May 2 (CT) A hitherto undisclosed story of SL migrant workers, trapped in an unenviable situation of leading a horrendous life resulting in premature deaths, has surfaced and it�s regardless of whether they are registered or not with the Govt. It�s the story of 557 deaths of construction workers who toiled in Doha Qatar for over the last 10 years to build six football stadiums to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup as highlighted in the UK Guardian recently. more..

May 2 (Island) Lockdown. Isolation. Quarantine. Wave. Social. Spread. Cluster. These are not new words. They are however words that have acquired fresh currency courtesy Covid-19. And, as often happens, when used frequently, they lost meaning or rather they are treated with (cultivated) nonchalance. That�s as far as the general public is concerned. Meaning, all those who are not directly involved in designing policies & developing strategies to prevent or curb spread of virus more..

May 2 (CT) The pitch offered by the stadium was a batting-friendly track and the batters made the most out of the surface as a total of 1289 runs were scored over a course of five days. SL and Bangladesh were up against each other in the first Test of the two-match Test series at the Pallekele Int'l Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. The Test match, which forms a part of the World Test Championship, resulted in a draw. The pitch offered by the stadium was a batting-friendly track and the batters more..

May 2 (ST) SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, was on a search in the deep jungles of the south last week. It was not for new members who wanted to join his alliance. He was looking for a rare species�the leopard�at the Yala national park. He drove his own Pajero, followed by his personal security detail in other vehicles. He gave a running commentary on failing to locate a leopard. Lo and behold, all of a sudden, he exhorted when more..

May 2 (Island) SLC has played down the ongoing pay crisis with national cricketers, telling us that everything will be tickety-boo after the Bangladesh series as they are currently negotiating with the players. But the fact remains that the players refused to sign the contracts and many of them are angry at the suggested pay cut. The new contracts are so flawed that some players would be forced to go through 200% pay cuts. No doubt these are testing times as SLC has rightly pointed out. more..

May 2 (ST) My dear Harin, I thought I must write to you this week even though you are in hospital, recovering from a sudden illness while there is a lot of speculation that moves are afoot to detain you. I thought it will be much easier to write to you while you are in hospital, rather than writing to you if you are in remand! It is not surprising that you are being treated this way. Over the past few years, you demonstrated that you are one of the rising stars � and one of the few left � more..

May 2 (ST) A number of senior cricketers could lose their places in white-ball cricket as Sri Lanka undertakes a major overhaul of its limited-over sides under a new scheme where players will be selected for international cricket, with a particular focus on the young guns. While this strategy has been implemented successfully in a small way in Test cricket on recent tours, the selectors and team management think more..

May 2 (ST) A swashbuckling century by Shevon Daniel powered St. Joseph�s College to a crushing 97-run win over Royal College and lift the Under-19 Division I Limited Over Championship at the NCC grounds last evening. Chasing a formidable score of 288 to win, the boys from Reid Avenue were folded up for 190 runs thanks to an impressive effort with ball by Josephian trio of Lahiru Amarasekera, Deshan Seneviratne and Dunith Wellalage. Batting first, Joes put on a match-winning total 287/5 more..

May 2 (ST) Just few days after former national fast-bowler turned coach Nuwan Zoysa was slapped with a six-year ban for three offence under its anti-corruption code, the anti-corruption sleuths of the ICC started a fresh probe this week by questioning a senior official of SLC. Chinthaka Jayanath, SLC�s Assistant Manager Tournament, was questioned for several hours in a leading hotel in Colombo. His two mobile phones were taken into custody for the purpose of data analysis. more..

May 2 (ST) The govt will go ahead with the fool proof sticker scheme for all imported and local liquor products from July this year amidst industry protests and mounting allegations against the sticker printing deal. The affixing of a sticker with barcodes now confined only for imported liquor bottles and cans will be made compulsory for all local liquor products with effect from July 1. The process of developing mobile app and QR code for more..

May 2 (SO) Despite the various allegations of union leaders related to the apparel sector, 95% of the garment factories in the country function under strict Covid-19 guidelines, the Commissioner of Labour, Prabhath Chandrakeerthi said. The Commissioner made these remarks commenting on a statement made by the Joint Secretary Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union, Anton Marcus, who alleged that only two of over 360 garment factories adhere to Covid guidelines. more..

May 2 (TM) The Ministry of Justice has paid a hefty sum of Rs. 50 million to the World Trade Centre (WTC) as rental payments of the SL International Arbitration Centre (SLIAC) office space at WTC. SLIAC comes under the purview of the Ministry of Justice. Ministry Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne confirmed that the aforementioned payment was made to WTC this year for CIAC longstanding rent dues. �A total of Rs. 50,265,532 has been settled in two instalments as of 2021. more..

May 2 (ST) A proposal by the US-based energy company New Fortress Energy (NFE) to acquire the Govt�s shares in West Coast Power Ltd (WCPL), owner of Kerawalapitiya Yugadhanavi power station, has been shot down by CEB engineers. �With the surfacing of this proposal by NFE, we see a great danger in successful implementation of the well-structured plan of the deployment of LNG for power generation in Sri Lanka� warns more..

May 2 (ST) It is indeed early Christmas for the capital market in the form of new products and frameworks giving a wide choice for investing, deviating from the same old in a bid to entice new investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is forging ahead with a host of initiatives as never seen before such as crowd funding for equity/ debt and giving the go ahead for Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). �We have developed a framework to facilitate fund raising through more..

May 2 (ST) In a bid to draw foreign currencies in the possession of Sri Lankans into the banking system, the Govt has issued a gazette allowing hotels registered with the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority to accept such money as payment for services. The gazette was published under the Foreign Exchange Act by Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as Finance Minister. It permits hotels to accept such payment from persons resident in Sri Lanka in respect of services rendered. more..

May 2 (TM) It is learnt that under the present ratio, 12 trained nurses are required to handle a single ICU bed and that all trained nurses are already occupied with a total of around 600 ICU beds in the country. A total of 15 ICUs with a total of 146 ICU beds have already been allocated to treat the Covid-19 patients in the country. Of the 146 ICU beds allocated to treat countrywide Covid-19 patients, only 46 ICU beds were occupied by more..

May 2 (AD) SL�s COVID-19 death toll reached 687 on Saturday as nine persons succumbed to the virus infection. The victims are as follows: 01. A 65-year-old man from Karandana area: He died on April 29 while receiving treatment at the Horana Base Hospital. The cause of death was identified as COVID chest infection and chronic liver disease. 02. A 72-year-old man from Avissawella area: After being diagnosed with novel coronavirus, he was transferred from Kopay Treatment Centre to more..

May 2 (AN) Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has condemned SL legislation that allows for the creation of reintegration centers as part of a campaign against violent extremist religious ideology. The commission said that the legislation will permit arbitrary detention of Muslims who will be subject to human rights violations without any legal oversight. It also said that a newly imposed ban on the wearing of the burqa, more..

May 2 (ST) A COVID-19 tsunami is engulfing SL and numerous life-and-death questions are on the minds of the people. The Sunday Times raised some of these crucial questions with regard to the third wave which is rampaging through the country, at a media briefing on Thursday. The answers would be essential for serious decision-making such as whether there should be a countrywide lockdown or area lockdowns; more..

May 2 (EN) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has planted a turmeric plant in his garden as part of efforts to grow five plants in 1.5 million households as part of an import substitution drive. �This programme was launched in an attempt to meet the household Turmeric requirement of the people in their own backyard,� President�s office said in a statement. �It has been decided to distribute five Turmeric plants per each family for a total of 1.5 million households through the project. more..

May 2 (DM) The actual COVID-19 status in the county is not reflected with the cases reported at present as there is a considerable delay in getting PCR results from laboratories, Public Health Inspectors Union claimed. �The cases being reported at present are of the PCR results released four days ago. If we are to get an idea of the country�s situation in terms of COVID-19, it is vital to set up a mechanism, which enables the quick release of PCR results from laboratories,� more..

May 2 (ST) It was going down memory lane for Prez last Sunday. He was at the SL Military Academy (then Army Training Centre) located in cooler climes, in the hills of Diyatalawa. Exactly 50 years to the month, in April 1971, he was one of 30 officer cadets recruited. He was returning to the soil from where he emerged as an officer of the SL Army. He walked to places he haunted with his former fellow cadets. more..

May 3 (DM) Between January and April this year, a number of high profile visitors have visited our shores. On Jan 5, we had big brother India�s External Affairs Minister Jaishankar dropped in, at the invitation of Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardene. The visit came months after a virtual meeting between Indian premier Modi and PM Rajapaksa. Report in the The Hindu which described his (Jaishankar�s) visit an attempt to counter growing Chinese influence in the region, more..

May 3 (DM) The SL Press Institute (SLPI) marks the World Press Freedom Day today (3) in concurrence with UNESCO�s commemoration of 30 years of the Windhoek Declaration under the theme Information as a Public Good. The completion of 30 years of the landmark Windhoek Declaration for the development of free independent and pluralistic press also sheds light on our own roadmap declaration for media freedom in SL, the Colombo Declaration of Media Freedom and Social Responsibility of 1998. more..

May 3 (DM) Prof. Neelika Malavige, the head of the Dept of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri J'pura Uni after an extensive research last week announced that the new variant of Covid-19 that is being spread in the country is airborne and people have to take extra precautions to protect themselves. Prof. Malavige stressed the importance of taking measures not to allow any more variants entering Sri Lanka, more..

May 3 (ST) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, I suppose, must count himself incredibly fortunate that a foreign visitor to SL�s shores was not passing by when, as an opposition MP, he was ferociously blowing on a trumpet during the famous JanaGosha protest (1993). If so, he may also have been arrested, like that hapless youth from Battaramulla who was charged this week for obstructing the duties of police officers by honking car horns when a convoy carrying visiting Chinese Defence Minister more..

May 3 (ST) As India�s shocking death wail continued to echo throughout the world, it brought home to all the horrendous tragedy that awaits a nation when its irresponsible leaders fling caution to the winds and, in pursuit of economic and political goals, embark upon a reckless policy to keep the floodgates open at all costs for the rivers of the coronavirus pestilence to flow berserk and wreak havoc on the broadacres of the land. Dubbed the Modi-made disaster by the vociferous Indian media, more..

May 3 (TM) Discussing the headlines of the week, such as the Port City Economic Commission Bill, the PCoI reports on Political Victimisation, and the Easter Attacks and more, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Leader of the JVP, revealed his firm stance on each of these topics. As the Leader of the Party, he also highlighted the JVP�s strategies to develop the country and escape the ring of corruption that exists presently. more..

May 3 (CT) As SL prepares to brace itself for its largest COVID-19 surge yet, India has careened into a humanitarian crisis unlike the world has ever seen since the onset of the global pandemic. What the world�s largest democracy is facing right now could easily be the single worst medical disaster in world history with supplies running low and healthcare services on the verge of total collapse due to the staggering influx of coronavirus cases. Number of coronavirus cases in India exceeded 18 m more..

May 3 (Island) A front page report in Thursday�s The Island read NL slot: Ranil still dilly-dallying. Dilly-dallying was the right word for describing what Wickremesinghe is doing about filling the single National List slot his party won following its zero seat debacle at the last parliamentary election. The report under reference quoted UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena saying that Wickremesinghe had not yet decided to occupy this still vacant seat to which his party must make a formal nomination. more..

May 3 (Island) Can one question the govt without wondering what, or where, the opposition is? It�s been over a year since the SJB walked out on the UNP, half a year since it reduced that party to one (still unclaimed) seat in parliament. Has the party aspired to the ideal of a broad-based movement? Or has it weakened with the passing months, offering a paltry resistance to the govt? Do its actions speak well to its constituencies? Or is it pursuing greener pastures, uncharted real estate, elsewhere? more..

May 3 (TM) A long-standing South Asian joke, often repeated in jest, is that when India sneezes, SL ends up catching a cold. A revised version of this morbid joke is that if India were to sneeze now, Sri Lanka would be on its pandemic deathbed. It encapsulates the current situation facing SL with its northern neighbour being ravaged beyond all comprehension by a raging pandemic in all its brutality. Notwithstanding the inherent geopolitical and social connotations of the sneezing parable, more..

May 3 (CT) Air is an essential basic need of all of living beings. Since it is abundantly available, it has not been given the same importance as land and water. However, air pollution has now been identified as a growing issue in Sri Lanka and has turned out to be an increasing problem due to rapid expansion in the industrial and commercial sectors and increasing living standards as a result of the country�s economic growth. more..

May 3 (TM) In the backdrop of a dramatic surge in Covid-19 cases in India and the subsequent paralysis of its economic activities, Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Suresh De Mel predicts that there could be a drop in demand for Sri Lanka�s exports to India. De Mel stated that this is only a prediction, as it is premature to statistically confirm a drop in SL exports to India. �We expect something to happen; there is nothing as of yet. Their second wave is still new to us,� more..

May 3 (CI) There was nothing wrong with Bangladesh's approach in their second innings of the second Test in Pallekele on a pitch that has changed significantly, according to Najmul Hossain Shanto, but they are up against it at 177 for 5 with Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan at the crease, and the target still 260 away. In the 48 overs they have faced so far, the Bangladesh batters haven't really taken to stonewalling. All the top-five batters played briskly - Shanto's strike rate of 59.09 was the slowest more..

May 3 (DM) The attention of the govt has been drawn to introduce a pension scheme and a Social Security Fund for the private sector employees, Labour Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said. He has also determined to depoliticise trade unions and make the private and public sector working class the backbone of the national economy under any govt, he added. Addressing the trade unions affiliated to SLFP led SL Nidahas more..

May 3 (ST) Iran and Sri Lanka have finalised the text of an MOU pertaining to the sale of Ceylon tea in exchange for deducting the debt on fuel imports purchased nearly eight years back. Official sources said that Sri Lanka has already purchased US$250 million worth of fuel about eight years back and this amount will be settled by sending tea stocks to Iran and the Sri Lankan govt will pay the money to the local exporter. The MOU is likely to be signed in about two months� time. more..

May 3 (ST) Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) will be celebrating its centenary next year. It will be a momentous occasion for a country which has won more medals in athletics than giant neighbours India. Sri Lanka�s only two Olympic medals have come from athletics. More significantly an iconic star who heralded Sri Lanka�s dominance on the track in Asia has come on board SLA after being elected as one of seven vice presidents of the athletics body for the next four years. more..