Category: Local News

Sri Lanka is looking at the possibility of controlling droughts and floods through the use of Chinese technology, local media quoting Minister of Primary Industries and Social Welfare Daya Gamage said on Wednesday.

Iran has agreed to build a new oil refinery for Sri Lanka in addition to upgrading its ageing 50,000 barrel per day (bpd) state-owned refinery, Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said on Wednesday.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made a press release on recent fuel price hike by stating “Following the recent increase in fuel prices, transport costs and the prices of goods and services have started rising.”

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said yesterday that senior journalist Keith Noyahr’s life was saved because of his intervention when Keith was abducted and he is prepared any moment to give a statement on this incident.

Former State Timber Corporation (STC) Chairman Anuruddha Polgampola was arrested last night by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Police said.

The JVP yesterday called on people to take to the streets against the exploitation by the government of the masses to cover the cost of its extravagance and frauds.

Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake took over as the 22nd Commander of the Sri Lankan Army in June 2017. The conduct of the army in the past, during the island’s civil war that it ended by defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009, and its contentious presence and role in the country’s Tamil-majority north and east since then continue to dominate the discourse around post-war resettlement and reconciliation.

The Cabinet approval was granted today to increase bus fares by 6.56 per cent with effect from tomorrow.

Sri Lanka recorded its highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of USD 1900 million in 2017, said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday.

The World Bank (WB) last month withdrew US$ 200 million in funds, which were earmarked for a garbage disposal project and Kelani River Flood Protection work, alleging corrupt practice in the awarding of contracts, reliable sources told this reporter recently.

Chinese Ambassador in Colombo Cheng Xueyuan has informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that the Chinese government has approved USD 1 billion as funding for the phase one of the Central Expressway project.

Rice imports fell 34.4 percent to 23.5 million US dollars in February 2018 from a year earlier, as harvest came in and domestic prices eased, official data showed. Sri Lanka’s rice imports surged from the second quarter of 2017 as the government cut import duties when a drought slashed the industry.

Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera today appointed four Chairmen to state media institutions with immediate effect.

If Sri Lanka’s economy is to develop to the level expected, measures should be taken to keep corruption out of State institutions, former Defence Secretary and the Chairman of the “Viyath Maga” Organisation Gotabaya Rajapaksa said yesterday.

President Maithripala Sirisena who is on a two day state visit to Iran met with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran yesterday (13).

There is no controversy between the Rajapaksa brothers as some say, said the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.