Mar 10 (Island) Commemorating International Women’s Day 2025, the UNDP in Sri Lanka brought together over 200 stakeholders from across the justice sector, under the theme Progressing from Representation to Transformative Gender Empowerment. The event highlighted the urgent need to move beyond symbolic inclusion and drive meaningful, systemic changes in policies, institutions, and societal norms. The event was attended by Ayesha Jinasena, PC, more..

Mar 10 (EN) Sri Lanka will distribute 400,000 coconut saplings among 200,000 families to boost family-based coconut production, Chairman of the Coconut Cultivation Board Sunimal Jayakody said. “We are planning to offer 2 plants for each family for free,” Sunimal Jayakody said. This initiative was put in place to boost coconut production. Families can request plants under the project, Jayakody said. SL is also expecting to cultivate coconut in the North to combat the lack of nuts. more..

Mar 10 (DM) Money sent home by Sri Lankans working abroad extended its growth through February, indicating that those who left their home country in droves in the last couple years are now sending the dollars back home and via official banking channels as opposed to the informal money changers which many of them used to use. Sri Lankans sent back US$ 548.1 million in remittances in Feb 2025, up from 476.2 m more..

Mar 10 (AD) More than 26,000 expatriates, including expatriate workers and students, have applied for new passports, according to the Deputy Minister Arun Hemachandra. The applications have been received by SL embassies and high commissions abroad and have been pending for almost two years. He further stated that some individuals are also facing numerous problems due to the expiration of their passports. It has been reported that this issue has caused difficulties for expatriate workers more..

Mar 10 (NW) Postal Trade Unions have decided to engage in a strike action on 18 March 2025. It is reported that the Postal Trade Unions are to engage in a strike action due to the authorities’ failure to address their long-standing issues. They point out that there are a number of issues in the postal service, including issues related to employee recruitment, appointments, promotions, and salary increments. Postal Trade Unions further claimed that even though these issues more..

Mar 10 (Island) Police are planning to equip traffic policemen with body-worn cameras as part of their ongoing efforts to improve law enforcement practices to ensure transparency and accountability. The new scheme was aimed at creating digital records of interactions between traffic officers and road users. Move comes in response to various complaints that some traffic police officers have been accused of wrongdoing. more..

Mar 10 (TM) SL Police took into custody several illegal firearms from across the island last weekend. Based on a tip-off received, a raid was carried out by a team of officers from the Elpitiya Police Station in the Mandakanda area of the Elpitiya Police Division, reports indicate. A suspect was arrested with a revolver-type firearm capable of firing T-56 ammunition and three rounds of T-56 ammunition. The arrested suspect is a 44-year-old resident of the Mandakanda area in Karandeniya. more..

Mar 10 (DM) The prevailing dry weather conditions in Sri Lanka are expected to change temporarily on March 10 and 11, with showers predicted in several areas, particularly in the Eastern and Uva provinces. Speaking to Daily Mirror, Deputy Director of the Meteorology Dept, Meryl Mendis, stated that showers or thundershowers would occur at times in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, and Uva provinces, as well as in the Matale, Nuwara Eliya, and Hambantota districts. more..

Mar 10 (DM) Marking a decade of collaboration, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a member of the World Bank Group – partnered with Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and global partners to ring the opening bell, reaffirming their commitment to advancing women’s economic empowerment and leadership in SL. This annual initiative, aligned with International Women’s Day, champions women’s economic participation to drive sustainable development. more..

Mar 10 (TM) Plans are underway to expand the local food and beverage export industry by establishing the Netherlands as a strategic hub to boost exports to the European Union (EU), the Export Development Board (EDB) reveals. EDB Chairman Mangala Wijesinghe revealed that Sri Lanka’s food and beverage exports achieved a total revenue of $ 478 million in 2024, which amounted to an 11% YoY growth. He noted that this growth highlighted the food and beverage export sector’s resilience more..

Mar 10 (Island) JVP splinter Frontline Socialist Party-led People’s Struggle Alliance (PSA) has called on the NPP govt to table the Batalanda Commission Report in Parliament. Duminda Nagamuwa, National Organizer of the PSA, he said that the NPP govt must immediately submit the Commission of Inquiry’s findings into the establishment and maintenance of unlawful detention centers and torture chambers more..

Mar 10 (FT) Sri Lanka has won the prestigious Green Destinations Bronze Award for Sigiriya at the ITB travel fair in Germany. Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Deputy Minister Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe expressing commendation on the win said it was a testament to Sri Lanka’s unwavering commitment to sustainable tourism. “Recognised globally, Sigiriya is not just a rock but a UNESCO World Heritage Site, celebrated for its rich cultural and archaeological value. more..

Mar 10 (DM) The amendments to Sections 41 and 42 of the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance will be introduced soon ensuring the formal establishment of the Sangha Council, Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today. He said this at the ceremonial awarding of the Sri Sannas Patra to the newly appointed Mahanayaka Thera of the SL Amarapura Maha Nikaya, Most Venerable Karagoda Uyangoda Maithree Moorthi Maha Nayaka Thera at the BMICH. Prez said amendments to more..

Mar 10 (EN) Sri Lanka’s insurance regulator was blocked from implementing a key regulation by trade unions of state-run SL Insurance Corporation for almost a decade with political backing, according to revelations made at a parliamentary panel. Insurance Board of SL had issued regulation asking insurers to separate their life and general businesses in 2011 which had to be completed by 2015. more..

Mar 10 (EN) Sri Lanka’s private credit from commercial banks fell by Rs. 4.6 billion in Jan 2025, after an extraordinary surge in December, official data showed, while credit to the govt continued to expand. Private credit outstanding fell to Rs. 8,151.4 billion in Jan 2025, down from Rs. 8,156.0 billion in December when private credit surged Rs. 193.2 billion amid excess liquidity. The banking system had high levels of excess liquidity in December and the rupee started to weaken. more..

Mar 10 (TM) The Leader of the URF, former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, claimed that a deal between Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake and former Minister Tiran Alles has prevented the arrest of IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, who is temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court. Ranawaka said that the current Govt will not take action against Alles, regardless of the crimes or murders he may allegedly commit. "Why has not Deshabandu been arrested? Tiran Alles is behind him. more..

Mar 11 (TM) With International Women’s Day celebrated last weekend, Sri Lankans were seen organising many programmes, events, conferences and awards for women in many fields. It is heartening to see the outpouring of support and care for women’s issues, yet it seems that the attention and respect given to women is seasonal and largely centred on a few key event days in the corporate and public calendars. There are also issues about women, which seldom get any attention. more..

Mar 11 (DM) The ethnic problem seems to have been forgotten even by the Tamils of Northern and Eastern Provinces. Tamils have apparently been left to themselves. Political disunity seems to have been the order of the day. There was a time when they had a strong bargaining power, the armed struggle of the LTTE that sometimes ran their own administration directly in some areas and indirectly in others, despite depriving the political rights of other Tamil political entities. more..

Mar 11 (SO) Former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s interview with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan on Head to Head became the subject of much discussion this week. The conversation was filled with tense moments, uncomfortable questions from Hasan and curt responses from the former Sri Lankan leader. One of the most striking exchanges occurred when Hasan raised the controversial issue of the Batalanda torture camp. more..

Mar 11 (DM) ADB conducted a valuable workshop on the way forward for Sri Lanka towards an enhanced renewable energy (RE) penetration in its energy mix recently, on January 30, 2025. The workshop was well attended by persons representing the entire cross-section of the energy sector in Sri Lanka. The programme included presentations by ADB and several eminent experts on renewable energy with valuable insights and hands-on experience on the transition from more..

Mar 11 (CT) Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara, announced that steps will be taken to swiftly pass a Bill prohibiting the corporal punishment of children, in response to the statement made by the Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. Minister emphasised the need to specifically ban corporal punishment that harms children. He added that a Bill has already been drafted on this, and that he will take necessary steps for it to be presented to Parliament as soon as possible. more..

Mar 11 (TM) Sri Lanka is home to 28 national parks, designated under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, offering scientific, educational, recreational, and aesthetic experiences for visitors. Parks such as Yala, Wilpattu, Horton Plains, and Udawalawe are among the most frequently visited, while others, like Maduru Oya and Gal Oya, serve critical roles in habitat protection and watershed conservation. more..

Mar 11 (GV) In an oral update session on progress in Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka Maarit Kohonen Sheriff, Director of the Global Operations Division in the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, echoed the call from many in the country for the new govt to follow through consistently on its stated commitment to the safety and freedom of ordinary people throughout the country. “This is an important opportunity in Sri Lanka’s history that must now translate more..

Mar 11 (Island) JVP-led NPP govt engages in smoke and mirrors with the same finesse as a professional illusionist, slipping away from its unfulfilled election promises. It is now making the most of a combative Al Jazeera interview with former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. Everybody is currently talking about the Batalanda Commission report released way back in the late 1990s, and nobody is cursing the govt for soaring prices of essentials, broken promises, etc. more..

Mar 11 (CT) During the recent State ceremony held to present the award to the Chief Sangha Nayaka of Sri Amarapura Nikaya, Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake reiterated the three main challenges facing the country. They are 1) economic development 2) changing the political culture and 3) reforming and purification of the decadent society. He stated that the first two are the govt’s responsibility, the third one requires the support of all in society, especially the Sangha institution. more..

Mar 11 (FT) SL’s popular brands Multilac and Macktiles participated for the first time promoting SL tile and paint products at Saudi Expo BIG5 Construct – 2025 held in Riyadh from 24 to 27 Feb. Ambassador of SL to Saudi Arabia Ameer Ajwad officially inaugurated the SL pavilion of the Multilac and Macktiles at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre. While interacting with the participants, Ambassador Ameer Ajwad appreciated the participation for EXPO 2030 and more..

Mar 11 (Island) Parts of Colombo’s main roads and roads right outside of Colombo are in darkness due to non-functional streetlights, putting drivers and pedestrians at risk at night. “We were travelling from Ambalangoda to Kalutara and only a handful of street lights were functioning,” said one 57-year-old driver. He noted that the visibility was so bad that it took over 4 hours to get to his destination as he was driving with more..

Mar 11 (Island) It was three years ago that the Aragalaya people’s movement in Sri Lanka hit the international headlines. The world watched a celebration of democracy on the streets of Colombo as tens of thousands of people of all ages and communities gathered to demand a change of govt. The Aragalaya showed that people have the power, and agency, to make governments at the time of elections and also break govts on the streets through non-violent mass protest. more..

Mar 11 (DN) SL champion athlete Sumeda Ranasinghe established a new national record in Javelin Throw and has now qualified to represent Sri Lanka at the next World Championships in Japan from Sept 13 to 21. He threw a distance of 85.78 meters to set up a new SL record in the second athletic selection trial held at the Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium yesterday. Sumeda the Sri Lanka Olympian erased the previous National record of 85.45m set by Rumesh Tharanga. more..

Mar 11 (FT) Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) SL in association with Sri Lanka Women’s Bureau organised Liya Shakthi – 2025: Women entrepreneurs’ open market and sales exhibition as pre-event for the celebration of Int'l Women’s Day 2025 on 5 March 2025 at Viharamahadevi Open theatre area. The initiative was inaugurated with the participation of Women and Child Affairs Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Women and Child Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Namal Sudarshana, more..

Mar 11 (ST) The grossly negligent and deceitful conduct of the owner, operator and agent of stricken container vessel X-Press Pearl make them liable to pay damages on the polluter pays principle for the constitutional violation committed against the SL State, Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle told the Supreme Court. Making submissions before a bench comprising CJ Murudu Fernanado, Justices Yasantha Kodagoda, Shiran Gooneratne, Achala Wengappuli and Priyantha Fernanado, more..

Mar 11 (Island) 37 senior police officers have been transferred with immediate effect. They include 28 OICs and five SSPs. Four SSPs have been appointed DIGs. Police transfers have caused concern to the Opposition. PHU leader Udaya Gammanpila asked the govt to explain why it had transferred 37 police officers with an election only a few weeks away. The spokespersons for other Opposition parties, such as SJB & SLPP, more..

Mar 11 (Island) New Zealand has expressed interest in promoting local export crops production by acquiring and managing efficiently large extents of land in SL, which at present are not productive. “A scheme to establish dairy farms in the North and East, which New Zealand helped to draw-up a few years back but was subsequently abandoned, serves to highlight the need to resume such programs, High Commissioner of NZ to SL, David Pine, said at a Pathfinder Foundation forum more..

Mar 11 (FT) The National Savings Bank (NSB) has once again solidified its position as a pillar of financial stability showcasing a year of remarkable resilience and strategic agility, unveiling its audited financial results for the year ended 31 Dec 2024. Against the backdrop of economic uncertainties, NSB reported a remarkable 126% increase in Profit After Tax (PAT), soaring to Rs. 16.29 billion from Rs. 7.22 billion in 2023. This phenomenal growth underscores the strength of more..

Mar 11 (TM) Sri Lanka is currently unable to tax and regulate online casinos because it does not have a dedicated casino regulatory authority, the COPF raised last Thursday. The Committee discussed possible interim measures to tax online gambling businesses until a new law is introduced to establish a proper regulatory framework. “The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) does not have the powers to regulate or legalise online casinos. more..