Mar 1 (DM) SLPP MP S.B. Dissanayake said that Prez would appoint several cabinet ministers including himself soon. He said that at least nine more cabinet ministers will probably be appointed by this month. He said that it is imperative for the president to appoint a good cabinet. MP said that Gamini Lokuge, Janaka Bandara Thennakoon, Johnston Fernando, S. M. Chandrasena, C.B. Rathnayaka, Rohitha Abeygunawardena and Sarath Weerasekera were among the list of names more..

Mar 1 (EN) Trade unions representing medical, banking and other sectors in SL are on strike at significant cost to the cash-strapped island nation’s ailing economy, demanding that an IMF-backed tax hike be revoked. Broadcast media reported that patients visiting OPD clinics at a number of state hospitals in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and elsewhere were inconvenienced as doctors, who are among the highest-earning professionals in the country, more..

Mar 1 (TM) While stating that former Chairman of the COPF, incumbent SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva is seeking to engage in party politics within the Committee, Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that the Parliamentary Selection Committee should decide on the new Chairperson of the COPF following SJB MP Mayantha Dissanayake’s resignation as the new Chair. When queried following Dissanayake’s resignation as to whether the ruling SLPP will support re-nomination more..

Mar 1 (Island) BMICH, SL’s most recognsable and iconic landmark hosted a group of 150 Pakistani lifestyle exhibitors from Feb 15–19 providing an opportunity for Sri Lankans to get a glimpse of the vibrant colours, products, and culture offered by Pakistan. The exhibitors stayed for a total of 10 days in the country, which is 1,500 room nights as a direct result of the exposition, providing a boost to tourism. Their accompanying family members travelled within the country during the period of their stay more..

Mar 1 (TM) The Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms has not complied with the order issued by the Right to Information (RTI) Commission to release the report of the one-member committee appointed to investigate the incidents that allegedly took place in 2021 involving then-State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and incumbent State Minister of Plantation Lohan Ratwatte. more..

Mar 1 (FT) Allianz Lanka has announced that its recently conducted Global NPS survey results indicate that Allianz Lanka is currently leading in the market, achieving the Loyalty Leader position amongst the competition. This is an achievement that shows that Allianz has outperformed the competition across all five customer journeys and further has scored highly across top business drivers. NPS Survey is an annual study conducted by Allianz Group with all its OEs to more..

Mar 1 (DM) Peradeniya Police has launched an investigation after a 26-year-old 4th-year female undergraduate of Peradeniya Uni's Faculty of Engineering died while receiving treatment at the hospital. The deceased is a resident of Ridigama, Kurunegala. Police said the uni student was admitted to the Peradeniya Hospital following an illness last night and had died in the early hours of today while receiving treatment. Police said the student has been receiving treatment for more..

Mar 1 (DM) Leaders of the govt’s political parties have urged the Speaker of Parliament to act in accordance with the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the Parliament of SL pertaining to the request made by the Opposition to release the funds allocated within the Budget for the upcoming LG election. Accordingly, Speaker had been informed of this by PM Dinesh Gunawardena during a meeting held this afternoon with the leaders of govt’s political parties a statement issued by more..

Mar 1 (EN) CPC reduced price of kerosene by 14.1% or 50 rupees to 305 rupees with effect from Wednesday midnight. The price of Kerosene was at 355 rupees a litre and was last revised on Jan 2, 2022. The price of Industrial Kerosene that was at 464 rupees has been reduced by 28.8% to 330 rupees. Prices of Auto diesel price, Super diesel, petrol 95 Octane and 92 Octane remained unchanged. CPC's proposal to lower the price of kerosene oil has been endorsed by Prez. more..

Mar 1 (FT) In 2019, Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen was accused of performing illegal sterilisations on thousands of Sinhala mothers during caesarean operations at the Teaching Hospital in Kurunegala. The Daily FT is in possession of a document related to the investigation with details of mothers who lodged complaints against the doctor. Of the 600 mothers mentioned in the list around 130 have gotten pregnant after filing their complaints. more..

Mar 1 (SLN) Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sukanya which arrived in Colombo on 27th Feb on a 3-day official visit, departed the island today. At her departure, the ship conducted a naval exercise with SLNS Gajabahu of the SL Navy and the Navy bade customary farewell to the departing ship in accordance with naval traditions at the Port of Colombo. In the Passage Exercise (PASSEX), Replenishment at Sea (RAS) drills, formations and ship manoeuvres, communication exercises more..

Mar 1 (DM) Even though the trade unions with certain political agendas had called for a massive trade union action, they were not successful, Director General of Trade Unions to President Samana Rathnapriya said. Practically, no trade union action had taken place during the day in any private or govt-related sector, he said. However, a number of professional trade unions from the essential services sector, including power, petroleum, water, ports, teachers, more..

Mar 1 (Island) TPA leader Mano Ganesan, MP, has urged Maya Sivagnanam, Deputy Director of the South Asia Region Dept of Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and High Commissioner Sarah Hulton to facilitate their full integration into what he called the SL national mainstream polity as full citizens. The former National Integration Minister said that Britain should use its good offices with the govt here to help more..

Mar 1 (AT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s refusal to fund local elections sets a dangerous precedent that puts SL democracy at risk. If the govt is serious about political reform, voters need to have their voices heard. National Election Commission informed Supreme Court last week that local elections planned for March 9 would be indefinitely postponed because of a lack of available funds. Commission’s hand was forced by the Wickremesinghe govt’s refusal to provide more..

Mar 1 (CT) West Container Terminal (WCT) development project is proceeding as scheduled and is unaffected by the accusations made against the Adani Group, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said. Despite Adani Group of India, which purchased a 51% stake in the West Container Terminal (WCT), coming under fire by a research group for allegedly using opaque accounting methods and inflating its financial metrics to hide its debt levels and generate higher profits, SLPA said WCT development more..

Mar 1 (AD) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has stated that SJB is ready to impose the death penalty against those engaged in terrorist activities. SJB leader ensured that if elected into power, the SJB will impose the death penalty against all those involved in terrorist activities, regardless of whether it was the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, or SL’s 30-year long civil war. He further assured to bring all those involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks before the court of law, more..

Mar 1 (DN) With India looking very positively at becoming a manufacturing hub for electric vehicles (EV), joint venture partners are looking very closely at Hambantota Int'l Port (HIP) as the key transshipment point for their markets in the east and west of the island. HIP participated in the recently held ET Auto Electric Vehicle Conclave 2023 organised in Delhi and on the sidelines of the conference, they were able to connect with a large number of potential customers who would more..

Mar 1 (EN) Central Bank is seen keeping its key monetary policy rates steady and maintaining a tight stance at the second policy rate review for this year, amid mounting public pressure to reduce the rates. CB will announce the key monetary policy rates at 1630 hours on Friday. Apex bank last raised the policy rates in July, 2022 by 100 basis points. Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) is at 14.5% since then while more..

Mar 1 (TM) Responding to a recent statement made by Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando that the UNP will form a new alliance with a group of members from the main Parliamentary Opposition, SJB, SJB General Secretary MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara stated yesterday (28) that Fernando is now facing an issue as he is unable to return to the SJB. When queried by The Daily Morning referring to the above statement made by Fernando that SJB MPs are to crossover, Madduma Bandara said: more..

Mar 1 (TM) Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday released on bail social media activist Chirantha Amarasinghe, who was arrested by the Cinnamon Gardens Police on several charges including allegedly obstructing the duties of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) officers, and videotaping its headquarters on Monday. Amarasinghe, who was arrested by the Cinnamon Gardens Police on Monday, was produced before Colombo Magistrate Prasanna Alwis. more..

Mar 1 (TM) Police stated that water cannons and tear gas were used on the protest held by the JVP-led NPP in the Town Hall area in Colombo on 26 Feb on the grounds that demonstrations have been prohibited in the backdrop of the declaration of the LG election, protestors blocking the road, and since permission for such a procession march had not been obtained from the relevant police station. When queried about the grounds on which more..

Mar 1 (AD) Colombo District Court has ordered that Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe be released from the 108 cases filed by the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. The order was issued by Colombo District Judge Mahesha de Silva when the case was taken up in court this morning. During a previous hearing of the case, Wickremesinghe’s lawyers argued that although their client was named as a respondent in these cases, it was not possible to maintain the charges levelled against him, more..

Mar 1 (AD) Police have taken custody of all files in the office of the Chairman of Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) which was unsealed after 13 days. The unsealing of the office, which was sealed off by the Kollupitiya Police on February 16 based on a court order issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate, was carried out in the presence of Janaka Ratnayake, Chairman of the PUCSL Colombo Fort Magistrate had issued this order following the Kollupitiya Police reporting facts more..

Mar 2 (ST) Aldoris came down the lane in his music-blaring tuk-tuk and stopped at the gate where the trio had gathered. “Miss, unu-unu maalu paan thiyenawa mang langa (Miss I have hot-hot maalu paan),” he said, getting off the tuk-tuk. “Ah, eka shok. Oya langa kimbula banis thiyenawada (Oh, that’s nice. Do you also have kimbula banis),” asked Serapina. “Ow Miss (Yes Miss),” he replied. As he picked some maalu paans and kimbula banis and put them into a siri-siri bag, more..

Mar 2 (CT) Right to Information (RTI) Act plays a vital role in ensuring that the public has access to crucial information in regard to decisions of State Authorities and could also be observed as a tool to combat corruption. This Act enshrines several important features including democracy, involvement of the public in the decision-making process, increases accountability of public officers, and promotes economic growth in the country while also paving the way for less corruption. more..

Mar 2 (DM) “Decriminalisation is an extremely important and long overdue step. It will show that the law, rightfully, does not view same-sex relationships as an offence, a wrong or something that requires state interference or punishment,” said Ambika Satkunanathan, human rights lawyer, activist and former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of SL. In Aug 2022, a Private Members’ Bill was initiated by MP Premnath Dolawatte more..

Mar 2 (CT) Someone asked me; You had said Hindu Priests in the North do not dabble in politics. But others say they do. Why this difference? If Hindu Priests too dabble in Politics what is wrong with Buddhist Priests doing so? My response was; When I was interviewed by Iraj he asked me whether Hindu Priests in Temples in the North do dabble in politics. I said truthfully they do not. No temple priests in Jaffna openly dabble in politics taking up to the streets. more..

Mar 2 (DM) Economically and socially, SL is in deep trouble and the crisis deepened with yesterday’s general strike by more than 40 trade unions including doctors, uni professors, engineers, bank staff and other professionals. They have warned that if cost of living is not brought under control or taxes imposed are not reduced, they will launch an Aragalaya or public revolt next week. In such a desperate situation, it is difficult to figure out one key issue that brought us to where we are, more..

Mar 2 (CT) As Japan’s two largest companies Mitsubishi and Taisei Corporations exit Colombo, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe in an attempt to mend fences between the two countries has insisted on offering the Trincomalee Harbour development project to Japan, that is closely monitoring the economically struggling island nation. Cancellation of bilateral investment projects such as the East Container Terminal (ECT) and more..

Mar 2 (TM) Court of Appeal (CoA) this week delivered a verdict which will be remembered as a landmark decision by SL’s Judiciary, and it is essentially a decision that upholds the public’s right to information, reiterates the powers of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, No. 12 of 2016, and of the RTI Commission, and reminds lawmakers that they too must abide by all laws that do not come under Parliamentary Privileges. On Tuesday (28), observing that the provisions of the RTI Act more..

Mar 2 (Island) The executive presidency has become a canker eating away at the heart of democracy in this country thanks to a host of serious flaws in the Constitution and election laws. The Democratic Socialist Republic of SL is therefore a complete misnomer; no country where elections are delayed or cancelled for political reasons, and its people are denied their franchise can call itself a democracy. The one-year extension of the terms of local govt institutions will expire on 20 March, more..

Mar 2 (TM) The main purpose of taxation is to raise resources to finance govt expenditure in a way that is equitable, fair, efficient, and accountable. A tax system that is not designed to fulfil these criteria will be counterproductive with negative impacts on macroeconomic indices such as economic growth, public debt, fiscal deficit, and inflation. Serious concerns have been raised regarding the effectiveness, fairness, transparency, and accountability of the recently introduced more..

Mar 2 (Island) Statistics from the UGC for 2020 show that out of 109,660 students that constituted the UGC intake for the year, 64.3 % were female. The preponderance of female students exists across disciplines with Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science being the only disciplines with larger male populations. In the Colombo Arts Faculty, the student numbers for 2020 were 2013 (85%) women and 352 (15%) men; in Peradeniya it was 2962 (82%) women to 651 (18%) men. more..

Mar 2 (EN) Sri Lanka has posted a balance of payments surplus of US$ 211 million in January 2023, data shows, as the island’s intermediate regime central bank operated peg with complementary monetary policy. Sri Lanka ended 2022 with a balance of payments deficit of US$ 2,773 million, lower than the record US$ 2,961 million recorded in 2021. In 2022 BOP deficits were run after the central bank ran out of reserves, more..

Mar 2 (ST) Animal lovers of all ages were seen having a great time bonding with their newly-met zoo pets at a unique Valentine’s Day event held recently. An animal lovers week senehase sathiya organised by National Zoological Gardens, Dehiwala saw thousands of animal enthusiasts enjoying face painting, fish spa treatment, having pythons wrapped around their arms, posing for photos with exotic birds and many more activities. Families were given the unique opportunity to feed animals more..

Mar 2 (FT) Seylan Bank said it reported a robust Profit before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 6.6 billion, a 10% growth for the year ended 31 Dec 2022 while recording a Profit after Tax (PAT) of Rs. 4.7 billion delivering a stable performance. The results were further buoyed by an impressive 72% rise in Net Interest Income (NII) for the year under review, compared to 21% in the previous year. Mindful of the current uncertainties, bank reinforces its resilience & stability with continued profitability more..