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President Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Japan this week to strengthen bilateral and regional ties. Picture shows the President meeting members of the Japan-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship League.
WB considers projects to boost Lanka’s economy
Loan of US$ 150mn to bolster CB’s insurance scheme that protects depositors US$ 4mn to be invested to improve transparency in public expenditure through e-procurement Among a pipeline of projects for Sri Lanka that the World Bank (WB) will shortly seek board approval for is a loan of US$ 150mn to bolster the Central Bank’s deposit [...]
MPs call for PSC probe on former AG’s conspiracy comments
By Damith Wickramasekara Twenty-one Government MPs have handed over a letter to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena demanding the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate allegations made by former Attorney General Dappula de Livera that there had been a wider conspiracy behind the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The MPs point to an interview [...]
Lotus Tower looking for investors after Diana’s jackpot gamble fails
The Lotus Tower is looking for investors for its 44,000 square foot second floor after a rent agreement with a Singaporean company, backed by State Tourism Minister Diana Gamage, to set up a casino and entertainment area, lapsed with its conditions being unfulfilled. A Singaporean firm named Kreate Design PTE forged a deal with the [...]
MPs’ luggage to be scanned by Customs at VIP lounge
By Our Political Editor Passenger luggage passing through the VIP lounge at the Bandaranaike International Airport, including those of parliamentarians, will be scanned by Customs. The move is the direct outcome of gold and mobile telephones being smuggled into Sri Lanka by Puttalam District parliamentarian Ali Sabri Raheem, last Tuesday. Those passing through or arriving [...]
Veteran diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala passes away
Veteran Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala passed away yesterday at the age of 85 while receiving treatment at the Kandy National Hospital. Mr Dhanapala was the former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs. He joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1965 and held diplomatic appointments in London, Beijing, Washington, D.C., and New Delhi. [...]
President urges Japan to include Lanka in Bay of Bengal partnership; seeks membership in RCEP
By our Diplomatic Editor President Ranil Wickremesinghe has urged Japan to extend its tripartite partnership with India and Bangladesh to improve the economies of the Bay of Bengal region, including the southern states of India and Sri Lanka. He made this request while on a three-day visit to Tokyo this week. The President also urged [...]
Port City investors to get BSI status and concessions
A framework to designate investors of Colombo Port City as “businesses of strategic importance” (BSIs) along with 40-year incentives and exemptions will be gazetted shortly after the Cabinet this week granted approval for the long-overdue procedure. This will clear the way for investors to take out 99-year leases on the reclaimed property and set up [...]
Row over detection and detention of Chinese ‘businessman’ Li
By Kasun Warakapitiya The Chinese Embassy has requested local authorities to deport a Chinese businessman, who on Thursday, attempted to enter Sri Lanka on a forged passport, Immigration officials said. However, the businessman Li Pan, is refusing to go to China and has now petitioned the Court of Appeal against his deportation. The case is [...]
Students who allegedly assaulted teacher released on bail with conditions
By Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe Twenty-one students in Puttalam who were arrested on charges of assaulting the Teacher-in-Charge of Discipline at their school were granted bail under strict conditions on Friday (26). The Puttalam Magistrate’s Court released the suspects on personal bails of Rs 500, 000 each. The magistrate ordered them to appear at the Puttalam [...]
Hundreds of seasonal flu patients pour into hospitals
By Nadia Fazlulhaq Hostels, places of worship, and crowded public places are hotspots for the seasonal influenza now spreading rapidly even before the onset of the monsoon. More than 130 students from the Pasdunrata National College of Education in Kalutara were reported to have fallen sick this week. They showed flu symptoms ranging from high [...]
Drug prices: Do the math and make ‘rational’ decisions
Prices not just based on dollar parity rate but on many factors, says SLCPI By Kumudini Hettiarachchi The dollar rate has come down and many concerns are being raised as to why the price of medicines in Sri Lanka is not being slashed. “We are not averse to bringing down drug prices but there is also [...]
Ancient capital prepares to mark Poson despite fund constraints
By Senuka Jayakody Preparations are being made to host Poson-related religious and other activities after a lapse of three years, despite much less funds from the state this year. Poson Poya marks the day when Arahant Mahinda Thera visited the country and established the Buddha Dhamma. A state festival will be held at Mihintale in [...]
Four years after terror attacks, Muslims and Christians inching towards amity in Negombo
Both communities want to know the truth behind Easter Sunday bombings Inter-faith initiatives help dispel misunderstanding and misinformation By S. Rubatheesan Four years after the Easter Sunday attacks, Christians and Muslims in multiethnic Negombo are still trying to repair the damage that threatened communal and religious harmony between communities that lived side-by-side for centuries. Mohammed [...]
Peafowl problem: Jade and green bird spreading further and further afield
By Kasun Warakapitiya The Indian peafowl, which usually populates the dry zone, is now found in the Western and Central provinces. Environmental experts and researchers say human activities have created favourable conditions for the proliferation of peacocks and peahens. Their natural predators have also declined. Colombo University’s Zoology Professor Sampath Seneviratne, a well known bird [...]
Push to set up 2 Tobacco-free zones in each MOH area
World No Tobacco Day is May 31 By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Sri Lanka has something to be proud of while strongly pushing its anti-tobacco campaign as World No Tobacco Day draws close on Wednesday (May 31). “We are urging that at least two Tobacco-Free Zones be established in each of the 358 Medical Officer of Health [...]
Film importers’ petitions end in anticlimax; CA dismisses case
By Ranjith Padmasiri The Court of Appeal (CA) has dismissed three writ petitions filed by a group of film importers and distributors requesting an order preventing government authorities including the National Film Corporation (NFC) from interfering in the process of importation, distribution, and exhibition of films. A two-judge bench comprising Justices Sampath Wijeratne and Wickum [...]
Detecting the culprit
Story and Pix by Akila Jayawardena Public Health Inspectors are assigned the task of inspecting households, public and private sector institutions, parks, construction sites for dengue breeding spots as the mosquito-borne dengue fever is spreading rapidly. About 20 deaths and 40,000 cases have been reported this year. Health authorities warn that monsoonal rains and more breeding [...]
Multiplying dengue mosquito larvae raises risks for Colombo
Drones to check high-rise buildings By Nathara Abeywickrama Dengue mosquito larvae have been multiplying in the Colombo District compared with previous years, surveys have shown, and health officials expect a rapid surge in dengue fever in June and July. An egg can develop into an adult mosquito (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) in about 7-10 [...]
‘Pick up your litter’ say young zoologists, after clean-up project on Adam’s Peak
By Malaka Rodrigo More than 300kg of plastics and polythene was collected from Adam’s Peak by the Young Zoologists’ Association (YZA), in a waste collection and clean-up operation conducted on the last day of the Sri Pada season, which fell on Vesak day. The collected waste material was handed over to the recycling centre maintained [...]
Delayed O/L exams will start tomorrow in 3568 centres
By Senuka Jayakody Preparations are underway for the Ordinary Level (O/L) examination starting tomorrow. The Department of Examinations will conduct the General Certificate Examination (GCE) O/L for 2022 (2023) from tomorrow till June 8 countrywide. This will cover both the old and new O/L syllabi. There will be 3,568 centres for 472,553 candidates. For the [...]
UK lays out wider export pathway for Sri Lanka, offering lenient rules and zero duty
The influence of the El Niño has created the warming that causes changes in atmospheric patterns, leading to a weakening of the monsoon circulation over the region, Dr. Shiromani Jayawardena, director (forecasting) at the Department of Meteorology said. Sri Lankans should prepare for more intense and frequent heat till the end of May. Monsoon rains [...]
UK lays out wider export pathway for Sri Lanka, offering lenient rules and zero duty
By Kapila Bandara The United Kingdom’s new ‘developing country trading scheme’, expected to come into force next month, will see Sri Lanka receive generous trading preferences for a wider range of duty-free exports. Sri Lanka is already a beneficiary of the UK’s extensive trade preferences, generating duty savings. Now, thousands more products are set to [...]