By Uditha Devapriya On 7 February 1970, Trinity College, Kandy held its 99th annual Prize Giving. Presided by the then Anglican Bishop of Kurunegala, Lakshman Wickremesinghe, the ceremony featured Martin Wickramasinghe as its Chief Guest. By this point Wickramasinghe had established himself as Sri Lanka’s leading literary figure. A grand old man of 80, he […]

By Sunimalee Madurawala “The shortage of medicines will significantly impact medications for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). If NCD patients don’t receive their regular medication, their condition will worsen,” stated a Provincial Director of Health Services speaking on the implications of the economic crisis on NCDs. Over the last few decades, NCDs have emerged as a critical [...

The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Vietnam, in close coordination with the Embassy of Vietnam in Colombo, Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, was gifted a sacred Sapling of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura to be planted at the Bai Dinh Pagoda […]

Friday 21st April, 2023 Parliament is going to debate the government’s agreement with the IMF, which has approved USD 3 billion for Sri Lanka under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement. The debate is scheduled to take place from 26 to 28 April, we are told. Public finance is the province of Parliament, which should scrutinise the […]

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), H. H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, has offered to assist Sri Lanka in various fields, including the development of the island s energy and tourism sectors.

Economists sharply cut Sri Lanka s growth outlook through this year as curbs on imports and still-limited reserves persist even as the International Monetary Fund releases bailout loans and authorities work toward debt restructuring efforts.

Sri Lanka is expecting to use its full Hajj quota this year after the government lifted a 2022 policy that required pilgrims from the crisis-stricken nation to pay their travel costs in foreign currency.

Aljazeera quoting Pakistan’s Foreign office spokesman, reported that Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting in India next month. The SCO is a regional political and security bloc whose members include Russia, China, India and Pakistan. The foreign ministers meeting will be held on May 4 […]

The police have initiated investigations regarding two women who defrauded money by promising employment opportunities in Qatar.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe joining a discussion held to review the progress of the special budget proposals implemented in the year 2023 by the Ministries of Education and Higher Education, Labor and Foreign Employment on Wednesday (19) said that the education of children cannot be allowed to be taken hostage and if teachers do not make […]

Thursday 20th April, 2023 The government has risen from a long slumber and ordered a probe into a claim Dappula de Livera made, as the Attorney General, in May 2021, that there had been a ‘grand conspiracy’ behind the Easter Sunday carnage (2019). He was summoned to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) following Justice Minister […]

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva did not mince her words about emerging and heightening crisis tendencies in the global economy. She said, among other things recently, that the IMF’s projection of 2.8 percent global growth for 2023 “is not enough to bring opportunities to businesses and people around the world, and most worrisome is the projection […]

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo says that the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, has said it is not aware of any request to import toque macaque monkeys from Sri Lanka and has not received such application from any […]

A four-story parking facility collapsed in New York City s lower Manhattan near Pace University and the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, killing at least one worker and injuring five others who were inside the structure, authorities said.

Horana Police have arrested three including a notorious criminal known by the alias ÂRosewood Watte Sudda, who allegedly stole a mobile phone worth over Rs. 100,000, foreign currency notes and a speaker from inside a van in which a group of youths had come to a musical show in Horana.

By Saman Gunatilake MBBS, MD, FRCP, FCCP, Hon FRACP Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Consultant Neurologist One of the most quoted phrases of Karl Marx, the German philosopher and political theorist, popularly known as the ‘Father of Communism’, is “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce”. This quote […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando The Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly defended its decision to set up a new diplomatic mission in Bucharest, Romania, on the basis it could help Sri Lanka generate revenue through what the Public Diplomacy Division of the Foreign Ministry called, safe and legal labour migration. Priyanga Wickramasinghe, Director, PDD, said so in response […]

…and move to license poaching in northern waters The Sectoral Committee on International Relations should examine the highly contentious proposal to regulate Indian poaching in Sri Lankan waters. Talks are continuing on the setting up of a licensing system to address a long standing problem. The intensity of poaching has only increased since the conclusion […]

MP Kaviratne alleges striking Uni lectures serving private institutions By Shamindra Ferdinando Education Minister Susil Premjayantha has alleged that extremist elements are seeking to exploit the student community by delaying the evaluation of the answer scripts of the 2022 GCE A/L examination. Referring to a State Intelligence report, Minister Premjayantha urged the Federation of University [...

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, has described Sri Lanka as a hub of opportunities for investors, despite its recent crisis.

The Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and the Vocational Training Authority today (April 18) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide vocational training aimed at foreign employment.