Sep 15 (ST) The election campaign has given rise to many new businesses, but none as novel as the one carried out by companies that provide manpower services. Several of them have been reaching out to candidates offering services with different packages depending on how much each one can spend. The service to provide 3,000 persons for public rallies for 3 hours is Rs. 1,500 a person or Rs. 4.5 mil for the whole package, more..

Sep 15 (TM) In a period as short as one year from now, Sri Lankans of all hues will do one of two things. They will either celebrate or regret the choice they are to make on 21 Sept. Given the negligible possibility of neither considering the current circumstances, it makes this by far the most important decision people of this nation have ever been called upon to make. It will take less than a year into the next presidency for its contours and the fate of this nation to emerge, for such is more..

Sep 15 (CT) With just one week remaining before the highly anticipated 2024 Prez Election, the political landscape has reached a critical point. The main candidates are leaving no stone unturned as they ramp up their campaigns to sway the undecided voters. This is shaping up to be a pivotal moment in the nation’s political history, and the public is watching closely. However, while the election fever is at its peak, there are pressing concerns about whether the process will be fair and more..

Sep 14 (SD) Prez candidates in SL have pledged to prioritise science and technology, promising modernisation and better science education in a country suffering from brain drain. SL will hold its prez election on 21 Sept, its first since the nation’s devastating economic crisis in 2022. The vote will feature the country’s longest ballot paper in history, with a record 39 candidates vying for the presidency, all promising to tackle more..

Sep 14 (DM) Rs. 20 billion initial public offering (IPO) of LTL Holdings Ltd, which was scheduled to be opened yesterday, was postponed, as the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) sought further clarification to review the fresh information submitted by the company on the legal matters. This is likely to be on the two recently filed fundamental rights (FR) applications in the Supreme Court, in which the company has been made a respondent and still waiting for official notices from the SC. more..

Sep 14 (DN) In light of the unexpected weather conditions, emergency contact numbers have been introduced for the benefit of the students sitting for the Scholarship Examination to report any difficulties that may arise due to the adverse weather. According to the Disaster Management Center (DMC), students or guardians can inform about any such difficulties by calling the DMC’s emergency hotline at 117 or the Special Unified Emergency Operations Center numbers: more..

Sep 14 (CT) Various political parties have expressed concerns that after 18 September, there may be heightened tensions regarding the elections, even though no widespread violence was reported so far during the 2024 election campaigns. According to reports, voters are increasingly agitated due to information circulating on social media suggesting potential unrest, with fears of riots erupting during election & counting periods. more..

Sep 14 (Island) Top spokesperson for ITAK and Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam said efforts made in some quarters to confuse the Tamil speaking electorate had been convincingly defeated and their decision to support SJB candidate Sajith Premadasa at the Sept. 21 election had been communicated to their people. MP Rasamanickam emphasised that the ITAK had moved swiftly and decisively to counter attempts by a small but an influential group of people more..

Sep 14 (NW) A luxury house worth Rs. 100 million, located in Bambalapitiya, was forcibly seized by Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court heard on Thursday. Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasinghe, ordered Gnanasara Thero and two other respondents to immediately vacate the property, which had been unlawfully seized. The Magistrate further warned that failure to comply would lead to action being taken for contempt of court. more..

Sep 14 (DM) A NPP govt will take immediate measures to uplift the economy initially where steps will be taken to boost the tourism industry to attract four million tourists to the country per year, NPP prez candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake said. Addressing a rally in Monaragala, he said areas such as the tourism industry, fisheries industry, IT industry and agricultural sector have been identified as areas which can be developed as immediate measures to revive the economy. more..

Sep 14 (ST) The battle for 2.1 million votes in the Southern Province is on, with political parties and independents pitching their own solutions to local and national issues. The manifestoes of the main parties are being circulated, and the main candidates are making repeat visits to the three districts: Galle, Matara and Hambantota. Galle district with 903,163 votes spread out over 10 electorates has turned out to be the key attraction considering the voter base, but parties more..

Sep 14 (GV) Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SL Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of prez election voting intent for Aug 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa led in voting preferences of all adults ahead of the prez election. None of the four major party prez candidates had support of a majority of the adult voters. NPP leader A.K. Dissanayake led with 36% of all adults more..

Sep 14 (FT) Treasury allayed misinformation and rumours saying the scheduled Rs. 280 billion worth Treasury bond auction was concluded on Thursday successfully in a transparent manner. It said the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies/General Treasury, through the Central Bank, offered Rs. 290 billion to the market at the Treasury bond auction held on 12.09.2024 to finance maturing Treasury bonds worth Rs.168.5 billion & coupon payments of Rs. 122.3 b, more..

Sep 14 (Island) The recent visa and passport crisis has sparked significant concern among the public, and especially within the business community. Media reports, including those in leading newspapers, have highlighted issues of corruption, and these reports are being amplified internationally through various digital platforms. This is adversely affecting the credibility of Sri Lanka on a global scale. Sri Lanka is currently advancing as an export-driven economy, a direction supported by both more..

Sep 14 (IJN) Sri Lanka has faced considerable political and economic turmoil in recent times. A major economic crisis, which started in 2022 and sparked widespread protests that led to the resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that July, lingers to this day. The island nation’s next presidential election, on Sept 21, is a significant moment that will provide critical insight into where SL is headed in the coming years. To learn more about what journalists can expect more..

Sep 14 (CT) Russia’s largest producer of potash and ammonium nitrate, Uralchem, has offered 55,000 metric tons of potash to Sri Lanka as a humanitarian gesture due to its inability to sell the fertiliser to global partners. However, the shipment remains undelivered, having been stranded on the vessel, Asian Majesty at the port of Riga in Latvia, for over a year. Efforts to finalise its dispatch to Sri Lanka are still underway but so far have been futile. It has come to light that more..

Sep 14 (FT) Transparency International SL (TISL) said yesterday it has received 758 complaints concerning the misuse of public resources for election campaigning as of 1 Sept. It said the largest category of complaints—343 in total—pertains to the misuse of public premises. These include the misuse of public grounds, Govt offices, buildings, and schools etc. for election campaigns. Complaints detail instances where more..

Sep 14 (ST) Enthusiasm varies across the Sabaragamuwa Province, with support increasing for the NPP, especially among the youth, while Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and the SJB have a notable backing. The province, which includes the Kegalle and Ratnapura districts, has a combined 1.633 million registered voters. Ratnapura district, with eight constituencies, has 923,736 registered voters and 32,530 postal votes. Kolonna leads with the highest number of voters, totalling 62,266. more..

Sep 14 (ST) In the Uva Province consisting of the Badulla and Moneragala Districts, where candidates and their supporters have been campaigning enthusiastically, most voters say they are undecided as yet and will wait until polling date. Both Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa are being backed by some stalwarts from the two districts in the Uva province, while the NPP too, has made inroads. Political heavyweights such as minister Nimal Siripala De Silva and more..

Sep 14 (FT) Following the negotiations with the IMF, the Cabinet at a special meeting yesterday approved the amendment of the personal income tax structures. The proposed structure effective 1 April next year is; i. Tax free threshold remains as it is at Rs. 1.2 million per annum. ii. Tax bands increase from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 720,000. iii. Marginal tax rate at each band remains at 6% with the top tax rate remaining at 36%. more..

Sep 14 (DN) Shathi Rani’s impressive 50 runs off 40 balls (7 fours) and Rabeya Khan’s superb bowling figures of 4 for 4, led the Bangladesh Women’s ‘A’ team to a commanding 104-run victory over SL Women’s ‘A’ in their second T20 match of the five-match series at P. Sara Oval Stadium yesterday. Bangladesh women’s challenging total of 164 for 6 wickets was led by Shathi Rani’s brisk half-century. In response, the SL Women’s ‘A’ team struggled and were all out for just 60 runs in 16.4 overs, more..

Sep 14 (DN) Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka scripted history at Kensington Oval, London. On September 9, Nissanka scored an unbeaten 127 to get Sri Lanka over the line in the run chase of 219. The 26-year-old not only became the first Sri Lankan to score a century against England in the fourth innings, but he also entered an elite list of cricketing legends. Nissanka is only the 10th batter to score a Test century in the fourth innings against England in a winning cause. more..

Sep 14 (Island) SL’s search for a seam bowling all-rounder is legendary. They have been doing it for decades now but with little success. However, the impact that Milan Ratnayake had in England make people believe that finally they have broken through. The presence of a seam bowling all-rounder is vital for any team particularly when you travel overseas. We have cases in point in Ben Stokes with England and Cameron Green with Australia. In the good old days, India had Manoj Prabhakar while more..

Sep 14 (FT) Colombo stock market managed to close the week on a positive note ahead of long holidays with improved investor sentiment. The active S&P SL20 gained by 1.86% and the benchmark ASPI by 1.1%. However, for the week, ASPI & S&P SL 20 lost 0.9% and 1.1% respectively. Turnover yesterday was Rs. 1.2 billion involving 50.13 million shares. The average turnover for the week was Rs. 1.17 billion. First Capital said since the beginning of trading session yesterday, more..

Sep 14 (VoA) When an uprising ousted SL's president, many saw it as the end of his powerful family's hold on the island nation after more than 12 years of rule. Now, as SL prepares to elect a new leader, Namal Rajapaksa is running for president. The 38-year-old is the son of former Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa and the nephew of the ousted Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa is presenting himself as an agent of change, more..

Sep 14 (TM) The burning issue of the upcoming Prez Election has been the economy and how the different candidates plan to grow the economy in the next five years. In order to do that, however, all should stay within the EFF of the IIMF, since any deviation from the programme would be impossible due to the debt restructuring process not being complete. However, talks of changing the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) of the IMF have taken centre stage as everyone appears uncertain more..

Sep 14 (DM) The prez election campaign is in full swing. Many of the contestants are virtually unknown. For several years, the main candidates were able to milk a particular milch cow -the ethnic war- to gain public sympathy. This time around, voters have shown their disinterest in these political diversions. A case in point is that of a rather loud-mouthed presidential candidate who carried his shrapnel-riddled car to a particular electorate to boast of his exploits during the civil war. more..

Sep 14 (FT) Of all the extra-parliamentary convulsions that have happened all too regularly in this country since independence, the mass protest movement which occurred two years ago, commonly referred to as the Aragalaya (struggle), is certainly unique. Aragalaya was primarily against a popularly elected Prez, who was relatively new in office then. That fact alone is not exceptional in this troubled country, in our recent history there have been several large scale uprisings against elected more..

Sep 14 (Island) Cabinet of Ministers is playing Santa these days in a bid to shore up Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s chances in the ongoing presidential race. Its latest gimmick is the announcement of substantial PAYE tax reductions, which are to take effect from April 2025. The Cabinet has said the proposal to grant tax relief has the blessings of the IMF, which, we thought, was against tax cuts. The Cabinet, headed by Prez Wickremesinghe, is in overdrive to announce more..

Sep 14 (TM) With Prez Election on the horizon, understanding the perspectives of the country’s younger generation becomes crucial for shaping a fairer and more progressive society, since considering the views of those who will be most impacted by future policies is essential. The Sunday Morning spoke to several youth to gain insights into what they believe should be the priorities for the incoming prez, irrespective of who comes more..

Sep 14 (CT) Decisions by the Cabinet on a host of issues, covering upcountry uplift to fisheries, internet connectivity up in the sky on failed SriLankan flights – the way the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt is going about it, in the fast-closing run-up to the Prez poll on 21 Sept calls for questions and suggestions. EC, which is no longer a govt dept but is a constitutional entity with an independent existence, should exercise its hidden powers, where none seemingly exists otherwise. more..

Sep 14 (GV) As Sri Lankans head to the polls, most voters want the govt to increase spending on health and education according to the latest findings from the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS). Since September 2022, as the economic crisis forced the govt to rethink budget priorities, SLOTS has regularly asked survey respondents to identify their top two priorities for increasing govt spending and their top two priorities for cutting govt spending. During 2024, the top priorities more..