Oct 12 (EN) If a motion is tabled in parliament to abolish the presidency, another motion to dissolve parliament must be tabled the same day, JVP said amid intense speculation that SL’s all-powerful executive presidency is to be finally abolished, albeit for reasons of political expediency. Former JVP legislator Sunil Handunneththi said that Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration cannot more..

Oct 12 (AD) There will be two eclipses this month – an annular solar eclipse on Oct 14 and a partial lunar eclipse on Oct 28, says Prof. Chandana Jayaratne of Colombo University. The annular solar eclipse is visible from the USA, followed by parts of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil. However, it will not be visible to Sri Lanka. In SL Standard Time, this solar eclipse begins at 8:34 p.m. on Oct 14 in the USA and ends at 2:25 a.m. on Oct 15 near Brazil. more..

Oct 12 (AD) Nine Iranian nationals, who had been arrested four years ago for drug peddling, have been sentenced to life imprisonment on orders of the Colombo High Court. The relevant order was given by Colombo High Court Judge Amal Ranaraja, after the four pleaded guilty to their charges of trafficking heroin into Sri Lanka. However, acting in compliance with international agreements Sri Lanka has entered into, it was ordered that the nine foreign nationals be extradited to Iran. more..

Oct 12 (FT) SJB MP Eran Wickremaratne, says corruption remains a critical issue for SL, and with the appropriation bill seeking to increase state expenditure by Rs. 300 billion, it appears the Govt is yet to get serious about reducing costs. He says the Opposition supports moves to reduce other expenditure to enhance spend on education and health. But the Govt seeks to increase defence spending despite more..

Oct 12 (PMD) President Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed govt officials to prioritize the immediate requirements of Sri Lankan citizens residing in Israel, especially their safety, in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Consequently, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Israel and relevant govt departments have collaboratively initiated a special program aimed at offering the utmost possible assistance to the Sri Lankan community living in Israel. more..

Oct 12 (CT) Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar yesterday advised the media (print and electronic), not to publicise the personal details (including names and addresses) of unofficial witnesses to the prosecution, in the case filed against 24 accused, including Naufer Moulavi, over the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. They have been charged before the High Court, with the explosion of bombs targeting Catholic Churches and star class hotels, on Easter Sunday and more..

Oct 12 (AD) The half-a-billion USD global organic textile market is set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 40% within the next five years and with eco-consumption on the rise, it is evident that apparel companies too, are gearing for the shift in consumer patterns. Sri Lanka, known for its ability to produce high-end niche apparel, is now focused on enhancing its capacity to produce eco-friendly clothing using organic textiles, where compliance remains a key component. more..

Oct 12 (FT) Law Students Union of SL (LSUS) has expressed its concerns about reports of discriminatory treatment towards female Muslim candidates during the recent Law College entrance exam conducted on 30 September at multiple exam centres throughout the country. In a letter dated 10 Oct, addressed to the SL Law College Principal Athula Pathinayake, Union pointed out that female Muslim candidates were forced to remove their hijab (head covering) for security checks to more..

Oct 12 (EN) SL’s state owned enterprises ratcheted up losses amounting to 18 times the annual pay as you earn taxes collected from wage earners from around 2006, when privatisation was halted, a think tank has said. When state enterprises ran losses they were covered by loans taken from domestic banks as well as from capital markets. “From 2005 to 2021, roughly over 15 years, SOEs have accumulated losses of 1.8 T rupees,” more..

Oct 12 (AD) PM Dinesh Gunawardena has proposed to set up a Joint Economic Council with the UAE to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. This proposal was made when UAE Minister of State of Economic & Trade Affairs of Foreign Ministry Ahmed bin Ali Sayegh called on him at the Temple Trees on Wednesday. UAE Minister agreed that official negotiations should commence without delay to finalize the Cooperation of Economic Partnership Agreement more..

Oct 12 (CT) The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) instructed the Excise Department to dispense with its current system of imposing lenient penalties for large-scale fraud and irregularities connected to the production of liquor. They advised the Excise Department to mete out severe punishment such as cancellation of licences of firms that continue to be involved in the counterfeit sticker racket and non-payment of tax to the State. Chairman of COPA Lasantha Alagiyawanna, more..

Oct 12 (CT) National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) stated that it has halted the use of yet another medicinal drug – Rituximab injection 500mg, in 50ml vial, prescribed for cancer patients, which had been imported by the same local agent who imported the controversial Human Immunoglobulin Iv 5-6g vial, CEO Dr. Vijith Gunasekara said. He said that Authority had received a complaint regarding a cancer drug more..

Oct 12 (DM) Long colds can be a thing in the same way that long Covid is, with some people experiencing prolonged symptoms after an initial infection, according to a UK study. Common long cold symptoms included a cough, stomach pain and diarrhoea. The findings come from 10,171 adults who completed questionnaires. More work is needed to understand who is at risk, how bad it can be and what can be done about it, experts say. The idea that a respiratory virus - or more..

Oct 12 (EN) Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the controversial online safety bill. The bill was gazetted on September 15 and tabled in parliament Oct 3. CPA had previously urged that the govt withdraw the bill which the organisation said is fundamentally flawed and riddled with potential for abuse. The petitioners, CPA and its executive director Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, argue that the bill as a whole violates more..

Oct 12 (NR) The final rites of veteran actor Jackson Anthony who passed away on Monday (9) will be performed in Ragama today. The funeral will take place at the St. Peter & Paul’s Church in Ragama at 3pm on Thursday. Veteran actor Jackson Anthony passed away at the age of 65. Jackson Anthony passed away while receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the Colombo National Hospital. He was hospitalized following an accident in Thalawa, Anuradhapura in July 2022. more..

Oct 12 (FT) 11th edition of the Galle Dialogue International Maritime Conference, organised by the SL Navy in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and Geopolitical Cartographer, is scheduled to commence today at the Jetwing Lighthouse in Galle. The inaugural ceremony of this 2-day conference, (12 & 13), will be held under the patronage of the Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and with the distinguished presence of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera and more..

Oct 12 (AD) Supreme Court has ordered 16 govt universities across the island to submit a report pertaining to the incidents of ragging reported at the respective institutions over the last three years and the measures taken to prevent them, before Nov 10, 2023. This order was issued taking up for consideration a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed by Pasindu de Silva, seeking a ruling that his fundamental human rights more..

Oct 12 (SLN) A special search operation mounted by the Navy in Kudawa beach area of Kalpitiya on 10th Oct led to the apprehension of 02 individuals who were in the process of preparing over 274kg of dried sea cucumbers for illegal transportation. Along with the stock of dried sea cucumber, believed to have been smuggled via sea, a cab used for this illegal act was also taken into the naval custody. Navy carries out regular search operations and patrols in the coastal and sea areas more..

Oct 12 (AD) Hearing of petition filed by Ministers Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando, challenging the decision taken by SJB to oust them from the party and disqualify them of their parliamentary seats, commenced before the Supreme Court on Thursday (12). Justices Vijith Malalgoda, Achala Vengappuli and Arjuna Obeysekera sat for today’s legal proceedings. Appearing on behalf of Minister Nanayakkara, President’s Counsel Faiszer Musthapha more..

Oct 12 (PMD) President Ranil Wickremesinghe delivered a significant keynote address at the 11th edition of the Galle Dialogue; International Maritime Conference, which aimed to strengthen regional maritime cooperation and formulate a global strategy to face common challenges in the maritime domain. The conference commenced at the Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel today (12) under the theme Emerging New Order more..

Oct 12 (DM) Although SL requires a system change, it does not have one and that system change should start with developing the education sector, business tycoon and former MP Dhammika Perera said. While celebrating the 4th anniversary of Dhammika Perera's DP Education online education system, he yesterday said they received an award for being an education platform number one in the Asian region. He came up with solutions to the lack of professional teachers in schools around the country more..

Oct 12 (DM) Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar who asserted that making the Indian Ocean a free, open and inclusive space, based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) as the Constitution of the Seas, said the member states should be equally clear where the dangers are, be it in hidden agendas, in unviable projects or in unsustainable debt. Making his remarks at the Press Conference of the 23rd IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association) Council more..

Oct 13 (DM) The passing away of artiste Jackson Anthony (65) not only leaves a void for such a character in the film industry, it also makes us delve into his life and times to study areas about this giant of a man we might not have fully understood. Thursday (12) morning’s show on Sirasa television titled Jeevithayata Idadenna was dedicated to him and even the special invitees to the panel discussion -Jayantha Chandrasiri, Kamal Addararachchi, Sriantha Mendis and Anoja Weerasinghe more..

Oct 13 (ST) Kussi Amma Sera was reading the Lankadipa newspaper when she came across, what she later called “rasawath puvathak (interesting news)”, this Thursday morning. “Paththare kiyanawa Shri Lankan guwan sevaye godak guwan gaman parakku-wela kiyala (It says here that there were many flight delays by SriLankan Airlines),” she said. “Meda peradiga yana samahara magey yaluwanta mae parakkuwa saha guwan gaman avalangu kireem balapala thiyenawa more..

Oct 13 (DM) The sacred Kataragama Devalaya is facing accusations of deforestation and land grabbing as farmers in the surrounding Meegaswewa area are being evicted from their cultivation lands. These lands are then being bulldosed and sold to businessmen for development purposes. Daily Mirror Investigation Team visited the area and spoke to members of affected families. more..

Oct 13 (GV) Batticaloa cattle farmers protesting against the encroachment of outsiders into their grazing land have faced physical attacks and threats as tensions escalated. Their cows have been killed and land set on fire. The dairy farmers claim that crop farmers from other districts have occupied the land they traditionally used for grazing about 500,000 cattle and buffalo. The area falls under the Mahaweli Development Authority. The farmers’ protests, which have been going on more..

Oct 13 (CT) Charles Ponnuthurai Sarvan wrote down his memories. Not for publication, but as a gift for his family, living continents away – and worlds apart – from his native Ceylon/SL. Occasionally, he would share a few snippets with friends, to illustrate a point, to buttress an argument. One of those snippets was of a political meeting he attended during his undergraduate years in Peradeniya as a member of the LSSP student union. “Academic staff not being allowed to hold party-political more..

Oct 13 (SO) The film 800, based on the life of Muthiah Muralitharan, widely regarded as one of the greatest spinners in the world, has commenced screening in India. The title refers to Murali’s 800 Test wickets, a record that has still not been equalled. The film 800 was filmed in various locations, including Sri Lanka, India, and Australia. It was simultaneously released in 15 countries, such as India, SL, US, UK, and Middle East. more..

Oct 13 (TM) The crisis surrounding Sri Lanka’s health sector was, until recently, viewed as a mere scarcity of medicines, medical equipment, and medical professionals. However, certain recent developments concerning the health sector – especially the procurement of medicines from foreign parties – suggests that the health sector crisis is way more complex, and is worsened by questionable acts that amount to irregularities and flaws. more..

Oct 13 (CT) The debt-related discussions, not only related to SL, lead the agenda items as the guardians of global finance gather in Marrakech for the annual 2023 meetings of the two US-based international lenders, namely the World Bank and the IMF. The backdrop for the meeting, apart from excessive global debt, are an array of issues both man-made and natural – fighting following the Hamas attack on Israel, earthquakes in the host country Morocco and Afghanistan, more..

Oct 13 (FT) Dialog Axiata PLC, the first telecommunications service provider in the South Asian region to demonstrate 5G capabilities in 2018, announced the successful completion of the first-ever trial of the Voice over New Radio (VoNR) service on a Standalone 5G trial network in Sri Lanka. This groundbreaking milestone reinforces Dialog’s commitment to technological innovation and is a significant stride towards unlocking the limitless potential of 5G technology in SL. more..

Oct 13 (Island) Take that first part of the title in the most derogatory sense; with an insulting innuendo; but justified. The second part retains the message intended by the Tourist Board, which coined the blurb to advertise this marvellously serendipitous island. Yes, those who represent the people of the land, the MPs, are like no other in this land and in other lands. Of course, govts, legislators and VIPs are notorious for corruption, stupidity, vanity, selfishness all over the world, more..

Oct 13 (TM) Despite the detrimental impacts of using methamphetamine for recreational purposes, it is misused due to its stimulant properties and euphoric effects. In SL, the use of crystal methamphetamine (a form of methamphetamine commonly known as ice) is increasing rapidly due to several reasons including its low cost compared to other drugs. Dealing with this worsening menace requires more..

Oct 13 (Island) A model parliamentary session held by a group of schoolchildren from Ratnapura, at the Prez Secretariat, on Tuesday, has received much publicity. Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the students, asked them to suggest solutions to their problems. The govt was willing to consider them, he added. Tuesday’s event has come in for criticism on social media. Some critics have called it an utter waste of time and energy, and argued that children should be taught more..

Oct 13 (CI) If South Africa really do want to move through this 2023 World Cup under the radar, they must do better than this. Because in wiping the floor with Australia in Lucknow, winning by a mammoth 134 runs for their second victory in as many games, they have put out one hell of a statement that is impossible to ignore. As ever, Quinton de Kock made the most noise, crashing 109 up top as South Africa put up 311 for 7 having been asked to bat first. Australia's decision at the toss, more..