Category: Local News

The government is planning to bring in two important pieces of legislation which when implemented, could result in a significant reduction in tobacco smoking in the country. “The government will bring in laws which would require the industry to include pictorial health warnings on all tobacco packaging and also to ban smoking in all public […]

The United States took another jab at Sri Lanka at the ongoing 19th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council by stating that the Government appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report does not include any plan to implement those recommendations, nor does it adequately address the crucial issue of accountability. […]

A 24 year-old Civil Defence Force member was found dead after he attempted to set a new Guinness world record at Wan-Ela in the Kantale area yesterday, the police said. The youth had told his family members in the morning to bury him alive in a trench he had dug earlier in the day. […]

UNP Matara MP Mangala Samaraweera who recently revealed in Parliament that equipment imported from China is being used to tap telephones and hack into peoples personal e-mails said he hopes the Chinese government would look into the concerns raised by th UNP. […]

Onlanka News – By Walter Jayawardhana  reporting from Los Angeles Over the past two decades astronomers and space scientists have discovered vast quantities of organic molecules everywhere in the universe – in planets, comets and moons of our solar system, in clouds of gas and dust that are the birthplace of stars, and even in […]

It was 6 p.m. on Wednesday February 22 when President Mahinda Rajapaksa greeted his cabinet ministers turning up at “Temple Trees”. That was first for a meeting together with electoral and district level representatives of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Thereafter, he was to chair the weekly cabinet meeting. […]

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) yesterday proposed a two-pronged strategy to facilitate national reconciliation process. […]

Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya said that the army is scaling down the number of different regimental and area headquarters and presence of troops in the North and East. […]

The Military denied reports about the presence of US Special Forces in Sri Lanka. […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday ordered the authorities to increase the fuel subsidy for the fishing community affected by the fuel hike, following a meeting with representatives of fishing organizations at Temple Trees. […]

US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Maria Otero speaking at the UN Human Rights Council session a short while ago expressed that the US is concerned over Sri Lanka as “time is slipping away” and requested that the LLRC recommendations be implemented. […]

US Special Forces teams are currently stationed in five South Asian countries including Sri Lanka as part of the counter-terrorism co-operation with these nations, a top Pentagon commander has disclosed. […]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will meet with the representatives of the fisheries organizations in the Negombo and Chilaw areas in order to solve their problems. The meeting will be held at the Temple Trees today. […]

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said here on Thursday that China will continue to support Sri Lanka’s efforts in safeguarding state independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and realizing social and economic development. […]

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s rupee on Tuesday tumbled to a record low against the US dollar on investor worry about the country’s massive external trade deficit, economists said. […]

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report is likely to be referred to by the United Nations Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay as Sri Lanka is scheduled to be a subject of discussion at the UNHRC sessions today. […]