Aug 5 (FT) Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga visited Moscow recently to woo more Russians to travel to SL for an enthralling yet safe holiday. His visit coincided with the resumption of SriLankan Airlines� direct weekly flights to Moscow on Saturday, following an absence of six years. During his brief stay in Moscow, Minister held a useful meeting with Russian Federation Federal Agency for Tourism (FAT) Deputy Head Lysenkova Elena Vasilievna and Head of Dept of International Cooperation more..

Aug 5 (MFA) New Zealand and SL�s Foreign Ministers, Nanaia Mahuta and Dinesh Gunawardena, have welcomed the opening of the New Zealand High Commission in Colombo next week. The Foreign Ministers, who met virtually yesterday, spoke about the opening of the High Commission as a major milestone in the bilateral relationship. Both Ministers stressed that NZ's diplomatic presence in SL is a further affirmation of the significance of the steadily expanding more..

Aug 5 (Island) COPE Committee held yesterday (3) directed their special attention towards the payment of Rs. 750,000 to the Chairman of the Elections Committee for the conduct of football elections and the grant of approval for the payment of Rs. 60,000 to its other members. Given that no official stated that this was paid at the COPE Committee meeting held on the 22nd of April 2021, COPE Chairman more..

Aug 5 (Island) Sri Lanka�s selectors have recalled a whole lot of former internationals in their last legs for the domestic T-20 League that will get underway later this month at Pallekele but there was no room for former captains Angelo Mathews or Dimuth Karunaratne. SLC has divided all top domestic players into four teams and over two weeks the teams will be based in Kandy and will engage in what is expected to be a highly competitive T-20 series. more..

Aug 5 (Island) The real question is not whether SL should go to the IMF or not. What is important is going to the IMF with confidence after having analysed the fiscal situation, with a convincing plan, Executive Director of Verit� Research Dr. Nishan de Mel said. He made this remark at a CEOs Forum to provide clarity on the current debt situation, whilst also helping the business community gain a better understanding on govt�s strategy and way forward to navigate through ongoing situation. more..

Aug 5 (Island) The SLFP has offered to support the proposed Kotelawala National Defence Uni (KNDU) Act if the govt met its four conditions primarily meant to ensure KNDU remained within the State University system. The SLFP, in a missive dated Aug 3 addressed to Prez Rajapaksa has made the following amendments to the KNDU Bill, namely (i) the KNDU should be under the UGC (ii) those outside the military to be admitted on more..

Aug 5 (Island) Parliament was plunged into turmoil yesterday over the arrest and detention of MP Rishad Bathiudeen, while President Rajapaksa was in the Chamber. Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella, raising a point of order, said that MP Bathiudeen had been detained for nearly 100 days without being charged. �MP Bathiudeen has not been given a charge sheet. The police have not even informed the Speaker of this arrest and detention of the MP. more..

Aug 5 (DM) The Cabinet nod was granted this week to allocate a 65-acre land plot from the Horana Industrial City Development Project, located in Millewa, to State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC) to kick-start the construction of the first phase of the Horana pharmaceutical investment zone. Earlier, SPC signed a MoU with the Urban Development Authority (UDA) to acquire the relevant land plot. Accordingly, with the concurrence of management board of UDA, more..

Aug 5 (AI) SL Attorney General�s Dept decided not to proceed with charges against Wasantha Karannagoda, a former Navy commander, over his alleged role in the abduction of 11 Tamil youth in 2008 and 2009. SL Navy is alleged to have been behind the forcible disappearance of the Navy 11. Responding to the decision Yamini Mishra, AI�s Asia-Pacific Director, said: �SL has world�s 2nd highest number of enforced disappearances, more..

Aug 5 (FT) The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has requested the Attorney General to take action on an order issued by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to reinstate suspended former Solicitor General Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe before her retirement. Bar Association of Sri Lanka President Saliya Peiris PC stated this in a letter to Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled that the former Solicitor General was innocent. more..

Aug 5 (Island) Several policemen had been injured on Tuesday when undergraduates, led by the IUSF, toppled barricades set up to prevent them from marching on the road leading to Parliament. Among the injured is OIC of the Maharagama police, Chief Inspector H.H. Janakantha, who was operated on at the Sri J'pura Hospital. Three of his fingers in his hand were badly mangled. He was first taken to the Medical Centre in the parliamentary complex but later transferred to the J'pura hospital. more..

Aug 5 (FT) Prez�s Office yesterday insisted that there was no U-turn in the Govt�s policy on promoting organic fertiliser and that the latest gazette only aims to facilitate the importation of specialised fertilisers. �Govt has not granted permission to import chemical fertilisers for local agricultural purposes, neither has it made any changes to the decision taken by the Prez to use only organic fertilisers for local agriculture. more..

Aug 5 (DN) Chartered Accountants of SL (CASL) President Manil Jayesinghe opined that the provisioning that the banking sector had made in their annual statements reflected fair values given the expected losses of the underlying loans. Jayesinghe dismissed the view that the banking sector was using the moratoriums as a means to artificially boost financial performance. Jayesinghe hailed the banking sector for taking large steps in 2020 to accurately reflect large expected more..

Aug 5 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 death toll rose to 4,727 with 82 COVID-19 deaths confirmed yesterday, pointing to a rise in the COVID-19 fatalities in the country. The COVID-19 deaths confirmed yesterday include 60 persons above age 60 and 22 persons between ages 30 and 59. The majority of the country�s COVID-19 fatalities are over the age of 60 and 74.94% of COVID-19 fatalities are over the age of 60, 23.83% between ages 30 and 59, and 1.23% below the age of 30. more..

Aug 5 (FT) SL�s daily COVID-19 detections exceeded 2,000 for the seventh consecutive day, with 2,561 persons testing positive for COVID-19 yesterday. However, despite the rising COVID-19 detections, travel restrictions are yet to be implemented. When questioned about the possibility of another lockdown, Health Ministry Spokesperson said a decision on travel restrictions would be made if the situation goes out of control. more..

Aug 5 (Island) CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd says US Ambassador in Colombo Alaina B. Teplitz has misconstrued facts pertaining to the project. Apropos US won�t prevent its companies from investing in Port City in July 30 edition of The Island and other reports based on remarks made by Ambassador Teplitz, while addressing a group of journalists on 29th July 2021, the CHEC Port City Colombo has sent us the following clarification: �Wherein she stated that �the U more..

Aug 5 (FT) The country�s COVID-19 immunisation program saw 297,314 persons vaccinated on Tuesday, of which 171,430 received the first dose of a vaccine and 125,884 persons received the second dose. In total, the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 10,481,285 persons, or 91.2% of the country�s population, over the age of 30, and the second dose has been administered to 2,584,091 persons, or 22.5% of the country�s population, over the age of 30. more..

Aug 5 (CT) Due to a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases, some hospitals have reached maximum capacity, and have been forced to declare an emergency. Most hospitals have run out of the facilities available to treat COVID-19 infected people, and sources said due to a sudden spike in people infected with COVID pneumonia the ICU facilities had also become scarce. Hence, health authorities warned the rate of deaths from more..

Aug 5 (SLA) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who made his first visit to the Sri J'pura Army Headquarters for the first time in his capacity as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces on Tuesday (3) was cordially invited to inaugurate the new Battlefront digitalized Operations Room of the Directorate of Operations of international standards at the new Army Headquarters. At the invitation of General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, HE the President, more..

Aug 5 (DM) Following the Daily Mirror�s repeated extensive coverage, quoting health officials who have warned that the country is heading towards a medical tsunami from a Delta wave, two major hospitals yesterday declared emergency due to an overflow of COVID-19 infected patients. The Ratnapura General Hospital and Karapitiya Teaching Hospital yesterday declared emergency, which had rarely been done in the Sri Lanka�s medical history, due to sudden increase of COVID patients. more..

Aug 5 (TM) Due to the sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 patients being hospitalised, the capacity of the units allocated for the treatment of Covid-19 patients at hospitals have reached their limits, leaving many patients without beds, The Morning learnt. The Karapitiya, Ragama, and Ratnapura Teaching Hospitals are among the worst hit in the island, with many patients seen seated or lying on the hospital floors with more..

Aug 5 (FT) While there has been a dramatic improvement in the vaccine rollout since supplies increased, the best practice globally is quasi-normalisation though opening up after at least 50% of the citizenry have been re-vaccinated. Violation of that norm would open Sri Lanka wide to a fourth wave, of the deadly Delta variant. The damage caused by the Govt�s uncalibrated opening-up is overtaking the good done by accelerated vaccination. more..

Aug 5 (FT) Last week, I wrote of the near certainty of Sri Lanka falling out of the Top 25 of AT Kearney�s Global Service Location Index when it is recalibrated to significantly reduce the weight given to financial attractiveness, or low cost. Sri Lanka was in the Top 25 primarily because we were cheap. Our weaknesses were the quantity and quality of the work force. Table 1 shows Sri Lanka ahead of Pakistan and Bangladesh in the overall ranking, but behind both countries in People Skills and more..

Aug 5 (Island) Former President Maithripala Sirisena did not make any statement during or after the two meetings of the SLFP that he would leave the govt when the time became opportune, a senior party member said. Fielding questions at a media briefing held at the Environment Ministry, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said referring to the statement attributed to former President and Chairman of the SLFP on quitting the govt if necessary at a meeting in Puttalam, was not clear. more..

Aug 5 (CT) Country�s digital literacy rate passed the 50% mark for the first time last year, increasing from 46% in 2019 to 50.1%, CSD data showed. This achievement was aided by male digital literacy increasing from 49.7% to 53.7% and female digital literacy rate increasing from 42.6% to 46.9% in the review period. These gains were further complemented by digital literacy in the urban sector increasing from 61.7%to 66.3%, rural sector from 43.8% to 48.1% more..

Aug 5 (EN) SL stocks plunged 2.42% on Thursday on renewed concerns over spike in COVID-19 infections in the country with reports of hospital beds filling up, brokers said. Stocks have gone up partly due been rising partly due to record low interest rates, excess liquidity in money markets and some businesses being disrupted due import controls triggered by money printing. Colombo All Share price index fell 198.37 points more..

Aug 5 (MFA) The Programme on Decentralization of Consular Services within the purview of the Foreign Ministry is underway. Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage points out that this Programme is being conducted under the instructions and guidance of the Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, in accordance with the scheme by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to bring public services to the village. Secretary Colombage also points out that the three Regional more..

Aug 5 (Island) Japanese organic fertiliser manufacturing institutions have pledged their assistance to develop the industry here, says State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Govt Affairs Roshan Ranasinghe. The state minister said that he met heads of organic and compost fertiliser manufacturing factories in Yamanashi prefecture and observed the latest state-of-the-art technologies used in organic fertilizer production. During the visit he had inspected compost manufacturing more..

Aug 5 (AD) SL�s daily COVID-19 cases count could be several times higher than the official figures, says the Vice Chairman of Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) Dr. Manilka Sumanatilleke. Pointing out that the Delta variant of concern has a higher transmissibility, he said the actual number of virus-infected people who remain undetected can be five or six times higher. Dr. Sumanatilleke also noted that nearly 3 people more..

Aug 5 (Island) Minister Johnston Fernando says sinister political elements have disrupted children�s education again. Speaking to journalists after a progress review meeting at his Ministry yesterday, the Minister said that schools had been closed here following the outbreak of the global pandemic. �The teachers however tried their level best to teach the children by opting for online education. They did so despite many technical & financial challenges. Most of them even spent more..

Aug 5 (EN) Competitive tenders for about 190 MegaWatts of renewable power plants are stuck without ministerial approval, though the official policy is to expand non-carbon energy, engineers at the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board has revealed amid fears of a return to high cost �feed-in� tariffs. �The bid documents have been submitted for approval to the ministry of renewable power about 10 months ago,� CEB Engineers Union President Saumya Kumarawadu said. more..

Aug 5 (AD) The govt will not recall pregnant women in the public service to normal services with immediate effect, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana. Addressing the parliamentary session this afternoon (5), the state minister stated that a new circular in this regard will be issued by the Secretary to Public Services, Provincial Councils and Local Govt. In addition, the govt has decided to call back other employees in public service more..

Aug 5 (Island) SJB lawmaker Rohini Kumari Wijerathna yesterday contradicted Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena�s claim that nothing indecent had happened in the Chamber while he was in the Chair during the No- Confidence Motion (NCM) on the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill. The two-day debate was held on July 19 and 20. Reiterating that some SLPP members had sung dirty songs about her colleague Thalatha Atukorale, MP Wijeratne said that Speaker more..

Aug 5 (AD) An integrated homecare-based treatment program for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients is to commence from Monday. Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said that the program will be implemented island-wide. The treatment program will be carried out under medical supervision for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients who do not require hospitalization. COVID-19 outbreak continues to exhaust the country�s healthcare system. The aggravating pandemic situation more..

Aug 5 (DM) The Supreme Court today issued an Interim Order suspending the operation of Prevention of Terrorism Regulations No. 01 of 2021, which was published by way of a gazette notification on 12 March, 2021. Supreme Court 3-judge-bench comprising Justice Murdu Fernando, Justice Yasantha Kodagoda and Justice Shiran Gooneratna issued this order pursuant to three Fundamental Rights petitions challenging the legality of more..

Aug 5 (TM) Sri Lanka Police does not intend to carry forward cases of slight assault, abuse or threats between husband and wife to a court of law as such matters tend to be reconciled between partners in the respective police stations where such complaints are made, SDIG Ajith Rohana stated. He made these statements while participating in a talk show hosted by a local television network recently. Elaborating further, the Senior DIG mentioned that unlike European countries, more..

Aug 5 (CT) Due to an increase in COVID-19 patients, the demand for oxygen at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital has more than doubled. A few weeks ago, the hospital required 90-100 cylinders of oxygen per day, but this has now climbed to 180, and vans from the Jaffna Teaching Hospital are visiting the Anuradhapura Base Hospital three times a day to bring oxygen to support the patients infected with the virus. COVID-19 response director at the hospital more..

Aug 5 (DM) A programme will be formulated with a series of guidelines for the proper disposal of face masks used to protect against Covid-19, the Environment Ministry said. Tons of face masks used to provide protection against Covid pandemic are disposed of informally into the environment on a daily basis. As a result, urban canals and drainage systems become clogged, and they contaminate water sources, polluting water and causing harm to marine life. Therefore, the Consultative more..