The circular for paying government employees the Rs. 2500 interim monthly allowance has been issued.

The State of Emergency imposed in the country has been extended by another month from today (May 22) considering the situation of the country.

President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the police and security forces not to close roads in a manner that would inconvenience the public during VIP movement.

Thirty-two persons, who were arrested over the unrest in Minuwangoda, have been granted bail by the Minuwangoda Magistrate’s Court today.

A clash between two groups of people in Weheragodalla, Grand Pass over a personal dispute, claimed the life of one individual.

NEW DELHI: Even as DNA tests conclusively proved that Zahran Hashim, chief suspect of the Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka, died in the attacks, India worries that the growing tensions between the nation’s Buddhist majority and Muslim minority might plunge the island back into another crisis of the kind that saw a bloody war culminating in the LTTE’s elimination a decade back.

Informed sources said, Minister Rishard Bathiudeen had told the United National Front (UNF) Parliamentary group meeting yesterday (21), if all Parliamentarians in the Government urge him to resign from his Ministerial portfolio, he will do so and sit in the Opposition as an independent.

The NFF charges that the JVP has moved a no-confidence motion against the government with an intention to save Minister Rishard Bathiudeen.

Weeping Sri Lankan Catholics lit candles and prayed in a memorial service outside a bombed church on Tuesday, one month after Easter bombings by Islamist militants killed more than 250 people.

The Government Analyst’s Department said today the DNA tests had matched and confirmed the identity of the suicide bombers including that of Mohomad Zaharan, police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Former DIG Nalaka de Silva, who was arrested in connection with the alleged VIP assassination plot, was released on bail by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court today.

The governments of Japan, India and Sri Lanka have agreed to develop a container terminal at the Port of Colombo, which has attracted major investment from China under its Belt and Road initiative, a Japanese newspaper reported.

The no-confidence motion (NCM) against the government was handed over to the Speaker by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) a short while ago.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said the Government will not grant permission to operate Sharia Universities and Madrasa Schools will be brought under the Education Ministry.

The first set of Afghan and Pakistani refugees were resettled in Jaffna yesterday.

The State Intelligence Service (SIS) officers, in Ampara, arrested National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) leader Zaharan Hashim’s Kalmunai leader Siyam, on Sunday, and four other members yesterday.