Mar 19 (ST) Following an Emergency Executive Committee meeting of the Football Federation of SL (FFSL) last week, which was meant to discuss and approve matters related to the forthcoming FIFA Series 2024, the football hierarchy is attempting another out of norm move the Sunday Times learns. With many matters pending related to the FFSL elected administrators, the top management has drafted a document proposing salary increments to its permanent staff members. more..

Mar 19 (Island) On March 1, SL Sustainable Energy Authority, the Govt of SL, and U-Solar Clean Energy Solutions from India signed an agreement for the construction of hybrid renewable energy systems on Nainativu, Delft (Neduntheevu), and Analaitivu islands situated in the Palk Bay. The three facilities which will have a combined renewable energy capacity of 2,230 kilowatts will be funded by a $11 million grant from the Indian govt. A statement issued by the Indian HC in Colombo more..

Mar 19 (ST) Mushrooming medical faculties sans a needs-analysis based on SL�s requirement of doctors as well as the available facilities to train hundreds of students to ensure patient safety are causing serious concern among health experts and the public. Currently, SL has 12 state medical faculties; one military medical faculty at the Kotelawala Defence Uni (KDU) with a fee-paying civilian student intake included; and more..

Mar 19 (Island) Hardly a day passes, in this country, without several fatal road accidents caused by reckless drivers being reported. The police are all out to eliminate trigger-happy hired guns who snuff out quite a few lives almost on a daily basis, but precious little is being done to rein in the drivers from hell, who destroy about seven or eight lives on the roads daily. Eight private bus workers, including drivers, have been arrested recently for working under the influence of narcotics, in Colombo, more..

Mar 19 (CT) Although SL loves to sing the same tune and announce to the world how progressive and gender-inclusive its society is � by bragging about how the world�s first female PM came from SL � the ground reality of the country is that those so-called achievements are mere exceptions often overexploited to generalise a positive image of the country. According to data, SL ranks at 183 in the list of the percentage of women in parliaments, when arranged in descending order. more..

Mar 19 (FT) Kiuda Digital Holdings, backed by direct international investments, will be launching its state-of-the-art carbon exchange � KiudaEXin the near future. The locally developed carbon exchange will primarily target the growing demand for carbon offset credits in South Korea, Japan, and other regions of Asia. With a multi-million dollar valuation, the Kiuda Carbon Trading eco-system is backed by direct investments and endorsements from well-known and leading South Korean securities, more..

Mar 19 (FT) Unilever SL and the Industrial Development Board (IDB) signed a three-year memorandum of understanding to uplift SMEs in SL. This is a public private partnership between Unilever and the IDB to jointly support the growth and development of 20 Micro Small & Medium Scale entrepreneurs in SL every year through the Industrial Development Fund (IDF). IDF, under the supervision of the Industrial Development Board, and conforming to guidelines of the CB more..

Mar 19 (FT) The number of airlines operating flights to SL has steadily increased over the years post-pandemic, indicating a significant interest in the country as a tourist destination. �By the start of the second quarter of 2024, the number of airlines operating flights to SL will exceed 40, mirroring the pre-pandemic figures, signalling ongoing interest in the country as a travel hotspot,� AASL Ltd, Marketing & Corporate more..

Mar 19 (FT) Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) in a statement yesterday extended its heartfelt gratitude to Prez Wickremesinghe for favourably considering one of its Budget proposals to appoint an expert committee to resolve construction issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic crisis. In a significant move to address the challenges faced by the construction industry, the Prez�s decision to prioritise the establishment of an expert committee more..

Mar 19 (DM) Elections have been the main focus among frontline political parties these days with the Prez election scheduled for this year. According to SL Constitution the poll for the election of the Prez shall be taken not less than one month and not more than two months before the expiration of the term of office of the Prez in office. Since the incumbent Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe is holding office only for the unexpired period of the term of office of former Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa, more..

Mar 19 (DM) SLC has named a 17-member squad and Wanindu Hasaranga, who announced his retirement from Test cricket last year, has made a comeback for the ICC World Test Championship series against Bangladesh, commencing on March 22. Also, uncapped off-spinner Nishan Peiris has been called up to the SL squad. He replaces fast bowler Milan Ratnayake from recent Test match against Afghanistan. more..

Mar 19 (FT) Tamil MPs representing the North and Eastern provinces will stage a protest in Parliament today in Opposition to the recent arrests during Maha Shivaratri religious observances at the Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple in Vavuniya. Eight Tamil worshippers including temple official T. Tamilselvan were arrested on 8 March by the Police. Member of Parliament Selvarajah Kajendren was also present at the event. The following persons, aged between 24 and 45, more..

Mar 19 (TM) Following various speculations that Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe is urged by many parties to dissolve Parliament before the upcoming Presidential Election, the ruling SLPP is yet to decide which Election � Presidential or Parliamentary - should be held first. When contacted, the SLPP General Secretary and Government Parliamentarian, attorney Sagara Kariyawasam noted that it is yet undecided whether the SLPP would furnish a Parliamentary more..

Mar 19 (ST) The Fisheries Ministry has presented a Cabinet Memorandum seeking to establish a civilian voluntary force called sea guards to monitor Indian fishermen�s frequent illegal bottom trawling in SL�s northern territorial waters. Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said that the Ministry submitted the memorandum for Cabinet approval as a move to deter Indian fishermen from entering the country�s waters for bottom trawling and destroying the nets of Northern fishermen. more..

Mar 19 (DM) David Pieris Automobiles (Pte) Ltd (DPA) announced its partnership in SL with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co, Ltd. (BAIC) recently. BAIC is the 6th largest automobile company in China. Founded in 1958 as the Beijing Automotive Manufacturing Factory (BAMF), it has emerged as one of China�s leading and globally recognised automotive conglomerates with a rich history marked by milestones such as the development of iconic vehicles like the Jinggangshan sedan, more..

Mar 19 (TM) National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), which raised grave concerns regarding the proposed amendments to the Penal Code governing aspects of statutory rape, informed that it intends to question the same in Parliament this week including the Justice Ministry�s motives in seeking to introduce such changes. In the Justice Ministry�s latest draft Bill, released on 13 March, proposing more..

Mar 19 (FT) A new alliance titled Humane Peoples� Alliance under the leadership of former SLFP General Secretary MP Dayasiri Jayasekara will debut on Wednesday. �We hope to give new life to politics,� Jayasekara said addressing the media yesterday. According to him, it is evident that a program based on humanity is the need of the hour to revive the country. The SLFP MP affirmed that the new alliance would align with the SLFP and said that he would readily accept the position of more..

Mar 19 (Island) Policy inconsistency for SL�s tourism sector pulls the industry into jeopardy and the new laws that impose a minimum room rate on Colombo City hotels, could make Sri Lanka lose the competitive edge among other countries in the region, a top travel and tourism expert Chandana Amaradasa said. The imposing of a minimum room rate on Colombo City hotels is actually killing the industry, resulting in the industry losing the competitive edge among hotels in the region. more..

Mar 19 (FT) FPC member MP Prof. G.L. Peiris accused the Govt of disregarding orders issued by the Supreme Court and opening the doors to allow the destruction of the rule of law in the country. MP highlighted that the Supreme Court plays a pivotal role in intervening when a Parliamentary act clashes with the fundamental rights of the country�s citizens. Peiris stated that despite the expectation for the Speaker to be impartial, the current Speaker is seen to be implementing a biased agenda. more..

Mar 19 (TM) ASPI of Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is ranked among the top 10 best-performing primary equity indices so far in 2024 with a positive price return of 12.96% in US dollar terms. SL�s main index was ranked 7 among the best-performing primary equity indices as of Monday (18), surpassing Japanese and London stock market indices. Kenya and Kazakhstan are the best-performing stock markets globally so far in 2024 with a positive dollar price return of 28.9% & 20.11% respectively. more..

Mar 19 (DM) Refuting allegations of faulty auspicious times during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, the State Astrologers� Committee justified the designation of auspicious times for performing Sinhala New Year rituals at night, claiming that they wanted the most suitable time for the rituals despite practical difficulties. Committee member astrologer G.M. Gunapala said that the sun's transit occurs at 9.05 pm on April 13 and more..

Mar 19 (DM) The CID has initiated investigations into an incident in which former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who is in remand custody has been transported to court using a bus donated by UNICEF for the transportation of children of female inmates. The CID has received a complaint that the prison authorities have used this bus for the transportation of Mr. Rambukwella despite UNICEF stipulating that it should be used solely for the benefit of female inmates' children. more..

Mar 19 (DM) SL�s tourist arrivals have soared past the 500,000 mark in just the third month of the year, with March alone crossing the 100,000 milestone, over the weekend. This surge reaffirms the industry�s strong momentum towards robust growth. This is the first time since the pandemic that the island nation has crossed the half a million mark in two and a half months. Last year, SL crossed the milestone in the second week of May. For the first 14 days of March, SL welcomed 91,205 international visitors. more..

Mar 19 (TM) In the wake of around 1,000 containers being blocked at the Customs due to the ongoing strike of Customs officials, SL Customs Department said that the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies should take decisions in this regard as soon as possible, as this could adversely affect the country�s economy. On 17 March, Customs unions launched a token strike, more..

Mar 19 (AD) MPs Prof. Charitha Herath and S.M. Marikkar have also decided to resign from the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), bringing the total number of opposition members to quit the parliamentary committee thus far to four. In a post on �X�, former COPE chairman Prof. Herath said he has officially communicated his decision to the Speaker of Parliament today (19). SJB MP Marikkar also announced his decision to step down today (19). Their resignation comes after SJB MP more..

Mar 19 (FT) Organisations are entering a new frontier of data and analytics, which will drive pivotal decisions, processes and interactions. Unsurprisingly, more than half (57%) of Asia-Pacific senior executives in the 2022 biannual EY study, Tech Horizon, identified data and analytics as their top investment priority in the next two years, up from 31% in 2020. What�s more, tech-enabled transformations in the region that exceed expectations are predicted to yield more..

Mar 19 (AD) MP Dayasiri Jayasekara has also stepped down as a member of the COPE. It is understood that Jayasekara has forwarded his letter of resignation to the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. His resignation came a day after SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne resigned from his position as a COPE member. In his resignation letter, Wickramaratne explained that no credible action had been taken on those who were found to have been complicit in corrupt practices more..

Mar 19 (DM) Putting an end to the rumor's that the general election or the prez election will be held first, Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe reportedly informed the cabinet of ministers yesterday that the prez election will be held first. Therefore, Prez has instructed the cabinet, which met yesterday, to prepare for the prez election first. He stated that according to the country's constitution, the prez election should take place first, and arrangements will be made accordingly, more..

Mar 19 (AD) The two-day parliamentary debate on the no-confidence motion against Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena will begin today (19). As decided at last week�s meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Abeywardena, the debate, which is scheduled to commence at 9.30 a.m., will go on until 5.30 p.m. today. Meanwhile, the debate is slated to end at 4.30 p.m. tomorrow (20), with a vote on more..

Mar 19 (AD) Cabinet of Ministers has green-lighted a proposal seeking permission to award procurement contracts to import more eggs from India, based on the recommendations of the Standing Procurement Committee. As such, 42 million more eggs are to be brought into SL, as per a Cabinet approval granted in Dec 2023. On 18 December last year, the Cabinet of Ministers gave the nod to import eggs from India until 30 April 2024 in a bid to maintain stable prices in the local market and more..

Mar 19 (DM) Japanese Ambassador to SL Mizukoshi Hideaki met NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the JVP head office this morning. Deputy Head of the Japanese Embassy Katsuki Kotaro and the Second Secretary Imai Kaori also attended the meeting. NPP MP Vijitha Herath also participated in the discussion. Both sides discussed the current economic crisis and the political situation in Sri Lanka at length, and attention was also paid to the upcoming Presidential election. more..

Mar 19 (EN) Cabinet have approved a proposal to draft an amendment to the constitution to elect 160 out of the 225 members of parliament on the first-past-the-post system. The approval comes amid reports Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the Cabinet that Presidential elections will be held this year. �To meet the goal of the Election Expenses Regulation Act No. 03 of 2023, and achieve a truly democratic election process, more..

Mar 19 (CT) Dermatologist Dr. Indra Kahawatte has cautioned that due to the persistent heatwave, the risk of skin-related diseases is heightened. She advised people to adhere to proper health guidelines to mitigate potential harm. Dr. Kahawatta warned that prolonged exposure to intense sunlight can lead to various skin issues, such as sunburn and skin rashes, with children, including students, being particularly susceptible. She recommended seeking medical advice if experiencing symptoms more..

Mar 19 (AD) The Customs employees have decided to continue their work-to-rule campaign as the discussion with the authorities ended on negative note. At least 4,000 containers are reportedly held up at the Colombo Port as a result of the trade union action launched by the employees of SL Customs on Friday (15). Initially, Customs officials including superintendents and staff officers boycotted working extra hours, however, they resorted to a strict work-to-rule campaign at 9 a.m. today more..

Mar 19 (FT) The heading in the Daily Mirror of 18 March 2024, Public Trust in Parliament and Political Parties Reaches All Time Low, begs the question of the appropriateness, and efficacy, of political parties in democratic Sri Lanka. Further, the lack of consensus among political parties in most matters heightens these concerns. The overuse of partisan party politics has been, and is, in my opinion, the bane of Sri Lanka�s social and economic development. more..