Jul 7 (TM) National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) recently announced the establishment of a school-level child protection committee jointly with the Ministry of Education to minimise child abuse and rape cases across the country. Child abuse and rape cases had increased during the Covid-19 pandemic period. �Due to the hike in smartphone usage and of schoolchildren's access to social media, incidents of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect have increased. more..

Jul 7 (EN) Sri Lanka has met IMF quantitative targets for June 2023 except state revenues, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said. The IMF program has a set of quantitative targets listed as performance criteria which has to be mandatorily or seek a waiver and also indicative targets. The central govt tax revenue floor of 1,300 billion rupees is an indicative target. �All the targets have been met, except the revenue target is below,� Governor Weerasinghe told reporters said. more..

Jul 7 (CT) One of the reasons for the never-ending tragic accidents is the negligence of people about their own safety, especially when it comes to obeying the helmet law. There are various misconceptions when it comes to the helmet law. One is that the rules don�t apply to children. DIG Nihal Thalduwa clarified that the helmet law has no exceptions or age barriers. �The law is common for everyone in the country; it is applicable for everyone with no communal differentiation. more..

Jul 7 (ST) Serious charges with regard to several critical issues were levelled against the country�s drug watchdog by senior health experts this week, with a counter explanation following speedily on Friday morning. While the powerful Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) fired off a strong letter to Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday and also held a media briefing on Wednesday, the drug watchdog, NMRA was quick to respond more..

Jul 7 (FT) Third Annual General Meeting of the Council for Startups (CFS) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held recently. Members, invitees and extended members of the startup community were in attendance for this prestigious event to welcome Shalin Balasuriya, an eminent figure in the entrepreneurial realm, as the Chairperson for the year 2023/2024. Prajeeth Balasubramaniam, outgoing Chairperson, completed a successful tenure of two years since its inception to date, more..

Jul 7 (FT) Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) President Jyoti Mayal affirmed the association�s commitment to further fortify tourism links and aid Sri Lanka in quickly recovering from its recent setbacks whilst expressing unwavering belief in the potential of Sri Lanka as a top tourist destination. Speaking to the media ahead of the 67th TAAI Convention in Colombo, she highlighted collaborations and synergies are crucial elements for success in the tourism sector. more..

Jul 7 (TM) Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms has already commenced discussions with the relevant authorities including the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) in order to identify remedies for the prevailing lack of judges which has now become a severe problem to the country�s judicial system. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (5), Subject Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said more..

Jul 7 (FT) Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) welcomed the recent revisions made to electricity tariff for the July - December period by Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL). JAAF specifically welcomes the revisions made to the off-peak industrial electricity tariffs, as tariff revisions that occurred in mid-2022 and earlier this year overlooked industry submissions and concerns, severely increasing costs of operation, risking unemployment in off-peak hours, hampering more..

Jul 7 (PMD) Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prez gave instructions to all Secretaries to Ministries with regard to attending meetings of the Committees of the Parliament via an official letter copying to Speaker and Secretary General of Parliament. Accordingly, officials attending meetings of any Committee of the Parliament were instructed to be equipped with the relevant knowledge of the subjects under discussion and be prepared to provide information when it is requested by more..

Jul 7 (Island) This week�s Treasury bill auction had seen a drop in the weighted average yield rate on Wednesday with the borrowing cost to be reduced for the govt, supporting economic growth, State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said on Thursday. He said that the rates had come down significantly to 17.79% from 23% for 91 days, to 15.93% from 19.49% for 182 days and to 13.86% from 16.99%for 364 days. Parliament recently approved the govt�s domestic debt restructuring programme. more..

Jul 7 (FT) A group of Opposition MPs have written to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) alleging that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had brought parliament proceedings to an abrupt end and called for a vote on the day the House debated the Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) Programme denying several MPs an opportunity to speak. The letter signed by 34 MPs including Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa says more..

Jul 7 (TM) The Election Commission (EC) stated that although it is legally possible to extend the tenure of Local Govt (LG) bodies through the adoption of an Act without holding the LG Elections, it is however not ethical. A private Member motion by SLPP MP Jayantha Ketagoda, seeking to empower the Minister of LG to extend the tenure of LG bodies without Elections, was tabled in the Parliament on Wednesday. more..

Jul 7 (TM) Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation claimed that they have studied various methods to minimise the human-elephant conflict (HEC) in SL yet certain techniques have failed. Therefore, the Ministry is to implement different and developed techniques to minimise the HEC whereby elephants will be restricted from accessing human occupied areas. Director General of the Dept of Wildlife Conservation Chandana Sooriyabandara and Ministry Media Spokesman more..

Jul 7 (TM) Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment said that new laws are expected to be brought to make it mandatory to obtain the consent of the majority of the membership of a trade union (TU) if any trade union takes action. Speaking after presenting the proposed new labour law draft to the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC), the Minister Manusha Nanayakkara said that if there is an executive council of any trade union, 25% of its membership should be reserved for women. more..

Jul 7 (TM) Star Sports, India�s leading sports network, will have exclusive television media rights for the upcoming Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to be played in SL from 30 July to 21 Aug. Having bagged the television broadcast rights, Star Sports will telecast the league�s exciting action live, exclusively in India, SL, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, and MENA region including UAE. �We are delighted to announce Star Sports as the official television broadcaster more..

Jul 7 (ME) This week, IMO MEPC agreed to consider a proposal to move a busy traffic separation scheme out of SL's territorial waters, despite Sri Lankan objections. The plan to move the TSS is intended to benefit endangered blue whales, which are attracted to the existing TSS area to feed on plankton - and are all too often hit by passing ships. The area just south of SL is among the busiest maritime thoroughfares in the world. This TSS sits midway between Malacca and more..

Jul 7 (FT) Central Bank allayed unfounded fears and debunked doomsayers over the Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) insisting it did what is best for SL considering multiple factors and eyeing the broader goals of the country. Amidst criticism from the Opposition and some analysts, Central Bank defended the DDO framework saying it was most fair and reasonable and the best option carved out after more..

Jul 7 (DN) Sri Lanka cricket team led by Dasun Shanaka want to maintain winning mentality when they will meet West Indies in their last super six match of the World cup qualifying cricket tournament at Harare today. This is the first time of this tournament Sri Lanka will play a game at Harare while all other matches were played at Bulawayo. wicket but Sri Lanka team is ready to take up this challenge today while West Indies which lost their previous super six matches recorded their more..

Jul 7 (AD) Stand-up comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya, who was arrested for certain controversial statements made during a comedy show, was released on bail today (6), upon fulfilling the required bail conditions. Edirisooriya was granted bail by the Colombo High Court on Wednesday (5), however was released today, on a personal bail of Rs. 100,000. Accordingly, the female comedian was released 39 days after her arrest on 28 May. Her release was ordered by more..

Jul 7 (DM) Pastor Jerome Fernando, who was in Singapore has now moved to the UK amid ongoing probes related to several allegations against him including money laundering. A close source to the Pastor said that Jerome has already reached the UK. According to a post published on Jerome Fernando�s Instagram page, he will be hosting a service in UK next week. �Prophet Jerome Fernando will be ministering physically more..

Jul 7 (FT) International and regional policy discourses on the Indian Ocean regional order and Indo-Pacific � and on BRI � are often sensitive and complex. It is so, given the intensity of strategic interests and aspirations of some countries in and beyond the region. Sri Lanka�s diplomacy needs to rise to the challenge demonstrating its fullest strength during such discourses. What matters more in this context is sustained engagement; a cogent multilateral vision; and more..

Jul 7 (FT) Moving alongside the Han River in Korea and listening to the story of KIST moved me to write about the Miracle on the Han River to Daily FT on 16 Oct 2018. I thought that story was quite inspirational and was pushing for the deployment of science and technology in the same way for Sri Lanka. Needless to say, such ideas even though they are evidence-based find little or no chance of getting attention in Sri Lanka especially if you are writing or voicing from within. more..

Jul 7 (AD) The police have arrested the suspect who robbed MP Dayasiri Jayasekara�s son at knifepoint. The gold necklace worth Rs. 160,000 stolen from the politician�s son was found on the suspect who goes by the alias Roxy Watte Ranji. The arrest was made in the area of Dehiwala. On July 4, MP Jayasekara�s son was robbed of cash and a gold necklace while the youth was hanging out with a female friend on a byroad in Bambalapitiya after parking the car on the roadside. more..

Jul 7 (CT) Former Prez Maithripla Sirisena, during his recent visit to the Jaffna District, held talks with a few representatives of the Tamil political parties, including Leader of ITAK Mavai Senathirajah. During these talks, the former Leader had sought the backing of Tamil political parties for the SLFP ahead of future elections. However, most of the political parties in the North had not directly informed Sirisena of their willingness to back the SLFP at future Polls. more..

Jul 7 (AFP) As Sri Lankans flocked to a jubilant street party celebrating their president's ouster, retired accountant Milton Perera sat at home pondering whether his family could afford to eat the next morning. Before his dramatic toppling last year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was blamed for an economic crisis that brought food and fuel shortages, blackouts and runaway inflation to the island nation. But Perera told AFP at the time more..

Jul 7 (AAP) Cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka wants to avoid placing his fate in the hands of a jury when on trial accused of sexually assaulting a woman while on tour in Sydney for the T20 World Cup. The 32-year-old is facing one count of sexual intercourse without consent, after the public prosecutor withdrew three other charges earlier this year. He appeared at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday where his lawyer asked for an arraignment to be delayed until more..

Jul 7 (AD) Five persons were arrested by the Grandpass Police on Thursday night (6), in connection with the recent killing of an individual in the area. Accordingly, the five suspects were arrested together with two swords and a three-wheeler believed to have been used for the attack. The suspects have been identified as residents of Grandpass and Wennawaththa, and are due to be produced before court, Police said, confirming that main suspect is also amongst those arrested. more..

Jul 7 (AFP) The man charged with clawing Sri Lanka out of bankruptcy says he had warned about economic calamity years before it hit � and was pressed into retirement for his troubles. Central bank chief Nandalal Weerasinghe was asked to return to the island nation last year to help steer it through a financial collapse that triggered months of food shortages, petrol queues and nightly blackouts. 63-year-old says his mandate coincides with more..

Jul 7 (DM) Sri Lanka is to develop a domestic air transportation network linking several airports, Minister of Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament today. Minister said the domestic air transportation network will be developed by linking BIA, MIRA Mattala, Palali Airport Jaffna, and domestic airports in Trincomalee and Batticaloa. �Through this, it will be possible to attract high-end tourists if we develop a domestic air transportation network,� the Minister stressed. more..

Jul 7 (AD) Under the directives of Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, the govt has decided to continue with the existing payments of allowances for elderly citizens, disabled persons and kidney patients until a new criterion is introduced. State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe noted that the execution of Aswesuma would not, however, undergo any changes. According to the lawmaker, the Welfare Benefits Board has received a total of 760,000 appeals and 10,000 objections. more..

Jul 7 (AD) An expedited decision is due to be made pertaining to the appointment of new IGP, PM Dinesh Gunawardena revealed. Speaking in Parliament today, PM assured that a decision in this regard will be made very soon, possibly within the next 48 hours. Gunawardena stated this in response to a question raised by MP Dullas Alahapperuma in this regard. PM�s statement comes against a backdrop in which sources have claimed that former IGP C.D. Wickramaratne�s tenure may be more..

Jul 7 (CT) Mullaitivu Magistrate and the Police conducted a visit to the suspected mass grave site in the Kokkuthoduvai village, Mullaitivu yesterday. This visit marked the resumption of an investigation into the human skeletons discovered on 29 June 2023, during the digging of the ground to install a pipeline for a drinking water project. The area was tightly secured, preventing access to the public, as the Magistrate conducted an inquiry into the mass grave. more..

Jul 7 (LM) India plans to allow SL up to 12 years to repay its debt to help ease the financial burden on the island-nation, India�s Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) Ltd�s chairman-cum-managing director M. Senthilnathan said. SL, facing its worst economic and political crisis in over seven decades, owes $7.1 billion to bilateral creditors� $3 billion owed to China, $2.4 billion to the Paris Club and $1.6 billion to India. more..

Jul 7 (DM) Another death has occurred due to inferior quality medicines despite the Health Minister reiterating that no inferior quality medicine is used in the country, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said today. He told Parliament that a woman from Galle has died after being administered Propofol, which is said to have failed the quality test. He said Propofol is among the three drugs which had failed sample quality tests. Opposition Leader said that when he had raised the issue in Parliament, more..

Jul 7 (EN) Stocks closed up with the construction sector leading the charge after domestic bond restructuring assurances, policy rates were cut and inflationary pressure likely to reduce anticipating housing loans to come down, driving investor sentiment, brokers said. �Retail index investors are moving towards equity indexes as interest rates are reducing, Tharusha Ashoka of First Capital Holdings said. The ASPI closed up 1.05% or 107.49 points to 10,301.96, more..