Jul 19 (EN) The World Bank believes Sri Lanka’s domestic debt restructuring (DDR) programme has achieved an appropriate balance in the trade-off between debt sustainability and ensuring continued confidence in the financial sector. World Bank Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka Faris Hadad-zervos said that the govt’s decision to go for a DDR and parliament’s approval of that decision were welcome steps in Sri Lanka’s path towards debt sustainability. more..

Jul 19 (Island) UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena’s Office denied fresh accusations directed at him by Attorney-at-Law Nagananda Kodituwakku over his alleged intervention in a Customs case where P.B.S.C. Nonis, in his capacity as the Director General of Customs, set aside a forfeiture order given by a Supervising Officer in respect of an alleged attempt to smuggle in two gold chains and six gold bangles worth Rs 15 mn. more..

Jul 19 (TM) Former Speaker of the Parliament and incumbent Chairman of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) Karu Jayasuriya said that every MP has an unavoidable responsibility towards the adoption of the proposed Anti-Corruption Bill (ACB). He said: "It is well known that acts of corruption affect the country's economic bankruptcy, and that they also cause various forms of social injustice. While powerful politicians and officials have been accused of corruption, more..

Jul 19 (TM) The Cabinet on Monday (17) granted approval to introduce a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for granting diplomatic clearance to foreign sea vessels and foreign govt or military aircraft visiting Sri Lanka. Minister Bandula Gunawardana said that the decision was taken after considering geopolitical issues in the South Asian region. “As a result of SL’s geographical location in the Indian Ocean, foreign vessels and foreign Govt or military aircraft regularly visit SL. more..

Jul 20 (DM) The recent performances of our athletic team has been an eye-opener. For long years, except for a few individual brilliant performances of individual athletes, we have trailed behind other Asian nations in the field. At the recently concluded Asian Athletic Championships this month, our athletes won three gold medals, two silver and three bronze medals. The team was placed fourth in the overall championship list, behind Japan who bagged a total of 37 medals, China 22 & India 27 more..

Jul 20 (DM) Our simple voters, as main stakeholders of a General Election, primarily want to know the Winning Party and the number of seats they have won; Secondarily, the names of the ‘225’ who will represent them in the Supreme Parliament. They are not keen to know how the number of seats were calculated but accept the result like the Bible truth. Even if they were keen, they would have given up halfway, unable to digest complex factors such as Relevant number of Votes more..

Jul 20 (DM) On a dark day in 1983 *Rajeshwari from Jaffna saw her husband for the last time in her life. But even after that day she has been wearing a pottu with hopes that he would return one day. Forty years later, this pottu has become a burden on her life. She doesn’t see any purpose in wearing this pottu anymore, but she anticipates that her husband would return one day. Such is the plight of many widows, children and individuals more..

Jul 20 (TM) Bringing to the surface this week a topic that has been discussed on many previous occasions without reaching any conclusion, SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem expressed that legal actions should be taken against the officials of the Health Ministry and also the members of the expert committee appointed by former Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi who advised the former Govt to cremate the bodies of those who died due to Covid-19 in the early stage of pandemic more..

Jul 20 (ST) A joke can be a serious thing as a standup comedienne learned a couple of months back while sitting down behind bars and contemplating the concept of justice. Well, there surely must be other places where standup comedians—not to mention a couple of sit-down ones—could be seen or heard regaling the multitude with their kind of jokes about how to make millions (or is it billions now that we go begging for 20% here and 30% there). more..

Jul 20 (TM) Gospel House Handicrafts Managing Director Shiran Karunaratne shares an inspiring journey as an SME entrepreneur in Sri Lanka. The story began in 1976 when his father, an electronic engineer who lost his job, turned to his passion for crafting wooden toys and cabinets. Shiran's involvement in the business started at a young age, assisting his father after school and during vacations. more..

Jul 20 (GV) Numerous ways in which human rights failings harming Sri Lankans should be set right were flagged up on July 10 by UNHRC. This was part of a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in which all human rights in UN member states are regularly examined. Concerns repeatedly raised locally, yet brushed aside by ministers, were recognised as valid by int'l partners. Of 294 recommendations, the regime claimed to accept 173, noted 115 and outright rejected six, emphasising more..

Jul 20 (Island) Lessons learnt in times of adversity are said to be forgotten soon afterwards. Govt politicians behaved for a while, after being shocked out of their wits, last year, when a popular uprising led to the ouster of Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, but they have crawled out of the woodwork, and are reverting to their old ways. Some of them are even issuing threats to their rivals. They seem to think they are out of danger. They are mistaken. The SLPP is politically dead to all intents more..

Jul 20 (CT) If there is an area where Sri Lanka has taken great strides as a nation in the post-Independence era, it would be our exemplary health indicators, which set us far apart from most neighbouring nations. Our universal health coverage extends free healthcare to all citizens, which has been a national priority for several decades. And, an integral partner in this achievement is our national immunisation programme. Despite the country undergoing severe economic constraints, more..

Jul 20 (CT) Economic reforms to rebuild a devastated economy and under the direction of IMF is underway in spite of certain important and legitimate criticisms against IMF’s one size fit all approach. After nearly one year of its operation, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, his UNP-SLPP acolytes, and the Governor of CBSL are busy selling to the public the short-term gains made so far. Electricity tariffs and gas prices have come down, no regular power cuts, queues have disappeared, more..

Jul 20 (FT) South Asia’s largest apparel exporter, MAS Holdings, says it remains committed to SL and further enhance exports with a host of new strategic initiatives involving over $20 million investment amidst the most challenging time for the industry. Apparel exports from SL have been on the dip this year following a challenging 2022 second half performance forcing the industry to operate with redundant capacity of around 30% more..

Jul 20 (Island) There hadn’t been a previous instance of a local employee of a diplomatic mission, based in Colombo, receiving international media attention before Garnier Banister Francis ended up in the New York Times in late Nov. 2019. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), as well as the Indian media, reported the alleged incident, following the New York Times (NYT) exclusive headlined Sri Lanka critics fear a crackdown is underway, and some flee. more..

Jul 20 (FT) Leveraging Free Trade Agreements and streamlining trade processes to facilitate trade promotion were among key strategies suggested to enhance bilateral trade and investment, at the Pakistan Business Forum hosted by SL-Pakistan Business Council (SLPBC) of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on 19 July, at the Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Colombo. Business forum follows a recent business promotion mission to Karachi conducted by the SLPBC, where the Council’s leadership more..

Jul 20 (FT) SL Tourism recently engaged in fruitful discussions with Australian cricket and rugby officials, aiming to promote the country as a premier tourism destination among Australian sports enthusiasts. SL delegation led by Tourism Minister Harin Fernando was accompanied by SL Tourism Ambassador Sanath Jayasuriya and SL Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu. SL Tourism organised 3 prominent tourism roadshows in Perth, Sydney & Melbourne. more..

Jul 20 (FT) DFCC Bank has become the first SL entity to receive Green Climate Fund (GCF) accreditation, giving it access to concessionary funding for projects with a value of up to $ 250 million. The accreditation enables DFCC to finance climate mitigation and adaptation projects across SL, and GCF support can be offered to any number of projects, subject to a stringent qualifying criteria. DFCC Bank Sri Lanka is now one of 118 institutions globally accredited with more..

Jul 20 (CI) Pakistan will be aggressive as they attempt to knock off the 83 runs they need to get to go 1-0 up in the series. SL, meanwhile, need three early wickets to give themselves a chance in the Galle Test. This was the latest from the two camps after play on day four. Although a target of 131 seemed like it would not present Pakistan with much of a challenge, particularly as they had hunted down 342 more..

Jul 20 (ST) Over 16,000 tablets will be put to use for the 2023/24 census which will be the country’s first digital census at a cost of Rs. 2.8 billion, Dept of Census and Statistics said. A gazette notification was issued this week by President Ranil Wickremesinghe directing a census of population and housing of Sri Lanka for years 2023 and 2024. A geodatabase will be used for data collection and processing this time, unlike on previous occasions that totally relied on hard copies. more..

Jul 20 (USE) Kaduwela Municipal Council opened the first of four Plastic Recycling Centers at 567/3, Yashodara Mawatha, Dedigamuwa as a pilot to improve standards in plastic waste collection and apply environment, health, and safety best practices. Plastic Recycling Centers, supported under United States Agency for Int'l Development (USAID) Clean Cities Blue Ocean activity will sort, clean, and bale or crush large quantities of plastic in the municipal areas for commercial recycling. more..

Jul 20 (TM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, during a discussion with Tamil MPs representing the North and East on Tuesday (18), stated that while the Govt was reluctant to involve foreign judges in the administration of justice in the North and East (N-E), it would however consider obtaining reports from foreign observers, following existing systems in South and East Asian countries. more..

Jul 20 (Island) The record-breaking performance of the women’s 4×400 metres relay team at the recently held Asian Athletics Championship has forced Sri Lanka Athletics to make a fresh request to include the team for the upcoming Asian Games, despite the entries being closed. Although the deadline for entries has expired and teams have been finalized for the multi-sports event, two slots in the track and field team have become vacant due to absence of triple jumper Shreshan Danajaya more..

Jul 20 (DN) Amaya Kalukottage, the number two ranked artistic gymnast in SL, has achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first-ever gymnast to represent the country at the World University Games. The prestigious event is scheduled to take place in Chengdu, China, from July 28 to Aug 8. amaya, a talented third-year undergraduate from the Faculty of BSc Hons Sports Science and Management at Sri J'pura Uni, will proudly don the SL colors at the 31st edition more..

Jul 20 (Island) Iraq has secured the top position in Sri Lanka tea exports for the period January-June 2023 with a total of 14.73 M/Kgs, followed by Türkiye at No. 02 with 13.33 M/Kgs, and Russia retaining the 3rd position with an increase of over 14% (12.34M/Kgs) against last year’s 10.10 M/Kgs, a Forbes and Walker report stated yesterday. Thereafter, UAE (7.49 M/Kgs) and China (5.77/Kgs) occupy the 4th and 5th places respectively. Other notable importers are namely, more..

Jul 20 (EN) Countries tend to tinker with existing monetary systems instead of looking for better institutional arrangements because central bankers drive the agenda and block other solutions, a top economists explained at forum on sound money in SL. In the US, the Federal Reserve now employs around 500 economists, which was bigger than the number of individuals involved in monetary research in top 50 uni, Lawrence White, global expert on money, banking & monetary history has said. more..

Jul 20 (TM) Following senior consultant physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama claiming that the importation of certain drugs is sometimes approved by the Director Board of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), even in the absence of such approval from the relevant expert committees, the Health Ministry said that there are provisions under the NMRA Act to import drugs without the approval of more..

Jul 20 (Island) A group of civil society activists yesterday underscored responsibility on the part of the govt to take into consideration key factors before it undertakes a fresh post-war reconciliation effort. The following is the text of the statement issued by the grouping in response to the proposed establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the support of the international community: “We have learned of processes being undertaken by the govt more..

Jul 20 (CI) The 2023 Asia Cup will kick off in Multan with Pakistan taking on Nepal on Aug 30, a day earlier than originally planned by the Asian Cricket Council. The first-round Pakistan-India game will be played in Kandy on Sept 2, and if both teams make it to the Super 4s, the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo will be the host for that game. Lahore is the other venue in Pakistan that will host the matches. The final is scheduled in Colombo on Sept 17, with the provision of a reserve day. more..

Jul 20 (DM) Radiologists at the Radiation Treatment Dept of the Maharagama Apeksha Hospital are facing criticisms for their slow pace of work, which is reportedly putting cancer patients' lives at risk. Despite the Ministry of Health appointing a committee to address the increasing waiting list for radiation treatment, the issue remains unresolved. The sluggishness of the radiation technologists has resulted in a waiting list of over 490 patients, compromising the timely treatment more..

Jul 20 (FT) Govt of SL and World Bank, European Union (EU) and Agence Française de Development (AFD) have recently signed financing agreements to help strengthen SL’s management of public finances. The grant of EUR 9.8 million for Public Finance Management aims to support improving economic governance, transparency, and accountability in how public finances are spent. “Weak management of public finances contributed to SL’s economic crisis, so it is crucial to more..

Jul 20 (FT) In a dramatic disclosure during the parliamentary session, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake accused two prominent wheat flour importers in the country of financing politicians at elections in exchange for the ability to establish a market monopoly. The alleged arrangement between the wheat flour importers and politicians has allowed the companies to effectively reject price reductions and withhold more..

Jul 20 (DM) Bribery Commission has informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court that it expects to record a statement from former Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa on July 27 regarding the recovery of Rs. 17.85 million from the President's House on July 9, 2022. Bribery Commission had commenced an investigation into this incident following a complaint lodged by the Puravesi Balaya. Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage had earlier issued notices on Bribery Commission officials to more..

Jul 20 (CT) Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCPA) condemned Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella for his comments regarding funeral parlours outside hospitals instead of thinking of saving every human life that could be saved. President of MCPA, Dr. Chamal Sanjeeva, lambasting Minister Rambukwella, said his comments were an insult to all politicians in the country. According to the criteria of the WHO, the responsibility of a country’s health system more..