Jul 18 (DM) International Boxing Association (IBA) has decided to donate US$ 50,000 as a first step to develop boxing in Sri Lanka. Based on the success of the first step, it is hoped to increase it to 100,000 US dollars from next year, IBA President Umar Kremlev, who arrived in Sri Lanka on a short visit, said at a press conference on Monday. Boxing Association of SL (BASL) President Dian Gomes, said the international boxing delegation including IBA President Umar Kremlev, more..

Jul 18 (TM) The paddy cultivations in several Districts including 45,000 acres in the Hambantota District are in danger due to the drought situation, and the same will affect the expected paddy harvest in the Yala cultivating season, stated the Ministry of Agriculture. Speaking during a meeting with a group of farmers' representatives from the Anuradhapura District, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that paddy cultivations in several Districts including 45,000 acres more..

Jul 18 (CI) Pakistan's first five wickets cost 101, and their next five: 360. Of that Saud Shakeel accumulated 208. He would end the innings unbeaten, having frustrated, pummelled and ground down SL, and in the process put Pakistan in total control at the end of the third day's play in Galle. The visitors would eventually be bowled out for 461, having batted on for 121.2 overs - no mean feat in Galle - with Ramesh Mendis picking up more..

Jul 18 (CT) Former SJB MP Mujibur Rahuman, who resigned from Parliament to run for Colombo Municipal Council Mayor in the aborted Local Govt elections, has expressed his intention to find ways to regain his Parliamentary seat. Rahuman said he is currently in talks with his lawyers to file a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition where the Elections Commission, Finance Minister, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and Attorney General would be named as respondents. more..

Jul 18 (FT) International Chamber of Commerce SL is hosting its third annual Arbitration Conference on 3 Aug, at Galadari Hotel in Colombo. ICC SL is a catalyst for business growth and global connectivity in SL and part of the global ICC network, which is an institutional representative of 45 million companies in more than 170 countries, making it easier for businesses to trade internationally. Conference is part of a series of activities taken by ICC SL aimed at promoting ease of trade. more..

Jul 18 (DM) Heated arguments arose between the bus owners and Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam soon after he instructed the authorities to check bus route permits with the help of the Police yesterday. Bus Owners' Association of Batticaloa said the MP was invited for an open discussion on the bus route permits and to expose the corruption involved when operating buses. During the discussion, more..

Jul 18 (AD) President Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that the 13th Amendment will be implemented with full powers, except Police Powers, subject to agreement among political parties in parliament. Outlining his plans for the devolution of power, President Wickremesinghe said that the 13th Amendment with full powers, except Police Powers, as outlined under List 1, will be implemented including specified functions in List 3 in the provincial councils list. Meanwhile, a draft law for more..

Jul 18 (PTI) A joint commission established to strengthen bilateral connectivity has held productive discussions on the resumption of ferry services between India and SL to boost regional trade and tourism and promote stronger people-to-people ties. India-SL Joint Committee established under MOU on Passenger Transportation by Sea held a virtual meeting last week. "The productive discussions focused on the resumption of ferry services between the two countries connecting mutually agree. more..

Jul 18 (CI) Saud Shakeel has had an excellent start to his Test career, but in a different way from how Harry Brook has had an excellent start to his Test career. After 10 innings, Shakeel averages 72.50. After 17 knocks, Brook is at 64.25. Few who have watched them bat before Monday, would have made the comparison, though. And here's why. If you halve Brook's Test-match strike rate of 94.31, you've still got to go down a few points to meet Shakeel's, which is at 41.66. more..

Jul 18 (EN) Cabinet had approved changes to the country�s income tax law applicable to superannuation funds facilitate domestic debt restructuring, Minister Bandula Gunawardana said. SL authorities have said pension and provident funds that do not agree to extend maturities of their Treasury bonds will be taxed at 30% instead of the current 14%. The income tax act of 20187 will be amended to change the rate levied on the income earned by investing in treasury bonds by more..

Jul 18 (EN) State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe has accused the cabinet of ministers that former ally Wimal Weerawansa had served in under then Prez Gotabya Rajapaksa of taking decisions that bankrupted the country. �Decisions made by the cabinet that you were in are what bankrupted this country,� a visibly agitated Semasinghe told Weerawansa in parliament after the latter had raised a question. more..

Jul 18 (DM) The drug that is said to have caused the death of a young woman at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital recently is still in use in hospitals, where more than 66,000 vials of the particular drug are in stock in hospitals islanwide, Minister Keheliya Rambuwella said. He said that 145,930 vials of the particular drug have been dispatched to hospitals and 79,260 vials out of the stocks have been used so far. �A total of 19,200 vials of the drug have been dispatched to the Batticaloa Hospital more..

Jul 18 (DM) Thefts of iron rods and iron nails at Dematagoda, Ratmalana railway yards and bridges are rampant at present and the assistance of the STF will be sought to provide security to these places, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardane said. He told Parliament that organised thefts have increased recently where railway security personnel and police have not been able to control the situation and hence STF assistance needs to be sought to control the situation. more..

Jul 18 (DM) Singapore has replaced Japan as the most powerful passport among all passports in the world, as it allows visa-free access to as many as 192 global destinations, according to the latest ranking published by Henley Passport Index. Sri Lanka has ranked 95th in the index along with Libya, with 41 countries granting visa-free travel or visa-on-arrival to holders of SL passports. The index, which is based on data from the IATA, more..

Jul 18 (TM) In the wake of removing the Crudia zeylanica tree which is allegedly endemic to Sri Lanka through a Cabinet of Ministers decision, the Opposition parties urged that legal action should be taken against the Cabinet for violating the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance by granting approval to cutting down the said tree. PHU Leader Udaya Gammanpila said that the Cabinet has committed a collective offence by granting approval to cut down the said tree, more..

Jul 18 (AD) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says they have decided to bring a motion of no-confidence against Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella. SJB had unanimously decided that they would bring forth the motion against the Health Minister, during a party meeting held on Monday. Meanwhile, a Satyagraha was staged in front of the Health Ministry�s premises this morning, demanding the resignation of Rambukwella and other senior officials of the health ministry over the issue more..

Jul 19 (DM) Govt has decided to lift the ban on five of 11 Islamic organizations that were proscribed after the Easter Sunday attacks on April 21, 2019. Accordingly, the ban on the following Islamic organizations will be lifted �subject to strict conditions�: Jamiyathul Ansaari Sunnathul Mohomadiya (JASM), SL Thawheed Jamma�ath (SLTJ), All Ceylon Thawheed Jamma�ath (ACTJ), Ceylon Thawheed Jamma�ath (CTJ) and United Thawheed Jamma�ath (UTJ). more..

Jul 19 (DM) Investigations are underway to determine the cause of death of 21-year old Chamodi Sandeepani who died under mysterious circumstances on July 11, following the administration of two doses of vaccines while being admitted to the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital. Sandeepani was admitted to the Peradeniya Hospital after she complained of a stomach ache. Sandeepani, a resident of Poththapitiya, Alagalla was initially admitted to the Ketapitiya more..

Jul 19 (TM) While condemning the recent recommendations given by Muslim MPs on proposed amendments to Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA), civil society groups and lawyers have urged the Ministry of Justice to opt for progressive reforms and refrain from allowing such efforts from being railroaded. Sabra Zahid expressed concern that the current provisions for divorce in the MMDA violated the rights of Muslim women more..

Jul 19 (TM) Although alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms remain one of the most effective means of resolving disputes without having to opt for litigation, which, in most cases, costs a significant amount of time and money, SL is yet to adequately embrace, promote, and improve ADR mechanisms. While there is a pressing need to raise awareness among the public in this regard, especially to educate more people on the pros and cons of ADR mechanisms, as a country, more..

Jul 19 (ST) For Ranil Wickremesinghe the 21st of July last year must have been the day the political sweep, he had bought forty-six years back on his way to parliament, was finally drawn to win him the presidential lottery. If fortune had a hand to play in his sudden elevation, she certainly had used a sort of devious way to achieve her goal. Two years back, Wickremesinghe lay isolated in exile. Condemned by his own Colombo stronghold�s electorate to the political boonies, more..

Jul 19 (CT) With continuing reports of patients with non-communicable diseases like diabetes being turned away from major State-run hospitals due to an alleged shortage of medicinal drugs, SL patient and his/her kith and kin are now plagued by a different fear; the life-threatening thoughts and emotions of fatal consequences after obtaining medication or being administered with drugs. As of now, it has resulted in Health Ministry more..

Jul 19 (CT) Ever since the Covid pandemic began, the healthcare sector in the country has been stretched thin after having been dealt blow after blow. One year on, since the country reached its peak in dealing with the multifaceted crises where the economic downfall heavily impacted every aspect of daily life, we still haven�t made any progress on the medical front as the health sector is still in shambles. Still grappling with what came consequential to the storm of bankruptcy, more..

Jul 19 (TM) The shortage of medicines and other essential medical equipment, and also doctors leaving the country in scores, were the most obvious impacts of the recent economic crisis on the health sector. Despite the Govt�s vows to remedy these issues, the situation appears to have taken a turn for the worse. The people are now stuck in a situation where they fear to obtain treatments from public hospitals and are too poor to seek treatments from the private health sector. more..

Jul 19 (Island) The newspapers and social media have been full of news during the last few weeks about incidents in hospitals, which led to the death of patients. Obviously, we are aware of such incidents more now than then due to the feverish activity of social media. The latest was the untimely and unnecessary death of Chamodi Sandeepani, a 21 year-old girl in the Teaching Hospital, Peradeniya. According to the mother of Chamodi, her daughter�s condition deteriorated & her body turned blue more..

Jul 19 (ST) Merely after a decade since its formation Guidance International School, situated in Kesbewa, has been able to prove their worth as an educational institute for many reasons. With nearly 900 students in both genders, boys and girls, the school not only provides guidance to all students in academic, but also in extra-curricular activities, mainly sports. The near success story comes from the Under-17 cricket team of Guidance International School, who have been able to maintain more..

Jul 19 (ST) Although torrential downpours over the past few weeks brought much needed relief to several arid regions, observations have been made that the water level in tanks is slowly dropping to their minimum operating levels. Irrigation Dept has 73 major tanks coming under its purview. Many tanks in A'pura, strikingly Nachchaduwa tank have run moderately dry Sudarshani Widanapathirana Director of more..

Jul 19 (Island) SL�s public health sector is in the news always for the wrong reasons. Allegations that some Health Ministry panjandrums cut corrupt deals with foreign pharmaceutical companies and procure substandard medicinal drugs to enrich themselves have created quite a stir. Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who is under fire for the rapid deterioration of the free healthcare system on his watch, has appointed a seven-member expert committee to probe complaints that more..

Jul 19 (CT) Govt of SL Face Value Money Printing (FVMP) debt increased for the second consecutive market day to Monday (17), this time by 5.9% (Rs 172,591.54 mil) to Rs 3,096,124.78 mil (Rs 3.0961 trillion) due to a perennial lack of revenue. However, Monday�s increase in GoSL�s FVMP debt was non-demand pull -inflationary as it was used to meet an external commitment. Consequently market liquidity was drained by Rs 301,304.54 million (USD 957.77 mil) during Monday�s trading more..

Jul 19 (Island) Asian Athletics Championship gold medallist Tharushi Karunaratne is among top medal contenders when SL�s track and field team vies to end a long medal drought at the Asian Games which will be held at the Chinese city of Hangzhou from Sept 23rd to October 8. SL has not won a medal in track and field sports since the men�s 4�400 metres relay quartet of Rohan Pradeep Kumara, Rohitha Pushpakumara, Prasanna Amarasekara and Ashoka Jayasundara, sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe more..

Jul 19 (FT) SL Association of Printers (SLAP) held its Annual General Meeting recently at the Secretariat located in Thalahena, Malabe. Anil Kariyawasam was appointed as the new President at the event. Kariyawasam stated that his main objective is to propel the SLAP to new heights of success and relevance. He stated that it is his firm belief that the association has the potential to reach a wider audience beyond the boundaries of Colombo and various other parts of Sri Lanka. more..

Jul 19 (FT) Brand Finance Lanka, the pioneering brand valuation and strategy firm, has released its much sought after annual review of SL's most valuable brands for the 20th consecutive year. In what could be considered SL�s worst financial crisis, the total value of SL�s most valuable brands in the year under review decreased by 16%. The total value of the Sri Lanka 100 brands is lower than what was reported back in 2019. more..

Jul 19 (FT) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe�s proposal to implement 13A with the exception of police powers fell foul of the TNA yesterday forcing TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiram to remind the President that former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa in three joint statements with India had promised to implement 13A in full. �The joint statements issued by former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa with India promised to implement 13A in full and to build on it to achieve meaningful devolution. more..

Jul 19 (TM) Lawyers representing the Catholic Church are currently discussing the future course of action with regard to the non-settlement of the total sums of compensation to the victims of the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019 and their families by the relevant respondents including former Prez Maithripala Sirisena. Office for Reparations maintained the fund to which the respondents were required to deposit the relevant sums of compensation by 12 July, as ordered by SC, more..

Jul 19 (TM) Police Dept said that Police officers who are caught taking drugs like cannabis (ganja) will be given a transfer in the first instance if they are identified, while officers who are found to be using heroin or crystal methamphetamine (Ice) will be arrested and dismissed from the Police service after being produced before courts. SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that intelligence officers have been deployed on the orders of the IGP to identify more..