Apr 7 (FT) Sri Lanka's heightened fiscal, external, and financial sector imbalances and its fluid political situation pose significant uncertainty for the country’s economic outlook, says the World Bank in its twice-a-year update, underscoring the need to address the root causes of the country’s economic crisis and build a strong and resilient economy to prevent future crises. Released this week SLDU, more..

Apr 7 (Island) SL politicians apparently specialise in making bad laws, which are legion, prominent among them being the PTA. Amidst heavy fire from various quarters, the government has decided to bite the bullet and defer the presentation of its controversial Anti-terrorism Bill (ATB) to Parliament. Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is reported to have said the govt has done so in response to requests from the Bar Association of SL, the Opposition, etc., and in view of the current court vacation, more..

Apr 7 (DM) “I am just the average American citizen, formerly a housewife, now an activist, who cannot stand quietly by while my government enacts and enforces laws that are unfair, unbalanced andjust plain mean.” These were the words of Laurie Kozuba, founder and director of Citizens & Immigrants for Equal Justice. She personally experienced the consequences of a dubious law, when her husband, a long-time legal permanent resident from Canada, was deported under more..

Apr 7 (DM) Visa, a leader in digital payment technology, expressed confidence in the local tourism sector playing an active role in helping Sri Lanka’s economy revive, provided the proper digital payment infrastructure is in place. With an improved focus on making payments easy for tourists, Sri Lanka can make tourism pivotal to its recovery and set it to grow as a major economic category, Visa Group Country Manager India and South Asia Sandeep Ghosh said. more..

Apr 7 (ST) Health and safety experts have stressed the importance of using safety gear during any work related to sewage/drain lines and any other underground maintenance work. This week, two CMC workers died after they were involved in work related to connecting a new sewerage line in Kotahena area. One worker had lost consciousness when entering the pit and the other died trying to save his fellow worker. CMC’s fire fighters took them out of the pit & rushed them to Hospital. more..

Apr 7 (TM) Buddhist and Catholic clergy are expected to oppose the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill through several ways of action including instituting judicial proceedings. General Secretary of NBF, Ven. Wakamulle Uditha Thera said that the NBF has already discussed the Bill with several groups of Buddhist monks belonging to all Buddhist Sects. He said that the possible negative consequences which may arise if this Bill more..

Apr 7 (DM) Workers' remittances to SL crossed the US$ 500 million mark for the first time since April 2021, data released by the Central Bank last evening showed. For March 2023, SL recorded workers' remittances inflow of US$ 568.5 million compared to US$ 318.4 million in March 2022. The cumulative inflows for the first three months of the year stood at US$ 1413.2 million compared to US$ 782.5 million in the corresponding period of 2022, which is an increase of 80.6%. more..

Apr 7 (Hindu) Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has extended its exclusive global media rights partnership to broadcast SL Cricket matches for the next four years until March 2027. From mid-April, the broadcaster will exclusively televise and livestream the senior men’s cricket matches hosted by SLC globally, except in SL, where it has only pay television rights. Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer-Distribution & International Business and Head-Sports Business, SPN, said, more..

Apr 7 (DM) Indicating a full recovery of outbound travel, visa applications from SL is on course to reach pre-pandemic levels this year after reaching 68% of per-pandemic levels in 2022 driven by pent-up demand, opening of international borders, and eased COVID protocols. This is according to VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for govts and diplomatic missions. In 2022, more..

Apr 7 (Island) Ministry of Health had sought to deny allegations that it was planning to buy Ganciclovir and Linezolid injections at ten times their market price, but the Minister of Health had cancelled the tender, CMLS President, Ravi Kumudesh said. Despite the Ministry’s denial of the allegations, the cancellation of the tender had proved that there had been a shady deal, Kumudesh said, adding that earlier this week that the average market price of the Ganciclovir injection had been Rs. 7,000 more..

Apr 7 (AD) Civil Society Collective for Protecting the Franchise has sought the support of Diplomatic Missions with regard to their call to hold the 2023 LG election on time, in a bid to protect democracy. Issuing a statement in this regard, the collective highlighted that failing to hold the LG polls in a timely manner would have serious implications for democracy and governance. “It would mean that the constitutional right to elect representatives at the local level would be compromised. more..

Apr 7 (AD) The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has raised concerns that the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill poses to threaten the fundamental rights of the public. Issuing a press release in this regard, the HRCSL explained that by way of the broad definition given to the term terrorism in the newly proposed Bill, it stands to potentially violate the fundamental rights of the people, as it makes it difficult to distinguish an actual act of terrorism from a legitimate protest. more..

Apr 7 (DM) The hospital administration at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital has decided not to accept any more bodies that are unidentified and without owners that are brought to the hospital. Hospital Director Dr. Sagari Kiriwandeniya said a notice has been issued to the relevant police stations of the area to remove the bodies from the hospital morgue that have been brought to the hospital for various reasons. The decision was taken due to the mortuary exceeding its capacity. more..

Apr 7 (HRW) The govt of SL’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act would empower the authorities to systematically violate fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The govt should withdraw the bill and ensure through consultations that any counterterrorism legislation upholds international human rights standards, HRW said. The govt pledged to adopt an improved law following more..

Apr 7 (FT) Earnings from the tourism industry exceeded half a billion dollars in the first quarter of 2023, in tandem with the record number of arrivals SL welcomed in first three months of the year. Tourism earnings in the first quarter of 2023 were at $ 529.8 million, reflecting a 9.8% increase from the corresponding period of last year, whilst March earnings stood at $ 198.1 million. Although the tourism industry was hit by multiple challenges, post-Easter Sunday 2019, more..

Apr 7 (Island) A high-level delegation led by the Director General of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) International Dr. Yun Young-ho visited Sri Lanka under the invitation of former President of SL Maithripala Sirisena recently. The delegation had fruitful meetings with Prez Ranil Wickramasinghe , Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardane and the Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane. The delegation called on Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe at Presidential secretariat. more..

Apr 7 (Island) Colombo District SJB MP S.M. Marikkar says reforms proposed by the National Delimitation Committee to the electoral system will create further divisions in society on the basis of race, religion and caste. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, MP Marikkar said that the National Delimitation Committee headed by former Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya had finalised its report to bring forth changes on the delimitation of the country’s local govt bodies. more..

Apr 7 (FT) Sri Lanka was elected by acclamation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) by the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York on 5 April 2023 for a four-year term from 2024 -2028. SL’s candidature was presented based on the country’s longstanding tradition of promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls at the national level, and its commitment towards eliminating discrimination based on gender. more..

Apr 7 (TM) Claiming that the manner in which the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana informed the House of the Supreme Court's (SC) special determination on Central Bank Bill is problematic, Opposition MP Gevindu Cumaratunga said that the Parliament has not yet taken steps to provide copies of it to MPs. The allegation has however been denied by the Speaker. Cumaratunga said: more..

Apr 7 (FT) Following a lengthy hearing process, the Right to Information Commission yesterday ordered the Ministry of Investment Promotion to release the tripartite agreement on the Colombo Port City Development Project. The agreement signed in 2017 was between the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, the Urban Development Authority, and the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Port City Colombo Ltd. The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) in 2018 had more..

Apr 7 (CT) Paediatric Professorial ward, of the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital (ATH), is set to be re-opened for patient admissions today (7) following the arrival of an Acting Consultant Paediatrician from the Thambuttegama Hospital. Assistant Secretary of GMOA Dr. Ajantha Rajakaruna said that Professorial Paediatric ward at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital had been shut down by end March after head of the Unit and other paediatric consultants attached to it, left the country. more..

Apr 7 (TM) The tabling of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill in the Parliament is postponed until early May, in order to avoid any impediment for the concerned parties to challenge the bill in the Supreme Court (SC), according to the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms. A discussion on the Bill was held between Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, and trade unions concerned of the impacts on transport sector more..

Apr 8 (DM) What is the deeper meaning of Jesus’s death and resurrection? How does it serve his message? What is the importance of his Gospel message for our contemporary world? Is it still relevant? The Gospel never invites us to pity. We read, rather Feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoner. We are invited to active involvement. Gospel is in sharp contrast with our present-day culture which encourages more..

Apr 8 (DM) The Govt has decided to postpone the presentation of the Anti-Terrorism Bill that seeks to replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 after wide criticism against it by local and international human rights organizations and civil society organizations. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that the Bill would be presented in Parliament in late April or early May after giving opportunity for the lawyers and the Opposition to express their views on the Bill. more..

Apr 8 (DM) The leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and his party, the SJB are very much in the news lately. There have been many reports in the mainstream as well as social media that a large number of MPs from the SJB are planning to join the ranks of the Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt soon. Some reports speculate that the number of SJB MPs contemplating a crossover is between 20 to 40. more..

Apr 8 (FT) Though the socio-political atmosphere in SL is replete with struggles following the country’s fall into a state of bankruptcy, it has not reflected an intelligent or sensible approach in addressing the situation except for adopting backward and undesirable measures which we cannot not be happy with. Of the three insurrections launched by the youth, two by the Sinhalese youth in the south in 1971 and 1987-89 respectively, and one by the Tamil youth in the north which was protracted more..

Apr 8 (TM) It is hard to look back and think of a time when SL was energy secure. Power cuts through load shedding, breakdowns in power plants, coupled with the lack of administration, planning, and investments in energy generation, administrative red tape, and the lack of investor confidence have added to this situation. SL has also found it a challenge to meet the demand for its energy needs owing to reasons affected by geopolitical and external factors, some of which are beyond Island’s control. more..

Apr 8 (TM) Govt is evaluating the possibility of installing three 100 MW small mobile nuclear reactors in Hambantota, Colombo, and Trincomalee as a solution to the longstanding power crisis in the country, with a proposal from Russian energy giant Rosatom now before the AG's Dept for evaluation. Following the signing of a MoU with Rosatom – a Russian State-owned corporation specialising in nuclear energy – last Dec, more..

Apr 8 (FT) One of the most powerful of these practices is beginning with reality. It is launched fairly simply. We first face what is not only by being present to what we are facing in all its fullness – where necessary its seeming brutality or even its almost giddying potential – but also to all our feelings about this reality. Cast your mind back to April 2022. The cracks in the Sri Lankan economy were evident, unrest was brimming, the viability of the state was in question, more..

Apr 8 (Island) Cassandra watched with disgust and disdain the IUSF led by Wasantha Mudalige on a protest debacle and not march, camera captured and screened on MTV on Monday April 3 night news. There he was facing the police with a body built up though soon after imprisonment, with unshaven, hair unkempt assistants beside him and the ubiquitous yellow robed young men running with robes flying when the water cannon opened on them. more..

Apr 8 (Island) On a recommendation made by the IGP, Prez may publish a Gazette notification declaring any public place or any other location as a Prohibited Place, for the purposes of this Act. Prohibitions imposed may include entry without permission, taking photographs, video recording and making sketches of the place. – S. 85, Willful contravention of a Prohibition Order by entering or remaining in a prohibited place is an offence punishable with imprisonment for a period more..

Apr 8 (Island) All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) recently launched an inquiry into what it called a state of anarchy prevailing in the country. An Independent Commission set up by ACBC has initiated a comprehensive probe in a bid to establish the circumstances leading to the eruption of public protests against Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his unceremonious exit. The retired Lt Colonel who secured Office of the Prez with a staggering 6.9 mn votes at the 2019 prez election fled SL more..

Apr 8 (ST) A young hotelier was outside his establishment at Midigama in Ahangama on Wednesday night. A group arrived in a mini-van and one of them opened fire. Hotel owner Pasindu Sandaruwan, 32, was seriously injured and rushed to Matara Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter. STF team backed by the Ahangama Police has launched a hunt for the killer. The van used in the crime was found more..

Apr 8 (Island) Western Province High Court has released five suspects arrested and remanded for allegedly possessing 196.98 kilos of heroin, seized by the Navy off the coast of Trincomalee in April 2019. The massive drug bust made headlines and everybody was hopeful that the criminals involved in the abortive smuggling operation would get their just deserts, but the High Court has said the charges against the suspects were not proved. Raising concern about the manner in which more..

Apr 8 (CT) The subdued controversy, regarding the medium in which the Law College examinations are to be held, has gain vent and resurfaced again, as several MPs, including Dayasiri Jayasekara, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Vasudeva Nanayakkara have requested Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to summon the principal of the Law College to Parliament, stating that he has been defying the Parliament decisions by trying to hold the upcoming exams in the English medium only. more..