Maithripala Sirisena’s surprise election as Sri Lankan President on January 8 has paved the way for a significant departure from the policies of his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa. In acknowledgement of the support of members of disaffected minority groups, including Tamils in the north, Sirisena has undertaken to write down farmers’ debt, increase the health and education budget, and fight corruption.

Floods and landslides linked to climate change have battered parts of Sri Lanka in the past two years, disrupting food output, but scientists believe a new program to install low-cost weather stations based on open-source technology could help farmers adapt to increasingly wild weather.

A 22-year-old was shot dead at the Millennium City Housing Complex in Athurugiriya on Tuesday afternoon. The victim has been identified as Namal Krishantha.

Three persons have been killed and five others injured after two lorries collided at Kuruwita on the Colombo-Ratnapura road, Police said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s close relationship with the Rajapaksas was ‘a mystery’ to Sri Lankans, and that Australia’s new Immigration Minister Peter Dutton would be unlikely to get the warm welcome received under the previous government.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, while addressing the corporate sector yesterday, confirmed that a positive outlook over the country’s economy had optimised investor confidence.

A Sri Lanka national who landed in Kochi airport was admitted to the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, on Monday after he attempted to smuggle gold into the country by swallowing it.

Shashi Weerawansa, wife of former Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who was arrested for allegedly submitting forged documents to obtain a diplomatic passport, has been remanded until 25 February, Police Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana said.

Some 39 persons were admitted to Dambulla hospital after a private bus and a lorry collided in Dambulla this morning.

Former minister and Leader of National Freedom Front Wimal Weerawansa has been summoned by the Special Investigation Unit of Police Headquarters this morning to record a statement with regard to a complaint made in 2011 against him.

Paintings at Temple Trees, this country’s White House, are still leaning against walls waiting to be hung, and the gated grounds are no longer teeming with guards and stewards who served the home’s previous occupant like supplicants at a royal court.

President Maithripala Sirisena in a bid to keep SLFP undivided has decided to not take disciplinary action against those who attended the political rally held in Nugegoda 18 February defying party decision. He has stressed those who attended the rally to think according to their conscience whether their act was timely or not.

MADURAI: Though Sri Lanka ordered the release of 81 boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen on February 12, ahead of President Maithripala Sirisena visit to India, the inordinate delay in repatriating the boats has become a cause of concern for the fishers in the state.

Sri Lankans worldwide are calling a reference US Secretary of State John Kerry made to Sri Lanka’s “30-year war on Tamils” a distortion of facts and urge that it be retracted.