The power blackout, on 03 February, could have been avoided, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the electricity sector regulator has said in a special investigation report titled, “Report on Rotational Load Shedding Carried Out on February 03”, released yesterday.

UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet today expressed regret over the new Sri Lankan Government’s decision to withdraw from the UN Resolution 30/1 and said she was not convinced of yet another Commission of Inquiry as domestic processes have consistently failed to deliver accountability in the past.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed authorities to immediately stop Palm tree cultivations.

Former UPFA MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena has been remanded until March 12 by the Colombo High Court for allegedly intimidating witnesses in a court case.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet will be presenting her Oral Update on Sri Lanka withdrawing its co-sponsorship of Resolution 40/1 of March 2019 on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’, which also incorporates and builds on preceding Resolutions 30/1 of October 2015 and 34/1 of March 2017.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday’, while informing the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva that Sri Lanka was withdrawing from co-sponsorship of UNHRC Resolutions pertaining to the country, explained that the commitments made by the previous government had contributed to the lapses that resulted in the Easter Sunday attacks in April 2019.

The JVP says his faction had always opposed the co-sponsoring of the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 on Sri Lanka.

Due to the restriction on the intake of Advanced Level students into state universities, the government loses an estimated Rs.56 billion annually as there are more students seeking university entrance in foreign countries, Co-Cabinet spokesperson and Information, Mass Media, Higher Education,Technology and Innovation Minister Dr.Bandula Gunawardane said.

MP Ranjan Ramanayake granted bail by Nugegoda Magistrate’s court over charges of interfering with Judiciary, foreign travel ban also imposed.

Addressing the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena says that Sri Lanka will withdraw the co-sponsorship of Resolution 30/1 of October 2015.

The Department of Meteorology has issued a heat advisory in the North-Western and Western Provinces and in the Mannar, Galle and Matara Districts.

Acting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Shavendra Silva said that Navy and Air Force personnel have been deployed in selected areas to assist the traffic police as a temporary measure, to ease the traffic congestions in the Colombo City, from yesterday.

Minister of Foreign Relations, Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations Dinesh Gunawardena who leads the Sri Lanka delegation to the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council has arrived in Geneva today.

A collective of Teachers’ and Principals’ unions will launch a sick note campaign today demanding to rectify their salary anomalies, Lanka Teachers’ Association Secretary Joseph Starlin said.

A fire has erupted at a marshy land on the Rajagiriya-Buthgamuwa road. Air Force Spokesperson Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne stated that a Bell 212 helicopter has been deployed to douse the fire.