57th Army Athletics Championships   by Reemus Fernando   Sprinter Amasha de Silva smashed Olympian Susanthika Jayasinghe’s longstanding Army Athletics Championship 100 metres record and Roshan Dhammika Ranatunga came almost close to breaking his national record in the 110 metres hurdles as they blazed the track on the final day of the Army Athletics Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Friday. Amasha clocked 11.67 seconds to win the women’s 100 metres final ahead of Susanthika’s niece Medhani Jayamanne in the afternoon. She broke Susanthika’s 1994 hand-timed record of 11.6 seconds.…

Read More

The case filed against Chief of the One Country One Law Task Force and Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena Movement Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero for allegedly violating interracial reconciliation via a statement made during a press briefing held on November 30, 2016 is due to be taken up from March 14, 2022, the Colombo High Court ordered three days (24) ago. This was when the case was called in before High Court Judge Adithya Patabendi. Accordingly, summons have been issued to plaintiffs to the…

Read More

New COVID variants By Rathindra Kuruwita Due to the lax testing at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), there is a strong possibility that any new variant of COVID-19 entering the country, College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) President, Ravi Kumudesh told The Island yesterday commenting on the detection of a new coronavirus variant spreading in South Africa. Even a travel ban would be useless unless the country enhances its testing and surveillance capacities, Kumudesh said. Kumudesh said that PCR tests were not conducted on passengers on arrival and that it…

Read More

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be “of concern” and named it Omicron. It had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested an increased reinfection risk, the WHO said. It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel. A number of countries have now decided to ban or restrict travel to and from southern Africa. Travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini will…

Read More

Condemnation: False Accusations Leveled against Agriculture Professionals and Academia, and Destroying the Agriculture Sector in Sri Lanka The sudden change of government policy and priority in converting the Sri Lankan agricultural sector to an organic or green agriculture with the ban imposed on importation of agro-chemicals on 6th May 2021, was questioned by agriculture professionals, academia, farming community and the entire civil society at large. This is because the policy being without a realistic vision and noprofessional touch.  This policy decision to ban the importation…

Read More

Maithripala Sirisena, Nilantha J, two senior AG Department officials among the culprits By Shamindra Ferdinando The Catholic Church yesterday (25) welcomed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s declaration that the government had the required 2/3 majority in Parliament to take action against those who had been named in the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) by introducing a new Act in Parliament. Top spokesperson for the Church Rev Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando told The Island that the Church had repeatedly asked for the full implementation of the recommendations made by the PCoI. Rev. Fernando…

Read More

Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila has proposed a return to a fuel pricing formula, whilst also suggesting a fuel price stabilisation fund would be better suited for the island. The minister said that with the treasury unable to provide funds, a fuel price stabilisation fund should be the way forward, with the fund bearing the brunt of the impact, during the good times as well as bad times. There is a sense of irony in the minister’s suggestion, as the fuel pricing formula was first introduced during late Mangala Samaraweera’s tenure…

Read More

Foreign Minister stresses importance of collaboration at University of Colombo Annual Research Symposium 2021 Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris was the Special Guest at the inauguration of the Annual Research Symposium 2021, at the University of Colombo on November 23. The symposium brings together distinguished academics representing a number of disciplines, and highlights the theme for 2021 – Impartial Research through an Interdisciplinary Approach. The event was also attended by the Acting High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Vinod K. Jacob, notable academics from the Faculty…

Read More

Novelwall Sri Lanka recently developed Xample – a virtual learning environment with powerful learning tools for children striving to achieve top grades at their GCE O/L and A/L examinations. Understanding that a well-rounded and thorough education is paramount to guiding the next generation to a better future, Novelwall launched Xample under the guidance of its founder, Thunku Ousmand. Xample is an exciting initiative that aims to inculcate perseverance among students while nurturing a positive attitude towards challenges. This virtual learning environment provides students with an effective ‘Testing & Revision Tool,’…

Read More

The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 714 today (November 26) as 226 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said. This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 561,059. As many as 528,806 recoveries and 14,258 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the COVID-19 outbreak. More than 17,900 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed. Thank you

Read More

Asia Asset Finance PLC was in a successful drive of raising Rs. 2 billion during the last quarter (q2) 2021/22 while gaining Rs. 1 billion recently from the market through a listed debenture issue, a press release of the company revealed.   This was the second successful Debenture Issue by the company. Both Debenture Issues were oversubscribed reflecting the trust and the confidence placed on the company by the stakeholders Further, the recent Preference share issue too was oversubscribed as a testimony of the investor…

Read More

By Saman Indrajith Former President, and Polonnaruwa District MP Maithripala Sirisena yesterday reminded the government in Parliament that it had a two-thirds majortiy because the SLFP members of the SLPP parliametnary group were with it. Participating in the third reading debate on Budget 2022, MP Sirisena said that there had been many instances in the past where some governments caused their own dowfall by attacking their coaltion partners. “I would like to stress that it is with the 14 SLFP MPs that the government has a two-thirds majority. Responding to…

Read More

The Bill to amend the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act, No. 66 of 1981 has been approved at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Trade. MORE.. Thank you

Read More

The Samagi Vanitha Balawegaya today staged a protest against the insult done to women by Badulla District Parliamentarian of the SLPP Janaka Tissakuttiarachchi during the last budget debate. The protest was held in front of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya head office. Photos by Ajith Seneviratne View full album Thank you

Read More

By Saman Indrajith Former President, and Polonnaruwa District MP Maithripala Sirisena yesterday reminded the government in Parliament that it had a two-thirds majortiy because the SLFP members of the SLPP parliametnary group were with it. Participating in the third reading debate on Budget 2022, MP Sirisena said that there had been many instances in the past where some governments caused their own dowfall by attacking their coaltion partners. “I would like to stress that it is with the 14 SLFP MPs that the government has a two-thirds majority. Responding to…

Read More

The Ministry of Health says 406 more COVID-19 patients in total were discharged from medical care today (November 26) as they have recovered from the virus infection. This brings the total number of recoveries reported in the country to 528,806. Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Sri Lanka has confirmed as many as 560,345 of COVID-19. According to official data, 17,307 virus-infected patients in total are currently receiving treatment. Meanwhile, the death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country stands at 14,232. Thank you

Read More

Sanath Poojitha has retired from the post of Commissioner General of Examinations. It is reported that he has retired from his post with effect from today. LMD Dharmasena has been appointed as the new Commissioner General of Examinations. He is currently the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Education and will assume duties in the new post in the next few days. Thank you

Read More

By Saman Indrajith Former President, and Polonnaruwa District MP Maithripala Sirisena yesterday reminded the government in Parliament that it had a two-thirds majortiy because the SLFP members of the SLPP parliametnary group were with it. Participating in the third reading debate on Budget 2022, MP Sirisena said that there had been many instances in the past where some governments caused their own dowfall by attacking their coaltion partners. “I would like to stress that it is with the 14 SLFP MPs that the government has a two-thirds majority. Responding to…

Read More

Chief Justice has appointed a five-member judge bench of the Supreme Court to hear the Fundamental Rights (FR) petitions filed against the Yugadanavi Power Plant deal. MORE.. Thank you

Read More