The Opposition is planning to raise a question in Parliament about two institutions that have obtained licenses from the Department of Ayurveda for the production of a medicine and a dietary supplement claiming to be for cancer by showing the same research results, Sri Lanka Mirror learns.
They are a capsule by the name ‘α-Elostera’ marketed by Ceylon Green Ayurveda Company as a solution for cancer and made from bitter gourd seeds and a food supplement released to the market as ‘LivingMo 600’ by Prime Health Herbal Products.
However, both the medicine and the food supplement have been made by using the research conducted by a team including Prof. Jayantha Rajapaksa and Professor Anura Jayasuriya of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Peradeniya University where they have purportedly discovered anticancer activity of bitter gourd seeds.
When Professor Jayantha Rajapaksa is producing the capsule as a food supplement, one Dakshitha Thilanga Sumathipala, a businessman who has no relation to the research, has obtained a license to manufacture the capsule as a medicine.
Experts in the Ayurvedic field said that giving approval by the Ayurveda Formulary Committee for both these endeavors is ludicrous.
Meanwhile, Ceylon Green Ayurveda has blatantly violated several terms set by the Department of Ayurveda when manufacturing the capsule.
The sign board of the ‘Ceylon Green Cancer Wellness Center’ operated by the company located near the Apeksha Hospital to sell this capsule, has not mentioned that it is an Ayurvedic medicine shop.
Accordingly, they have deliberately misled the patients.
An Ayurvedic dispensary must have personnel registered with the Ayurvedic Department and only they can prescribe medicine.
However, the clip below shows how those who contact the company’s phone number can get medicines prescribed by one of its salespersons.
Dakshitha’s Ceylon Green Ayurveda has published advertisements to promote the capsule on the internet without the permission of the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, the Ayurveda Formulary Committee has given permission for the capsule and the food supplement when there has been no mention in traditional books on indigenous medicine that bitter gourd has anticancer qualities.
If Professor Rajapaksa intends to use the research results for a product with commercial purposes, he must obtain the permission from the University of Peradeniya which facilitated the research.
Doing so would enable the university to receive an economic advantage but it was revealed during our investigation that there has been no such advantage.
Although Professor Rajapaksa said that the capsule was subjected to a clinical trial post-production, the Ministry of Health and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) told us that they do not have any evidence of such a clinical trial.
03 young Sri Lankans have been featured in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2025.
They are : Nikin Matharaarachchi, in 2021, founded Sri Lanka-based Synapse AI Labs is the company behind Kommon Poll, an AI-powered social listening tool. Kommon Poll provides businesses marketing insights by analyzing keyword performance across multiple online platforms, including news sites, blogs and social media.
Charith N Silva, known for videos showing him preparing dishes in outdoor settings, launched the YouTube channel ‘Wild Cookbook’ in 2020 during the pandemic. With over 600 videos, ‘Wild Cookbook’ is now Sri Lanka’s largest YouTube channel with over 10 million subscribers, and Silva has over 2.3 million Instagram followers. In November 2024, he opened a restaurant in Colombo called Wildish.
Yanika Amarasekera-Siyaguna, a UC Berkeley and Imperial College London alumna, founded Silver Aisle, Sri Lanka’s first online wedding registry, in 2019. The e-commerce platform has since expanded beyond wedding gifts to include presents for all occasions as well as dining ,vacation packages and lessons in horse riding, golf and pottery, among others. In 2023, Amarasekera-Siyaguna was appointed an independent director of LB Finance, one of Sri Lanka’s largest finance firms.
Sri Lanka and India have signed a USD 930.8 million debt restructuring deal recently on Sri Lanka’s present External Debt Restructuring Process.
The signing of Bilateral Amendatory Agreements between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of India took place on March 25, 2025 and April 03, 2025, respectively.
The deal concerns 07 Line of Credit and 04 Buyer’s Credit Facility agreements with the Government of India.
Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, Mr. K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana, signed the agreements on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government.
General Manager of the EXIM Bank of India, Mr.Nirmit Ved, signed the Line of Credits, and Deputy General Manager of the EXIM Bank of India, Mr. Amith Kumar, signed the Buyer’s Credit Agreements.
Issuing a statement, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development stated that the signing of these bilateral amendatory agreements marks a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s ongoing External Debt Restructuring Process.
A total of 965 people have died between January 01 – May 13 due to various road accidents across Sri Lanka.
During this period,1,842 accidents including 902 fatal accidents were recorded, according to police reports.
The main causes cited for these accidents include negligence, reckless driving and improper vehicle maintenance.
To address the rising number of accidents, police have planned a special island-wide program focused on reducing traffic incidents, including driver awareness initiatives.