Oct 31 (Island) Union Bank continued to focus on its prudent cost and portfolio management strategy to remain resilient amidst a volatile macro-economic landscape that prevailed through the third quarter of the year, a bank press release said. It adds � �The Covid-19 outbreak weakened the country outlook substantially and affected the overall business landscape of the country. Amidst a challenging economic landscape, the Average Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) dropped by approximately more..

Oct 31 (EN) India�s Axis Bank has been given the approval to close its operations in Colombo and exit the country, the island�s banking regulator said. �The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, having considered the request made by the Axis Bank Ltd, India consequent to a policy decision taken in 2019 on its global operations, has granted approval to close down business operations of Axis Bank Limited in Sri Lanka and cancel the licence issued to it�,� the regulator said. more..

Oct 31 (CT) Several witnesses are ready to reveal how a group of former and incumbent MPs, representatives of NGOs, some officers of CID and certain representatives of Western diplomatic missions hatched a conspiracy to file 10 cases, based on false charges, to imprison around 100 intelligence officers, State Minister Jayantha Samaraweera alleged. The group of politicians includes former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and MPs Champika more..

Oct 31 (TM) Justice Minister Ali Sabry said that he made a request to the relevant authorities to refrain from conducting forced examinations on the privates of LGBT persons. In a Facebook post, he said there were media reports alleging that Judicial Medical Officers (JMOs) and the Police have been conducting forced examinations on the privates of LGBT persons without their consent. �If this is occurring, it is indeed a disturbing revelation and must be looked into immediately. more..

Oct 31 (HRW) The United Nations Country Team in Sri Lanka recently held a special virtual event to commemorate the world body�s 75th birthday. Sadly, it was a slap in the face for many of the country�s victims of human rights abuses and war crimes. Instead of focusing on them, the UN chose to honor one of the people implicated in their suffering, the country�s PM, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa, billed as the UN event�s Chief Guest, was president during much of the country�s civil war. more..

Oct 31 (Island) State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal has said nobody should harbour fears of SL�s ability to service its debt. Fears being expressed in some quartes are unfounded he has said, issuing a media statement. Full statement: With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries including SL, observed a contraction in economic activity, reduction in foreign exchange earnings, decrease in revenue collection, more..

Oct 31 (DN) DAMRO, South Asia�s largest furniture manufacturer has planned to setup 25 mega showrooms within next six months, further strengthening its showroom network in India. The company currently operates about 80 showrooms in India and the continued confidence of the Indian consumers in Damro products has greatly contributed to the success of the company. The company�s ability to continue and thrive in the face of the current COVID-19 epidemic in India more..

Oct 31 (CT) Underworld drug kingpin Makandure Madush, prior to his death, had exposed the unfair treatment he received, to the Senior Police Officers who carried out investigations, Police sources said. Madush had also stated that he was implicated in certain offences that he did not commit. He had also told the investigating officers that certain Senior Police officers fabricated information about the murder of a few of his associates. Questioning by Senior Police Officers took place while more..

Oct 31 (DM) New Ambassador-designate of China to SL Qi Zhenhong arrived on Friday evening and he is to undergo self-quarantine for two weeks, the Chinese Embassy announced. �Ambassador has passed PCR test prior to his flight and will enter self-quarantine for 2 weeks. Considering current difficult situation in the island, Ambassador Qi has politely refused all receiving arrangement at the airport but only with minimized number more..

Oct 31 (Island) The Country�s inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumers� Price Index (CCPI) remained unchanged at 4% in Oct 2020 from the previous month, Department of Census & Statistics reported. CCPI for all items for the month of October 2020 marginally increased to 136.5 from 136.3 in Sept 2020. For the month of Oct 2020, on a year-to-year basis, contribution to inflation by food commodities was 2.97%. The contribution of Non-Food items was 0.94%. more..

Oct 31 (DM) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa was never scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the latter�s visit to SL, officials said. �There has been much speculation about PM @PresRajapaksa not meeting @SecPompeo.To set the record straight: #SriLanka PM was never scheduled to meet Mr. Pompeo. Given Sec. Pompeo's short visit, meeting with one member of the senior #lka leadership was deemed sufficient,� Director General of PM�s Office tweeted. more..

Oct 31 (EN) Technicians from a company in China that has manufactured a high capacity Coronavirus PCR machine that is currently out of order has arrived in the country, the Chinese embassy in Colombo said. �We learn that technicians from the #PCRtest manu company have landed tonight at #Colombo via the nearest flight, upon the emergent request from #SriLankan (sic),� the Chinese embassy in Colombo said more..

Oct 31 (DN) The Govt has launched a programme to provide Rs.10,000 worth of essential food items to families under self-quarantine in their respective homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. �According to a decision taken at a discussion held at Temple Trees on October 27 under the Chairmanship of the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation, Basil Rajapaksa, the goods will be delivered to recipients with the assistance of the Army,� Govt sources said. more..

Oct 31 (AD) Mr Sanjaya Mohottala Director General of BOI stated that more than 26,500 PCR tests has been carried out in the factories under the purview of BOI between 8th and 28th of this month. 16,527 PCRs has been done in 14 Investment Promotion Zones and awaiting results of another 495 tests. 423 COVID 19 infected patients has been identified with these tests out of which 411 from the Katunayake Zone and 12 from Biyagama Zone. No cases have been reported thus far from other 12 zones. more..

Oct 31 (CT) The report on the research conducted on the COVID-19 virus, identified from the Brandix cluster, which caused the second wave of COVID-19, was officially handed over to the Ministry of Health on Saturday, Prof. Neelika Malewige of the Dept of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, at Uni of Sri J'epura, said. The research compared the genetic makeup of the COVID- 19 virus identified with the first wave in SL and more..

Oct 31 (AD) The total number of police officers who were exposed to Covid-19 has reached 78, says DIG Ajith Rohana. He said 300 more police officers were directed to quarantine facilities. In addition, nearly 1,800 police officers are currently under self-isolation, he said further. The novel coronavirus began to spread among police officers as the heads of Police Messes and cafeterias were exposed to the virus when the new cluster linked to Peliyagoda Fish Market emerged, he explained. more..

Oct 31 (FT) For quite some time now, there have been fleeting references to wellness tourism by a variety of stakeholders, but it has always remained overshadowed by the mainstream segments preoccupied with the demand to realise the vast potential that SL tourism has always promised to offer. So, wellness was for long was largely confined to an indigenous occupation by the principal Ayurveda practitioners and the tourism resorts catering to an essentially foreign clientele. more..

Oct 31 (FT) The media recently was speculating on why the delay in Q2 GDP growth data not been released. Then on social media the story broke out that Sri Lanka�s GDP has declined to -17%. I am not a believer of social media but the data can be true in this case. The logic being that Q1 data revealed that the economy has contracted -1.6%, which factored only 10 days of lockdown. In my view the Q2 number can be -17%, given that exports registered a -26.4% contraction as at end June 2020, more..

Oct 31 (Island) UNP has accused the govt of failing to contain the second wave of the coronavirus. The party has urged the govt to give full priority to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, and do it duty of ensuring the health and safety of the citizens of the country. The UNP has, in a media statement, expressed its concern about what it calls the govt�s delayed response in combatting the fresh outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. �Despite repeated warnings of a pending 2nd wave from WHO, more..

Oct 31 (DN) Archbishop of Colombo His Holiness Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith in an appeal to the country in the face of the fast spreading COVID-19 pandemic urged all Catholics to turn to Our Lady in prayer seeking her blessings to protect the country and its people from this pandemic. The Head of the Catholic Church noted, �We have already lost a lot of lives and also a lot of people are afflicted by this. more..

Oct 31 (AD) Police have traced 454 individuals in total who had left the Western Province on the 29th of Oct, before quarantine curfew came into effect. They have been placed under self-isolation at the establishments they are currently staying at, DIG Ajith Rohana said. He said these persons were found while holidaying at tourist hotels in Bandarawela, Batticaloa, Ampara, Jaffna, Tangalle and Nuwara Eliya areas. Further search operations to trace people who left the province on more..

Oct 31 (Island) Are we now in the Predatory Era of diplomacy? US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has given us much food for thought on this. He has described China as a predator in relations with Sri Lanka. At the Joint Media briefing, with SL�s Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Pompeo said about relations with Sri Lanka that �US is a partner, China is a predator�. �We see from bad deals, violations of sovereignty and lawlessness on land and sea that the Chinese Communist Party is a predator, more..

Oct 31 (DM) Multiple scenarios have emerged in the hunt for patient zero linked to the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda coronavirus clusters. Lt Gen Shavendra Silva said that 80 percent of the investigations to find patient zero was now complete. He said that the investigators are looking into at least six possible scenarios and once the probe is over the results will be made public. Of the six possibilities, one is the possibility of more..

Oct 31 (AD) A teenage student has been killed during a brawl between two groups in Morayaya of Weeraketiya police division. As the brawl escalated, the two groups have started attacking each other with sharp weapons, killing the 17-year-old. According to reports, 06 persons have sustained injuries in the incident which took place at around 7.00 pm. They are currently receiving treatment at Tangalle Hospital. The deceased was identified as a resident of Wekandawala North in Morayaya. more..

Oct 31 (CT) A survey conducted by the Census & Statistics Dept revealed that 58.1% of women had experienced sexual abuse when they were between five and nine years of age. Survey results, which were released on Friday, further showed that such women, captured in this survey, had said that 14.3% of them had been sexually abused before they were five years of age, while 23% of them had said that they had been abused when they were between the ages of 10-14 years. more..

Oct 31 (AD) A study conducted by the Uni of Sri J'pura has revealed that the current Covid-19 wave is of a variant strain with higher infectivity. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the current Covid-19 outbreak is due to spread of different strains and whether there are certain mutations that result in the rapid spread of the virus as well as to investigate the relationship between the currently circulating virus strains to previous more..

Oct 31 (Island) The LOLC Group commenced its operations in Zambia recently with the official launch of its inaugural branch located in Lusaka. The company which will operate as LOLC Finance Zambia Limited, is a deposit-taking non-banking financial institution and will provide finance products such as home loans, motor vehicle finance, business loans, and consumer loans, among other products, thus helping to narrow the access to financial services gap in Zambia. more..

Oct 31 (AD) An individual under medical care at the National Hospital in Colombo has died of Covid-19 last night, Ministry of Health confirmed. The deceased was identified as a 54-year-old female from Colombo 12 area. Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said the deceased was a diabetic. Results of the PCR test performed on her have confirmed this morning that she was exposed to the novel coronavirus. According to Health Ministry�s data, total Covid-19 deaths more..

Oct 31 (CT) Convener of All Ceylon Farmers� Federation (ACFF) Namal Karunaratne said the Govt has cut relief given to the farming community instead of providing new relief. Many farmers take loans from various institutions for farming activities and many were unable to repay those due to the current situation in the country, caused by the COVID-19 virus. He also said a number of suicides have been reported, more..

Oct 31 (CT) Breast cancer and cervical cancer are the most common types among women in SL. Following breast surgery, women are reluctant to move their arm due to the pain and being frightened that the surgical site will be subject to trauma. As a result, a cushion was developed for wearing after surgery to provide pain relief as well as a physical and emotional comfort to women. Free movement of the arm helps reduce lymphoedema (swelling in the arm following the removal of the breast and more..

Oct 31 (EN) Chinese technicians who have been rushed to SL will be recalibrating machines carrying out PCR testing at a laboratory in Mulleriyawa after one device failed, the Director of the Health System Enhancement project Dr Anil Dissanayake said. Dissanayake clarified reports that the new laboratory at the Base Hospital in Mulleriyawa was incapacitated due to the malfunction. �Only the Automated Nuclear Acid Extractor is not working, but we are able to carry out tests using more..

Oct 31 (AD) 137 more persons linked to the Minuwangoda-Peliyagoda cluster were tested positive for Covid-19 today. 99 of them are contacts of previous cases found from the Peliyagoda Fish Market and fisheries harbours. The remaining 38 have been identified from quarantine centres. Thereby, the total number of Covid-19 infections registered by the Minuwangoda-Peliyagoda cluster reached 7,083. more..

Oct 31 (Island) Minister Douglas Devananda has been appointed to the Parliamentary Council as the PM�s nominee. 20th Amendment became law with Speaker Abeywardena placing his signature on Thursday on the bill passed on Oct 22. As per the provisions the new amendment the content of the council changes and the new provisions the council comprises PM, the Speaker, Opposition Leader, PM�s appointee, the Speaker�s appointee and Opposition Leader�s appointee. more..

Oct 31 (EN) With Covid patient numbers nearing the maximum number of available hospital beds Prez Rajapaksa has ordered that asymptomatic patients be housed in non-hospital locations under the care of medical personnel, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Dr Ramesh Pathirana said. He said that the Prez has given the order as the number of COVID patients reaching the initial capacity of 5000 hospital beds. He said that it was decided to retain COVID patients with complications in hospitals while directing more..

Oct 31 (AFP) Sri Lanka has started shipping 242 containers of hazardous waste, including body parts from mortuaries, back to Britain after a two year court battle by an environment watchdog, officials said Saturday. Several Asian countries have in recent years been pushing back against an onslaught of international refuse from wealthier nations and have started turning back the unwanted shipments of garbage as more..