Dec 27 (AD) Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the island from BIA earlier today (26), according to the sources. The former President has reportedly left for Dubai together with his family members on a nine-day private visit. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced out of office earlier this year following the country�s economic crisis and unprecedented protests. SL is currently facing an economic crisis while it waits for IMF to formally approve USD 2.9 billion bailout package. more..

Dec 27 (DM) From Feb 1, the remittances of all companies with more than 15 employees must pay their employees' remittances to the ETF through an online system, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. He told the media that the decision will be implemented according to a decision taken by the Prez as the Finance Minister and according to the gazette notification issued by him. This decision will help to secure the rights of the 2.8 million employees registered with ETF Board more..

Dec 27 (DM) What we are experiencing now is the consequence of handing over everything in the country to politicians, Chairman of National Movement for the Protection of the Nation Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera said. "We have never heard of an era where the people of our country are suffering as much as they do these days," he lamented. He told the media yesterday that the people of the country more..

Dec 28 (DM) As we approach the end of 2022, it is good to look back, not only at 2022 but to go further back in our history, and learn from mistakes of the past to ensure non-repetition in 2023. Ours is a country where if one were to press a stick into the soil, it would take root and bloom into something beautiful and/or useful. But here we are, at the end of 2022 with 30% of our children facing malnutrition. Our health system -if we are to believe such organisations as GMOA is on brink of collapse. more..

Dec 28 (GV) Microfinance is an essential aspect of the economy where low income people often lack access to structured, formal financial services. Improved access to financial services among the low income population assists in poverty reduction enabling the underprivileged to build assets, increase their income and reduce their vulnerability to economic recessions. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor has defined microfinance as the provision of financial services to low income more..

Dec 28 (TM) Research needs to be carried out in SL to further explore the extent of the important yet unspoken social problem of inhalant abuse, an unspoken social problem in SL that is not given the same attention as smoking and alcohol abuse. This recommendation was made in a case report on The first reported case of thinner (a solvent used to thin oil-based paints) sniffing in a SL adolescent which was authored by Y. de Silva more..

Dec 28 (CT) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a group of Indian nationalists led by Dadabhai Nairoji and joined by R. C. Dutt, G. S. Iyer, G. K. Gokhale and P. C. Ray developed what came to be known as the Drain Theory, which systematically exposed how the British bled India of its wealth and enriched British treasury, which exposition later provided the theoretical backdrop to the rise of Indian nationalism and independence movement. In totally different context & in independent SL, more..

Dec 28 (DM) The recent incidents involving sportsmen, teachers, policemen as well as administrative officials have shown signs of deterioration in the standards of the professionals produced in Sri Lanka, some of these professionals have been unashamed in venting their frustrations in a carefree manner that has portrayed a bad image on their profession as well as the country. This is a warning sign of a social crisis that has been haunting Sri Lanka for some time, more..

Dec 28 (CT) The present trend of sea cucumber cultivation in large farms on State lands, including sea areas in the Northern Province is on the rise, as govt authorities issue licences to a new set of businessmen or mudalalis, making it extremely difficult for fishermen to survive and frequently resulting in conflicts between fishermen and sea cucumber farm owners, besides staging protests. more..

Dec 28 (CT) Kandy, the capital of the Central Province, home to the Temple of the Tooth Relic with some of the most scenic views in the country is now severely affected by the recent floods due to greed and sheer ignorance of some. 1,630 people, belonging to 322 families, in the Kandy District have been affected by the heavy rain while a total of 98 houses have also been damaged. Two siblings died when their house was completely destroyed by a landslide. 5 persons were injured in incident. more..

Dec 28 (TM) The authorities are taking steps to implement the demerit system for driving licenses, which was announced this year with effect from next year. This is certain to be a novel experience to both drivers and vehicle owners. According to the latest reports, the relevant Cabinet paper is being prepared and is scheduled to be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval in January. Despite the fact that the demerit system has long been under discussion in Sri Lanka, in reality, more..

Dec 28 (Island) The night bus to Jaffna was also fully booked. Those who had returned on holiday from the diaspora were happy to be back and to share their views. One said he had spent two weeks in Colombo and was now on his way to spend two weeks in Jaffna. He spoke fondly of the natural beauty of SL and the warmth of its people. He said he was spending two months in SL on vacation as he had accumulated the leave to do so. The run up to Christmas demonstrated a visible more..

Dec 28 (Island) Reports that the Election Commission will have to hold the local govt elections soon have upset govt politicians beyond measure; they are delivering jeremiads against what they call unnecessary state expenditure amidst an economic crisis. Claiming that the mini polls will cost the country Rs. 10 billion, they would have the public believe that they are ready to face an election anytime, but the advisability of holding an electoral contest at this juncture is in question, and more..

Dec 28 (FT) Tourist arrivals to SL crossed the 700,000 mark with 73,314 visitors during the first 26 days of the month. The number of tourists received during the month is the fourth highest in the year so far and the biggest monthly figure since April as well. The best arrivals for the year were recorded in March with 106,500 tourists, followed by Feb with 96,507 and Jan with 82,327. As total of 701,331 visitors arrived in SL so far. more..

Dec 28 (FT) MP Tissa Attanayake says the SJB is now in full preparation mode for the Local Govt elections that are expected to take place in early 2023. Attanayake who is also the national organiser of the party said the Govt is attempting various tactics to delay polls while Ministers are claiming there is no need for an election at this juncture. He also pointed out that the rival UNP and its members are also claiming the Govt does not have the necessary funds to hold a vote. more..

Dec 28 (FT) Prez yesterday reshuffled the secretaries of eight ministries with effect from 1 January 2023 and extended the tenure of the secretaries of three ministries for a further year. Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Govt Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne has been transferred to the Ministry of Transport and Highways while H.K.D.W.M.N.B. Hapuhinne who served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Women more..

Dec 28 (EN) SL is expecting companies from Japan, India, Japan, and New Fortress Energy of the US to jointly come up with a proposal to supply a liquified natural gas terminal, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said. SL is building two LNG-capable 300MW-sized combined cycle power plants but has no terminal to unload the fuel. Minister claimed that a combined cycle known as Yugadanavi was already capable of running on LNG. Another 300MW plant known as Sobadanavi would be available from more..

Dec 28 (FT) Colombo stock market returned to positive territory after a week in the bearish mode with both indices up on moderate turnover. S&P SL20 gained by 1.22% and benchmark ASPI by 0.87%. Turnover was Rs. 1.3 billion involving 82.6 million shares. Market also saw continued net foreign inflow. Asia Securities said following seven consecutive sessions of price losses, indices closed in the green on Tuesday lifted by price gains in LIOC (+4.1%), HHL (+5.3%), BIL (+2.9%), more..

Dec28 (Island) Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena acknowledged that a proposal to extend the retirement age of Parliament staff, to 61 years, contrary to a government decision to retire public sector workers, at the age of 60, by end of this year, has been held up by State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya�s refusal to back the bid. Speaker said that the House proposal couldn�t be implemented, unless approved by more..

Dec 28 (TM) A tree-planting project was launched in Mandaramnuwara Police area under the patronage of IGP Chandana Wickramaratne. Under this project, more than 1,200 plants, including species such as kumbuk, na, and jackfruit given by the Police were planted on both sides of the Elamale-Karambagala Road. The students of the Karambagala Kanishta Vidyalaya have been entrusted with taking care of 75 plants that are to be planted under this programme for a period of one year. more..

Dec 28 (FT) Hambantota International Port (HIP) is supporting Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) to handle running repairs to vessels while they remain afloat in the harbour. The majority of vessels directed to HIP for afloat repairs come with damages experienced below the water line. CDPLC carries out permanent repairs on these ships with service assistance from HIP. �Usually, repairs of this nature require us to bring the vessel into dry docks, but we are confident of doing such operations more..

Dec 28 (TM) Leader of the 43rd Brigade Patali Champika Ranawaka stated that recent reports that the 43rd Brigade has entered into a political alliance with several political parties representing the Opposition are false. He said: "There were reports to the effect that we have joined Opposition parties to form an alliance. However, we have not joined any political party or alliance so far. We emphasise that the reports that more..

Dec 26 (TM) Eggs will be sold at Rs. 55 at several locations in Colombo today (28) by egg producers for the public to purchase directly, said All-Island Egg Producers� Association President. �We have made arrangements to sell eggs directly to consumers at Rs. 55 without the involvement of tertiary sellers which has caused disruptions in the industry. We will be distributing eggs at 40 places in Colombo and plans have already been made to transport stocks to Colombo,� he said more..

Dec 28 (AD) Two student leaders of Peradeniya Uni have been suspended over the assault on the former VC, Prof. Athula Senarathne and his son. Accordingly, the studentship of the current president of Peradeniya University�s students� union Chamod Sathsara and the former president of the students� union Anuradha Withanage was temporarily cancelled. On Dec 11, Prof. Senaratne was assaulted by a group of students near his official residence & was hospitalised due to injuries. more..

Dec 28 (DN) Netball Federation of SL (NFSL) will appoint a new head coach for the National team to focus on the World Cup and they are also looking to appoint a new Selection Committee for next year before forming the new Junior and Senior National pools. According to Sports Director General Amal Edirisooriya, NFSL has to appoint a National senior head coach and they have already submitted the names of the selection committee members through National selection committee headed by more..

Dec 26 (AD) Seven suspects who were arrested for obstructing the duties of officers of Angulana Police have been produced before the court today. Four of them were remanded. However, the three women who were among the arrestees were allowed to walk free. They were taken into custody for obstructing the duties of police officers who were trying to arrest a suspect accused of assaulting a constable attached to Angulana Police. Among the arrestees is the assault suspect wanted by the police, more..

Dec 26 (AD) The large- scale financial fraudster, businesswoman Thilini Priyamali, was released from prison a short while ago. Accordingly Priyamali, who was in remand custody over financial fraud, was released from prison today (27) after fulfilling her bail conditions. Priyamali was brought before the Colombo Fort Magistrate�s Court this morning to sign the bail conditions she was recently released on. more..

Dec 26 (DN) SL cricket team is getting ready for the India cricket series which will commence on January 3 with the first T-20 game against India scheduled to be held at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Second T-20 game will be played on Jan 5 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune while the third and final T-20 is scheduled to be played at Saurashtra Cricket Stadium Rajkot on Jan 7. The T-20 games will start at 7 pm each day. 3 ODIs against India will commence from Jan 10 more..

Dec 26 (DM) SL�s hotel industry condemned the proposed move by the govt to further hike electricity tariffs, asserting any upward revision will kill the sector. Hotels Association of SL (THASL) said it is time the authorities take into account the hurdles faced by the tourism sector and take corrective action. �If the govt is going to increase the tariff once again without considering the challenges we have been highlighting in recent months, then it is a crime,� THASL Prez M. Shanthikumar said. more..

Dec28 (DM) IGP has instructed police officers to investigate and pursue necessary legal action over complaints on attempts to forcibly seize vehicles and other assets by finance and leasing firms over unpaid loan and lease installments. In a circular issued on Dec 21, IGP Chandana Wickramaratne stressed that companies in such instances must file a case before a District Court to obtain an order to recover the possession as stipulated under 27th & 28th Sections of the Lease Financing Act more..

Dec28 (DM) Election Commission confirmed that it postponed the issuance of the gazette notification calling for elections to the local authorities until the first week of January. The official who wished to remain anonymous since he is not yet authorized to comment to the media said though his office wanted to do this this week, it would be delayed by one week. However, he declined to give reasons for it. Asserting that his office is ready for the conduct of elections, more..

Dec 28 (TM) Claiming that an Indian pharmaceutical company has settled the relevant bills, including the hotel bills of Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella during his visit to India from 21 to 24 Dec to inspect a pharmaceutical manufacturing factory belonging to the same company, the FSP emphasised that an investigation must be conducted into the matter. FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda said: more..

Dec 28 (AD) Three shipments of coal are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on Jan 5, 9 and 16, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says. Last week, Unit 2 at Norochcholai was shut down indefinitely, in an attempt to manage the existing coal stocks and for routine maintenance. In response to the speculations on coal stocks in the country running dry by Jan 2, Wijesekera, citing the officials of the Norochcholai coal power plant, assured that existing coal stocks are sufficient until Jan 8. more..

Dec 28 (DM) The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is to charge a fine from the owners of unutilised land within the Colombo City. This was one of the major proposals of the CMC budget which was approved recently. As per the budget the expected revenue for the year 2023 through this exercise is Rs. 12 billion. JVP member of the council Hemantha Weerakoon raised a question at the last sessions and queried whether this proposal is practical. An opposition member of the municipal council alleged that more..

Dec 28 (FT) Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera yesterday reiterated that the 8-hour-long power cuts predicted by certain Ceylon Electricity Board trade unions will not materialise if the requested power tariff increase is granted for next year. �We will submit a proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers on 2 January. The price hike will happen legitimately and if anyone is against the decision can challenge it in the Courts,� more..

Dec 29 (TM) CB Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe recently stated that only the sectors that earn foreign exchange will survive the economic downturn, while urging other businesses to use the current crisis as an opportunity to transform themselves into foreign exchange-earning businesses. He has a valid point � Sri Lanka�s economic recovery largely depends on the country�s foreign exchange-earning businesses, and the need to support and promote such businesses is immensely important. more..