Category: Local News

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.

The Parliament of Sri Lanka has been dissolved with effect from midnight today (June 26) by President Maithripala Sirisena, Government sources told Media.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe has emphasized in Parliament that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is being accorded maximum security and facilities. He further told Parliament that even KP alias Kumaran Pathmanathan a former LTTE Leader has been accorded security.

Emirates flight A380 bound to Dubai made an emergency landing at Bandaranaike International Airport, today (26) at around 3.47a.m.

“I will contest the next election only from the UPFA led by the SLFP”, stated former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the committee which was now attempting to unite the SLFP, sources said.

Demanding President Maithripala Sirisena to dissolve Parliament early is unacceptable when he is determined to fulfill his promises given to the people, Deputy Media Minister Shantha Bandara said.

Parliament is likely to be dissolved either tonight to tomorrow night to enable General Elections to be conducted by the middle of August, informed sources said yesterday.

The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday said it was in the process of strengthening diplomatic ties with countries that have worked with Sri Lanka in the past to weaken the financial and support networks of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Urban Development Minister Rauff Hakeem yesterday said in Parliament that there was a dictatorship of a small group within the Cabinet of Ministers that prevails against minor and minority parties.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (24) granted leave to proceed in applications filed challenging the establishment of the Financial Crime Investigation Division.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court Bench in Madurai that it has impressed upon the Sri Lankan Navy “to act with restraint, not to fire on [Indian] fishermen and to treat [Indian] fishermen in a humane manner.”

There are mixed reactions over the decision to allow pavement hawkers to conduct business on the streets of Colombo. The Rajapaksa regime under the Colombo City Beautification Programme prohibited them from doing business on the pavements, which resulted in a great loss to them.

The Sri Lankan spot rupee traded steady on Tuesday, as a state bank, through which the central bank usually directs the market, sold dollars at a flat rate of 133.90, but trading was dull amid political uncertainty, dealers said.