How former CID Chief Shani ended up in Geneva agenda and clampdown on Ranjan's tapes – The Island island.lk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from island.lk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
During a special operation conducted in the northwestern and western waters of the island on Friday (07), the Navy seized 235 kg of Kerala cannabis being smuggled into the country from India.
During a patrol in the seas off Kudiramalei Point in the northwestern seas, the Navy spotted an Indian fishing vessel in Sri Lankan waters across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with seven Indian nationals on board, the Navy said.
Further search of the vessel led to the seizure of over 235 kilos of Kerala cannabis in 118 packages contained in six sacks.
The seized stock of Kerala cannabis, which the navy believes to be smuggled into the country, is estimated to be worth over Rs. 70 million.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
A chance detection of a lorry transporting ethanol, on the Southern Expressway, over the weekend, revealed that an illicit distillery, situated in the Dankotuwa police area, was obtaining supplies from the Lanka Sugar Company Private Limited, Sevanagala.
The demand for ethanol is extremely high since the government banned its import in January 2020.
Ethanol is made by state sugar companies as well as private ones. Alcohol is produced by the fermentation of molasses which is a byproduct of sugar manufacturing process.
DIG (Legal) and attorney-at-law Ajith Rohana said that the police were inquiring into all aspects with an open mind.
By Saman Indrajith
The 2020 Central Bank annual report presented to Parliament last week is a testimony to the fact that the country’s economy is in dire straits, says the JVP.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte yesterday, JVP Politburo member and former MP Sunil Handunnetti alleged that the government was using the funds meant for the development of the country for its projects to cling on to power. “The Central Bank report confirms many warnings we have been issuing in the recent past. The country’s economy is sliding into a recession and there would be a crash soon. The economy recorded a growth of -1.6% during the first quarter of 2020. That was before the onset of the pandemic. The situation worsened in the second quarter. The government is citing the pandemic as the reason for the sharp economic downturn.
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The government has stockpiled millions of PCR kits that are low in sensitivity and they may be incapable of identifying new variants that are spreading in Sri Lanka, President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS,) Ravi Kumudesh says.
Kumudesh said that out of the four variants , three had already spread in the country. However, there was still only one gene sequencing machine in the country to detect them, he said.
“Our inability to identify variants that are entering Sri Lanka has caused many issues. Another problem is that the PCR kits we are using might not be the best to detect new variants.”