At least 35 people have been killed in Benin after a fuel depot exploded into flames, sending a black cloud of smoke into the sky, according to officials and witnesses. The fire broke out on Saturday at a warehouse for smuggled fuel in the town of Seme-Podji near the border with Nigeria, where cars

By Sanath Nanayakkare The Global CEO Forum Sri Lanka held at the Galadari Hotel on Thursday showed a clear shift of discussion topics by Sri Lankan business leaders compared to what they were talking about just a year ago. Completely deviating from airing worries about how to run their businesses amid economic turmoil, business leaders […]

by Neville Ladduwahetty In order to assuage the apprehensions of India regarding the intended arrival of the Chinese research vessel Shi Yang 6 to Sri Lanka, an informed source of the National Aquatic Resources Research Agency (NARA) is reported to have said “a team of officials from the NARA would board Shi Yang 6 to […]

Russia has temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect in order to stabilise the domestic market, the government said on Thursday.

and eliminate fossil fuel-based electricity generation by […]

First Executive President JR Jayewardene’s grandson, Pradeep Jayewardene, who recently switched allegiance from SLFP to UNP, says that it is the duty of all to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his quest to steer the nation out of the prevailing crisis. “This is not the time to debate whether President Wickremesinghe has a mandate to […]

A special gazette notification has been issued declaring the supply of electricity and all related services, the supply or distribution of petroleum products and fuel, and health services as essential services.

Monday 18th September, 2023 Some henchmen of the Rajapaksa family, which is responsible for ruining the economy, have taken upon themselves the task of investigating the causes of the country’s bankruptcy! They are all out to absolve their political masters of wrongdoing in a bid to shore up the latter’s chances of winning future elections. […]

By Jayantha Somasundaram When Dr Salvador Allende was elected President of Chile in 1970 at the head of a coalition that included the Socialist and Communist Parties, and with a mandate to nationalise foreign capital, carry out land reform and implement sweeping welfare measures, his government was targeted by Washington and opposed by Chile’s business […]

Why we, the public, need to understand Climate Change (Part 3) by Dr. Ranil Senanayake Another largely unaddressed fact that frames Climate Change is that global Oxygen concentration is falling. According to two graphs, one from the US and the other from Australia, this loss is global. The only process that can add free molecular Oxygen […]

Thursday 14th September, 2023 Everyting is weaponised in politics and war, and not even corpses are spared. A long time before the advent of biological warfare in its present form, Mongolian warrior-ruler, Genghis Khan, used infectious agents as a military weapon. Historical records reveal that he had rotting corpses catapulted into the fortresses his army […]

Plans are currently underway by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to implement a daily automated price revising system for next year, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekra said.

In a determined effort to seek truth and justice following the tragic Easter Sunday bombings of 2019, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken a significant step by appointing a committee, led by a retired Supreme Court judge. This committee’s primary mission is to investigate the serious allegations recently brought to light by Channel 4 in a […]

By Pradeep Prasanna Samarakoon Three tonnes of vegetables had been thrown away by the traders of the Manning Market on Wednesday (06), Deputy Chairman of the market’s traders association H. T. N. Samaratunga told The Island on Thursday (07). The traders of the Manning Market had thrown away eight to ten tonnes of vegetables from […]

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera emphasizes that the maximum profit margin allowed for any fuel supplier is 4% per litre as in the fuel price formula adopted.

The Federation of Information Technology Sri Lanka (FITIS) is all set to host the eagerly awaited API Asia Conference 2023 for the second time, with this year s event scheduled to take place on November 16 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo.

by Jehan Perera The increase in the price of petrol and diesel has been accompanied by the removal of the QR Code quota system for the purchase of fuel.  The elimination of long lines of vehicles, and people, outside of the fuel stations that existed a year ago is one of the signs of normalisation

slams Opposition for not taking up issue by Shamindra Ferdinando Convenor of the Samagi Joint Trade Union Alliance, Ananda Palitha, yesterday (03), said that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had increased prices of all products in spite of earning a monthly profit of Rs. 12 bn at present. Palitha, a former CPC employee, said that […]

Monday 4th September, 2023 Sri Lankans with a predilection for gratuitous violence or wanton brutality no longer have to spend money to watch western gangster movies. Local television news bulletins are full of actual scenes of violence; they are in fact scarier than taut Hollywood thrillers such as Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Sicarios of local gangsters […]

By Dr. Ranil Senanayake Our history has been littered with carpetbaggers seeking to sell some new snake oil to ‘hicks’. They peddle the ideas that traditional values are old fashioned and the concept that ‘the newer/the more, the better’, irrespective of the social repercussions of such action. Sadly, we seem to be heading for a […]