Aug 13 (FT) Ahead of the much-awaited tourism roadshows in India, Govt has ramped-up the visa processes to boost arrivals thereby enable a faster recovery of the triple-hit leisure industry. Tourism Ministry announced that the Cabinet of Ministers has approved a host of measures to extend longer visa visas. As per the Tourism Ministry, it has been decided to permit tourist visas for up to 180 days for those who more..

Aug 13 (DM) The protesters at the Galle Face protest site GotaGoGama have completetly vacated the site today after 125 days. They dismantled their last tent from the site this afternoon. A group of protesters who continued to stay at the protest site near the Presidential Secretariat on the Galle Face Green had already left the site on August 9. However, several protesters stayed at the location until this afternoon. They dismantled all the remaining canopies after police again today more..

Aug 13 (Island) Govt had decided to remove the grizzled giant squirrel as the national mammal of SL, given that it is an animal that caused much crop damage through its voracious eating habits, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, said. He said that a number of farmers� associations have asked him to delist the giant squirrel as the national mammal. The farmers say that the grizzled giant squirrel is one of the biggest threats to crops and they can�t do anything against it because it is the national mammal. more..

Aug 13 (CT) The Ministry of Power and Energy, together with the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) is taking all necessary steps to maintain and manage personal data collected, in an effective and secure manner. ICTA said the data is solely used to validate information provided by users and manage the QR system and for no other purpose whatsoever, and the Ministry and ICTA have taken steps to ensure compliance with personal data protection act of 2022. more..

Aug 13 (EN) CEB owes 137.9 billion rupees to independent power producers and CPC amid sudden cost rises which were not compensated by a rise in revenue. CEB owes renewable independent power producers 28.5 billion rupees, other thermal power producers 76.8 billion rupees, rooftop power owners around 1 billion rupees. SL�s rupee collapsed in March from around 200 to the US dollar to 360 to the US dollar after two years of money printing pushing up costs of imported fuel. more..

Aug 13 (FT) The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) has expressed serious concern over the recent hike in power tariff as unreasonable and warned of severe repercussions to exports and the economy if the anomaly is not rectified. The FTZMA is the sole trade chamber representing BOI investor companies in the zones and has expressed its objection to the tariff in writing to Minister Kanchana Wijesekera. more..

Aug 13 (CT) ACMC Leader and SJB MP Rishad Bathiudeen said that President Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed with his plea made to not to implement the recommendations of �One Country One Law� Task Force. The working committee members of ACMC including Bathiudeen and former State Minister M. S. S. Ameer Ali met President Wickremesinghe at Presidential Secretariat to discuss current political and economic crisis in the country and the forming of an All Party Govt. more..

Aug 13 (DM) Those who castigated Ranil Wickremesinghe and deserted the SLFP saying that they could not serve in yahapalana govt with Ranil as the PM now are in an intense battle to secure positions under Prez Wickremesinghe, General Secretary of SLFP, former Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said. Those who insulted former Prez Sirisena, Prez Wickremesinghe, SLFP and the Yahapalana Govt even formed SLPP and it was ironical that SLPP has become the saviour more..

Aug 13 (AD) Senior DIG Ajith Rohana says investigations will be carried out into the senior police officers who tried to intervene to prevent the arrest of the custodian (kapuwa) of a devalaya in Unawatuna, who is accused of molesting school children. CID on Thursday arrested the custodian of Metaramba Sathara Maha Dewalaya in connection with the incident. Preliminary investigations uncovered that more..

Aug 13 (FT) Gotabaya Rajapaksa made mistakes as the Prez of the country, and grave ones at that too. Some of his decisions were ill timed and ill informed. Some decisions he should have taken, were not taken. The country is witnessing the aftermath of these decisions and non-decisions. However, he cannot be held solely responsible for the disastrous economic situation in the country. He did inherit a nation in debt and low GDP growth. His predecessors too are at fault for economic more..

Aug 13 3 (TM) A familiarisation programme for South Indian media groups to promote the Murugan Trail in SL, has been organised by the SL Deputy High Commission in Chennai in collaboration with the SL Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), from 3-11 August 2022. The objective of this programme is to promote the Kataragama Esala Festival, which is held during this month, to tourists from South India. Along with this, other cultural events held during this time, such as the Esala Perahera in Kandy more..

Aug 13 (AD) SL govt on Friday has gazetted the Petroleum Products (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill. The said Bill, published under the directives of Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, allows selected specific sectors of the economy to individually import necessary fuel quantities. Accordingly, the govt will issue licences to identified parties for importing petroleum products. On April 25, the approval of the Cabinet was received for the proposal tabled by Minister Wijesekera more..

Aug 13 (DM) The Govt has de-listed some Tamil diaspora groups and individuals. Among those de-listed are the Global Tamil Forum, an influential diaspora group based in the UK. The British Tamil Forum and the Canadian Tamil Congress are also among those de-listed. The de-listing was carried out through an Extraordinary Gazette issued by the Ministry of Defence. The Mahinda Rajapaksa Govt and later the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration had banned the Tamil groups. more..

Aug 13 (TM) SL has lifted the ban on importing the widely-used herbicide Glyphosate with effect from Aug 5, 2022. This was announced in a Gazette Extraordinary published by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies. As per the communiqu�, N-(phosphonomethyl) Glycine and its salts and derivatives (Glyphosate) are removed from more..

Aug 13 (NR) Central Govt has advised farmers to conserve the use urea fertiliser on a priority basis, in the event they require stocks for the next season. Piyal Kumarage said farmers must be concerned over the use of Urea fertiliser during their activities. He commented that authorities have failed to import the necessary chemical fertiliser required for cultivation. Farmers who require support from the govt during torrential rain, to prevent pests have had to depend on themselves. more..

Aug 13 (AD) All govt and govt-approved schools will deliver in-person lessons all five days of the week starting from Aug 15 (Monday), the Ministry of Education says. Accordingly, the schools will function from Monday to Friday during regular hours � between 7.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. Education Ministry said the provincial authorities were directed to arrange a program to provide transport facilities for principals, teachers and students of schools located in areas where public transport more..

Aug 13 3 (ANI) SL on Saturday granted permission to Chinese vessel Yuan Wang-5, widely believed to be a spy ship, to dock at its Hambantota port. The SL govt gave approval to the Yuan Wang-5 ship to dock at the port on Friday. "Yuan Wang 5 will now berth at the Hambantota Int'l Port on Aug 16, five days later than scheduled. It was originally due to arrive on Aug 11. This was delayed after India raised strong concerns more..

Aug 13 (FT) Politics is the soil in which the nettle of poisonous enmity, evil suspicions, shameless lies, slander, morbid ambitions, and disrespect for the individual grows rapidly and luxuriantly. Name anything bad in man and it is precisely in the soil of political struggle that it grows with particular liveliness and abundance � Maxim Gorky. Maxim Gorky, a long-time friend of Lenin made this scathing condemnation of politics when he saw the genuine uprising of the Russian people hijacked by more..

Aug 13 (AD) CPC has been given directives to take appropriate management decisions and distribution decisions on the filling stations that fail to adhere to the guidelines, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says. The instructions were given at a progress review meeting held this morning at the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals (CPSTL) in Kolonnawa to look into the ongoing process of fuel distribution. The data of the past two weeks were analyzed while the quantity of fuel distributed to each filling more..

Aug 13 (DM) Discussions are in progress to provide concession on electricity bills to low income groups in the revised budget, to be presented at the end of this month, Leader of the House Susil Premajayantha said. He told Parliament that the revised budget was planning to be included in the order paper for Aug 30, 31 and Sept 1 and 2. Responding to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, he said one-day debate was scheduled for Aug 29 on electricity tariff more..

Aug 13 (Island) SL govts have, during the past several years, ruined the relationship, progressive forces cultivated with China, over the past seven decades, General Secretary of the Communist Party of SL (CPSL) Dr. G. Weerasinghe says. Commenting on the decision by the govt to delay the arrival of Chinese research vessel, Yuan Wang 5, Dr. Weerasinghe said that Sri Lanka had shown itself to be an unreliable partner. �The damage is done. We have been trying to persuade more..

Aug 13 (FT) Sri Lanka remains restive after a Govt witch hunt of activists led to a wave of arrests and intimidation. Most of the activists were from the Aragalaya or peoples� struggle. �Prez has also declared a state of emergency and a set of regulations which are exceptionally draconian and disproportionate to the country situation,� says Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda, one of Sri Lanka�s top political scientists. more..

Aug 13 (ANI) Four SL Tamils on Saturday arrived at the Mandapam district of Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram and claimed to be refugees, the police said. All four persons belong to the same family and have been identified as Jayamalini (50), Pathurjan (son- 26), Hamsigan (son- 22), and Padushika (daughter-19), who were the residents of Trikonamalai in SL. The family arrived at the Rameswaram beach area at 4 am via boat. The family was registered in Mandapam camp more..

Aug 13 (ST) Forests known as other state forests (OSF) are in the spotlight since a circular in Nov 2020 transferred their administration from the Forest Dept to district and divisional secretariats. Environmentalists have gone to courts against the decision and during the last hearing on Wednesday August 3, the Attorney General (AG) gave an undertaking that these forests would not be handed over to district administration, says environment lawyer Ravindranath Dabare. more..

Aug 13 (EN) Sri Lanka has entrusted the process of identifying individuals who engaged in violence during the widespread anti-govt protest to a different group, as there is a practical issue with separating those individuals, the island nation�s Justice Minister said. �There is a problem. This is not a legal issue; it is a practical issue because Aragalaya consists of several groups. In fact even the police more..

Aug 13 (Island) Consultant Paediatrician, at the Lady Ridgeway Children�s Hospital (LRH), in Colombo, Dr. Deepal Perera, said that the number of children, afflicted with dengue and COVID-19, was increasing. Dr. Perera said that the hospital administration had decided to carry out random testing due to fears that there might be COVID and dengue patients among children, being treated for other illnesses. Dr. Perera told the media that 25 dengue-positive cases had been found by more..

Aug 13 (CT) All Ceylon Govt General Employees Union (SLGGEU) President S. Loganathan on 12 August claimed that amendments must be made within TNA and young members such as Shanakiyan Rasamanickam must be given prominence in the party activities. Loganathan made these claims while addressing the media in connection with the current political and economic crisis sparked in the country as a result of imprudent governance and mismanagement of former Prez Rajapaksa more..

Aug 13 (Island) Wildlife officers, at Kumana National Park, removed about 4000 kilos of plastic waste, left behind by devotees who visited the Kebilitta Devale, Park Warden said. Officials collected the plastic waste from a 18 km range, from the entrance to the park to Kebilitta Devale. Most of the waste was biscuit wrappers. He said that officials had collected the plastic during a special cleanup program between 8 and 10 August. Over 300 people took part in the programme. more..

Aug 13 (CT) SL Navy (SLN) detected 9,231 Indian fisher boats poaching in SL�s territorial waters last year (2021) alone. The above data was obtained from SLN�s 2021 Annual Report which was presented to Parliament on Friday (12). However, of this number, only 19 Indian fishing vessels, equivalent to only 0.21% of the total Indian fisher poaching vessels, together with a total of 157 Indian fishermen found in these 19 boats, were arrested by the SLN last year, statistics further showed. more..

Aug 13 (EN) Imprisoned former MP Ranjan Ramanayake has signed an affidavit apologising for the charges against him and the process of granting him a presidential pardon will likely be finalised in under a month, a lawyer said. Attorney-at-law Dinesh Vidanapathirana said that copies of the affidavit will be handed over to Prez Ranil Wickermesinghe, chief justice and other SC judges and Minster of Justice Wijeyadasa more..

Aug 13 (CT) There is an unofficial understanding between the SLPP and the UNP thus far to nominate Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe for the next Presidential Poll due in 2025. According to SLPP internal sources, the issue is currently being debated at length by the SLPP, but they insist that to date no final decision has been taken on it. During a recent discussion held at the SLPP hq at Nelum Mawatha in Battaramulla, a few of its MPs had observed that they had voted for the incumbent President more..

Aug 13 (Island) A meeting between national organizations and PM Dinesh Gunawardena, was held on Wednesday, at the PM�s Office. Ven Medagoda Abhayatissa Thera, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara, Dr. Wasantha Bandara, lawyer Kalyananda Thiranagama, professor R.B. Herath, engineer Keerthi Wickramaratne, specialist Dr. Harris Pathirage, lawyer Madumali Alwis, Primal Fernando, Yasas Dharmadasa, Senaratne de Silva and several other scholars, more..

Aug 13 (EN) Prices of chicken and eggs have risen in Sri Lanka due to a surplus demand in the market and further price hikes are expected due to a shortage in animal feed, the All Island Poultry Industry Association said. Ajith Gunasekera, association head, said that the price of an egg has increased to around 62 rupees and the price of a one kilogram of frozen chicken has increased to around 1,200 rupees. more..

Aug 13 (ANI) Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Taimur has arrived at the port of Colombo and will conduct a joint exercise with the SL Navy in the western seas. The 134m-long Chinese-built frigate warship PNS Taimur was commanded by Captain M Yasir Tahir and it is manned by 169 as the ship's complement. The ship is expected to remain in the island until Aug 15 and the crew of the ship will take part in several programmes organized by the SL Navy to promote cooperation between the two navies. more..

Aug 13 (Island) The CID, on Wednesday, informed Colombo Magistrate, Thilina Gamage, that the damage to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe�s private residence, after it was torched by a mob on July 09, amounted to Rs. 14 million. Meanwhile, a bullet-proof official vehicle which Wickremesinghe was using as the PM at the time had suffered damage amounting to Rs. 191 million, the CID said. CID said fingerprints of five suspects matched those found inside Wickremesinghe�s residence. more..