Jun 30 (TM) The company involved in the Chinese Joint Venture (JV) to clean the country�s irrigation tanks has sought permission from the Archaeology Department on 28 June, following allegations that the first phase of the project at the Tissa/Tissamaharama Wewa was done without prior permission from the Department. The controversial project, which was launched earlier this month, is currently on hold following concerns raised by the Archaeology Department. more..

Jun 30 (FT) With my experience, based on 45 years of hands-on, direct experience in the tea industry, I wish to issue a dire warning about the SL tea industry: If inorganic fertiliser is withdrawn, the productivity of SL�s tea lands will certainly decline to uneconomic levels. This will lead to a severe drop in foreign exchange earnings, resulting in a drastic decline in the earning capacity of all owners of tea lands � including tea smallholders which account for the majority of production & employment. more..

Jun 30 (FT) The economic consequences of the corona pandemic are always unpredictable. There are many challenges for any nation and how you convert that into an opportunity is critical. In this context, we can see Sri Lanka elevating from 94 (in the year 2020) to 87 in the year 2021 in country ranking in Sustainable Development Goals. As per United Nations, �The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared more..

Jun 30 (DM) The message of Basil Rajapaksa entering Parliament as a national list MP has instilled fear among the members of SJB, UNP and JVP. They are more scared than to coronavirus, SLPP MP Dilan Perera said. He said that, despite the current COVID issue and the recent fuel price hike, the main topic of the opposition and the media now is Basil Rajapaksa. If a political opponent is afraid of the decision to appoint Basil Rajapaksa as a national list MP, he believes more..

Jun 30 (Island) The health authorities were yet to implement a proper scheme to inoculate workers at major Export Processing Zones (EPZ), concerned companies alleged. They said that although the issue had been taken up at various levels and ministerial assurances given, sufficient stocks of vaccines hadn�t been made available to EPZ. One of the worst affected was the Biyagama Zone, they alleged, urging the govt to prioritize the inoculation drive. more..

Jun 30 (TM) Contrary to its earlier statements of abandoning the plan to import rice and introducing price controls instead, Ministry of Trade said that the import option remains on the table, and the Ministry is hoping to go ahead with it, as earlier planned. Ministry of Trade Secretary Bhadranie Jayawardhana said: �We called on bids for rice imports,� implying that the plan to import 100,000 MT of rice will be implemented, more..

Jun 30 (DN) Minister Johnston Fernando said that eight European nations including Germany and Switzerland have pledged their assistance and solidarity with the govt�s plans to switch from chemical to organic fertilizers. He was speaking to the media during an inspection tour to observe the progress of the Wayamba Canal Development Project Polpithigama. "Prez Rajapaksa and Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage informed the Cabinet meeting on Monday more..

Jun 30 (EN) Veteran media personality and former parliamentarian Hudson Samarasinghe has been appointed chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), the state-owned radio station announced Tuesday (30). This is at least the fourth occasion in Samarasinghe�s decades-long career that he was appointed to this position. The SLBC quoting Samarasinghe said he had accepted the appointment on a request by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. more..

Jun 30 (ML) Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently signed a contract, worth USD $50 million with SL�s Ministry of Defense to upgrade Kfir aircraft for the SL Air Force. The deal includes replacing the aircraft�s basic avionics with the advanced 4+ generation fighter aircraft avionics in order to one day integrate advanced radar, sensors, communication systems, and new helmets. The upgrade process will also include more..

Jun 30 (DM) In the wake of some individuals who were found with the Indian variant known as Delta recently in the country leaving fears among people, health authorities said they have taken all precautionary measures to prevent a further spread of the Indian variant and urged people to cooperate with them. Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said they had received adequate data on spread of the Indian variant in the country to take all preventive more..

Jun 30 (TM) A special policy dialogue on the challenges faced by the differently abled community and the strengthening of their rights within a legal framework was held online on the 28th by the Women Parliamentarians Caucus chaired by State Minister Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Parliamentary Communications Department said. State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya, Members of Parliament (Dr) Harini Amarasuriya, Manjula Dissanayake and Diana Gamage, more..

Jun 30 (CT) The two main operation theatres attached to the Kurunegala General Hospital�s Cardiology Unit, are currently being used as a storeroom and a restroom, as the construction work of the theatres had been stalled for a number of years, Ceylon Today learns. The theatres are being used as a restroom for ICU nurses, it was further learnt. The two operation theatres in the five-storey Cardiology Unit that was opened in 2009, more..

Jun 30 (CT) Leader of the Janasetha Peramuna, Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratana Thera, has requested the Sri Lanka Cricket Board to amend the Constitution of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to accommodate at least two members of the clergy on the Board. In a letter to the SLC, Ven. Seelaratana Thera said the situation of SL Cricket was pathetic and claimed that the recent developments in the UK deterioration in discipline. He reiterated that his intention to contest more..

Jun 30 (FT) No strings attached tariff eliminations should be the key feature of a trade deal between Bangladesh and SL, according to IPS Research Economist Dr. Asanka Wijesinghe and IPS Research Assistant Chathurrdhika Yogarajah. This observation is from a paper titled Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement: Initial Framework and Lessons from Existing Trade Policy of South Asia, co-authored by the two IPS researchers. The paper was presented by Dr. Wijesinghe at more..

Jun 30 (DM) Former Minister of Finance and former Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake has not been active in the political arena after losing the election last August. There had been speculation that Karunanayake had either stepped down from politics or was planning a comeback with a new political movement. However, breaking his long silence, Karunanayake said that he was still very much active in politics. more..

Jun 30 (NR) The Sri Lanka College Of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has urged expectant women to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine, at the earliest opportunity. Secretary Dr. Chaminda Mathota said clinical trials have not indicated that expectant women or children are adversely impacted by COVID-19 vaccines. He said however it has been proven that those who have not received a vaccine against COVID-19 are more vulnerable to the disease than those who have received a jab. more..

Jun 30 (FT) The national chamber for the IT/BPM industry, SL Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) appointed Sandra De Zoysa as Chairperson for 2021/�22, at the 9th Annual General Meeting held on 29 June. She succeeds PwC SL CEO/Advisory Leader Channa Manoharan, who stated: �I have been very fortunate to lead SLASSCOM during one of its most exciting years, with many new developments taking shape and a range of new initiatives underway, more..

Jun 30 (Island) Former General Secretary of the Communist Party D.E.W. Gunasekara says the nine-member committee of experts formulating the new Constitution should take remedial action in respect of the National List introduced in terms of the 14th Amendment with unauthorised sections inserted thereinto. Gunasekera told The Island that the then Speaker E.L. Senanayake had inserted a section that hadn�t been approved more..

Jun 30 (Hindu) Sri Lanka is banking on a $1 billion currency swap from India to meet its debt repayment obligations this year and tide over the current economic crisis, a senior official of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said. The island nation has already serviced part of its debt this year, and is preparing to repay the remaining more than $3 billion over the next six months, officials said. With an international sovereign bond maturing soon, a $1 billion repayment is due in July. more..

Jun 30 (AD) The protest and the hunger strike of the Welikada Prison death row inmates have been called off today, the Department of Prisons stated. Welikada Prison inmates who were condemned to death launched a hunger strike and protest on the prison roof which lasted 05 consecutive days. However, the protest and the hunger strike have been called off following discussions with the authorities, the Media Spokesperson for Prisons Department Chandana Ekanayake said. more..

Jun 30 (UCAN) Rights activists have called on the SL govt to end police torture and to immediately investigate incidents of custodial violations during the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the lack of clarity on govt regulations and decrees, the public are being subjected to ill treatment by the police, as evidenced by video footage, activists claimed. P.I. Dissanayake, convener of the SL Collective Against Torture, said during emergencies, and more..

Jun 30 (EN) Sri Lanka�s consumer prices in the capital Colombo grew 5.2% in the 12-months to June 2021, accelerating from 4.5% in April, data from the state statistics office said. The widely watched Colombo Consumer Price Index rose 1.5% to 142.4 points in June. The food sub-index which is has traded commodities rose 3.9% during the month after rising 2.2 percent in April. Food prices are up 11.3% in the past year. SL�s central bank has an inflation target of between 4 and 6% a year. more..

Jun 30 (CI) In some ways, the shellacking they received at Chester-le-Street was an improvement for SL. No one got injured, no one broke curfew (that we know of), and at 80 for 4 in England's chase, it was possible to discern the first tremors of a full-blown wobble. Had Kusal Perera held onto a fairly straightforward catch when Moeen Ali edged his first ball behind, the result may have been in question; instead, Joe Root put his 150 ODIs of experience to good use in overseeing a 91-run stand more..

Jun 30 (TM) Kanya D�Almeida has been declared the overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, for a captivating tale set in a Sri Lankan sanctuary for the forsaken. D�Almeida, from SL, was named the winner by actress Dona Croll in an online ceremony on 30th June. D�Almeida, who won for her story I Cleaned The�, is the first Sri Lankan to win the overall prize and the second to win for the Asia region. more..

Jun 30 (CT) Explaining why travellers with a recent 14-day travel history to the Middle East are being barred from entering the country, Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella stated doubts have arisen regarding the accuracy of the PCR reports provided by some passengers who arrive from these countries. With effect from 1 July, travellers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman would not be permitted to disembark in SL, according to the CAA. more..

Jun 30 (CT) Nawagamuwa Police, which found a body of a man floating in the Kelani River, have uncovered that the victim was known to be an exorcist residing temporarily in Hanwella. In an investigation conducted by the Divisional Crime Detective Bureau (DCDB) in Nugegoda showed the murder occurred due to extramarital affairs. DCDB has arrested three suspects, including the partner of the exorcist. The main suspect was identified as a 49-year-old who was having an illicit affair more..

Jun 30 (AD) Attorney General�s Department has provided the court with a count of marine animals killed in the X-Press Pearl disaster. Deputy Solicitor General Madawa Tennakoon, representing the CID, informed the Colombo Magistrate�s Court when the case on the fire on the MV X-Press Pearl vessel was taken up earlier today. Accordingly, 20 dolphins, 04, whales, and 176 turtles have washed ashore following the fire more..

Jun 30 (TM) Seventeen people have been arrested for abusing a 15-year-old girl who was sold online. Senior DIG Ajith Rohana said that the arrests were made following investigations by the Children and Women�s Bureau. A monk was also among those arrested. A person was arrested by the Mount Lavinia Police recently in connection with the abuse of a girl. He was also charged with sexually assaulting her over the internet and was remanded after being produced in Moratuwa MC. more..

Jun 30 (AD) Chairman of the CAA says that the ban on airline passengers with a recent travel history to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman during last 14 days has been lifted subject to several conditions. The CAA had announced on 28th June 2021, the imposing of restrictions on air passengers from the aforementioned 6 Middle Eastern countries stating that those with a travel history to these countries within the last 14 days will not be allowed to disembark in SL. more..