Mar 31 (Island) The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) successfully conducted an Investor Forum on 28th March 2023 at the JKAB Beach Resort, Trincomalee. The forum was organized with the objective of raising awareness on the importance of investor education and investor protection. The Forum attracted over 160 participants. Majority of the participants were interested in exploring new opportunities of investing in the Stock Market. more..

Mar 31 (FT) The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) yesterday commended the efforts made by President Ranil Wickramasinghe and senior Govt officials to secure the IMF funding as the initial move to bring stability to the nation hit by the unprecedented financial crisis early last year. �The long awaited bailout package we believe will prompt a growth in tourist arrivals as holiday travellers will now have the confidence to have a hassle free holiday in Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 31 (Reuters) Sri Lanka will assess a restructuring of its domestic debt next month and expects to finalise it by May, officials from the country's central bank and the Treasury told international creditors during a virtual presentation on Thursday. The country expects that exploring options for a domestic debt operation will help to achieve a much-needed liquidity relief, both from a debt optimization of local currency T-Bills and T-Bonds. more..

Mar 31 (FT) Alumex PLC, a leading manufacturer of high-quality aluminium profiles and a subsidiary of the Hayleys Group, has set its sights on expanding its value-added offerings and solidifying its position as the leading exporter in the industry. With a string of national recognitions bestowed by major awarding bodies in 2022, Alumex is well on its way to making a significant impact on the local and global market. The manufacturer is now launching an exciting new DIY (do-it-yourself) product portfolio more..

Mar 31 (Island) Attempts by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister Kanchana Wijesekera to scare the striking Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) workers into submission have demonstrated their determination to suppress the people�s rights and freedoms, President of the Public Progressive Workers� Association, Bandula Saman Kumara says. The govt had deployed around 5,000 military and more..

Mar 31 (FT) Five intervening petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court in support of the proposed Central Bank Bill. The move comes after several parties including PHU Leader Udaya Gammanpila and National Democratic Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa filed a total of seven petitions challenging the bill claiming it violates Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution thus requiring a referendum to go through. The intervening petitioners including Chairman of the Suwasariya Foundation more..

Mar 31 (AD) GSMB has urged the public to remain vigilant despite the fact that the tremor which was felt today (30) does not pose a serious threat. Speaking at special press conference held with regard, senior seismologist Nilmini Taldena stated that despite being low on the Richter scale, the tremor was record at all four seismic stations. She added that area residents of Kalutara, Maggona, Beruwala, Bentota and Piliyandala had reported that they felt the tremor. more..

Mar 31 (Island) SL�s Ambassador in Tokyo Rodney Perera has said that in the wake of the IMF finalizing the latest loan facility, the country received an assurance from Japan that infrastructure development projects here would be provided Japanese funding. Rodney Perera quoted Japanese PM Fumio Kishida as having declared that such projects were a Japanese priority. The retired career diplomat who previously served as SL�s ambassador to Washington presented his credentials to more..

Mar 31 (TM) A letter written by Senior Advisor of the Minister of Sports Sudath Chandrasekara surfaced on Wednesday, informing former national cricket captain and former MP Arjuna Ranatunga to resign as the Chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC). The letter states that a virtual meeting of the NSC was held on Wednesday but, no member of the council had reportedly participated in the meeting via Zoom. Sudath Chandrasekara further mentioned in his letter that he should not be surprised by more..

Mar 31 (HRW) United Nations expert body responsible for reviewing compliance with civil and political rights obligations has issued a scathing appraisal of the SL govt�s record. Human Rights Committee monitors implementation of the Int'l Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a multilateral treaty that SL ratified in 2005. Its latest report covers systematic abuses over several years, more..

Mar 31 (DM) Bar Association of SL (BASL) has strongly demanded the authorities to take necessary arrangements to ensure former BASL President Saliya Pieris� professional duties as an Attorney-at-Law and his safety. Issuing a statement regarding a series of organised protests in Colombo in relation to Saliya Pieris, BASL observed that said protest not only seriously hinders his right to represent a client, a professional right which has been safeguarded by law, but also an attack on profession at large. more..

Mar 31 (CT) State Minister and Leader of TMVP S Chandrakanthan, alias Pillaiyan, and ITAK MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had a heated argument at the Batticaloa DS over land issues. Shanakiyan and his supporters charged into the District Secretariat following a sit-in protest, yesterday, joining those who were victimised by the State Minister�s alleged land grab. He also told his supporters that next time they will have their meals inside the District Secretariat as a protest. more..

Mar 31 (DM) A Fundamental Rights petition filed challenging former Prez Maithripala Sirisena�s decision to grant Presidential Pardon to Royal Park murder convict Don. Shamantha Jude Anthony Jayamaha was today fixed for further argument by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court 3-judge-bench comprising Justices S. Thurairaja, Yasantha Kodagoda and Janak de Silva fixed the petition to be taken up for further argument on June 9. more..

Mar 31 (FT) This country of ours isn�t a strange host for trade union strikes and for mass protests. The last significant trade union action had been in 1952, which succeeded in bringing down the benevolent PM of UNP govt, Dudley Senanayake. Dudley is still one of the most beloved of persons to have held that top position, which was then the CEO spot in our island SL. Dudley Senanayake had good ideas but a bad reception by stupid people who followed wicked politicians & trade union tailwags. more..

Mar 31 (FT) The eminent academic panel consisted of three experts in the field, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy � former Governor of the CB, Dr. Howard Nicholas � Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands, Professor Sirimevan Colombage � Emeritus Professor in Economics at the Open University of Sri Lanka and the event was moderated by Sirimal Abeyratne � Senior Professor in Economics at the Uni of Colombo. more..

Mar 31 (SLN) Navy took hold of over 165kg of Kerala cannabis, during a special operation mounted in the beach and sea areas of Madagal in the dark hours of 28th March. Coastal Observation Points of the Navy keep a round-the-clock vigil in the coastal areas of the island with a view to prevent nefarious activities taking place via sea routes. As an extension of these efforts, SLNS Agbo in the Northern Naval Command seized a consignment of Kerala cannabis, during a foot patrol more..

Mar 31 (Island) FSP tells members of JVP-led NPP and SJB that there is no point in pressuring the incumbent govt to hold elections, and the need is to revive Aragalaya to oust the incumbent regime. Addressing an FSP meeting, the party�s General Secretary Kumar Gunaratnam said: �This govt would never conduct an election. It keeps trotting out lame excuses. We must not waste our time and energy asking for elections. We must send the govt home by resuming Aragalaya. more..

Mar 31 (FT) Dimuth Karunaratne who has indicated to the national selectors that he wants to step down from the SL Test captaincy at the end of the two-Test series against Ireland at home next month, said that the player whom he would personally like to see succeed him is Dhananjaya de Silva (popularly known as DDS). �The main reason for resigning is to make way for a new captain to take over at the start of a new cycle of more..

Mar 31 (AD) SL migrant workers� foreign remittances amounted to a total of USD 407 million in Feb 2023. Foreign remittances had amounted to only USD 205 million in February last year. SL registered over USD 400 million in migrant workers� remittances in the first two months of this year, with the figure reaching USD 437.5 million in January. Meanwhile, earnings from merchandise exports on year-on-year basis have declined by 10.2% in Feb 2023, amounting to USD 982 million. more..

Mar 31 (FT) Hatch, SL�s leading startup hub partnered with the US Department of State to implement AccelerateHer, a bespoke accelerator program for budding female entrepreneurs. Applications are now open for its second cycle. AccelerateHer is designed to help female founders grow their businesses, up-skill, and gain access to funding and networks that will allow them to scale and compete more effectively in the global marketplace. Program is 100% free of charge more..

Mar 31 (CI) New Zealand's seamers triggered a second successive SL collapse, sending the visitors sprawling in the first few overs, before they eventually sputtered to 157 all out. Then, despite an early wobble of their own, NZ strode confidently to the target, inside 33 overs, to wrap up the series 2-0. Will Young held the chase together from No. 3, making an unruffled 86 not out. Though wickets fell at the other end, he remained more..

Mar 31 (DM) SL govt spent large sums of money on free education and health care for the country, but did not spend that much on research and development in the education sector, Plantation Industries Minister Ramesh Pathirana said. While addressing the Food Research Presentation and Network Forum in Colombo yesterday, he said the govt has not spent money on the industrial sector's development. "The govt spent nearly Rs.350 billion on defence, Rs. 300 million for education, more..

Mar 31 (BelTA) Industry Ministry of Belarus would like to build cooperation with SL across a wide range of areas, Belarus' Deputy Industry Minister Aleksandr Yefimov said as he met with Minister Bandula Gunawardana, BelTA learned from the press service of the Industry Ministry. The talks were attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of SL to Russia with concurrent accreditation to Belarus Janitha Liyanage, Honorary Consul of SL to Belarus Dmitry Ruzanov and more..

Mar 31 (EN) SL Association of Container Transporters and fuel bowser owners has decided to reduce the haulage charges and transportation fee, after the govt cut the auto diesel prices by 80 rupees, association officials said. �Due to the recent reduction in Auto Diesel price from March 30, 2023, the committee has decided to reduce haulage charges by 7%,� association said. SL Private Petroleum Tanker owners has also decided to reduce the transportation fee of fuel more..

Mar 31 (TM) The Ministry of Agriculture is to submit the National Agriculture Policy, which has now been drafted, for the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers in late April, after which the same will be presented to the Parliament for necessary approval. Ministry's Media Director, Dharma Wanninayake said that the said Policy, which was drafted under the instructions of Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, is to be submitted to the Cabinet for its approval in the last week of April. more..

Mar 31 (TM) While the Professorial Pediatric ward at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital (ATH) was shut down, after head of the Unit and other pediatric consultants attached to it, left the country, the Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCPA) said that close to one hundred such medical practitioners had opted to leave SL after taking no pay leave. MCPA President, Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, lamented that more..

Mar 31 (EN) Sri Lanka has sharply overperformed on a 2022 primary deficit target in an interim budget prepared ahead of an IMF program, partly helped by inflation and tight expenditure controls, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardene said. Sri Lanka has reported a primary deficit (overall deficit minus interest) of 3.7% of GDP for 2022, but that includes on-lending to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, he told a forum organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 31 (AD) The reading of the charges filed against Naufer Mawlawi and 24 others over the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks commenced at the Colombo High Court this morning. The charges were read out before a three-judge bench of the Colombo High Court, comprising of Justices Damith Thotawatte, Amal Ranaraja and Navaratne Marasinghe, in the presence of the 25 defendants. Attorney General filed a case against 25 defendants including Naufer Mawlawi, Sajid Mawlawi, Mohammed Milhan, more..

Mar 31 (Island) A new study conducted by the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agricultural Training and Research Institute has revealed the devastating impact of the economic crisis on the food consumption patterns of SL citizens. The domestic demand for Kohila surged by 45% during the 2021-2022 period, as citizens were forced to manage with whatever vegetables they could find. In stark contrast, consumption of beans, carrots, more..

Mar 31 (Island) Cargills Bank reported a profit before tax of LKR 206Mn for the financial year 2022, recovering from a loss before tax of LKR 369Mn in the previous year, driven by robust growth in operating income that offset erosions due to increased provisioning and operating costs. Total operating income rose 74% year-on-year to LKR 4.28Bn on account of growth in both Interest and Fee-based income in similar proportion. The Bank prudently managed its lending portfolio more..

Mar 31 (FT) The Women Entrepreneurship Development Program organised by the Export Development Board (EDB) focused on the theme Branding through Packaging to support women-led businesses in SL. The program aimed at enhancing their knowledge on product branding and packaging to help them to enter the int'l market. EDB collaborated with Slick, a leading company in SL�s packaging industry, to provide valuable insights and guidance to the participants from more..

Mar 31 (TM) Colombo District Court granted leave for a request made by the respondents of the petition filed by State Minister Diana Gamage challenging SJB party membership of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Ranjith Madduma Bandara. Accordingly, the leader and general secretary of SJB, who were listed as respondents in the petition, have been given time to file their objections. SJB leader and the general secretary were supposed to bring up their objections more..

Mar 31 (EN) Stocks closed near a one-week high on Friday, ending the month on a positive note with the highest turnover in nearly two months, as the banking sector gained confidence after the Central Bank Governor�s statement on domestic debt restructuring, an analyst said. The ASPI closed up 0.79% or 72.59 points at 9,301.09. �The market ended positively over confidence in domestic debt restructuring and revived indexes that were down during the week,� more..

Mar 31 (DM) The envoys of India and Japan envisaged joint cooperation with Sri Lanka for enhancing regional connectivity. Japanese ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki and Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay made remarks in this regard at the function to mark the launch of the report compiled by the Pathfinder Foundation themed A Medium and Long-term Strategy for Indo-Japanese Collaboration to more..

Mar 31 (CT) Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday opened a new academic facility in the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). This new facility, located at the Mahapola Ports and Maritime Academy, is named, SAYURA. It consists of the latest facilities to create new training courses and opportunities for trainees in the ports and maritime sector. It was highlighted that Mahapola Ports and Maritime Academy will conduct courses according to international standards for SLPA employees more..