Sep 17 (ST) While the present economic crisis is the result of many political, economic and social factors, the Inland Revunue Department is optimistic of improving the revenue collection and to get back the foreign currency lying outside the country, said the new Commissioner General of IRD D.R.S. Hapuarachchi in his address at the ceremony to welcome him at a ceremony held at the Chartered Accountants (CA) Auditorium in Colombo recently. �Although we talk of economic miracles more..

Sep 17 (FT) Velaris, a UK-based tech start-up with routes to SL, has raised US $ 4.7 million to enhance its AI-driven customer success platform, as it aims to accelerate plans to launch and expand its international presence. The start-up developed a pioneering customer success platform for B2B tech companies and has been able to disrupt the customer success market by filling a specific market gap. Fresh investment was led by one of the pioneering venture capital firms Octopus, more..

Sep 17 (CT) Two deep water terminals will be added within 2 to 3 years at the SLPA, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. He also said SL sealed the biggest-ever investment in the port sector worth USD 650 million with India�s Adani, John Keells Holdings (JKH), and State-owned SLPA signing the Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) deal for Colombo West Int'l Terminal (CWIT). He said phase II of the ECT more..

Sep 17 (Island) The top management of national gas supplier Litro yesterday said that contrary to unsubstantiated allegations regarding the misappropriation of World Bank funds in the procurement of LP gas, the financial institution is satisfied with the handling of the procurement process. Litro Chairman Muditha Peiris said so when sought his response to former Chairman of the COPE, Prof. Charitha Herath, accusations that as much as Rs 1.3 bn had been misappropriated more..

Sep 17 (FT) The Colombo stock market yesterday marked its third consecutive week of gain signalling sustained bullish investor sentiment by both locals and foreign. ASPI gained 356.88 points (3.68%) while the S&P SL20 improved by 106.03 points (3.39%). The average daily turnover was Rs. 4.67 billion. Asia Securities said following two sessions of strong buying momentum, the indices witnessed a healthy pullback on Friday as retail and HNI investors booked profits at higher levels more..

Sep 17 (TM) Black Cap Movement Convenor Vimukthi Dushantha, whose organisation actively participated in the aragalaya (struggle), has been summoned, without being informed of the reason, by the Kohuwala Police. Dushantha said that he was summoned to the said police station on Wednesday (14) and yesterday (15). �I was not informed of the reason to call on the Police, and therefore my lawyers have requested information from the Police.� According to Dushantha, he has recently more..

Sep 17 (TM) The Ceylon Teachers� Service Union (CTSU) urged the Govt to introduce short and qualitative syllabi for schools. CTSU General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said that they are unsatisfied with the current education system, where the students have no objective at the moment. �SL�s education sector as a whole has entered a very serious and complex situation and it has become more difficult to manage the situation. Govt has no proper policy to educate the next generation. more..

Sep 17 (Island) Sprinter Isuru Kaushalya Bans of Ananda Sastralaya, Matugama produced a stunning 46.96 seconds finish to win the Under 20 boys� 400 metres and the best athlete title in the boys� category as the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championships came to a close with Lyceum International, Wattala and Ratnayake Central Walala winning the boys� and girls� titles respectively at Diyagama on Friday. more..

Sep 17 (Island) Kingslake, Sri Lanka�s leading manufacturing solutions expert, is celebrating 15 years of a time-honoured partnership with the country�s most trusted, oldest, and largest furniture manufacturer, retailer, and exporter, Don Carolis and Sons (Pvt) Ltd. The collaboration was initiated in the year 2007 when Don Carolis sought to implement the Infor SyteLine ERP system, with the purpose of simplifying and automating the company�s complex manufacturing processes. more..

Sep 17 (DM) Colombo High Court issued warrants for the arrest of former DIG Vaas Gunawardena�s wife Shamali Perera Gunawardena and Ex SI Indika Pushpakumara for absconding court yesterday in the case against them for allegedly abducting and assaulting a student of SLIIT Nipuna Ramanayake in August 2009. HC Judge Amal Ranaraja issued the warrant for the arrest of the two accused who are the first and the sixth accused in the case being observed that the accused were not present more..

Sep 17 (Island) Plans were underway to import dairy cows from India and Pakistan shortly, a senior officer of the Ministry of Agriculture said. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera had held discussions with the Indian High Commissioner to SL, Gopal Bhagle, on several occasions regarding the procurement of dairy cows from India. Amaraweera said that getting cows from India and Pakistan were cheaper and the animals always adapted to SL�s climatic conditions better than those from Australia and NZ. more..

Sep 17 (CT) Prisons around the country are overcrowded to such an extent, that at present they hold approximately 24,000 inmates, which is more than 180% of the capacity. Prisons Spokesman Chandana Ekanayake said the majority of inmates are suspects and nearly 15,000 of them are lodged in all prisons, with nearly 7,500 facing drug-related charges. He said the maximum capacity of all prisons put together is 13,200, but there a currently around 24,000 inmates cramped into them. more..

Sep 17 (FT) In an attempt to give due recognition to foreign workers� contribution to economic development, Govt has decided to launch the long-awaited pension scheme next month. �A pension scheme for foreign workers has been in the cards for many years, but it never materialised due to various reasons. We have finally come up with a mechanism and it is a contributory scheme. Plans are underway to implement it more..

Sep 17 (FT) Hundreds of thousands of people were seen waiting in a long stretch up the Gall Road yesterday, expecting to secure a job in the Qatar Airways Group recruitment drive. The two-day recruitment drive of the airline concluded yesterday, where the group targeted to hire staff for its various divisions ranging from Qatar Airways, Qatar Duty-Free, Qatar Aviation Services, Qatar Airways Catering Company and Qatar Distribution Company to the Dhiafatina Hotels. more..

Sep 17 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has left the island this morning for England to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. A group including the Prez had reportedly left the island at around 3.15 a.m. today onboard an Emirates Airlines flight bound for Dubai and are expected to then travel to London. This is also Ranil Wickremesinghe�s first official visit abroad after taking office as the Prez. The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday (19). more..

Sep 17 (FT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday announced his intent to transform the existing Indo-Lanka Free Trade pact into a comprehensive economic and technological partnership agreement, a development which was not aggressively pursued during the tenure of his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa. �The future relations of India with Sri Lanka will be determined by trade integration. more..

Sep 17 (FT) There was this recent WhatsApp post offering an analysis of the Mahinda Rajapaksa political phenomenon which I thought merits some consideration, particularly in view of the deplorable situation the country finds itself in today. The post is anonymous, written somewhat loosely, in the manner of a political polemic, the message nevertheless hits home. To quote randomly, �More than half a century after the British left, SL has found its truly representative leader � Mahinda more..

Sep 17 (FT) We keep hearing proclamations of Sri Lanka needing to bank on tourism (a case I�ve made frequently). And we are presented in the press with a canopy of tourism leaders assuring us that we�ll be represented in the trade fairs and that they will ensure the product is in great shape. However, just being present isn�t enough. And the product needs work, and liberalised tourist visas will flounder when people cannot avail of products they expect as part of their leisure experience. more..

Sep 17 (EN) Sri Lanka�s National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) has resumed usual dengue control measures after required fuel is received, but Health Inspectors� Union has said the govt is yet to provide sufficient fuel to carry out the prevention measures. �We carry out anti-dengue programs like Vector Mosquito Control programs and Routine Medical Observation since an adequate amount of fuel is being received currently,� NDCU Director Sudath Samaraweera told EconomyNext. more..

Sep 17 (DM) Two state ministers who assumed duties in the Power and Energy Ministry recently were assigned separate duties with each institute to coordinate, Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said. He said in a twitter post that the Progress review meeting of the Ministry was held with the institutes that comes under the Ministry of Power and Energy Yesterday. "Discussed the ongoing projects, energy policy, renewable energy and restructuring. Both the State Ministers were assigned separate more..

Sep 17 (EN) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has transferred key agencies to an investment promotions ministry ahead of an expansion of the cabinet with more ministers. SL Export Development Board, Board of Investment of SL, Colombo Port City Economic Commission, which were listed under the Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies of President Wickremesinghe has been transferred more..

Sep 17 (AD) An armed robbery has been reported at a filling station located near Belekkade Junction in Ratmalana. Two unidentified armed men had reportedly threatened the employees of the filling station and robbed the place before fleeing. Police said that the suspects, who had arrived by foot, entered the filling station�s office last evening armed with a small pistol and a knife and robbed the cash from the office. Preliminary inquiries revealed that they had made off with around Rs. 1,158,000 more..

Sep 17 (ST) Sepsis by any other name is still sepsis and kills people. Earlier, it was known as hectic fever, then septicaemia and also bacteraemia. �It will make a difference between life and death if sepsis is suspected at the first point of contact if a patient presents with certain symptoms and treatment is begun immediately,� reiterates Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Mahen Kothalawala of National Hospital of SL (NHSL). Every 10 seconds, somebody somewhere dies of sepsis and more..

Sep 17 (Trend) Four citizens of Sri Lanka were detained on September 15 at 08:50 (GMT+4) on the territory of Horadiz border detachment of Azerbaijani State Border Service near Birinji Shahsevan village of Azerbaijan�s Beylagan district during attempt to cross the state border with Iran, Trend reports via the service. According to the service, the detained citizens - previously arrived in Azerbaijan�s Baku from Doha and Dubai. Through the territory of Iran, border violators intended to get to T�rkiye, more..

Sep 17 (Island) Colombo City Centre marks its fourth anniversary on Monday (19) with an exciting line-up of celebrations during this weekend. The fourth-anniversary celebrations will take on a festive atmosphere, with the weekend (17-18) leading up to it featuring a lucky draw through which four winners will be selected every four hours in keeping with the 4th Jubilation theme. A large number of prizes and surprises are lined-up for the winners of the lucky draw. Shoppers are also invited to enjoy more..

Sep 17 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe commended the country�s award-winning athletes and cricket and netball teams for setting an example to the rest of the country that despite setbacks and shortcomings they had to endure over the years it was their determination and fighting spirit that helped them achieve victory against all odds. He said this during a felicitation ceremony which was held yesterday for more..

Sep 17 (AD) Although Norway will close down its embassy in Colombo next year, the development assistance under NORAD and NorFund and other forms of aid will continue, Norwegian Ambassador Trine J�ranli Eskedal assured PM Dinesh Gunawardena. The Norwegian Ambassador had called on PM Dinesh Gunawardena at the PM�s Office recently. The PM thanked the envoy for Norwegian support to Sri Lanka for a period of over 60 yrs, which began in 1960s through NGO more..

Sep 17 (DM) It was a mockery on the part of SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa�s attempt to get credit for the recent T20 cricket Asia cup victory after sabotaging the SL cricket team at the last T20 World Cup tournament held in Dubai in 2021 when he was the Sports Minister, claimed SJB MP, Lakshman Kiriella. He said that the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had suspended Kusal Mendis, Dhanushka Gunatilaka and Niroshan Dickwella for one year on disciplinary grounds effective from July 2021. more..

Sep 17 (ST) An increase in robberies targeting women walking along the road has been observed in recent weeks, complaints and arrests made by police indicate. Cases of snatching gold chains from women walking on roads have shown an increase, along with other thefts, robberies, and burglaries. Apart from gold chains, women have also been robbed of mobile phones, bracelets, pendants and money, police said. more..

Sep 17 (AD) The Parliamentary Caucus for Children, established to address the issues concerning children of the Country by contacting the relevant ministries and other institutions in order to create a better tomorrow for the children of Sri Lanka, is scheduled to meet on the 21st of September. The primary objectives of this caucus include policy changes to introduce new policies for the well-being of children and regularly review and revise policies relevant to the well-being of all children, more..

Sep 17 (TM) The Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils, and Local Government said that the decision to lower the mandatory age of retirement to 60 years would apply to all sectors, including medicine, nursing, and engineering. Ministry Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne said that while the decision would apply to all sectors, those holding certain positions, such as consultants, could get a different provision but at a personal level, on a case-by-case basis. more..

Sep 18 (Island) There were reports last week that rules relating to the operation of casinos in SL are being broadened in an effort to attract international players into the country. This is something that our beleaguered tourism industry will welcome. The availability of gaming opportunities is a visitor draw, as has been proved at many global destinations and even here during an earlier period. But govts have been ambivalent in their approach to the issue with moral and commercial dimensions opposing more..

Sep 18 (GV) During the first week of the latest UNHRC gathering in Geneva, the grave economic and political situation in SL was discussed and strong action urged. This included a hard-hitting report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), delivered by Acting High Commissioner Nada Al-Nashif. An initial draft of a resolution by a Core Group of member states adds to the list of actions called for at previous sessions, while not yet pushing for more drastic more..

Sep 18 (SO) The Yala season is showing signs of a successful harvest. Much more cultivated land than was initially unused was later cultivated after farmers received facilities such as seeds, water and fertiliser. As a result, harvesting has already begun, Neil De Alwis, Chairman of Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) said. Q: How is the present status of rice purchases? A: Successful harvesting continues to be taking place across SL. more..

Sep 18 (TM) Bad enough the ignominy of being reduced to a bankrupt nation, the world is now beginning to label SL as one of the most corrupt nations on the planet. While the country has no other option but to beg for financial assistance, the world is making it very clear that any help that will be extended will be subject to the strict condition that corruption has to be tackled as a matter of priority. This unfortunate situation has come about as a result of the clear lack of political will to fight more..