Mar 22 (CT) It has been revealed that the reason for the fatal bus accident, which took place near the 13-km post on 20 March, along the Badulla � Passara Road, bringing death to 14 persons, was the bus driver�s carelessness. The bus driver has been subject to a medical examination to find out whether he was on drugs or intoxicated at the moment of the accident. JMO has obtained blood and urine samples from the driver more..

Mar 22 (FT) In the previous part, we looked at how the late K. Sivagananathan, known to his friends as Siva, contributed to developing banking education and introducing modern technology to the country�s payments system. It was noted that Siva played a key role in getting the qualifications of the Institute of Bankers of SL (IBSL) accredited by UK�s Institute of Financial Services or IFS, formerly known as the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK. This paved way for students following courses at IBSL more..

Mar 22 (FT) As the competition increases, a sales rep finds it tough to reach his sales targets, affecting his monthly income. Not achieving sales targets by more sales reps is reflected in the drop in shelf space and later in the market share. Reducing market share and the volumes affect the business plan of the company, thus promises made to the lending institutions, to suppliers, shareholders, etc. Sometimes this can affect the planned strategic initiatives of the enterprise as well. more..

Mar 22 (SLN) During a special operation conducted at Veththalakerni in Jaffna today, the Navy managed to apprehend 02 suspects for transporting about 239kg and 850g of Kerala cannabis by a tipper truck. SL Navy has been conducting regular operations to curb illegal activities performed by smugglers. During a similar operation, Northern Naval Command was able to make this apprehension after searching a suspicious tipper truck at the Aliyavalei snap roadblock more..

Mar 22 (DM) Controversy surrounds the Sinopharm vaccine deal between SL and China with officials saying that the emergency use registration for the Chinese vaccine had been waived-off. State Minister Prof Channa Jayasumana said that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) had informed him that emergency use registration of the vaccine had been waived-off. As a result, some 600,000 doses of the vaccine to be donated by China will be airlifted to SL without more..

Mar 22 (SLN) Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera as the Chief of Staff of SL Navy, with effect from 21st March 2021. Accordingly, Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, formally handed over the letter of appointment to Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera at the Navy Headquarters. Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera who is a proud product of Gampaha Bandaranayaka College joined more..

Mar 22 (EN) JVP organised a protest against alleged large-scale deforestation in SL today. The protest was held in front of the Colombo Fort railway station this afternoon. The protestors, led by party leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake and other current and former JVP MPs, walked from the Technical Junction in Maradana to the Fort railway station demonstrating placards and banners. Some protestors were seen wearing oxygen masks attached to plants hanging on their backs, more..

Mar 22 (EN) Road Development Authority (RDA) is investigating the site where a bus plunged down a precipice in Passara killing 14 and injuring 31 others on Saturday Director-General of the RDA L.V.S Weerakoon said. He said the officers will investigate how a rock that blocked part of the road came to be lying there. Video footage showed a tipper-truck moving to its Right to avoid the rock, causing the bus to move to its Left causing the accident. he bus was travelling from Lunugala to Colombo more..

Mar 22 (AD) Former Minister Rajitha Senaratne and former MP Chathura Senaratne have left the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) after recording statements over a false complaint filed by a journalist alleging that he was abducted. They had recorded statements nearly 05 hours long before leaving the premises. A journalist recently lodged a complaint claiming that he had been abducted and assaulted by four individuals on March 10. more..

Mar 22 (SLN) The construction of the first section, a stretch of 24.3 kilometers from Kahathuduwa to Ingiriya, of the Ruwanpura Expressway has been awarded to a local construction firm. The contract was awarded today at the Ministry of Highways in Battaramulla. The proposal to build the 73.9 kilometer Ruwanpura Expressway from Kahathuduwa to Pelmadulla was recently approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The construction is set to be carried out in four phases, more..

Mar 22 (CT) The vehicle carrying State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa had got swept away by gushing waters of the Pubbaru-oya while travelling through the causeway (Sapaththu Palama) of the area. He had attended an event held at Medagama area in Bibila on 21 March and while being on his way back to Moneragala amidst the torrential rains had faced the mishap at around 6.45 pm. Police stated that at the time of the incident the State Minister had been travelling in his vehicle but more..

Mar 22 (FT) Battered by the double whammy of the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry has been given a fresh lifeline by the extension of the debt moratorium by six months. Following representations made by Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga heeding pleas from the industry, Central Bank late Friday announced the extension of the moratorium on capital and more..

Mar 22 (Island) The JVP yesterday lodged a complaint at the CID calling for an investigation into a Facebook account under the name JVP Parisaravediyo and requested that information about those who had created the account be ascertained. The complaint was lodged by former JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, Attorneys-at-Law Sunl Watagala and Thushara Ranatunga at the CID Headquarters in Colombo. As per the complaint, Prez Rajapaksa, on Saturday, at Ulapane, displayed more..

Mar 22 (CT) Though the Govt has approved the Cinnamon Cigarette, there isn�t any scientific findings to prove that the cinnamon smoke is not harmful to the human lungs, said the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Executive Director Pubudu Sumanasekara. �Though the main ingredient, tobacco, has been replaced with cinnamon, the process of smoking it is the same. There isn�t any scientific proof that inhaling cinnamon smoke is a healthy alternative to more..

Mar 22 (SCMP) SL�s ambassador to China has dismissed suggestions the South Asian country is planning to extend a 99-year lease it granted to Beijing to run Hambantota port. Palitha Kohona said that his country would never be an unsinkable aircraft carrier posing a threat to anyone else, referring to China�s ongoing power struggles with the US and India. Hambantota�s location at the southern tip of SL, overlooking South Asia�s more..

Mar 22 (AD) Supreme Court has rejected the motion filed by the lawyers of Ranjan Ramanayake to reconsider the sentence on his contempt of court case. Through the motion, Ranjan Ramanayake has pointed out a person has the legal right to appeal against a sentence imposed, under the Convention on Civil and Political Rights. Accordingly, Ranjan Ramanayake had moved the motion through his lawyers requesting that he be allowed to file an appeal and that the appeal be considered more..

Mar 22 (FT) Activity in the secondary bond market remained rather moderate during the week ending 19 March with no significant momentum generated. The yields on the maturities of 15.12.22, 15.12.23 and 2027�s (i.e. 15.08.27 and 15.10.27) were seen increasing to weekly highs of 5.85%, 6.30% and 7.50% each respectively against its previous weeks closing levels of 5.75/80, 6.23/33, 7.35/45 and 7.45/55 on limited activity while yields were seen fluctuating within range of 6.14% to 6.20%, more..

Mar 22 (DM) The vote on the resolution against SL at the UNHRC in Geneva has been postponed to tomorrow. The vote was to be taken today but officials in Geneva said it has been postponed to tomorrow owing to some scheduling issues. "The vote on draft resolution A/HRC/46/L.1 will now take place on Tuesday (23). As the first resolution to be reviewed the timing should normally be shortly after 09.00 (Geneva time)," more..

Mar 22 (AD) A 5-member committee has been appointed by Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila to look into the incident of 474 COVID-19 infections being reported from the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery. The Committee will be chaired by Chandrika Athugala, Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Energy. Adviser to the Minister of Energy Lalith Wasantha, Managing Director of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Buddhika Madihewa, Senior Assistant Secretary to Ministry of Energy more..

Mar 22 (CT) The PCoI into the bombings on Easter Sunday has identified former Sri Lanka Jamaat-e-Islami (SLJI) leader Rashid Hajjul Akbar as one of the main ideologists of Islamist extremism in Sri Lanka and recommended that the Attorney General considers instituting criminal proceedings against Akbar for conspiring to establish an Islamic State in Sri Lanka. He was recently arrested by the Police over spreading Wahhabism and extremism and the PCoI, in its final report, states that more..

Mar 22 (EN) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has proposed expanding a producer led collection program to manage waste plastic packaging pointing out that the food and non-food in affordable sizes are targeted at poorer segments of the population who cannot afford large quantities. �According to the industry, around 50% of SL�s consumers purchase products in smaller packaging sizes, where the choice is available,� more..

Mar 22 (DM) Don Spater Senanayake, father of Don Stephen was the son of little known Don Bartholomeus, a native of Mahiyangana. Senanayake family roots date back to the Anuradhapura era in AD 253-266. Folklore says the King sent a delegation from Mahiyangana with a Bo Sapling to be planted at Attanagalle. The delegation on their way placed the sapling at a selected spot and retired for the night. The next morning, they found that the sapling had taken root, more..

Mar 22 (TM) There will be no disciplinary action initiated against SSP Roshan Rajapaksa, who on Friday referred to the current Govt as our Govt while speaking to electronic and print media. DIG Ajith Rohana confirmed that there will be no action taken against Colombo Police Environment Unit Chief SSP Rajapaksa. During his statement, SSP Rajapaksa said: �We appreciate this idea. Previous days, we had posters covering Colombo city. When current Prez Rajapaksa served as the Defence Secy, more..

Mar 22 (TM) Ministry of Health has set aside a stock of over 200,000 vaccine doses from the total of 1.2 million doses currently in SL, with plans to start administering the second dose of the vaccine shortly after the Sinhala & Tamil New Year in April. Epidemiology Unit Chief Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said that more than 200,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield doses, which arrived from India, are available to start the rollout of more..

Mar 22 (DM) CMC Health officials have allocated six centers in Colombo this week where those above the age of 60 years will receive the anti COVID-19 jabs. Chief Medical Officer of the CMC, Dr. Ruwan Wijemuni said that the vaccination progam will exclusively be administered to those above 60 years and urged other age groups to refrain from visiting the vaccination centers. The centers have been set up in Colombo North, Central Colombo, Borella, Colombo East & Colombo West. more..

Mar 22 (TM) Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said that there will be islandwide protests if the govt fails to deliver justice to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks before April 21, 2021. He was addressing a gathering after attending a service today. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said he would continue to be at the forefront with the people until justice is served, no matter what force is at work. He further said, �If we do not see justice delivered to the people by April 21st, more..

Mar 22 (EN) Sri Lanka has signed a 10 billion yuan (about US$ 1.5 b) swap deal with China for 3 years. The swap would promote �bilateral trade and direct investment for economic development of the two countries, and to be used for other purposes agreed upon by both parties,� the CB said. China remains SL�s largest source of imports. In 2020, imports from China amounted was US$ 3.6 billion of 22.3% of SL�s imports. more..

Mar 22 (FT) Clean water and sanitation are basic human rights. Today, water is under extreme threat from a growing population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, and the worsening impacts of climate change. As societies balance the demands on water resources, many people�s interests are not being taken into account. Yet in 2017, 2.2 billion people, that is 29% of the world�s population, did not have access to drinking water that was free from contamination and more..

Mar 22 (DM) An employee in a wayside hotel near the Kurunegala bus stand was stabbed to death with a broken bottle by a customer during an altercation with him over the price of a banana. The customer who wanted to eat a banana had run amok when he was quoted the price of the fruit and stabbed the hotel employee with a broken bottle. When the customer asked the price of a comb of banana, the hotel employee had told him that one plantain was Rs.30. Suspect was taken into custody more..

Mar 22 (AD) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been summoned again before the COPE on April 06. Earlier, when SLC was summoned before the COPE on Feb 11, the meeting was suspended due to the unpreparedness of the SLC officials and they were informed that they would be given a time period of one month to appear before the COPE again. The COPE chaired by MP Prof. Charitha Herath has summoned 7 state institutions more..

Mar 23 (DM) One is reminded of Archie�s Comedy Hour and its timeless animated song, Sugar, Sugar-Honey, Honey� shown on CBS-TV five decades ago and the famous fables of Andare, the celebrated court jester and our childhood hero. In the midst of the sugar controversy Party leaders, it was speculated, had unanimously agreed to cooperate with a proposal to enhance their allowances, insurance cover and pensions? People�s representatives who occupy the front row more..

Mar 23 (DM) As Sri Lanka is heading towards a showdown in the UNHRC, which will vote on an adverse resolution on SL today, leaders in Colombo are scrambling to avoid a near-certain defeat. On Sunday, Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa called the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen and discussed with him the existing relations between the OIC and Sri Lanka as well as the situation of the Muslim community in the country, more..

Mar 23 (CT) In the aftermath of the 21 April 2019, Easter sunday attacks, details of several training camps conducted by National Thowheed Jama�ath (NTJ) leader Mohamed Qasim Mohamed Zaharan alias Zaharan Hashim in various parts of the country were revealed. At these camps, extremist teachings had been conducted and weapons training had also been imparted to Muslim youth. more..

Mar 23 (DM) A day prior to the final match of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament was played at Raipur in India on Sunday, 14 people were killed and 47 injured in a major road accident at Passara on Monaragala-Badulla main road. The tragedy occurred when a bus plying from Lunugala to Colombo had fallen down a 200 feet precipice while attempting to give way to a tipper truck. Given the response of the authorities and the people to similar or more serious accidents in the past, more..

Mar 23 (GV) These are strange times when a Govt stands by and watches while its natural resources are stripped away by those who have much to gain while the country has even more to lose. The utterance of weak platitudes has no power to stop the destruction, just as much as some carelessly tossed words brought it all on. In 2021, according to press reports, 66 wild elephants have been killed in almost as many days as their habitat is being increasingly encroached on and more..

Mar 23 (Roar) Two things stood out to me in the locale known as Paradise Place. The first is the massive kovil, tucked away in what could easily be mistaken for a part of Jaffna but is in fact in the middle of Kotahena and Panchikawatte. The second is the hundreds of clothing lines pulled across a field, with scores of colourful garments of varying kinds and styles, hanging, drying, and wafting in the breeze. more..

Mar 23 (CT) The Kelani River to Colombo is what the Tiber is to Rome; the Thames is to London and what the Hudson is to New York City. Civilisations thrive alongside mighty bodies of water and are tied to a place�s culture and economy. Since the dawn of industrialisation major rivers have been subjected to unprecedented amount of pollution that has made them into toxic waterways threatening human habitations they flow through. At the height of the industrial revolution, Thames was so polluted more..

Mar 23 (ST) In the days of the American Wild West (not that it is not wild any longer), the Native Americans, chased out of their lands and robbed of their possessions, were even cheated of promises made in official treaties. So much so that one Native American Chief famously said White man speak with forked tongue. Long before this 19th century recorded characterization by Chief Joseph of his white trading partners and Washington officials, Native Americans were deceived and more..