Oct 7 (TM) Former MP and member of the JVP politburo, Wasantha Samarasinghe has alleged that former Minister Tiran Alles was involved in coercing deals related to passport and visa schemes. Samarasinghe claimed that Alles’s actions resulted in increased visa fees, with profits being shared between the Govt and a private company. Samarasinghe stated that the investigation has uncovered how the profits were divided and who benefited both directly and indirectly. more..

Oct 7 (EN) Sri Lanka’s China-backed Hambantota International Port said it has seen a 40 percent in roll-on-roll-off vehicle transshipments in the third quarter of 2024, compared to the second. Vehicles handled rose from 125,526 units in the second quarter to 175,583 units in the September quarter. “We experienced an increase in the arrival of high and heavy vehicles from our contracted clients, which has significantly contributed to the port’s revenue,” he said in a statement. more..

Oct 7 (DN) It has been proposed to appoint a female officer as the CID Director, a first in the history of SL Police. Police internal information disclosed that the name of Senior Superintendent Imesha Muthumala, who is currently working as the Deputy Director of CID, has been proposed in this regard. Imesha Muthumala, was among the first three female Assistant Superintendents in the history of SL Police more..

Oct 7 (DM) A female student from a leading international school fell to her death from the observation deck of the Lotus Tower this afternoon, Colombo, police said. Police added that a pair of shoes and a school bag were found on the deck. The Colombo Lotus Tower Management Company (Private) Limited confirmed that, according to CCTV footage, the girl had jumped from the 29th floor of the tower. Police said that according to initial investigations, it is suspected to be suicide. more..

Oct 7 (DM) Model and actress Piyumi Hansamali has been questioned by the Illegal Assets division of police yesterday. It was reported that she was questioned for nine hours with regard to a BMW vehicle which is said to be owned by her. She has been probed following a statement given by a drug trafficker who has been caught for smuggling drugs worth Rs 60 million. A BMW vehicle which is said to be owned by Hansamali was recovered at this suspected drug trafficker's residence more..

Oct 7 (EN) With five weeks to go to SL’s parliamentary election, the island nation’s opposition parties are still in talks on what party symbols to contest under. The UNP and the faction of the SLPP that backed former president Ranil Wickremesinghe at the presidential election have yet to decide whether to contest under the UNP’s elephant or the gas cylinder under which Wickremesinghe had to contest prez poll more..

Oct 7 (AD) Swedish govt focused on developing renewable energy sector of Sri Lanka while increasing educational opportunities and mitigating the visa difficulties for SL students in Sweden. These opinions were expressed in a discussion held between the PM Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and the Swedish Ambassador to SL Mr. Jan Thesleff at the Prime Minister’s Office recently. Here, the Ambassador extended the best wishes of the Swedish Govt on the appointment of more..

Oct 7 (NW) The National Election Commission has announced the political parties that cannot submit nominations as recognized political parties for the upcoming Parliamentary Election. According to a new Gazette issued by the Commission, the political parties cannot contest the election, scheduled for 14 Nov 2024, due to disputes involving the office of party secretary. The political parties that cannot submit nominations as recognized political parties are as follows; more..

Oct 7 (ICC) SL Test stars Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu Mendis are among the ICC shortlists for September’s ICC Player of the Month awards. The list issued today, celebrates the outstanding individual performances that took place across a bumper month of action in int'l cricket. The ICC Men’s Player of the Month candidates include three previous Player of the Month winners aiming to secure their second prize – two SL Test stars, and a multi-format maestro from Australia. more..

Oct 7 (DM) Acting IGP Priyantha Weerasuriya has directed that minor complaints reported to police stations, which have not yet been investigated must be thoroughly investigated and resolved within two weeks. SDIG Nihal Thalduwa said that the Acting IGP has instructed senior officials, including Provincial Senior DIGs, to implement a special programme to ensure this directive is carried out. The spokesman said that it has come to light that a significant number of complaints filed at more..

Oct 7 (DM) Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has not asked for foreign chefs, foreign food and additional security, UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene said today. Mr. Wijewardene said in a special statement that the party believes the comment made by Acting IGP that the withdrawal of Mr. Wickremesinghe’s security was cancelled and that his security has been restored. Following is the statement made by more..

Oct 7 (AD) Dept of Meteorology announces that the Colombo District has received the highest rainfall within the period from 8.30 a.m. on Sunday (6) to 7 a.m. today (7). The amount of rainfall received by Colombo within this period is 162.5mm. Meanwhile, heavy downpours have been reported in Walallavita (112.5mm) and Horana (111.5mm) areas of Kalutara District, Neluwa (109.5mm) in Galle Districts and Kalubovitiyana (84.0mm) in Matara District, as per the Dept of Meteorology. more..

Oct 7 (Island) Pathfinder Foundation on Friday presented the Sinhala translation of Dr. S. Jaishankar’s seminal work, The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World, to the visiting Indian External Affairs Minister during a ceremony in Colombo. The presentation was attended by Milinda Moragoda, Founder of Pathfinder Foundation, Santhosh Jha, High Commissioner of India, Chairman PF, Bernard Goonetilleke, and Consultant (Communications) PF Gamini Godakanda. more..

Oct 7 (CI) Sanath Jayasuriya has been appointed head coach of SL's men's team until the end of the 2026 T20 World Cup. He had been their coach since early July, but had been functioning in an interim capacity. But having now impressed in the role, SLC has given him the full-time job. Under Jayasuriya over the past few months, SL won their first bilateral ODI series against India in 27 years, defeated England away in a Test for more..

Oct 7 (TM) Director of the Planning Division at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and a school teacher have been remanded until 22 Oct following their arrest by the CID over a leak of the Grade 5 Scholarship Exam question paper. 58-year-old NIE Director and the 49-year-old teacher were presented in court after an investigation began on 20 Sept, prompted by allegations of a leaked question paper. Ministry of Education has temporarily suspended the paper marking process for the exam, more..

Oct 7 (NW) Senior DIG Nihal Thalduwa issued a clarification in response to reports that the former President’s security detail had been completely removed. SDIG Thalduwa said that a certain number of security personnel including 50 Special Task Force personnel were assigned to the former prez’s security. Clarifying further Thalduwa said that former presidents are entitled to a special security unit called Ex-PSD. Accordingly, former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the 8th president, more..

Oct 7 (AD) Former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Nilantha Jayawardena has informed the Supreme Court through his Legal Counsel that the arrears of the compensation which was ordered to be payed to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks, have been completely settled. Former SDIG and head of SIS, Nilantha Jayawardana, appeared before the SC this morning in relation to the contempt of court charges filed against him, for failing to complete the payment more..

Oct 7 (NW) Director General of the CIABOC Kanishka D. Wijeratne has given an undertaking to resign from office, after the Supreme Court granted leave to proceed. This was following a Fundamental Rights petition filed in the Supreme Court by Transparency International Sri Lanka, challenging the appointment of Wijeratne as the Director General of CIABOC. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed High Court Judge Wijeratne as CIABOC Chief in April this year. more..

Oct 7 (TM) The court will decide on the enforcement mechanisms if the UGC or universities fail to implement guidelines aimed at eliminating ragging in State universities. The department recently submitted a series of draft guidelines to the Supreme Court aimed at eliminating ragging in State universities. This was presented to a 3-member Supreme Court (SC) bench consisting of Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and Justices more..

Oct 7 (DM) Claiming that permits or licenses to establish wine stores to sell liquor is not an illegal business, former MP Mano Ganesan questioned Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake and PM Harini Amarasuriya on the reason for holding the govt from releasing the list of names and suspending the operations of these unethical wine stores. He posted a message on X, stating that licenses were issued by the Excise Dept by ignoring the legal criteria and in large numbers during the recent past. more..

Oct 7 (Island) Sri Lankans have become a significant part of Romania’s workforce, contributing to the growing trend of foreign workers in the country, said a report by the Schenegan News. It said that by the end of last year, over 211,000 foreign workers were registered in Romania, with a notable influx from South Asia, particularly Nepal, which accounts for nine percent. Italians and Sri Lankans follow closely, each representing seven percent of the total foreign workforce. more..

Oct 7 (EN) Sri Lanka has signed an agreement for a 200 million dollar budget support loan with the World Bank linked to economic reforms in debt management, banking and female empowerment, the Washington-based lender said. This is the second part of the Resilience, Stability, and Economic Turnaround (RESET) Development Policy Operation (DPO). The first part, totaling $500 million, was disbursed in June & Dec 2023. more..

Oct 7 (EN) The IMF, in a report on how to print money to target a single policy rate, has also brought dedollarization politics to fore, though there is no demand from the public to undermine foreign currency deposit accounts. Dedollarization has not been on the agenda of the recent election or any other elections in SL up to now. “The CBSL should introduce SRR for FX liabilities for macroprudential objective as part of a comprehensive framework aimed at dedollarization and promoting its more..

Oct 7 (EN) Foreign inflows into SL’s govt securities saw a slight increase last week, Central Bank data showed, as global investors are taking positions in emerging markets ahead of possible rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserves, dealers said. The foreign holding in SL’s Treasury bills and Treasury bonds increased by around 4.4 billion rupees ($14.9 mln at 1 US dollar = 295 LKR) to 43.8 billion rupees in the week ended on Oct 3, data showed. “It’s mostly to do with global trends,” more..

Oct 7 (FT) The country has spoken loud and clear. We have a new leader, not representing one race or religion but the entire nation. It does not matter whether he was one’s dream leader or not. What does really matter now is his delivery as per the declared desire and design. Let me reflect on leadership in the context of the refreshing revival expected. Let me identify seven leadership challenges for the new SL leader, from a management perspective. more..

Oct 7 (FT) Script writers of the former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe, introduced to electorate as Ranil by himself, seems to have made a mistake by equating the challenge which he had when he assumed presidency in 2022 to that of Grusha, the palace made in Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle. In the drama, Grusha who finds the abandoned baby son of the deposed, and later assassinated, Governor, chooses to rescue him from conspirators having developed an impulsive more..

Oct 7 (PMD) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced that the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks will be expedited, and steps will be taken to ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again in the country. He assured that justice will be delivered to the victims. Prez made these remarks during a discussion held today (6) at St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Negambo, with the families of those killed and injured more..

Oct 7 (TM) Ministry of Public Security stated that the investigations carried out into the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 are continuing based on all the facts including the recent revelations regarding the same. Public Security Ministry Secretary, retired SDIG Ravi Senevirathne said: "The investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks had already commenced, and they are continuing. The recent revelations made regarding the terror attacks are also being looked into." more..

Oct 7 (SO) Greenpeace Southeast Asia, the regional office of the global environmental organisation, Greenpeace, has called on Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake to take steps for SL to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty to safeguard ocean biodiversity, support climate change mitigation and the future of the next generations. Greenpeace South Asia Campaigner in SL, Anita Perera said that India, Bangladesh and Maldives have taken historic steps to ratify the globe ocean treaty and more..

Oct 7 (FT) Former SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva has accused Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the NPP of breaking their pre-election promises regarding the IMF agreement and debt restructuring. He claims that the NPP’s statements before and after the election are contradictory, misleading the public on critical economic policies. Dr. de Silva highlighted the inconsistencies in the NPP’s approach. more..

Oct 7 (TM) The Ministry of Finance says the special import tax on potatoes has been increased by Rs. 10 per kilogram. Meanwhile, the special import tax on a kilogram of big onions has been raised by Rs. 20. Accordingly, the Government has implemented measures to increase the import tax on potatoes from Rs. 50 to Rs. 60, an increase of Rs. 10, and the tax on imported big onions from Rs. 10 to Rs. 30, an increase of Rs. 20. more..

Oct 7 (FT) Govt has appointed new Chairmen for the four key tourism institutions. Buddhika Hewawasam has been appointed as the Chairman of both the SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and SL Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). In addition, Dheera Hettiarachchi has been appointed as the Chairman of the SL Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) and SL Convention Bureau (SLCB). Hewawasam, an aviation and travel industry professional, is also the Manager of more..