Latest Sri Lanka News and Top Stories

Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran, and S. Thavarajah, Leader of Opposition in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), have together asked the government to set up a “full-fledged” Commission of Inquiry to conduct an in-depth probe into last Saturday’s clash between Tamil and Sinhalese students in Jaffna University.

Improving on his 2003 idea of converting south India-Sri Lanka sub-region into a single market, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is now for economic collaboration among his country, Singapore and the five southern States of India.

The ‘National Unity’ government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is finding out the hard way that governing in a coalition of the two major political parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), is no walk in the park.

The government is to obtain US$1 billion from the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for various projects, Finance Minister Ravi Karunayake said yesterday.

Defence Secretary and engineer Karunasena Hettiarachchi called for a radical change of the media culture and stressed the local media should focus on news which does not give its readers a ‘criminal experience.’

Members in India’s Rajya Sabha today sought government intervention in ensuring the release of a large number of Indian fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan navy in the recent past.

President Maithripala Sirisena has stated that all the educational institutions, including the universities and vocational training centers should act as reconciliation centers as well as the field of reconciliation should be included in the school curriculum as a subject.

Former Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, was arrested once again by the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID).

UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa, who was arrested on charges of misappropriating Rs.70 million , was today released on bail by Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.

Singapore and Sri Lanka have started talks for a free trade pact, including measures to free up trade in goods and services as well as investments, the city-state’s trade minister said on Monday.

Sri Lanka is agnostic about what countries it accepts foreign investment from, including China, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Prison authorities are getting more and more accustomed to hosting ‘VIP’ prisoners with the latest addition to the spate of members of the former regime to be in the lock up at the Welikada Prison being UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka Police today sought a court order for getting Interpol’s assistance to arrest Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, for graft charges.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health Dr Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said that the government plans to increase the tax imposed on tobacco companies all the way up to 90 per cent.