Jul 16 (ST) Govt is seeking parliamentary approval to increase the borrowing limit by as much as Rs 9,000 billion to finance public expenses through an amendment to the Appropriation Act. The latest debt ceiling increase will enable the Govt to cover debt service payments, recurring expenses, and welfare expenses through domestic borrowings since it lost access to the int'l market to raise funds. A bill was ordered to be published by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday more..

Jul 16 (ST) SL team clinched silver medal in the 4�400 Mixed Relay, clocking 3:15.41secs at the 25th Asian Athletics Championships being worked off in Bangkok, Thailand. Though Aruna Darshana was fourth to hand the baton to Tharushi Karunaratne, the 19-year-old completed an excellent run to finish the lap in the second spot. Kalinga Kumarage maintained the momentum in the third lap before Nadeesha Ratnayake sprinted her way to seal SL�s fourth medal at the meet. more..

Jul 16 (TM) Southern SL faces a risk of losing nearly 120 MW of power supply early next month with the rapid depletion of water levels at the Samanalawewa hydropower reservoir. It is learnt that the water levels are reducing due to the draining of water in order to sustain the continuous supply of drinking water to the Udawalawe area, which is at present experiencing extremely dry weather. It is reliably learnt that CEB has been more..

Jul 16 (ST) The recent concession given to public sector employees to obtain long-term leave without affecting their seniority has been amended by the Ministry of Public Administration. The move comes following complaints by serving officers who argue that the provision was unfair by those currently serving in the state sector as those who have obtained leave would be gaining seniority even during their period of leave. Accordingly, the Cabinet took up the issue and decided to overturn more..

Jul 16 (ST) Proposals on enforcing a tax on foreign companies that benefit from doing e-commerce business in SL stirred some controversy this week after the IMF denied it had any discussions on this issue with the govt. Proposals to tax the services of e-commerce websites like booking.com were explored in two budgets in the recent past as a tax revenue stream but were not implemented. This week the IMF issued a statement saying it has had no discussions with the govt of SL more..

Jul 16 (ST) Wimal Weerawansa, once a firebrand of the left and now the leader of the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya, a political party yet to be registered, wants Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe to probe what he terms an international conspiracy during the protests or aragalaya last year. �We will seek a meeting to make this appeal after learning more details about the sinister plot,� he said. First account of his claims was contained in more..

Jul 17 (ST) Avasarai Nayaka hamuduruwaney, I thought I must write to you this week because Buddhism and issues around those who are supposed to follow it, both among the lay people and clergy, are very much in the news these days. Not a day seems to go by without one issue or the other related to Buddhism becoming a controversy! If I remember correctly these issues began in recent times when someone whose main role was providing commentary on social media made some more..

Jul 17 (TM) Anecdotes about how great Sri Lanka was in the past, appear to be failing to restore the public�s hopes about building a future in the country. The economy has been on a drastic downward trajectory for over a year now. Although various efforts are being made by the govt, including its supposed ability to revive the economy, a considerable share of recovery efforts do not look promising. The result is the public equating the country to a sinking ship and trying to escape more..

Jul 17 (TM) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe is due to travel to India this week. On what will be a 36-hour round trip, Prez will meet Indian PM Narendra Modi, along with the Ministers of Finance and External Affairs. This will be Prez�s first visit to the northern neighbour since assuming office last year. With a great deal of emphasis being placed on the visit by both the Indian and SL sides, India�s External Affairs Ministry Secretary more..

Jul 17 (DM) Someone in SL, right now as I write, is distraught because a child, a parent or a loved one has died, is dying or is seriously ill due to lack of medicine and medical care. Some die because doctors just cannot handle the overwhelming number of patients, or they simply cannot afford the eye watering private hospital charges. In a world of increasingly glaring disparities, we could dismiss such situations as inevitable, especially in a time of unprecedented economic stress, more..

Jul 17 (DM) Not so long ago -in the late 1990s the health services of our country was praised by organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Praise was heaped over the outreach of health services into the remotest corners of the country, as well as the quality treatment afforded to citizens. Even better, treatment was provided free or at a nominal cost. Sadly for all of us citizens today, many patients are now beginning to avoid entering government hospitals. more..

Jul 17 (TM) �Not many countries in the world can recover the way Sri Lanka has in a year after declaring bankruptcy,� asserted Economist Talal Rafi emphasising on the importance of speedy structural reforms to ensure the country never goes bankrupt again. �Structural reforms like Central Bank independence, SOE reforms, liberalisation of trade, and land and labour law reforms are essential or we will be back to square one in a few years,� more..

Jul 17 (Island) The Communist Party of SL is now 80 years old. It celebrated the occasion at the National Youth Centre Maharagama on Monday, July 3. Attended by party officials and a number of other Opposition parties � the UNP, SJB, JVP-NPP, and FSP were conspicuous absentees � as well as local and foreign dignitaries, the event packed in a cogent critique of the present political-economic setup. It began and ended with two fiery speeches, the first by MP Weerasumuna Weerasinghe and more..

Jul 17 (Island) Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed by Speaker to investigate the causes of the country�s bankruptcy has come in for severe criticism, and understandably so. Opposition has rightly pointed out that the PSC cannot be expected to act impartially under the chairmanship of General Secretary of the SLPP Sagara Kariyawasam, MP, who is a diehard defender of the interests of the Rajapaksa family blamed for the country�s predicament. more..

Jul 17 (DM) Monks, politicians, and environmentalists often exhibit a tendency to extend their passion beyond rational boundaries. Their focus has shifted from the revered Toque Monkey in Fauna to the appreciation of Flora, particularly Crudia zeylanica. While their dedication [albeit politicos] to environmental causes is admirable, it is crucial to evaluate the economic implications that may arise from their actions. Rs 15 billion rupees saved by cutting the tree could be allocated more..

Jul 17 (CT) In a landmark decision by the Top Court of Nepal, the country recently became the first South Asian nation to allow same sex marriage. The move has been dubbed as a progressive first step towards marriage equality for LGBTQ+ people in conservative South Asia. The Court decision allows same-sex and non-traditional marriage registration under temporary category until the lawmakers can come up with new legal framework to uphold such unions permanently. more..

Jul 17 (CI) Rain took out large chunks of play on the first day in Galle, but either side of each of those stoppages Pakistan and SL engaged in an intriguing tug of war, one that saw the visitors streak ahead courtesy a Shaheen Shah Afridi three-wicket burst, before the hosts reeled them back with a 131-run fifth wicket stand between Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva. While Mathews, who had looked imperious during more..

Jul 17 (ST) Dimuth Karunaratne will lead SL during the current World Test Championships 2023-25 cycle after he reversed his decision to step down from the captaincy following a request from cricket selectors. After SL were whitewashed in the recent two-match Test series in NZ, the southpaw announced his decision to step down at the conclusion of the two-match home series against Ireland in April. After four years in the job, and with a fresh World Test Championship (WTC) more..

Jul 17 (Island) The govt has decided to allow the importation of all goods except for motor vehicles from the first week of September, and it is going to consider how it would gradually ease the ban on vehicle imports according to a strategic plan. It is said that as a start, the govt�s focus is on removing the import ban on electric vehicles before allowing the importation of conventional gasoline cars. The new policy on importation will come into effect in the first week of September, more..

Jul 17 (FT) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are delighted to announce following an overwhelming response to the recently launched SPARK: Youth Entrepreneurship Competition, the competition has now progressed to its second stage, where the top 100 applicants will be shortlisted to continue their journey towards the prestigious top prize. Since its launch on 31 May, SPARK has captured the attention and ambition of young thinkers more..

Jul 17 (ST) SL has firmly put its foot down to a proposal by international NGOs to shift the country�s shipping route. The proposal, placed by conservation NGOs at the 80th session of the Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the Int'l Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London on July 6, was rejected by Capt. Upul Peiris, Director Navigation, representing the Govt of SL, SL got support for this rejection from India, China, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Algeria, more..

Jul 17 (FT) India's largest business group Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran is in SL on an invitation from Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe to explore new investment opportunities. Tata Sons is the holding company and promoter of over 100 Tata operating companies with aggregate revenues of over $ 150 billion, nearly 100,000 employees and market capitalisation of $ 288 billion. Its business empire encompasses IT and digital, steel, more..

Jul 17 (ST) Transport and Highways Ministry is to urge the Govt to release Rs 20 billion for urgent repairs and maintenance of roads in view of the adverse condition of existing road networks. Minister Bandula Gunawardena said the Cabinet had been informed about the requirement, but the allocations had not been made so far and therefore the ministry would be making a fresh appeal. He said the ministry was urging the Govt to stop or reduce current allocations to other ministries more..

Jul 17 (DN) The President of the International Boxing Association (IBA) Mr. Umar Kremliev arrived at the Katunayake Airport yesterday for a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka. The world heavyweight boxing champion, the current flyweight boxing champion of Germany along with Roy Jones Jr., who won the gold medal in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, the director of the International Boxing Association, and the president of the SL Amateur Boxing Association Diane Gomes were also present. more..

Jul 17 (DN) SL�s promising athlete Tharushi Karunaratne once again came up with fine performances when she bagged gold medal in women�s 800m with a new Asian meet record at the Asian Athletic Championship which concluded in Bangkok yesterday. It was a red letter day for 19 yr old Tharushi Karunaratne from Walala A Ratnayake Central as she finished her personal best of 2.00:66 min to set up a new National more..

Jul 17 (ST) Fines for election-related offences are to be drastically increased in a bill to be presented to Parliament shortly. In terms of the proposed bill, already gazetted, fines for election-related offences are set to increase from anything between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 400,000. Elections (Special Provisions) Bill proposes to increase fines for election-related offences by amending the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, Parliamentary Elections Act, Presidential Elections Act more..

Jul 17 (PMD) A new Postal Act will be presented to Parliament within this year to expedite the modernization process of Postal Department State Minister of Mass Media Shantha Bandara said. The modernization process is planned to be carried out as a joint public-private sector partnership at a cost of Rs.10 billion and that the Postal Department will not be privatized at any cost, State Minister Shantha Bandara said. He expressed these views today (16) during a press conference themed more..

Jul 17 (TM) NPP criticised the new labour law reforms that were introduced by the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment, charging that the Government was working to appease international organisations while jeopardising the well-being of the citizens. NPP MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said that Minister Manusha Nanayakkara, in introducing labour law reforms, has purposely focused only on the expectations of IMF and WB, but not on the expectations of the working class more..

Jul 17 (EN) Sri Lanka�s private credit contracted by 88.9 billion rupees in May 2023 from a month earlier, while credit to state enterprises and central bank credit also fell, official data shows. A part of the private credit contraction also came from a fall in dollar loans to the private sector from 550.3 billion rupees to 492.2 billion rupees. Central bank credit contracted by 90 billion rupees to 2,123 billion rupees in May, despite allowing the central bank to collect reserves more..

Jul 17 (AD) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa hit out at the govt for the hefty electricity bill sent to Sri Dalada Maligawa, deploring the move as unprincipled and rude. SJB�s leader said this unprecedented act is atrocious and a disgrace to Buddhism and the entire Buddhist community. Premadasa said sending such a hefty bill to Sri Dalada Maligawa, which is deemed the pinnacle of Buddhist reverence with annual Esala more..

Jul 17 (FT) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Friday called on Sri Lanka to take steps towards creating an aviation blueprint that can lead to greater economic growth and prosperity through the development of a robust aviation industry. �As the industry emerges from the ashes post-COVID pandemic, we believe that aviation and connectivity play an even bigger role in Sri Lanka�s economic development and social progression and advancement. more..

Jul 17 (FT) SJB Deputy General Secretary Mujibur Rahman publicly questioned the allegiances of the Health Services Director, seeking clarification regarding their loyalties. �Is his loyalty to the patients of this country or the subject Minister? Or is it to the corrupt who benefit by acting as agents for multinational drug companies?� he asked. Rahman slammed the Health Services Director for his recent actions relating to the patient death which occurred last week at Peradeniya Teaching Hospital. more..

Jul 17 (FT) CID in a letter dated 1 June addressed to Athuraliye Rathana Thera claimed that the agency�s investigations have found no evidence of any pecuniary offer made by Jude Shramantha Jayamaha's family to the Thera in return for ensuring Jayamaha�s release from prison via Prez pardon. Letter had been sent by the CID Director SPP Kavinda Piyasekara. Letter was sent in response to a complaint filed by Thera regarding comments made by former Prez Maithripala Sirisena more..

Jul 17 (Island) About 29,578 people had applied for passports online since the launch of the e-service at 51 Divisional Secretariats across the country, last month, Minister Tiran Alles said. Alles said that out of those, 5,294 people had submitted applications for one-day service and 24,285 for the normal service. Online service commenced with 51 Divisional Secretariats around the country on June 15 this year to enable applicants to obtain passports without travelling to Colombo. more..

Jul 17 (TM) The parliamentary group of SJB will meet today to decide if they will table a no-confidence motion against the Minister Keheliya Rambukwella after a series of crises and shortcomings occurred in the state health sector. According to SJB MP Kabir Hashim, SJB will decide on the motion tomorrow. SJB MP Ranjith Maddumabandara said that while no final decision about the no-confidence motion has been more..