Sep 13 (DM) The move to appoint a politician to the Central Bank Governorship, which was an internationally recognised independent institute, would create a bad image on the country and its economy at the int'l level, JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said. He said that it was inevitable that SL would be considered a black economy as laws were drafted to allow money laundering in the country and a politician is taking over CB. He said Ajith Nivard Cabraal suffered a huge dent more..

Sep 13 (SO) SL are aiming for at least five medals as they field a 15-member team at the 58th World Military Boxing Championship to be held from Sept 16 to 26 in Moscow. �We are hoping to win medals in at least five weight classes,� said team captain and Navy boxing chairman Captain Arjuna Perera. �Our target is the heavier weight categories.� Navy coach Chief Petty Officer Nikshan Dasanayaka said they have been training hard for this tournament despite the restrictions caused by the pandemic. more..

Sep 13 (CT) PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, while emphasising that extremist ideology and violence associated with it represent one of the most serious challenges the world is facing, identified education plays the most important role in building peace and harmony. It is the duty of policymakers and educationists, through the curriculum and methods of teaching in our schools and universities, to emphasise what more..

Sep 13 (CT) Schools with less than 200 students could be reopened during the course of next month, the Technical Committee appointed to look into the possibility of reopening schools, has suggested. The recommendations reached by this Committee, which is affiliated to the Presidential Taskforce on the Eradication of COVID-19, are to be submitted to the President on 17 Sept. GMOA has pointed out that around 3,000 schools in the rural areas, with less than 200 students, could be reopened initially more..

Sep 13 (TM) An influential State Minister has entered the Welikada Prison premises by force under the influence of alcohol to allow his friends to visit and view the gallows, well-placed sources told The Morning. According to the sources, the State Minister�s friends had also been drunk, with many of them wearing shorts, and the State Minister, who is from a political family, carrying a pistol in his hand. �They were so drunk that some of them even fell on the ground,� a source said. more..

Sep 13 (TM) Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardana has stated that the rice mill owners have agreed to supply stocks of rice to Lanka Sathosa outlets from today, following raids carried out in recent days in large scale rice mills in the Polonnaruwa area. He further said that after the raids, a small quantity of rice hidden by the rice mill owners was handed over to the Govt, and added that Trade Ministry Secretary Badrani more..

Sep 13 (FT) Sarvodaya Development Finance (SDF), with roots to iconic social empowerment leader A.T. Ariyaratne, is going public with a ground-breaking initiative. SDF is bracing for a listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange with a Rs. 1 billion issue offering 30.38% stake or 45.45 million shares at Rs. 22 each. Its net asset value is Rs. 21.28 and price to book value is Rs. 1.03 and Financial advisor NDB Investment Bank promoting the IPO as a 19% discount. more..

Sep 13 (SO) A policy decision will be taken on permitting Covid-19 vaccinations in private hospitals if the pandemic continues to be a threat needing annual vaccination of the population, SPC Chairman Dr. Prasanna Gunasena said. He said this was a matter for the Govt to decide on if it was going to continue the vaccination of people every year against Covid-19 or permit private hospitals to step in, giving people the freedom to choose a vaccine they prefer, in the future. more..

Sep 13 (DM) UNHRC will open its regular September session in Geneva today with SL on the agenda. President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, will open the 48th session today. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will present an update on her annual report today, while general debate on her update will start tomorrow; will conclude the following day. more..

Sep 13 (FT) I learned a fine lesson from Governor Warnasena Rasaputra about shock treatments in central bank policy in early 1980s. In the first three years of that decade, money stock was rising at a phenomenal rate of 26% annually, inflation was unbeaten at above 20%, global interest rates were on the increase, and above all, the money multiplier was ominously accelerating from 2.27 in 1977 to 3.35 in 1982. He told us from the Economic Research Department: more..

Sep 13 (FT) By Banking Act Direction No. 12 of 2021, issued on 8 September, Central Bank is attempting to discourage the import of 623 items the Govt considered non-essential and non-urgent. This has been tried in the past. In October 2006, the Govt then headed by Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was also Finance Minister, mandated a 50% margin deposit on the invoiced value of 44 listed items. This time, the margin deposit is 100% for a much larger list. They considered fans and more..

Sep 13 (Island) Analyzing the economic indicators and the forecasts, we believe there seems to be an 85% probability that SL may consider moving into an IMF programme as soon as possible, First Capital Research says in its Mid-Year Outlook report. First Capital Research expected that SL may negotiate an IMF program within 3Q2021. Though there are rumours of negotiations, so far such a program has not materialized, but the govt has obtained the Rapid Funding Facility of $ 787Mn from IMF� more..

Sep 13 (DM) The body of a girl studying at the Jaffna Uni Medical Faculty was found at her house yesterday, Jaffna Police said. They said the body of the 21-year-old girl, a first-year medical student from Chunnakam was found lying in her living room. The cause of death of the student has not been established as yet and the police have commenced investigations to ascertain whether it was a suicide or a murder. However, the body has been placed at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for an autopsy more..

Sep 13 (Island) Chief Opposition Whip and SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said that no one was happy with the way the govt was investigating the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader�s office in Colombo, Kiriella said that there was nothing wrong with Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith contemplating going before the international community against the way the govt more..

Sep 13 (Island) COVID-19 vaccination for children over the age of 12 years would be carried out in three phases, SL College of Paediatricians (SLCP) member Dr. Surantha Perera said. The vaccination process would commence from the last week of September with those with chronic diseases being inoculated first, Dr. Perera said. �We will vaccinate children with complications first. Secondly, we will vaccinate students in A/L and O/L classes and finally we will vaccinate other children, more..

Sep 13 (DM) Steps will be taken in the future to provide one dose of another vaccine approved by the Kuwaiti govt as the third dose for the SL workers who will be travelling to Kuwait for employment, SL Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) said. Kuwaiti govt had approved only Pfizer, Moderna, Covishield, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines, SLFEB Deputy General Manager Mangala Randeniya said. This issue has been brought to the attention of the Health Services Director General, more..

Sep 13 (AD) The SLPP has submitted the name of Jayantha Ketagoda to the Elections Commission to be appointed as a National List MP, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal. SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam had handed over the relevant document to the commission this afternoon. Earlier today, Mr. Cabraal had handed over his letter of resignation to more..

Sep 13 (AD) Sri Lanka today received another consignment of the US-manufactured Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. 73,710 doses of the Pfizer vaccine purchased by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) were delivered this morning. The vaccine consignment had reached the BIA in the early hours of today and was then transported from the airport to the special refrigerated storage facility at the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) in Narahenpita. more..

Sep 13 (EN) SL has sold 83.5% of a 50 billion rupee bond auction after ceiling rates were raised to closer to market, data from the state debt office showed. 27.5 billion rupees of 15.03.2031 bonds were sold at a weighted average yield of 10.05% which had a ceiling rate of 10.05%. 14.2 billion rupees of 15 June 2024 bonds were sold at 8.10%, which is the ceiling yield. The debt office raised a total of 41.78 billion rupees from the market. An estimated 47 billion rupees of coupons need to be paid. more..

Sep 13 (EN) SL�s imports rose to US$ 1,710 million in July 2021, a 17-month high despite severe import restrictions, as exports picked up, official data showed, as private credit also continued to grow amid money printing. In SL neo-Mercantilism is strong and policy-makers believe that more exports will reduce the trade deficit and not drive imports as the income is spent by recipients. Sri Lanka�s monopoly note-issue bank, more..

Sep 13 (EN) Sri Lanka has printed over 29 billion rupees after a Treasuries auction failed to sell bills to public amid price controls. The central bank�s stock of Treasury bills and bond rose to 1,290.36 billion rupees on Friday Sept 10 the settlement day of the weekly auction from 1,261.07 billion rupees a day earlier. On Wednesday the debt office offered 64 billion rupees of bonds, but only 30.7 billion rupees were sold due to a 6.05% ceiling rate on the 12-month maturity. more..

Sep 13 (Island) Highways Minister Johnston Fernando said that the second phase of the Central Expressway would be vested with the public on 13 Nov. Speaking to the media at a ceremony to launch a project to plant 1,000,000 saplings along the roads, countrywide, as per the stipulation pledged in the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour by Prez Rajapaksa by planting a sapling at the second phase stretch of the Central Expressway from Meerigama to Pothuhera on Sunday, more..

Sep 13 (Island) The Civil Society group Mahajana Yuthukam Kendraya has urged the govt to inquire into the continuing selection of foreign scholarship recipients on the basis of ethnicity by some Colombo-based diplomatic missions. The group�s spokesperson Wasantha Alwis said that in addition to Prez Rajapaksa, Education Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the UGC was informed of the biased procedures followed by some missions. more..

Sep 13 (FT) Nestl� S.A. last week bought 295,078 shares in the Lankan venture, increasing its stake to 91.76% or 49.3 million shares. During the week, Nestl� saw 332,527 shares change hands via 751 trades for Rs. 403 million. A big block of 295,385 was done at Rs. 1,200 each. It closed the week up Rs. 75.50 to Rs. 1,300.75 with an intra-week high of Rs. 1,400 though on Friday it dipped by 1% or Rs. 12.75. Nestl�s 52-week highest price is Rs. 1,650 and the lowest was Rs. 950. more..

Sep 13 (DM) Despite a slight decrease in the number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, the Health Ministry said the situation is not yet favourable to embrace normalcy. Addressing the media, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath said that things could always go from bad to worse. �It is true that we do notice a small decrease in the number of daily cases and deaths. However, we cannot guarantee that it would continue with the same momentum,� he said. more..

Sep 13 (TM) In her oral update on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka delivered at the 48th session of the UNHRC, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet claimed that the current social, economic and governance challenges faced by Sri Lanka indicate the corrosive impact that alleged militarisation and the lack of accountability continue to have on fundamental rights, civic space, more..

Sep 13 (Island) Govt and the World Bank recently signed a $40 million additional financing for the ongoing Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project (WASSIP), to increase access to the piped water services and improved sanitation. This additional financing will expand water supply, sanitation, and hygiene services in seven districts, reaching more than one million people. Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Sajith Atygalle virtually signed on behalf of the govt and, more..

Sep 13 (AD) Postmaster General says that Post Offices island-wide will be open only on four days a week during the quarantine curfew period. He stated that starting this week, Post Offices will only be open on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday during the curfew period. Postmaster General Ranjith Ariyaratne stated that within the backdrop of the government declaring the Postal Service as an essential service through a gazette notification, it had been decided to keep post offices open more..

Sep 13 (EN) Stocks plunged 3.7% on Monday as import restrictions and an increasing difference between dollar buying and selling weighed on the sentiment amid foreigners also exit from the island nation�s risky assets, brokers said. Monday�s percentage fall was the worst performance since February 22 this year. The market has been on the fall most of the days last year. Foreign investors sold a net 697 million worth of shares more..

Sep 13 (DM) The responsibility for the breakdown of patient care services at the Narahenpita Army Hospital should be borne by the relevant military officers and the Health Ministry officials who were involved in removing the doctors, GMOA said. They said the Health Ministry has implemented the transfer orders of three doctors attached to the Army Hospital to carry out patient care services with immediate effect without filling vacancies from successive appointments. more..

Sep 13 (CT) Professor Malik Peiris and Yuen Kwok-yung, both of the University of Hong Kong, have won a top scientific awards worth USD 1 million. Two were awarded the Life Science Prize as part of the Future Science Prize in Beijing. They were praised for identifying SARSCoV-1 as the causative agent of the global SARS outbreak in 2003 and its zoonotic origin, which aided in the fight against COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases. Future Science Prize is a privately funded science prize more..

Sep 13 (TM) First Capital Research has announced in its mid-year outlook that it is highly likely that Sri Lanka will negotiate an IMF programme within the current quarter, which ends this month. The outlook comes at a time when former State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who continuously emphasised that SL will not go for an IMF programme, stepped down from the state ministerial portfolio of Money, Capital Market, more..

Sep 13 (CT) Minister of Trade Dr. Bandula Gunawardena has called for an investigation into the transfer of two containers of garlic procured from SLPA by the Sathosa (CWE), to a third party. Minister has also ordered the officials in charge to be suspended. Despite the fact that essential products are being delivered to the CWE outlet network, two containers of garlic purchased from the SLPA for Lanka Sathosa were recently sold to a third party without approval of CWE�s top management. more..

Sep 13 (DM) The Public Health Inspectors Union (PHIU) today underlined several issues that they have observed in administering vaccines as protection against COVID-19, especially to 20-29 age group. The PHIU Head Upul Rohana said some students expecting to join local and overseas universities present with written requests and other relevant documents to get them vaccinated with the relevant vaccines. �In addition, there are some individuals who approach vaccination centres more..

Sep 13 (CT) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa urged the Govt to resign and call a general election immediately since it has failed to save the country from financial ruin. He stated the people have had enough and the Govt should resign immediately, claiming the SJB has the necessary expertise to revive the economy. �With its policy of economic closure, this Govt has once again created an era of queues. more..

Sep 13 (DM) Rs. 200 million has been allocated by the treasury for the conservation projects of the total river network in the country, the Environment Ministry said. The total sum was allocated following a request by Minister Mahinda Amaraweera for the Surakimu Ganga project, which was already in progress. Accordingly, the funds were allocated for this year for the conservation of 103 rivers in the country. Under this task, district secretaries and district development committees more..

Sep 13 (DM) While saying that there is hesitancy among some individuals to get COVID vaccines due to needle phobia, State Minister Channa Jayasumana said today the vaccination programme for the people above 30 years of age would be expected to complete before the end of this week. He told reporters that vaccinating 96% of the target population had been completed by now. �We need the support of people who are 30 years and above to complete the vaccination by this Friday more..

Sep 14 (CT) Plans are underway for Prez Rajapaksa to undertake a costly jaunt on the taxpayer dime to see his very first grandchild in the US this month, Colombo Telegraph reliably learns. The UHGA Sessions held in New York this month will provide the cover the President needs to plan his family reunion in his former home country. Reliable sources within the Presidential Secretariat said that the Prez was keen to see his granddaughter who was born in Los Angeles, California in May 2021. more..