More than $1 billion debt owed to India by Sri Lanka will undergo restructuring as part of the International Monetary Fund-led debt restructuring programme for the crisis hit South Asian country, Indian media reported on Thursday.

Hailing the role of New Delhi in Sri Lanka s debt restructuring, Japanese Ambassador to India Hiroshi Suzuki said that India s issuance of financing assurances to the island nation at the time of its economic crisis was instrumental in accelerating the process of its debt restructuring.

Yahapalana Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s plea for Indian funding to develop Elapathagama in the memory of the late Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera remains a mystery. In terms of an agreement signed on 14 July, 2017, India provided Sri Lankan Rs 300 mn to develop Elapathagama in the Anuradhapura district. The late Sobitha Thera, a controversial character, spearheaded […]

Leader of Eksath Janaraja Peramuna and SJB MP Patali Champika Ranawaka has said that according to a report submitted to Parliament by the Finance Ministry, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) had been earning profits during the past six months. Therefore, the recent tariff increases couldn’t be justified, the former Minister said, warning […]

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne says the importation of inferior medicine by way of emergency procurement and non-functioning medical, surgical and other test equipment in hospitals have ruined the public health sector. Addressing the Media at the Office of the Leader of Opposition on Sunday (6Aug2023), Wickramaratne said that this pathetic situation in the health sector […]

Tuesday 8th August, 2023 Former Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) Mahinda Deshapriya, who serves as the Head of the National Committee on Delimitation of the Divisions of Local Government (LG) Bodies, seems to be full of optimism. He is reported to have said he expects either the local government polls or the Provincial Council […]

By Eng. Thushara Dissanayake Water is often undervalued and insufficient attention is paid to its pollution. The water quality degradation is a blooming environmental issue in Sri Lanka. According to World Bank findings, the invisible crisis of water quality degradation is reducing potential

Monday 7th August, 2023 Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha has said the government will take action to fill the vacancies created by the unprecedented migration of university dons. Circumstances may have left it with no alternative but to do so in a bid to mitigate the ever-worsening crisis

By Rathindra Kuruwita Brain drain is the worst manifestation of the country’s economic crisis, Freedom People’s Congress (FPC) member and MP, Prof. G.L Peiris, said on Thursday.Prof. Peiris said that a large number of academics had left state universities. In recent years, the number of students

By Shamindra Ferdinando The Convenor of ‘Samagi Joint Trade Union Alliance’ Ananda Palitha yesterday (06) alleged that the bankrupt country was being exploited to the hilt by the powers that be and external powers. The one-time director of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said that the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government increased diesel and petrol prices on 30th […]

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka  President Wickremesinghe’s diversion is working. There is more chatter in the media and political society about the 13th amendment than there is about the agreements that will alter for the worse the fundamental conditions of our collective existence, namely the land bridge to India. There is much to debate about the 13th amendment but […]

Japan has asked Sri Lanka to secure a debt restructure deal with China before any discussion on reviving the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project scrapped by former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, diplomatic sources said. Foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi made it clear during his brief visit to Colombo last week for talks with President Ranil Wickremesinghe that […]

Joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project four years ago was a “hasty and disastrous” decision. This statement is from the Minister of Defense of Italy. An interview with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto was published on Sunday, in which he said China’s involvement in the project was a “disastrous decision.” He also explained […]

Sri Lanka s inflation rate, which dropped to single digits for the first time in months in July, may still face headwinds from rising water, food and energy prices, analysts say, in a challenge for a crisis-hit country seeking to foster growth.

Friday 4th August, 2023 Never a dull day in Sri Lanka! Hardly a day passes without some controversy, and issues crop up at such a rate that one cannot keep track of them, the latest being what has come to be termed the ‘distortion’ of the national anthem at a sports event. Popular singer, Umara […]

by Dr K. M. Wasantha Bandara This is a humble effort to build up on the article titled, ‘Medical negligence or error’, published in The Island on 18th July. The author of the article, Professor Susirith Mendis, who is a well reputed medical professional and an academic, has drawn our insight into unfortunate events taking […]