Category: Local News

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa said he would run for prime minister during next month’s parliamentary elections, a move that is likely to infuriate rights groups as he is accused of war crimes in a civil war.

There are no arrangements in place to name a Prime Ministerial candidate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) thus far, the President’s Media Unit said on Tuesday.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has finally agreed to nominate former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a candidate at the August 17 general election under the betel symbol, a party leader said.

Issuing a special release the President’s media unit says that no candidate fielded by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party has been named as a prime ministerial candidate.

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunga says she has no intention of grabbing power again unlike others.

President Maithripala Sirisena says the Government expects to increase per capita income to 6000 American Dollars, within next five years.

The United Nations is downsizing its humanitarian staff in some Asian countries where governments have stepped up with funds and manpower after a decade of massive floods, storms and earthquakes.

Talks between President Maithripala Sirisena and SLFP stalwarts over accommodating former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the SLFP nomination list at the next election ended without a conclusion last night.

Sri Lankan shares recovered on Monday from a near 2-1/2 month low hit in the previous session after President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved parliament and announced elections, but trading volume slumped due to the political uncertainty.

Sri Lanka ranked 114th on the global peace index conducted by an Australian-based Institute for Economics and Peace which measured national peacefulness in 162 countries.

The Saudi Labor Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani has asked the Sri Lankan government to stop maids running away from their Saudi sponsors soon after their arrival in the Kingdom.

The minutes of the COPE Sub Committee sittings on the Central Bank Treasury Bond issue should be publicized, Highways and Investment Promotion Deputy Minister Eran Wickremaratne said.

The controversial Buddhist outfit, Bodu Bala Sena(BBS) will be reborn as the Bodu Jana Peramuna (BJP), to field lay candidates at the forthcoming parliamentary elections, BBS Executive Committee member, Dilantha Withanage said.

Fake emails have led to banks holding Non-Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) accounts suffering losses of more than one billion rupees, a Criminal Investigation Department investigation has revealed.

The ICC has urged Sri Lanka’s sports ministry to hold Sri Lanka Cricket elections before the next ICC board meeting in October, suggesting “further action” may be taken against SLC “in the event of further non-compliance”.

Work on the Colombo Port City project will begin soon as it has not been cancelled, Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga informed Parliament yesterday.