Oct 10 (DM) Public Health Inspectors Union (PHIU) claims that none of their members ever supervised any of those who were brought down from India in repatriation flights chartered by Brandix Apparel Ltd. who claim to have subjected all returnees to a 14 day self-quarantine. Secretary, PHIU, M. Balasooriya dismissing the contents of the media releases issued by Brandix Apparel Ltd and the Task Force of more..

Oct 10 (AD) A female student of the J'pura University has tested positive for Covid-19. Vice Chancellor of the Uni Senior Prof. Sudantha Liyanage said 50 students of the Management Faculty, who were staying at hostels, were placed under self-isolation following the detection of this novel coronavirus case. Reports revealed that the undergrad in question is a third-year student of the Management Faculty and a resident of Panadura area. She has been admitted to the IDH for treatment. more..

Oct 10 (DM) Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has directed the Labour Commissioner to immediately submit him a report regarding allegations levelled by several trade unions against the Brandix management that the company had allegedly failed to follow safety and health protocols. Minister said he informed the trade unions to file a written complaint with the ministry to consider further action. He also added that the management of such factories or any other companies were more..

Oct 10 (ST) SL�s pandemic-related repatriation programme is drawing criticism on the grounds that several handpicked agents are selling packages (flights, PCR testing & hotel quarantine) for exorbitant amounts. As the market is unregulated and these parties hold a monopoly, the prices are skyrocketing. There is also no guarantee of the type of hotel a returning Sri Lankan would get despite paying the same rates as the batch that more..

Oct 10 (Island) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena exerted continuous pressure on investigating officers, especially CID sleuths when they investigated military officers allegedly involved in wrong doings, former Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka yesterday informed the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks. Ratnayake said that when CID officers made some arrests, the former Prez had called him and the investigating officers to Presidential Secretariat and shouted at them. more..

Oct 10 (AD) An attendant of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo has tested positive for Covid-19. Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni of the CMC said a PCR test carried out on Friday had confirmed that the hospital worker in question was infected with the virus. A 10-month-old under treatment at the Ridgeway Hospital also tested positive for the virus recently. Reports revealed that the attendant had served the ward where the virus-infected infant was being treated. more..

Oct 10 (ST) CAA officials were seen in public markets and economic centres this week measuring the circumferences of coconuts using measuring tapes and wireframe rings or what are mockingly called coconut rings to ensure that traders comply with the Govt�s maximum-retail price order. According to CAA Information Director Asela Bandara, Authority conducted more than 150 successful raids this week in Colombo city more..

Oct 10 (EN) Covid 19 Prevention Task Force is asking anyone who met a staff member from the Brandix factory in Minuwangoda after Sept 23 to present themselves to a govt hospital for a PCR test. The order was issued by Army Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva a short while ago through National Operations Centre for the Prevention of Covid 19 (NOCPOC). The instructions came as 30 more Covid 19 positive cases were detected from the Minuwangoda cluster taking the total to 1083 more..

Oct 10 (AD) Ten more individuals infected with COVID-19 made complete recoveries today, the Ministry of Health said. 10 patients receiving treatment at the Welikanda Base Hospital were discharged in this manner. COVID-19 recuperations confirmed in SL thereby reached 3,306. In the meantime, the total count of positive cases of novel coronavirus found in SL currently sits at 4,523. 1,204 active cases are currently receiving treatment at several hospitals across Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 10 (CT) Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said on 9 Oct that with the continually growing cluster of COVID-19 patients being identified from the Brandix Minuwangoda facility and their contacts, the Health Ministry had placed 2,000 beds on standby, in all hospitals that had been allocated, to receive them. He noted however that the Ministry was prepared to increase it to 3,000 if necessary. more..

Oct 10 (ST) Poaching in SL waters by Indian fishing vessels has increased alongside the damage done to fishing gear, fisheries groups in the north said on Friday. In the latest incident on Thursday night, a net worth more than Rs 2.5 million was damaged by Indian intruders in the marine waters off Vadamarachchi. President of Vadamarachchi Fishermens� Federation, Thomas Santharasa said, most local fishermen return to the seas to find their nets damaged by Indian fishermen. more..

Oct 10 (ORF) For a summit of Gov leaders in the traditional format, it was not one. But considering Covid times, the recent India-Sri Lanka bilateral in the virtual mode may have set a precedent for short and sweet exchanges even in post-pandemic times. As per reports with interpreters taking their time, the summit between Indian PM Narendra Modi and his SL counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa took around one hour. No agreements were signed during the virtual summit, but in terms of more..

Oct 10 (ST) A head is set to roll over the fiasco which gripped the country after 15 Russian cargo flight crew members walked out of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in the south and sought lodgings at a beach boutique resort in Polhena, Matara, without undergoing quarantining. The Chief Airport Manager of the MRIA will be replaced by a more senior and experienced person and interviews are underway to select more..

Oct 10 (CT) Minister Ramesh Pathirana said in Parliament that the Govt would take measures to provide welfare facilities to estate workers who live in curfew imposed areas following the recent COVID-19 surge. Pathirana was responding to a query from MP Velu Kumar. Velu Kumar: �Polymerase Chain Reaction tests had been conducted on two garment factory workers in the Kandy area on 7 October. One of them tested positive for COVID-19 and more..

Oct 10 (AD) Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken measures to restrict the repatriation of SL expatriates. Following the re-emergence of Covid-19 cases in the country, the authorities have been directing large numbers of close contacts of the virus-infected persons to quarantining. Meanwhile, those arrive in the country from foreign countries are mandated to undergo a 14-day quarantine period. Hence, taking into account the limited capacities at quarantine centres prompted by more..

Oct 10 (ST) For the first time in recent years, a focused attempt to destabilise narcotics procurement and distribution network is in motion with multiple agencies, including intelligence being involved. It was late Friday night when officers from the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB)�s Kandy branch acting on a tip swooped down on two men riding a bicycle in Kirimetiyana, Wennappuwa. They had on them 2.232 kg of heroin. more..

Oct 10 (AD) More than 14,600 Army personnel � 514 Officers and 14,140 Other Ranks � have received promotions to the next ranks. The promotions coincided with the 71st anniversary of the Army and the Army Day celebrated today (10). Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces Prez Rajapaksa granted the promotions on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defence and the Army Chief. Accordingly, 12 Brigadiers to the rank of Major General, 13 Colonels to the rank of more..

Oct 10 (ST) Peliyagoda Urban Council chairman has assured council members that an inquiry will be held into the missing deeds of more than 200 acres of lands coming under the council�s purview. UC Chairman K.D. Chandraratne gave the assurance when SLFP council member Ananda Pushpakumara raised the matter. He pointed out that the deeds of 100 plots of lands of varying extent had gone missing and as a result the council had lost a revenue of more than Rs 100 million. more..

Oct 10 (PTI) Prez Rajapaksa on Friday rejected concerns that China has lured Sri Lanka into a debt trap by financing the strategic southern port of and said the project has a vast potential for generating income and employment opportunities. Rajapaksa said this after holding talks with a high-powered Chinese delegation led by ruling Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi. Yang, China�s former foreign minister, more..

Oct 10 (SLN) The Navy and Police managed to apprehend 2 suspects with over 33kg of Kerala cannabis, during a special coordinated operation conducted at Naruvilikkulam in Mannar on 9th Oct. Accordingly, North Central Naval Command and Vankalai Police had conducted this special operation at Naruvilikkulam in Mannar, where the raiding party managed to seize 10 packages of Kerala cannabis weighing 33kg and 650g, in a gunny sack and apprehension of 2 suspects for possession of more..

Oct 10 (CT) SL Inventors Commission (SLIC) has donated a ventilator and Semi-Automated Telepresence Robot to the National Hospital for Respiratory Diseases (NHRD) at Welisara, Ragama. Commissioner of SLIC, Prof Rangika Halwathura said the invention was fully funded by the SLIC under the project Fight against COVID-19 and developed by Sahan C. Ranasinghe, Anuruddha Tennakoon and Buddhika Marasinghe. He stated, this invention can be used for more..

Oct 10 (EN) In an unprecedented event, a document purporting to be the determination of the Supreme Court on the proposed 20th Amendment is available on the internet and has appeared on several news sites since this afternoon. The determination, a document which contains the decision of the SC in response to 39 petitions filed by political parties, human rights activists, the Bar Council and other groups, was sent to more..

Oct 11 (CT) Justice C.V. Wigneswaran is not laying traps to snare GR-MR or the TNA; that�s not the import of my title. I am suggesting is that wily old Wiggy is calculating that these worthies will snare themselves in traps of their own making, and then his line will pay off. His expectation is that the regime will turn explicitly anti-Tamil and his second calculation is that the TNA is too deeply mired in compromises to extricate itself. Of course, I am attributing motives to him; more..

Oct 11 (ST) My dear Rishad, I thought I must write to you because you � and your family members � appear to be so much in the news these days and not even a return of the coronavirus can take them off the headlines. Still, what I found most interesting was how important you seem to be, to whoever is in power at any given time. We remember the last days of the last regime, when you were constantly accused of being of dubious character and accused of being responsible for the deforestation in more..

Oct 11 (CT) Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, Director of Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health says, �There is nothing called being more careful than in the past. We have to be cautious to the maximum. There are no two words. I cannot say whether this is more dangerous than the previous virus. However, I am sure that the virus load is higher this time.� Q: COVID-19, which seemed under control, has re-emerged in Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 11 (SO) At the time of writing, nothing is certain about culpability for the so-called Minuwangoda cluster, which is the largest such agglomeration of Covid-19 patients recorded so far in the country since the pandemic began. With facts unknown, apportioning blame is unfair, but that does not mean that the private enterprise concerned should not be subject to a thorough investigation. The company concerned has issued a release stating that its staff that was repatriated from India were all SL more..

Oct 11 (ST) It was too good to be true. While the rest of the world was spinning with spike after spike of cases of Coronavirus, now into the tenth month since its initial outbreak outside of China where it was first detected, Lankans seemed to lead a charmed life. Govt leaders were quick to take credit, and the people readily gave it to them for arresting the pandemic�s spread. Slow initially, like many other countries to react to what was an unprecedented virus gathering momentum on a global scale, more..

Oct 11 (SO) Plantation Minister Dr.Ramesh Pathirana said the Govt is taking all measures to control the spread of the fresh Covid-19 cluster that emerged at the Brandix plant in Minuwangoda. Minister in an interview said there is no need to panic as the Govt has already taken all precautionary measures to address the situation. However, we might need to take further action depending on the evolving situation, so that more..

Oct 11 (CT) After months of Covid-quiet, coronavirus has hit the country hard. SL�s 33rd Covid-cluster could not have erupted in Minuwangoda any more suddenly and in larger numbers. It caught the govt literally holding its constitutional pants from falling down, and to the neglect of everything else. After stagnating for months at 3200+ cases, SL Covid-19 total rose by more than a third in a matter of three days. Since its discovery last Sunday, the 33rd cluster accounted for 1053 cases by Wed more..

Oct 11 (NIA) Under the Sinhala Kings, Kandy showed a remarkable degree of cosmopolitanism which should be an inspiration to us in this day and age when nations are torn asunder by ethnic, linguistic and religious divisions. People of all faiths and ethnic groups, immigrants from the rest of the island and overseas were welcome to settle down, trade, work, inter-marry and prosper in Kandy under the Kings. According to Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere�s latest book: more..

Oct 11 (CT) A rating cut by two notches followed by the govt�s denial. SL has yet to come out of this vicious cycle in managing the economy. Moody�s Investors Service last month downgraded Sri Lanka�s sovereign rating to Caa1 which is very high credit risk. equal to the rating of Iraq, Mali, Angola, and Congo, from B2 or high credit risk, the ratings enjoyed by countries like Turkey, Kenya, and Nigeria. Moody�s said the coronavirus-induced shock will significantly weaken SL�s already fragile more..

Oct 11 (SO) On Friday, over 100 Govt MPs called for a full investigation on the release of former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen�s brother who was arrested by the CID on suspicion of aiding and abetting the terrorists who carried out the Easter Sunday attacks. A letter signed by 100 Got lawmakers claiming that Riyaj Bathiudeen was released by the CID without following proper legal procedure, was presented to Prez Rajapaksa and PM Rajapaksa by Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage at Temple Trees more..

Oct 11 (ST) Controversy arose in Parliament this week when SJB MP Buddhika Pathirana alleged that some Govt members were pushing to legalise ganja. Mr Pathirana first raised the issue on Wednesday, asking PM Rajapaksa whether his Govt intended to legalise ganja. �I know that some MPs in this legislature are also involved in the push to legalise ganja cultivation,� he said. PM however, said he did not believe that in the current more..

Oct 11 (SO) Being an Olympic sport plans are afoot to develop shooting to higher levels with the intervention of sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa who spelt out his vision when he graced the Sharp Shooter 2020 championship held at the Hantana Shooting Range. The winners at this event received their trophy from Minister Rajapaksa. �For a long time we were compelled to use guns for the wrong reason,� said Minister Rajapaksa. �It is time we took shooting to new heights in sports. more..

Oct 11 (Island) The emergence of yet another major Covid cluster in Divulapitiya is food for thought. While the entire world seemed to have lost control over the spread of Covid-19, SL seemed to have brought it under control until this latest outbreak. Even this latest cluster though the largest by our standards, is nothing compared to what most other countries including highly developed countries with much smaller populations have been experiencing. There is little doubt that SL will more..

Oct 11 (CT) Two controversial transfers that took place last week at the CID and MRI raised many eyebrows, mainly due to the context under which those were carried out. Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, stirred the hornets� nest by stating on 3 October that he has a doubt whether there is a political deal behind releasing Riyaj Bathiudeen, brother of former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, after more..

Oct 11 (ST) Two adventurous innings from skipper Seekkuge Prasanna and national cap Dasun Shanaka guide Super Fashion Northern Warriors to a close 2-wicket win over Prima Stella Eastern Warriors in an Army Commander�s T20 played at the Army Cricket Ground in Dombagoda last evening. Chasing a modest 167 to win Super Fashion were in deep trouble after losing 3 wicket for 12 runs but Prasanna launched a merciless attack on the bowlers smashing a blistering 67 off 29 balls more..

Oct 11 (ST) Former national selector and first class cricketer Sajith Fernando was appointed by the United States of America Cricket (USAC) as member of its Men�s Youth Selection Panel effective yesterday. Fernando, 47, will be part of the 5-member Men�s Youth Selection Panel, headed by Amer Afzaludin. The panel also includes former West Indies great Alvin Kallicharran, and former USA players Steve Massiah and Jannisar Khan. Fernando will be the first Sri Lankan to serve more..

Oct 11 (ST) With England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) not willing to put their players through a two-week quarantine and the sudden spike in COVID-19 positive cases in SL, there is uncertainty surrounding the proposed England Test tour to SL. England was in SL in March to play the two-match Test series but returned home just days ahead of the first Test following the global outbreak of the virus. Though dates are yet to be confirmed, more..