The Sri Lankan rupee closed marginally firmer on Wednesday in dull trade, as dollar conversions by exporters surpassed mild demand for the U.S. currency from importers and banks, dealers said.

At the first-ever conference of sitting Indian origin MPs representing 23 countries across the world, a disquiet on the rising incidences of intolerance and hostility towards religious minorities in their ancestral land was palpable.

PETALING JAYA: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar (pic), is making an investment into the US$100mil industrial zone for pharmaceutical manufacturers in Sri Lanka.

One of the youngest billionaires of China, Cai Xiaoru, arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday demonstrating renewed investor confidence on the nation.

Hashini Amendra, the wife of veteran singer Victor Ratnayake, was arrested by the Tangalle Police this morning for the alleged misappropriation of Rs. 1.28 million worth of jewelry belonging to a state bank.

Former Spokesman of the Sri Lanka Navy, Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayake, and five others have been granted bail by the Colombo High Court.

Sri Lanka aims to raise $500 million this month via development bonds and is in the process of divesting two state-owned hotels, the central bank and a ministry said on Monday, as the government faces unprecedented debt repayment this year.

President Maithripala Sirisena vested the Moragahakanda Development Project with the nation, today (08).

The Rajagiriya flyover which is being constructed providing long term solutions for the heavy traffic congestion in the Rajagiriya was declared open by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe a short while ago.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday called for the summoning of Parliament two-weeks ahead of schedule to debate the Bond Commission report which has called for a forensic audit of the Central Bank.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says the loss caused by treasury bond scam was much bigger than the amount stated in the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the bond scam.

While India is ‘waiting’ to hear the final word on their bid proposal to uplift the defunct Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), through a joint venture project, the Government says the bidding to run the MRIA on a lease agreement is still open for local and international investors.

General Secretary of the Communist Party D. E. W. Gunasekera yesterday said that the top UNP leadership couldn’t absolve itself of the responsibility for the bond scams.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy to discuss with the Monetary Board and take steps to implement the recommendations of the Bond Commission report as soon as it is released.

On the first day of the new year, the Chinese and Sri Lankan flags were hoisted to the same height over the Hambantota port in the Indian Ocean nation.