Cement price reduced

Local cement manufacturing companies have decided to announce Rs. 2,300 as their maximum retail price of a 50 kg bag of cement from today, Trade, Commerce and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando said.

SLC name unchanged squad for T20I series against New Zealand Women

Sri Lanka Cricket has retained the same women’s squad that beat New Zealand Women in the ODI series earlier this week, for the three match T20I series.

Netherlands to return 478 looted art pieces to Sri Lanka and Indonesia

The Netherlands is set to return 478 cultural objects to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, State Secretary for Culture Gunay Uslu announced on Thursday.

Existing laws sufficient enough to take action against economic criminals: AKD

While reiterating that existing laws are sufficient enough to take action against criminals involved in economic crimes, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today that the economic criminals are not brought to book due to bad political culture that prevails in the country, and not due to flaws in the law.

Laugfs Gas to reduce prices tonight

With the recent decision by Litro Gas to reduce the price of a 12.5 kg cylinder of domestic LP gas, Laugfs Gas too said today that they have lowered their prices as well.

Threads: Ten million join Meta’s Twitter rival, Zuckerberg says

Ten million users signed up for Meta’s newly launched Threads app in its first seven hours, the company’s chief Mark Zuckerberg says.

Thai envoy assures no decision to reclaim any elephant gifted to SL

Thai Ambassador in Sri Lanka Poj Harnpol stressed that the Thai government has not taken any decisions regarding Thai Raja, Kandula Raja or any other elephant gifted to Sri Lanka, although diverse views in this regard appear in social media.

Malwana mansion a State property now: Wijeyadasa

The controversial Malwana mansion is a property of the State now and it was set on fire during the Aragalaya time without knowing that it is a State property, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said today.

Nepal urges introduction of flights to Lumbini

Former Nepal Prime Minister and CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal said Buddhist countries should introduce flights to Lumbini International Airport to facilitate pilgrims visiting Buddhist places of worship.

Tamim Iqbal announces shock retirement ahead of CWC23

Tamim Iqbal is one of the best openers to have come out of Bangladesh, having scored 5083 runs in Tests and 8313 runs in ODIs.

Clash between two Indian nationals leaves one dead at One Galle Face

An Indian national was stabbed to death by another Indian national inside an outlet at the One Galle Face shopping mall in Colombo last night.

Sajith wants gazette issued declaring Sri Lanka Leopard Day as national day

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa today requested the government to issue a gazette notification declaring Sri Lanka Leopard Day which falls on August 1 as a National Leopard Day.

Uproar in Parliament over appointment of select committee to look into SL’s insolvency

A verbal battle broke out in Parliament over the announcement by the Speaker on the appointment of a Select Committee chaired by SLPP MP Sagara Kariyawasam to look into the insolvency of Sri Lanka, with the Opposition claiming the chairmanship of the committee and the ruling party thinking otherwise.

Fitch Downgrades Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency IDR to ’C

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ’C’ from ’CC’. The issue ratings on local-currency bonds have also been downgraded to ’C’ from ’CC’.

Over 14,000 power breakdowns reported due to bad weather: Kanchana

More than 14,000 power breakdowns were reported yesterday and today due to the adverse weather conditions where more than 50,000 connections have been disconnected due to the breakdowns, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said today.

Spend money on developing school cricket not on officials for overseas travels, Sports Minister tells SLC

Claiming that he would no longer approve overseas travel for Sri Lanka Cricket officials, Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said that he has requested SLC to spend more on developing school cricket.

Medical specialists holding end posts should retire at 60: GMOA

In the backdrop of the undertaking by the Appeal Court regarding the retirement age of medical specialists, the Government Medical Officers’ Association has written to the Secretary to the Ministry of Health requesting him to explore a mechanism to serve justice to junior specialists by allowing specialists holding end posts to retire after a certain age limit.

Natasha’s statement not hate speech under ICCPR Act: Colombo HC

In an order delivered by Colombo High Court on Wednesday (5) observed that the alleged statement said to have been made by Stand-up comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya does not on the face of it (ex-facie) comes under section 3(1) of ICCPR for advocating national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to hostility or violence.

Attempt to undermine undertaking by Health Sec

A fresh attempt is underway by certain health ministry officials with the blessings of high office bearers of a powerful trade union to undermine the undertaking given by the Health Ministry Secretary to the Court of Appeal on the retirement of medical specialists, two medical specialists alleged on behalf of the 176 petitioners.

CB slashes policy interest rates by 2%

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank this morning announced a 200-basis point reduction in policy rates after slashing 250 basis points at the previous monetary policy review in June.

RTI Commission reprimands Parliament officials for giving false information

The Right to Information Commission (RTI) yesterday reprimanded officials representing the Parliament for its wavering stance on the possession of Presidential Commission Report of the Easter Sunday Attack and warned that furnishing false information to the former is a punishable offence by law.

All schools in Nuwara Eliya closed for two days due to bad weather

Due to the prevalent adverse weather conditions in the Nuwara Eliya district, the Zonal Education Department of the district has decided to close all schools in the district till tomorrow.

Three Cassowaries birds to Dehiwala Zoo from Thailand

Three ’Double Wattled Cassowaries’, a species of flightless birds, were received at the Bandranaike International Airport (BIA) under an animal exchange programme from Thailand last night.

SL seeks innocent passage via Indian territorial waters to enter Arabian Sea

Sri Lanka will seek fresh diplomatic engagements with India to secure what is termed ‘an innocent passage’ through its territorial waters for Sri Lankan fishermen to enter the Arabian Sea for multi-day fisheries, a minister said.

Power sector finally seeing some stability: Kanchana

While businesses and the public are still recovering from the shocks of high electricity tariffs, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera pointed out that stability is finally creeping back into the electricity sector of Sri Lanka.

Economist calls for calming fears over bank deposits during DDO

Amid the growing concerns among bank deposit holders regarding the potential negative consequences during the progress of the Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) initiative, senior economist and Verité Research Executive Director Dr. Nishan de Mel said such fears appear to be unwarranted.

T-bill yields plummet across maturities post DDO

As expected, the yields at the Treasury bill auction yesterday plummeted, following the successful passage of the Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) plan through Parliament, last weekend.

Those vocal about ’Muthu Raja’ hold their tongue on depleting culture: Thera

There are people to raise their voices over sending ‘Muthu Raja’ or ‘Sak Surin’ to other country, but no one to raise their voices for the protection of the culture of the country, Anu Nayaka Thera of the Asgiri Chapter Venerable Anamaduwe Dhammadassi Thera said.

Maharoof steps down from Minister’s cricket Technical Consultative Committee

Former national cricketer Farveez Maharoof has stepped down from his role in the cricket Technical Consultative Committee to Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe.

Belgian Govt. to provide European technology to develop SL’s ports

The Belgium Government expressed consent to provide modern European technology required to develop Sri Lanka’s ports.