Undisclosed money doesn’t mean it is illegal: Cabraal
As the Government’s special tax amnesty on undisclosed income has faced much opposition, including allegations that the measure would throw the door wide open to large scale money laundering, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal says that there has been a misconception regarding what undisclosed funds really mean. “Undisclosed money does not mean that it is illegal. Accordingly, the Governor noted that through this tax amnesty, the Government has given such persons the opportunity to “come clean”. “By paying a tax of one percent, people with undisclosed money can come clean and bring those funds into the formal economy,” Cabraal explained. He also noted that money laundering laws will not be compromised due to the new tax amnesty law.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 06:00 UTC
Sri Lanka-born researcher appointed to U.S. National Cancer Advisory Board
A leading Johns Hopkins cancer researcher Dr. Ashani Weeraratna, who is of Sri Lankan origin, has been appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board. McCollum Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor. She also serves as the co-leader of the Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and a professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She had joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2019. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Lesotho in Africa, Dr. Weeraratna first came to the United States in 1988 to study biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 05:37 UTC
India supplies 20 railway passenger coaches
In line with India’s continuing commitment to assist Sri Lanka in the development of its railway infrastructure, a consignment of 20 railway passenger coaches supplied by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) Ltd, reached Colombo Port on September 17, 2021. With this consignment, a total of 60 coaches out of 160 have been supplied to Sri Lanka and 20 more coaches are ready to be shipped from India. It may be recalled that the first lot of passenger coaches had arrived in Sri Lanka in March 2021, following which requisite trials were conducted. These State-of-the-Art ‘India-made’ modern passenger coaches have been custom made and built as per the requirements of Sri Lanka Railways. Other projects under this line include the upgrading of the Railway Line from Maho to Omanthai (128 kms), Maho-Anuradhapura Signaling project, Double Tracking of Railway Line from Polgahawela to Kurunegala etc.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 05:37 UTC
Huawei Mate 50 may arrive in October after all
It was reported and heavily speculated that Huawei wouldn't be releasing a proper Mate series, likely due to both the US-Huawei ban and supply chain constraints. According to the expert, Davin Naranjo, (via Fast Technology) Huawei will release the Mate 50 series some time in October. Huawei Mate 40 ProThere's currently a global launch event set to take place in Vienna, Austria on October 21 at 3PM for Huawei. Regardless of whether it arrives or not, availability of a new Mate series might be quite limited. Not much is known about the Mate Series aesthetic and design outside of the recent teaser, but we're expecting to see a camera setup similar or more improved over the Huawei P50 series.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 05:26 UTC
4 mn Sinopharm doses arrive
September 18, 2021 by Aazam Ameen No Comments04 million doses of the Sinopharm anti Covid-19 vaccine arrived in the country this morning (18). Following this new development, the total number of Chinese vaccines received by the country has reached 26 million. Earlier this month, China delivered another batch of 4 million Sinopharm vaccine doses to Sri Lanka
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 05:09 UTC
Covid-19 cases cross 500,000 mark
September 18, 2021 by Aazam Ameen No CommentsSri Lanka registered 2,078 new Covid-19 cases yesterday (17), bringing the total number of identified cases in the country since the start of the pandemic to over 500,000. Accordingly, the country’s tally of confirmed cases of Covid-19 has climbed to 500,772Total recoveries have risen to 429,776 with over 59,000 infected patients currently under medical and home-based care. 121 new deaths were also confirmed yesterday, taking the official death toll to 11,938.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 05:09 UTC
Navy intercepts vessel carrying heroin, 9 foreigners apprehended
September 18, 2021 by Aazam Ameen No CommentsThe Navy has taken hold of a large volume of heroin, thwarting another attempt to smuggle narcotics to Sri Lanka. Acting on a tip-off given by the Police, the Navy intercepted the vessel carrying a narcotics consignment with 09 foreign nationals onboard. According to the Navy, the relevant operation was conducted in the international seas off the southern coast of the island. Apprehended drug peddlers and the contraband were brought ashore to the Colombo Port under the surveillance of SLNS ‘Sindurala’. They will be handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigations.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 05:03 UTC
Recently seized foreign drug boat brought to Colombo
COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka Navy seized another foreign fishing vessel, carrying a large consignment of narcotics, with 09 suspects in international waters recently. This capture was made possible by a special operation carried out after days of continuous surveillance in the high seas south of Sri Lanka. The special operation was carried out based on information provided by Sri Lanka Police and the seized drug-carrying vessel along with 09 foreign nationals is being escorted to the port of Colombo by Sri Lanka Naval Ship (SLNS) Sindurala. The vessel loaded with narcotics and 09 suspects were brought to the Colombo harbour and they will subsequently be handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau for onward investigation and legal action.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 03:00 UTC
President Rajapaksa leaves for US to attend 76th UNGA session
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left for the United States this morning (Sep .18) to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Peiris, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage are accompanying the President during the visit. President Rajapaksa decided to undertake the visit with a minimum number of delegates in line with his principle and after taking into consideration the current situation in the country. Accordingly, this will be the smallest Sri Lankan delegation to attend the United Nations General Assembly in recent history. First Lady Ioma Rajapaksa is joining the visit at her own expense.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 02:48 UTC
UK to remove Sri Lanka from Red List
COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka will be removed from the UKs Red List with effect from 04:00 AM on the 22nd of September, said the Sri Lankan High Commission in the UK. The international travel traffic light system is being simplified in England with a single red list, as part of an overhaul of the rules from 4 October. UKs Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also said eight countries would be taken off the red list from Wednesday. Wales said it would follow England in removing Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya from the red list. Scotland said it would simplify its traffic light system but ruled out removing the requirement for PCR tests, due to “significant concerns at the impact on public health”.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 02:02 UTC
Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE price in India leaks
Earlier this week, Xiaomi made the 11 Lite 5G NE official alongside the 11T and 11T Pro, and the new Lite mid-ranger is headed to India very soon. Apparently the starting price is INR 21,999 (approximately $298 or €254) for the entry-level model, which will have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Xiaomi will also offer two other variants in the country - one with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the other with an 8/256GB combo. After the 11 Lite 5G NE lands on the Indian market, Xiaomi is rumored to make the 11 Lite 4G's entry-level price be INR 19,990 ($271 or €231). The same source claims that the 8/128GB version of the 11 Lite 4G will be discontinued.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 01:52 UTC
BBC pays 'six-figure' damages to Tiggy Legge-Bourke
Tiggy Legge-Bourke, now known as Tiggy Pettifer, was offered the payout after the former BBC journalist, 58, told Princess Diana that her husband was 'in love' with their children's nanny in order to secure his 1995 Panorama interview. Mr Bashir is also said to have suggested that Prince Charles and Ms Pettifer, 56, had flown off on a secret two-week holiday together. The BBC has offered six-figure damages to Tiggy Legge-Bourke, now known as Tiggy Pettifer, the former nanny of Prince William and HarryThe BBC has now offered the former nanny 'significant' damages for the distressing smears. The decision came four months after the Dyson report into the Panorama interview was published in May. The retired judge's findings prompted criticism of the BBC by both Prince William and Harry for the impact it had on their mother's life.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 00:11 UTC
How bad were Elizabeth Holmes’ 1AM emails?
Today, we had the first direct link between the problems in Theranos’ labs and Elizabeth Holmes. But Holmes was hands-on when it came to the R&D lab, even emailing Gangakhedkar at 1AM to ask how the validation testing was going. We saw rather a lot of emails actually from Holmes or with her in the chain during Gangakhedkar’s direct testimony. Holmes gave specific instructions to Gangakhedkar’s team about work priorities, and checked in to see how the tests she wanted validated were doing. It seems late hours were the norm; another email from Balwani, with Holmes cc’d, suggested Gangakhedkar’s team wasn’t working hard enough.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 00:00 UTC
Amazon says it’s permanently banned 600 Chinese brands for review fraud
Amazon has now permanently banned over 600 Chinese brands across 3,000 different seller accounts, the company confirms to The Verge. Amazon says that’s the grand tally after five months of its global crackdown, and it’s no longer being shy about why: a spokesperson tells us these 600 brands were banned for knowingly, repeatedly and significantly violating Amazon’s policies, especially the ones around review abuse. The South China Morning Post reported the numbers earlier, citing an interview with an Amazon Asia VP on state-owned television. The company offered $35 gift cards for reviews on a product that was sold directly by Amazon itself. Amazon banned the practice of incentivized reviews in 2016, but it’s a tricky business: some of these offers are disguised as a VIP testing program or an extended warranty.
Source:The Nation
September 17, 2021 23:15 UTC
Deal: Save 50% on HBO Max for 6 months
HBO Max is the home of some of the most popular shows and movies available, and the $9.99 monthly pricing reflects that. HBO Max is the premium video streaming service from Warner Media, meaning it’s the home of Warner Bros. content such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, the DC Comics movie library, and much more. Related: Can you get HBO Max for free? You can get your cut-price subscription to HBO Max in this promotional window and rewatch the original trilogy in anticipation. This excellent offer is only open to new or returning subscribers, and it’s only available until September 26.
Source:The Nation
September 17, 2021 22:07 UTC