May 18 (FT) This year�s State Poson Festival will be held at Mihintale Medamaluwa in Anuradhapura with a limited number of participants under the theme of Health is the Greatest Wealth. PM Media in a statement said parallel to the State Poson festival, ceremonies of Pirith Chanting, Hewisi Pooja, and Kapruka Pooja would be held in other religious palaces without public participation. The decision was taken following a Poson Committee meeting at PM Mahinda Rajapaksa�s more..

May 18 (TM) National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) will be lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Commission SL (HRCSL) tomorrow (18) against forced pay cuts of public servants. NTUC said the Govt had deducted salaries from state employees of several key institutions saying it is for the Widows� and Orphans� Pension Fund. This has been carried out amidst trade union protests, the NTUC added. NTUC last week alleged that the letter sent by Secretary to the Prez Dr. P.B. Jayasundera more..

May 18 (FT) UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe called on the Govt to present a credible economic package on how it will revive SL�s COVID-19-hit economy and sustain critical industries. Wickremesinghe, releasing a statement, pointed out that numerous multilateral organisations have already estimated that the economic impact of the virus will be a global recession. Given this possibility, he stressed that since more..

May 18 (Island) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged all Sri Lankans to raise the national flag at their homes today and tomorrow to honour the security forces that eradicated terrorism in Sri Lanka on May 18, 2009. PM Rajapaksa said that a large number of military personnel had been killed and many others wounded in the fight against the LTTE. "People remember how bad things were. Everyone was so afraid. The fear pervaded Colombo as well as the villages. more..

May 18 (FT) Over 2,000 Indian nationals, stranded in Colombo for over two months due to the COVID-19 lockdown, are appealing to their Govt to take them home soon. The 2,000 Indian nationals include around 800 tourists and migrant workers. Some of these Indians have run into financial difficulties and some emotionally drained with the Indian High Commission in Colombo unable to give them a date of return. �Our Govt started to repatriate Indian nationals in early May starting from Gulf more..

May 18 (Island) There was the danger of the banks of some rivers bursting while minor floods were experienced in most parts of the country, DMC said yesterday, adding that its 25 centres countrywide were working round the clock with the support of the tri forces and health officials to face any eventuality. Nearly 3,000 people were affected by heavy rains and floods on Saturday, one person in Kegalle died in a slope cutting failure and more..

May 18 (DN) The National War Heroes� Day will be commemorated at the Battaramulla National War Heroes� Monument (Jathika Ranaviru Smarakaya) on Tuesday, May 19. The Nation�s tribute will be given in memory of all fallen patriotic War Heroes of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and Civil Security Department (CSD) at the 11th National War Heroes� Day ceremony, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. more..

May 18 (Island) All those who attempted to commemorate the dead LTTE cadres, on the pretext of remembering civilians who had died during the war, would be arrested, a senior security forces officer said. The officer said that all possible sites of such commemorations were under surveillance. Security, too, had been beefed up in those areas. Photos of dead LTTE cadres, LTTE uniforms or flags would not be allowed at any event. The top officer, however, said the people had the right to more..

May 18 (CT) An estimated 5,000 SL illegal workers in Kuwait, who have been provided with an amnesty and allowed to return to the country, cannot be repatriated owing to the lack of quarantine facilities, a senior official with the SL Bureau of Foreign Employment said. Kuwaiti authorities announced an amnesty for all illegal foreign workers in that country, starting from 1 to 30 April, to leave the country free of any punishment. more..

May 18 (DN) Minister Prasanna Ranatunga assured that the Govt will be making all efforts to bring back all Sri Lankans living and working overseas who are wanting to return home on account of COVID 19. He was commenting on the employees who were working in the Gulf region and added that Govt was already making efforts to do that. He said that the Govt, while working to the fullest to control the spread of COVID 19 within the country, was also making all efforts to bring back Sri Lankan more..

May 18 (Island) Minister Prasanna Ranatunga urged the Elections Commission (EC) to take tangible measures to conduct the delayed parliamentary elections, in terms of the health guidelines issued, following the coronavirus outbreak. The EC consists of Mahinda Deshapriya, Nalin Abeysekera PC and Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole. Gampaha District SLPP leader Ranatunga, emphasized that covid-19 couldn�t be allowed to derail the election map. Minister discussed current political more..

May 18 (FT) Sri Lanka has been facing many constraints, experienced crucial times and gone through many cycles during the last three-four decades. For instance, the successful completion of the humanitarian effort carried out by our brave soldiers to end the 30-year-old terrorism not only astonished the world but also demonstrated our competences and capabilities as a nation. The Tsunami was a natural catastrophe faced in 2004. However, as a country, we have been more..

May 18 (FT) I write this on the cusp of another impending island-wide curfew on Sunday (17 May)! My heartbeat quickens, I am overtaken by a frisson of glee� oh, to be fully curfew-ed, however briefly, once more! I jest, because I cannot fathom what we�re doing, or why now, with day after day of reporting that new cases are overwhelmingly from the Navy cluster, with relative calm in Colombo and Gampaha over the last several, quasi-curfew-ed days, we are celebrating with a fresh curfew! more..

May 18 (BN) Sri Lanka�s dollar bonds have been the worst-performing sovereign notes in Asia this year. But BNP Paribas Asset Management and Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH say it might now be time to buy. The comments come after Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle told Bloomberg News on March 31 that the country has several streams of inflows in the pipeline to repay debt falling due this year. more..

May 18 (Island) Every transport minister, irrespective of his or her political ideology, had given in to bus owners� mafia operating semi-luxury buses and buses on expressways, President of the Lanka Private Bus Owners� Association (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijeratne said. Every transport minister had promised to terminate the semi-luxury bus service, but the owners of those buses always had the last laugh, said Wijeratne. He said there were around 17,000 private bus owners in the country and more..

May 18 (EN) Stocks closed 3.78% higher driven by high retail activity in a broad-based rally with the index reaching levels seen before the market was closed for Coroanvirus curfews. Colombo�s All Share Price Index (ASPI) gained 3.78% or 167.81 points up at 4, 606.85 going beyond pre-lockdown level. The index continued a steady upward trajectory throughout trading. The market has recovered losses made on May 11, when the ASPI started to fall from 4,571.63 point. more..

May 18 (AD) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa says that SL armed forces and police are the sentinels of the nation, ensuring the safety of the general public in all crises whether man-made or natural - whether the crisis is terrorism, floods or disease. Issuing a statement to mark the 11th Anniversary of SL�s victory against the LTTE, the PM points out this was not a war against the Tamil people but against an organization more..

May 18 (FT) Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha yesterday praised the work of young diplomatic officers in Lankan Missions overseas who are helping stranded nationals. He said it was noteworthy that at present, out of the 67 Missions of Sri Lanka, one-third of Missions function with officers in acting capacity from the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS), in the absence of an accredited Ambassador/High Commissioner and also several vacant diplomatic posts. more..

May 18 (FT) Former Western Provincial Councillor Malsha Kumaratunga, the daughter of former Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga, handed over her mobile phone to the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) today over an ongoing investigation. Malsha Kumaratunga arrived at the CCD to hand over the phone following a court order issued by Colombo Chief Magistrate. Earlier this month, UNP MP Kavinda Jayawardane lodged a complaint with the CCD over a video circulating on social media. more..

May 18 (AD) The Supreme Court has commenced consideration of the multiple Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed against the date set by the Elections Commission to hold the General Election 2020. Seven parties including Attorney at Law Charitha Gunaratne, Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), and Journalist Victor Ivan, Samagi Jana Balawegaya filed FR petitions challenging the election date set by the EC. more..

May 18 (AD) Supreme Court postponed until tomorrow the further consideration of the fundamental rights petitions filed challenging the date of the General Election. Further consideration of the petitions will resume at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Seven fundamental rights petitions filed challenging the gazette issued declaring June 20 as the date of the General Election 2020 and the gazette notification issued by the Prez dissolving the Parliament, were taken up for considering more..

May 18 (Island) The fact that there are over 800 schools without sanitation and there are 1.2 million schoolchildren suffering from malnutrition was an indication that successive governments had done little to develop education, health and nutrition levels in the country, Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary, Joseph Stalin said. "At a meeting with western province education officers, Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma quoted the above mentioned statistics. more..

May 18 (AD) Naval and fishing communities are advised not to venture into the shallow and deep sea areas around the Island until further notice due to the extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan, Dept of Meteorology warned. The department issued a warning for heavy rain, strong winds for land area and shallow and deep sea areas around SL. It said the very severe cyclonic storm AMPHAN has further intensified into more..

May 18 (AD) Twenty one more patients have recovered from the novel coronavirus, confirmed the Ministry of Health. The recovered patients have been discharged from their respective hospitals after their PCR tests were confirmed negative. Fifteen among the recovered persons are SL Navy personnel. Accordingly, the number of coronavirus recoveries recorded in the country has hiked to 559 cases. Further, 204 infected Navy personnel in total have recovered from the virus. more..

May 18 (DM) At least five local websites had been hacked into by a group of hackers this morning targeting the Victory Day commemorations, the Computer Emergency Readiness Team/Co-ordination Centre (CERT|CC) said. CERT|CC Engineer Ravindu Meegasmulla said these powerful cyberattacks had been a practice every year on May 18, the day the SL Govt militarily defeated the LTTE in 2009. He said these hackers had hacked these web sites and left messages relating to more..

May 18 (EN) The lack of a coherent policy framework is hurting the sovereign rating and also potential lenders who may want to finance the country, an analyst at Fitch Ratings which downgraded the country to a �B-� a notch above CCC has said. The outlook is also negative at the lower level. Sri Lanka has about US$ 4 to 4.5 billion in foreign loans to pay in the next few years and this year about US$ 3.2 billion remain to be paid. more..

May 18 (DM) India's New High Commissioner to SL Gopal Baglay has said that Delhi will help Colombo to deal with the Economic Challenges precipitated by the COVID crisis and this " is going to be one of my very important tasks". Speaking to WION, from Colombo, Envoy Gopal Baglay who presented his credentials last week via video conference said, "with vision and commitment Indian diplomacy is more than committed to adequately address the challenges posed by the COVID situation�. more..

May 18 (AD) Supreme Court fixed May 22 to consider the petition filed seeking a writ order for the Elections Commission to reject the nomination papers submitted by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya for the upcoming general election. The petition was taken up today (18) before a three-member Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices S. Durairajah, Murdu Fernando, and Yasantha Kodagoda. The petition has been filed by UNP candidate Oshala Herath. more..

May 18 (MFA) Sri Lankans who have sought to benefit from the Amnesty declared by the Kuwaiti Govt for Sri Lankans who are out of status, will commence repatriation tomorrow. Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who had a telephone discussion with his Kuwaiti Counterpart Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah today (18) agreed that the first batch of returnees, numbering approximately 460, will arrive more..

May 18 (DM) A group 69 Sri Lankans who were stranded in various cities in Thailand for nearly two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation were repatriated yesterday evening via a special Maldivian Airlines charter flight Q2 6351, by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Bangkok. The special flight carrying the SL students, govt officials, Sri Lankans who were on short term visit visa to Thailand, and several others on urgent humanitarian grounds, following the criteria specified by more..

May 18 (CT) UPFA Ratnapura District former MP Janaka Wakkumbura told Ceylon Today that it has been reported that a head of the former Constitutional Council (CC) and a former Minister had intervened in the process of appointing Pujith Jayasundara as the IGP. "Therefore, I am hoping to take legal action regarding this and further I am ready to raise a question on this in the new Parliament," he said. He added that it has been revealed that SP Nalaka Silva more..

May 18 (AP) As couples do all over the world, Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana and his fiance, Pawani Rasanga, spent months planning a grand wedding. And everything was on course for the Sri Lankan couple � until the coronavirus struck the island nation off India�s southern tip, leading to an indefinite lockdown. �By that time, we had made all the arrangements. Clothes, rings and cakes had been ordered. more..

May 18 (Xinhua) Tourism earnings in Sri Lanka dropped to 391 million U.S. dollars in February, in comparison to 475 million dollars earned within the same period last year, local media, quoting official figures from Sri Lanka Tourism showed here Monday. The island country's tourism industry is one of the worst affected by the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic with earnings from tourism likely to be severely affected during the rest of the year as well, industry experts said. more..

May 18 (NR) The number of coronavirus cases in the country has increased to 986. Five persons tested positive for COVID-19 today. The number of coronavirus recoveries rose to 559 today after 21 persons who contracted the novel coronavirus were discharged today after making complete recoveries during the past 24 hours. Seven persons were released from IDH, five each from Navy General Hospital and Homagama Base Hospital, and four COVID-19 patients from Colombo East more..

May 18 (PTI) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday said the country needs to build a new stadium to strengthen its bid to host ICC events in the 2023 to 2031 cycle. SLC faced intense criticism after the board announced on Sunday that it had inspected a site at Homagama, to build a 40,000 seat capacity int'l stadium. Mahela Jayawardene, former SL captain, had also expressed surprise at the decision, arguing that when SL was not playing enough more..

May 19 (CT) With general elections anticipated to be held soon, political propaganda is once again being generated by those who hope to attain their goals by it. The elections may be held as soon as June 20 which is the date presently set by the Election Commission. However, the continuing increase in the number of Covid infections is a deterrent to a decision to go ahead with the elections. The fact that the numbers are increasing, albeit relatively slowly in comparison to other countries and inspite of more..

May 19 (ST) My dear PB, I thought I should write to you because you are in the news these days, what with asking public servants to donate a months� salary or part of it towards the effort being made to defeat the coronavirus. After that, people tried to make fun of you, calling you padi baagey. How dare they do that? After all, you were doing so only in good faith after seeing your boss, Gota maama doing his best to deal with this virus, employing all his old friends in military to fight this menace more..

May 19 (ST) With various discussions regarding elections and the manner in which the polls should be conducted in times of a pandemic, Minister Wimal Weerawansa has come out with a new idea. During a programme with a TV channel this week, he spoke of an invention where ballot papers in a ballot box could be placed in a special basket and thereafter heated for 20 minutes at a certain temperature at which virus can be destroyed. more..

May 19 (ST) Constitutional Council with the former Speaker presiding met this week, notwithstanding the fact that Parliament is locked down, in fact, locked up. By all accounts, the discussions revolved around the general functioning of the independent Commissions and a vote of confidence passed specifically on infighting Election Commission what with its chairman being somewhat compromised by seeking personal favours from the Govt. The entire Constitution is now being debated more..