Category: Local News

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Yoshitha and four others including Nishantha Ranatunga and Rohan Weliwita were further remanded till March 10 by the Kaduwela Magistrate Dammika Hemapala today.

Sri Lankan rupee forwards ended slightly weaker on Wednesday as importer demand for the greenback and mild dollar inflows put pressure on the rupee despite a 50-basis-point rate hike by the central bank last week.

In the next batch of voluntary repatriation, 12 Sri Lankan refugees, living in various camps across the State, would be leaving for Colombo from Tiruchi on Friday.

Farmers countrywide were undergoing many hardships as there was a severe shortage of fertiliser, but the government had failed to take any action to arrest the situation, Chief Opposition whip and JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament yesterday.

Prime Minister of New Zealand John Phillip Key described Sri Lanka as the ‘Shining Light of Asian Region’. He said there are enormous opportunities available in Sri Lanka for New Zealand entrepreneurs and investors.

The United States in 2015 strongly endorsed democratic progress in Sri Lanka, says Secretary of State John Kerry.

There is a false notion that Health Service vehicles break down frequently and that doctors, nurses, para medics and drivers will be brought down from India to implement the project. There is no truth in these allegations.

Sri Lankan rupee forwards traded steady on Tuesday as inflows kept pace with dollar demand by importers, but pressure remained with the one-year rupee premium rising despite a 50-basis-point rate hike by the central bank last week.

Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao called on President Maithripala Sirisena today (February 23) at the Presidential Secretariat. Mr Nakao arrived in Sri Lanka last night on a two-day official visit.

General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara thero has been released on bail by the Homagama Magistrate’s Court.

Officials in Sri Lanka have described as “premature” the controversy currently raging in the island over the Lankan government’s intention to sign an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India.

Internet facilities of more than 2,000 government schools countrywide had been disconnected due to non-payment of bills, a teachers’ union said yesterday.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed on Saturday to go ahead with the Indo-Lanka Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) regardless of mouting opposition to the government move.

A deep rift over former Minister Basil Rajapaksa has threatened to split the join opposition, sources in the joint opposition said.

Former chairman of the Independent Television Network (ITN), Anura Siriwardene, and several key ITN officials are likely to be charged separately under the Penal Code and the Bribery Act for financial irregularities committed during the former administration, authoritative sources said.

“Our main focus was on strengthening high levels of bilateral exchange has made in place, thus helping to expand the cooperation in the fields of trade and economic relations, culture, education and sports, “ stated President Maithripala Sirisena delivering a media statement following official talks with the Federal President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, in Vienna on February 19.