Jun 2 (DN) A total of 19,940 dengue cases and over 22 dengue deaths had been reported from all parts of the country within this year by last monday (1), Epidemiology Unit said. The public should be vigilant on all types of mosquito breeding sites and destroy them on a regular basis. At least 30 minutes per week should be allocated to clean mosquito breeding sites. Construction sites are one of the most popular dengue mosquito breeding site. more..

Jun 2 (AD) Prices of bakery items including bread will have to be hiked in the coming days, says All Island Bakery Owners� Association. This will be due to the recent increase in the prices of the main ingredients required for the bakery industry, said the bakery owners. Chairman of the Association N.K. Jayawardena points out that the govt recently imposed higher taxes on imported goods. This has to unfair higher prices of ingredients used in the bakery industry, he added. more..

Jun 2 (FT) Proving its resilience as a prudent and stable financial institution, LB Finance has recorded a strong performance for the financial year ended 31 March with an exceptional Rs. 5.2 billion profit after tax. The company maintained the operating cost within stable margins to post an operating profit before tax on financial services of Rs. 9.9 billion for the year. Income for the year increased by 7% year-on-year (Y-O-Y) to Rs. 31.2 billion at the end of the financial year under review of more..

Jun 2 (EN) Former MP Hirunika Premachandra is raising questions about the attempt by govt agencies to enrich the beach at Mount Lavinia saying it will impact the local fishermen adversely. The �poor fishermen of the area will be hit as the fishing grounds will now be covered in mud,� said Premachandra who is nursing the area as her constituency for the upcoming Parliamentary General elections representing the SJB. more..

Jun 2 (DM) The printing of 17 million ballot papers for the General Elections commenced today, Govt Printer Gangani Liyanage said. She said the typesetting and other preparations were carried out during the last week and subsequently the official printing commenced today. The date of holding the General Elections was confronted with ambiguity following the Fundamental Rights petitions filed in the Supreme Court challenging the fixing of General Elections date for June 20. more..

Jun 2 (AD) The Ministry of Public Administration announced that June 04 (Thursday) has been declared a holiday for all government institutions. This decision has been taken in view of the full day island-wide curfew to be imposed on June 04, the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government J.J. Rathnasiri said. Curfew will be imposed island-wide on Thursday (4) and Friday (5), which is Poson Full Moon Poya Day. more..

Jun 2 (DM) Hot on the heels of the death of a rare black leopard in Nallathanniya, another leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), that was trapped in a snare at a private land in Neluwa, Galle was found dead today, Wildlife Conservation Department Director General M.G.C. Sooriyabandara said. He said that they would hope to take legal actions against the owner of the land as they suspected that the snare was set by the owner of the land. more..

Jun 2 (CT) The importance of implementing a set of rules and regulations against the illegal trapping of animals was emphasised in the context of the occasional entrapment of humans in such traps which are meant for wild animals that forage on agricultural lands. This observation was made in the abstract of an oral presentation under forensic pathology and forensic histopathology titled Illegal hunting involved in human fatalities and its rapid escalation in the Southern Province. more..

Jun 2 (NR) Four new COVID-19 cases were identified in the country today. The Ministry of Health recorded 1,647 coronavirus cases thus far. Among the four new cases are three Navy personnel who were in quarantine centres while the other was identified as a close associate of a Navy personnel. Two Navy personnel were identified to have contracted the coronavirus while at the Kalpitiya quarantine centre while the two others were at the Iranamadu quarantine centre. more..

Jun 2 (CT) Despite issuance of open warrants in 2018 for the arrest of Zahran Hashim, leader of the National Tawheed Jama'at (NTJ) and mastermind behind the bombings on 21 April, 2019, Terrorism Investigations Division (TID) had not informed Police stations islandwide in that connection. This was revealed when a Chief Inspector of Police (CI) of the TID testified yesterday before the PCoI appointed to probe more..

Jun 3 (CT) An Editorial note: Our writer N. Lohathayalan this evening submitted a short summary of M.A. Sumanthiran�s submission to the Supreme Court of the arguments of all those who spoke for the Petitioners in the just concluded elections cases. These cases asked essentially for the Gazette of 2 March 2020 to be nullified. One valid opinion among our editorial staff held that � the court judgement having been delivered at 3 pm on 2 June 2020 not to permit the cases to go on, more..

Jun 3 (DM) There are severe attacks on the newly appointed Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London Saroja Sirisena. There were several attacks on Ms. Sirisena who climbed the ladder in her profession thanks to her educational and professional qualifications at a relatively young age. The attacks were both personal and professional. Some of the attacks were baseless are not related to her professional duties. Yet this is not the first time that Ms. Sirisena became subject to cruel attacks. more..

Jun 3 (SO) It had been over two months since Dilrukshi Sandamali, a Katunayake FTZ manpower worker last went to work. When the 33-yr-old mother of 3 reported to work on Apr 30 she was informed she had been laid off because she failed to report to work on Apr 27, the day the factory re-opened after the curfew. �I told them that I did not get a letter stating that work had resumed on Apr 27,� Dilruskshi said. more..

Jun 3 (GV) 11 years later: Back on the Frontlines, Fighting for You announced an article by Gagani Weerakoon on Ceylon Today. She went on to draw parallels between the military operations in 2009 that led to the SL govt declaring the end of the 26-year civil war, and the ongoing efforts to address Covid-19 in the country that are for most part spearheaded by the military. Weerakoon also said Prez Rajapaksa is directing the operation against COVID-19 by bringing Health & Defence sectors together. more..

Jun 3 (CT) SL President has promoted to Major General, former military intelligence director, Tuan Suresh Sallay, who allegedly forced a Tamil doctor in custody in 2009 to give false testimony by denying him medical treatment and threatening him. Dr. Thurairajah Varatharajah was a govt doctor who served in the war zone in 2009 and was then detained for approximately 100 days at the end of the war. Such prolonged detention without trial constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment or more..

Jun 3 (CT) In a small, shabby house among the clusters of Rahumaniya Lane, mourning the loss of one of her family's breadwinners, sits the daughter of Sauthun Nisa. The late Sauthun Nisa, a 59-year-old who lived with her daughter and son-in-law in pitiable conditions, was herself a cleaner at an agency. Having been unemployed for over two months due to the extended curfew, Nisa must have jumped at the opportunity when someone told more..

Jun 3 (Island) The armed forces, about eleven years ago, wrested control of the areas that had been under the LTTE. However, there are some places where the writ of the state still does not run, as we have argued in a previous comment. They are the country�s prisons, which have become a gated underworld of sorts. Convicted criminals enjoy unbridled freedom there thanks to some corrupt officers. We reported, quoting a senior Police Narcotic Bureau officer that convicted more..

Jun 3 (DM) The online flash mob is here to stay. Without this ability to bring voices together organically or otherwise social currents of today would not be the same anymore. A Facebook post, a Tweet, an Instagram picture can galvanise and make for a flood of opinions � divergent, thought out, outright dumb and in all hues and shades, crashing into one another in one forum. During the last few days SL has seen this happen at least four times, rescue & subsequent death of black leopard, more..

Jun 3 (ST) When local guests begin frequenting restaurants and bars in hotels after they open in Colombo following a near 2-month curfew and lockdown, they are bound to miss the ever-popular buffets. This is one of the changes that will be implemented when hotels start opening out for banquets, weddings and other events, with the number of guests restricted to 100 or below. At one hotel, a wedding has been booked for 25 guests � literally just 2 extended families of the couple. more..

Jun 3 (Island) Former TNA lawmaker, Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran, PC, recently earned the wrath of a section of the Tamil political setup for rejecting the war, waged by the LTTE. Some members of his own party lambasted Inuvil, Jaffna-born Sumanthiran, who represented the TNA in parliament twice, for condemning the LTTE. They demanded punitive disciplinary action against the TNA Jaffna District candidate widely considered TNA leader R. Sampanthan�s closest associate. more..

Jun 3 (TM) After weeks of discussions, Ministry of Education has come to the realisation that they are short of funds to implement the necessary amenities to enable schoolchildren, school administrations, and the staff to wash their hands. While hand washing is the first step towards Covid-19 prevention, there seems to be many other facilities and procedures that need to be implemented prior to schools reopening. more..

Jun 3 (DN) Former SL and Dharmaraja College cricketer T.B. Kehelgamuwa will be felicitated by the Kandy District Cricket Association (KDCA) at their office this week. While playing for his alma mater TB or Kehel as he was popularly known won the much coveted Best Schoolboy Bowler award in 1961 and 1962. He was selected to tour India with the SL schools team in 1961. He tore apart the South Zone Schools team taking 8 wickets for 8 runs, with all of his victims clean bowled (9.4�5�8�8). more..

Jun 3 (ST) As we have been stuck at home for weeks under the lockdown set up, sometimes we had to look for different meals from outside for various reasons. One evening, we also placed an order for a meal from a pizza restaurant. Here comes pizza, and they were half-and-half pizza. Usually the customers visiting a pizza restaurant � physically or virtually, have to make up their mind for a difficult choice among varieties of pizza: Tandoori chicken, chicken Hawaiian, BBQ chicken, more..

Jun 3 (Island) Mickey Arthur�s coaching methods aren�t for the faint hearted. Who else would drop of all people Shane Watson from a Test match for not doing his homework? Yesterday as SL�s players went outdoors to do fitness sessions at CCC grounds, more than a few of them struggled and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne needed to be treated for a heat stroke. "It was a bit of a struggle as we were doing running sessions after more..

Jun 3 (Island) In a far ranging discussion, Prez Rajapaksa recently reviewed the production, import and distribution of pharmaceutical supplies during a meeting with the Chairmen of two State Pharmaceutical Corporations and other senior officials of Ministry of Health. Directing that no room should be left for shortages in the supply of medicines in the country, Prez pointed out the necessity of deciding the medicine requirement of the coming year by studying the demand more..

Jun 3 (DN) The global lockdown of education institutions is going to cause major (and likely unequal) interruption in students� learning. As COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis, Sri Lanka has (rightly) decided to close schools, colleges and universities. Home schooling is not only a massive shock to children�s productivity, but also to children�s social life and learning. One of a main concern is economical issues that are rising along with this online education, where it getting worse more..

Jun 3 (CT) Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said that the Education Ministry, Sports Ministry and Sri Lanka Cricket should work together to uplift the heart of Sri Lanka's cricket - school cricket. The Minister made these remarks yesterday at the Sports Ministry Auditorium when SLC distributed a lump sum of Rs 20,000 each for 132 school coaches to help them out financially during the current Covid19 situation. more..

Jun 3 (ST) The Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) is expecting to conduct the annual Layton Cup Championship before the end of October this year, with intentions of holding it as a qualifying competition for the upcoming Asian Men�s and Women�s Championship. According to Hemantha Weerasinghe, the Vice President of BASL, Sri Lanka expects to field at least five to eight pugilists, both men and women, at the regional competition, and Layton Cup meet will be the event in focus. more..

Jun 3 (DM) Jetwing Symphony has felt the brunt of the coronavirus-related travel restrictions during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 but the company said it steadily restarted its operations with the ease of curfew and the gradual recommencement of economic activities. Jetwing Symphony, the operators of five premium resorts and a city hotel in Colombo, reported revenues of Rs.452.8 million for the 3 months under review, down 26% from the same period, last year, as travel restrictions more..

Jun 3 (TM) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved amendments to the Stockbroker Rules, Central Depository Systems (CDS) Rules and Listing Rules submitted by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), which will enable the stock market to transition from a paper based to an electronic based environment. Under the amended rules, Statement of Accounts and Bought and Sold Notes sent by stock broker firms to more..

Jun 3 (CT) Jackfruit exports may prove to be a ripe opportunity for Sri Lanka to seize upon, as veganism and the demand for meat-substitutes are globally on the rise. In the past few months, even many nonvegetarian consumers have switched to jackfruit, as the coronavirus has triggered a fear of meat in many parts of the world. 90% of jackfruit exports from SL comprise polos, or young jackfruit in canned form or glass jars, while the remaining 10 per cent comprises ripened, dried Kos or Waraka, more..

Jun 3 (DN) In keeping with the govt�s guidelines to uplift local entrepreneurs, and with the aim of uplifting businesses that are struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, People�s Bank has embraced the responsibility of a State bank and taken steps to immediately reduce the interest rates of industries that contribute directly to the local economy. These industries include agriculture, animal husbandry, related industries, other crops and fisheries fields more..

Jun 3 (FT) Supreme Court yesterday unanimously dismissed all the Fundamental Rights (FR) petitions filed challenging the Gazette issued by Prez Rajapaksa dissolving Parliament, as well as that of the Election Commission setting the date of the General Election, The Court also dismissed all preliminary objections raised during the ten days of hearings. In the brief statement, CJ Jayantha Jayasuriya PC announced the decision of more..

Jun 3 (Island) While parts of the beach reclamation project at Mount Lavinia costing nearly Rs.900 million continues to be washed away, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa says the govt has got its wires crossed. This was not the time to be engaging in infrastructure projects, he said. He said that the over two-month Coronavirus disease induced lock down, resulting in dwindling incomes or no income at all, caused by pay cuts and job loses, had virtually thrown the vast majority of the people from more..

Jun 3 (FT) The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) yesterday said the Supreme Court�s decision has protected the people�s franchise and welcomed Parliamentary Elections being held as soon as possible. Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that the SLPP will support the Election Commission to hold a free and fair election to protect the democratic rights of all citizens. He noted the party�s view of the Supreme Court�s decision was that it is a victory for the citizens. more..

Jun 3 (Island) Kandy District SJB candidate Lakshman Kiriella said that his family had more than enough funds and assets, and, therefore, there was no need to indulge in corruption. He said that he had declared that the Kiriella family was having Rs 500 mn some time back. Claiming that neither he nor his daughter, who served on his staff, had received kickbacks during the previous administration, Kiriella said that his family and more..

Jun 3 (FT) The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) said their primary aim of protecting the public�s wellbeing had been met by the outcome of the Supreme Court�s decision yesterday, and the party was ready to face the Parliamentary Election, provided public health concerns were adequately addressed first. Supreme Court yesterday refused to grant leave on all applications filed challenging the decision by the Elections Commission to hold General Elections on 20 June & against dissolution of Parliament. more..

Jun 3 (PMD) With corporate and individual donations and direct deposits, ITUKAMA COVID-19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund balance has now surpassed Rs. 1,230 million. WNS Global Services (Pvt) Ltd Company has donated Rs. 5,895,000 to the Fund while Kiribathgoda Eriyawetiya Sri Rathna Viharavasi Ven. Bangladesh Chandrajothi Thero has donated Rs. 100,000 to the Fund and the cheques for this sum were handed over to Prez Rajapaksa by PM Rajapaksa. more..

Jun 3 (Island) Economic policy of incumbent government reminded one of the old local sayings, gahen wetuna minihata gona enna waagei (like the man who falls from a tree being gored by a bull), says the JVP-led Women For Rights (WFR) organisation. JVP Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Municipal Councilor Samanmalee Gunasinghe said: "All people were engaged in a massive struggle to fight off coronavirus crisis during past 2 months. more..