Oct 22 (TM) The latest US Envoy to Sri Lanka � who has been nominated by US President Joe Biden � Julie Chung has yesterday stressed the importance of building constructive relationships with SL, including with the civil society, the private sector, and Sri Lankans. According to media reports, she has further acknowledged the importance of SL�s geographical location, calling it a strategic location in the Indian Ocean, with access to global maritime and trading lanes, which she says more..

Oct 22 (Island) Steep price increase in essentials like milk powder and cooking gas has caused much debate and anger amongst consumers. The opposition politicians are milking the angst among the public to score some points. There is no doubt that any increase in food prices causes the greatest anger and frustration amongst those struggling to make ends meet. The inability to provide dependents three square meals a day is a failure that causes a great deal of mental anguish. more..

Oct 22 (FT) Govt has announced several tax concessions to China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC) for the project to construct and operate a four-lane elevated highway from New Kelani Bridge to Athurugiriya via Rajagiriya. Tax concessions have been published in the gazette by PM Rajapaksa, who is also the Minister of Economic Policies and Plan implementation, under the Strategic Development Project Act. more..

Oct 22 (ST) Globally, eGaming is considered a whopping $2.4 billion USD industry. In SL, eSports are now taking centre stage, with the country being estimated to have approximately 3.2 million gamers; true numbers, however, extend far beyond that. Meanwhile, enriching and uplifting the gaming community has only just begun. Mandarin Reid eSports is the newest subsidiary of the fast-growing Mandarin Reid (Pvt) Ltd, a fully integrated content agency that develops brand content more..

Oct 22 (ST) A proposal to turn the former Meethotamulla garbage site into an urban park for which Rs 400 million was to be spent, is facing several environmental issues. Following the Meethotamulla landslide claiming the lives of 32 people in 2018, residents predicted another disaster in the near future. The project to convert the Meethotamulla garbage dump to an urban park was proposed to be completed by 2023. However, even though the Meethotamulla garbage dump more..

Oct 22 (Island) Former skipper Mahela Jayawardene�s role with the SL team as a consultant has worked wonders and everyone from captain, coach to players have praised him immensely. Unfortunately, his stay with the Sri Lankan team will be over today as he had opted to stay only during the qualifiers. In an interview with a few SL journalists in UAE, Jayawardene explained that he was leaving due to personal reasons. more..

Oct 22 (FT) Health officials confirmed 19 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, raising the country�s COVID-19 death toll to 13,562. 11 COVID-19 deaths confirmed on Wednesday were male and eight were female. Of the total COVID-19 fatalities, 7,583 are male and 5,979 are female. 15 COVID-19 deaths confirmed on Wednesday were over the age of 60 and four COVID-19 deaths were from the 30 to 59 age group. Zero deaths were confirmed from the under-30 age group. more..

Oct 22 (DM) Claiming that nano nitrogen liquid fertilizer imported from India was a nutritional supplement, NPP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today nano nitrogen would not be the solution to the fertilizer issue faced by the farmers at present. He told Parliament that this so called nano nitrogen liquid fertilizer was really a nano urea and that according to the experiment report in India, it should be used as a nutritional supplement. He said according to this experiment report, more..

Oct 22 (FT) LOLC Holdings PLC said yesterday it has received the balance $ 225 million (around Rs. 45.6 billion) from the sale of its final 21% stake in Cambodian microfinance giant PRASAC. The conclusion of the exit on 19 October meant that the LOLC Group had realised $ 647 million from the sale of a 70% stake in PRASAC. The stake was held by subsidiary LOLC International Ltd. of Singapore. The 21% stake sale at $ 225 million was at an entity valuation of $ 1.073 billion. more..

Oct 22 (CI) Of all the matches in this qualifying round, this one seems to most have the feel of a dead rubber. Not only do Netherlands have no chance of making the Super 12s, but Sri Lanka are also highly likely to finish top of Group A thanks to their superior net run rate. For Netherlands, this is a chance to make a mark in a tournament in which they will feel they have underperformed. In the first match, their batting was blown away by Ireland's seam bowlers, while in the second, more..

Oct 22 (TM) In a press release dated 21 Oct, Sri Lanka Tourism claimed that, over the past 20 days since the commencement of Expo 2020, the Sri Lankan pavilion has successfully attracted over 10,000 visitors and received positive endorsements from such visitors. In the press release, Sri Lanka Tourism admitted that certain aspects of the award-winning design of the Uni of Moratuwa (UoM) team were changed. more..

Oct 22 (DM) Prez Rajapaksa has emphasised that doing what's right is a grave challenge and added that despite the magnitude of a challenge, the desired goals can be achieved by moving forward together. President made these remarks at a discussion held with Agrarian Service Officers via video technology, today (21). The Prez pointed out that the desired objectives could be achieved by resolving the difficulties faced by the farmers and it is very important to meet the farmers and more..

Oct 22 (FT) COVID-19 vaccines were administered to 11,593 persons on Wednesday, with health officials stating that 87.9% of the population over the age of 20 has received both doses of a vaccine. 14,789,068 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 12,850,329 persons have received the second dose as well. 68.79% of the total population of SL has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 59.73% has received both doses. more..

Oct 22 (TM) Pointing out that the nano nitrogen fertiliser of Indian Farmers� Fertiliser Co-operative Ltd. (IFFCO), which was imported to SL, is a urea-based formulation, the Federation of University Teachers� Association (FUTA) has stated that this fertiliser is a synthetic chemical fertiliser, and not an organic fertiliser. In a media statement, prepared based on the findings of a group of academics attached to the agriculture more..

Oct 22 (Island) Power Minister Gamini Lokuge yesterday said Prez Rajapaksa had entrusted him with the daunting task of increasing the contribution of renewable energy to 70% of the total electricity requirement by 2030. �We have launched a number of projects in this regard and have already invited investors to develop the country on those lines,� he said at the ground breaking ceremony for the new headquarters building of the Lanka Electricity Company (Pvt) Ltd., founded in 1983. more..

Oct 22 (Island) The Pandora Papers had triggered a flurry of dramatic fallout around the world as current and former leaders in Chile, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, and Ukraine are facing official scrutiny over illegal financial dealings revealed by the Pandora Papers, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) said yesterday. �In addition, the list of officials from different countries pledging tax probes of those named in the files is growing�, ICIJ said. more..

Oct 22 (FT) Lanka IOC PLC has revised its prices upwards on two fuel products � Lanka Auto Diesel and Petrol 92 citing global spikes. LIOC said retail selling prices for both Diesel and Petrol (LP 92) by Rs. 5 per litre due to huge losses on sales of both the products. However, the prices of Lanka Super Diesel and LP 95 have been kept unchanged. The losses are around Rs. 40 per litre on sale of diesel and Rs. 20 per litre on sale of petrol at more..

Oct 22 (CT) SL�s move to send Wanindu Hasaranga once again to bat at number 5 finally paid dividends on the biggest stage, which enabled them to not only score a massive win against Ireland, but also seal their berth in the Super 12s of the ICC T20 World Cup here in UAE. Young finger spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who once again took three wickets, said Wanindu is their trump card. �We have made our plans. Wanindu was our trump card as he can bat anywhere in the batting order, and more..

Oct 22 (TM) Health Ministry�s Medical Supplies Division (MSD) said that the drug known as bevacizumab, vital for the treatment of a number of cancers affecting a number of organs in the body and usually administered as an injection, will be imported to the country within a week, following a recent shortage in its supply. �The supply chain of many drugs in this category, including tocilizumab, also faced a number of problems this year, as they were used as alternatives in the treatment of more..

Oct 22 (TM) Minister Udaya Gammanpila yesterday assured that the country has sufficient stocks of fuel till January 2022, urging people not to panic and be deluded by speculations. �Like last time people have fallen into the same trap of unverified speculations by certain groups. As the Energy Minister, I assure that there are sufficient stocks and uninterrupted supply of fuel till January. Thus, I urge people not to be fooled by more..

Oct 22 (CT) The Dept of Immigration and Emigration says that the number of applications for passports has increased significantly of late. At present approximately 1,500 passports are being issued daily under the one-day service. The average number of passports issued daily under the one-day service before the COVID pandemic was 1,000. He added that while only 600 passports were issued daily under the normal service, at present approximately 1,000 passports are issued more..

Oct 22 (DM) Chairman of State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), Dr. Prasanna Gunasena has reportedly tended his resignation. Dr. Gunasena has handed over the letter of resignation to the President and it is yet to know whether the Prez accepted his letter or not. He has resigned from the post citing health and personal reasons. Dr. Gunasena is a renowned neuro surgeon and has rendered a yoeman service in taking the lead to procure COVID-19 vaccines to SL for the last months more..

Oct 22 (TM) The Attorney General (AG) had refused to appear for State Minister Lohan Rattwatte and the Superintendent of Police in A'pura in the case related to the fundamental rights (FR) petition filed by eight prisoners of the Anuradhapura Prison who were allegedly intimidated and threatened by Ratwatte. The AG had appeared for the Prisons Commissioner General and the Minister of Justice. more..

Oct 22 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 detections rose to 533,860 with the detection of 555 COVID-19 patients yesterday. 554 patients detected yesterday were from the New Year cluster and one was an overseas arrival. 4,153 PCR tests were conducted yesterday. On Wednesday, 6,518 PCR tests and 3,635 rapid antigen tests were conducted. The 539 COVID-19 detections on Wednesday include 533 persons from the New Year cluster, four persons from Prisons cluster & 2 overseas arrivals. more..

Oct 22 (CT) The Delta plus variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is being detected in UK, India, and several other countries, has not been detected in Sri Lanka yet, Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Director of the Allergy, Immunology, and Cell Biology Unit at the University of Sri J'pura (USJ) said. In a tweet, Dr. Jeewandara said,�We have not detected Delta plus in our laboratory so far. All our sequence data are uploaded real-time and are available to the public. I wanted to confirm as I get many queries.� more..

Oct 22 (TM) If anyone tried to come to power on the blood of innocent people, they would not be able to enjoy that power for too long, said Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, in reference to the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 and the probe into it. During a service held yesterday (21) at St. Anthony�s Church in Kochchikade, one of the targets of the Easter Sunday bombings, he said: more..

Oct 22 (FT) How possible is it that the current presidential system in SL has been able to survive despite the fact that it is rotten to the core? It is not only because the two major political parties have the potential to secure presidential power alternately, but also the others which fall into the category of small or minority parties believe that the system would provide them with an opportunity to seize the position directly or indirectly; hence all of them have adopted a policy of defending the system. more..

Oct 22 (FT) What is Yohanisation? It�s all about the outstanding musical invasion of singer Yohani in the international arena. Uniqueness of Yohanisation is characterised with Yohani�s musical journey, her background, her educational and international exposure, her language proficiency, and her skills development in signing and music, her family background, and networks and socialisation. Yohanisation is a great example for all Sri Lankans on exemplary skills development. more..

Oct 27 (AD) Cabinet has granted the approval to obtain a loan of USD 3.6 billion from Oman to purchase petroleum, says Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila. He stated that preparations for agreements are currently underway. Additionally, a loan facility of US$ 500 million is expected to be obtained from India and it has been submitted for the Treasury�s approval, Minister Gammanpila said further. He said the CB governor has promised to release necessary funds to import fuel more..

Oct 27 (EN) SL�s spot rates have turned negative again as dollar liquidity tightened at the 203 to the US dollar non-credible pegged rate as dollar liquidity tightened amid rupee liquidity injected to sterilize a short from a reserve ratio hike. Central Bank raised the Statutory Reserve Requirement by 2% from September creating a large liquidity short and then filled it and other intervention with 87 day money and outright purchases of Treasury bills. This was done amidst attempts to get crippled more..

Oct 27 (EN) Sri Lanka�s ongoing inter-province travel ban will be lifted on Oct 31, the national COVID-19 prevention task force said, despite social media accounts � and sometimes pictures � of people openly flouting the ban. The restriction was imposed in conjunction with an island-wide lockdown, officially known as a quarantine curfew, that the govt declared on August 20 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. more..

Oct 27 (Island) Minister Johnston Fernando has said that as pledged by Prez Rajapaksa in his presidential election manifesto in 2019, a committee of experts had been tasked with formulating a new draft Constitution and the draft Constitution would be presented to Parliament early next year. �The making of the Constitution is a complicated process with the change of times and people�s needs. People voted for us to introduce new Constitution among many other things we had promised more..

Oct 27 (FT) Postgraduate Institute of Management Alumni Association (PIMA), recently conducted the second biennial memorial oration program to honour the memory of SL�s pioneering marketing guru, the late Prof. Uditha Liyanage. PIMA is SL�s most active and largest body of MBA alumni in SL, with a network of 5,000 professionals and positioned as a leading think tank of a profound community of thought leaders in business. It has the privilege of Prof. Liyanage being a part of their faculty more..

OOct 27 (FT) A consistent and streamlined long-term policy framework is needed by CEB to provide electricity supply to its customers at an affordable price, newly-launched Senior Engineers Association of CEB says. �We believe that the CEB should modernise and adopt changes in the energy market to resolve the upcoming energy crisis which is our responsibility though we have capacity to face such a crisis� more..

Oct 27 (AD) The total number of people, who died of COVID-19 infection in SL, moved up as 12 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Thursday (21). The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in the country to 13,574. The latest victims include 07 males and 05 females. 4 deaths were reported among elderly people aged above 60 years. In addition, 04 people aged between 30-59 years have also succumbed more..

Oct 27 (AD) The Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has decided to approve providing simultaneous sign language interpretation during the 2022 Budget Debate in consideration of the Hearing-Impaired Community, the Secretary-General of Parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake said today. The matter proposed by the Speaker was taken up at the Committee on Parliamentary Business to which approval was granted for a simultaneous more..

OOct 27 (Reuters) SL Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine next month, part of a bid to reopen the travel industry and revive the economy. More than 1 million people including security personnel, health care staff and tourism industry workers will be given third shots of the Pfizer vaccine beginning Nov. 1, more..

Oct 27 (CT) State Minister of Rural Roads and Other Infrastructure, Nimal Lanza said as the Govt would do whatever is possible to solve issues faced by teachers, he hopes that discussions between the Govt and teacher trade unions would be fruitful for the sake of children in the country. This was said by the State Minister at a recent meeting of the Negombo Regional Coordinating Committee�s Functional Infrastructure Development and Livelihood Subcommittee at the Negombo more..