Apr 30 (ST) Thushen Silva of Maris Stella College, Negombo created history when he claimed SL’s second medal in pole vault after a long wait of 72 years. Silva, who is trained by former athlete Sanath Gunaratne, cleared 4.70 metres to win the silver medal at the Asian Youth Athletics Championship, currently being held in Uzbekistan. In addition Nilupul Pehesara claimed a silver medal in the Boy’s High Jump while more..

Apr 30 (TM) The 89th Battle of the Saints encounter between St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College ended in a tame draw yesterday (29) as rain interrupted both days at the SSC Ground. Josephian skipper won the toss and elected to field first. Peterites started badly and lost two wickets in the first over bowled by Gagan Chamod. The right-arm seamer was able to take another wicket in the 5th over, removing Vishen Halambage for just 18 runs. This put St. Peter’s in a difficult position, more..

Apr 30 (ST) Shaylon Gunaratne won a gold medal at the Asian Rowing Beach Sprint Championship currently being held at Jomtien Beach in Pattaya, Thailand. After winning the gold medal in the CJM1x event, he partnered with Rovinya Wijesekara to win the bronze medal in the CJMix2x event, the double skulls event for teams in the mixed category. Gunaratne, 16, of Asian Int'l School, bettered among six other competitors to finish first in the single skulls event (CJM1x) held under men’s category. more..

Apr 30 (ST) SL has granted sole and exclusive rights to the Chinese state enterprise China Merchants Port Holdings Company for a logistics centre in the Port of Colombo for 50 years. The public-private venture on build, operate, and transfer (BOT) terms, involves Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), and civil engineers Access Engineering Plc as minority shareholders. SLPA is not allowed under the BOT agreement, more..

Apr 30 (ST) SL fiscal and monetary authorities have begun discussions with bilateral creditors on debt restructuring of US$ 7.1 billion out of the total $25.9 billion owed to external creditors. SL is now holding debt restructuring talks with Paris Club members together with India, while discussing with China separately. Three baseline restructuring scenarios with six-year maturity extension for all of them and nominal haircuts ranging from 15% to 30%, with higher coupons more..

Apr 30 (EN) Sri Lanka’s goods and labour exports posted a US$ 155 million surplus above merchandise imports of US$ 1,405 million in March 2023 amid negative private credit, central bank data showed. In March 2023, SL had exported US$ 1,037 million of goods, while expatriate workers had remitted US$ 568 million giving a total of US$ 1,605 million in goods and services exports, before tourism. In the first quarter goods exports and remittances were US$ 4,409 million more..

Apr 30 (AD) Govt has mulled lifting the maximum retail price (MRP) imposed on eggs. This proposal was taken up for discussion at a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office, with the participation of respective officials, egg producers and poultry farmers. Meeting has been chaired by Presidential Secretary and secretaries to the Agriculture Ministry and Trade Ministry. The egg producers and poultry farmers have pointed out that if steps are taken to remove max retail price imposed on eggs, more..

Apr 30 (GDI) 14 Sri Lankans residing in the Republic of the Sudan who were evacuated due to the prevailing crisis arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport today, and were received and warmly welcomed by Director General of the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sisira Senavirathne. Their evacuation was facilitated with the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the generous assistance of the Government of Saudi Arabia. more..

Apr 30 (TM) A policy decision must be taken by the Govt on whether to continue with the existing PUCSL as the regulator for electricity supply or establish a new regulatory commission under the new act, according to Dr. Susantha Perera who is a member of the committee appointed to draft guidelines for the new Electricity Act. He said that the committee had not taken a final decision on the matter and that it was a policy decision that more..

Apr 30 (PMD) After several years of hiatus, the Galle Literary Festival is set to make a grand return, thanks to the directive from President Ranil Wickremesinghe. With a focus on promoting the tourism industry, a series of programs featuring various art forms will be held in the areas of Galle, Matara, Ahangama, and Hikkaduwa in January 2024. A preliminary was held in this regard yesterday (28) at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Apr 30 (DM) The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has approved the destruction which would be caused to the country and the economy through the IMF fund facility agreement by being absent during the time of voting in Parliament yesterday, former JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti said today. He told a news conference that Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe only wanted to show that the IMF agreement was approved by Parliament and that the SJB did not have the backbone to oppose it. more..

Apr 30 (ST) President’s Office is to introduce a scorecard system for ministry and state ministry secretaries from next month with the objective of reviewing the progress of their performance and making changes on a quarterly basis. Under the review programme, the secretaries’ performance would be monitored based on the implementation of programmes, and coordination with ministries and state institutions among other criteria, a senior official of the Prez’s office said. more..

Apr 30 (ST) King Charles III is to host a special meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of State and Govt on May 5, the day before his coronation, after such a meeting was suggested to Buckingham Palace by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe through Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland. Prez Wickremesinghe recently wrote to Ms. Scotland stating that, with the ascendance to the throne by King Charles, as the new Head of the Commonwealth, it was opportune to evolve more..

Apr 30 (ST) Nearly 2,000 public sector employees have opted to obtain extended leave for a five-year period to travel overseas for employment. The scheme was introduced last year in view of an unprecedented move to tackle the economic crisis and reduce govt spending. Public sector officers were allowed to utilise this no-pay leave to work abroad, receive vocational training, or improve their language and IT skills. more..

Apr 30 (DM) A number of Divisional Secretariats countrywide organising in-house Avurudu Utsawa on Monday, May 1st have raised concerns of many, as it was an attempt to prevent govt employees from attending the May Day rallies. A number of DS offices in the three districts of the Western Province as well as in other provinces are scheduled to organise their Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrating events on May Day, which was not the common norm before. more..

Apr 30 (AD) The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has expressed its displeasure at the Land Reforms Commission for not submitting its annual reports despite the repeated insistence of the committee to submit up-to-date annual reports which were last submitted in 2015. The issue came up when COPE chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara looked into the status update of the Land Reforms Commission following the recommendations issued at the meeting on December 22, 2022. more..

Apr 30 (TM) In a new twist to the controversy over alleged bribery related to the MV X-Press Pearl disaster compensation process, it is reliably learnt that initial allegations have also been directed at some of the prosecutors involved in drafting the legal proceedings against the ship’s owners and insurer. The initial allegations of bribery, including that of the alleged transfer of $ 250 million to the UK-listed accounts of one more..