Sep 30 (DM) Health Ministry has clarified the reports circulating on social media regarding the detection of two Nipah virus cases in the country. According to these social media reports, two children are currently receiving treatment for the Nipah virus at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH). In response, LRH Director Dr. G Wijesuriya stated that SL has not reported any cases of Nipah virus so far. He emphasized that people should not be alarmed or panic due to these false reports. more..

Sep 30 (Island) Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is currently in Berlin, ordered his Secretary Saman Ekanayake to launch a probe into the resignation of Mullaitivu District Judge and Magistrate, T. Saravanarajah, who heard the controversial Kurundimale temple case. The judge has cited receiving death threats as the reason for his resignation. Judge Saravanarajah had not informed either the police or the Judicial Service Commission of the alleged death threats to him, more..

Sep 30 (Island) China will continue to firmly support Sri Lanka in pursuing a development path that suits its own national conditions, getting rid of the poverty trap and the trap of non-development, and safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong said at the 74th National Day Reception of the People’s Republic of China on Thursday. Given below are excerpts more..

Sep 30 (AD) A mobile phone suspected to have been used by the police constable who aided notorious underworld figure Harak Kata’s recent escape bid at the CID has reportedly been recovered by the Police. The mobile phone was found in a garbage dump in the Kadawatha area, and is reportedly owned by a suspect currently being held in CID custody. Police suspect that the police constable in question had made various calls using this newly found piece of evidence, more..

Sep 30 (Kyodo) Prosecutors in Nagoya said they have decided not to charge officials at an immigration center in the central Japan city for the second time over the 2021 death of a SL detainee despite her family's repeated calls for them to be indicted. The decision by the Nagoya District Prosecutors' Office effectively ends its probe into the case of Wishma Sandamali, who died at age 33 in March 2021 while in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau more..

Sep 30 (AD) The body of a 51-year-old, who was reported missing since 27 Sept, was recovered by the police on Thursday (28), from the banks of the Kelani River. The deceased, identified as T. G. Pradeepa, was found decapitated and dismembered, SSP Nihal Thalduwa said, adding that relatives of the deceased had confirmed her identity. Pradeepa’s daughter had filed a complaint at the Mulleriyawa Police on Wednesday (27), claiming that her mother had gone missing. more..

Sep 30 (CT) 26% of cancer patients, detected in Sri Lanka, are those with breast cancers, said National Cancer Control Programme Director Dr. Ishani Fernando. She noted that a total 5,329 new patients with breast cancer were detected in 2020. Of them 147 were men. She added that 25% of the cancer patients detected in the world too suffer from breast cancer. She said that a total 37,648 new cancer patients had been detected in 2020 while 15,599 patients had died of cancer in 2019. more..

Sep 30 (LB) A British woman has been trapped in SL for 13 months and is now left out of hope. Kayleigh Fraser, 35, from St Andrews, was visiting the country to study botanical medicine and began sharing videos online of the Aragalaya protests. Fraser, who had been living abroad for over a year, had her home in SL raided in August of last year by immigration officers claiming that she was visiting the country on an invalid visa. more..

Sep 30 (DM) The migration of medical professionals, which has jeopardized the Western healthcare in SL has also impacted the Ayurvedic medicine. According to Govt Ayurvedic Medical Officers’ association (GAMOA), about 100 Ayurvedic doctors have already left the country with a significant fraction anticipating migrating. “Ayurvedic doctors have been forced to leave the country owing to the prolonged issues, which remained unaddressed challenging the Ayurvedic medicine,” more..

Sep 30 (CT) Ministry of Defence made an announcement on the renewal of firearms licences for both individuals and institutions for the year 2024. According to the announcement, the renewal of firearm licences will be accepted from 1 Oct 2023 to 31 Dec 2023. Detailed information and application forms can be obtained from the official website of the Defence Ministry. The Defence Ministry emphasised that renewals for firearm licences for the year 2024 will not be processed after 31 Dec 2023. more..

Sep 30 (DN) Nadeesha Ramanayake managed to secure a place in the 400m finals at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Hanje yesterday and is hopeful of winning a medal at the Asian Games. Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Darshana managed to book their spots in the men’s final of the event. In the women’s 400m event, Nadeesha, who joined the second race of the preliminary round, finished second with a time of 52.67 seconds. more..

Sep 30 (ST) Non-functioning CCTV at a MP’s residence and within the state’s CID raise concerns about the lack of maintenance of crucial devices used in detecting crimes and suspicious activities. Anuradhapura lawmaker Uddika Premaratne escaped unhurt when unidentified gunmen in a van shot at his vehicle. Unfortunately, the CCTV at the MP’s residence and neighbouring houses were non-functional. Similarly, CCTV at the CID has been non-functional for some time & there is no video more..

Sep 30 (CI) Half-centuries from Bangladesh's top three of Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took their side to a comfortable win over SL in their first warm-up fixture ahead of the ODI World Cup, in Guwahati on Friday. Bangladesh bowled SL out for 263 and chased it down with eight overs to spare; other than all the issues these facts point to, SL will also worry about their opener Kusal Perera, who walked off the field in the 10th over of their innings with a strain in his right shoulder. more..

Sep 30 (ST) Three years after its financial crisis, SL is allowing commercial vehicle imports but importers say they cannot open letters of credit at banks to do the same. The govt assured to allow such vehicle imports along with construction equipment, and electric vehicle makers, starting September. Heavy vehicles including buses, trucks, and tankers can now be imported, according to a government notification issued by Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister. more..

Sep 30 (Island) Govt and Opposition may be at daggers drawn, but they do see eye to eye on matters that are mutually beneficial to them, such as the MPs’ perks and privileges, which they jealously guard. Such concord and coadjuvancy, however, are conspicuous by their absence where issues that affect the national interest are concerned. Not even the country’s worst-ever crisis has prompted them to make peace and put their shoulders to the wheel jointly to drag the nation out of economic more..

Sep 30 (ST) The alarming rise in shooting incidents, many of which occurred in broad daylight in Colombo, other major cities and even remote villages, has raised questions over the effectiveness of police countermeasures. The latest victim was six-year-old Abimani Theruwandika of Kotahena. She came under a trail of bullets that were aimed at her father, with whom she was travelling in a three-wheeler. more..

Sep 30 (Island) The Island of 02. 08. 23 published a statement issued by TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran on his party’s demand for enhanced and meaningful devolution, following their discussions with the President. As usual, Sumanthiran has taken care not to be too specific and to cover up their real intention: “This statement issued in order to clarify our position with regard to the political solution for the national question, the 13th Amendment, the conduct of the long delayed PC Elections more..

Sep 30 (ST) Illegal encroachments and landfilling backed by politicians over the years, have ruined an irrigation tank in the Anamaduwa area, thereby affecting thousands of farmers who have less water for their crops. Farmer organisations point out that the Petthikulam tank has lost almost half of its capacity due to encroachments. The 300-year-old tank in Anamaduwa town was used earlier to irrigate some 25 acres of paddy land, but now the cultivable land has been reduced to 10 to 15 acres. more..

Sep 30 (CT) On the question, of whether any Chinese Spy Ship was coming to SL, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, in New York, has given a detailed response that says everything and nothing. He has not given a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for an answer, leaving more questions than any answers. What the Minister has said instead is to detail how SL took the Indian neighbour’s security concerns seriously and how they had drawn a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for allowing foreign ships more..

Sep 30 (ST) A few weeks ago, I attended a Transport and Logistics Conference at Uni of Moratuwa as one of the panellists to contribute to a discussion on National Physical Planning Policy and Transportation System in Sri Lanka. The other distinguished panellists were Amal Kumarage, Professor at Dept of Transport Management and Logistics Engineering, and Jagath Munasinghe, Professor and Head of Dept of Town & Country Planning, while the discussion more..

Sep 30 (CT) President Ranil Wickremesinghe who went to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly session, returned to the country last Sunday morning. Immediately after returning from a long trip to Cuba and the USA, he resumed his official duties. He came to his office that same afternoon to meet the officials of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. more..

Sep 30 (CT) Last week, the two elephant-train collisions that occurred within 36 hours of each other tragically resulted in six elephant deaths, out of which four were juveniles who were below the age of five. The high number of elephant deaths and how some of them have died – one juvenile sustained severe injuries and succumbed to them immediately after the collision while a mother elephant was severely injured and died later in the day after much suffering – have again set the stage for more..

Sep 30 (DM) The statement made by former JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa on the relationship between a future JVP/NPP govt and the IMF is a clear deviation from his party’s policy on the global lender. Addressing the media after a discussion between the representatives of his party and the GMOA, JVP frontliner said that a future NPP govt will never hesitate to work with the IMF and other institutions. He told reporters that the NPP would deal with the IMF while respecting more..

Sep 30 (DM) Hanzeer Azad Maulana was the main whistleblower featured in the Channel 4 documentary. Azad Maulana made some startling revelations against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, State Intelligence Service head Maj-Gen Suresh Sallay and State Minister Chanthrakanthan known widely as Pillaiyan. Gotabaya, Suresh and Pillaiyan have denied the allegations. Maulana has been accused of concocting a false story to more..

Sep 30 (DM) By mid 2021 large numbers of young people were seen to be queuing up at our passport office. So much so that former prez and now MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was force to remark that the young people who voted the govt into office were now fleeing the country in apparent despair. The reasons were clear enough, by early 2022 the country was facing rolling power cuts, small and medium industries were closing down, people were losing employment, cost of living was soaring. more..

Sep 30 (DM) One month has elapsed since the passing of a distinguished public servant who dedicated his lifetime to service to the country through his multi-faceted public service contributions. The history of the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) is replete with honourable men who have dedicated their lives and services to the development and prosperity of our country. Mr. Kandekumara Hapudoragamage Jothiyaratna Wijayadasa (K.H.J. Wijayadasa) more..

Sep 29 (PMD) Acting Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe announced that negotiations to secure the second tranche of funding from the IMF are progressing positively. He emphasized that the govt’s economic reform efforts are currently under evaluation by the IMF. Furthermore, Minister noted that discussions to finalize the staff level agreement required for receiving the second instalment are more..

Sep 29 (Island) The govt has taken a number of steps to pass the IMF’s first review of its loan, Prof. Priyanga Dunusinghe, Dept of Economics at the Colombo Uni says. “The IMF made several recommendations. One of them is increasing the tax revenue of the govt. It also wanted the govt to make the Central Bank independent and ensure that the state-owned enterprises adhere to cost reflective pricing. IMF also wanted a strong safety net. Some progress has been made on these fronts,” more..

Sep 29 (DM) Shereen Balasingham, a community medicine expert at the Directorate of Non-Communicable Diseases Division of the Health Ministry, said that the number of deaths and hospitalizations due to heart failure has increased significantly. She stated that 52% of deaths in govt hospitals in 2020 were due to heart attacks and that both men and women between the ages of 18 and 28 as well as between 29 to 39 years of age suffer from heart attacks. more..

Sep 29 (DM) China, more than any other country in the region or elsewhere, offers exchange programmes to the parliamentarians from Sri Lanka. In the previous Parliament, all 225 members were offered chances to undertake familiarisation tours to China and to engage with the Communist Party of China (CPC) as part of its international engagement. A fair number of MPs from the current Parliament has also travelled to China currently, and more..

Sep 29 (CT) Swaps between the Central Bank of SL (CBSL) and Govt of SL (GoSL), where the former swapped rupees for foreign exchange (FX/US dollars), enhanced liquidity by Rs 187,550 million (Rs 187.55 billion/USD 577.08 mil) during Wednesday’s (27) trading. Consequently market’s net shortfall by 77.32% (Rs 182,390 mil) to Rs 53,506 million and GoSL’s face value money printing (FVMP) debt by 0.17% (Rs 5,160 mil) to Rs 3,094,316.63 million (Rs 3.09432 trillion) more..

Sep 29 (DM) Mullaitivu District Judge T. Saravanarajah has tendered his resignation from his posts due to threats on his life and a lot of stress. His resignation letter was sent to the secretary of the Judicial Services Commission on Sept 23. According to the letter, he resigned from the post of District Judge, the post of magistrate, the post of family court judge, the post of primary court judge, the post of small claims court judge and the post of Juveniles court judge. more..