Jul 19 (FT) We heard recently the prediction that if nothing untoward happens relative to our pandemic situation, September may see normalcy. However, the description of that normalcy for say tourism, is everyone arrives fully vaccinated, and then undergoes a 24-hour turnaround PCR test. All being well on that front, said tourists can go anywhere, tier 1 or otherwise (of all the blessedly ill-conceived ideas, this is one we cannot shed fast enough). The problem with the above statement is more..

Jul 19 (Island) An accomplice of the deceased drug trafficker and underworld figure, Makandure Madush, linked to a number of crimes, including six murders, was shot dead by STF commandos at Seeduwa yesterday. The deceased was identified as 44-year-old Lalith Wasantha Pinto, a criminal gang leader, wanted for six murders, multiple robberies and abductions. STF had received information regarding the suspect�s movements and had pursued the luxury vehicle more..

Jul 19 (AD) Police says that over 3,000 persons have been arrested in connection with illegal activities, during a special island-wide police operation. Senior DIG Ajith Rohana said the special operations was carried out on the night of July 17 and that a total of 14,927 police officers had participated in the operation along with 52 police dogs. A total of 3,009 suspects have been arrested in connection with illegal activities, he said. This includes 431 suspects arrested on suspicion, more..

Jul 19 (Island) Hiru anchor Chamuditha Samarawickrema has been told he was under investigation for undermining the govt�s reputation. After being summoned to Colombo Crime Division (CCD), recently Samarawickrema had been asked to furnish a statement in respect of his controversial comments on a govt move to import 100,000 kgs of ponni rice after having repeatedly claimed that it was having a surplus of staple, more..

Jul 19 (DN) Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), expressed optimism over the possibility of securing an industry-critical extension of the EU GSP+ programme after its most recent round of discussions with the State Ministry of Regional Cooperation. Taking place on July 16, the meeting was the third in a series of discussions initiated with the support of Minister Namal Rajapaksa and Tharaka Balasuriya, to create a platform for the industry to deliberate with key Govt officials more..

Jul 19 (DM) The all party conference which was summoned by the National Movement for Social Justice is a positive step as such a move to form a common platform is what people want today, UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene said yesterday. Mr. Wijewardene who spoke about Saturday�s conference said it is a good thing for the opposition parties to get on to a common platform to talk of issues faced by the people. �No political party in the opposition can go on its own and more..

Jul 19 (DM) Prez Rajapaksa today said that he will contest a second term at the next presidential election, making a u-turn from what he said earlier that he will hold the seat only for one term. Speaking to heads of the media institutions, Rajapaksa, in a surprising statement said he is willing to contest at the next presidential race. "Not only next three years, but there are five years after that for me to implement my policies," more..

Jul 19 (AD) 50% of the COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at Colombo National Hospital, reportedly, require oxygen therapy. Specialist physician Dr. Upul Dissanayake said that nearly 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 are currently receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. �There were only 100 [COVID-19 patients] two weeks ago. With the travel restrictions the figure went down to 100 from 160. However, now the numbers are going up. With that the patients that need oxygen is at 100 today. more..

Jul 19 (EN) SL has failed to sell 27% of a 64 billion rupee Treasuries auction despite a 01 basis point de facto policy rate which serves as a price control. The debt office, which is a unit of the central bank, sold 46.14 billion rupees of bills, heavily skewed towards 3-month tenor. 46.03 billion rupees of 3-month bills were sold at 5.22%, up 01 basis point from a week earlier, after offering 24 billion rupees. There were no sales of 6-month bills though there were 20.03 billion rupees of perfunctory bids. more..

Jul 19 (Island) The Mannar Wind Power Plant Complex should aim to produce 300MW to the national grid by 2025, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma has instructed the CEB top management. Minister Alahapperuma told The Island that their major task was to achieve 70% renewable energy target by 2030 set by Prez Rajapaksa. �We have to go all out to achieve this target in the best possible manner, and more..

Jul 19 (DM) China Eastern Airlines' flights from Colombo to Shanghai will be suspended for two weeks by China's civil aviation regulator from July 26. Flight MU232 was suspended after six passengers on another flight, MU714, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province, tested positive for COVID-19 on July 6, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said today. As MU714 was the return flight for MU232, Colombo-Shanghai more..

Jul 19 (FT) The SL Scout Association is hosting an International Cultural Jamboree under the theme Culturally One Scout World, the first of its kind in world scouting, on 16, 17 and 18 July on virtual platforms. The event is taking place in the form of presentations, live streaming, workshops and webinars. All scouts in SL with their families and over 100 countries are participating. The activities planned are Cultural � folk dances, songs; Food � traditional food, demonstrations on more..

Jul 19 (EN) A postmortem has revealed evidence of chronic vaginal penetration of the 16-year-old domestic aid at former minister Rishad Bathuideen�s private residence who succumbed to burn injuries last Thursday (15), police said. �We�re going to conduct further investigation into the death and the facts mentioned in the postmortem report,� police spokesman SDIG Ajith Rohana said in a statement Monday (19) morning. more..

Jul 19 (AD) Ministry of Education has announced dates for the practical examinations for candidates who sat for aesthetic subjects at the 2020 GCE O/L exam. Accordingly, the practical exams will be held from Aug 28 to Sept 8, 2021. Practices for the examinations are scheduled to be held in schools and students can be called in for practices for a period of month from July 26. The announcement made by the Ministry reads that school principals have made arrangement arrangements more..

Jul 19 (HT) Shikhar Dhawan-led Team India registered a comprehensive 7-wicket victory in the first ODI on Sunday to begin their tour of Sri Lanka. The team comprised of experience and youth outfoxed the hosts, successfully chasing down a 263-run target with 13.2 overs to spare. The Indian team has taken a 1-0 lead and will be eager to clinch the 3-match series when they lock horns with the Lankans on Tuesday. Meanwhile, former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja analysed the first ODI, more..

Jul 19 (EN) The detention of MP Rishad Bathuideen and alleged attempts to arrest MP Harin Fernando infringe upon the privileges of the entire parliament, former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said. He said that while MPs aren�t exempt from arrest, the House must be informed of the cause of a member�s detention. The ongoing detention of Bathiudeen, who was arrested recently over alleged links to 2019 Easter bombings, more..

Jul 19 (DM) Three precious gems in the possession of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority were brought under tight security by the STF to be kept in the safety locker of the Bank of Ceylon. It was decided to temporarily suspend all activities of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority in Kollupitiya due to the fact that the authority's building is in danger of collapsing. However, on the instructions of State Minister Lohan Ratwatte, National Gem and Jewellery Authority is currently functioning at more..

Jul 19 (AD) Ministry of Health says that 20-30% of COVID-19 infections reported from the Colombo District can be of the Delta variant. Deputy Director-General of Health Services said that this is revealed through the testing of samples collected from reported infections. �We find information on the variants only through the samples. We don�t carry out gene sequencing on every positive PCR result. Therefore, we don�t receive information on every COVID-19 patient identified. more..

Jul 19 (DN) SL�s mechanism to counter allegations of human rights abuses levelled against the country is totally inadequate and there needs to be a credible mechanism to counter these false allegations based on credible facts and figures, Human Rights expert Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa said. Testifying before the PCoI for Appraisal of the Findings of Previous Commissions and Committees and the Way Forward, more..

Jul 19 (CT) Among the countries that have to deal with the COVID-19 threat, SL was one that has yet to develop an adequate vaccine protocol, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said, raising concerns over the issue. The Opposition Leader said at the inaugural conference for an All-Party Coalition of the Opposition organised by the National Movement for Social Justice, that the Govt had different rules for the Opposition, the ruling party, anti-govt protestors, govt officials and civilians. more..

Jul 19 (TM) Laugfs Gas has made a decision to stop all imports due to difficulties faced in opening Letters of Credit (LCs) and the accumulation of losses. Founder and the Executive Chairman of Laugfs Holdings Limited W.K.H. Wegapitiya stated that the company was slowly pushing towards making this decision. �This is not a decision that we looked forward to making. We have been lobbying with every responsible person including the Prez of the country to no avail, it was a natural decision,� more..

Jul 19 (CT) Debunking reports that a ship arriving to unload oil was diverted due to the lack of foreign exchange, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said the Opposition is attempting to mislead the public by staging dramas in front of the Media and challenged them to reveal the name of the ship and the company from which the oil was purchased. He also said if there were an oil shortage in the country, Ministry of Energy would hold more..

Jul 19 (DM) Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said today there was no plan to arrest SJB MP Harin Fernando but added Fernando had a duty to provide information of the mastermind of the Easter Sunday attack to the CID if he knew about him as he claimed. �MP Fernando had claimed that he was aware of the mastermind of the Easter Sunday attack. He has a right to provide information to the CID for the sake of national security. If he is not willing to do so, we have no issue,� more..

Jul 19 (Island) Various parties had managed to divert attention from the ecological damage caused by the dredging of the Tissamaharama tank by highlighting the fact that the Chinese nationals engaged in dredging operations were wearing clothes similar to a military uniform, Sajeewa Chamikara of Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) said. Tissamaharama tank and several adjoining tanks were the nucleus of SL�s first sanctuary. The area is protected by the Flora and Fauna Protection more..

Jul 19 (DM) Attorney General today told the court that the prosecution is expecting to hear the first CB bond scam that took place in Feb 2015 in the absentia of former CB Governor Arjun Mahendran, if he cannot be brought here under the extradition laws. Additional Solicitor General Priyantha Nawana appearing for the AG informed Colombo Permanent Trial-at-Bar that AG's dept has already been sent documents to more..

Jul 19 (TM) Colombo Magistrate�s Court has refused to grant bail to the owner of a website and its money manager who have been remanded in custody for publishing advertisements of a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly raped. When the complaint was taken before Colombo Additional Magistrate Lochani Abeywickrema today, the lawyers representing the two suspects had requested that their clients be released on bail. Officials of the Women and Children�s Bureau objected to the request more..

Jul 19 (EN) Sri Lanka�s education ministry has postponed two prominent school-level examinations in the country, the GCE Advance Level (A-Level) exam and the Grade 5 scholarship exams, to November 2021. Education Minister Prof G L Peiris told reporters Monday (19) that the 2021 A/Ls that were supposed to be held in October have been pushed back to November due to COVID-19 situation in the country. The A/L exams will now take place from Nov 15 to Dec 10, he said. more..

Jul 20 (Island) Prez Rajapaksa has indicated his desire to seek a second term. He showed his hand at a meeting with a group of media heads yesterday. Asked whether he thought he would be able to accomplish his ambitious mission within the next three years, the Prez reportedly said he had eight more years, meaning the remainder of his current term plus five more years. He has made no revelation, though. Not many people may have bought into claims being made in political more..

Jul 20 (DM) The political storm created by the arrest of teacher trade union activists and political activists on July 8 is still continuing. Demonstrations are being held even after the release of General Secretary of the CTU, Joseph Stalin and the politburo member of the FSP Duminda Nagamuwa on July 16 from quarantine centres in Mullaitivu and Pallekelle respectively. The facts that they were taken to quarantine centres without them being proved to be infected with coronavirus or more..

Jul 20 (SLN) SL Navy managed to seize about 139kg and 100g of Kerala cannabis, during a special operation conducted in northern waters off Thondamanaru, Jaffna on 19th July 2021. The consignment was dumped at sea by the smugglers without being able to fetch them ashore due to naval operations in the area. The Navy has been fully watchful and conducting regular operations in island waters to thwart nefarious activities including the smuggling of drugs by sea. more..

Jul 20 (Island) The debate on the no-confidence motion against the Minister Udaya Gammanpila began in Parliament yesterday on the wrong foot with SJB MP S.M. Marikkar making a vital procedural omission. MP Marikkar was to move the motion for the debate and his senior party man Kegalle District SJB MP Kabir Hahim was listed to second it. MP Marikkar used the time allocated for the moving of the motion to blame the govt and Minister Gammanpila yet did not move more..

Jul 20 (Island) One-time Executive Director of the election monitoring outfit CAFFE Keerthi Tennakoon says the Election Commission (EC) is in turmoil with over a dozen public servants being transferred under controversial circumstances. Tennakoon, who served as Governor of Uva, Southern and Central Provinces during Maihripala Sirisena�s tenure as the President, insists that recent spate of transfers and more..

Jul 20 (DM) Over 300 policemen have been infected with COVID-19, weeks after both doses of vaccines had been administered on them, the Daily Mirror learns from informed sources. Police Department has sent a letter to the health experts, raising concerns over the situation, but have mentioned that none of the infected policemen are suffering from severe symptoms of the virus. Health officials have in turn informed the Police dept, that while vaccinations can prevent a severe form of more..

Jul 20 (DM) The No Confidence Motion moved by the SJB against Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila was an unwise decision made by the SJB without realizing political changes, National Peoples� Power MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today. He told Parliament that this no confidence motion was a political decision and called it a media show. He said this had only united the groups within the Govt, which had started to criticize the Govt for several of its decisions. more..

Jul 20 (EN) Both the UNP and the NPP will vote in favour of a no confidence motion against energy minister Udaya Gammanipla Tuesday (20), MPs said, though neither party believes the move to be politically sound. Former prime minister, UNP leader and the party�s sole representative Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament Tuesday that he will vote in favour of the motion though he is of the view that more..

Jul 20 (AD) CID has arrested a 31-year-old over commercial sexual exploitation of a foreign woman, says Senior DIG Ajith Rohana. The suspect, who is a resident of Wellawatte area, had brought the 36-year-old Uzbekistani woman in question to Sri Lanka on the pretext of providing employment, however, he had later forced her into prostitution. Probes into the matter were initiated based on a complaint filed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), police spokesman said further. more..

Jul 20 (EN) SL�s Financial Intelligence Unit, which implements anti-money laundering and terror finance laws has fined two banks for failing to meet customer due diligence rules. The FIY said it had fined Union Bank of Colombo 2.0 million rupees on May 28 and DFCC Bank 1 million on May 31, 2021. The full statement is reproduced below" By virtue of the powers vested under Section 19 (1) read together with section 19 (2) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 06 of 2006 more..