Ceylon times

Ceylon times News media corporation

"๐๐จ ๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐…๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐‘๐ข๐๐ž๐ฌ : ๐’๐ซ๐ข ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ค๐š ๐ญ๐จ ๐‘๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐“๐š๐ฑ ๐„๐ฑ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ."Sri Lanka will end discretionary tax exemptions under the SDP ...
08/07/2025

"๐๐จ ๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐…๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐‘๐ข๐๐ž๐ฌ : ๐’๐ซ๐ข ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ค๐š ๐ญ๐จ ๐‘๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐“๐š๐ฑ ๐„๐ฑ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ."

Sri Lanka will end discretionary tax exemptions under the SDP and Port City Acts due to IMF concerns.

New approvals have been halted since December 2023, though 24 companies received exemptions without IMF input.

Reforms by late 2025 will introduce clear rules and limit incentive duration.

The government will report regularly to the IMF and publish exemption details to ensure transparency.

"๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐š ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐›๐š๐œ๐ค : ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐œ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž."Abu Abraham, a renowned Indian politic...
08/07/2025

"๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐š ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐›๐š๐œ๐ค : ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐œ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž."

Abu Abraham, a renowned Indian political cartoonist, used sharp wit and subtle satire to challenge censorship and authoritarianism, especially during India's 1975 Emergency under Indira Gandhi.

His cartoons mocked media servility, political flattery, and the erosion of democratic freedoms.

Abu returned to India in the late 1960s after a successful career in British newspapers like The Observer and The Guardian.

Despite heavy censorship, his work remained fearless, often stamped with โ€œNot passed by censors.โ€

A nominated Rajya Sabha member and creator of the comic strip Salt and Pepper, Abu continued drawing until his death in 2002.

His legacy lives on as a bold voice for press freedom and political truth.

"๐๐จ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ : ๐๐๐‚ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐'๐ฌ ๐ซ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ง๐š."Some farmers in Bayan Obo, despite the envi...
08/07/2025

"๐๐จ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ : ๐๐๐‚ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐'๐ฌ ๐ซ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ง๐š."

Some farmers in Bayan Obo, despite the environmental damage caused by rare earth mining, have adapted to the new reality.

The mines offer steady jobs paying up to 6,000 yuan a month, more than traditional horse herding.

While landscapes suffer, some locals find stability through farming and mining work.

"๐๐ž๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐„๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ."The U.S. Justice Department announced that Jeffrey Ep...
08/07/2025

"๐๐ž๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐„๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ."

The U.S. Justice Department announced that Jeffrey Epstein died by su***de and there is no evidence of a hidden "client list" or that he was murdered.

Despite earlier promises, including by Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Trump, no new incriminating documents were found.

The DOJ released 10 hours of jail footage showing no one entered Epsteinโ€™s cell.

The announcement sparked backlash online, with Elon Musk and other right-wing figures expressing anger and skepticism.

The DOJ emphasized that conspiracy theories donโ€™t help victims and said no further disclosures are planned.

The White House defended the investigation as exhaustive and transparent.

"๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ž๐ฑ๐š๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐๐ฌ."At least 82 people have died in connection with the flash floods that ...
08/07/2025

"๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ž๐ฑ๐š๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐๐ฌ."

At least 82 people have died in connection with the flash floods that struck central Texas, according to officials.

The toll includes at least 28 children in Kerr County, where 10 girls and one counselor from Camp Mystic are still unaccounted for, authorities said.

With dozens still missing, Gov. Greg Abbott said flash flooding continues to pose a danger for parts of Texas, with more rain on the way in several areas.

Officials urged people in Hunt, a community in Kerr County, to move to higher ground this afternoon because of potential flooding.

Records show officials in Kerr County previously considered installing flood warning sirens, but the plan never came to fruition.

And while the National Weather Service issued a slew of alerts before the storm, questions surround the agencyโ€™s staffing and ability to reach residents at the time of the disaster.

"๐’๐ซ๐ข ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ค๐š ๐๐š๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐š๐ง ๐…๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง ๐’๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐๐ž๐ ๐š๐ญ ๐’๐ž๐š."The Sri Lanka Navy rescued four Indian fishermen from Minicoy ...
08/07/2025

"๐’๐ซ๐ข ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ค๐š ๐๐š๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐œ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐š๐ง ๐…๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง ๐’๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐๐ž๐ ๐š๐ญ ๐’๐ž๐š."

The Sri Lanka Navy rescued four Indian fishermen from Minicoy Island after their vessel went missing in rough seas near Sri Lanka.

The operation followed a distress alert from Indian authorities, and the fishermen were safely recovered from Sri Lankan waters.

"๐๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐จ๐ง'๐ฌ ๐ƒ๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐๐ž๐ ๐…๐จ๐ซ ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ˆ๐€๐๐Ž๐‚ ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ."Dr. Maheshi Wijerathnaโ€™s daughter was remanded until...
08/07/2025

"๐๐ž๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐จ๐ง'๐ฌ ๐ƒ๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐ž๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐๐ž๐ ๐…๐จ๐ซ ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ˆ๐€๐๐Ž๐‚ ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ."

Dr. Maheshi Wijerathnaโ€™s daughter was remanded until July 9 for allegedly threatening Bribery Commission officials.

Dr. Wijerathna, a neurosurgeon, was arrested in June over corruption charges, including selling overpriced surgical equipment through a private company and operating on brain-dead patients.

Her bail hearing is on July 8.

"๐”๐’ ๐๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ฌ ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐š๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ."President Trump has postponed US tariff hikes to 1 A...
08/07/2025

"๐”๐’ ๐๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ฌ ๐›๐ฎ๐ญ ๐š๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ."

President Trump has postponed US tariff hikes to 1 August, warning 14 countriesโ€”including Japan, South Korea, and Thailandโ€”of new levies up to 40%.

He remains open to negotiations.

While some deals exist with the UK, Vietnam, and China, major issues remain.

Talks with India and the EU continue.

"๐’๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ž๐๐ข๐š ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐‘๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐š๐ง ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐š๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ง."Former Russian Transport Minis...
08/07/2025

"๐’๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ž๐๐ข๐š ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐‘๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐š๐ง ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ž๐ฌ ๐›๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐š๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ง."

Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit died by su***de just hours after being fired by President Putin.

He was reportedly under investigation for embezzlement related to military fortifications in the Kursk region.

Another official, Andrey Korneichuk, also died the same day, reportedly of heart failure.

Meanwhile, Russia experienced major air travel disruptions amid Ukrainian drone and missile strikes.

In Ukraine, at least 12 civilians were killed and over 90 injured in recent Russian attacks, including drone strikes on Kharkiv and military recruitment offices.

"๐๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ฒ๐š๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐–๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐‡๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐›๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐ ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ : ๐€ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐š ๐๐จ๐›๐ž๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐š๐œ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ž."Israeli Prime Minister...
08/07/2025

"๐๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ฒ๐š๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐–๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐‡๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐›๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐ ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ญ : ๐€ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐š ๐๐จ๐›๐ž๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐š๐œ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ž."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize during a White House dinner, praising his efforts to broker peace in the Middle East, especially in ending the Gaza war.

The two discussed a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with negotiations ongoing in Qatar.

Trump hopes a deal will strengthen his legacy and push forward broader goals like Saudi-Israel normalization.

Both leaders appeared optimistic, though major obstacles remain.

Trumpโ€™s controversial idea of redeveloping Gaza also resurfaced, with Netanyahu vaguely supporting โ€œfree choiceโ€ for Palestinians.

"๐„๐ฑ๐œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ฎ๐ž ๐’๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ”% ๐€๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ."The Excise Department earned Rs. 120.5 billion in the first si...
05/07/2025

"๐„๐ฑ๐œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ฎ๐ž ๐’๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ”% ๐€๐œ๐ก๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ."

The Excise Department earned Rs. 120.5 billion in the first six months of the year โ€” a 102.6% increase, exceeding Finance Ministry targets.

Last yearโ€™s total was Rs. 226.7 billion, up from Rs. 178.6 billion in 2023 and Rs. 170.3 billion in 2022.

The rise is partly credited to efforts during Tax Week under the Presidentโ€™s โ€œBadu Shakthiโ€ initiative, including liquor outlet inspections, public awareness programs, and raids on illegal alcohol production.

"๐ƒ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ?" : ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐š๐ง ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐š๐๐ก๐š'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ.Indian artisans in Kolhapur are prot...
05/07/2025

"๐ƒ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ฆ?" : ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐š๐ง ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐š๐๐ก๐š'๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐š๐ง๐๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ.

Indian artisans in Kolhapur are protesting Prada for copying their traditional Kolhapuri sandals without credit. These handcrafted shoes, made by marginalized communities, sell for $4โ€“10 locally, while Prada's version costs up to ยฃ1,000.

Despite having a GI tag in India, the design lacks global protection.

Artisans and industry groups are demanding royalties, recognition, and legal safeguards.

Prada has acknowledged the design's origin and is in talks with local associations, with a court case and formal meeting pending.

Address

Colombo

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ceylon times posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

  • Address
  • Alerts
  • Claim ownership or report listing

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Share