Sep 4 (ST) The govt is awaiting a report by the Finance Ministry on an investigation regarding an alleged multibillion-rupee vehicle import scam. State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said he expected the Finance Ministry to submit its report on the probe within two weeks. He was responding to queries regarding an alleged scam involving the illegal import of vehicles despite the import ban imposed in 2020. There were initial reports that some 5,000 vehicles had been illegally imported and more..

Sep 4 (NHK) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe says he appreciates Japan's leadership in international efforts to restructure his country's external debt. SL fell into default in April last year after fiscal policy decisions triggered a rapid depreciation of its currency and high inflation. Wickremesinghe assumed power in July last year amid political upheaval. Wickremesinghe said everyone is comfortable with Japan serving as co-chair of a new international framework launched in April more..

Sep 4 (DN) In a stunning display of skill and determination, young swimmer MF Muhammad, hailing from Zahira College, made waves at the 48th SL School Swimming Championship organized by SL Schools’ Aquatic Sports Association (SLSASA). Muhammad’s incredible performance saw him break two national records in the U-16 Boys 100m Breaststroke and 200m Breaststroke events, securing three gold medals, including the 200m Individual Medley, and earning the title of more..

Sep 4 (TM) A new stock of Intraocular lens, once widely used to provide sight for thousands suffering with cataract clouding, may not be available in the public health system for another month or two. This, despite the Cabinet approving the purchase of Intraocular lens in January. Over a period of eight months, disputes between suppliers, bureaucratic red tape and other interference delayed the supply of the lenses, depriving thousands more..

Sep 4 (ST) The Finance Ministry has recommended that measures be taken to stem corruption among excise officers and that companies involved in the liquor bottle security sticker scam be imposed heavy fines and have their liquor licences cancelled. The recommendations are included in a report the Ministry has submitted to President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding corrupt practices in the local liquor trade, a senior Finance Ministry official said. more..

Sep 4 (FT) Court of Appeal on Friday granted the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) the requested Interim Order in a case challenging the actions of the Eastern Province Governor, Senthil Thondaman aiming to obstruct the planned mineral sand exploration in the Trincomalee district. As a result, two Interim Order have been issued, effectively suspending the Governor’s directives until the case reaches its conclusion. Furthermore, the court has issued an additional Interim Order more..

Sep 4 (DN) For the first time in SL, local and international students can study Australian university undergraduate programmes in disciplines as diverse as biomedical science, cyber security, design and commerce at the new Edith Cowan Uni (ECU) campus in Colombo. ECU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve Chapman said the new campus demonstrates ECU’s commitment to delivering higher education opportunities in SL and creating innovative pathways for more students to more..

Sep 4 (DM) A total of 98 persons from 28 families have been affected due to fallen trees and high winds following heavy rains experienced in Galle, Kalutara & Ratnapura districts. While issuing a situation report, they said 24 persons from seven families have been affected in Galle, 50 persons from 15 families were affected in Kalutara and 24 from six families were affected in Ratnapura district. No deaths have been reported, but one person has been injured in Bandaragama, Kalutara, more..

Sep 4 (DN) Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) commended Govt and Trade Union representatives for voicing preliminary support for long-overdue reforms to the archaic colonial-era daily attendance-based model in favor of a productivity-boosting modern Revenue Share Model. “While certain stakeholders have advocated limiting workers’ pay to a mere Rs. 1,000, over the years, PA has consistently championed more..

Sep 4 (ANI) Expressing alarm over the recent unrest over the building of a Buddhist temple at Illuppaikulam in Trincomalee, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has warned that if the unrest persists then it could jeopardise planned foreign investments in the region. In a letter to SL's President Ranil Wickremesinghe, TNA leader R Sampanthan said that building a temple in a region where he claimed 99 per cent of residents are Tamil has led to unrest amongst the people. more..

Sep 4 (AD) Former Governor of the CB, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy highlighted the macro-economic stress as the main reason for the regression in SL’s socio-economic indicators during the past 75 years of the country. Addressing a virtual event to launch the policy report Understanding Multidimensional Vulnerabilities: Impact on People of Sri Lanka prepared by the UNDP, he welcomed efforts taken to address interference on the work of the CB via the passing of the New Central Bank Act. more..

Sep 4 (DM) UK Channel-4 News has announced that it will unveil shocking revelations about the 2019 Easter bombings in its latest programme titled Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings – Dispatches to be broadcast tomorrow, what it says, allege complicity by officials inside the govt. “Shocking new revelations about SL's deadly Easter bombings of 2019, as high-placed whistle-blowers allege complicity by officials inside the govt” more..

Sep 4 (FT) A recent article on Anti-Corruption Act, enacted in July, quoted the Deputy Executive Director of Transparency Int'l SL as saying, From the start, we have maintained that the lack of law has not been the weakness in addressing the problem of corruption in SL. We always had laws that were poorly enforced and implemented. This echoed the claim of the JVP leader, also prominently reported, that the previous legislation was sufficient and that the only problem was the will to enforce. more..

Sep 4 (FT) Those in the two key branches of Sri Lanka's polity, the executive, and the legislature, seem to be relishing the fact that the Parliament has the supreme power over the country’s public finances. Hence, it is claimed that the third branch of the polity, the judiciary, has no business with anything approved or unapproved by Parliament relating to the public finances of the country. According to them, this is the highest level of adherence to democratic traditions. more..

Sep 4 (DM) The results of GCE A/L Exam 2022 have been released today. They said that the results could also be viewed on www.doenets.lk/exam or www. results.exams.gov.lk Some 232,797 school and 31,136 private candidates sat for the exam faced all three subjects making it to a total number of 263,933 candidates appeared for the exam. Meanwhile, a total of 166,938 (63.3%) candidates including 149,487 school candidates and 17,451 private candidates have qualified to enter uni more..

Sep 4 (DM) A woman, a Psychiatric Counsellor by profession, has been hacked to death in a room of a hotel in Neralu Uyana in Battaramulla and her body was recovered by Thalangama police. Preliminary investigations revealed that she had been staying in the hotel with another individual who often went out and returned and he had gone out for the last time on Saturday. The hotel employees had tapped on the door without any response when they noticed the disappearance of the woman and more..

Sep 4 (DM) SL officials loyal to the Rajapaksa family were complicit in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people, including eight British tourists, whistleblowers have alleged. One highly placed insider claims in an interview with Dispatches, to be aired in the UK on Channel 4 tomorrow, that he set up a 2018 meeting between a senior military intelligence official, Suresh Salley, and Islamic State-affiliated bombers to more..

Sep 4 (NW) The Sri Lanka Forestry Institute, built according to international standards was officially opened yesterday (2) in Sandathanna area, Hawa Eliya, Nuwara Eliya by Minister of Wildlife and Forest conservation Pavithra Wanniarachchi. With an area of 53 hectares, the institute has been built with an investment of Rs. 1500 million. Local and international Wildlife and environment enthusiasts can receive training in this forestry institute. The compound consists of 17 official quarters, more..

Sep 4 (EN) State-run Litro Gas will hike the price of a 12.5 kilogram cylinder by 145 rupees to 3,197 rupees from midnight on September 04, Chairman Muditha Peiris told reporters. A 5 kg cylinder will be raised by 58 rupees to 1,256 rupees and the 2.5 kg cylinder by 26 rupees to 587 rupees. Based on world market prices a 12.5 kg cylinder should have been raised by 1,045 rupees, Peiris said. But Litro had ordered extra stocks last month, expecting prices to go up. more..

Sep 4 (EN) Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has dismissed claims that he will not run for president if incumbent prez Ranil Wickremesinghe contests the 2024 prez election, also insinuating that assertions to the contrary may indicate a threat to his life. Premadasa claimed that reports that he will not be running for president if Wickremesinghe contests in 2024 are being circulated by govt representatives who, more..

Sep 4 (SLN) A coordinated search operation conducted by the Navy and Norochcholai Police near the Karambe Junction roadblock in Puttalam on 03rd September 2023 led to the apprehension of a lorry with over 660kg of smuggled Kendu leaves and a suspect in connection to the incident. The Sri Lanka Navy conducts regular search operations and patrols in the coastal areas around the island, with a view to prevent the influx of smuggled and illegal items into the island. more..

Sep 4 (Island) If the current crisis in the public health sector persisted for a few more months, those living in the provinces would have to travel to Colombo for treatment, Secretary of the GMOA Dr. Haritha Aluthge said. GMOA would start educating all stakeholders including the public on the impact of brain drain on the health sector commencing today, he said. Dr. Aluthge said that the general public had to understand that the deterioration of the free healthcare service would adversely affect more..

Sep 4 (DM) UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara While responding to a comment by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on a threat to his life, UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara told a media conference that no one is interested in killing Mr. Premadasa. “No one is interested in killing Mr. Premadasa. We do not consume beef,” he said. “However a SJB member who is a Muslim and who often holds media conferences informed me that more..

Sep 4 (EN) Shares edged up at close on renewed buying interest, an analyst said. ASPI was up 1.96% or 218.22 points to 11,374.64, while S&P SL20 was up 2.56% or 80.62 points to 3,234.27. Over the past sessions, favorable performance indications combined with anticipations on lowered rates and better economic outlooks on investment was moving the market towards profit taking and selling interest, an analyst said. Gainers during trade were Commercial Bank, John Keells and more..

Sep 4 (Island) Convenor of the Samagi Joint Trade Union Alliance, Ananda Palitha said that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had increased prices of all products in spite of earning a monthly profit of Rs. 12 bn at present. Palitha, a former CPC employee, said that from September to Dec 2022, the CPC had earned a monthly profit of Rs 10 bn. Therefore, there couldn’t have been any justifiable reason for the upward revision of fuel prices. more..

Sep 4 (DM) The United Nations was expecting to provide more than 300 million dollars through the new co-operation framework for the development Programmes of next 5 years including the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Act and the establishment of the Parliamentary Budget Office, UN Resident Coordinator in SL Marc-André Franche said. He gave this assurance during a meeting with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana recently, the Communication Dept of Parliament said. more..

Sep 4 (TM) In the wake of reports that former President Chandrika Kumaratunga is yet to return more than 100 12-bore shotguns that were issued to her when she was with the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) from 1980 to 1990, the SLMP stated that it was not to them (SLMP) or Kumaratunga that such weapons were issued, but to Provincial Council (PC) members at the time. The SLMP called on the relevant authorities including the Ministry of Defence to recall the weapons, more..

Sep 4 (EN) SLFP, amid some internal turmoil, celebrated its 72nd anniversary on Sunday, with a number of speakers including ex-prez Maithripala Sirisena hinting at possible future alliances. Addressing a gathering that included PM Dinesh Gunawardena, Sirisena said that all political parties in Sri Lanka are undergoing various crises. “Nominations must be called for a prez election by October next year. more..

Sep 4 (AD) The Parliamentary Caucus for Children Chaired by MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna which met recently in Parliament has directed its attention towards the reproductive health and sexuality education for school children and cyber violence against children in Sri Lanka. The officials present stated that educating school children of SL regarding reproductive health and sexuality education is initially aimed at being carried out online through modes of new media. more..

Sep 4 (CI) SL have played one game in the Asia Cup so far, and won it. But if things go awry against Afghanistan on Tuesday, they very well could be out of the tournament; such is the nature of it. But for that to happen, Afghanistan need to win - and win big. How big will depend on the precise match situation, but hypothetically speaking, if they were to score 275 runs batting first, they would need to win by a margin of at least 68 runs, or chase down any target in 35 overs or less. more..

Sep 4 (TM) Sri Lanka has saved nearly Rs. 10 billion as of 1 Sept this year, through the reduction of post-harvest wastage by 50% compared to the same period last year, Ministry of Agriculture stated. Nearly 270,000 metric tonnes (MT) of vegetables and fruits are damaged each year due to non-adherence to proper transportation and storage practices. The value of the vegetables and fruits that are being damaged in that manner is estimated to be Rs. 20 billion per year. more..

Sep 4 (FT) SJB Deputy National Organiser S.M. Marikkar accused the current Govt of increasing the country’s debt burden by 14% in just a six-month period. Quoting data from a website report on Sri Lanka’s debt situation dated 1 Sept, Marikkar noted that Sri Lanka’s total debt was $ 84 billion at the end of Dec 2022. “In the first quarter of this year it has increased to $ 91.9 billion and by the end of second quarter it has further increased to $ 96.5 billion,” he said. more..

Sep 4 (AJ) HJM Seneviratne, 63, slices through yellowed paddy stems dried out by a drought that has destroyed over 95% of his crop and is threatening crisis-hit SL’s summer rice harvest. SL’s economy was crushed last year by its worst financial crisis in over seven decades, caused by a severe shortage of foreign exchange reserves that triggered widespread unrest and removed its former prez. Helped by a $2.9bn bailout from IMF, more..

Sep 4 (TM) While a scorching drought has caused thousands of acres of crop loss over the last few months, the prevailing rains have caused damage to paddy cultivations that were about to be harvested in certain areas, the Ministry of Agriculture, stated. It is learnt that the Ministry has instructed the Agrarian and Agricultural Insurance Board (AAIB) to be watchful of increasing rainfall in some regions where paddy fields are almost ready to be harvested. A total of 60,503 acres of paddy more..

Sep 4 (DM) Even though we have not agreed as a party, the people are getting what they have asked for from Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said. "People did not request concessions. They requested that the Prez impose more taxes and not reduce tax collection. Therefore, Prez is following those requests," he said. "People who staged an aragalaya on the streets and requested these are currently receiving them. more..