Jul 17 (DN) SL's sole gymnast for the Olympic Games 2020, Milka Gehani de Siva has received another two-year extension for her sports scholarship to train in Japan. Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of SL (NOCSL), Maxwell de Silva said they have secured another two-year term for De Silva to continue her training in Japan. He said De Silva�s current two-year sports scholarship in Japan will end after the 2020 Olympics next month and they have been more..

Jul 17 (FT) The Director-General of Health Services on Thursday confirmed 41 COVID-19 deaths, of which 29 were above the age of 60 and 12 were between ages 30 and 59. 75.14% of all COVID-19 fatalities have been in the above 60 age category while 23.55% are between ages 30 and 59 and 1.31% are in the below 30 age category. Of the 41 deaths confirmed on Thursday, 23 were male and 18 were female. In total, 2,154 COVID-19 fatalities are male & 1,548 COVID-19 fatalities are female. more..

Jul 17 (TM) Vallibel Finance recorded a profit before tax of Rs. 2.3 billion which was an increase of 28.3% in 2020/21 and its profit after tax soared to Rs. 1.7 b from Rs. 1.2 b in the previous year, supported by an aggressive strategy to optimise costs, focus on collections, and seek new business avenues, all the while supporting customers to tide over the crisis. The strong management expertise in the company is evidenced in non-performing loans ratio improved to 4.48% from 5.01% in the previous year more..

Jul 17 (ICC) The ICC announced the groups for the ICC Men�s T20 World Cup 2021 to be hosted by the BCCI in Oman and the UAE from 17 Oct to 14 Nov. The groups, selected on the basis of team rankings as of 20 March 2021, see defending champions the West Indies pooled along with former champions England, Australia and South Africa in Group 1 of the Super 12s, with two qualifiers from Round 1 joining them. more..

Jul 17 (CT) Foreign Direct Investments into the country after a considerable time frame has shown some improvement following some promotional activities by the Govt as evident by an increase of 5.3% in inflows during the first three months of this year. According to data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, during the first three months (Q1) the country received only USD 198 million as FDI, up 5.3 per cent compared to USD 188 million received a year earlier. more..

Jul 17 (ST) Govt�s mid-day meal programme for schoolchildren has come to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a teachers� trade union. Ceylon Teachers Union�s Nuwara Eliya District Secretary V. Indraselvan said that as a result of the mid-day meal programme not being implemented due to the closure of schools, poor children had become emaciated without proper nutritious food. He noted that during the pandemic�s first wave, dry rations were distributed among more..

Jul 17 (FT) Foreign selling at the Colombo stock market aggravated yesterday, reaffirming a trend so far this month, pushing the year to date figure to Rs. 31 billion. The bourse saw Rs. 1.12 billion in net foreign selling largely on account of Cargills (Ceylon) Plc, which pushed the month to date figure to Rs. 4.57 billion and year to date to surpass the Rs. 31 billion mark. The surpassing of the Rs. 26 bil to Rs. 31 bil threshold more..

Jul 17 (CT) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced that Nawaloka Hospitals PLC has been chosen as the Official Health Care Partner of Sri Lanka Cricket, for a period of 3 years, effective 1 June 2021, in a media release. Under the latest sponsorship, Nawaloka Hospitals - apart from the sponsorship fee - will also provide numerous health care benefits to SLC during the tenure of the partnership. Nawaloka will also provide first aid training for nominated personnel of SLC as and when requested. more..

Jul 17 (DM) Following an arrest of three boys of leading schools in Horana in connection with breaking into several shops, the police had found a number of pornographic videos recorded by them inside a stolen computer. The Anguruwatota Police arrested the students who are of 16 years old, residents of Dombagoda and Batagoda areas for breaking into eight shops and stealing more than Rs. 4 million worth of mobile phones, laptops and other items. The three students were arrested more..

Jul 17 (Island) Given that variants of concern, like Delta, were spreading in the country, the govt could not depend on vaccination alone to control the spread of COVID-19, the GMOA said yesterday. GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Navin de Zoysa said that not enough attention had been paid to the spread of variants, like Delta. �The govt must adopt a holistic approach when it decided to reopen the country. I think there is this feeling that we can open up the country after vaccinating people. more..

Jul 17 (CT) Sports Ministry will pay USD 15000 each for the three athletes who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics Games from Sri Lanka, while six others who received invitation entries will receive USD 10,000 each. Accordingly, Yupun Abeykoon, the only SL athlete to qualify by World Ranking, and the two females, Mathilda Karlsson and Milka Gehani, who qualified by regional ranking quota, will receive the USD 15,000 and their coaches will receive USD 5,000 each. more..

Jul 17 (TM) The decision of the Ministry of Environment in order to ban lunch sheets and polythene bags in Sri Lanka is expected to come into effect from 1 Jan 2022. Central Environmental Authority (CEA) Chairman Siripala Amarasinghe, stated: �We have not planned to implement the ban (on lunch sheets and polythene) immediately, however, we have decided to issue a Gazette notification prior to the date of the ban while more..

Jul 17 (Island) The Secretary-General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake says 13 parliamentary committees, including the COPE are scheduled to meet during the next three weeks. The National Film Corporation has been summoned before the COPE on July 19 under the chairmanship of Prof. Charitha Herath. The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Highways is scheduled to meet on the same day under the chairmanship of the Minister Johnston Fernando. more..

Jul 17 (DM) Clarifying the reports that confiscated canned fish was sold through Lanka Sathosa following a Cabinet decision, its Chairman Rear Admiral (Retd) Ananda Peiris said Lanka Sathosa was selling a number of food items confiscated by the SLPA after Food Control Unit at the SLPA approved them for human consumption. He said that a decision was taken to paste a sticker covering the brand name and name of the local trader as he opposed to the stock of canned fish more..

Jul 17 (FT) COVID-19 detections yesterday rose to 282,060 with the detection of 1,517 COVID-19 positive persons. Concerns have also been raised about the spread of the Delta variant as it was confirmed on Thursday that 11 persons with the variant have been detected within Colombo city limits. �It was confirmed [on Thursday] that 11 persons within the Colombo city limits have been detected with the Delta variant. more..

Jul 17 (CT) Colombo Additional Magistrate Lochani Abeywickrema, on Friday (16), ordered the Police Children and Women�s Bureau (PCWB) to conduct a probe on how the 15-year-old child had been trafficked to several areas in the country, particularly at a time when travel between Provinces had been prohibited due to the spread of the COVID-19. Accordingly, she ordered the PCWB to investigate on whose orders the child had been transported, where she had been sexually molested and more..

Jul 17 (Island) Ten children admitted to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children had died of COVID-19 since March 2020, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, the Director of LRH said. He added that negligence of parents and family members was the main reason why children contracted the disease. �Many people now think that there is nothing to be worried about once they are inoculated. This is not how it works. You maybe fully vaccinated, but your infant isn�t. This is not to say vaccination is not important. more..

Jul 17 (Island) TNA leader R. Sampanthan has told US Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz that the provincial council system is not enough to resolve the issues faced by the Tamils in the North and East and that both provinces must be merged and administered by the Tamil people. Sampanthan yesterday told the media that they had had a lengthy discussion with Teplitz about the promises made by the govt to int'l community on resolving the issues faced by more..

Jul 17 (FT) If you have seen it once, you�ve seen it literally dozens of times. In a climate of paranoia, one takes care not to exaggerate the incidence by assuming it�s hundreds of times, or even thousands of protestors. Because the reality � or not � of the issue at hand is possibly part of the question of State insecurity at citizen unrest. News is often not simply what happens; it�s also what stations and their audiences (to say nothing of the Law) make of it. With that being said, more..

Jul 17 (DN) Defence Secretary Gen. (Rtd.) Kamal Gunaratne, responding to the media regarding the recent damage to Mannar�s religious shrines, stated that directives were given to the law-enforcing agencies to conduct an inquiry with immediate effect to arrest all those involved. He also pledged every action would be taken to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents in future by executing legal proceedings against the wrongdoers. He was speaking at an inspection tour made at more..

Jul 17 (AD) Veteran lyricist and journalist Camillus Perera, who penned many popular songs, has passed away at the ae of 74. After being bed-ridden for a few years, Mr. Perera drew his last breath this afternoon at his residence at Kalyani Road in Wattala. Final rites of Mr. Perera are expected to be performed at the Wattala Catholic Cemetery. Camillus Perera was the composer of more than 400 songs including Himi Nethi Pemakata, Unmaadawu Premadare, Vasana Wewa, more..

Jul 17 (Island) The US is a land of conspiracy theories just like this pandemic-hit isle, where conspiracy theorists see more devils than vast hell can hold. A wag says that luckily Isaac Newton was neither American nor Sri Lankan; otherwise, upon being bonked on the head by that epoch-making apple, he would have run away as fast as his legs could carry him, and concocted a conspiracy theory, and the theory of gravitation would not have come about. One of the old conspiracy theories in more..

Jul 17 (EN) Health ministry says fully vaccinated travellers don�t require to undergo a second PCR test on the seventh day from July 18 onwards if their on-arrival tests results are negative. A previous directive published by the health ministry required all passengers to undergo a PCR test on the seventh day after arrival. On arrival, travellers must stay at a Level 1 hotel until the PCR test results are cleared. New amended directive published on July 15 more..

Jul 17 (SLN) SL Navy managed to seize about 103kg and 750g of Kerala cannabis, during a special operation conducted in northern waters off Kankesanthurai, Jaffna in the dark hours on 15th July 2021. The operation also led to the apprehension of 03 suspects and a dinghy in connection to the racket. Navy has been conducting regular operations in island-waters to curb wide-ranging illegal activities, including the smuggling of drugs, taking place via sea routes. more..

Jul 17 (DM) It was revealed that the girl working at the house of former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen in Borella, who died of burn injuries, was brought to the house as a domestic helper when she was 15 years old. SDIG Ajith Rohana said the police has decided to conduct further investigations into the girl's death on the content of the post moterm report. The girl, a resident of Dayagama Estate, off Talawakelle was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital on July 3 with burn injuries & breathed last on July 15. more..

Jul 17 (AD) Prez Rajapaksa says existing obstacles in the UGC Act will be eliminated and the Kotelawala Defence Uni (KDU) too will be brought under its purview. This remark came during the 11th meeting with the Buddhist Advisory Council held at the Presidential Secretariat, on Friday. Prez has briefed the Maha Sangha on the measures taken by the govt to control the spread of COVID-19 including its vaccination drive and KDU Bill. more..

Jul 17 (EN) Sri Lanka had produced 30.38 million kilograms of tea in May 2021, up 5.8% or 1.77 million higher from 28.60 million kilograms a year earlier, industry data showed. Sri Lanka produced a total of 30.1 million kilos of black tea, up by 1.6 million kilos from a year ago year while total green tea grew 0.2 million kilos to 0.1 million in May 2020. In the five months to May 2021 SL had produced 134.72 million kilograms up 30.6 percent from 103.11 million kilograms a year earlier, more..

Jul 17 (ST) With the govt reiterating that the chemical fertiliser ban will continue for years to come, the demand for compost and other organic fertiliser is on the rise � especially in the North. Before the ban on chemical fertiliser came into effect, a lorry load of livestock compost sold between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 � but now it has skyrocketed to Rs 60,000. The recent demand for compost in the market saw more people, particularly unemployed young graduates and more..

Jul 17 (ST) As the country limps back to normalcy with the relaxation of restrictions, struggling sectors have called for the national vaccination programme to include their members and staff so that they can provide services. State services, businesses transport providers and other industries gradually resumed operations after nearly two-and-a-half months of restrictions following the third wave of the virus, which broke out after more..

Jul 17 (DM) The govt will deal with openness and transparency regarding the issues of human rights and reconciliation, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena assured the activists of the civil organisations and NGOS of the country. Speaking at a meeting with the activists of the civil organisations and NGOS, Foreign Minister said that the govt will deal with openness and transparency regarding the issues of human rights and reconciliation among ethnicities that have arisen on int'l front. more..

Jul 17 (Island) So far more than a Rs. 30 billion foreign outflow has been reported from the CSE, while last year the foreign outflow was Rs. 48 billion. On the other hand, CNBC (Singapore) quoting a JPMorgan strategist report said that the best time to buy Asian stocks could be now. Mixo Das, Asia equity strategist at the bank said US markets have been hitting record levels while Europe and Japan are approaching their all-time highs. However, Asian markets have not seen the same trend. more..

Jul 17 (ST) Several special operations units are to be established to crack down on rising incidents of drug trafficking, extortion and crimes committed against children. The new units will be established by IGP Chandana Wickramaratne on the instructions of Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara, said newly appointed SDIG � Crimes and Traffic, and Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana. more..

Jul 17 (ST) The govt this week again came under sustained pressure to release information about the damage caused by the oil spill and release of toxic chemicals and plastic caused by the X-Press Pearl ship disaster. Environmentalist Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thera said he wrote to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) last week pointing out that if the extent of the damage is known experts would be able to take more..

Jul 17 (CI) And now, some cricket. Since last year, scheduling has become a challenge unlike any other period. It rubbed off on this series too, which was to begin much earlier this week, and the players will be relieved to take the field. None more so than the SL players, who have not only had to deal with the pressure of bubbles and positive tests, but also the additional burden of off-field drama. Questions of player compensation, continuity, leadership, communication, administration - more..

Jul 17 (CI) With SL having named an incredibly inexperienced squad - even compared to India's second-string side - the hosts need plenty of the lesser-known players to make big contributions through the series. Here are five who could play that role. Pathum Nissanka: 23 years old, top-order batter: Of all the batters to arrive at the top level over the last two years, none has come more highly touted than Pathum Nissanka. more..

Jul 17 (TM) MP and Leader of the ACMC Rishad Bathiudeen, who is currently being detained by the CID under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been admitted to the National Hospital in the Colombo District. Senior DIG Ajith Rohana stated that Bathiudeen informed CID officers that he was unwell before he was taken to the outpatient department of the Colombo National Hospital. Further medical examinations resulted in Bathiudeen being admitted to ETU of the Hospital. more..

Jul 17 (CT) Inter-provincial train services, including trains in operation for commuters travelling for essential services, have been suspended from Saturday (17). Accordingly, 15 trains scheduled to operate, were cancelled due to the risk of COVID-19 spread. �On 16 July, instructions were given to the General Manager of Railways through the Ministry of Transport to cancel all trains operating between provinces from 17 July. Although the Railways Dept operated several trains from 14 July, more..