IMF Team to Visit Sri Lanka for Seventh Review of Economic Program
Evan Papageorgiou

IMF Team to Visit Sri Lanka for Seventh Review of Economic Program

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — An International Monetary Fund team will visit Sri Lanka this month to conduct the seventh review of the country’s economic program and assess its broader economic outlook, the Fund said. The team, led by Evan Papageorgiou, the IMF’s mission chief for Sri Lanka, will be in the country from Sept. 10 to 23 for discussions with government officials on the Seventh Review of Sri Lanka’s program under the Extended Fund Facility and the 2026 Article IV Consultation. The mission w


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U.S. Maritime Chiefs to Visit Sri Lanka as Colombo’s Shipping Role Grows

U.S. Maritime Chiefs to Visit Sri Lanka as Colombo’s Shipping Role Grows

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Two senior United States maritime regulators will visit Sri Lanka next week for talks on shipping, trade and investment, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo said Friday. Laura DiBella, chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, and Commissioner Robert J. Harvey are scheduled to be in the country from Sept. 6 to 10. The visit will include meetings with senior Sri Lankan government officials and leaders of the country’s maritime industry, with discussions expected to focus


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A Boy Died Minutes After Eating a Fallen Fruit. The Explanation Is a Medical Mystery

A Boy Died Minutes After Eating a Fallen Fruit. The Explanation Is a Medical Mystery

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka — An 11-year-old boy collapsed and died in eastern Sri Lanka on Thursday evening, minutes after eating a fruit he had picked up from the ground outside his home, the police said, prompting an investigation into a theory that medical evidence does not readily support: that the fruit had been contaminated with snake venom. The boy, R. Sanjeev, lived on Hospital Road in Palaiyadivattai, a village in Batticaloa District, and was a sixth grader at Navagiri Vidyalayam in 37th Vi


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London Businessman Gives Rs. 5 Million to Expand Fertility Care at Kilinochchi Hospital

London Businessman Gives Rs. 5 Million to Expand Fertility Care at Kilinochchi Hospital

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka — A London-based businessman has donated 5 million Sri Lankan rupees to help expand fertility treatment services at Kilinochchi General Hospital, providing support for a specialized area of care at one of the Northern Province’s main public hospitals. The donation, from Thangarajah Kalamohan, was formally presented at the hospital on Thursday as part of a project undertaken by Kili Makkal, Tamil for “Kilinochchi People”, an organization founded by members of the Kilinochc


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UNAFRAID AND UNBOWED

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

Archbishop, Archbishop, why hast thou forsaken us in our hour of sorrow and slaughter?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." - Isaiah 58:1 His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo and chief shepherd of the Catholic flock in all of Sri Lanka, has recently marked fifty years in the sacred priesthood. As the highest-ranking prelate whose dominion spans the entire island, he now stands as a mighty voice crying for justice, calling upon the nations of the earth for interv


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Jaffna Library Burning: The Day They Burned the buddha and his dhamma

Why South Asia Reveres Books-and Fears Their Destruction Irrespective of religion, across the Indian subcontinent, books have long held an exalted status. In the indigenous spiritual traditions that emerged from this land-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism-knowledge is not merely valued; it is venerated in the highest order. In homes, temples, and schools across the region, people treat books with profound reverence-never touching them with their feet, and if done accidentally, offering a


Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Aruliniyan Mahalingam

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

Chemmani: Where Justice Was Buried

The dead do not speak - but the earth does A few years ago, I visited Cambodia. My original aim was to see the Angkor Wat temple complex. But, as always, my journalistic instincts led me deeper into rural Cambodia, where I found myself in quiet conversations with a few former soldiers of the Pol Pot regime, now living ordinary lives as toddy tappers, farmers, and small shop owners. One of them - a former henchman of the Khmer Rouge - opened up after a few glasses of toddy. In a hauntingly calm


Kaniyan Pungundran

Kaniyan Pungundran

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M.K. Sivajilingam Moved to Intensive Care in Colombo

M.K. Sivajilingam Moved to Intensive Care in Colombo

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — M.K. Sivajilingam, a veteran Tamil nationalist politician and former member of Parliament who underwent a kidney transplant in June, has been moved to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Colombo, according to people familiar with his condition. Mr. Sivajilingam, who currently serves as chairman of the Valvettithurai Urban Council, had remained in Colombo for continuing treatment after undergoing the transplant. He was admitted to the hospital again last week and


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Our Reporter

A Small School in Mallakam Produces Sri Lanka’s Tamil-Medium Topper

A Small School in Mallakam Produces Sri Lanka’s Tamil-Medium Topper

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — A 10-year-old student from a small primary school in Mallakam has secured the highest Tamil-medium score in Sri Lanka’s 2026 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination. Surendar Sabin, a student at Dr. Thangamma Appakutty Junior School, scored 188 marks, the highest result among students who sat the examination in the Tamil medium. The result has brought national attention to a modest school in Mallakam, a town about 10 miles north of Jaffna. Dr. Thangamma Appakutty Junior School, whi


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Bimal Does It Again: New Development Remark Revives KKS, Palaly Questions

Bimal Does It Again: New Development Remark Revives KKS, Palaly Questions

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake said Wednesday that Sri Lanka would not pursue development projects that failed to benefit ordinary people, remarks likely to renew scrutiny of the government’s approach to two Indian-backed gateways in the Tamil-majority north: Jaffna International Airport at Palaly and Kankesanthurai Port. “Economic development projects must be connected to the everyday lives of the people,” Mr. Rathnayake said. “We will not pursue development projects


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Our Reporter

U.S. Reveals Wider Role Behind Colombo’s 463-Kilogram Meth Seizure

U.S. Reveals Wider Role Behind Colombo’s 463-Kilogram Meth Seizure

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The seizure of 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at the Port of Colombo this week grew out of a weeks-long international intelligence operation involving American, Pakistani and Sri Lankan authorities, according to new details released Wednesday by the United States Embassy, offering a fuller account of an interdiction initially described largely through the actions of Sri Lankan investigators. The Embassy said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Delhi Cou


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