Mar 22 (Island) Sprinter Aruna Dharshana gave athletics fans both joy and heartache on an otherwise remarkable day as the Junior and Senior Track and Field trials concluded with a number of athletes achieving their personal bests at Diyagama yesterday. Athletics analysts were waiting for Dharshana to reach his personal best in the men�s 400 metres final after the Army athlete produced the best performance in the heats where more..

Mar 22 (DN) SL under 19 team led by Shevon Daniel will meet Afghanistan under 19 team in their second match of the Tri-Nation cricket series which will be played today at Abu Dhabi. Opener Sineth Jayawardena hit a superb knock of 101 in 122 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes as SL under 19 team recorded a five-wicket win over Bangladesh under 19 team in their opening game of the Tri-Nation cricket tournament last Monday. They have a good winning mentality to play today's game more..

Mar 22 (DM) In order to regulate the casino industry and plug tax loopholes, the Cabinet nod has been granted for the Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill to be tabled in parliament for approval. After securing clearance from the Attorney General, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet to publish the draft Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill in the govt gazette notification, more..

Mar 22 (FT) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce congratulated the Govt on securing the EFF from the IMF. �We appreciate the efforts of the Govt led by the Prez, Governor of CB, Secretary to the Treasury, other key officials and independent experts who have assisted in this process. �We also appreciate the bilateral and commercial creditors for providing the necessary financial assurances towards debt restructuring. Along with the initial proceeds from the IMF program, we expect multilateral agencies more..

Mar 22 (EN) An offer to exchange Sri Lanka�s defaulted bonds with a new sovereign security which will pay less if the island�s future economic growth is lower than expected, is under consideration among investors, sources said. SL defaulted on its external debt in April 2022 after printing money to target what state economists said was a persistent output gap, after growth fell in the wake of two currency crises triggered in the process of injecting liquidity to target 5% inflation. more..

Mar 22 (TM) Complying with the order of the Right to Information (RTI) Commission, the Justice, Prisons Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms Ministry has released a committee report on the incidents of then-State Minister of Prisons Management and Prisoners� Rehabilitation and incumbent State Minister Lohan Ratwatte having allegedly forcibly entered two prisons and intimidated several inmates in 2021, more..

Mar 22 (Reuters) Sri Lanka has a difficult road ahead irrespective of how much funding it receives from multilateral and global financial agencies, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics told Reuters on Tuesday. Moody�s Analytics is independent of Moody's Investors Service, the rating agency. The IMF approved a nearly $3 billion bailout for Sri Lanka on Monday and the country's presidency said the programme will enable it to access up to $7 billion in overall funding. more..

Mar 22 (DM) Considering the statement made by Education Minister yesterday in Parliament, the issue relating to the teacher transfer board is worsening, Ceylon Teachers� Union Secretary Joseph Stalin said. He said that according to the statement made by the minister, the transfers of 8,893 teachers had been approved. Minister announced that a decision had been taken to make the teacher transfers as approved by the Teacher Transfer Board, except for the teachers more..

Mar 22 (TM) PM Dinesh Gunawardena stated that the Uma Oya project, which converts water into electricity, is set to be handed over to the people in a few weeks. �I went to inspect the Uma Oya project last week,� he added. Uma Oya hydroelectricity project will add 120 megawatts of electricity to the national grid and irrigate barren lands in several districts. Tunnel is 15 km long while the power house transformer, which is scheduled to generate electricity by the middle of this year, more..

Mar 22 (AD) MP Gamini Lokuge has been unanimously appointed as the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Banking & Financial Services today (21). Whilst State Minister Anupa Pasqual proposed MP Gamini Lokuge, MP Karunadasa Kodithuwakku seconded it. Accordingly, the committee met today (21) in parliament, and the committee�s chairman requested the support of all the members to successfully carry out the work of the committee. more..

Mar 22 (FT) IMF on Monday described Sri Lanka�s recent past strategy as a brutal experiment and dismissed the notion that the multilateral donor agency was the force behind tough austerity measures. �We understand the hardships faced by the people. It is due to the crisis and the IMF is there to lesson a bit but the adjustment will be a harsh one,� Breuer said responding to widespread misconception. more..

Mar 22 (Island) The SJB, yesterday accused the govt of abusing parliamentary powers and privileges to harass and intimidate the judiciary, the Election Commission and the media. Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament that the government, having failed to make the judiciary, the Election Commission and the media toe its line, was now abusing parliamentary privileges to harass and intimidate them. �Today, the provisions of the Parliament Privileges more..

Mar 22 (Island) Chairman of the ULS Wimal Weerawnsa, MP, has questioned the failure on the part of the JVP to protest against the recent clandestine visit here by CIA Director, William Joseph Burns. He said that at the time he represented the JVP, the party always took the lead in taking up issues which undermined national security. Weerawansa asked whether the incumbent JVP leadership changed its stance on the US after having received a good character certificate more..

Mar 22 (BN) Sri Lanka�s bailout by the IMF will help the bankrupt nation lower its borrowing costs, thanks in part to a change in how the cash can be used, central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said. IMF for the first time will allow Sri Lanka to use funds from the $3 billion bailout to cover govt spending, Weerasinghe said. South Asian country�s 16 previous bailouts only targeted balance-of-payment support. more..

Mar 22 (AD) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated that the salaries and pensions of public servants will be revised in the future, in line with the inflation rates. Speaking on the measure currently underway to manage govt expenditure while addressing the Parliament this morning, Wickremesinghe stated that steps are currently being taken to increase the funds allocated for public expenditure and that pensions and salaries earned by govt employees too will be revised in line with the inflation rates. more..

Mar 22 (DM) Based on the results of the 2022 grade five scholarship exam, education ministry today issued cutoff marks for students to enroll in grade six. Accordingly, the cut-off marks for the Sinhala and Tamil mediums have been released. For boys schools, Royal College of Colombo requires 182 marks as the cutoff for enrolling in grade six. Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College in Kandy need 180 and 177 points, respectively, to enroll in grade six. more..

Mar 22 (FT) Professional Trade Union Alliance (PTUA), that came into action on 15 March last after the Wickremesinghe-led Govt enforced a new tax scheme effective from January 2023, had presented to the Govt their tax proposals titled A Fair, Transparent and Accountable Taxation System for SL, before they went ahead with the pre-scheduled strike. The day before on 14 March 2023 Secretary to Prez Wickremesinghe had replied to the GMOA President�s letter addressed to more..

Mar 22 (FT) The role of the Govt has been an area that was up for debate; there are many different philosophies that explain as to what are the key activities that the Govt will need to undertake in order to benefit the people of the country. The primary target of the Govt is to improve the quality of life for the people. Govt also has to consider the economy and make sure that economic development takes place so that the lives of the people are enriched. more..

Mar 22 (FT) The JVP led NPP has gone to courts seeking elections to local govt bodies. A fundamental rights petition was filed in the Supreme Court by MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, former MP Sunil Hadunneththi and NPP Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayasinghe on 14 March. FR petition sought a court order directing relevant authorities to hold a free and fair LG election. Among those cited as respondents were officials from Treasury, more..

Mar 22 (AD) Supreme Court today ordered the Immigration and Emigration Controller that the overseas travel bans imposed on former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa are no longer in effect. A five-member SC judge bench chaired by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya issued this order when the petitions filed seeking investigations regarding the individuals responsible for the current economic crisis, in which a group including more..

Mar 22 (TM) A court order has been issued preventing several teacher-principal trade union leaders and their members from entering several locations in Colombo, including the Colombo Fort Railway Station, during their protest march today. The order was issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate�s Court this morning on the General Secretary of the CTU Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the CTSU Mahinda Jayasinghe, Mayura Senanayake and AITU Secretary more..

Mar 22 (DM) As plastic pollution has become a major global issue as well as in SL, the Environment Ministry has decided to ban the use of five single-use plastic products and certain plastic products imported from overseas, Environment Ministry Secretary Anil Jasinghe said. Addressing an event held in Negombo after participating in a newly opened material recovery facility in Negombo, he said the decision was taken to reduce more..

Mar 22 (AD) Supreme Court has fixed for consideration on Aug 4, a petition which was filed requesting the dismissal of the decision taken by the Court of Appeal to dismiss a writ petition filed against the electricity tariff hike without taking it up for consideration. The petition was called before a 3-member SC bench chaired by Justice Murdu Fernando today. The relevant appeals petition was filed by Electricity Consumers� Association and Centre for Environmental Justice, more..

Mar 22 (TM) The SL National team, consisting of two sailors and one windsurfer and the SL Navy team, consisting of a sailor and a windsurfer, were invited to participate at the 1st Chief of Navy Staff International Sailing Regatta 2023. This highly anticipated event was held from the 14 March to 20 March in Karachi, Pakistan. The competition venue was at the Pakistan Navy (PN) Aquatic Club at PN Dockyard with the races conducted near Oyster Rocks, opposite to Clifton Beach, Karachi. more..

Mar 22 (FP) SL will soon settle cross-border trade with India in Indian rupee. The island nation feels that trading in INR will also help increase the inflow of Indian tourist. SL�s High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda met India�s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during which he discussed steps to attract Indian investments to his country. Moragoda and Sitharaman also talked about the way forward in bilateral economic cooperation. During the meeting, Moragoda proposed enhancing bilateral trade more..

Mar 22 (TM) A group of 48 Sri Lankan domestic workers who had gone to Kuwait for employment and were unable to return to Sri Lanka for a long time after facing severe problems, arrived in the country this morning from BIA. Although 51 Sri Lankans were brought to Kuwait airport to be sent to Sri Lanka, three of them have not been able to come to Sri Lanka due to deficiencies in their documents. Among the domestic workers arrived today are 38 women and 10 men. more..

Mar 22 (AD) Minister of Education Susil Premajantha says that around 33,000 new teachers will be appointed by the middle of May. He pointed out that attention has been drawn regarding the possibility of recruiting recent university graduates as teachers at the provincial level. �In addition, around 7,500 National College of Education Diploma teachers� So far, the exam results have been sent from more..

Mar 22 (DM) The hands of an electrician was cut off after he got into an altercation with an individual in Moratuwa yesterday and the suspect had then fled with the severed hands, police said. Police said the hands of the victim had been severed at the elbow and taken away over a previous animosity between two parties. The victim is a resident of Koralawella in Moratuwa and an electrician by profession. Residents of the area who rushed to the scene had rushed the victim to Panadura base hospital. more..

Mar 22 (AD) The new Crescent moon of the month of Ramadan has not been sighted in SL this evening, according to the Colombo Grand Mosque. Hence, the Muslims in SL will begin the month of Ramadan fasting from dawn on Friday (March 24), the Colombo Grand Mosque said. Muslims all over the world will observe a month of fasting and prayers during Ramadan to commemorate the time when the Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed on the night of Laylat Al Qadr. more..

Mar 22 (TM) A meeting between the Sports Development Dept, National Sports Council, National Selection Committee, and the Minister of Sports was held yesterday at the Ministry of Sports with the participation of athletes from several sports disciplines training for the Asian Games. Several issues faced by athletes were discussed during the meeting and each athlete voluntarily presented their problems to the Minister. more..

Mar 22 (SLN) A high-level UN Assessment and Advisory Visit team currently in SL, expected to ensure the quality and standards of all technical Combat Convoy Equipment (CCE) and evaluate the Operational Readiness Preparations of the additional Combat Convoy Company B-1 (CCC) contingent, designed for deployment shortly in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) called on Commander of the Army, Lt Gen Vikum Liyanage on Tuesday more..

Mar 22 (NR) Experts are of the view the US Dollar could likely to stabilize at around Rs. 315 to Rs. 320. The Sri Lankan Rupee has appreciated considerably against the US Dollar in the past few weeks and it also strengthened following the IMF Board approval for the bailout package. Meanwhile, experts of the view that import restrictions, export income, remittances, tourist arrivals and other income received by state institutions will determine the dollar rate. more..

Mar 23 (DM) The Popular St. Francis of Assisi, whose movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon turned into one of the best and most loved film ever made, says, �Praised be You, my Lord, through our sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.� American Gaudiya Vaishnava guru, community-builder, activist, and author Radhanath Swami says We should honour Mother Earth with gratitude; otherwise, our spirituality may more..

Mar 23 (DM) We are talking here about the energy sector. We are talking about petroleum. About crude oil. Refined petroleum fuels and products. Refineries. Supply side issues. Demand side issues. Margins. Contracts. Hidden costs that are eventually reflected in the Consumer Price Index. Domestic fuel-need security or rather insecurity. Dollar costs. Tender procedures. Foot dragging. Tripartite agreements sat upon. We are talking of the Ministry of Power and Energy. more..

Mar 23 (TM) Although diverse forms of bullying in schools or other educational settings has remained a perennial issue, with the increased use of technology, the act of bullying has become more difficult and complex to deal with. While cyberbullying has become a more common issue than before, more children tending to embrace technology has exposed them to cyberbullying. In this context, while the education system more..