Oct 1 (AD) After concluding a successful official visit to Japan and the Philippines, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe returned to the island last night. During his two-day official visit to Japan, the Prez participated in the funeral ceremony of the former PM of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe. He also held bilateral discussions with the Japanese PM, Foreign Minister and Finance Minister during this tour. Thereafter, Prez Wickremesinghe left for the Philippines to preside over meeting of Governors of ADB. more..

Oct 1 (EN) SL�s petroleum utility said it had reduced the price of 92-Octane petrol by 40 rupees to 410 rupees a litre, while the diesel price is now slightly higher than petrol. Petrol Octane 95 was cut by 30 rupees to 510 rupees. Auto diesel remained at 430 rupees a litre and Super Diesel at 510 rupees a litre, CPC said. Diesel, which has a higher calorific value is more expensive to import and is usually priced higher than petrol more..

Oct 1 (NR) President Ranil Wickremesinghe says his mission is to create a developed country for the future generations. Issuing a message to mark the Children�s Day and the International Day for Older Persons, Prez Wickremesinghe said everyone should join hands in committing themselves to usher in an era where all children and elders will be taken care of compassionately. Full statement of the President: The contemporary world that adults live in is not the world children see. more..

Oct 1 (DM) In view to distilling, marketing, distributing and selling fake or bootleg liquor, other than the genuinely distilled and marketed alcoholic beverages, Excise Dept has introduced a new mobile application to identify the original status of the alcoholic liquor being sold in the wine stores and by other nominated sellers Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. Accordingly, the application was introduced with a QR code to scan the product instantaneously to ascertain whether more..

Oct 1 (EN) Aviation Ministry this week called expression of interest from both local and int'l interested parties to establish a flying training institute at Eastern Batticaloa Airport. The institute is expected to train pilot and other aviation related professionals with an aim of promoting aviation activities in SL, the ministry said in a document. Out of the the total land extent of 145.2 hectare of Batticaloa airport, 5 hectares is considered more..

Oct 1 (CI) It was a welcome return for Jemimah Rodrigues to the national side as her T20I career best 76, including a 92-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, followed by a stifling show by the bowlers helped India begin their Women's T20 Asia Cup campaign with a 41-run win over Sri Lanka at the Sylhet Int'l Cricket Stadium. India were scoring at under a run-a-ball before Rodrigues and Harmanpreet got together and helped India add 83 in the ten overs after the powerplay. more..

Oct 1 (ST) Local businesses, past students of rural schools and well-wishers are coming together to provide food for school children badly affected by the food shortage in SL. All primary students are being given the necessary nutrition by the National Nutrition Programme (NNP) of the Govt, Jaffna�s Zonal Education Director M. Rathakrishnan said. Govt will provide the nutrition programme Rs. 60 per student, an increase from Rs. 30 per student, earlier. Several businesses in the North and East more..

Oct 1 (ST) Rising food prices, shortage of food and reports of malnutrition among children coupled with a government drive to promote cultivation have prompted many in urban areas to make use of limited space to plant vegetables. In Colombo city, not only the public but temples as well as state institutions have made use of space in their premises for cultivation. The CMC has also allocated an area to plant vegetables. The Gangaramaya Temple too has made use some of its space. more..

Oct 1 (ANI) Sri Lanka great Sanath Jayasuriya has urged all the Indians to visit Sri Lanka and help the country revive the economic crisis. Jayasuriya is currently playing for the SL Legends team in the ongoing Road Safety World Series. The SL great took to the tweeter and wrote, "We got everything in my small Island for tourists, it's a lovely place to visit, we went through a bad phase and now we need tourists back to revive SL, I am requesting all our Indian friends to #VisitSriLanka." more..

Oct 1 (AD) The chairman of the PUCSL says there is no need to impose extended power interruptions until next January. Mr. Janaka Ratnayake said the two generating units at the Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai, which suffered a breakdown recently, are expected to be reconnected to the national grid over the next two weeks. �We thought we would have to resort to extended power cuts by the end of October more..

Oct 1 (DM) The Social Security Contribution Tax will come into force from today on importers, manufacturers, service providers, wholesalers, and retailers whose total turnover exceeds Rs. 120 million per annum. The expected revenue from this tax per annum is Rs. 140 billion. However, economic experts pointed out that with the imposition of this tax, the prices of goods and services would go up further. They also pointed out that these types of taxes should be introduced on a temporary more..

Oct 1 (CT) Asian Development Bank�s (ADB) Governors� Conference, held every three years, had to be shifted from Colombo to Manila, Philippines, while Colombo hoped to attract around 2000 delegates from 50 countries. Several top hotels were reserved for the delegates and the Treasury allocated some two billion rupees to stage the event, which would have been chaired by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe (however, he chaired the meeting in Manila). It would have been more..

Oct 1 (CT) Several new countries have co-sponsored the UK-led Core Group resolution on SL, with voting scheduled for 6 Oct 2022 at the 51st Session of the UNHRC in Geneva. The UK-led core group comprises the UK, US, Germany, Canada, Malawi, North Macedonia and Montenegro. The new countries that would join the fray in co-sponsoring the resolution are Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium , Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, more..

Oct 1 (TM) SL�s first luxury condominium complex, Royal Park condominium marked 25 years yesterday (29), a milestone in providing luxury accommodation to a generation that grew up in sprawling multi-bedroom homes. Built and developed by Keangnam Enterprises in 1997, the property consists of 248 luxury apartments housed within the condominium�s two towers, each comprising 24 floors, complete with two penthouses in each tower. Approximately 1,500 workers more..

Oct 1 (AD) Sharjah Govt Media Bureau (SGMB) has invited The Chairman of The Climate & Conservation Consortium (CCC) and the Munasinghe Institute of Development (MIND) Nobel Laureate Professor Mohan Munasinghe to deliver a Keynote address at this year�s International Govet Communications Forum 2022 (IGCF 2022) to be held at Sharjah Expo Center on the 28th of Sept 2022. The inaugural edition of the forum was launched in 2012 under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan more..

Oct 1 (Island) Colombo City Centre marked its fourth anniversary on 19th September with an exciting line-up of events. CCC saw a record number of visitors over the anniversary weekend. Droves of visitors enjoyed quality family time and availed themselves of the anniversary specials offered by the retailers. Titled 4th Jubilation to denote an exuberant four years, CCC�s fourth-anniversary celebrations took on a festive atmosphere. The official cake-cutting ceremony, attended by tenants and more..

Oct 1 (ST) With some 10,000 train tickets being sold in ten minutes after online counters opened under a new one-month valid period, suspicions have arisen over a ticket racket, prompting the railway authorities to consider new modes of reservations. Sri Lanka Railways Deputy General Manager (Commercial) V. S. Polwattage said the new methods would include QR codes, vending machines, and even a card system. This is in addition to the online service through the usual telecommunication system. more..

Oct 1 (CI) Roughly around this time last year, Dasun Shanaka was gallantly bigging up his side's chances at the T20 World Cup - though, in reality, it was a sentiment borne more out of hope than any real confidence. "If our guys perform to their strengths I feel they can go a long way in this tournament," he had said back then. It didn't end too well for them. Just a month and a bit ago, SL had been soundly beaten by more..

Oct 1 (FT) SJB MP S.M. Marikkar has gone to courts against the Rehabilitation Authority bill proposed by the Govt. Marikkar filed a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court yesterday seeking an order against the bill entitled Bureau of Rehabilitation. He requested the court to grant a ruling that the bill is in violation of the Constitution of SL. The MP filed the petition after concerns were raised by activists and other groups that this bill if enacted would lead to the forming more..

Oct 1 (CT) While saying that children should be able to live in society, free from physical, mental, and sexual violence, Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), Chanaka Amarasinghe said, he hopes everyone will join hands with the NCPA to affirm the social responsibility that should be directed towards compulsory education of children. To mark Children�s Day on Saturday (1), the Chairman said, in a statement that the NCPA has observed a rise in child abuse and more..

Oct 1 (CT) Govt has decided to immediately reduce the allowances and facilities of chairpersons and their personal staff members, of dissolved Provincial Councils (PCs). Accordingly, Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the President has issued a special circular No. PS/CSA/11-18(1) on 27 Sept, with regard to this issue. President�s Secretary issued this circular based on the decision of the Cabinet chaired by Prez on 22 Sept. more..

Oct 1 (ST) A Rs six million worth dried fish-making centre has been idling for months since it was declared open, fishermen of Kandakuliya, Puttalam complained. They said that the Saubhagya Development Bureau of Kalpitiya DS started building the manufacturing centre last year for 20 people to engage in this trade. However, since the opening of the centre in February this year, no work has started. The fishermen said a proper feasibility study had not been done by authorities before opening more..

Oct 1 (ST) A Peradeniya University student who took his own life recently, became the second person to commit suicide in a month, following such a death in March and academic work pressure as a result of the coronavirus disease pandemic and on-line learning was a major cause, undergrads said. They claimed that on-line education burdened them with a heavy workload. It could have been less so with on-campus learning with peer-interactions, lab, and tutorial classes, and field visits. more..

Oct 2 (CT) Last week I ventured to suggest that Prez could quite simply start ending the govt�s annual embarrassment in Geneva by starting to implement the many promises of his predecessors � on human rights, reconciliation, executive presidency, electoral reforms and so on. Implement one promise at a time, I said, the UNHRC resolution would wither way in no time. Not that my suggestion was going to make any mark at any place that matters, or anywhere for that matter. more..

Oct 2 (GV) It was supposed to be a temporary law to fight the perceived threat of a militant uprising but it has remained for over 40 years, enduring even after the enemy has been defeated. Hundreds of people have been in prison for years, even decades, awaiting trial on terrorism charges or following convictions based on confessions extracted using torture. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) said it recorded 109 arrests under the PTA in 2021. more..

Oct 2 (ST) It is a well known secret that almost all Tamil nationalist parties based in the North, including one-man led splinter groups, are trying to capitalise on the otherwise questionable legacy of the LTTE. The main purpose is to keep its legacy intact and convert whatever goodwill it had into electoral votes. Some parties have been fairly successful in doing so in the recent past. An ongoing competition to claim ownership for the LTTE�s more..

Oct 2 (ST) As Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe headed East to jump-start stalled or abandoned Japanese projects in Sri Lanka and seek support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), news from the West, i.e. the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not particularly encouraging. Hopes that the IMF would fast-forward its bailout package for Sri Lanka appeared moving at a lukewarm pace as delays in getting the country�s creditors on board for a debt servicing deal seemed to stall progress. more..

Oct 2 (ST) My dear Prasanna, I never thought I would be writing to you this week but then I thought I must, when I saw you on the news. I was excited because I thought you were once again trying to uplift our chilli powder industry but I then realised that for once, the news was not about you but about what your son had done. I must admit that when I heard that a Prasanna Rana from Gampaha was in the news in relation to some type of undesirable behaviour, I thought of someone else first. more..

Oct 2 (SO) State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said that all MPs irrespective of political differences should make their effective contribution to National Council and turn that endeavour a success. It is the responsibility of everybody to join hands and provide solutions to the burning issues faced by the country. He said the country is already under tremendous pressure and we should make sure the challenges are not over and more..

Oct 2 (SO) Prez Wickremesinghe�s well-received address at the Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors at the ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines, in his capacity as SL�s Finance Minister and Chair of the Annual Meeting, was a stark and realistic assessment of the socio-economic issues facing the entire world, not just Asia. There is a notion that the economic crisis currently faced by SL is unique. Although some aspects of it may not be found anywhere else, more..

Oct 2 (TM) Truth be told, Sri Lanka is being left to its own devices to sort out the mess it has got itself into, with those whom the country was banking on to lend a helping hand displaying a distinct preference to wait and see how things pan out, while the country goes about the task at hand on its own. For starters, even though the Govt has been publicly hinting at the possibility of the first tranche of the IMF bailout materialising in December, that prospect is slowly but surely diminishing, more..

Oct 2 (CI) The winners of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia will take home a prize money of US $1.6 million, the same amount as the last year's edition, the ICC announced on Friday. Similarly, the runners-up will collect $800,000 and the two losing semi-finalists $400,000 each. The 16-team tournament, starting October 16, will be played in two rounds. The eight teams - Namibia, SL, Netherlands, UAE in Group A and West Indies, Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe in Group B - will play first round. more..

Oct 2 (Island) The Mahanayakes of SL�s three Buddhist monastic orders � Siam, Amarapura, and Ramanya � have written a letter to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. They have requested concessions on the recent electricity tariff hikes, which they claim are impacting temples severely. Citing the enormous service they render to society, the monks have pointed out that these temples are not in a position to absorb the current rates. They moreover imply that since people visit them after work and more..

Oct 2 (ST) There�s growing fear of cricket going football�s way with the sprouting of franchise-based T20 cricket leagues everywhere. Football is primarily club based, unlike cricket. National teams only play for the World Cup and other major tournaments like the European C'ships, Copa America, Asia Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. There are some bilateral football friendlies now but the game is dominated by leagues like more..

Oct 2 (Island) A recent news report that a student had brought coconut kernel to school for lunch some days ago acquired so much currency in both mainstream and social media that no less than the President�s Media Division (PMD) was constrained to deny it as false news and issue a press release to that effect. This followed inquiries from the area educational authorities, the PMD said. Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told parliament he had made a phone call to the school the child more..

Oct 2 (TM) A SL Schools Junior Boxing pool will be formed by SL Schools Boxing Association (SLSBA), spearheaded by its Secretary Jamitha Bandara. This is being done with the aim of winning a medal in boxing for SL at the 2036 Olympics. SLSBA recently took the lead and conducted two boxing meets � L.V. Jayaweera meet and the T.B. Jayah meet. 45 boxers, all gold medal winners at these two meets, have been invited to the SL Schools Junior Boxing pool which is to be formed. more..