Russian, and a Sri Lankan dead in tragic accident in Galle

Masks will be mandatory to celebrate the New Year in pubs, restaurants & bars. Masks have been made mandatory inside movie theatres, schools & colleges.

COLOMBO (News 1st) –  Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando said that a new mobile application will be introduced for the safety of tourists coming to Sri Lanka while promoting the tourism industry.The Minister stated the above at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Tourism and Lands held recently (30) at the Parliament.The Minister said he hopes to use this mobile application in January.The Minister further explained that through this application, tourists can be allowed to check their location, and if they get lost or need to take some safety measures, they can access the app for instructions.The Minister also said that for the safety of tourists, a tourist police team will be stationed at every beach with tourist attractions.Harin Fernando also mentioned that it is planned to bring 1.5 million tourists to Sri Lanka, especially in the year 2023.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka noted that the speculation that expatriate Sri Lankans' remittances to the country are taxed and forcibly converted into Sri Lankan Rupees is completely unfounded.In a statement, it added that there are no taxes on remittances, and expatriate Sri Lankans are free to hold such remittances in foreign currency form in their bank accounts.They can also convert such remittances into Sri Lankan rupees at their discretion, said the Central Bank.It added that expatriate Sri Lankans can continue to enjoy the current incentives without any charge whatsoever.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police discovered seven packets of narcotic pills in a canteen at a school in Gampaha.38 narcotic pills were discovered on the school premises which is located in the Malwathuhiripitiya area in Gampaha.Police arrested a woman over the discovery of the narcotic pills, and said investigations were underway.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has approved power cuts of 2 hours and 20 minutes on 05th December as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1-hour during daytime 1-hour 20-minutes during the night

Covid-19 update: The death toll has climbed to 5,30,6278 with one fatality being reported from Odisha, data updated at 8 am stated. India has logged 226 new Covid infections in a day taking the tally of cases to 4.46 crore while active caseload has declined by 68 to reach 4,529, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

Colombo (News 1st) – There is a rapid increase in the rate of Colorectal Cancer among both men and women across the country, the Sri Lanka College of Oncologists raised the alarm on Saturday (Dec. 03). "In Sri Lanka, the number of Cancer cases detected per year is increasing.

Health experts are investigating cases of Strep A infection after the deaths of six young children and a rise in cases.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters Next on Friday (2) that changes to the G20 Common Framework on debt restructuring were needed to speed up debt treatments, freeze debt service payments once a country requested help, and open the process to middle-income countries like Sri Lanka."We are concerned that there is a risk for confidence in debt resolution to be eroded at a time when the level of debt is very high," Georgieva said."We don't see at this point … a risk of a systemic debt crisis," she said, adding that countries in debt distress were not large enough to trigger a crisis that would threaten financial stability.Source: Reuters

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's State Ministry of Higher Education says the cut-off marks for university entrance based on the results of the recent A/L examination will be released today (2). The Ministry further said that it has planned to enrol 44,000 students in the universities this year based on the cut-off marks.Over 85,000 students applied for admission to state universities this year.The selected students are scheduled to start their academic activities in each university in January 2023.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Chairman of Sri Lanka Thriposha Ltd Deepthi Kularatne says Thriposha production resumed after suitable stocks of maize were made available.Nearly, 60,000 triposha packets are being produced by the company daily and are being distributed across the country.He further said that the production of triphosha products for mothers will continue.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka's Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CC', from 'CCC', and has affirmed the Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at 'RD' (Restricted Default). Fitch typically does not assign Outlooks to ratings of 'CCC+' or below.Fitch has also removed the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR from Under Criteria Observation, on which it was placed on 14 July 2022, following the publication of the updated Sovereign Rating Criteria.A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary.KEY RATING DRIVERS:Challenging Domestic Financing Outlook: Sri Lanka continues to service its local-currency debt, but the downgrade of the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR reflects our view that a local-currency debt default is probable, in view of an untenably high domestic interest payment/revenue ratio, high interest costs, tight domestic financing conditions and rising local-currency debt/GDP in the context of high domestic fiscal financing requirements, which authorities forecast at about 8% of GDP in 2022.According to authorities, domestic interest payments in 8M22 were LKR718.8 billion, taking the domestic interest/revenue ratio to an estimated 56% in 8M22; the highest among sovereigns rated 'CCC+' and below.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said recently (29) that due to the fuel crisis, steps will be taken to introduce electric motor boats for fishermen from next year.The Minister mentioned this at the meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on fisheries in Parliament.The minister pointed out that it is expected to introduce electric motor boats that can travel 100 kilometres using batteries and the cost is only 86 rupees per day to fishermen engaged in small-scale fishing.The Minister also mentioned that attention has also been paid to providing electricity generation facilities through solar panels and wind turbines for boats using kerosene and diesel.State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha, mentioned that a special mobile service is being implemented successfully by the ministry to solve the problems faced by the fishermen.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's President, Prime Minister, Speaker and other public representatives stood in unity with the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus for Global Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on Thursday (1).A wristband given to Parliamentarians with the message “Let’s Unite to end Gender Based Violence” as a sign of support.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that a bill on gender equality and women's empowerment will be submitted to Parliament soon and he also instructed the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus to prepare the bill. The President emphasized that women's representation should be increased not only in the Parliament but also in other sectors and the public sector as well as the private sector should focus their attention in this regard. The President pointed out that the representation of women in the First Council of Sri Lanka was 2% and 91 years after universal suffrage, the representation of women in the current parliament is only 5.3%. President Ranil Wickremesinghe made these observations by joining the Committee Stage Debate on the budget proposal for the financial year 2023 in parliament on Thursday (01). Statement issued by the President's Media Division:“I expect to speak especially on the Ministry under me. We thank the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus for commencing a 16-day campaign against Gender-Based Violence (GBV). It was in 1931 that Sri Lankans got the universal franchise.

COLOMBO (News 1st)- Sri Lanka's Public Security Secretary S. Hettiarachchi expects to deploy the Police Special Task Force to crack down on drugs and underworld criminal activity."Prisons are reaching maximum capacity because of the rising number of drug users.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Cabinet approved a hike in electricity tariffs under two steps in January and June 2023.A statement from Sri Lanka Parliament said that although the electricity tariff has been increased in the past, it is not sufficient to cover the loss of the electricity board and thus, the request to increase the electricity bill has received cabinet approval. This was disclosed at the Sub Committee on Identifying the Short & Medium-Term Programmes related to Economic Stabilization of the National Council held on Wednesday (29).Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved increasing the electricity tariffs under two steps in January and June 2023.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police arrested three people from Silvan Lane in Panadura over a shooting incident on Wednesday (30) night.News 1st correspondents said that among the arrested was an attorney.According to Sri Lanka Police, the attorney and two others had visited a house in Panadura on Wednesday (30) night and an argument had broken out over a monetary transaction.As the argument had escalated, the attorney had taken out his licensed pistol and fired into the air.Sri Lanka Police said that the pistol, and the vehicle owned by the attorney, were taken into custody.NO one was injured in the shooting.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka says that there will be daily outages during the festive season starting today (1).The Chairman of the PUCSL Janaka Ratnayake says the power crisis is ongoing due to issues in generating hydropower and purchasing coal.He adds power cuts will have to be imposed until the issues are resolved.However, PUCSL approved power cuts of 2 hours and 20 minutes on 1st & 2nd December as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1-hour during daytime 1-hour 20-minutes during the night

Colombo (News 1st) – Sri Lanka roared back to square the ODI series with Afghanistan in Pallekelle on Wednesday (30th) by chasing down an imposing target of 313. The hosts won by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare after a record breaking knock of 162 by Afghan opener Ibrahim Zadran.Sri Lanka started the run chase briskly with Kusal Mendis (67) and Pathum Nissanka (35) putting on a 101-run opening stand.

Colombo (News 1st) – Sri Lanka’s babies are starving! A comprehensive report by the Family Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health shows alarming levels of malnutrition among children under 5 years, nationwide, in October 2022. Following the assessment, it was reported that a staggering 42.9% of children under 5 years are having some form of malnutrition problem which includes growth faltering, underweight, wasting, and stunting. This alarming trend is seen in all age categories – infants, 1-2 years, 2-5 years – and in all three sectors – urban, rural and estates.The highest percentage of children under 5 years with any kind of malnutrion problem was reported from the Ampara district where 59.4% or 3 in 5 children are suffering from malnutrition. A total of 1 million, 363 thousand, 7 hundred and 47 children were weighed and measured in all of Sri Lanka’s districts in the month of October. Nationwide, the percentage of Underweight Children under 5 years increased to a staggering 15.3% from 12.2% last year. Children with Wasting increased to 10.1% from 8.2%. Children with Stunting increased to 9.2% from 7.4%. The percentage of children with Severe Wasting is a shocking 1.4%.The report notes that “Sri Lanka, at present is enduring an economic, energy and political crisis resulting in many families desperately needing assistance.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has announced a special power management update for tourism zones in Sri Lanka for December.In a series of Tweets, Minister Wijesekera said the Southern Province and Ella Tourism zones will be exempted from the 1 hour 20 minutes power cut during the night from the 1st of December.The power cuts of 1 hour imposed during the day and 1 hour 20 minutes at night enforced islandwide will continue until the 15th of December.He tweeted, "With the scheduled addition of Unit 3 of the Norochcholai Power Plant to the National Grid on the 15th of December, all tourism zones identified by the Ministry of Tourism will be exempted from night time power cuts."This will also result in night time power cuts enforced islandwide being reduced to 1 hour. He said, however, there will be no power cuts during Christmas and New Year.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A man and a woman were brutally stabbed with a sharp weapon at the Wewala Junction in Hikkaduwa on Wednesday (30) morning.Sri Lanka Police said that the man succumbed to his injuries upon admission to the hospital. The woman is currently being treated for stab wounds.Investigations are underway, said Sri Lanka Police.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A group of officials from the Criminal Investigation Department and the Foreign Employment Bureau have been deployed to the United Arab Emirates.The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment said steps are being taken to repatriate 77 people residing in the UAE and Oman on tourist visas.The Bureau said an internal investigation was also launched regarding former Secretary to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman E. Kushan, who is facing charges over sexual harassment of a woman in Oman.He was remanded till the 13th of December 2022 after he was arrested by the CID on Tuesday.An internal investigation was launched against E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Five suspects have been arrested with heroin and an overseas-manufactured live hand grenade, in their possession.This operation was carried out by the Police Special Task Force in the Ragama area.Sri Lanka Police said that 32.720g of heroin, a passport, 05 mobile phones, a van and a motorcycle were also seized.The suspects, who are between ages 20 and 40, have been handed over to the Colombo Crime Division.The Police further said, after reporting facts to the Wattala Magistrate's Court, they obtained a seven-day detention order and will conduct further investigations.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Today’s exchange rates from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka:USD Buy 361.2379 Sell 371.7170GBP Buy 430.4286 Sell 447.3859EUR Buy 371.6659 Sell 386.9802JPY Buy 2.5840 Sell 2.6917AUD Buy 239.1567 Sell 250.2936

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The provision of food aid to 66,000 families in Sri Lanka has commenced. Chairman of the Presidential Committee on National Food Security Dr Suren Batagoda said that Rs.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The train schedule will be revised from the 5th of December, in stages.The General Manager of Railways Gamini Seneviratne says that the Kelani Valley railway line's schedule will be revised from the 5th of next month. He further said that the changes of other routes will be informed in due course as well. At the same time, he says that the train operations will have a change of 5 to 10 minutes.Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Railway Department said that due to the shortage of employees, there are obstacles to the continuation of the railway service.He further said that NO action has been taken so far to fill the existing 8000-employee vacancies. Sri Lanka Railways said that it has sought permission from the Public Services Commission to meet the staff requirements, however, no permission has been granted yet.Due to this matter, it has become a problem to summon retired personnel back to work.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's housing minister Prasanna Ranatunga told Parliament that 76 MPs who lost their houses and property to arson following the unrest that broke out since May have been given temporary housing at the Viyathpura Housing Scheme in Kalalgoda.He told Parliament that these houses were given for a period of one year, with a monthly rental charged from the occupant MP. "Not a single MP was given a house free of charge," he told the house in response to a claim made by an opposition lawmaker.The Minister said the complex comprises 106 houses for MPs, and 76 of them have been given on rent to MPs, and if any other MP has a requirement a vacant house can be provided on rent.He also said that these houses can be purchased by MPs as well to be used as their permanent residences.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) approved power cuts of 2-hours and 20-minutes on 30th November as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1-hour during daytime 1-hour 20-minutes during the night

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Department of Meteorology says that few showers will occur in Northern and Eastern provinces.Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Sabaragamuwa province and Galle and Matara districts during the afternoon or night.Mainly fair weather will prevail elsewhere in the country.The Misty condition can be expected in Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces and Galle and Matara districts during the morning.Condition of Rain:Showers may occur at a few places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Matara via Hambanthota during the evening or night.Winds:Winds will be north-easterly or variable in direction and speed will be (20-30) kmph. State of Sea:The sea areas around the island will be slight. 

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The former 3rd Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Five Indian poaching trawlers were held in northern waters during a special operation conducted by the Navy and Coast Guard.Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Coast Guard conducted a special operation in northern waters to chase away Indian poaching trawlers from Sri Lanka’s waters yesterday (28). The operation led to the seizure of 05 Indian trawlers with 24 Indian fishermen, poaching in the island’s waters off the Kovilan Lighthouse, Kareinagar, Jaffna.Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard remain ever alert to foil illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers in Sri Lanka’s waters and regularly conduct patrols and operations to prevent such endeavours.As an extension of these efforts, the Northern Naval Command mounted a special operation yesterday (28), by deploying Craft of the 04th Fast Attack Flotilla and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard attached to the Northern Naval Command, to chase away a cluster of Indian poaching trawlers in Sri Lanka’s waters, off the Kovilan Lighthouse, Kareinagar, Jaffna. The operation led to the seizure of 05 Indian poaching trawlers continued to remain in the island’s waters, with 24 Indian fishers and their fishing gear.The seized trawlers together with 24 Indian fishermen were brought to the Kankesanthurai Harbour and they will be handed over to the Mailadi Fisheries Inspector for onward legal proceedings.In the recent apprehension, the Navy has seized 35 Indian poaching trawlers and 252 Indian fishermen during operations conducted thus far in the year 2022 and handed them over to the authorities for onward legal action.Illegal fishing practices of foreign fishermen in Sri Lanka’s waters deal a blow to the livelihood of local fishermen as well as the marine ecosystem's

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Former 3rd Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Minister granted approval to the recommendations proposed by the committee appointed to explore restructuring the CEB.The Electricity Reforms Bill will be drafted within a month to begin the unbundling process of the Ceylon Electricity Board, said Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Super luxury cruise ‘Mein Schiff 5’ reached the Port of Colombo on Tuesday (29) morning, and will head to Hambantota on Wednesday (30).Sri Lanka'a Harbour Master Nirmal Silva told News 1st that the cruise ship is carrying 2014 passengers and 922 crew.Hapag Lloyd Lanka, a subsidiary of the Aitken Spence Group, are the agents for TUI cruises. Mein Schiff 5 is owned by the German operator TUI cruises.Mein Schiff 5 has a capacity of 2,500 guests and was built in 2016.

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COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police said that eight suspects have been arrested with drugs and narcotic pills at Weligama beach.This is based on information that a party organized via facebook was taking place on the Weligama beach.The suspects are residents of Weligama, Ranala, Tissamaharama, Kananke, Telijjawila, Syawala and Beliatta areas.The relevant suspects were produced to the Matara Magistrate and were later on released on bail.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Minister of Transport Bandula Gunawardena said that operations between Mahawa and Jaffna will be suspended for five months from 2023.He said the operations between those two train stations will be suspended from 15th January 2023.He told Parliament that renovations along the trains were the cause for this decision.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The 10.6 million liters of diesel donation by China will be provided free of charge, said the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka.Fuel will be given free to  232,749 farmers for harvesting 342,266 hectares paddy fields across Sri Lanka in Maha season 2022/23 (20L/hectare)In addition, the 3,796 fishing vessels below 40 feet in Sri Lanka (1,000L/vessel) will also be given free diesel courtesy from China.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The court of appeal granted permission to examine the writ application filed seeking a ruling that State Minister Diana Gamage is unfit to become a Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament and that she should be prevented from serving as an MP.The writ application was filed by civil activist Osanda Lakmal Anil Herath, and it was called up in the presence of Justices Sobitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola.State Minister Diana Gamage, the Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, and the Chairman of the National Election Commission among 15 others were named as respondents in the case.The Court of Appeal ordered for notice to be served on the respondents to make their submissions with regard to the matter.The exmination of the petition will commence on the 12th of December 2022, ordered the Court of Appeal.The Controller General of Immigration and Emigration was also ordered by the Court of Appeal to submit all documents related to the citizenship of Diana Gamage to the court.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Official Residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh recently.Minister Sabry and Prime Minister Hasina highlighted the long-standing friendship and cooperation between the two countries, focusing on enhancing people-to-people contact using air and sea connectivity. The Prime Minister encouraged acquiring more traction for Bangladesh vessels through the Port of Colombo and invited further investments from Sri Lanka. Minister Sabry emphasized the importance of tourism promotion and invited Bangladesh tourists and investors to explore Sri Lanka.Minister Ali Sabry is in Dhaka to attend meetings as the Vice-Chair of IORA, at the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Ministers.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) approved power cuts of 2 hours and 20 minutes on 28th & 29th November as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1-hour during daytime 1-hour 20-minutes during the night

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Department of Meteorology says that several spells of light showers will occur in the Northern province.Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in Uva and Southern provinces, and showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, and Eastern provinces during the afternoon or night.The Misty condition can be expected in Sabaragamuwa, Central provinces, and Galle and Matara districts during the morning.Condition of Rain:Several spells of light showers may occur in the sea areas off the coast extending from Mannar to Kankasanturai.Winds:Winds will be from a north-easterly or variable direction and the speed will be (20-30) kmph.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Today’s exchange rates from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka:USD Buy 360.2922 Sell 371.2929GBP Buy 434.6091 Sell 451.3888EUR Buy 373.0369 Sell 388.6538JPY Buy 2.5825 Sell 2.6902AUD Buy 242.0396 Sell 253.3277

Colombo (News 1st) – The 2022 FIFA World Cup surprises keep coming as Morocco beat the world's second best side, Belgium 2-0. Thanks to late goals by Abdelhamid Sabiri and Zakaria Aboukhlal, Morocco pulled off just its third-ever win at a World Cup. Belgium had 10 shots, but they only had three on target.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The National STD/AIDS Control Programme says that a system has been set up to schedule HIV tests online. Specialist Doctor Nimali Jayasuriya says that this online method can be used instead of going to clinics. Accordingly she further sais that bookings for HIV tests can be made at the website www.know4sure.lk News 1st is now on Whatsapp, Viber, LinkedIN and Telegram. Don't miss out on all the latest developments in Sri Lanka and overseas.

It’s a damning statistic.