Courtesy The Daily Mirror Considering the specialty and importance of the English language, the Education Ministry has decided to teach ‘Spoken English’ in all national schools, starting from grade one from March 30. Addressing an event at the Colombo University yesterday, Minister Susil Premajayantha said necessary updates will be made to bring all school syllabuses […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Finland has been voted the happiest place in the world for the sixth consecutive year while Sri Lanka was ranked 112th, according to the World Happiness Report 2023 released on Monday. Sri Lanka’s position has improved from the 2022 index where it was ranked 127th. In order to uncover the happiest […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Following the Executive Board discussion on Sri Lanka, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that Sri Lanka should stay committed to the multi-pronged disinflation strategy to safeguard the credibility of its inflation targeting regime. Sri Lanka has been facing tremendous economic and social challenges with a severe recession amid high inflation, […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the Extended Fund Facility to Sri Lanka at its board meeting held today, according to State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe.  He further said that President Ranil Wickremesinghe will make a special statement on this tomorrow (21). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Cabinet of Ministers has authorized the Finance Ministry Secretary or the Treasury’s Deputy Secretary to sign the Promissory Notes and other required documents as soon as Sri Lanka receives the IMF-supported Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approval from the IMF Executive Board. The decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting held this evening […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is seeking a 10-year moratorium on its foreign debt, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said on March 20, 2023 on the eve of a desperately needed $2.9 billion IMF bailout. Mr. Wickremesinghe’s office quoted him as saying the widely expected International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue will only give us a breathing space […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Secretary to the Treasury has informed the Board of Directors of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) and Lanka Hospitals PLC that the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval in principle for the divestment of the stakes held by the Treasury Secretary in the two companies.  Accordingly, the Secretary to the Treasury has […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has requested the Attorney General to consider instituting criminal proceedings against three pyramid-type prohibited schemes operating in the country. Accordingly, the CBSL has carried out investigations to ascertain whether the entities Fast 3Cycle International (Pvt) Ltd (F3C), Sport Chain App, Sports Chain ZS Society Sri Lanka […]

Sarath Wijesinghe (President’s Counsel, LLM International Law London UCL, Solicitor in England and Wales former Ambassador to UAE and Israel and former Secretary Bar Association of Sri Lanka, President Ambassador’s Forum) Justice Delayed is Justice denied Justice delays is justice denied is the famous quotation by ‘’Lord William Gladstone’’ said on legal system –  indicating […]

By Dr Tilak S. Fernando Historians will not consider Kurunegala as a particular era during the Sinhala Kingdoms because four to five kings reigned during this era. It is not recognisable to identify as a historical period.  According to ‘Dalada Pujawaliya’ during the Kurunegala era, approximately one hundred per cent of the government’s income from […]

Sufian Siddique Independent researcher and freelance columnist, Dhaka Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a 131.5-kilometre-long India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) from Siliguri in North Bengal to Parbatipur in Banglaesh’s Dinajpur province Saturday (18 March). The pipeline, built with Rs 377 crore drawn from a line of credit offered by India […]

Pathik Hasan Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said the inauguration of “India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline” is a milestone achievement in mutual cooperation for the development of the two friendly neighbours. Sheikh Hasina hoped that Bangladesh and India would jointly celebrate many such successes in the days to come. The pipeline will play a significant role […]

ශාන්ත ජයරත්න ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංවර්ධන පරිපාලන ආයතනයේ හිටපු ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ උපදේශක courtesy Lanka Lead News තිත්ත බෙහෙතක්” සහ වස පානය” කිරීම අතර පැහැදිලි වෙනසක් තිබෙනවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පවතින ආර්ථික අර්බුදයෙන් මිදීමට තිත්ත බෙහෙතක් යැයි සිතා වස පානය නොකළ යුතුයි.” යානිස් වරුෆකිස් (Yanis Varoufakis). යානිස් වරුෆකිස් ග්‍රීසියේ හිටපු මුදල් ඇමැති වරයා. ඔහු IMF සංවිධානය ග්‍රීසියේ කල මානුෂවාදී […]

Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that the Royal College cricket team’s effective captaincy ultimately led to the team’s victory at a time when all of the matches were being lost and that his effort to lift the defeated country to the path of victory is similar to that of the captain of Royal College […]

Courtesy Adaderana More than a million Sri Lankan paddy farmers in all 25 districts will get vital assistance through a shipment of over 36,000 metric tons of fertilizer handed over today by the United States to the Ministry of Agriculture, says the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka. The shipment of Triple Super Phosphate (TSP), […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lankan central bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghe told media on Sunday that the country’s dollar crisis” is over, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to approve a 2.9 billion U.S. dollar bailout package for the country on Monday. He said Sri Lanka will hence has adequate foreign reserves for imports for […]

Shenali D Waduge When Sri Lanka’s top corporates have stashed away some $53billion in overseas accounts, it is because they are cheating the country, they don’t want to invest in Sri Lanka or they are as corrupt as the politicians. Whatever, the reason, their collective silence in not coming forward to bail out Sri Lanka […]

By Raj Gonsalkorale Former Prime Minister of Australia Paul Keating has labelled the AUKUS military alliance and more specifically the recently concluded submarine deal as the worst mistake Australia has done in its history. His national press club address has been widely publicised and does not need repetition here. It is however interesting to discuss […]

Dilrook Kannangara Even a schoolkid who has studied Year 11 Commerce would tell you that the Central Bank must be independent of the government. And that’s how it is around the world. However, Sri Lanka does not follow the rest of the world. Well established norms are questioned, challenged and changed in Sri Lanka to […]

Dr. Shakuntala Bhabani The subregion has immense potential for economic growth and significant untapped economic potential for intra-regional trade. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN)  subregional initiative, which was endorsed way back in 1997 to strengthen the region’s pursuit of trade and economic integration, still has a long way to go. A projection based on […]

Fumiko Yamada China was the mediator of the talks held in Beijing. After four days of talks, two regional rivals in the Middle East, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have agreed to restore diplomatic ties. This significant diplomatic shift is undoubtedly an important event for all countries, especially for the Middle East. Because in the current […]

Fumiko Yamada February 24 marked one year of the Ukraine-Russia war. A year ago, Putin’s 200,000 troops invaded Ukraine with arrogance and arrogance. The roar of the Russian tank fleet, some 35 miles long, died down within a few days. We have seen the devastation of tank fleets and the pursuit of Russian troops in […]

By Abhinav Singh Courtesy The Week Tammy Ben-Haim is the Consul General of Israel to South India, based in Bengaluru. Haim is a highly experienced diplomat with 18 years of experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 25 years in the civil service. Most recently Haim was the Minister for Public Diplomacy in the […]

By Felicity Bradstock courtesy OilPrice Sri Lanka is in the midst of a financial and energy crisis, with high inflation and fuel shortages caused by poor economic management and the Covid-19 pandemic. To manage these issues, the government has introduced a National Fuel Pass to ration fuel, increased taxes and cut energy subsidies, and raised their […]

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS The value of Sri Lanka rupee (Domestic and Foreign Values) is based on the success of policy action relating demand and supply of the rupee for various purposes. People need to understand that demand and supply values of Sri Lanka rupee would be based on several factors and the policy makers should […]

Courtesy Daily Mirror Disputing the grim forecast of Sri Lanka’s exchange rate by Fitch Solutions by the year-end, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe raised concerns on the basis of the forecast while stressing that such long-term predictions on exchange rate are not prudent. Fitch Solution recently maintained its forecast for the rupee to weaken […]

 Insight By Sunil Kumar  March16.2023  ” Political, social and economic issues have suddenly sprung up alarmingly” says a popular and credible Watchdog reporting to the Media  which despite their negative sounding nature needs to be heeded  in  this expected” Era of Progress ” since the woeful troubles of the past due mainly to a wayward, […]

Courtesy The Telegraph Online The governor made the statement while talking about a proposed bill aimed to provide autonomy to the Central Bank without any undue influence from the fiscal authorities or the government Nandalal Weerasinghe. Nandalal Weerasinghe has cited the lack of independence of the apex bank in determining the monetary policy as a […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka’s first-ever free-of-charge, luxury, high-tech-equipped, conference hall and a grand banquet hall are to be declared open at the Devram Vehera temple in Pannipitiya on Monday (20). Temple’s founder Ven. Kolonnawe Siri Sumangala Thera said the conference hall and wedding hall were built for the people to conduct their social […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The  Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has organised a Buddhist tourist train covering 9 places across India and Nepal that impacted Buddha, helping tourists experience his self-disciplined and legendary life, Indian media reported. https://www.irctcbuddhisttrain.com/index To facilitate people to embark on the path of enlightenment, the Indian Railway Catering and […]