Apr 6 (CT) Diaspora is a Greek word meaning to sow over, or to scatter. As applied to people, the term was first used by the Greek historian Thucydides to describe the Greeks’ dispersal. The IOM defines diasporas as Migrants or descendants of migrants, whose identity and sense of belonging have been shaped by their migration experience and background. More generally, the term refers to people who identify with their country or more..

Apr 6 (fT) On Saturday (30) in a YouTube message, Sujeewa Bandara, former Secretary to the ousted PreZ Gotabaya Rajapaksa, claimed that the people who gathered at the Mirihana house of Gotabaya seeking to remove him from power as president were not Sinhalese but Muslims. This is absolute nonsense, calculated mischief and bankrupt politics. Video clips of the event show there were no Muslims there but all Sinhalese. Thus the statement, on the eve of preZ or general elections, more..

Apr 6 (CT) Reports that third-term MP and former Minister, Namal Rajapaksa, has taken over as the National Organiser of the family-run SLPP make for interesting reading. The first question is about the future role of Basil Rajapaksa, who until he left office some months back, was the National Organiser. Even more important from the current context is the role that Namal will play in the decision-making process – thus far, he has been providing inputs to his father and Party Leader, more..

Apr 6 (CT) Now and then, Katchatheevu island, lying halfway between the islands of Rameswaram (India) and Delft (Neduntheevu – SL), has been hitting the news headlines. Mainly, such interests are evinced when several of the hundreds of Indian trawlers that cross the IMBL three times a week and engage in bottom trawling in SL waters get arrested for a variety of offences, including illegal entry into SL waters, more..

Apr 6 (FT) The IMF drug is beginning to show signs of effectiveness by producing few random indicators of economic recovery. With strict capital controls and tightened trade rules, the rupee is appreciating against the dollar and the buying rate of the dollar has dipped below Rs.300. Unavoidably, the rupee has also appreciated against the country’s trading partners, which is bound to affect exports. Headline inflation has tumbled down from about 70% to below 6%, and the country’s foreign reserves more..

Apr 6 (DM) Despite former President Maithripala Sirisena seeming to have landed in hot water over his recent statement on the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, so long as his motive is not clear one should not jump the gun to call him a fool. Sirisena while talking to media in Kandy claimed on March 22 that he knew who really carried out the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks and that he was prepared to disclose the information if the judiciary ordered him to do so. more..

Apr 5 (Island) Around 75,000 Sri Lankans have left for overseas jobs during the first three months of 2024, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) says. SLBFE said that 74,499 Sri Lankan workers had left for foreign employment, and 46% of them were women. There has been a slight drop in comparison to the corresponding period in 2023, when 76,025 Sri Lankans went overseas for employment. more..

Apr 5 (FT) Committee on High Posts has approved the appointments of four new ambassadors, two ministry secretaries and two chairpersons of institutions. Accordingly, the Committee on High Posts has approved the appointment of W.A.U.P. Prerera as the new SL ambassador to Vietnam and T. P. Dharmasena as the new Ambassador to Poland, the appointment of E.A.S.W. Edirisinghe as ambassador to Thailand, and P.A.P Ponnamperuma as Ambassador to Myanmar more..

Apr 5 (CT) Southern Province Health Service is facing the dilemma of being overrun by Deputy Provincial Health Directors. With 3 senior medical administrative grade doctors being given appointments as Southern Province Deputy Director Health Services, while there were three main health institution establishments in the Galle District, namely; Teaching Hospitals Karapitiya and Mahamodara and the office of the Southern Provincial Health Directorate (SPHD). more..

Apr 5 (DM) Foreign nationals who overstay their visas and do various odd jobs to earn money continue unabated with the authorities concerned hamstrung with the lack of resources to curb them, an official said. In one instance, another group of 15 foreigners overstaying their visas in Sri Lanka and doing online jobs for a living were arrested by an investigation team of the Dept of Immigration and Emigration during raids more..

Apr 5 (DM) Around 100 Intelligence Officers from the police in the Western Province have been discharged from their duties and reassigned to security duties in Colombo. IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon had instructed to deploy officers attached to the Intelligence Service in the Western Province for general duties in Colombo to enhance security and prevent crimes like vehicle thefts and gold necklace robberies especially during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season. more..

Apr 5 (FT) SJB yesterday announced that dissident SLPP MPs including Prof. G.L Peiris and several others will sign a coalition agreement with the party today. SJB Deputy National Organiser S.M Marikkar said this was yet another step in the party’s effort to form the broadest political alliance in Sri Lanka’s political history. Marikkar noted that the coalition’s focus extends beyond the upcoming elections, encompassing agreements on various policies and reforms essential for more..

Apr 5 (DN) The delay in restructuring State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) has become a burden for the people; Advocata Institute CEO Dhananath Fernando told a media briefing on Taxpayer burden and the urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reform, held at the BMICH on Wednesday. It was revealed that 52 state owned enterprises have reported a staggering cumulative loss of Rs.744.6 billion in 2022 according to the annual reports of the Ministry of Finance and Inland Revenue Dept. more..

Apr 5 (TM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that the govt’s prudent decisions over the past two years have bolstered the nation’s economy, providing a favourable environment for political activities on the streets. However, he cautioned that the economy still faces challenges, urging citizens to weigh the choice of either continuing with the govt’s initiatives for prosperity or risking regression. Highlighting a remarkable increase of over 50% in govt income in 2023 compared to 2022, more..

Apr 5 (TM) Chairman of Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee on Alleviating the Impact of the Economic Crisis, Gamini Waleboda expressed displeasure that although surveys of marine resources within 24 nautical miles from the coast have been conducted in other parts of the island, the relevant Govt institutions have not conducted such a survey in the North. Committee recently convened a meeting in Parliament more..

Apr 5 (DM) The official website of the Ministry of Education has fallen victim to a cyber intrusion. Hackers, purportedly identifying as Anonymous EEE, managed to gain unauthorized access to the site, leaving behind a message warning of security vulnerabilities. The message left by the hacker read, "My name is Anonymous EEE and I am currently studying A/I. Sorry for unauthorized access to your website but your website has some security flaws. As a Sri Lankan citizen, more..

Apr 5 (CI) Chamari Athapaththu had not got to fifty in her last 11 T20 innings. She had not even reached double figures in her last five. So when she walked out to bat with SL chasing 156 to win a series against South Africa for the first time ever and then saw her opening partner and match-winner from the previous game Vishmi Gunaratne dismissed for 1, you could say she was under some serious pressure. And that is just the way she likes it. "I love pressure. Without pressure I can't perform," more..

Apr 5 (AD) CIABOC has filed a case with the Colombo High Court against the former Chairman and the former Managing Director of Laksala, Sri Lanka’s state-owned handicraft marketing organization, over alleged corruption charges. Bribery Commission said it has carried out investigations related to a complaint received alleging that the former Chairman of the Laksala have committed corruption offences by awarding the contract for constructing a Laksala outlet more..

Apr 5 (ICC) International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the shortlist of candidates in contention to scoop the ICC Men’s and Women’s Player of the Month awards for performances in March. The ICC Player of the Month awards highlight the outstanding individual performers on the international cricket stage, and the names shortlisted for March spans a range of formats. ICC Men’s Player of the Month shortlist includes a key architect in Ireland’s first ever men’s Test victory, a prolific frontline bowler more..

Apr 5 (Island) Computer Crimes Investigation Division of the CID had received 5,243 complaints in 2023, Deputy Director of CID’s Computer Crimes Investigation Division, SSP Darshika Ranasinghe said. She added that her division had received over 1,500 complaints by the third week of March 2024, and the use of digital devices had increased, and along with that, the number of cyber-crimes too had gone up. more..

Apr 5 (DN) SL women’s under 19 team led by Manudi Nanayakkara will meet Australia under 19 team in their first ODI fixture which is scheduled to be played today at Galle International Cricket Stadium, commencing at 10 a.m. After successful T-20 Tri Nation series between Australia and England Sri Lanka ready to take up this challenge while Manudi and her team coached by Mahesh Weerasinghe had a successful training session yesterday. more..

Apr 5 (Island) Is the SLFP writhing in its death throes? Is the blame for that to be laid at Maithripala Sirisena’s feet? He wrested the chairmanship of the Blue Party; Chandrika Kumaratunga should be SLFP Head if custom, tradition and courtesy are observed. We remember the founding of the SLFP as was said to be a protest by SWRD Bandaranaike when he was overlooked and the premiership, which was passed on to Dudley following the death of his father DS Senanayake. more..

Apr 5 (FT) The soft pedalling by the Govt to carry out crucial reforms of State Owned Enterprises is forcing taxpayer’s wallets to take the brunt of the hit, Advocata Institute said. Its CEO Dhananath Fernando said this taking into account the upcoming election cycle, he urged the need to reform State Owned (SOE) Enterprises. Here it was said that irrespective of govt that comes into power, SOE reforms must continue. more..

Apr 5 (FT) SJB MP S.M Marikkar yesterday slammed the Govt for its apparent lack of interest in recovering tax and excise arrears totalling Rs 1 trillion, which could be utilised to alleviate the hardships faced by the general public. MP criticised the Govt for resorting to tax hikes as its sole means of revenue generation. “They raised VAT to 18% in January, anticipating a revenue of Rs. 600 billion. However, they have neglected to collect taxes and excise arrears totalling Rs. 1066 billion,” more..

Apr 5 (DM) Jetwing Hotels Chief Hiran Cooray defended the Minimum Room Rates (MRR) as a necessary market push under the current environment for Colombo City hotels to return to profitability while increasing earning capacity for their employees. “You try to market a hotel and see, it’s not easy. People don’t have the confidence, and when there is fear, you don’t necessarily go out and sell at a higher price. That’s why it’s necessary for someone to come and push it up. more..

Apr 5 (FT) Oman Air has said its intent to launch services to one new destination, adjust frequencies on 25 routes, discontinue services on four others, revamp flight times and shorten layovers. As part of the restructuring, the airline would cease flights to Islamabad, Lahore, Chittagong, and Colombo from April, focusing on rightsizing and repositioning the company for future growth by 2027. “Rest assured, we remain committed to keeping you flying with confidence & convenience” airline stated. more..

Apr 5 (Island) There has been a steep rise in crop depredation by wild animals in Sri Lanka, and farmers are crying out for a solution. A group of cultivators took to the streets in Menikhinna, Kandy, on Wednesday, calling upon the govt to help keep crop raiders at bay. They said the ever-increasing cost of production, lack of agrochemicals, etc., had adversely impacted their cultivations, and wild animals had aggravated their plight. Monkeys are considered the worst crop raiders, more..

Apr 5 (FT) Committee on Ways and Means revealed startling factors regarding the profit margins amassed by traders on imported essential food items. The committee chaired by MP Champika Ranawaka, delved into discussions regarding the glaring disparities between market prices and import costs, shedding light on significant profits ranging from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000 per kilogram. Officials from key institutions including Central Bank of SL, more..

Apr 5 (TM) Now and then, the Katchatheevu Island, lying halfway between the Islands of Rameswaram (India) and Delft (Neduntheevu, SL), has been hitting the news headlines. Mainly, such interests are evinced when several of the hundreds of Indian trawlers that cross the IMBL three times a week and engage in bottom trawling in SL waters get arrested for a variety of offences, including illegal entry into SL waters, engaging in fishing without licence and practising bottom trawling, which more..

Apr 5 (Island) Against the backdrop of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena’s quite belated (but better late than never) public confirmation of external interventions in Aragalaya, that led to the overthrow of Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s govt in mid-July 2022, former cashiered Flying Officer Keerthi Ratnayake, with a never-say-die attitude even when odds are overwhelmingly stacked against him, asserted that he was the first to alert the then govt regarding the impending chaos. more..

Apr 5 (CT) In connection with the IMF's second economic review, as part of the ongoing 4-year EFF programme, on SL, World Bank (WB) group published its newest economic update on SL this week. The WB also unveiled its South Asian Development update in SL. Franziska Ohnsorge, the Chief Economist for South Asia at the World Bank (WB), participated in its Colombo launch. Takeo Konishi, Director General of the South Asia Department at the ADB more..

Apr 5 (CT) Set aside the highly visible and mostly spoken battles that have been the talk of everyday life, there is a more serious but silent battle that Sri Lanka has to beat through. The nation is being poisoned, not just figuratively, but literally too! Amidst the many challenges posed by the economic recession, political instability and bigger societal crisis lies this lethal issue, but with only little attention paid to it. Nevertheless, the tragedy is that this is not a very novel narrative; more..