Central Bank of SL co-hosted the CBSL-ADBI-APAEA Online Macroeconomics Conference for the third consecutive year, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and the Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association (APAEA), on 23 Sept 2022. This year’s theme remained same as the previous year; Emerging Issues for Macroeconomic Stability. Inaugurating the Conference, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the CB, more..

Sep 29 (Island) State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has said that the State Banks weren’t in a position to release funds to the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) as the enterprise owed them a staggering sum, running to over Rs 20 bn. Due to the failure on the part of the state enterprise to settle previous loans, Treasury has been compelled to accept the responsibility for repaying them, he said. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Learning is about transforming our knowledge, but learning in itself is undergoing transformation as the world develops. In Sri Lanka, Cambridge Assessment International Education is one of the drivers of this transformation. Part of the Cambridge University Press and Assessment and Uni of Cambridge, Cambridge Assessment International Education prepares school students for life by helping them develop an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for learning. more..

Sep 29 (CT) IndustriALL Global Union, which represents 50 million workers in 140 countries, urged the SL govt to protect trade union rights and include them in amending current LabourLaws, and criticised the high-handed behaviour of the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment’s Private Secretary when trade union representatives attempted to meet the Minister to request a meeting of the National Labour Council. Atle Høie, General Secretary – IndustriALL Global Union, more..

Sep 29 (TM) SL Customs has requested SL migrant workers to use only agencies registered with the Customs Dept when dispatching parcels to SL. Customs said that it has received multiple complaints about parcels sent by migrant workers being reported missing or damaged, and that investigations have revealed that parcels sent via agencies that are not registered with Customs are reported as missing or have been damaged. Customs has thus urged migrant workers to more..

Sep 29 (FT) SJB yesterday filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the Gazette issued by Prez Wickremesinghe declaring several designated areas in Colombo as high-security zones. SJB in its petition requested the courts to issue an order invalidating the Gazette as it violates the fundamental rights of SL citizens. The application was filed by SJB MPs Harshana Rajakaruna and Mujibur Rahuman. “Ranil-Rajapaksa Govt is attempting to repress the people and withhold more..

Sep 29 (DM) While the pandemic in the last two years created a segment of people identified as new poor, who were on the brink of poverty, the economic crisis, which soon followed, tipped them down below the poverty line, sending the country’s official poverty levels at least multiple levels higher than what was prior to the pandemic. According to the latest available data through 2019, SL’s poverty headcount, measured through the share of more..

Sep 29 (DM) In parallel with the International Day for Universal Access to Information which falls today, a new unit Counter Disinformation Unit was launched by the President Media division. This program was initiated under the guidance of Prez’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake at the President’s Office in Colombo. With the aim of countering disinformation and to solve public problems immediately a new webpage Response was also launched by the Prez Media Division this evening (28th). more..

Sep 29 (Island) Reiterating SLT-MOBITEL’s crucial role in connecting SL to the world, National ICT Solutions Provider recently invited US Ambassador Julie Chung to visit South Asia’s First Submarine Cable Depot, located in Galle. SLT established Galle Submarine Cable Depot Ltd., a joint venture with Indian Ocean Cable Ship Ltd which in turn is a joint venture between Singapore Telecom and Orange Marine of France. Depot started operations in 2018 and is the only one of its kind in South Asia. more..

Sep 29 (Island) Civil society activist and former Parliament Director Administration Lacille de Silva says that the Speaker should be held responsible for the continuing failure to initiate action in respect of reports submitted to the House. The outspoken ex-official said so when asked him whether he backed lawmaker Prof. Charitha Herath’s push for the empowerment of COPE to directly seek the intervention of the AG. more..

Sep 29 (FT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s High Security Zones have an unintended upside. One can easily map the contours of the power-base of the Rajapaksa-undergirded Ranil regime, or the Ranil-Rajapaksa regime. The offices and official residences, the military establishments, the Parliament (with an SLPP majority), the residences of parliamentarians and – as an exception – the courts. The courts are included because the regime worries that the arrival of Wasantha Mudalige more..

Sep 29 (FT) India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru emphasised, To be secure on land we must be Supreme at Sea. This is no longer just a textbook quote today; it has become a geostrategic reality. Every big power has realised the importance of the Indo-Pacific region on account of various reasons and wants to dominate the region. The developments that are taking place in the Indo-Pacific region and matters related to maritime security are extremely important for SL more..

Sep 29 (SLN) SL Navy apprehended 07 more individuals who were suspected to be attempting to illegally migrate to a foreign country by sea, during a search operation carried out in seas off Sand Banks, Talaimannar on 28th Sept. SL Navy conducts regular search operations and patrols in the sea and coastal areas around the island with a view to suppressing illegal activities. During a special operation mounted by SLNS Thammanna in the North Central Naval Command on 28th Sept, more..

Sep 29 (EN) Coastal hunter-gatherer-fisher people who lived in Sri Lanka around 4,000 years ago will be the focus of a lecture by National Trust, an organization which expands knowledge about the culture and history of the island. Samanti Kulatilake, Associate Prof of Biological Anthropology at Mount Royal Uni, Canada will speak about a site in Mini-athaliya where aquatic foragers lived in mid-Holocene period, the National Trust said. In 2007 to 2008 researchers uncovered human skeletal more..

Sep 29 (AD) The Committee on Parliamentary Business has decided to hold the debate on the draft of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution on Oct 6 and 7. The meeting was chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena this morning (Sep 29). The committee also decided that the parliament would convene from Oct 3 (Monday) to Oct 7 (Friday). Accordingly, Oct 3 is set aside for the purpose of taking up 50 Questions for more..

Sep 29 (DM) The govt will ease the import ban on some goods that have been temporarily suspended due to the prevailing economic crisis, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. A gazette notification was issued on August 23, 2022 suspending importation of number of non-essential items. The minister said that import restrictions were imposed on the relevant goods on the basis that they can be produced locally or are not essential. “Our foreign reserves are at a very low level. more..

Sep 29 (Island) The SJB says it has no confidence in Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena as the latter. Kandy District MP Lakshamn Kiriella said his party had observed that Speaker Abeywardena did not act impartially. “The latest manifestation of the Speaker’s bias towards the govt is his failure to appoint chairmen of parliamentary watchdog committees – the COPA and the COPE. As per the parliamentary traditions, the chairman posts of these 2 committees should go to Opposition MPs. more..

Sep 29 (EN) SL will seek a vote on an upcoming resolution at the UNHRC with the help of its friends as the resolution is unfair and aimed at tarnishing the country’s image at a time of economic crisis, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said. The new resolution is likely to tighten SL’s space to deal with international trade further as several key conventions in trade concessions like Europe’s GSP+ are tied directly to human rights. more..