Apr 19 (FT) The latest SL Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) polling in March 2023 reveals little change from February, with NPP/JVP at 41% of likely voters maintaining a clear lead over the SJB on 30%. The UNP share did increase two points to 6%; although within the margin of error, this might be early signs of a real increase. NPP/JVP continued to lag a little in voter enthusiasm, with this reducing its lead over the SJB more..

Apr 19 (FT) Teams from Sri Lanka are now making a global mark in the mediation sphere. Most recently a SL team has been invited to represent the country at the Warsaw Negotiations Rounds (WNR) in Poland. The well-seasoned team is coached by Anuji Kanagara a certified Mediator, and will be led by Shayhum AbooSalih, a student at the Uni of London (UOL) who was part of the winning team at Bucrius Germany. They are joined by Shanik Pakeer from SL Law College who supported the team more..

Apr 19 (FT) New Anthoney�s Farms Ltd, one of the country�s leading poultry producers with a knack for innovation and sustainability, recently deployed a further processing plant as part of its production expansion strategy. With this, the company is able to produce over 200 tons of processed food products to cater to the evolving consumer preferences. Processed food products have been making its way to the industry mainstream for some time now, and New Anthoney�s Farms is no stranger to this, more..

Apr 19 (Island) Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly defended its decision to set up a new diplomatic mission in Bucharest, Romania, on the basis it could help SL generate revenue through what the Public Diplomacy Division of the Foreign Ministry called, safe and legal labour migration. Priyanga Wickramasinghe, Director, PDD, said so in response to The Island query as to why the Foreign Ministry proposed a new diplomatic mission more..

Apr 19 (EN) Consumer Affairs Authority, which drove companies towards bankruptcy and is disrupting economic activities with price controls is party to the crisis facing a country, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana said. Aggrieved parties may be able to go to the Supreme Court to seek redress, he said. �In one way, the Consumer Affairs Authority is a responsible party (waga uththara karuwek) in the decision-making process of the current economic crisis,� Minister Bandula Gunawardana, more..

Apr 19 (DN) We had an additional batting coach Avishka Gunawardena with the team here in Galle and he was very close with most of the players during the SL A team matches and his service provided the much-needed motivation for our batsmen said SL�s winning skipper Dimuth Karunaratne. He always pointed out our mistakes and gave tips to improve our batting and his motivation always gave a big boost to us. Apart from Avishka all other coaches & supporting staff more..

Apr 19 (CT) The National Transport Commission (NTC) has declared that the semi-luxury bus service in SL will cease operations from the end of May 2023. Chairman of the NTC Nilan Miranda, indicated that the decision was taken after numerous complaints were received about the semi-luxury bus service. NTC Chairman further said of the 430 semi-luxury buses now in operation, the owners of 20 have requested transformation, and the process is ongoing. more..

Apr 19 (DM) Expressing his opposition to the govt move to export Toque monkeys to China, former Minister Navin Dissanayake said that there is a great possibility that these Toque monkeys will end up in labs and subjected to torture. �As a former minister of wildlife I am totally against the export of Toque monkeys to China. This is an abomination and should not even be considered,� the former minister tweeted. He also stated that he is against the move because more..

Apr 19 (TM) The CEB has not given a positive response to the PUCSL Chairman, Janaka Ratnayake's request to propose a reduction in electricity tariffs, taking into account the recent developments in the country that have driven down the electricity related utility demand. Ratnayake had recently urged the CEB to propose a tariff reduction by 15 May, taking into account the recent developments in the country that more..

Apr 19 (DM) Tourist arrivals for the first 16 days of April topped 56,000, bringing the total number of international visitors entering the country for the year closer to the 400,000 mark. For the April 1 to 16 period, the island nation welcomed 56,402 visitors. Provisional data shows that the daily arrival average for the second week of April was about 3500, a dip compared with the 4,000 level it was in the first week of the month as the winter season is coming to a close. more..

Apr 19 (Wbur) The hall, which was almost in Jaffna town proper, barely contained the people who had come; old men and young men and a few young women spilled out onto the edges of each hallway and entrance, craning their necks to see the TULF speakers. Just beyond them, at the edge of the crowd and also at the edge of the stage, stood several policemen. Just beyond that, a gunman from one of the Tamil militant groups lurked. Perhaps there was more than one; because more..

Apr 19 (TM) The SLFP has decided to vote against the proposed new Anti-Terrorism Bill when it is tabled in Parliament for debate. SLFP Senior Vice President, Prof. Rohana Luxman Piyadasa said that the SLFP Parliamentarians have taken a unanimous decision to vote against the said Bill. �The position of our Party is that this new Bill is against democratic governance. After carefully observing this draft, we have decided this new Bill should not be passed in Parliament. more..

Apr 19 (DM) SJB will not be a part of a national govt with those who do not have a mandate, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said today. �The present govt and the Prez are carrying out a Hitler-type campaign to fool the people by spreading falsehood with regard to a national govt. This is just like what Hitler using Joseph Goebbels did during World War 2. President and the govt are spreading falsehood by using those who identify themselves as journalists. Neither the SJB as a whole nor more..

Apr 19 (DM) The govt has initiated discussions for the conversion of the Dept of Railways to a public corporation as part of the process of reforming the state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a minister said. A public corporation or a statutory corporation is operated on a commercial basis and governed by a chairman and director board. A department does not possess commercial qualities as such and is directly controlled by the govt. more..

Apr 19 (Island) JVP-led NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that the prevailing political economic culture, in Sri Lanka, required entrepreneurs to have political ties to do business in Sri Lanka. Addressing a group of Sri Lankan expatriate business community members at the Daegu Exco Convention Centre, in South Korea, on Sunday (16), the JVP leader said: �Only those with links and connections with ministers could enter and do business in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 19 (DM) Radiation that emit out of the sun is the main cause for the excessive heat which Sri Lanka is experiencing these days, Dept of Meteorology said. A spokesman said less clouds and winds are other reasons for the increased heat in SL. "These happenings are usual at this time of the year," he added. He said that SL's situation has no connection with the situation in Mumbai where 11 people have died. However the Dept released a warning of caution as increased heat may cause more..

Apr 19 (AD) Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe says he has been tipped off on several occasions about a local official being bribed by the insurer of the tanker MV X-Press Pearl, which was gutted in a fire that erupted off the western coast of SL two years ago. According to him, speculations are rife that a local official has received a bribe of US$ 250 million from vessel�s insurers to disrupt litigation, & compensation processes. more..

Apr 19 (FT) Sri Lanka�s eighth executive president and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has a remarkable capacity for generating innovative, out of the box ideas. His creative mind is an inexhaustible mine emitting a number of plans and proposals to cope with crises or surmount problems. The latest in this regard is Prez Wickremesinghe�s embryonic suggestion of conducting provincial council polls on a staggered basis prior to the holding of presidential elections. more..

Apr 19 (FT) Restructuring of SL�s State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) has been a hot topic widely discussed in Parliament and elsewhere by the Govt. The restructure was mooted to increase the productivity, profitability or divest underperforming interests. Some opposites blame this as a conspiracy of IMF and a precursor for signing off the bail-out package. Whatever has been said, the restructure has been loosely defined by the politicians, and primarily aiming to reduce more..

Apr 19 (PMD) The national Iftar ceremony organized on the occasion of the fasting month of Ramadan by the Muslims was held at the Temple Trees under the patronage of Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and PM Dinesh Gunawardena. Blessings for national reconciliation also took place there. PM urged Muslims to contribute to the create a prosperous SL by taking it forward into the future, just as Muslims had actively contributed to the creation of national unity during past decades. more..

Apr 19 (DM) U.S. Dept of State has increased certain non-immigrant visa (NIV) application processing fees with effect from May 30, 2023. The application fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s), and other non-petition based NIVs, such as student and exchange visitor visas, have been increased from $160 to $185. The application fee for certain petition-based nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) have been increased more..

Apr 19 (DM) While refuting reports on social media, Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) said there need not be any fears of explosions due to petrol being kept filled to full tank capacity in vehicles due to the rise in atmospheric temperature in the coming days. The relevant report states, "The temperature is set to rise in the coming days, so do not fill the petrol in your vehicle to max. limit. This can cause an explosion in the fuel tank. more..

Apr 19 (DM) SL All Telecommunication Employees Union today filed a Fundamental Rights petition in Supreme Court seeking an order restraining the Treasury Secretary from taking any steps to divest the shares held by him in Sri Lanka Telecom. President of SL All Telecommunication Employees Union J.B. Gurusinghe and its General Secretary Kamalanath Hettiarachchi filed this petition against the decision taken in principle by the Cabinet of Ministers to divest more..

Apr 19 (AD) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena says that only the judiciary or the Chief Justice has the authority to implement the law against him with regard to the Easter Sunday terror attack and that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has no such authority. The former Prez, who visited the Temple of Tooth Relic in Kandy today, made these comments while responding to questions from the media. In response to a question raised by a journalist, whether he will contest the prez election, more..

Apr 19 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe today refused to allow the education of children to be taken hostage and said education would be made an essential service under emergency law if teachers refuse to return to paper-marking by next week. �No one is going to hold the education of children as hostage. That I am not allowing. That can�t be allowed,� he emphasized, addressing the progress review meeting of Edu Ministry more..

Apr 19 (EN) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said its member firms and individuals have raised 525 million rupees to support 105 ambulances operated by the Suwa Seriya paramedic service. The service called for donors to adopt an ambulance. �The adoption of these Suwa Seriya ambulances will undoubtedly save lives and provide much-needed healthcare access to remote areas,� Chairman of the CCC, Vish Govindasamy said. The Suwa Seriya service was initiated using a grant by more..

Apr 19 (CT) CEB owned diesel generators, installed at Kolonnawa and Thulhiriya Grid. Sub-Stations, will be shifted to the southern part of Sri Lanka to address the power supply challenges faced in the South, brought about by the current dry weather conditions. This decision has been taken by Minister Kanchana Wijesekara together with the CEB top management headed by the General Manager of the CEB. CEB said, in managing the electricity supply to the entire country with given resources, more..

Apr 19 (CT) Doctors accused the Health Ministry of being unable to provide a solution to the existing drug shortage and the continuous increase of pharmaceutical prices. Secretary of the GMOA, Dr. Haritha Aluthge expressed the GMOA�s strong objection to the Health Ministry for failing to provide sustainable solutions to the drug crisis. �The Health Ministry should act immediately to provide relief to affected people by regulating the prices of drugs and equipment as the NMRA more..

Apr 19 (TM) Milk powder importers have expressed their agreement to further reduce the prices of milk powder, said the Minister Nalin Fernando. He mentioned this during a discussion which was held last night. The relevant associations had taken steps to reduce the prices of imported milk powder with effect from April 01, and accordingly, the price of a 1kg packet of imported milk powder was reduced by Rs. 200, while the price of a 400g packet of milk powder was reduced by Rs. 80. more..

Apr 19 (EN) Muslims in central town of Akurana started checking devotees who came for mosques from Tuesday after top police officials had informed them to beef up security due to an unverified information of a possible attack to Islamic religious places during the prayers in the holy month of Ramzan, people in Akurana said. Police officials at a meeting with the mosque committees in Akurana have said they have got information more..

Apr 19 (AD) Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL) says that the final recommendations of the investigations into the death of an individual when police opened fire on a public protest in Rambukkana on April 19, 2022 have been handed over to the IGP. One person was killed when police officers opened fire during a public protest on April 19 last year in the Rambukkana area while the HRCSL launched an investigation into the incident with the assistance of a team of experts. more..

Apr 19 (EN) Shares closed at over a one-week low on Wednesday as negative macroeconomic sentiment continues to affect the market, prompting investors to take a cautious approach until more policy clarity is provided, an analyst said. The main All Share Price Index (ASPI) was down 0.58% or 54.11 points to 9,291.42 the lowest since April 03. �Investors are waiting for clear direction after the IMF comments regarding the local debt restructuring,� an analyst said. more..

Apr 19 (USE) USAID SL Energy Program and Sling Mobility (Pvt) Ltd. signed a grant agreement on April 18 to develop and operate two battery swapping stations for electric two-wheelers. This grant, the first of its kind for the program, will fund construction of the stations, also known as battery switching stations, in Colombo. The stations allow E-vehicle owners to quickly exchange empty batteries for fully charged ones & avoid waiting time more..

Apr 19 (DM) Science writer and astronomer Anura C. Perera claims that the country�s name change from Ceylon to Sri Lanka has caused utter destruction over the past few decades owing to the unfavorable word �Sri�. �From the assassination of S.W.R.D Bandaranaike and Vijaya Kumaratunga, to the bankrupt entities named with it, the word �Sri� has had a disastrous effect. Even the last king of Sri Lanka was named Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe,� he explained. more..

Apr 19 (AD) Horana Police have arrested three including a notorious criminal known by the alias Rosewood Watte Sudda, who allegedly stole a mobile phone worth over Rs. 100,000, foreign currency notes and a speaker from inside a van in which a group of youths had come to a musical show in Horana. Police stated that among the other arrested suspects are the person who took over the stolen items to sell and the person who had purchased them. more..