Jun 9 (FT) The $ 1 billion worth of tea exporters have expressed serious concern over the Govt’s decision to terminate the paperless Simplified Value Added Tax (SVAT) system. They warned the decision made by the Govt without consulting the export industry’s operations will make this crucial sector inefficient and uncompetitive, which will jolt the industry’s ability to sustain and boost foreign exchange earnings. more..

Jun 9 (ST) When Emirates exited in March 2008 from its arrangement to manage SriLankan Airlines and did not seek to renew the partnership arrangement owing to a tiff with the then Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa, the airline had made a profit of nearly Rs. 5 billion that year to March 2008. The very next year saw the airline under state control reporting a loss of Rs. 9.9 billion in the financial year ending March 2009. Then just before the state-owned Ceylon Tyre Corporation sold its more..

Jun 9 (Island) SL’s selectors have left out former captain Angelo Mathews from the World Cup Qualifiers that will begin in Zimbabwe shortly. There was not much change from the squad announced for the bilateral series against Afghanistan with the only omission being that of Mathews. Mathews had made a comeback to the ODI side when SL toured NZ a couple of months back and was dropped after the first ODI against Afghanistan. Since making a comeback to the ODI side in more than 2 yrs, more..

Jun 9 (FT) South Asian Travel Awards (SATA) has announced Mandarina Colombo as the official Hospitality Partner Hotel for the SL Jury Evaluation Sessions. This esteemed partnership will provide distinguished jury members with exceptional accommodation and services as they travel across SL to evaluate and identify the winners of the South Asian Travel Awards. SATA is an annual event that recognises and celebrates excellence in the travel and tourism industry across South Asia. more..

Jun 9 (FT) MTI Consulting recently conducted a study on high inflation in order to take key learnings for Pakistan, presently undergoing a turbulent economic crisis. The study was commissioned by Tasha Enterprises based in Pakistan, led Tariq Ikram (SI), former Federal Minister of State; in preparation for a high-level international seminar scheduled to be held in Aug 2023 on the topic Understanding and Managing in a high to hyperinflationary environment. The seminar is being organised by Humanex, more..

Jun 9 (DN) I had a good chance to set up a record at 800m but I couldn't do it as expected said SL promising middle distance athlete Tharushi Karunaratne. Tharushi finished 800m with a gold medal clocking 2 minutes 05.64 seconds. Actually at the 800m event I got a good start and I got lead and my opponent athletes were unable to make good fight with me and finally I was placed first with a clear lead. more..

Jun 9 (CT) Industry stakeholders urged the Govt to allow more than 20 hectares of oil palm cultivation under the initial licence so that the full potential of the crop can be realised. This was emphasised in the special press conference jointly organised by Asian Palm Oil Forum, a multilateral organisation representing the palm oil industry in the Asian region, a global network Solidaridad, and Palm Oil Industry Association of SL, a spokesman said and added the event shed light more..

Jun 9 (ST) The disease spreading among cattle is being gradually brought under control while local authorities are developing vaccines to be used, officials said. Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) virus has spread among cattle in the North, North Central, North Western, and Eastern Provinces, affecting a high number. The virus attacks cattle and buffaloes and does not seem to infect any other animals such as goats. The disease affects cattle of all ages; the young, milking animals, and all breeds. more..

Jun 9 (Island) ACTC leader MP Ganjendrakumar Ponnambalam told Parliament that his rights had been violated by the police. Raising a privilege issue the MP said that the police had been making several false statements to the media regarding a recent incident of confrontation between him and some policemen. MP said: “Considering that it is ultimately the police dept itself that has to investigate this incident more..

Jun 9 (FT) SriLankan Airlines expects passenger traffic in the upcoming year-end travel season to surpass pre-pandemic levels, amid a boom in tourism a year after the country plunged into economic turmoil. Airline Chairman Ashok Pathirage, who was speaking to FlightGlobal at the IATA AGM in Istanbul, says the airline intends to ramp up frequencies across the network, as the first of 10 new leased aircraft joins the fleet. It has plans to increase frequency to London, more..

Jun 9 (NIP) About 2.5 kg gold bars were seized by the customs department at Ramanathapuram on Monday. An official statement from the Customs Preventive Division, Ramanathapuram, Trichy Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate said the department, on June 5, received information that foreign-origin gold is being smuggled from Sri Lanka through Nochiurani coast. Accordingly, officers began surveillance in the south sea near muyal theevu and identified the suspected boat. more..

Jun 9 (DM) Responding to the allegation leveled against Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) during recent COPE meeting that GSMB seeks minister’s approval for issuance of licenses, GSMB Chairman R. Sanjeepan clarified that applications related to mining and exploration activities are never sent to the Minister for his approval. “Applications are received by respective regional offices where they process the relevant applications until they get a valid clearance. more..

Jun 9 (TM) Against the backdrop of an internal crisis in Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL), one of its Commissioners has expressed his willingness to resign. When contacted, a particular Commissioner, said that Prez and Speaker have been requested by three HRCSL Commissioners, including him, to resolve the problematic situation in dealing with HRCSL Chairperson retired SC Judge, Justice Rohini Marasinghe, but that there had been no response thus far. more..

Jun 9 (FT) Power and Energy Ministry yesterday signed an agreement with US-based RM Parks Inc. in collaboration with Shell, marking a significant step towards securing a long-term contract for the importation, storage, distribution, and sale of petroleum products in the country. RM Parks Inc. will be the fourth supplier to enter the domestic market and will operate under the Shell branding. “They signed a 20-year agreement to import, distribute and more..

Jun 9 (SLN) A special search operation conducted by the Navy off Mamunai of Veththalakerni, Jaffna this morning (8) led to the recovery of more than 128 kg (wet weight) of Kerala cannabis adrift in waters. The Navy keeps a round-the-clock vigil in the coastal and sea areas of the island with a view to prevent nefarious activities taking place via sea routes. As an extension of these operations, small craft attached to the Naval Detachment Mamunai belonging to the Naval Deployment Veththalakerni more..

Jun 9 (TM) Ministry of Health has taken measures to assign 406 new doctors who have completed their medical degree for internships. Accordingly, before 27 June, these doctors will be referred to 63 hospitals. The training period of about 694 intern doctors currently working in hospitals is scheduled to end on 27 June and accordingly, these new doctors will be assigned to the respective hospitals. “406 new doctors who have completed their medical degree will be assigned to the internship. more..

Jun 9 (AD) The Chinese national who was detained by officials of the Department of Immigration and Emigration last month was deported to China this afternoon (08). Lee Pan was placed under detention in late May after attempting to enter Sri Lanka with two forged passports. Subsequently, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles ordered that all required action be taken to deport the individual. He was summoned before the Immigration Department on 22 May to record a statement, more..

Jun 9 (FT) Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith yesterday called on the Govt to hold an election to allow the people to make their voices heard. “An election must be held immediately and the people must be allowed to express their opinion,” he said. He also stressed that any attempt to take the country towards a dictatorship through the misuse of power to curtail the freedoms of the people will be defeated. Archbishop expressed these views while addressing more..

Jun 9 (EN) State-run Airport and Aviation Services of SL, has 15 billion rupees of bills and unknown additional claims after a contractor suspended work on a Japan funded terminal, following a sovereign default. Sri Lanka ran out of foreign reserves in April 2022 after two years of money printing by macro-economists to mis-target interest rates for stimulus (output gap targeting) and defaulted amid forex shortages. more..

Jun 9 (DM) Police officers have done nothing wrong in arresting MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam as he was holding a meeting near a GCE O/L exam coordination centre, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles said today. “The two officers who had come to the location where the MP was having a meeting had established their identity and showed their identity cards as well. However, the MP had tried to manhandle them. Also, the MP had used abusive language,” the Minister said. more..

Jun 9 (AD) A special discussion took place between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and a group of MPs belonging to the TNA today (8), sources confirmed. Accordingly, several matters of concern, including the land disputes suffered by those in the Northern and Eastern provinces, the distribution of power, and provincial council elections, are believed to have been discussed during the meeting. The relevant meeting was held this afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat. more..

Jun 9 (FT) Opposition parties led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa met with representatives of media organisations on Wednesday to discuss concerns relating to the proposed Broadcasting Authorities Act. The meeting was attended by organisation heads and representatives of all licenced electronic media institutions and media associations where the proposed legislation was discussed at length. more..

Jun 9 (FT) In his recent address to the nation Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe said the country’s national transformation roadmap will be based on four pillars to drive economic growth. The four pillars are financial reforms, investment promotion, social safety net and restructuring of state-owned enterprises. These are all good things, but I was dismayed not to see a value pillar. Values are implicit in the message, but an explicit expression would have made his message more complete. more..

Jun 9 (FT) MP Ali Sabri Raheem of the ACMC, a breakaway party from the SLMC, representing the constituency of Puttalam, was caught red-handed a couple of weeks ago, rushing to smuggle in 3.5 kg of gold and dozens of hand phones from Dubai, where he is said to have business interests, without declaring them to the customs authorities. He had used his VIP status – why should MPs have VIP status is beyond bounds of democratic governance – to accomplish his golden adventure. more..

Jun 9 (EN) SL plans to expand the Colombo port and increase its capacity to 15 million containers a year in the next three years with the completion of two terminals under construction, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. “Currently the capacity of the Colombo Port is 8.5 million containers, and we expect it to increase up to 15 million,” Minister Siripala said in Parliament. “Eastern Terminal will be developed using our own money, Jaya Terminal is also being developed and more..

Jun 9 (AD) Multiple people were left injured this morning in a tragic head-on collision involving a bus and a lorry in the Embulgama area of Hanwella on the Colombo-Avissawella road. At least 22 individuals, including the drivers of the bus and the lorry, were rushed to the Homagama and Nawagamuwa hospitals, following the accident. The lorry, which had been en route to Avissawella from Colombo, had collided head-on with a bus belonging to SLTB plying from Akkaraipattu to Colombo. more..

Jun 9 (AD) The Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security has issued recommendations against the privatization of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, citing the possible leakage of matters sensitive to national security. This was mentioned in a report titled The Effects of Privatization of Sri Lanka Telecom on National Security, presented to the parliament by the committee’s chairman MP Sarath Weerasekara today (9). more..

Jun 9 (EN) Shares closed higher on Friday, as investor sentiments picked up on lowered inflation and policy rate cuts, an analyst said. The ASPI was up 0.58% or 51.05 points to 8,818.39, this is the highest the index has been since May 17, while the most liquid index S&P SL20 was up 0.7% or 17.24 points to 2,494.68. The market was seeing gains, due to lowered policy rates and low inflation stimulating buying interest and driving the sentiment up, an analyst said. more..

Jun 9 (DM) Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith called for an election so that people could elect a new govt. Speaking at a ceremony held to mark the centenary of St. Anthony's College Katana, Cardinal Ranjith said an election is necessary as it is not possible to develop the nation with rulers who do not love their nation. "You cannot have a future with those who only think of their survival without thinking of the country's future," he said. more..

Jun 9 (TM) Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is to amend the National Environmental Act to include extended producer responsibility, which is a strategy used to add all of the estimated environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product’s life cycle, in order to manage plastic and polythene waste in SL. Director General of the CEA, Hemantha Jayasinghe said that this system would address more..

Jun 9 (Island) Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Director General for South Asia Kenichi Yokoyama and newly appointed Country Director Takafumi Kadono held discussions with PM Dinesh Gunawardena on Thursday at the Temple Trees in Colombo. PM, while welcoming the new Director General thanked the outgoing DG, Chen Chen for the support extended to SL during the height of Covid pandemic and the economic crisis. He thanked the ADB for extending short term, more..

Jun 9 (AD) A child, believed to have suffered cut wounds from the pieces of a broken glass bottle, was found dead on Thursday. The body was recovered from a construction site in Mulleriyawa police division. Mulleriywa Police initiated an investigation into the incident after being notified by the emergency hotline 119. Police said the 05-year-old, named Jonathan Mark Fonseka, was residing in Halbarawa area in Mulleriyawa. It is suspected that the child had died due to excessive bleeding more..

Jun 9 (EN) Objections raised by a parliamentary committee to the proposed sale of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) on national security grounds hold no water and have no basis in historical fact, according to former Director General of Telecommunications Prof Rohan Samarajiva. Samarajiva said the concerns raised by the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security displays an ignorance of the history of SL’s telecommunications sector as well as developments in the region. more..

Jun 9 (TM) Committee on Public Finance (COPF) has decided to postpone the reviewing of Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill for a week until a timeline for establishing a regulatory authority for casinos is worked out. The decision was taken at the first meeting of the COPF for the fourth session of the ninth Parliament on Wednesday under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Harsha de Silva. COPF chairman pointed out that the establishment of a regulatory authority regarding the casino more..

Jun 9 (CT) A group of former UNP members of the CMC lodged a complaint with the CIABOC yesterday, alleging former Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake had violated the Municipality’s operating procedures regarding the consumption of electricity at her official residence and the employment of cleaning workers. According to the complaint, based on the information obtained through a RTI request, during her tenure more..