Dec 21 (FT) The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) and the International Publishers Association (IPA) have expressed their concern about the imposition of an 18% tariff on books imported into Sri Lanka. In letters to both the SL Govt and the International Monetary Fund, the international organisations express their belief that the policy may contravene SL�s commitments under the Florence Agreement and urge the SL Govt to reconsider the tax hike. more..

Dec 21 (DN) Digital Commerce market in SL is projected to grow by 19.08% (2023-2027) resulting in a market volume of US$7.60 bn in 2027. Country Manager for Visa in SL and Maldives Avanthi Colombage, said that with internet users in the country increasing from 30% in 2018 to 51% they expect a rise in ecommerce as on the back of higher awareness and adoption of online payments. �Post pandemic we have noted that debit cards have become one of the most familiar forms of more..

ENDec 21 () India�s Adani wind power project has been facing continuous delay in Sri Lanka as a Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC) has been raising many concerns over the project components, two sources familiar with the deal said. The $442 million project was given to the Indian firm as an unsolicited deal with Adani Green Energy was issued provisional approval for two wind projects of 286 MW in Sri Lanka�s northwestern Mannar and 234 MW in northern Pooneryn. more..

Dec 21 (TM) Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is conducting a special survey to find out whether more than the prescribed capacity of construction has been do SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, said the Cabinet has reportedly granted approval for the import despite the upcoming Maha season harvest, with estimates pointing to a yield of over 2 million tons more..

Dec 21 (FT) SJB demanded the President to take an immediate decision on the post of the IGP following the recent Supreme Court decision ordering the current Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennekoon to pay compensation to a citizen for subjecting him to torture. The SJB noted that the President must intervene in the matter as it is his responsibility to uphold the Rule of Law. �If the Prez disregards court rulings and endeavours to undermine the judiciary in the eyes of the nation, it constitutes more..

Dec 21 (Island) Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has thanked Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar for giving Sri Lanka two more years to pay back INR 550 mn loan given at the onset of the economic crisis that was to be paid in three years. A statement issued by Parliament quoted Speaker Abeywardena as having told the Indian Minister that India provided assistance to Sri Lanka like a �true relative� more than any other country. Parliament issued the statement more..

Dec 21 (FT) SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam claimed that prominent businessman and MP Dhammika Perera has requested the party to name him as its Presidential Candidate. Kariyawasam said the party has not officially named Perera as its candidate for the upcoming poll but he was being considered along with three to four other nominations. �But he is definitely among these names. He has also expressed his interest. He will not be disregarded,� he said more..

Dec 21 (TM) Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is conducting a special survey to find out whether more than the prescribed capacity of construction has been done in the Colombo 7 (Cinnamon Gardens) area in the past few years. CMC Commissioner Bhadrani Jayawardena said that the CMC is currently conducting a survey in order to find out if the constructions in the Colombo 7 area had exceeded the prescribed capacity. �We have been conducting this survey for about 3 mo now. more..

Dec 21 (FT) Govt expressed confidence in boosting gross official reserves to over $ 4 billion by end 2023 with the receipt of $ 780 million so far in December. Finance Ministry said following the completion of First Review under 48-month EFF of IMF, the Govt received the second tranche under the EFF, amounting to $ 337 million on 14 Dec 2023. Subsequently, multilateral development banks also disbursed the tranches earmarked under more..

Dec 21 (PMD) Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation and Irrigation, Pavithra Wanniarachchi announced plans to leverage modern technology in mitigating the human-elephant conflict. She highlighted on-going pilot projects utilizing advanced tools such as high-intensity light currents, powerful sound waves and drones. These initiatives have been initiated in regions like Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Ampara, addressing prevalent human-elephant conflicts. more..

Dec 21 (DM) CEB is yet to initiate investigations to find out the exact reason for the latest island-wide blackout that occurred on Dec 9 though lightning is cited as the perceived reason. The power outage is currently attributed to a lightning strike which caused the transmission line from Kotmale to Biyagama to trip. At the time, the line was carrying about 500MW, while the total country's demand was around 1500MW. The tripping of the line resulted in the loss of one-third of the supply, more..

Dec 21 (TM) The World Bank (WB) has released the second tranche of the US$ 500 million (Mn) under the Sri Lanka Resilience, Stability, and Economic Turnaround (RESET) Development Policy Operation (DPO), considering the continued satisfactory progress made by the Government with the reform programme. The RESET DPO, which provides budget support to the Govt, was approved on 28 June this year. more..

Dec 21 (FT) While the people�s main burden and the main target of their invective is Ranil�s economic policy which is ravaging their lives, the SJB targets the JVP-NPP and Anura Dissanayake much more than it does Ranil�s policies. Perhaps this is why UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena proclaims the current Opposition is also ours. The JVP and I were bitter enemies when it was at its most violent and ideologically extreme. Wijeweera�s JVP killed my comrades and friends. more..

Dec 21 (FT) In governance and society today regrettably there are seven dwarfs, who are mostly not engaged in good faith, are without requisite standards of professionals, and not acting in the best interests of the common and marginalised citizenry of SL. The Prez, Cabinet and network cronies of the Prez in Parliament and outside, the executive, business, religious leaders/intellectuals, trade unions/CSOs and a segment of citizens are these seven dwarfs, representing Doc, more..

Dec 21 (FT) Research Intelligence Unit (RIUNIT) continues its groundbreaking efforts in shedding light on critical policy matters concerning SL�s economic landscape. Its latest series of reports highlights the significance of illicit markets that operate within and beyond the country�s borders. Focused on combating illicit markets and their impact on the nation�s economy, RIUNIT�s latest policy papers aim to guide sound policy decisions crucial for bridging the country�s revenue gap more..

Dec 21 (CT) Minister Kanchana Wijesekera notified the CEB that its employees will not be granted any bonuses for the year 2023. According to the Minister, this is an effort to tackle immediate financial challenges and optimise operational expenses. The decision, conveyed through a formal letter, clarified the discontinuation of the customary 25% salary increment, a practice upheld every three years since 2015. The letter, directed to all CEB top officials, underscored the necessity more..

Dec 21 (EN) SL govt is still unable to release all the volumes of a Prez Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) report on the Easter Sunday attack to the public due to secrecy involved with some evidence, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said. The complete PCoI report on 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks was handed over Catholic Bishop�s Conference in April this year by Tiran Alles, 4 years after the worst attack on religious places more..

Dec 21 (AD) Thailand Minister of Tourism and Sport Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol assured her fullest support and cooperation for strengthening Thai-SL relations in the field of tourism, especially to enhance Buddhist religious tourism, and two-way tourism exchanges. The Ambassador of SL to Thailand and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP Chaminda Colonne paid a courtesy call on Thai Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of Thailand more..

Dec 21 (EN) SL State Trading (General) Corporation will import 15,000 metric tons of maize to address the shortage of raw materials required for the production of poultry feed. Insufficient stocks of maize in the open market have led to a scarcity in animal feed, and pushed meat and egg prices up. �As a temporary measure for this, Department of Animal Production and Health has given the necessary licence to import 15,000 metric tons of maize from registered foreign suppliers.� more..

Dec 21 (TM) The Lawyers Collective, a group of concerned citizens and notable legal professionals, has sent an urgent letter to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. The letter, highlights the recent unanimous Supreme Court decision in the case of Sumangala v Bandara and Others. The SC found that individuals, including Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, violated fundamental rights such as freedom from torture, unlawful arrest, and more..

Dec 21 (AD) A total of 2,008 persons have been arrested during a 24-hour special island-wide operation ending at 12.30 am today. 185 of them are being investigated under detention orders while assets investigations have been launched against 33 arrested suspects. Meanwhile, 209 arrestees have been directed for rehabilitation while 228 suspects who were on the list of registered suspects of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) and the Special Bureau are also among the arrested. more..

Dec 21 (DM) Cinnamon Gardens Police arrested three individuals linked to a fraud amounting to Rs. 25.5 million. Police said the fraud scheme involved an advertisement in a Sunday newspaper, listing vehicle registration numbers and types for sale at a rented complex within the BMICH. They said two buyers had responded to the ad, intending to purchase a car and a jeep on Wednesday (20). Upon arrival at the BMICH, the buyers were approached by the office manager and more..

Dec 21 (CT) Illegal Assets Investigations Division of the CID seized assets valued at nearly Rs 100 million belonging to an individual currently held in Boossa Prison on charges of drug trafficking. These assets are suspected to have been acquired through funds obtained illegally from drug trafficking. CID reported that as part of investigations, the owner of the house failed to disclose the acquisition details of the property. Consequently, woman associated with the property was also apprehended. more..

Dec 21 (AD) The govt will be allocated Rs. 11,250 million through District Coordination Committees to recommence the decentralized budget program which had been put on hold for three years, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has said. Addressing the District Coordination Committee meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on Thursday (Dec.21), the Head of State revealed that the money would be released to District Secretaries in the first week of January 2024. more..

Dec 21 (AD) The overall rate of inflation as measured by the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) on Year-on-Year basis was recorded at 2.8% for the month of Nov 2023. This is an increase of 1.8% in comparison to the NCPI-based inflation of 1.0% recorded in Oct 2023. Meanwhile, the Food-Inflation in Nov 2023 increased from -5.2 to -2.2% from October to Nov 2023, while the non-food inflation increased to 7.1% more..

Dec 21 (CT) An event was held to commemorate International Migrants� Day at the President�s Office on Monday (18). Senior Adviser to the President Sagala Ratnayaka emphasised the importance of engaging the diaspora and creating an environment that encourages their return and investment. Ratnayaka launched the official website, https://oosla.lk/ for the Office of Overseas Sri Lankan Affairs. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Lakshman Samaranayake. more..

Dec 21 (AD) The Committee on Banking and Financial Services has decided to appoint a committee with the participation of relevant parties including provincial council officials to protect the cooperative business. This was decided when the Committee on Banking and Financial Services met in Parliament recently under the chairmanship of MP Gamini Lokuge, the Parliamentary Communications Department said in a statement. Also, there were discussions on refunding the money of more..

Dec 21 (TM) A number of political groups representing the Parliamentary Opposition, including FPC, have planned to hold a series of joint public meetings across the country together with the SJB, from the first week of next month (January 2024), to demand elections. MP representing the FPC, K.P.S. Kumarasiri said that they had discussed with several parties such as the SJB, SLFP, and JVP-led NPP regarding the need to rally against the Govt more..

Dec 21 (TM) Sandaru Sathsara, a Sri Lankan Comedy Singer renowned for his unique comedic singing style, now ranks among the world's Top 100 comedy artists according to Chartmetric. Sathsara became popular by creating several funny remakes of popular songs through social media. Chartmetric is the all-in-one platform for artists and music industry professionals, providing comprehensive streaming, social, and audience data for everyone to create successful careers in music. more..

Dec 21 (DM) Some 40 people and 83 wild elephants have died due to human-elephant conflicts from January to this date in the Anuradhapura wildlife zone. It was revealed at the Compensation Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Additional District Secretary. 40 people had been killed, 47 others rendered disabled and 710 houses and other property extensively damaged by wild elephants and that Rs. 54.9 million has been paid as compensation up to October this year. more..

Dec 21 (KP) The Nepal-SL joint commission meeting concluded in Kathmandu on Thursday. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Minister NP Saud and his SL counterpart Ali Sabry, who arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Both sides discussed matters relating to mutual interest as well as opening new vistas of cooperation, said officials. Nepali delegation comprised Foreign Minister Saud, Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal, Nepali Ambassador to SL Basudev Mishra, and senior officials from more..

Dec 21 (PMD) A meeting took place this afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat between Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and the MPs representing the Tamil community from the North and East. The discussions focused on various important matters, including the provision of land rights for the people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the implementation of laws related to resettlement and reconciliation, and the challenges faced by Sri Lankans in refugee camps in India. more..

Dec 21 (SI) They were deprived of their roots in SL, but they never felt really Swiss either: a study by doctoral student Surangika Jayarathne shows for the first time the consequences for children who were adopted in Switzerland. Q: For your study you interviewed 12 people who were adopted as children from SL. Was it difficult to find people willing to talk about their experience? A: It certainly took a lot of time more..

Dec 21 (DM) SLPP has shown its double standards where SLPP leader former president Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the SLPP is against the tax policy after voting in Parliament to pass the VAT increase, former NPP MP Sunil Hadunnetti said. He said that if the SLPP had not voted in favour, the VAT increase would not have been possible. "Mahinda Rajapaksa is acting like Re Daniel Dawal Migel now. SLPP that voted to pass the VAT increase in parliament is now claiming that more..

Dec 21 (TM) Police announced that a special security program will be implemented in line with the festive season. SSP Nihal Thalduwa stated that a special security program will also be implemented at churches on Christmas Day. The program is being implemented for the safety of those attending Christmas mass. He noted that the traffic Police have been deployed along main routes for the safety of the public. Directives were issued for Traffic Police to inspect vehicles for motor traffic violations, more..