Jul 10 (FT) SL’s efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering framework sparked a broader constitutional debate in Parliament yesterday, with Opposition lawmakers warning that provisions in three key financial crime Bills could expand executive and administrative powers beyond what is required under international standards. Bills, which amend the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, and more..

Jul 10 (Island) Recent tragedy at Negombo Prison has forced SL to confront an uncomfortable reality. While public attention has understandably focused on the deaths that occurred, the incident has also exposed something far more fundamental: the appalling conditions under which thousands of prisoners are compelled to live every day. Reports indicate that a prison designed to accommodate about 900 inmates was holding nearly 2,400. Such overcrowding is not merely an administrative inconvenience. more..

Jul 10 (Island) The latest bout of prison violence has brought the appalling conditions of Sri Lanka’s prisons to light once again. Whenever riots erupt in prisons and lives are lost, issues such as prison congestion, squalor, etc., attract the attention of legislators and other policymakers, but hardly any remedial action is taken, and no wonder the status quo remains. Govts only pay lip service to prison reforms, which have become mere political slogans. more..

Jul 10 (SO) Sri Lanka has officially been reclassified from a Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC) to an Upper Middle Income Country (UMIC). Vietnam and the Philippines too received this upgrade, while neighbouring India remains in the LMIC category. For a country that only four years ago was crushed under the ignominy of its first-ever Sovereign Debt Default, the announcement by the World Bank carries an undeniable psychological weight. It is a formal, mathematical declaration more..

Jul 10 (TM) The fatal clashes that recently erupted inside the Negombo Prison have delivered a grim and bloody reminder of a crisis that successive Govts have chosen to ignore for decades. This was not a random breakdown of discipline. It was the detonation of a human pressure cooker, a catastrophe born directly from institutional failure and neglect, and a prison system that has long been stretched past its absolute breaking point. For years, policy makers have treated prison overcrowding more..

Jul 10 (TM) Every year, when the rains arrive, SL seems to enter the same familiar cycle. Drains overflow. Discarded cups, tins, coconut shells and plastic containers collect water. School compounds and construction sites are inspected. Public health inspectors move from house to house. Fogging machines begin to echo through lanes and neighbourhoods. Then come the numbers: dengue cases rising, hospital wards filling, children missing school, parents missing work more..

Jul 10 (ST) The IMF concluded its mission with a press release, before the forthcoming 7th Review of the EFF arrangement in SL. The following quotation summarises its message: “Sustaining reform momentum remains critical to navigating the shock while preserving fiscal and external sustainability and continuing efforts toward building resilience and delivering strong, durable, and inclusive growth.” As per the statement, reforms are on track. Fiscal targets are being met, sometimes exceeded. more..

Jul 10 (GV) Contemporary nation-states face an unprecedented challenge: maintaining social cohesion when ethnic and religious identities assert themselves with renewed vigor. SL, a nation of 22 million where Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity coexist among Sinhalese, Tamil and Moor populations, exemplifies both the promise and peril of diversity. After three decades of civil war, the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019 and the economic collapse of 2022, the nation stands at a crossroads. more..

Jul 10 (CT) Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Levan Dzhagaryan, has been in Sri Lanka since 2021. A career diplomat with decades of service in the Russian Foreign Ministry, he has worked across several regions, including the Middle East and Asia. He was posted as the Ambassador to Iran for 11 years. In SL, he has been a key voice shaping Moscow’s engagement on political, economic, defence, and cultural cooperation, more..

Jul 10 (DM) Two days of deadly violence in the Negombo prison have laid bare the persistent decay in the SL prison system, and by and large, the entire criminal justice apparatus. The violent riots cost at least 27 lives, including 8 prison officers’ and 19 inmates’, and injured over a hundred. The inmates clubbed to death several prison officers before waging running battles with the prison guards and Police Special Task Force commandos. Violence first erupted on Sunday between two prison gangs, more..

Jul 10 (DM) SL’s labour market is undergoing a gradual but significant shift. Generative AI is becoming embedded in everyday work. Unlike earlier rounds of automation, which focused mainly on manual and manufacturing sectors, generative AI now reaches white-collar roles. Professional and clerical positions, once considered stable, are increasingly affected. Generative AI creates new content—text, images, audio, video, or code—based on patterns learned from massive datasets. more..

Jul 9 (AD) Employees’ Trust Fund Board (ETFB) has announced that all employers employing 15 or more employees will henceforth be required to submit Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) contributions and monthly returns exclusively through electronic means. In accordance with the provisions published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2311/39 dated 22 Dec 2022, and in line with the Govt’s current Digital Economy Policy, this requirement will be strictly enforced commencing with ETF contributions relating to July 2026, more..

Jul 9 (AD) Former Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has been ordered by the Colombo High Court to complete the payment of Rs. 10 million in compensation arising from his bribery conviction on or before July 6, 2027. Colombo High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga warned that failure to comply with the Appeal Court order would result in the former minister being sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for violating the appellate court’s directive. more..

Jul 9 (DM) Post-mortem examinations into the deaths of prison officers killed during the recent violence at Negombo Prison have revealed that they were subjected to brutal physical assaults. According to the post-mortem reports, the officers died from severe head injuries caused by blunt force trauma. A 5-member panel of senior Judicial Medical Officers, chaired by Dr. Sujeewa Wickramasinghe, carried out more..

Jul 9 (PMD) President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised that the Govt's objective is to go beyond mere reforms and elevate SL's healthcare service to internationally recognised standards of quality, adding that the Govt is prepared to allocate the necessary funding to achieve this goal. President made these remarks while participating in the pre-Budget discussion on the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, held yesterday afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat. more..

Jul 9 (NW) Minister of Health Nalinda Jayatissa will inaugurate the Mirigama National Kidney Stone Treatment Centre on July 12, marking a major step in addressing one of Sri Lanka’s most common medical conditions. The new centre is expected to ease the burden on the country’s overstretched urology services by serving thousands of patients nationwide and reducing the current waiting list of more than 5,000 individuals awaiting kidney stone removal surgery. more..

Jul 9 (AD) The govt has planned to extend the Central expressway to Gannoruwa in the future, Minister of Transport Bimal Rathnayake said in Parliament today. In response to questions raised by MO Anuradha Jayaratne, Minister said several road development projects have also been planned to improve the road network in Kandy. He further stated that reconstruction work on the Colombo–Kandy Upcountry railway line, which was damaged more..

Jul 9 (Island) A passenger bus plunged into the Talagala stream yesterday morning when a section of the Nuwara Eliya bus terminal collapsed. Bus operators attributed the incident to a delay in repairing a nearby bridge and a retaining wall damaged by Cyclone Ditwah late last year. While there were no casualties, the bus sustained severe damage in the incident. Speaking on the matter, Ramya Gadallage, President of the Nuwara Eliya Private Bus Owners’ Association, accused more..

Jul 9 (NW) The house of underworld figure Thambili Lahiru has been set on fire in the Middeniya area, the Police said. The incident was reported to the Middeniya Police today, who have launched investigations into the arson attack. The Police confirmed that the blaze targeted Thambili Lahiru’s residence while he remains in custody at the Boossa High Security Prison. The Middeniya Police is conducting investigations to determine those responsible for the incident. more..

Jul 9 (NW) Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath says the Govt will soon present a new Foreign Employment Act to Parliament to strengthen the rights and protection of Sri Lankan migrant workers. Speaking in Parliament today (8), the Minister said the legislation will address gaps in the existing legal framework. He added that work is also underway to introduce overseas voting rights and a contributory pension scheme for Sri Lankans working abroad. more..

Jul 9 (DM) Eight Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) attached to the Colombo District, who are actively engaged in dengue control operations, have contracted dengue, the Public Health Inspectors' Association said. President of the Colombo District Branch of the association, Amit Kumara, said several other members of the health staff had also been infected with dengue as the outbreak continues to worsen across the district. He warned that the dengue situation in the Colombo District is more..

Jul 9 (DM) Sri Lanka is planning fresh engagements with the U.S. in a bid to avert new tariffs linked to child or forced labour, with the country’s export authorities seeking to demonstrate that it deals with the possible import of raw materials or intermediary goods tainted with such concerns for export industries, an official. U.S. administration recently proposed imposing additional duties of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 countries, more..

Jul 9 (EN) The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is offering a Free Sale Letter for Pharmaceuticals for SL pharmaceutical manufacturers and exporters to support compliance requirements in international markets. The new service expands the chamber’s Commercial Documents Registration Division (CDRD) portfolio of trade documentation solutions. “By providing reliable documentation support and adapting its services to changing trade needs, Division assists SL businesses in managing more..

Jul 9 (NW) Uni of Colombo has moved several faculties to online and hybrid lectures for one week after a surge in dengue cases among students. VC Professor Indika Karunathilaka said as such, lectures of the faculties of Arts, Law, Management, Education & Science have been moved to online and hybrid lectures. He said the decision was taken as the majority of patients are from the Faculty of Science, with 71 students contracting dengue and five currently receiving hospital treatment. more..

Jul 9 (DM) A network of AI-generated female profiles on Facebook is being used to create fake identities, manipulate users through emotional and sexualised content, and redirect them to adult-chat services, gambling sites, cryptocurrency promotions and other suspicious online platforms, a new study has found. Report, AI profiles of women on Facebook: Identity deception, sexualised engagement, and platform accountability, more..

Jul 9 (Island) Brandix has strengthened critical healthcare services for the people of Mirigama and surrounding areas with the donation of an Electrocardiogram (ECG) machine to the emergency care unit of the Mirigama Base Hospital. Prior to this donation, the lack of an ECG machine had severely constrained operations at the hospital. Patients and local residents were frequently forced to travel great distances and incur high costs to obtain this vital diagnostic test. more..

Jul 9 (NW) Public Security Ministry Secretary Ravi Seneviratne has admitted guilt to one of the charges filed against him in connection with a 2023 accident on Marine Drive, Wellawatte. Appearing before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, Seneviratne pleaded guilty to the charge of failure to prevent an accident. Magistrate Kanchana Silva subsequently imposed a fine of Rs. 2,500. His legal representatives informed the court that their client accepted responsibility more..

Jul 9 (Island) Govt yesterday accused Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa of violating parliamentary Standing Orders and called for stern action to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. The accusation was made after Premadasa, while raising a privilege matter, read out a list of questions from a document in the House, saying they were matters of national importance. Minister Bimal Ratnayake told Parliament that Premadasa, under the guise of raising a privilege matter, had acted in more..

Jul 9 (TM) Though SL’s private sector credit growth remained strong in April – posting a year-on-year growth of 27.0% – 2026 year-end growth is likely to be halved due to the tightened monetary policy, lowered lending activity, subdued demand and tighter domestic policy, First Capital Research projected in its latest fixed income report. “Private sector credit growth remained strong in Apr-26, expanding 27.0%YoY as outstanding more..

Jul 9 (AD) A special technical project to clean the Beira Lake by introducing seawater into the lake is set to be launched as an immediate and short-term solution. SL business tycoon and engineer Nahil Wijesuriya has reportedly agreed to provide full financial support for the project. Meanwhile, long-term plans to ensure the lake's cleanliness and aesthetic appeal are expected to be implemented under this year's govt budget allocations. The initiative will be jointly carried out by more..

Jul 9 (NW) SL-born Professor Nishan Canagarajah, Vice-Chancellor of the Uni of Leicester, has been knighted by King Charles III at an investiture ceremony held at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Professor Canagarajah received the honour after being named in the 2026 King’s New Year Honours in recognition of his outstanding contribution to higher education, particularly his work promoting inclusion. During the ceremony, King Charles formally conferred the knighthood by touching more..

Jul 9 (EN) SL will begin paddy procurement for the 2026 Yala season from July 15, with the Treasury allocating 6 billion rupees and another 10 billion rupees through state banks as Odapana loans. President’s Secretary Dr Nandika Kumanayake has asked officials to clear existing paddy stocks in warehouses, in coordination with Sathosa, to receive the new harvest. Paddy Marketing Board currently holds approximately 120,000 metric tonnes of paddy in its warehouses, according to the PMD more..