May 23 (SO) State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the Opposition has misled the people about the current Covid-19 situation in the country. They don�t understand this is a very important period in our history where they would have also scored points if they had supported and helped the Govt during the crisis. Instead of that, they are doing their utmost to pull the Govt down with various things and that is to their detriment as well. more..

May 23 (SO) While there are several conflicts raging in and around the Middle East, nothing can compare to the sheer ferocity and viciousness of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel, which was described recently by the Human Rights Watch as an Apartheid State has time and again launched indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Palestine and occupied areas. Over the years, many attempts have been made to end this conflict such as the Oslo Accords and most recently, more..

May 23 (CT) Corona Virus disease 2019 is a dreadful killer disease which devastated counties like Italy, Spain, France, the US and England at the beginning, has been having a field day in India over the last couple of months and is starting to create havoc amongst the corruption ridden poverty stricken and brow-beaten Sri Lankan population. This is a virus that enters the body through the facial orifices mainly the nose and the mouth and that predominantly affects the lungs. more..

May 23 (CT) Lakvijaya Power Station or the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant leads in supplying power to the nation while causing immense environmental damage; violating the terms of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) as well as the Environment Protection License (EPL). Plant�s Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) has been dysfunctional for 10 years but the CEB is setting up a fourth coal power plant in more..

May 23 (Island) Sharing with Senthan birth at the time when Gandhi was assassinated and Ceylon received independence, political controversies and liberation struggles of the era have chequered our lives. Reflecting on the 1971 JVP rebellion, Lionel Bopage has written, � all alternative left groups strongly believed in the seizure of power through armed struggle for social transformation. Coevally, there were two other related upheavals whose roots were constitutional. more..

May 23 (TM) The Govt, led by Prez Rajapaksa and PM Rajapaksa, last week managed to resolve a key area of concern � the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill � while the larger and deadly issue of Covid-19 rages with threats of legal action by citizens against several authoritative individuals. The controversial Port City Economic Commission Bill, albeit with amendments, is now on its way towards implementation following its passage in Parliament last Thursday (20), more..

May 23 (Island) From 200 to 300 positive cases, in mid-April, to over 3,000, in mid-May, the number of COVID-19 positive cases seems to be increasing exponentially, with the number of fatalities having surpassed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday (18). But epidemiology and public health experts warn that the numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Colombo University Medical Faculty, Community Medicine Department Head, Prof Manuj Weerasinghe says that the actual ground situation is far bleaker more..

May 23 (CT) Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith�s recent comments regarding racial and religious politics were most timely. In a climate where religious leaders seek to become political leaders, to hear the Archbishop state so unequivocally, that religion and language should not be the basis for a political party is at least mildly reassuring. It seems that the Archbishop was irked by recent comments made in Parliament by MP Wigneswaran regarding the primary language of SL�s indigenous peoples. more..

May 23 (Island) The Island cartoon yesterday by Jeffrey Kelaart stuck more than a nail in my heart. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce now offers its members the opportunity to purchase AstraZeneca Covid vaccines for Rs, 5,000 each. This is the alarm that most of those, like me, have obtained the first dose of its many weeks, and nearly two months ago, face today. Are we moving to a huge fraud � a Vaccine Black Market � more..

May 23 (SO) The Sri Lankan wheelchair tennis team which qualified to play in the semi final at the 2021 BNP Paribas World Team Cup Qualification event held in Portugal recently lost to Israel 1-2 and could not qualify for the World Cup. But they finished in third place defeating Greece 2-0. Teams from 29 countries took part in this event. The SL team comprised Gamini Dissanayake, DSR Dharmasena and Suresh Ranaweera and recorded a 3-0 victory over Croatia to reach the semi final. more..

May 23 (Island) As a future-ready brand, vivo is continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation since it came to Sri Lanka in 2017. It has closely followed the evolution of cutting-edge technologies in the communications industry and the development of 5G standards. vivo, a leader in 5G development and a fervent advocate of the new technology, has been one of the most important contributors to the global 5G technology. As early as 2016, vivo ramped up its efforts in 5G planning and more..

May 23 (ST) Attorney General�s Department yesterday made frantic efforts at pulling down a controversial plaque that was erected when the outgoing Attorney general Dappula de Livera and Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong declared open a Smart Library on Wednesday within the Department � funded by the Chinese Govt. That the plaque was opened in front of the very eyes of the outgoing AG on Wednesday and it took three days and more..

May 23 (Island) SSP Kamal Pushpakumara will be contesting for the post of President at the upcoming hockey elections with the vision of making Sri Lanka one of the best hockey playing nationals in Asia. The Hockey elections will be held via video conference on the 31st of May. A Senior Superintendent of Police, Pushpakumara has a few tricks up his sleeve in order to make SL a force to be reckoned with in the region in hockey. A former First Class cricketer, SSP Pushpakumara also represented more..

May 23 (SO) Port City is a development project already completed and cannot be abandoned. However, the present challenge is to put it to best use, said former Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr. W.A. Wijewardena. He said the option available is to go for a model like Macau where there is a separate system of economic activities different from mainland China. If not the Port City would be like a flotilla of ships anchored offshore doing business with the rest of the world with our permission. more..

May 23 (ST) The postponement of the 2020 Olympics by a year because of the pandemic has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Sri Lanka providing athletes an opportunity to achieve direct qualification. Show-jumper Mathilda Karlsson and gymnast Milka Gehani de Silva have qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics while US-based athlete Ushan Thiwanka Perera is on the brink of achieving the qualifying standard more..

May 23 (ST) I thought I must write to you now because, for some strange reason you are in the news in our little island. One may have thought it is due to the raging pandemic that has shut us down � even though no likes to use the word lockdown � and because that originated in your country. That is not the reason. You might be surprised to know that some are even suggesting that you are in effect the leader of our land because we seem to do what you want, and give all that you ask for from us. more..

May 23 (ST) Govt this week rammed through Parliament the Port City Commission Bill. What the indecent hurry was begs questioning when the groundwork for the project was still work in progress, and some distance from completion. That the Chinese who are overseeing the mega project were applying pressure to fast-track the legal framework in return for the multitude of loans, grants and currency swaps this Govt was chasing behind, has not been denied. more..

May 23 (CI) Much as they would like to focus solely on the Bangladesh series, SL's mens' cricketers will probably have the ongoing contracts impasse with Sri Lanka Cricket at the back of their minds. This much was conceded by captain Kusal Perera, who is leading a young side in his first assignment in the job. On Friday, a legal representative issued a statement on behalf of all 24 players offered central contracts this year, more..

May 23 (CI) SL will be desperately looking for ODI Super League points - they sit in the negative currently - while Bangladesh will be keen to bolster their own tally as the teams seek improvement in the ODI series starting Sunday in Dhaka. Both sides have played very few ODIs since the 2019 World Cup too, which puts this series in sharper focus. Apart from the World Cup qualification points, the home side will look to break their ten-match winless streak across formats that followed just after more..

May 23 (Island) Sumanthiran Navaratnam a.k.a. Summa Navaratnam had a penchant to break records. Being a nonagenarian itself is a record. He is 96 years old and is the oldest living SL Athlete. He was born on 21st May 1925. He is the son of the late S.S. Navaratnam of the former Ceylon Civil Service and K.T Navaratnam nee Ratnam, daughter of Dr. C.S. Ratnam, Provincial Surgeon. His Civil Servant father wanted his son to obtain a Public School education, hence chose Royal College, more..

May 23 (TM) The number portability facility which was expected to come into effect by mid this year has been delayed until the end of this year. Govt last year announced that the number portability facility will be introduced in order to enable customers to retain their telephone numbers while changing from one service provider to another. Speaking to us, Telecom Regulatory Commission of SL (TRCSL) Director General more..

May 23 (Island) We repeat today in the print edition of our newspaper an article titled How Joe Biden could vaccinate the world reproduced from a U.S. publication, The Week for the benefit of those of our readers who may not have read the epaper we were compelled to limit ourselves to last Sunday on account of the Covid restrictions. Given the scale of the devastation this fast-spreading virus has caused on this planet, mankind is necessarily focused on all matters relating to the pandemic. more..

May 23 (ST) Aiming extensively to revamp and develop the overall standards of football, Dr. Manil Fernando, who is in contention for the chief position in the Football Federation of SL (FFSL), pointed out that the local governing body of the most followed global sport should come out of its traditional ethics if the sport is to move forward. Dr. Fernando, an Orthopaedic Surgeon and a qualified practitioner on Sport Injury, said he is on a mission to find the most appropriate cure to the present ailments of more..

May 23 (ST) SLC has set a June 3 deadline for its protesting players to sign annual contracts. The alternative is to play under tour contracts in future. The ultimatum comes after 24 players offered central contracts refused to sign after demanding clarity on the points system used to grade players on which basis their annual pay packets were determined. The new pay scheme devised by Tom Moody, Director of Cricket, more..

May 23 (ST) A recent meeting between PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong was held to discuss urgent financial support for COVID-19, its funding and the country�s mobilisation of foreign financing. PM Rajapaksa, who is also Minister of Finance, had briefed China�s top diplomat in SL on the financial situation of the country and the position of Chinese financing. At the meeting, the Chinese Ambassador has agreed to provide another 500,000 doses of Sinopharm more..

May 23 (TM) Cabinet has granted approval to a proposal submitted by Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi for the manufacture of the Chinese Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine in Sri Lanka. State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC) has been vested with the authority to negotiate and sign the relevant agreements. SPMC Chairman Dr. Uthpala Indrawansa said: �Procuring Covid-19 vaccines from other countries has proven to be a hard task. more..

May 23 (TM) The Ministry of Health has issued its final warning to a leading private hospital in Colombo that has allegedly conducted over five times the allocated daily PCR tests, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena said. He warned that if any private hospital exceeds the allocated PCR test limit, Health Ministry would take stern action against them and immediately cancel the permit more..

May 23 (ST) Central Bank�s (CB) plan to revive at least 12 weak finance companies will see daylight by mid-next year. This plan will involve consolidation and have some mergers and acquisitions, CB officials told the Business Times. According to their size, and the trouble they are in, the finance companies will be consolidated, they said. �We told the industry to come up with some proposals in line with our suggestions. Now the valuations are being done on 12,� a CB official said. more..

May 23 (ST) The Govt will review mid next week if the islandwide lockdown will be continued over the next weekend depending on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths reported, Army commander Shavendra Silva said. He said the deaths and the number of cases were on the rise and that decisions would be taken depending on the situation. Since May 1 until Friday, more than 50,000 new COVID19 cases had been reported while 455 deaths had been reported during the same period. more..

May 23 (ST) COVID-19 is escalating in Sri Lanka. And doctors are forced each day to make difficult decisions: Who is well enough to unhook from oxygen supply so another can take that place? The work never stops in a COVID high dependency unit (HDU) and the suffering of patients is intense. A doctor who covers shifts in one such section described the pain they endured when their conditions deteriorated. more..

May 23 (ST) There is a major deterioration in the global COVID-19 situation largely driven by outbreaks in South and South East Asia, warned world famous virologist, Prof. Malik Peiris. Now there are outbreaks not only in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka but also in Malaysia and Thailand, this expert who was recently awarded the John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for his work on the containment of SARS in 2003 and bird flu, said on Wednesday. more..

May 23 (NH) Bank of Ceylon leases Rs. 3.5 billion worth of luxury vehicles despite the suspension of vehicle imports? Credible information has come to light, revealing plans to import 399 vehicles including 227 luxury Land Cruiser SUVs under the Bank of Ceylon�s Rs. 3.5 billion leasing facility despite the current ban on importing vehicles to Sri Lanka. The letter of credit for the importation of these vehicles was opened on the 29th of April. Leasing facilities have been granted by state-owned BOC more..

May 23 (ST) The events behind the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks that left 268 innocent men, women, and children dead, are becoming curioser and curioser. There is strong speculation that the real perpetrators behind the attacks, that shook the world, may not face punitive action. A complex turn of events is driving the issue beyond many facts that have transpired. That is with attempts to point the finger at unexpected more..

May 24 (ST) There is great and coruscating anger that bubbles to the fore as covid-afflicted Sri Lankans die in (uncounted) numbers while ruling party politicians fixate on the exact parliamentary majority on which it won the Port City Economic Commission Bill vote in Parliament this week. Who cares whether the Bill was passed by a two thirds majority or a simple majority in the House at a time when the nation is burning? Is this a simple stroking of the monstrous ego of Rajapaksa regime? more..

May 24 (DM) Mohamed Nasheed born on May 17, 1967 to a middle-class family is the fourth and the first democratically elected Prez of the Maldives [2008 - 2012] and current Speaker of the People�s Majlis since May 2019. Nasheed, an old boy of an Overseas School Colombo, founded the Maldivian Democratic Party and defeated Prez Abdul Gayoom, an old Royalist who had governed the archipelago as president for 30 years. Nasheed was instrumental in defeating Prez Yameen in 2018 election. more..

May 24 (GV) The Rajapaksas are at war. Not with the pandemic but with those who inform the public about the pandemic. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, the only minister who seems to possess a brain, a vertebra and a conscience, is accused of mental instability. A gag order is imposed on health officials. Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Dy Dir. at Health Ministry, is under investigation for exercising his constitutional right to free speech. more..

May 24 (DM) As Lankans, we the people - yes, you and I - have rarely been able to rise above petty political differences to take a united stand on problems facing our country or in int'l affairs. During the dark days of LTTE, terrorism even when hundreds of innocent people were being killed, our politicians played the blame game rather than come together to find a solution to the problem. Ultimately, an Indian solution was thrust down our collective throats in the form of Indo-SL accord. more..

May 24 (ST) The Colombo Port City (CPC) Economic Commission Bill, one that will surely have profound implications for both Sri Lanka and the entire region for decades to come, was adopted on Thursday after a controversial two-day debate in Parliament. In the end, the Bill was passed comfortably, with 149 votes in favour and just 58 against at the third reading � a majority of 91. The second reading was passed with 148 votes in favour and 59 against. more..

May 24 (TM) Parliament last Thursday passed the Colombo Port City (CPC) Economic Commission Bill, which made headlines over the past few weeks. Following the SC�s determination on the Bill, the Govt accepted its amendments and passed the Bill. Meanwhile, it was also announced in Parliament last week that the Govt had spent Rs. 138 billion so far in its efforts towards combating the Covid-19 pandemic. more..