Mar 26 (DM) The total population of Tamils - both Sri Lankan and Indian -is 3,113, 247. Of these 1,611,036 Tamils are living in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Another 1,502,211 Tamils live outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces. TPA leader Mano Ganesan who is the driving force behind the initiative told this Column that a letter of appeal along with the aspirational document was to be sent to Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, more..

Mar 26 (CT) The abolition of the Executive Presidency is again an issue high in the constitutional reform agenda after the abject failure of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Presidency. Whether it could be done by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, without the approval of the People at a referendum is bound to be raised. In other words, is the Presidential form of govt entrenched? It has been generally taken for granted, albeit without serious discussion, that the abolition of the Prez form more..

Mar 26 (GV) Int'l Women�s Month was heralded by the familiar sound of male decision making in SL�s parliament. The agenda for International Women�s Day was the legalization of abortion in the instance of rape. Despite the constitutional promise of universal healthcare, abortion remains illegal. As a criminal offense, abortion stands as an anomaly in the medical world. No other procedure is so heavily scrutinized, debated and politicized � vasectomies don�t get discussed in the halls of parliament. more..

Mar 26 (CT) An All Party Conference (APC), convened by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on the request of the SLFP, was held last Wednesday (23), at the President�s House, but the main Opposition, the Jathika Jana Balawegaya and some Tamil political parties boycotted it. The APC took place in the backdrop of the ordinary people collapsing and dying while waiting in queues to obtain gas, kerosene, petrol or diesel and more..

Mar 26 (Island) Two branches of govt�the executive and the legislature�have manifestly failed to carry out their duties and functions to the satisfaction of the people, and legal practitioners have had to seek judicial intervention to safeguard the public interest. In what may be considered an unprecedented move, the Bar Association of SL (BASL) has filed two fundamental rights applications in the Supreme Court on the economic crisis, asking for directions on the govt to take action to find a solution more..

Mar 26 (CT) �It shall be the duty of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) to examine - the collection of revenue under Article 148 of the Constitution, payment from the Consolidated Fund, the utilisation of public funds for specific purposes by law, the application of public funds, implementation of the Appropriation Act for the current year, public debt and debt service and reports and statements under the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act, No. 3 of 2003.� more..

Mar 26 (TM) Sri Lanka is struggling to cope with a debilitating economic crisis with inflation soaring, food and fuel shortages, and fears of a sovereign default looming on the horizon. But unmindful of the crisis, in a not-so-quiet sea-front corner of capital Colombo, construction is afoot to pursue an ambitious dream of the Rajapaksa Government: the tiny Indian Ocean island nation building the Port City of Colombo (PCC), hoping to make it a financial hub like Dubai and Singapore. more..

Mar 26 (Island) Uva Wellassa Uni (UWU) brings the evidence that depth of impact matters in lieu of the length of history. Being a very young national university established in 2005, and located in Badulla, its foremost focus is to offer degree programmes tailored to upsurge the depth of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and competencies of the students in handling the steady trend of ever-evolving socio-economic complexities in the local and global economy. more..

Mar 26 (CT) A massive fire ripped through one of the country�s largest slums, on Friday (25) 12:30 a.m. leaving 21 shanties gutted, leaving a number of people homeless. When Ceylon Today visited the area, nothing but ash remained of the 21 shanties. The area has been cordoned off along with more neighbouring shanties. While visiting the location and the victims, it was observed that the neighbourhood could fall victim to another more..

Mar 26 (FT) SL�s COVID-19 case count rose to 660,633, following the detection of 234 COVID-19 patients yesterday. The previous day, 248 persons tested positive for COVID-19. 2,783 PCR tests and 1,966 rapid antigen tests were conducted on Thursday. A total of 72,832 COVID-19 cases have been detected since 1 January. SL�s local cases also include 483,090 persons from the New Year cluster, 82,785 persons from the Peliyagoda cluster, 9,154 persons from the Prisons cluster, more..

Mar 26 (FT) Over 17 million persons in the country have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and first dose coverage among the total population is 77.56%. 65.7% of the total population has received the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 35.5% has received the booster dose. Among the population over 20 years, 96.2% has received the second dose and 53.25% has received the third dose. First dose coverage is 96.3% among the population over 12 years and more..

Mar 26 (CT) For the first time in the history of South Asia, people fled to another country citing the economic crisis and have sought asylum. In this instance, 16 Sri Lankan Tamil families fled to Tamil Nadu, just 23 km across The Palk Strait, while TN Govt is working on an action plan to repatriate thousands of the SL war refugees residing in several camps in India, even some residing in the state of Odisha as stateless for two decades or so. more..

Mar 26 (FT) Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association (SLGGA), the largest female youth movement in Sri Lanka is marking 105 years of service to the nation on 21 March. The Girl Guides movement was founded by Lord Robert Baden Powell on 21 March 1910. Today it is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to empowering girls and young women in the world. With over 152 member countries the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) rallies over 10 million members more..

Mar 26 (ST) As a long line of vehicles wait for fuel at a filling station in Galle, two young men, one with guitar in hand, start singing the first few lines of Veda Karana Ape Viruwa (The Hero Who Delivers). Some of the motorists waiting in line can barely keep a straight face. The video of the two young men soon goes viral on video sharing social networking app TikTok. It is one of many such videos in recent days that have mercilessly parodied then Prez candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s wildly more..

Mar 26 (CT) A brilliant unbeaten century from Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne steered Colombo to an 8-wicket win over Galle in the 9th Match of the National Super Provincial 4-Day Tournament at the Galle Int'l Cricket Stadium on Friday. Despite Galle taking major honours on day one, Colombo bowlers turned tables on the Galle batters to dominate their second innings and bowl them out for a paltry 103 runs, thanks to a memorable spell from Prabath Jayasuriya which set Colombo a target of 219 more..

Mar 26 (FT) Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena, made two new appointments on 21 March to provide immediate solutions to employee grievances and to enhance industrial relations at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Accordingly, Sanjaya Kumara Weligama has been appointed the Director (Trade Unions and Employee Relations - SLPA) and Shyamal Sumanaratne the Assistant Secretary (Trade Unions and Industrial Relations � Ministry of Ports and Shipping). more..

Mar 26 (ST) Minister Basil Rajapaksa�s claim this week that there were no conditions attached to US$ 1 bil Indian credit line was met with outright scepticism by economists while others called for caution, at least going forward. �It�s a game of chess and India has checkmated us in such a fashion that we don�t have any moves other than to shake their hand and go ahead with them unless we want our kings killed� more..

Mar 26 (FT) UN Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy insisted on harnessing the full potential of SL�s female workforce, to overcome from the unprecedented economic challenges at present. She made these remarks at the launch of a report by the UN Women yesterday, titled Gender Disparities and Labour Market Challenges: The Demand for Women Workers in SL. Urging the policymakers to consider the report in long-term economic decision making, Singer-Hamdy added that until more..

Mar 26 (EN) Stock index ended steady on Friday while turnover hit five-week high as investors bought risky assets amid steep depreciation in the currency and high inflationary expectations, brokers said. The main ASPI gained 0.03% or 3.61 points to close at 10,455.32. The day�s turnover was 4.5 billion rupees, the highest since February 18 and slightly lower than this year�s average daily turnover of 5.2 billion rupees. �Index witnessed a sharp upswing while hitting an intraday high of 10,592 more..

Mar 26 (AD) Lanka IOC has once again increased a hike in its retail selling prices of petrol with effect from midnight today (25). Thereby, the prices of all types of petrol have been increased by Rs. 49.00. Lanka IOC said it is compelled to raise the petrol prices due to the unwanted conditions caused by the currency depreciation and soaring rates in the global market. According to a statement, prices of diesel will remain unchanged. more..

Mar 26 (AD) Former Minister Pandu Bandaranaike has been arrested while attempting to sell three elephant pearls for Rs. 10 million. According to police media spokesperson, five others were also placed under arrest along with the former minister. Reportedly, a woman is also among the arrestees. The STF had taken them into custody at a guest house in Ampara this afternoon. A gem-like stone, a pistol and 08 rounds of ammunition have also been found in possession of the suspects. more..

Mar 26 (AD) China will be providing 2,000 tonnes of rice valued at around USD 2.5 million as emergency food aid to SL, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said in a statement. The donation will mark the 65th anniversary of China-SL diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the Rubber-Rice Pact. �The two countries share a tradition of helping each other and sharing weal and woe with each other. At the request of the SL govt upon current difficulty of food shortage on the island, Chinese govt decides more..

Mar 26 (ST) Education sector trade unions have expressed fears that a decision by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board to make state run schools pay for water will ultimately be passed on to parents. The chairman of the Water Board, Nishantha Ranatunga, accepted that water bills are being sent to schools but refused further comment. However, the Education Ministry distanced itself from the water charges. Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera said that it was the Water Board more..

Mar 26 (CT) With the rapid increase in hospital admissions with burn injuries stemming from fuel combustion, Consultant Plastic Specialist, Dr. Gayan Munasinghe warned the public of serious consequences of converting homes into filling stations, in the backdrop of the fuel crises. He said, till Jan 2022 the Accident Service of the National Hospital Colombo had treated a maximum of one or two persons per day with burn injuries from accidents due to petrol combustion. more..

Mar 26 (FT) Colombo Int'l Airport Ratmalana (CIAR) will resume scheduled international and regional flights tomorrow, following the largest development project carried out in recent history. The inauguration is scheduled be held under the patronage of Ministers Prasanna Ranatunga, Namal Rajapaksa and State Minister D.V. Chanaka at CIRA tomorrow. Flights between SL & Maldives resume operations after 55 years. more..

Mar 26 (Island) SLPP MP Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, PC, on Thursday warned that frustration brewing among people was on the verge of exploding in the form of a public uprising and in such an eventuality it would be impossible to prevent the police and security forces members standing on the side of the people. Rajapakshe PC said that the origin of the crisis was the grabbing of credit for winning the war against the LTTE by a single family, which made use of that victory to control the economy. more..

Mar 26 (NF) The second Nano Satellite designed by Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies was sent into orbit at approximately 5:20 PM SL time on Thursday (24). The Nano-Satellite named KITSUNE was taken to the Int'l Space Station on board the Cygnus NG-17 rocket, the seventeenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) more..

Mar 26 (Island) Estate workers have not been able to secure arrears of EPF, ETF and gratuity payments amounting to Rs 1,888 mn due to the absence of a proper mechanism to implement recommendations made by the Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL). The non-implementation of recommendations made by the HRCSL in August 2019 pertaining to 12,000 workers of Janatha Estate Development Board, more..

Mar 26 (FT) Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando said despite the challenges the destination will continue to remain focused. �I am positive that tourism can shine a light and the industry will support it to get it through the darkness to a new dawn,� Fernando said. As per provisional data released by the Tourism Ministry yesterday, Sri Lanka has received 263,121 travellers as of 24 March, amidst the challenges emanating from the global COVID pandemic. more..

Mar 26 (Island) Minister Gamini Lokuge said that all gas stations had been directed to reserve fuel for vehicles engaged in essential services. Minister said that there had been complaints that vehicles engaged in medical services, fuel transport, etc., had been stranded near gas stations due to fuel shortages. �This has an adverse effect on all aspects of society�, he said. Therefore, he had directed fuel stations to keep a stock of fuel for vehicles engaged in essential services, more..

Mar 26 (DM) Rating the UNP Sathyagraha held at Hyde Park a success, its Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene said was the beginning of a giant effort to bring in all political parties together and formulate a national policy to resurrect Sri Lanka�s economy. �This is just a beginning as far as we are concerned. Our effort was to bring in all parties together and formulate a national policy to enable economic resurgence. more..

Mar 26 (FT) What do you do to show you�re not happy � with the un-pretty pass we�ve come to as a people? Do you rant and rave on social media � at the predicament of a once-blessed nation, now become a benighted raggedy beggar? Curse the darkness all round, do you, and the powers that be that caused it � or light a candle, and join hands with your fellow sufferers in a peaceful, non-violent, apolitical protest? Despite the seeming futility of it, there�s growing merit in a minor but more..

Mar 26 (FT) So, it seems vaccine passports are largely dead, except in addled, local discourse. The mandates seem to be following the same route, and the vaccinations are blaring their inefficacy so loudly, that only 24/7 coverage of potential nuclear war can possibly smother it. So, all over Europe, countries are dropping COVID vaccination passports months after introducing them. Italy and Greece have joined the roster, saying they will dump all as of 1 May. Why not retain a few more weeks more..

Mar 26 (AD) Secretary-General of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Tenzin Lekphell arrived in SL this afternoon. Accompanied by a delegation, Mr. Lekphell reached the island nation at around 2 p.m. today. They were accorded a warm welcome by the Additional Secretary to SL�s Foreign Ministry, Sabarullah Khan. He will be attending the 5th BIMSTEC Summit scheduled to be held in Colombo from March Monday (28) to Wednesday (30). more..

Mar 26 (DM) The proposed US $ 1 billion loan to be obtained from China will be utilised to settle the previous loans from the Chinese banks, Daily Mirror learns. Sri Lanka�s current loans from China also amount to nearly US $ 1 billion, a top source said. The latest method will be adopted since China does not have the concept of rescheduling debts. The authorities of the two countries are currently negotiating terms and conditions of the new financial facility to be extended. more..

Mar 26 (EN) With the expiration date of COVID-19 vaccines drawing ever closer and travel restrictions for unvaccinated people to be imposed from April as the holiday season approaches, health officials are urging unvaccinated individuals to get jabbed without further delay. Chief Epidemiologist Dr Samitha Ginige said around 48% of people over the age of 20 have not taken the COVID-19 booster yet. �Of the over-20 population, more..