Roger Federer, one of the greatest players of all time, will retire from top-level tennis after the Laver Cup in London this month.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has not played since Wimbledon 2021, after which he had a third knee operation.

“My body’s message to me lately has been clear,” Swiss Federer, 41, said.

“I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years. Now I must recognise when it is time to end my competitive career.”

He added: “To the game of tennis, I love you and will never leave you.”

Federer has struggled with a knee problem for the past three years that has restricted him to only three of the 11 Grand Slams staged since the start of 2020.

He has not played a competitive match since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer.

He subsequently announced he needed more surgery on his knee having previously had two operations in 2020.

BBC

The International Book Fair, which is being held for the 23rd time by the Book Publishers’ Association at the Colombo International Bandaranaike Conference Hall premises, opened with a celebration today (16).

The exhibition is open to the public from today (16th) to the 25th of this month from 9 am to 7 pm every day.

Visit the link to see all photos.

Piyal Padmanatha, Assistant General Manager of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board says that the water supply of 21,527 customers was suspended during the month of August. Due to the non-payment of dues to the board, measures have been taken to suspend the water supply.

He points out that the amount to be collected from these customers is close to 5.2 billion rupees.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has been informed by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board about the ministers who have defaulted in paying their water bills. The Speaker has said that he has obtained a list of the names of the relevant Ministers from the Water Supply Board and will inform them about this problem.

The Speaker has requested that ministers be given to pay the arrears bills and has asked to disconnect the water supply of the Ministers who do not settle the arrears bills within that period.

State Minister DB Herath says that the crisis situation that has arisen regarding the price of eggs will be resolved as soon as possible. The minister also mentions that efforts will be made to set a fair price for eggs while protecting the producer and the consumer.

Accordingly, he further states that he is looking into the cost of producing an egg and using a scientific basis to calculate it correctly.

DB Herath says that after calculating on a scientific basis, the price of eggs will be fixed in consultation with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

MEDIA RELEASE

Photo Caption:

1. Eliane Amherd (L) and Amanda Ruzza

COLOMBO (13 September 2022): The European Union (EU) together with the Embassy of Switzerland, Italian Embassy, French Embassy, Alliance Française, Goethe-Institut and the British Council will be hosting a multilingual jazz music tour across three key cities in Sri Lanka, with the view of celebrating this year’s European Day of Languages falling on 26 September.

As part of the broader EU Campaign on a Peaceful and Inclusive Society, the multilingual jazz music tour will feature mainstream, pop rock, jazz fusion, jazz pop and Latin jazz. The tour will begin in Colombo, travel to Kandy, and conclude in Jaffna, sharing the diversity of linguistic heritage with the people of Sri Lanka, to encourage intercultural understanding. 

The inaugural concert will be held in Colombo at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on Saturday 24 September, from 6.30pm onwards. It is a free event open to everyone on a first come first served basis. This concert will be followed by a jazz evening in Kandy on Monday 26 September at 7pm, at the Slightly Chilled Lounge Bar and Restaurant. The final concert will be held at the Jaffna Public Library on Wednesday 28 September, from 5.30pm onwards.

The event will feature performances by singer, guitarist and songwriter Eliane Amherd and bassist, bandleader, composer, and producer Amanda Ruzza in German, French, Italian, Portuguese and English.

Born in Switzerland, Eliane Amherd lives in New York and the city’s savvy multicultural energy has had an influence in the unique sound of her original compositions which are jazzy, groovy and rooted in African, Brazilian and Latin music. A talented composer and lyricist and a graduate of The New School University for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Eliane performs as a leader or a featured artist in New York’s premiere clubs and tours in North and South America, Canada, Europe and Asia, where she appeared in international Festivals in China, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal and Mongolia. She plays guitar in several NYC bands and collaborated with greats such as Marcus Strickland, Bashiri Johnson, Bill Ware, Hagar Ben Ari, Randy Brecker etc.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil to a Chilean mother and an Italian father, Amanda Ruzza grew up in a house humming with music. Amanda began playing bass and engaging in professional performance early. Eventually, in Brazil, she worked with distinguished Brazilian producers and arrangers, including Grammy Award winner Moogie Canazio, Maestro Jobam and Sony 

Music Japan’s Osny Mello. She is based in New York at present. Besides being a musician fluent in an array of styles, Amanda is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and English.

Press contacts:

Le-Anne FERNANDO

Political, Press and Information Section

Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Email: [email protected]

Tel.: + 94 11 2674413-4

Nina FERNANDO

Communications Section

Embassy of Switzerland to Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Email: [email protected]

Tel.: +94 11 269 51 17 Ext.853099

The fundamental rights application filed by British national Keighley Frazer, seeking a declaration that her Fundamental Rights under Articles 12 and 13 of the Constitution had been violated by the decision of the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to cancel her visa, was rejected by the Supreme Court yesterday (14.09.2022)

Keighley Frazer had sought a declaration of violation of Fundamental Rights stating that her active participation in the protests against the Government had led to the cancellation of her visa.

Deputy Solicitor General Kanishka de Silva Balapatabendi who appeared on behalf of the State, with State Counsel Amasara Gajadeera raised a Preliminary Objection that the Petitioner had suppressed material facts in the Petition filed in Court and moved that Leave to Proceed should be rejected on that basis. It was submitted that the Petitioner has willfully suppressed to appraise Court of the particulars pertaining to the Writ application filed seeking to quash the decision to cancel her visa and completely suppressed the fact that an appeal had been preferred in respect of the Court of Appeal. It was submitted that in a Fundamental rights application there is a requirement for the party seeking relief to disclose to court all material facts, and the conduct of the Petitioner in suppressing material facts warrants a dismissal of the Petition at the outset.

The Deputy Solicitor General also drew the attention of court to the fact that a removal order in terms of the Immigration and Emigration Act has been issued by the President in respect of the Petitioner

The three judge bench comprising Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, S. Thurairajah and Janak de Silva in upholding the Preliminary Objection raised by the Deputy Solicitor General ordered the Petitioner to pay costs of Rs 100 000/- to the State.

The motor vehicle regulator has suffered a setback in its revenue collections following the adverse impacts of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis.

As a top agency that generates revenue for the Government, the Department of Motor Traffic’s monthly contribution to the Treasury has dropped by 40 percent at present given the multiple challenges. It has dropped by 40% to Rs600 million this year from the average of Rs.1 billion.

The Motor Traffic Commissioner (Control) Susantha Jayathilaka said that this was due to the decline in the registration of new vehicles.The registration of used vehicles has also drop down due to the increase in bank interest rates.

.“Following the adverse impacts of the pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis, the Department’s average daily income has dropped to around Rs. 35 million to Rs. 40 million,” Department of Motor Traffic Accountant Aravinda Samarakoon told journalists.

Closure of the department at the early stages of the COVID outbreak, import restrictions on motor vehicles, and high interest rates imposed on the transfer of vehicle ownership were outlined as key reasons for the revenue drop.

As per the Department, the total number of new vehicles registered up to May was 10,159, and of that 3,358 were motorcycles, whilst 2,694 were LV tractors and 1,653 LV trailers.

However, he said that the income generation of the Department has slowly picked up, as it had adopted digital payment systems and technology to boost efficiency.

Department of Motor Traffic Commissioner (Control) Susantha Jayathilaka also said they are short of driving license cards.

“The import restrictions impacted the issuance of new license cards and renewals as these cards are imported. However, to avoid any inconvenience to the motorists, at present we issue a document till the cards are sorted,” he explained.

Jayathilake also said the Department continues to operate a self-financing institution that manages the salaries and wages and maintenances of systems.

The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) yesterday introduced card payments to boost revenue collection and enhance efficiencies.

It said that all payments related to the Department could be made via debit or credit cards at its head office in Narahenpita and branch office in Werahera.

“Modern youth often make payments using a credit or debit card as they have embraced new technologies faster and to avoid the disadvantage of carrying cash.

Initially, the card payments will only be accepted at Narahenpita and Werahera, but after the observations, we will put into practice at other regional offices,” Department of Motor Traffic Commissioner (Control) Susantha Jayathilaka told journalists.

He said the objective is to boost Department’s contribution to Government coffers via the introduction of cost-effective systems, and an increased number of transactions, whilst providing an efficient and satisfactory service to motorists.

“We are a self-financed organisation and had continued to reinvest our collections to further upgrade our service offerings via digitalisation. The introduction of card payments is also one of them,” Jayathilake added.

Department of Motor Traffic Commissioner (Development) Kasalani de Silva said the organisation strives to provide registration services, technical services, issuances of licenses, and assist develop policies.

The Department of Motor Traffic is the Government regulator for registering motor vehicles and issuing driving licenses according to the Motor Traffic Act.

Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and services sectors are already seeing widespread layoffs, non-renewal of employment contracts, and hiring freezes as businesses are downsizing their operations amid the worst economic crisis, which is on course to trim the country’s output by at least 8 percent by the end of this year, a survey found.

A monthly survey carried out by the Central Bank on both manufacturing and services sectors of the country found that employment declined in both sectors at a rapid pace through July as employers are trimming their staff strength as they attempt to stay lean.

While the soaring inflation and demand destructive policies have weighed on top lines of companies, the exponentially higher interest rates and cost inflation have squeezed their bottom lines, casting a long dark shadow over the business outlook.

“Employment also declined, particularly in the manufacture of food & beverage sector, mainly due to the discontinuation of casual employees,” the Central Bank said in its survey findings.

While certain leading export-oriented manufacturing sectors such as textiles and garments are still holding up, others, especially the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling to stay afloat.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that employment had continued to fall in the services sector through July due to freeze in recruitment and non-renewal of existing employment contracts amid subdued business activities.

The private sector accounts for 42.7 percent of employees and 2.5 percent of employers contributing to the Sri Lankan economy (Labour Force Survey, 2020).

Therefore, the Department of Labour has decided to identify the labour demand required to meet the private sector targets for the coming year and to explore the new directions regarding the country’s labour interests in the future with the aim of restrengthening the Sri Lanka economy.

The e- survey was planned and conducted in July 2021 and extended up to September 2021.

Out of the companies that responded, 45 percent recorded labour need for 2022.

Out of these, nearly half of the companies are situated in Colombo district while Western province covered three fourth of them.

The highest demand of labour is requested by the large companies with current employment of more than 100.

When look at the labour requests by economic activities, 69 percent were recorded to the Manufacturing sector while Trade sector reports 15 percent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed the hope of Sri Lanka obtaining consent of creditors specially, Japan, India and China for debt restructure as the country has been severely affected by an economic crisis.

Financial advisory group Lazard has started talks with India, China and Japan on restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka government Minister Ramesh Pathirana said on Tuesday, as the crisis-hit island nation seeks an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.

Lazard was hired by Sri Lanka in May, along with international lawyers Clifford Chance, to guide the government through the process of restructuring its debt, for which estimates range from $85 billion to well over $100 billion.

IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva briefly mentioned the issue in Sri Lanka during a discussion with Centre for Global Development President, Masood Ahmed.

“So, on Sri Lanka, there are three large creditors, Japan, India, China. We are very hopeful to see an engagement from the public side that comes quickly. And then, of course, looking at all the parameters, bringing the private sector on board,” Georgieva said.

The IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities recently reached a staff-level agreement to support Sri Lanka’s economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about US$2.9 billion.

Members of the ParisClub of mainly Western creditors said they are ready to talk with Sri Lanka on restructuring debt after the country concluded a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

“We note the IMF’s assessment for the need for a debt treatment in the context of the IMF program,” the organization secretariat said in a statement.

“The Paris Club is ready to start the debt treatment process and reiterates its willingness to coordinate with non-Paris Club official bilateral creditors to provide the necessary financing assurances in a timely manner and ensure fair burden sharing, as already proposed to the largest other official bilateral creditors.

“The Paris Club remains at the disposal of Sri Lankan authorities and non-Paris Club official bilateral creditors to further discuss the next steps of the debt treatment process.”

Sri Lanka’s bi-lateral creditors include China and India who are not full members of the grouping.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt in April 2012 after its foreign debt started to climb and growth slowed after the end of a war due to increased monetary instability coming from lower interest rates maintained under flexible inflation targeting which triggered three currency crises over seven years.

The objectives of Sri Lanka’s new Fund-supported program are to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while safeguarding financial stability, protecting the vulnerable, and stepping up structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and unlock Sri Lanka’s growth potential.

Debt relief from Sri Lanka’s creditors and additional financing from multilateral partners will be required to help ensure debt sustainability and close financing gaps.