When Colombo’s mayor announced Sri Lanka’s congested capital would go car-free this Sunday to promote a “healthier” lifestyle, she might have expected a few grumbles from petrolheads.

Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told Parliament yesterday that drug companies paid doctors for prescribing their drugs.

Sri Lankan prosecutors said on Thursday tests would be needed to establish whether a Muslim doctor had sterilized Buddhist patients, while there was no evidence to support other charges against him of links to terrorist groups or money laundering.

UNP MP Hirunika Premachandra said yesterday the JVP should have brought in an impeachment against the President instead of a no-confidence-motion (NCM) against the government as he was the one who should take responsibility for the April 21 terror attacks.

Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya says there is no proper planned election system in Sri Lanka.

All Muslim Parliamentarians who resigned from their Ministerial portfolios after the Easter Sunday attacks have decided to re-assume their posts.

Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday defeated a no-confidence motion in Parliament that accused it of failing to prevent Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 250 people.

Dr. Mohamed Shafi of the Kurunegala Hospital has been further remanded until July 25 by the Kurunegala Magistrate Sampath Kariyawasam today.

A lawyer who sustained injuries from the suicide bomb on Easter Sunday at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking a compensation of Rs.500 million for the injured.

The Office of the Prime Minister has dismissed allegations made by General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara claiming the Land Reforms Draft Bill which is due to be taken up for debate in Parliament was gazetted without the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, as entirely false and misleading.

A Pakistani national has been arrested with over 2 kilograms of heroin at a hotel in Kollupitiya.

SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera, MP, yesterday, requested the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday carnage to investigate and find out the names of foreigners and local politicians who had stayed at Hotel Taj Samudra on April 21 as that would lead them to the persons behind the attack.

The retail prices of fuel have been revised with effect from midnight today based on the fuel pricing formula, the Finance Ministry said.

The debate on the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the government commenced in parliament, a short while ago.

Security will be strengthened for the Kandy Esala Perahera, said Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara. These security measures will be taken to ensure the safety of local and foreign tourists who will be visiting the Kandy Perahera in large numbers from August 5 to August 15.

The Finance Ministry appointed Committee will convene today to review domestic fuel prices, based on the Cabinet-approved monthly fuel pricing formula.