Feb 17 (FT) The Govt has made major strides towards transforming the economy while making growth more inclusive during the past 19 months as it cannot afford another economic crisis of such magnitude as that in 2022. But, much remains to be done to create a better future for all Sri Lankans, former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said adding that a unique opportunity is now open to implement permanent structural reforms that may be difficult under normal circumstances. more..

Feb 17 (DN) SL’s para athletes, a team of 5 members, came back home yesterday with six shiny medals from the 2024 Dubai Grand Prix, Fazza Championship. They grabbed four gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. The athletes did really well, hitting the 2024 Paris Paralympic qualifying standard too. During the 4-day event, Nuwan Indika and Dinesh Priyantha won three gold medals together. Then, on the last day, Saman Subhasinghe scored another gold in more..

Feb 17 (ST) Tragic incident of a tree crashing down on a preschool playground and snatching away the life of a 5-year-old student once again brought attention to the safety of students at preschools and schools. The student, fondly known as Aswi, had only been at the Montessori at Gampola Benhill Int'l School for 3 weeks. When the bell rang for break time, the little students, including Aswi, had run outside to the playground with their class teacher & another assistant keeping an eye on them. more..

Feb 17 (TM) Upon the introduction of the current fuel price formula, the administration committed to ensuring that any reductions in int'l market prices would be reflected in lowered costs for consumers while simultaneously preventing financial losses for the State-run CPC. The formula’s intended function was to align fuel prices with int'l market fluctuations. However, an analysis of the data since its implementation reveals a consistent upward more..

Feb 17 (FT) National Movement for Social Justice Chairman Karu Jayasuriya has strongly emphasised that his organisation will vehemently oppose any attempts to postpone the elections. This assertion was made during a special discussion titled A new electoral system for a strong democratic country, which was organised by the organisation led by the former Speaker in Colombo earlier this week. Former Prez Chandrika Kumaratunga, Professor G.L. Peiris, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, more..

Feb 17 (DN) The SL Development XI team defeated the Uganda national team by seven wickets (nine balls remaining) in Galle yesterday during the ongoing Uganda tour. Continuing their dominance at the venue, Sri Lanka notched their third consecutive victory out of the seven scheduled matches. Batting first, the Cricket Cranes, led by Brian Masaba, faced a formidable challenge from SL’s bowlers. Simon Ssesazi’s valiant 70 off 51 balls (6 fours, 4 sixes) earned him the Man of the Match award, more..

Feb 17 (CT) The number of childhood cancers has increased from around 500 to 1000 in the last 15 to 17 years. This is not a sudden increase, as some have indicated, but is something which has occurred systematically over a considerable period, Dr. Suraj Perera said. Commemorating Int'l Childhood Cancer Day, yesterday (15), Dr. Perera said, 2% to 5% of all reported cancers are childhood cancers. more..

Feb 17 (CT) Although the Api Wenuwen Api Fund had intended to provide housing assistance to construct 30 houses completely and 400 houses partially between 2022 and 2023, only 11 selected beneficiaries have received the assistance. A senior official from the management team stated that a total of Rs 7,351,078 has been allocated as partial housing assistance to these 11 beneficiaries, who were chosen from the requests submitted during the public days of the Ministry of Defence. more..

Feb 17 (DM) In a bid to accelerate the revival process, the government affirmed yesterday that it is on track to implement the long-neglected economic reforms crucial for the country’s progress. However, despite the stabilisation of the economy, the people’s income has not kept pace with the rising cost of living, Prez’s Senior Adviser Sagala Ratnayaka said. He assured that the government is actively pursuing reforms across all sectors, to provide maximum relief to the people. more..

Feb 17 (DN) The SL T20 team led by Wanindu Hasaranga will play their first game in the three-match series against Afghanistan today at the Rangiri Dambulla Int'l Cricket Stadium, commencing at 7 pm. This is the first time Afghan team is playing on the Dambulla wicket under the new modern light system. After winning the ODI series against Afghanistan, SL will go in to this game with confidence while Afghan team led by new skipper Ibrahim Zadran hope to put up a good fight. more..

Feb 17 (Island) D. S. Senanayaka College paceman Daham Nirmal who was promoted up in the order to play the night watchman role created a piece of history when he went on to score an unbeaten double century against St. Joseph’s in their Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament match at Darley Road on Friday(16). Nirmal who generally bats at the number 11 position was asked to play the night watchman role when DSS were two wickets down for 42 runs on day one evening. more..

Feb 17 (Island) Sri Lanka runs the risk of being expelled from the Open Govt Partnership (OGP) over its decision to enact the controversial ‘Online Safety Bill’ (OSB) and also go ahead with another contentious piece of proposed draconian legislation, titled Anti-Terrorism Bill. Sources said it would be inevitable unless a consensus could be reached with co-convenors -Transparency International SL and Sarvodaya Shramadama Movement (SSM) – more..

Feb 17 (Island) Sri Lanka needs to reduce the cost of producing electricity by about 25 percent in the next three years, General Manager of CEB Narendra de Silva said on Thursday during a consultation on the proposed electricity tariff, organized by the Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) at the BMICH. “Right now we spend about 40.76 rupees to produce a unit of electricity (a kilowatt hour). This is very high compared to the rest of Asia. This should be around 31 rupees per unit.” more..

Feb 17 (FT) SL Purchasing Managers’ Index for Manufacturing (PMI – Manufacturing) recorded an index value of 55.6 in Jan 2024, indicating an expansion in manufacturing activities. This improvement was attributable to the increases observed in all sub-indices. The expansion in new orders and production was largely driven by the manufacture of textiles and apparel sector. However, new orders and production in the manufacture of food and beverages sector decreased on more..

Feb 17 (DM) Police released photographs of three suspects wanted over the shooting in Beliatta, where five persons were killed on Jan 22. Police said the Beliatta Police are investigating into the incident and three wanted suspects over the shooting are absconding. One of the suspects has been identified as Mahagamage Dinesh Priyankara alias Chootiya, a 35-year-old resident of Waragoda, Kahawa in Ambalangoda. Police said another suspect has been identified as more..

Feb 17 (FT) Colombo stock market struggled its way to close marginally up this week amidst relatively low turnover. The indices continued their positive performance, securing a weekly gain for the third straight week. ASPI gained 18.8 points (0.2%) and S&P SL20 gained 21.9 points (0.7%) during the week. In contrast last week ASPI gained by 1.31% and the S&P SL20 by 2.85%. Daily turnover for the week averaged Rs. 862 million as against Rs. 3.74 billion on account of an internal transfer more..

Feb 17 (FT) The main opposition party, SJB, this week attributed the collapse of the country’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector to the current Govt and rejected claims that the COVID-19 pandemic had any involvement in the sector’s downturn. Speaking at a press conference in Colombo, SJB stalwart MP Kabir Hashim emphasised that the sector’s downfall was not due to the COVID-19 pandemic but rather stemmed from more..

Feb 17 (Island) Fishermen who were on board a multi-day fishing vessel named Lorenzo Putha 4, which was hijacked by pirates in the Arabian Sea, in late January, and were subsequently rescued by Seychelles Coast Guard on 29 January, urged the govt to facilitate their return to the country as soon as possible. The skipper of the boat, who spoke to Sri Lankan journalists via video during a press conference in Chilaw on Friday, said they are not even given water on a regular basis. more..

Feb 17 (CT) 2022 economic crisis saw the closure of 108,100 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) resulting in job losses amounting to a minimum of 119,100 to a maximum of 475,800, extrapolation of data provided by the CSD showed. In a publication titled Impact of Economic Crisis on MSMEs 2022 released by CSD this week, segmentalising the MSMEs closed, said that 105,600 businesses in micro sector, 2,400 in small sector and about 100 in medium sector more..

Feb 17 (Island) A NPP administration will not do anything that will undermine Indian security, but it will maintain economic and political relations with China, NPP delegation to India told Indian officials, JVP/NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said. In his first interview since his return to the country, Dissanayake said India had extended an invitation to the NPP in December. “However, we had other commitments in Dec. more..

Feb 18 (SO) Many countries, including SL, are waiting till 2025 or even 2040 to impose a ban on Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles powered by either petrol or diesel. However, some other countries such as Norway, while not banning ICE cars yet, have given incentives and concessions for the import and use of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) to the extent where almost 80% of the new cars registered are BEVs. However, one unlikely country has taken a big leap forward, more..

Feb 18 (TM) It was around a decade ago that the people of this country first raised the cry for good governance, having endured years of waste, corruption, nepotism, abuse of power, and what not – all of which had contributed to making life that much harder for the ordinary citizen. In fact it was that cry for good governance that ultimately resulted in the creation of the Yahapalanaya regime shortly after in 2015. Ten years later, Chief Executive of that original good governance project is more..

Feb 18 (TM) The Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt’s inability to rally the people around its policies, especially the economic recovery path, is indicative of several failures of the Executive and his administration, including its failure to read the people’s pulse. Although the Wickremesinghe administration managed to somewhat arrest the rapidly-declining economy the country witnessed in 2022 by stopping the long fuel queues more..

Feb 18 (CT) 2024 is election year practically everywhere. In South Asia, it is two down and two to go. Bangladesh and Pakistan are done with their elections. Next up is India with the mother of all elections which will be held over two months in April and May. Farther east, Indonesia had its own massive elections last week. SL is waiting for its election dates. Unlike other Asian countries, including Pakistan where the army calls all the shots, SL is the only country where election more..

Feb 18 (CT) On the face of it, harsh winter in parts of the country may have been among the reasons for the turnout in the recent Pakistani National Assembly Polls, dipping below the halfway mark, to 47.6% from an already low 52.1% in 2018. But, the mood of the voter, triggered by the poor state of the nation’s economy and the anticipation of political violence even otherwise for the low poll percentage should not be overlooked either. Over the past two years of economic crisis, more..

Feb 18 (CT) With the announcement of the Prez Election or General Election in the latter part of this year, major political parties such as the UNP, SLFP and SLPP have been engaging in discussions with mainstream political parties to form alliances in a bid to contest the election. Citizens are also eagerly waiting to elect a Prez who will effect system change, providing equal opportunities to everyone. The ACMC, a Muslim political party, more..

Feb 18 (SO) Akalanka Peiris, a 24-year-old swimmer from SL, garnered attention at the World Aquatic Championship in Doha yesterday by breaking the 26-second barrier in the men’s 50m Backstroke event. The achievement not only secured him a SL record but also placed him among the top 22 swimmers globally in this challenging discipline. Peiris, a former St. Peter’s College swimmer, clocked an impressive 25.86, marking the fastest time ever recorded by a SL swimmer more..

Feb 18 (SO) Alongside the increase of int'l flights to SL, cruise ship arrivals too are increasing and there will be 50 cruise ships calling at SL from February to April. Director General, SLTDA, B.H.R. Sariffo’deen said that the cruise ships will be mainly calling at the Colombo Harbour and will also anchor in Hambantota and Trincomalee harbours as well. He said that each cruise ship will have around 1,000 travellers and the ships are expected to be anchored in SL’s harbours for around two days. more..

Feb 18 (AD) The junior staff of the Colombo National Hospital stress that they will continue the protests until the hospital’s Deputy Director Dr. Rukshan Bellana is removed from his position. They resorted to this move against the criticisms made by Dr. Bellana regarding the junior staffers’ involvement in the recent strike launched by health trade unions over disparities in allowances. On Friday (16), Dr. Bellana was forcibly held inside his office by the junior staff of the hospital. more..

Feb 18 (AD) Leader of the Mawbima Janatha Party (MJP), entrepreneur Dilith Jayaweera says the time has come to end traditional politics in the country. Speaking at the party’s district conference in Colombo, held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Mr. Jayaweera said he intends to bring the change the country needs. “I am not someone who expected to get into politics, but throughout my university life, and afterwards, I supported various political parties and figures hoping for more..

Feb 18 (ST) During his first trip to the North this week after officially assuming duties recently, Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha visited a variety of places that constitute significant cultural, and religious values between the two countries, in addition to visiting India-funded projects in the province. Among the |places the High Commissioner visited are the KKS Port, Palaly Airport, and hybrid power project in Nainathivu. more..

Feb 18 (ST) As the whole country knows, the debate on whether the Executive Presidency must remain or if the system of governance in this country must revert to the former Parliamentary system, has been endless. And this debate has gone nowhere; just round and round in circles. The subject once again popped up—with a prez election negotiating the bend and everyone clamouring for one, not a change to the presidential system. Once condemned as the worst thing that could happen to more..

Feb 18 (ST) My dear Satellite, I am writing to you after a long time. That is because you have suddenly become a talking point in political circles once more. It is almost 20 years since you left office and you should be well and truly enjoying your retirement, paid for by our long-suffering taxpayers. Still, here you go again! First, we heard you are trying to resurrect the party that swept you into power 30 years ago, ending 17 years of Green rule. That was the Peoples’ Alliance or the PA. more..

Feb 18 (Island) The Friday Forum has made a welcome reappearance after a somewhat long absence, an event which we warmly welcome. We carry the statement the group released a couple of days ago in this issue of our newspaper and urge readers to digest the commentary set out with due diligence. Its signatories are persons of the utmost integrity and achievement in academia and elsewhere who are not political activists or aspirants – though they undoubtedly hold political more..

Feb 18 (AD) US Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Elizabeth Allen met with SL’s Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane on Saturday, and discussed several recent positive developments between SL and the US in the 75th anniversary year of diplomatic relations. During their meeting, Under Secretary assured the continuous US assistance to the Govt of SL towards realizing economic stability, and discussed ways to strengthen people-to-people ties and Diaspora outreach. more..