Oct 8 (AD) The AG today served indictments on the accused in Mawanella Buddha statue vandalism case. The case was taken up before a trial-at-bar chaired by High Court Judge Jagath Kahandagamage. In the year leading up to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, a group of individuals had damaged several Buddha statues in Mawanella area. Multiple suspects were taken into custody as a result of the probes carried out by the CID, State Intelligence Service & Mawanella Police. more..

Oct 8 (TM) Transparency International SL (TISL) filed a complaint with the CIABOC yesterday (07) calling for an investigation into the unexplained wealth of former Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa and her husband Thirukumar Nadesan in connection to the revelations made through the Pandora Papers. The letter states that funds over USD 44 million has been acquired by Nadesan and Rajapaksa which are in off-shore accounts or in the form of assets in Switzerland, Cyprus and UAE. more..

Oct 9 (CT) MP Diana Gamage has been sacked by her party, the SJB! Diana may now jump to Pohottuwa since it was her Pohottuwa support measure that cost her SJB slot. Diana voted for the 20th Amendment! This was clearly against her party�s decision. Anything better the party could have done for Diana? Yet, Diana is undaunted. She attacks Sajith and the party in personal terms whereas Sajith Premadasa did his duty to ensure party discipline. But why did Dian support that more..

Oct 9 (CT) To me, the ongoing discourse, stimulated by a reckless decision to ban the import of all non-organic agro-chemicals with immediate effect could be considered healthy, Unfortunately, the Vasa visa nethi krushikarma folks, on whose advice the President perhaps made this dramatic move, have chosen to remain silent. The issue has now less to do with science and more with political tones. It is not fair to expect the President to be knowledgeable about every matter that seems to require more..

Oct 9 (TM) Time and again it has happened in Sri Lanka: a particularly grisly case of child abuse makes headlines, the nation recoils collectively in disgust over the details, and people contemplate how abusers best deserve to be punished. Meanwhile, our justice system continues to plod along unchanged, and victims often have to wait years � and in some cases, be well into their adulthood � before legal action concludes, more..

Oct 9 (ST) The country is moving rapidly closer towards mass deprivation of food, petrol, gas, medicines and bare necessities owing to a severe shortage of foreign currency and inappropriate policies. A worsening of the current crisis is inevitable unless foreign assistance is secured immediately. The rapidity of the deteriorating external finances was such that last Sunday�s discussion of it in this column was outdated by the news report in the same paper that more..

Oct 9 (Island) Oh-me-gosh! Financial secrets may be out! Even if censorship is imposed, some damage is done to corrupt rogues who often enrich themselves at the expense of their motherland. The damage? Burning anxiety, sleepless nights, stress and fear of being stripped metaphorically naked to public view. That itself is half punishment. Very interesting to write about these papers that have very recently jack-in-the-box-jumped out in bang bang fashion, probably unexpectedly but more..

Oct 9 (CT) The hyped concerns raised by various parties over the recent visit of Indian External Affairs Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and his visit to oil tanks in Trincomalee in the immediate aftermath of arriving in Sri Lanka appeared to have faced an untimely death with the revelation of Pandora Papers which included names of SL businessman Thirukumar Nadesan and his wife Nirupama Rajapaksa, niece of more..

Oct 9 (CT) The COVID-19 pandemic affects not only humans but animals too. It has made a huge impact on almost every main sector of SL; agriculture and live stocks, sports, tech innovations, manufacturing, welfare etc. The new concept of living with COVID-19 directed people all over the globe to think broadly and adjust their lifestyles on par with the avenues of the new system. The collapsed businesses of the world re-open and continue with work focusing on new challenges. more..

Oct 9 (DM) One of the world�s greatest statesmen, Nelson Mandela has said that, as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest. World religious leaders have also told us that getting actively and effectively involved in poverty alleviation needs to be an important part of our spirituality. For this purpose, Pope Francis is holding regular dialogues with world�s religious leaders to discuss how they could come together to dismantle the structures of more..

Oct 9 (Island) Sun Match (Ceylon) Ltd. with their Sooriya brand of safety matches and CIC Vetcare have come forward to sponsor badminton players Thilini Hendahewa and Ranthushka Karunatilake, Sri Lanka Badminton announced on Friday. Sri Lanka Badminton in a statement said that the National Olympic Committee was instrumental in securing lucrative sponsorships for Hendahewa and Karunathilake after careful evaluation by NOC marketing consultant Rohantha Athukorala. more..

Oct 9 (CT) From long queues gathering to purchase essentials due to shortages in the market, to fluctuating prices of such essentials, it is inevitably evident that the public have had to face a double whammy amidst the pandemic. Repeated affirmation from the authorities that there is no shortage of essential food items in the country and that prices of commodities will not be increased unfairly, seems to only be a fairytale that would continuously taunt consumers. Previously, two Extraordinary more..

Oct 9 (DM) The Pandora Papers are a series of papers being continuously published since Oct 3rd 2021 by the Washington based Int'l Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ). The ICIJ is a worldwide network of 280 Investigative journalists and more than 100 Media organizations from many different countries spanning the globe. Pandora papers are based on 11.8 million documents uncovered by ICIJ journalists more..

Oct 9 (DM) The situation in the country is bad.Indeed, very bad. No longer can the Govt hide the fact that we are heading towards an extremely difficult time. We may even have to bring back the coupon system to ensure equitable access to crucial resources. What is important here is to urge the masses to stand by the President and the Govt. Sadly, the goings on in the recent past according to many did not demonstrate that the Govt truly cares about the public in a way that the public more..

Oct 9 (CT) How the prices of agricultural commodities are determined in a country where agricultural production is essentially in the hands of small scale producers who cannot individually control the market prices of their products has become a major issue of contention in the last two weeks. Moreover, it has also become a measure and indication of the relative strength of the different stakeholders that entail the State, varying size of mill owners, wholesale and retail merchants, more..

Oct 9 (ST) While queues for essential food are becoming commonplace, SL having embraced the open economy more than 40 years ago simply cannot move out of this system as many entrepreneurs are involved in exports and imports, according to Sujeeve Samaraweera, Past President of the National Chamber of Commerce of SL. The foreign exchange crisis has forced most businessmen to borrow dollars more..

Oct 9 (ST) Pradeep Nishantha, Assistant Head of Sports of Gateway College Colombo, was felicitated by the Gateway Colleges for his remarkable contribution to the country in producing two medal winners at the recently held Paralympic Games in Japan. SL national song was played for the very first time at an Olympics when Dinesh Herath who was trained by Pradeep Nishantha won a gold medal with a new world record. Pradeep has been working at Gateway since 2005 as a part time coach more..

Oct 9 (Island) In 2018 when the SL Under-19 cricket team was selected for a home series against Bangladesh in October, St. Joseph�s College spinner Dunith Wellalage withdrew from the team to concentrate on the O/L examination. That was something very rare. Many are the junior cricketers who give up on education to concentrate on cricket. It was probably the first such occasion in recent times. Exactly three years after that decision, which was backed by his parents and more..

Oct 9 (DN) SL fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep is in danger of missing the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup after having sustained an injury during the first Twenty20 against Oman at Al Amerat, Muscat on Thursday. The medium paceman walked back to the pavilion after having bowled only two overs where he returned figures of two wickets for seven overs. However, SLC sources yesterday revealed that Pradeep was suffering from a hamstring injury and may well be out of action for almost 4 weeks. more..

Oct 9 (DN) Eight Sri Lankans have been picked to play in the Abu Dhabi T10 League 2021 which will be held from Nov 19 to December 4 in the United Arab Emirates. The player draft for the fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league was conducted on Thursday where seven SL cricketers namely Dushmantha Chameera, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana and Matheesha Pathirana were picked by franchise teams. more..

Oct 9 (Island) A group of lawyers and businessmen were attempting to take over large swathes of Wattegama � Kebilitta forest reserve for large-scale corn plantation, Sajeewa Chamikara of MONLAR alleged. Chamikara said that people with political backing had been attempting to encroach on land in the reserve for years. �However, officials and grassroots groups in the area have been able to thwart these moves. more..

Oct 9 (FT) Sri Lanka�s COVID-19 detections rose to 524,937 with the detection of 746 COVID-19 patients yesterday. Despite a gradual relaxation of restrictions, especially with the drop in daily detections, the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control yesterday decided that existing inter-provincial travel restrictions will remain in place until 21 October. 641 COVID-19 cases detected between 23 Sep and 30 Sept have been added to the total case count after verification. more..

Oct 9 (MFA) Foreign Minister Prof G.L. Peiris met the High Commissioner of Canada David McKinnon on 8 Oct at the Foreign Ministry. A number of areas of ongoing bilateral cooperation were discussed. Minister also briefed the HC on SL�s recent multilateral engagements in Geneva and New York. Minister updated the HC on progress related to SL�s vaccination programme and the gradual opening up of the country. Minister appreciated Canada�s contribution to SL�s process of recovery more..

Oct 9 (AD) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) made representations before the Select Committee of Parliament to Identify Appropriate Reforms of the Election Laws and the Electoral System and to Recommend Necessary Amendments that the proportional representation system is appropriate for the country. The party yesterday (07) pointed out that the proportional representation system could ensure fair more..

Oct 9 (FT) Health officials confirmed 38 COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, raising the country�s COVID-19 death toll to 13,267. The COVID-19 fatalities confirmed on Thursday include 26 persons over the age of 60 and 12 persons in the 30 to 59 age group. The Epidemiology Unit states that 76.52% of the total fatalities are over the age of 60, 22.31% are from the 30 to 59 age group, and 1.16% are below the age of 30. 7,413 fatalities confirmed are male and 5,854 fatalities are female. more..

Oct 9 (CT) SL managed to save their blushes courtesy of Avishka Fernando and skipper Dasun Shanaka on Thursday against Oman (SL won by 19 runs), but they will want to finalize their top order problem going forward as they walk into the second T20 on Saturday. SL experiment of sending in Avishka Fernando at number four came off as he anchored the inning before unleashing towards the end to smash 83 off 59. But Pathum Nissanka and Dinesh Chandimal, who opened the inning, more..

Oct 9 (FT) The Central Bank has expanded the debt moratorium extension to customers of leasing and finance companies. It said the expansion followed the receipt of many requests from concerned parties and Govt authorities to extend the concessions granted to the borrowers affected by the continuation of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in SL. To facilitate meeting the challenges faced by businesses and individuals, CBSL has requested Licensed Finance Companies more..

Oct 9 (DM) Govt MP Diana Gamage said she is the actual leader of the SJB and that those who claimed to be leader of the party today had taken it from her illegally. Gamage told Parliament that those who claim to be leaders of SJB are jokers. �It was my party Ape Jana Bala Pakshaya is my party. Telephone is the symbol of my party. I have allowed these politicians including the leader of Opposition use my party and contest the general election 2020 when they were facing a danger of more..

Oct 9 (CT) Having waived off on-arrival PCR for fully vaccinated travellers at the BIA, three days after the Airport labs were authorised to carry them out, Health authorities and sections of the Govt were scheming to reintroduce hotel quarantine by revising guidelines, the CMLSSL alleged. CMLSSL President, Ravi Kumudesh accused the Health Ministry and sections of Govt attempting to pave the way for the hotel mafia more..

Oct 9 (FT) COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 108,573 persons on Thursday and 83% of the country�s population over the age of 20 has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to date. 14,668,211 persons have received the first dose of a vaccine and 12,123,409 persons have received the second dose as well. This includes 11,756,586 persons who received the first dose of Sinopharm and 9,574,295 persons who received the second dose of Sinopharm. more..

Oct 9 (CT) Member of the National Election Commission, Jeevan Thiyagarajah, was appointed as the Governor of the Northern Province by President Rajapaksa on Friday (8). He replaces P.S.M. Charles, who was appointed last year. The letter nominating Thiyagarajah to the post has been issued by President�s Secretary P.B. Jayasundera. He can accept the post, subject to his resignation from the Commission, the letter added. Accordingly he has stepped down from the post. more..

Oct 9 (Island) Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament that he was not ready to make the mistake of revealing budget secrets by informing the House of the salary increments to be given to teachers and principals. Minister said salaries of teachers and principals would be increased in several phases. He said that the salary anomaly crisis prevailing in the teacher service would be resolved by Budget 2022. more..

Oct 9 (DM) The decision on increasing the prices of the imported milk powder will be announced on Monday, Milk Powder Importers said. A spokesman for the importers said that they had received US$ 1.1 million to clear their containers stranded at the Colombo Port. There are 16 milk powder containers to be released from the port on Monday. The cleared consignment of milk powder will be released to the market by Wednesday. However, the importers said that they are considering increasing more..

Oct 9 (DN) A man has been arrested by the Police in connection with the deaths of five members of the same family in a house fire that broke out in the upper part of the Ragala estate in the Ragala Police Division at around 10.30 pm on Thursday. Police investigations have revealed that the suspect had been having an illicit affair with a 35-year-old woman who was burnt to death in the incident. The woman�s husband had left her some time ago and the suspect had been having an affair with the woman but more..

Oct 9 (CT) With the Govt aiming at resuming all academic activities in schools by November, leaders of several key teacher-principal trade unions are set to meet at Temple Trees on Monday (11) for a �crucial and final� discussion with PM Rajapaksa and other relevant ministers and officials. State Minister Susil Premajayantha said in Parliament on Friday (8) schools are scheduled to reopen for all grades by November this year. more..

Oct 9 (FT) A viral strain cannot be a peg by which we assess what we can and cannot achieve, who we can or cannot be, or the contours of social, economic and national destiny. Moreover, all the largely evidence free, almost madcap nostrums rolled out, have failed. Sweden, where they were ignored (no lockdowns, no mask mandates, no school closures) and sanity prevailed, boasts a lower all-cause mortality in 2021 than in 1991 (and many intervening years since). more..