Mar 19 (FT) National Peace Council in a statement urged the Govt to reconsider overboard laws targeting the Muslim community and democracy at large. The full statement is as follows. The country is facing difficult challenges due to internal and external pressures which is increasing the level of frustration within society. COVID-generated economic downturn, fallout of the Easter bombing investigation, sugar tax scam and impending UNHRC resolution on SL need to be dealt more..

Mar 19 (CI) Dhananjaya de Silva marked his return to competitive cricket with a three-wicket haul, while left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya warmed up for the West Indies Tests with three wickets of his own, but concerns over Sri Lanka's batting persist following an underwhelming performance in a drawn two-day practice match in Antigua. The West Indies President's XI, meanwhile, had contributions from Shai Hope (68), Kyle Mayers (57), and Kemar Roach (2 for 41). more..

Mar 19 (DM) Following instructions issued by the President's Office, workers from the CMC had begun taking down a massive mural which had been put up near the Nelum Pokuna, at the Vihara Maha Devi Park, a short while ago, which was depicting the ecocide which is presently taking place in SL. The mural which is 70x20 feet, was put together by children who are part of the youth wing of the wildlife nature protection society, more..

Mar 19 (PMD) The 15th in the series of Discussion with the Village programme which will be presided over by Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be held tomorrow in the Yombuweltenna village in Walapane Divisional Secretariat Division of the Nuwara Eliya District. The People�s representatives including the Ministers and MPs of the District, Secretaries to Ministries, Heads of various institutions and officials will be participating in this public forum which will begin at 10.00 am. more..

Mar 19 (EN) SL is planning to allow tourists who are already vaccinated to arrive in the country, and join the community under a different set of health regulations, the state tourism authority said. Tourists now come to SL under a so-called bio-bubble where they have to take a series of Coronavirus tests and travel to only designated places. �However, Sri Lanka Tourism is now working with the health authorities to recognize vaccinated travellers, who are encouraged to take PCR tests more..

Mar 19 (FT) Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday hit out at the resolution pending before the UNHRC on SL, calling it a political move by the core group of countries and not one put forward to assist the country in its efforts to address accountability and human rights-related issues. �The resolution refers a great deal to the internal day-to-day affairs of the Govt, such as running a department or a ministry, or more..

Mar 19 (DM) Archaeologists have discovered a host of artefacts that dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries during the on going conservation project in the Galle rampart. Project Consultant Dr. Nimal Perera said the findings included fragments of plates, pots, iron, and animal bones. He said the rampart built by the Portuguese had been renovated at times by the Dutch and the British and now it is protected as a national heritage building. �At present we are carrying on excavations more..

Mar 19 (DM) Promoting cigarettes, which claimed to be made of cinnamon could instill in the minds of children and youth and tempt them to use drugs and other indigenous drugs through such products, the Government Medical Officers' Association said. GMOA Secretary Dr. Senal Fernando said there is a serious risk of opening doors for children and youth to use drugs and the tobacco manufacturing companies might be behind in promoting these kinds of products to increase their businesses. more..

Mar 19 (EN) Depositors of failed Sri Lanka finance companies will get 9.8 billion rupee more with the ceiling on deposits qualified for insurance being raised by half a million rupees per person, the central bank said. Compensation from the Sri Lanka Deposit Insurance and Liquidity Support Scheme (SLDILSS), run by the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) had been raised to 1.1 million rupees from an earlier 600,000 rupees. more..

Mar 19 (DM) A police complaint was lodged at the Mount Lavinia police division over a disappearance of a 16-year-old boy yesterday, police said. They said the boy Aldon Devon Kenny, was an O/L student at St. Peter's College Bambalapitiya. The boy had reportedly left his home last morning. The mother of the boy said that as far as they knew, there were no problems with him. She said her son had left home around 6.20 am. He was wearing a black hoodie, black trousers, backpack and more..

Mar 19 (CI) Bangladesh's two-Test tour of Sri Lanka is set to begin on April 21, with both matches scheduled to be played in Pallekele. The series had originally been slated to be played last October, but was postponed after SL's health authorities insisted that the touring team needed to spend 14 days in quarantine, to which neither the Bangladesh Cricket Board nor the Bangladesh players agreed. Sri Lanka's govt has since relaxed their quarantine rules for int'l cricket teams, however, more..

Mar 20 (DM) In Sri Lanka, the slave trade is not seen as a major problem though some families are known to use poor children for domestic work while unscrupulous traders and bussnessmen also employ poor children under the age of 18. Legally, they are considered as minors but little or no action is taken to prevent them from being used or abused for hard work without the basic right of education. Poor children are employed by families which apparently do not know they are violating the law and more..

Mar 20 (CT) I am not putting down prayer or its effectiveness. I endorse both. What I am writing about here is the use of Let us pray to escape responsibility, responsibility to form opinions and responsibility to act. It is an escape route freely exploited by crooked Christians to escape justice � for themselves and their friends � and by good Christians to let off and evade forming opinions against their friends caught in crookedness. I have seen massive fraud by pastors in a Christian more..

Mar 20 (DM) The final report of the PCoI into the Easter Sunday attacks was handed over to Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the Chairman of the Commission, Supreme Court Judge Janak de Silva at the Presidential Secretariat on Feb 1, 2021. Former Prez Sirisena appointed the Commission of Inquiry on Sept 22, 2019, to investigate and report on the series of terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday and to recommend necessary action more..

Mar 20 (DM) A few years ago, on a Turkish beach exclusively for women, a bikini-clad woman offered her prayers. The video clip of the woman going through the postures of the Muslim prayer went viral and created a major debate among the Muslims. Some censured her for not adhering to the dress code for prayers, but others said what mattered was her piety and not the dress. Following the release of the Easter Sunday terror attack commission report, Sri Lanka is mulling whether to ban burqa more..

Mar 20 (CT) It was the radical Bertrand Bar�re de Vieuzac, and not the Caesarist Bonaparte, who called England a nation of shopkeepers. Today cities have taken the place of nations: Colombo is considered Sri Lanka in much the same way New Delhi is considered India. The capitals of the Global South are fast becoming home to the shopkeepers of the world. The boutique owners, who live and thrive on adding mark-ups to what others have produced, are swamping these capitals, more..

Mar 20 (TM) Over the last few decades, the human-elephant conflict (HEC) that has plagued SL has been further exacerbated by the large-scale irrigation and agriculture projects that have been initiated in the country. Elephants are creatures that occupy large home ranges and are known to travel vast distances in search of food and water. Various development projects, construction, roads, human settlements have encroached more..

Mar 20 (Island) President J.R. Jayewardene was toying with the idea of creating a new parliament to accommodate the increased number of Parliamentarians that had to be accommodated. He requested the Embassies to help to formulate the necessary expertise. The only Embassy that responded was the French and following consultation a team from Ecole fran�aise d�Extr�me-Orient for new towns led by Dr. Fran�ois Daniel and Architect Planner Deloche arrived in SL. more..

Mar 20 (CT) ADB in a booklet titled COVID-19 Impact on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in SL uploaded on its website on 8 Mar 2021 began by saying, �Prez Rajapaksa declared 2021�2030 as the Decade of Skills Development which has the ambitious goal of reducing the population of unskilled labour to 10%.� In the same booklet, ADB also said, �Overall unemployment rate in SL rose to 5.4% (male: 4.1%, female: 8.2%) in Q2 2020, a level last seen more..

Mar 20 (CT) My good friend, Prof. Sirimevan Colombage, who has a long experience in the Central Bank of SL, has, in a couple of articles, raised an issue of great importance for policy formulation. As a well-experienced expert on monetary management, Prof. Colombage seems to be worried about the way in which monetary affairs are at present handled by the CB especially under the governorship of Prof. W. D. Lakshman. Undoubtedly, the differences between more..

Mar 20 (TM) Home to nearly one-third of SL�s population, Colombo is the fastest-growing city in SL, with several mushrooming construction projects and a constantly expanding cityscape. Rapid urbanisation has a direct impact on air quality levels. Thus, various green initiatives are being promoted to maintain healthy air quality levels in the capital. NBRO senior scientist H.D.S. Premasiri said: �While Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy, and Kurunegala areas indicate some level of pollution, more..

Mar 20 (CT) PM Rajapaksa on Friday, visited Dhaka, Bangladesh for a 2-day State visit. Premier was welcomed at the airport by Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina and a number of other high-level Govt officials. Following the welcome reception, PM Rajapaksa visited the National Martyrs� Memorial in the city of Savar, approximately 35 km from Dhaka. PM paid his respects at the monument, which was inaugurated in 1982 in memory of those who more..

Mar 20 (ST) Srimantha Wijeyeratne, the former St. Peter�s College and SL Under-19 Youth player is continuing his passion of cricket after his successive stints for his alma mater St. Peter�s and the national youth team with immense success. He is making vast strides and going great guns in Canada where he is domiciled now having migrated in the year 2008. Now 31-year-old Srimantha, with his hard working efforts, has succeeded to get drafted as a member of the Canada national team. more..

Mar 20 (CT) In-form Upul Tharanga and Chinthaka Jayasinghe once again delivered with the bat, and Nuwan Kulasekara�s 5-wicket haul, guided Sri Lanka Legend�s team to an eight-wicket win over South Africa Legends in the Road Safety World Series T20 on Friday. The chants of �Sanath, Sanath� filled up the Raipur Stadium once again as the batting maestro strode to the middle along with old comrade Tilakarathne Dilshan. The duo brought back old memories, where both Legends scored 18 more..

Mar 20 (Island) Former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva (1999-2009), alleged that the British govt had suppressed diplomatic cables sent by its wartime Defence Attach� Lt. Colonel Anthony Gash from the British High Commission, Colombo, because they ran counter to the claims made by the western bloc as regards Sri Lanka at the Geneva-based UNHRC. The 41st CJ explained the British, explained the British, in spite of more..

Mar 20 (Island) Opposition was eagerly awaiting sanctions to be imposed on SL, State Minister D.V. Chanaka said. All political parties must work together when faced with external threats, Minister Chanaka said. �The yahapalanaya govt even co-sponsored a resolution against Sri Lanka. We have withdrawn from it.� Mahinda Rajapaksa had urged foreign investors to come to SL, even when he was in the Opposition, Chanaka said, adding that the current Opposition MPs were more..

Mar 20 (CT) SL�s up and coming youngster Pathum Nissanka is likely to make his Test debut against West Indies, when the two sides lock horns in the opening Test match on Sunday (21) in Antigua. Skipper Dimuth Karunarathne hinted on Friday Pathum Nissanka has a good chance of getting his first Test match, while Dhananjaya de Silva will return to the side to fill the vacancy created by the absence of Angelo Mathews. According to Dimuth, Oshada Fernando also has a good chance of more..

Mar 20 (FT) Prez Rajapaksa has emphasised increased production and income are the only ways to deal with the rise in cost of living, whilst stressing that Govt initiatives have now begun to benefit the public. �The only answer to the problem of cost of living is to increase production and income received by the people. Price of imported goods is determined by the world market forces. Their prices could only be regulated by reducing taxes. more..

Mar 20 (DN) The digital chapter of the Federation of Information Technology in SL (FITIS) is gearing up to launch the first ever Sri Lanka Internet Day 2021 this April. The two-day virtual event which will be held in association with the Ministry of Technology and the State Ministry of Education Reforms, Open Universities and Distance Learning Promotion, will go live on the 6th and 7th of April this year. Spearheading the Internet Day 2021 under the theme Digital Inclusion are more..

Mar 20 (CT) The Mallakam Sri Baskaran Cricket Ground in Jaffna, built under the patronage of Sri Lanka Cricket, was declared open on Sunday (14) with the participation of Ravin Wickramaratne, Vice President of SLC and K.Mahesan, District Secretary of Jaffna, who was the Chief Guest. Wife of the Late P. Sri Baskaran, a prominent philanthropist who lived in the area, also attended the opening ceremony. The ground built under the Cricket Gamata Programme, was developed in a land more..

Mar 20 (DN) Creating history in the world cigarette industry, Sri Lankan patented Cinnamon cigarettes under the brand name Lion Heart were officially launched in Colombo yesterday. Minister Wimal Weerawansa who egged on this project said that this product would revolutionize the global tobacco industry. �The product is made out of 100% Cinnamon extract and I don�t see any harmful substances unlike found in tobacco. more..

Mar 20 (TM) Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (Lanka IOC) is gearing up to commission a new grease plant located in the Trincomalee terminal, which was delayed from being initially commissioned by March to the end of May 2021. Lanka IOC Managing Director (MD) Manoj Gupta reported that the project was held till May due to the delay of the consignments dispatched from Navashiwa, Mumbai. �It should have come up by now, by the end of March 2021. However, there was a delay more..

Mar 20 (AT) In a stunning coincidence, a mere two weeks ahead of Indian PM Narendra Modi�s planned visit to neighboring Bangladesh, the SL govt on Monday issued a Letter of Intent to India�s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd (APSEZ) to develop and operate the West Container Terminal (WCT) in Colombo. To be sure, SL�s Rajapaksa clan-led govt took a calculated risk. If New Delhi were in Colombo�s shoes, it probably would have waited for another week to make up its mind before more..

Mar 20 (FT) A total of 322 persons tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the country�s total COVID-19 patient count to 89,497. The patients detected yesterday include 290 associates of the Peliyagoda Cluster and eight persons linked to the Prisons Cluster. The triple clusters that emerged from Divulapitiya, Peliyagoda and prisons have risen to 84,942. 2,425 Sri Lankans from abroad, 950 Navy personnel and more..

Mar 20 (FT) Tea industry is sustaining the refreshing start in 2021 with February fetching the highest-ever FOB value of Rs. 940.09 per kilo. Total export revenue in February amounted to Rs. 21.78 billion, up by Rs. 2.21 billion resulting in a FOB value of Rs. 940.09 ($ 4.87) per kilo. �This is the highest ever FOB value surpassing the previous highest of Rs. 923.99 ($4.87) recorded in Jan 2021,� Forbes said. When compared to Rs. 827.38 ($4.60) of Feb 2020, the current year�s achievement reflects more..

Mar 20 (PTI) South African Muslim organisations have called on the country�s foreign minister to intervene in the proposed Sri Lankan ban on the burqa and closure of hundreds of Islamic schools. This followed the announcement by SL's minister for public security, Sarath Weerasekera, during the weekend that his country would ban the traditional full-face covering worn by some Muslim women because it posed a threat to national security. This was quickly followed by a statement from more..

Mar 20 (AP) Once a dominant force in world cricket, SL's slide internationally has opened debate in this island nation about whether democracy and a free hand in the administration of the sport is working. Sri Lankans have long embraced cricket, a colonial legacy, as their own. It's not only the country's most popular sport, but also a unifying factor. This week marked the 25th anniversary of SL cricket's most celebrated achievement more..