Nov 4 (AD) SL has detected its first case of monkeypox in a person who arrived from Dubai, UAE, the Ministry of Health says. 20-year-old Sri Lankan had returned to the island on Nov 1. The youth in question was referred to the national sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic on Nov 2, with fever and skin blisters. He had been having enlarged lymph nodes and was feeling exhausted. As it was suspected that he is infected more..

Nov 4 (DM) The Education Ministry has said not to make any changes in the dress code of the teachers and children. While attending the Innovation Exhibition held at Vivekananda Vidyalaya as the chief guest, Minister Premajayantha said as the school system depends on the discipline of 420,000 children as the child follows the principal and the teacher, the Education Ministry does not wish to make any changes in the attires worn by the teachers and children in those schools, more..

Nov 4 (PHC) High Commissioner of Pakistan, along with Trade and Investment Attach�, called on Hon. Nalin Fernando, Minister of Trade, Commerce & Food Security today. Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce & Food Security and senior officials of Dept of Commerce, SL were also present at the occasion. The High Commissioner highlighted that Sri Lanka enjoys the exceptional position of being the first country with which Pakistan signed a free trade agreement. more..

Nov 4 (EN) The head of the controversial Krrish development, Janaki Siriwardhana, was arrested Friday in connection with a multi-billion-rupee fraud that also involved sex, lies, video tapes and blackmail. A top police source said Siriwardhana was arrested following extensive investigations into a scam operated by her close associate Thilini Priyamali who is already in remand custody. Hours before the latest arrest, more..

Nov 4 (Island) SL could go bankrupt again and again in the years to come like Argentina, Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, one of SL�s foremost biodiversity experts said at the convocation of Sri J'pura Uni. Engineer turned biodiversity expert told the students that they were graduating at the most difficult time in SL�s post-Independence history. �The fact is whichever govt we get, whichever Prez we elect in the future, it won�t make a difference because coming out of this type of economic crisis is more..

Nov 4 (FT) Colombo stock market remained bearish with both indices down by over 0.6% amidst low turnover but bullish foreign investors ensured year to date net inflow reached the record Rs. 18 billion mark yesterday. Turnover was Rs. 1.2 billion involving 50 million shares. Net foreign buying amounted to Rs. 105.5 million boosting the figure so far in 2022 to Rs. 18 billion, highest since 2013 when CSE drew Rs. 22.7 billion in net foreign inflow. Last year net foreign outflow was Rs. 53 bil more..

Nov 4 (CI) Kane Williamson returned to form at just the right time, cracking 61 off 35 balls, and as New Zealand became the first time to make it to the T20 World Cup semi-final. Although they crossed the line comfortably against Ireland, their status as one of the final four only became clear during the course of the second game at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. New Zealand's 35-run win lifted their net run rate to 2.113 and make them favourites to top Group 1. Ireland had their moments in the game more..

Nov 4 (CI) Glenn Maxwell did his best to keep Australia's semi-final hopes alive with an assertive, unbeaten half-century, but the hosts' chances of reaching the knockouts are out of their hands after a classy performance from Afghanistan, who gave them an almighty scare chiefly through Rashid Khan at Adelaide Oval. Defending champions Australia needed to contain their opposition to 106 runs or fewer to overhaul England's net run rate even before England play SL in their final group game more..

Nov 4 (TM) Registrar General Prabath Abeywardhana is in discussions with the Ministry of Defence to relax the requirement of a controversial Security Clearance Report for foreigners to marry a Sri Lankan. Requirements such as the Security Clearance Report and the declaration of health conditions of the foreigner to marry a Sri Lankan are expected to be relaxed in the upcoming weeks, Abeywardhana said. more..

Nov 4 (Island) A month had passed since the govt announced a duty waiver on sanitary napkins, but it had still not been gazetted by the government, Advocata Institute said on Wednesday. �The President�s Media Division (PMD) announced on 02 Oct., that taxes imposed on all imported raw material used in domestically produced sanitary napkins would be removed, but there is no gazette notification to date to put such a waiver into effect,� the Advocata Institute said. more..

Nov 4 (EN) Sri Lanka owed US$ 1.9 billion to Asian Clearing Union, an arrangement set up in 1974 after the break-up of the Bretton Woods system and forex shortages in many countries due to money printing, according to data released by the Finance Ministry. Reserve Bank of India deferred payments from SL via the ACU at least up to June as the country suffered the worst currency crisis in the history of its intermediate regime (soft-pegged) central bank, allowing the agency to intervene more..

Nov 4 (EN) SLPP, island nation�s strongest ruling coalition in over four decades, is facing an imminent split into fractions after the party�s failed economic policies led to public anger, protests and the ouster of a powerful sitting president. Party emerged into a strong political force after the 2018 local govt elections before winning the presidency in 2019 in a landslide followed by the 2020 general election which gave the Pohhottuwa (lotus bud) more..

Nov 4 (DM) A Buddhist monk found guilty to sharing a female teacher's morphed images on WhatsApp was today sentenced to one month of rigorous imprisonment suspended for five years by the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court. Colombo Chief Magistrate Nandana Amarasinghe further ordered the accused to pay a fine of Rs.5000 for the charges filed under the Computer Crimes Act. The CID told the court that the complainant, a 30-year-old female teacher had conducted tuition classes via more..

Nov 4 (AD) South Korean govt has decided to provide financial assistance to the family of the SL youth who was among those who died in a stampede as huge Halloween crowds surged into a narrow street in Seoul on Oct 29. Ambassador of South Korea to SL, Santhush Woonjin has mentioned this to PM Dinesh Gunawardena during a meeting, according to the PM�s Office. 27-year-old male, identified s Mohamed Jinath had travelled to South Korea as a student while more..

Nov 4 (AD) Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. has adequate stocks in hand at the moment, the chairman of the company Muditha Peiris said. He stated that a shortage was reported recently as some dealers failed to place their orders on time. Litro chairman assured that the issue would be fully sorted out by Monday. According to Peiris, there are certain dealers who are reluctant to purchase the entire stock at once as they assume that LP gas prices would go down in the following month based more..

Nov 4 (ANI) Legendary West Indies batter Vivian Richards, one of the most revered figures in the world of cricket, has joined the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2022 as a brand ambassador. It may provide a huge boost to the third edition of the tournament which will be played from Dec 6 to Dec 23. Vivian Richards played like a king during his whole cricketing career, scoring 8,540 runs in 121 Tests and 6,721 in 187 ODIs. He is excited to get to Sri Lanka, a country where he has always more..

Nov 4 (TM) In response to a statement made by Dasun Nagashena, appearing for suspected fraudster Thilini Priyamali � currently in remand custody on charges of large-scale financial fraud � that the media reporting on court proceedings should be limited to reports and statements made by the investigators and lawyers, Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage stated on Wednesday that he does not have more..

Nov 4 (CI) In 2015, England's horrid ODI World Cup campaign came to a forgettable end on a damp, miserable day at the SCG with a facile nine-wicket win against Afghanistan. This time, they will hope to make better memories and a place in the semi-finals for the third consecutive T20 World Cup. There is a decent chance that a victory of any sort will be enough, but should Australia win by a significant margin against Afghanistan, England will at least have the advantage of knowing more..

Nov 4 (TM) Sri Lanka will have to opt for domestic debt restructuring if the Govt cannot achieve the targets it has agreed upon with the IMF as the Govt has not yet officially ruled out restructuring its domestic debt, Verit� Research Director Dr. Nishan De Mel said. Speaking at an event held on Wednesday, he said that if SL is unable to meet the IMF targets, the IMF agreement would require that Sri Lanka will have to restructure domestic debt, if this is the only way of meeting the set targets. more..

Nov 4 (DM) While stating that at least 5.7 million people or 26% of the population in SL require humanitarian assistance now the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that �without immediate humanitarian assistance, and upstream interventions to address the fragility of systems, services and facilities, this number will multiply, and the consequences will deepen. �96% of households in the survey overall have more..

Nov 4 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, his Chinese counterpart Jinping and other state leaders addressed the opening ceremony of the 5th China Int'l Import Expo, the world�s first and biggest import-themed expo via video this evening. Addressing the event, Prez Xi said China will work with all countries and parties to share the opportunities in its vast market. �We will step up efforts to cultivate a robust domestic market, upgrade trade in goods, develop new mechanisms for trade in services, more..

Nov 4 (DM) The Foreign Employment Ministry is to take every possible action to prevent all attempts to travel abroad for work under tourist visas. Minister Manusha Nanayakkara advised the ministry officials to take action to send women abroad for all jobs especially to the countries such as the UAE and Oman under work visa. "The ministry has been notified by the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment about women travelling on tourist visas with the hope of finding jobs in UAE, more..

Nov 5 (DM) LTTE ceased to exist as a functioning entity after its military defeat on the shores of Nandhikkadal lagoon in May 2009. The LTTE in its heyday was a very powerful politico-military organization that controlled extensive swathes of territory in N&E provinces. Covering the LTTE in those days was a huge bonanza for journalists as the activities of the Tigers - as they were widely known -- provided a treasure trove of news stories and articles for members of the scribe tribe. more..

Nov 5 (DM) We all as concerned citizens bemoan and cry over the current plight of our dear motherland. What has become of your beautiful country, many a foreigner is asking. The fact is that we are down in the dumps. The present democracy has become veritably a sign of contradiction and no way out for the people who are under siege politically and economically. National politics are truly in disarray and the economy still in tatters. There are no national resources which will more..

Nov 5 (CT) President Ranil Wickremesinghe, throughout the past week, had been working diligently preparing the needed speeches and reports for the UN Climate Change Conference 2022, which will be held in Egypt. Nasheed Ahmed, current Speaker of the Maldives, and President Wickremesinghe�s international climate adviser, Eric Solheim, were also involved in these preparatory works together with more..

Nov 5 (CT) With the country being overwhelmed by crisis after crisis, the process of obtaining compensation for the fire that broke out in the MV X-Press Pearl ship mid 2019, seems to have been thrown under the bus. It is a common phenomenon of SL authorities to conveniently move on from an issue, without having completely solved it, when another issue pops up, resulting in a number of issues piling up in the long run. MV X-Press Pearl ship entered SL waters on 19 May 2019 more..

Nov 5 (CT) Someone asked me: Rohitha Abeygunawardena M.P has asked what problems the Tamils are having in this Country, meaning they have no problems. Would you respond to that? My response was: Only after understanding certain basic facts about Tamils should the Sinhala Politicians pose questions of this nature. Without understanding the historical background of the SL Tamils and the Sinhalese if anybody asked such questions, responding to them would be more..

Nov 5 (CT) Clothing plays a pivotal role in any society as a messenger of fashion and trends as well as an indicator that reflects one�s personality, culture, subculture, religion, occupation and moral values for ages. With the change of time, clothing was alternated with the said aspect as well as the relevance of a changing socio-economic environment. But when we take a close look at SL work environment the relevance of time more..

Nov 5 (TM) Colombo Fort Magistrate�s Court yesterday (2) ordered to acquit former Minister and incumbent SJB MP and ACMC Leader Rishad Bathiudeen, who was accused of supporting those who carried out the Easter Sunday terror attacks on 21 April, 2019, of all charges. Bathiudeen has been one of the primary targets of political victimisation since the Rajapaksa (a reference to former Presidents Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa) regime returned to power in 2019. more..

Nov 5 (Island) From the time we heard that Rishi Sunak was to be the next PM of Britain and read all the wondrous things about him, I wanted to know what Sashi Tharoor would have to say about this momentous-for-Indians turn of events in the biggest colonial country the world had seen. I had two friends sending me the video clip of an interview when Tharoor commented on the matter. I report not verbatim but as I remember what he said. Tharoor was all for the success of an Indian more..

Nov 5 (TM) Governmental initiatives taken at the level of each school such as relying more on writing on blackboards and reading out test questions instead of using printed material, offering scholarships to those languishing in extreme poverty, reduction of school fees, relaxing uniform-related requirements, and widespread media campaigns highlighting the benefits of educational attainment may help in reducing the impact of the economic recession on children�s and more..

Nov 5 (CI) With Afghanistan going down narrowly to Australia, SL have no hope of making the semi-finals. New Zealand are already on seven points following their win against Ireland. Australia have now matched that tally. What SL can do, however, is ruin England's chances of progressing to the knockouts. This is must-win for England, thanks partly to washouts, but also to their having lost to Ireland earlier in the tournament. The good news for them is that bad weather is not forecast for more..

Nov 5 (CT) Flanked by her two sons, Lasindu and Geesara, Chandralatha attempted to keep herself collected as her husband was rushed into a Bell 412 helicopter belonging to SLAF, knowing very well she will only get his coffin to be taken back home. Even though, it was a well-thought of decision collectively taken by the family, Geesara, who is just a Grade 8 student, could not bear the thought that he is losing his father forever. more..

Nov 5 (Island) New UK PM Rishi Sunak�s father, Yashvir Sunak, and mother, Usha Sunak, are Africans of Indian origin who migrated to the UK in the 60s. Rishi was born in Southampton, Hampshire, on May 12, 1980. Sunak succeeded Liz Truss after having lost his first bid to secure the leadership, in September this year. The appointment of Sunak, a Hindu of Panjabi lineage, as the UK�s Premier, at a time of a severe economic crisis, has attracted int'l media attention, particularly that of India. more..

Nov 5 (Island) The govt uses an iron fist only when it takes on its political rivals to further its own interests. It is now preening itself on the manner in which it stopped a recent protest staged by the Opposition and some trade unions in Colombo. It cowers, nay keeps its tail between its legs, in situations where it has to keep a firm hand for the benefit of the public. There has been a cooking gas shortage during the past few days although there are said to be enough stocks of LPG in the country. more..