The list of names of prisoners sentenced to death for drug trafficking were to be handed over to President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday, Justice Ministry sources said.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that recent fuel price hike is not reasonable. He says in 2008, petrol was sold at Rs. 120 when Sri Lanka was buying crude oil at the much higher rate of USD 97 a barrel.

Four women and a male manager had been arrested by the Welikada Police for allegedly operating a brothel in the guise of an Ayurveda Medical Centre on the Kotte Road in Ethul Kotte last night.

Sri Lanka must pull back from any plans to implement the death penalty and preserve its longstanding positive record on shunning this cruel and irreversible punishment, Amnesty International said.

Fuel prices would be revised on a monthly basis, the government said yesterday.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday he might sign off on the execution of convicted drug traffickers still dealing from jail, as his country battles what officials say is a growing tide of drugs.

Plans have already been formulated and the necessary foundation laid to transform Sri Lanka into a fully developed country by 2050, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

The Cabinet of Ministers yesterday unanimously decided to carry out the death sentence on those who are convicted on drug charges, Buddhasasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said. The Minister said further that President Maithripala Sirisena instructed Justice and Prison Reforms Minister Thalatha Athukorale to take all relevant measures in that regard.

Two state banks – the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank – will extend financial assistance of Rs.13.5 billion to bail out the cash-strapped SriLankan Airlines, it is learnt.

A decision has been taken to increase fuel prices of CEYPETCO outlets from tonight, Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.

An Inspector of Police (IP) in-charge of Kalkudah Police administrative unit was arrested by officers of the Bribery Commission while accepting a bribe of Rs. 300,000 from a businessman today.

Electricity would be generated from garbage from June next year, bringing a solution to the garbage menace, said Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka.

A special programme titled Gamperaliya would be launched in 2019, through which sums of Rs. 200 million would be provided to each Divisional Secretariat countrywide for development and maintenance purposes, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said last Sunday.

A female body has been discovered, this morning (09, in a canal which directs water to Keselgamu Oya connected to the Castlereigh Reservoir, states Norwood Police.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said our country has a wealth of human resources and emphasised the need for utilising this human resource effectively and meaningfully. The Prime Minister made these comments at a meeting held in Moneragala Mahanama National School after opening a new aesthetic building on Saturday.