President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the Excise Commissioner to cancel with immediate effect the liquor licenses issued to 349 liquor shops/bars for running them illegally, violating the rules and regulations of the Excise Act.

Construction work on the Defence Headquarters Complex in Battaramulla has come to a halt due to non-availability of funds, and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake saying funds will not be released until the exact cost estimation of the project is clarified.

Gamini Senarath, the ex-Chief of Staff at the Presidential Office, is being interrogated by the Fraud Investigation Bureau (FIB), over an alleged financial fraud based on a complaint made by the People’s Leasing Company (PLC), the Police said.

Sri Lanka is united against an international investigation into alleged war crimes during its 26-year-long civil war, according to its former president, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday warned that the national economy would suffer a staggering loss of approximately Rs. 9 billion unless the government cancelled the controversial Treasury bond issue involving Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and his son-in-law Arjun Aloysius.

DMK leader M. Karunanidhi warned that attack on Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy would affect the bilateral relationship between India and Sri Lanka, especially at a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken efforts to secure the rights for the Tamils in the country.

The Cabinet approval has been granted for the draft bill on the 19th Amendment and it will be tabled in parliament within next few days, Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said.

President Maithripala Sirisena was appointed as the Chairman of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) at the Central Committee meeting held yesterday.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) decided last night that both constitutional and electoral reforms should be presented together in Parliament.

Camllum Macrae, the director of the controversial documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ said that the new Sri Lanka government is making fantastic advances towards reconciliation and he is happy that the people had shown courage and bravery by defeating Rajapaksa regime.

In a personal gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit to Sri Lanka on Saturday with a meeting with the former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was ousted from power in elections in January.

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran says that even though security concerns should be left to the Central Administration in any Country, it should not transgress the limits of protection of the Country to a protracted pursuit of purposeful military occupation with political undertones in place.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Sri Lankan Parliament, as part of his visit to the country. The following is the text of his speech.

When Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena received India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an ocean-front colonial building on Friday, the two looked out over a $1.4 billion Chinese real estate project halted days ago after criticism from New Delhi.