Dec 11 (FT) COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 40,102 persons on Thursday and 74.19% of the country�s population has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 64.07% of the population. As of 8 December, 94.2% of the population over 20 years had received both vaccine doses. 15,950,998 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 13,779,835 persons have received the second dose. more..

Dec 11 (FT) Ethos Management Inc. � USA yesterday announced a new long-term financing partnership with Liberty Reit, a Singapore registered company and SL hotel and property developer. Ethos and Liberty Reit have been working together closely in recent months structuring the overall investment with a significant capital infusion of $ 65 million, which will continue for several years. Ethos President/CEO Carlos Santos said: more..

Dec 11 (MFA) Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Tenzin Lekphell paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Prof. G.L Peiris and briefed on his first official visit to SL. SL is the Chair of BIMSTEC (since 2018), and the Minister assured SL�s commitment to furthering the goals of the regional organization. Thanking the Govt of SL for hosting his visit the Secretary General informed that SL has achieved much during its tenure more..

Dec 11 (SLN) The ship�s crew of P 627 joined the 71st anniversary celebrations of SL Navy in Seattle, US on 09th Dec. SL Navy acquired the ship from the US Coast Guard in the month of October this year. SL Navy officially took the delivery of the EX-United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Douglas Munro on 26th Oct under the pennant number P 627. The ship crew is currently undergoing training and engaged in acquisition formalities, maintenance, scheduled repairs and installations of the ship more..

Dec 11 (Island) Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd) Dr. Sarath Weerasekara told Parliament yesterday that SJB MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka had made use of parliamentary privileges to sling mud at others. Responding to certain allegations raised by Field Marshal Fonseka in Parliament on Thursday the Minister said Fonseka had criticised him in a very degrading manner and in Parliament on Thursday. �Either he is afraid of me or he is jealous of me. more..

Dec 11 (FT) Sri Lanka�s COVID-19 case count rose to 571,426 with the detection of 754 COVID-19 positive persons yesterday. Patients detected yesterday include 752 persons from the New Year cluster and two overseas arrivals. 9,767 PCR tests were conducted. The previous day, 7,580 PCR tests and 4,971 rapid antigen tests were conducted. COVID-19 patients detected on Thursday include 743 persons from the New Year cluster and one SL overseas arrival. more..

Dec 11 (Island) Civil society activist Oshala Herath has sought Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya�s intervention to expedite investigations into a complaint he lodged with the CID on Nov 1, 2020, as regards SJB lawmaker Diana Gamage being a British passport holder. The SJB accommodated the former actress on its National List following the last parliamentary election in Aug 2020. MP Gamage has since switched more..

Dec 11 (CT) Dambulla Giants and Galle Gladiators will share a point each after the 8th match of the Lanka Premier League was called off due to heavy rain in Colombo yesterday. Galle Gladiators are now leading the points table with five points from four matches, while Dambulla Giants sit behind them in second spot. The match was called off following incessant rain after Galle Gladiators had shortly commenced their innings facing 1.2 overs in reply to their opponents 159 for 7 off 20 overs. more..

Dec 11 (Island) Sadeesha Rajapaksha�s first half century for SL U-19s was in vain as England U-19s won the final Youth ODI of the five-match series by 48 runs at the SSC Ground on Friday. Apart from Rajapaksha, Abishek Liyanaarachchi and Sakuna Liyanage, were the only batsmen to top 20 runs as the hosts were bowled out for 166 runs in pursuit of a target of 215 runs. England U19s skipper Tom Prest grabbed 6 wickets as hosts were bowled out with many overs remaining in their innings. more..

Dec 11 (EN) Sri Lanka is facing foreign reserve crisis but all debt due in 2022 will be repaid, Minister Basil Rajapaksa said as forex reserves held by the island�s Latin America style central bank fell to one month of imports. �I explained in the budget the crises facing the country,� Minister Rajapaksa told parliament at the conclusion of a debate on the 2022 budget. �On that basis, I will not try to challenge the several opposition more..

Dec 11 (FT) A three-member team from the Export Import (Exim) Bank of India visited Sri Lanka from 7 to 9 Dec to review the progress of Polgahawela and Aluthgama Integrated water supply projects, being implemented under the Buyer�s Credit facilities under the National Export Insurance Account (BC-NEIA) Program. The team, which included General Manager Shilpa Waghmare, Assistant General Manager Mitali Pendharkar, and Chief Manager Ranjan Roy, paid a courtesy call on Indian more..

Dec 11 (DN) Brand new Electric vehicle imports would be the top priority by the govt when it decides to allow the imports of auto vehicles, said Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Anil Jasinghe. He said that globally Sri Lanka has come into high praise as it maintains a very high standard when it comes to controlling emissions. �We want to better it and this is why the President is keen to power the nation with 70% alternative energy sources by 2030 and become net zero by 2050. more..

Dec 11 (EN) Stocks gained 1.92% on Friday (09), boosted by strong retail and upward momentum in Expolanka, brokers said. �Market witnessed another buoyant session on Friday (10) with both indices marking new milestones amid recording a higher turnover.� a Colombo based broker said. �With export businesses continues to gain, construction related manufacturing stocks also saw higher activity during the session and ended with decent gains� Brokers said, LOLC group companies more..

Dec 11 (AD) UN Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG), UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Kanni Wignaraja will arrive on Dec 13, for a five-day official visit to Sri Lanka. ASG Kanni Wignaraja is visiting SL with the aim of better understanding country priorities and exploring new avenues of support from UNDP to Sri Lanka�particularly focusing on follow up to the recently concluded UN Climate Change Conference COP26, more..

Dec 11 (GN) The provincial govt of Pakistan�s Punjab region has decided to conduct the trial pertaining to the mob lynching of Priyantha Kumara, a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot, on a daily basis. This was decided in a meeting of the provincial cabinet committee on law and order presided over by Law Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja. The committee directed the investigators to file the case challan in court within 14 days. more..

Dec 11 (SLN) A special operation mounted by the Navy in international waters led to intercept a foreign fishing vessel carrying a large consignment of narcotics, with 06 suspects aboard. After several days of continuous surveillance in the international waters about 900 nautical miles (about 1665km) south of SL, this operation was carried out by the SL Navy with the assistance of the Police Narcotic Bureau, based on information received. The drug carrying vessel along with 6 foreign suspects more..

Dec 11 (Island) Prez Rajapaksa instructed the members of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control to complete administering booster doses within the next two weeks to control the spread of COVID-19 during the coming festive season. Prez made these remarks during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control. All those who have completed three months after receiving the second dose are eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine as the booster dose. more..

Dec 11 (CT) Ministry of Power & Renewable Energy stated on Friday, the Cabinet had not suspended or cancelled the three hybrid energy Power Projects awarded to China, despite claims by the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, officially communicated on Twitter, that they have been suspended. Ministry Spokesperson Sulakshana Jayawardena informed, Cabinet approved the project, after it was awarded to China's Sino more..

Dec 11 (CT) Sri Lanka is presently recording the highest retail prices in food items since 2019, according to Advocata Institute. The Colombo-based think-tank�s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI) tracks monthly price changes in a basket of commonly consumed food. Since 2019, prices have increased by 44%, according to the BCI. An average family spent Rs. 960 weekly on the BCI basket of food items in Nov 2019. Now Rs. 1,390 has to be paid for the same basket of goods. more..

Dec 11 (EN) The US has named two SL Navy officers among 12 govt officials from countries like involved in human rights abuses in Uganda, China, Belarus and anti-drug officers in Bangladesh. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said action was being taken under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriation Act, 2021 �This law provides that in cases where there is credible information that officials of foreign govts more..

Dec 11 (FT) JVP ruffled feathers in Parliament by tabling a purported agreement signed between the Govt and the US�s New Fortress Energy on the Yugadanavi Power Plant. JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake�s move was made after the Govt refused or failed to do so despite a request made many months ago. Tabling of the agreement by Dissanayake was also despite the MP saying a clause in it bound the two parties not to more..

Dec 11 (FT) The bizarre confection of panic and lack of lethality that is Omicron has essentially laid to rest any rationale for compulsory, mass vaccination. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intoned her disquiet about the low vaccination rate of the EU. The rationale? There are allegedly lifesaving vaccines but they are not being used adequately. Exercise is lifesaving. Cutting down sugar is lifesaving. Are these mandates next? Or only those that profit Pfizer and pals? more..

Dec 11 (CT) Colombo Chief Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala, on the advice of Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, on Friday, released BBS General Secretary and head of the Presidential Task Force on One Country, One Law, Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera, from the case where he had been charged with denigrating the Islamic faith and the Holy Quran. When the case was taken up, the Organised Crimes Detection Bureau (OCDB) told the Magistrate that the AG had advised more..

Dec 11 (FT) Pakistanis will always be a poor, exploited, miserable population where fighting over religion and ethnicity will be the norm. The country can never extricate itself from this deeply inward and backward world view that most of its leaders and people hold as sanctity. Sialkot was a dramatic reminder of a grim reality that has grabbed the nation. Very specifically, unless a cosmopolitan educated leader like Imran Khan makes a revolution, Pakistan, unless on guard, will consume itself more..

Dec 11 (Island) BMICH has implemented SAP Business One HANA Enterprise Resource Planning Solution to streamline and automate processes which creates more visibility to the core operations. The PBSS Group was selected to facilitate the implementation and plans to complete by January 2022 bringing all operations processes to a single platform. SAP Business One HANA with Version 10 implementation will facilitate Dash Boards and KPIs to monitor the operations of BMICH more..

Dec 11 (EN) Chairman of Board of Investment Sanjaya Mohottala has resigned despite the refusal of Prez Rajapaksa to accept his resignation. �After a meeting held this week with His Excellency the President, the Chairman of the BOI re-iterated his desire to step down from his post,� a statement from the agency said. �The Chairman further said that he was grateful to His Excellency for placing highest confidence more..

Dec 11 (AD) A meeting between the leader of the Bohra community, His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin Saheb, and Prez Rajapaksa took place at the President�s private residence in Mirihana this morning. Nearly one million members of the Bohra community live in a number of countries including India, Pakistan, US, the United Kingdom, Canada, SL and Australia. His Holiness Saifuddin said he was pleased to visit Sri Lanka which is one of the countries he loves and added that more..

Dec 11 (EN) SL is in talk with Qatar for a central bank swaps of over a billion US dollars, to boost the island�s flagging reserves, State Minister of Finance Shehan Samarasinghe said. �We are working with the central bank of Qatar to have swap facilities of over a billion US dollars with our central bank,� Semasinghe told parliament. He said a 400 million US dollar swap under India�s SAARC facility was also under discussion with India. SL had also requested another US$ 1b swap from India. more..

Dec 11 (EN) SL�s tea and rubber growing companies are still stuck for agro-chemicals despite an official end to an import ban while fertilizer prices have rocketed, a grouping from plantations managers said. �While we appreciate the govt�s eventual decision to allow our industry to acquire fertiliser, plant nutrition is only one of the several key requirements of the plantation industry,� Roshan Rajadurai spokesman for more..

Dec 11 (TM) During his first courtesy call on PM Mahinda Rajapaksa since recently assuming duties in Sri Lanka as the new Ambassador of Japan, Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki said that the Govt of Japan is interested in attracting skilled workers from SL. In the past few years, Sri Lanka and Japan signed two MoUs on both low-skilled and specified-skilled worker recruitment to Japan. According to the Foreign Ministry, under the Specified Skilled Worker Recruitment Program (SSWRP), more..

Dec 11 (TM) The military funeral of late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India General Bipin Rawat and his spouse Mrs Madhulika Rawat took place this afternoon (10) with full military honours at Brar Crematorium in Dhaula Quan, New Delhi, amidst Ministerial delegates, Foreign Diplomats, both foreign and local high ranking military dignitaries, Indian government administrators, Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force Staff of the Indian Armed Forces, Senior Tri Service Officers, more..

Dec 11 (DM) The ancient palace of King Parakramabahu and the surrounding historical sites with an archaeological value in Wasgamuwa Reserve are at present dominated by treasure hunters. Residents of Kirioya, Atharagalla and Kumara Ella allege that those who are engaged in treasure hunting are not treasure hunters, but personnel from Army�s Special Force. These personnel are excavating for treasures more..

Dec 11 (CT) Although there are currently sufficient stocks of milk powder in the market, there could be a shortage in milk powder in the future due to the shortage of USD, Member of the Milk Powder Importers� Association (MPIA) Lakshman Weerasuriya said. He added the dollar shortage has resulted in the inability to pay suppliers while stating that although this has been communicated to the authorities and banks, there has not been any solution to the USD shortage. more..

Dec 11 (DM) Five DIGs including DIG in charge of Crimes Division have been transferred with immediate effect, police said. They said Secretary to the Public Security and Public Service Commission has approved the transfers based on service requirements. Accordingly, Acting DIG in charge of the Crime Division, H. Samudrajeewa has been transferred as DIG in charge of the Kilinochchi District while DIG in charge of the Nuwara Eliya District, V.G.D.A. Karunaratne has been more..

Dec 11 (TM) Under the provisions of Section 12 (1) of the Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed new members to the Right to Information Commission, as confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Kingsly Rathnayaka. The new officers are as follows: SC Judge Upali Abeyratne � Member and Chairman Jagath Bandara Liyana Arachchi � Member Kishali Pinto Jayawardena � Member Rohini Walgama � Member Dr. Athulasiri Samarakoon � more..

Dec 11 (AD) Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 22 more novel coronavirus-related deaths for December 10, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,595. The deaths reported today include 15 males and 07 females. Six of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 16 are in the age group of 60 years and above. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry announced that another 577 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 today. more..