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President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the government would assist the Colombo University to improve its quality.

The President made this observation during a discussion at the Dean’s Office of the Law Faculty having taken part in the Back to the Faculty-Faculty of Law, at the University of Colombo, which was organized to mark its 75th Diamond Jubilee today (10).

The President participated in the event as the first alumnus of the Colombo Law Faculty who became the Executive President of the country.

The casual discussion held with the participation of the Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. H. D. Karunaratne, Dean of the Faculty of Law Prof. Sampath Punchihewa,

Parliamentarians Professor G. L. Peiris and Madura Withanage, President’s Counsel Ronald Perera and several others.

The President, during the discussion, instructed the university authorities to prepare a program to establish the postgraduate institute and to recruit permanent staff to it to enhance the quality of university education. He said that the focus should be drawn to bringing the university among the best universities in the world rather than developing more and more of its infrastructure facilities.

This is how the university could attract foreign students into the country, he added.

He as well as several others recalled that the education of the law faculty was qualitatively high in the past even when the infrastructure facilities were not as good as today. During the discussion, the President also inquired about the progress of the planning to construct the engineering faculty at the Colombo University to which the authorities said that an area of four acres had been allocated.

On President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s arrival, he was received by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Secretary to the Law Faculty’s Law Society Senaka de Seram at the entrance of the Law Faculty.

The President posed for selfie photographs with the alumni on their request and a group photograph as well.

Over a thousand alumni were present at the occasion including Professor Prathiba Mahanamahewa, and Attorney-at-Law Shiral Lakthilaka.

Former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has told a court in Colombo that he cannot personally take responsibility for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday Terror Attacks.

He told the court on Monday (5) that as he is no longer the President of the country, the victims and their families must seek compensation by filing a case against the government, and not against him.

Earlier, a request made by Former President Sirisena to remove him from the list of respondents in the petitions filed over the Easter Sunday Terror Attacks at a separate court was rejected.

Sirisena filed an appeal challenging the decision, and the matter will be taken up again on the 28th of December 2022.

The Chairman of the National Election Commission Nimal Punchihewa says the gazette notification for the local government polls will be issued soon.

According to the Local Government Polling Act, to hold the election on 20th March 2023, the relevant gazette notification must be issued before January 5th 2023.

Therefore, several rounds of discussions have been held regarding the upcoming elections.

The Chairman of the NEC further said the related discussions will also be held in the coming days.

Litro Gas on Monday (5) announced that the prices of domestic cooking gas cyclinders will be increased with effect from midnight.

Price revision is as follows:

12.5 kg increased by Rs. 250/- to Rs. 4,610/- (Previous Price was Rs. 4,360/-)

5 kg increased by Rs. 100/- to Rs. 1,850/- (Previous Price was Rs. 1,750/-)

2.3 kg increased by Rs. 45/- to Rs. 860/- (Previous Price was Rs. 815/-).

• This price revision applies to the Colombo District.

Air quality in most parts of Sri Lanka has dropped to unhealthy levels due to an increase in dust particles in the atmosphere, warns the National Building Research Organization.

It says cooler weather and cyclonic conditions in the Bay of Bengal have exacerbated pollutants from India to enter the island and blanket many areas in thick fog.

The air quality index has fallen to 200 in Gampaha and to 167 in Colombo.

NBRO’s senior scientist Sarath Premasiri said the condition will ease by tomorrow when the cyclone moves away further from the island.

He said caution should be taken to prevent respiratory illnesses from the foggy condition, such as keeping to indoors as much as possible, wearing masks outdoors and keeping doors and windows closed.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has warned Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) against political interference in its affairs.

The ICC will send an official if any such instances are reported, it has written to Sri Lanka’s cricket governing body.

The SLC in turn has referred the letter to the Sports Ministry, deshaya.lk reports.

The warning comes amid reports of a group with political backing trying to get an interim committee appointed for cricket’s administration.

The SLC receives an average annual ICC grant of three million US dollars as well as additional payments for Sri Lanka’s participation in international fixtures.

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga has ruled out joining another party by leaving the SLFP.

In a statement, she pointed out that she was born and bred politically in the SLFP, came under attack on behalf of that party and would die as a SLFPer.

She said she would engage in politics as per the Bandaranaike vision which she values, while at the same time giving guidance to any other party.

The SLFP is in a woeful state due to its present policies as its leaders betray the party for opportunistic, petty gains, said Bandaranaike, adding that she remained committed to safeguard the Bandaranaike policies.

The finance ministry is to strictly adhere to a decision to discontinue granting service extensions to public servants upon completion of 60 years of age by the end of this year.

In the parliamentary staff alone, 27 officials on the verge of retirement are doing their best to get their jobs extended.

A top ministry official said the entire state service will be in a mess if that is allowed.

The ministry has also suspended transferring the ownership of official vehicles of state officials upon their retirement.

Secretaries of all ministries and heads of state entities have been officially informed about that decision.

An extraordinary gazette notification has been issued regarding compulsory retirement of government employees who have completed 60 years of age.

The extraordinary gazette notification has been issued by the Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, in his capacity as Minister of Public Administration Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government and will come into effect from January 01, 2023.

“Any Government employee may be directed to retire from Government Service on or after attaining the age of fifty-five years. All civil officers must retire compulsorily on attaining the age of sixty, except those officers whose age of compulsory retirement is fixed by the Constitution or by any other law, unless otherwise decided by a competent authority,” the gazette notification says.

The ‘Attaché Case’, Presidential Dispatch Bag of international standard designed by the Directorate of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the Sri Lanka Army, was handed over to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, by Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Army at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (02).

This Attaché Case was designed on a special direction by the President. It is a renowned tradition to accompany world leaders with a sophisticated briefcase with international standard, commonly called an ‘Attaché case’ that carries important and secret documents wherever they travel.

Introducing this world-famous tradition to our country, the President tasked the Sri Lanka Army to fabricate the Presidential Dispatch Bag in line with international standards.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Commander of the Army, a group of experts in the field headed by the Director General Electrical and Mechanical Engineers designed the Dispatch Bag as a unique creation incorporating high-end technology, as per specifications given by the Presidential Secretariat.

Addressing the event, the President said that this initiative could contribute to cutting down on filing costs and would be introduced to all ministries as well. On a daily basis, piles of files are sent to the Presidential Secretariat by the ministries to obtain the signature of the President. Hence, the President said that these dispatch bags could be used by the ministries for this purpose cutting down on the cost of files. He said that the Army could produce these bags for the relevant ministries.

The bag offers a combination of well-thought-out features for keeping the bag’s content safe and organized and it is made of premium leather which ensures its durability as it is expected by the President to hand over the Dispatch Bag from one President to the next in line.

The President, after accepting and inspecting the high quality and neatly finished Presidential Dispatch Bag, commended the Commander of the Army, the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and particularly, the skilful and versatile craftsmen of the Sri Lanka Army.

Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena has called for the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), Kingsley Ranawaka.

In a letter addressed to the SLTB chairman, the minister states that the ‘Park and Ride – City Bus Service’, which was initiated under a policy decision of the government, has been suddenly suspended without informing him, based on a decision reached by the Director Board of the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

The minister says that the City Bus service was immensely popular among the commuters and had managed to reduce traffic congestion on High-Level Road to a certain extent during rush hours in addition to the fact that it helped reduce CO2 emissions.

In the letter, the Transport Minister emphasizes that by suddenly suspending this programme, which was launched based on a policy decision of the government with the aim of providing facilities to the general public and easing traffic congestion and reducing environmental pollution, the SLTB chairman has disobeyed policy decision of the government.

Therefore, the Minister, under the powers vested in him by Sri Lanka Transport Board Act, No. 27 of 2005, has instructed Mr. Kingsley Ranawaka to resign from the posts of SLTB chairman and Director Board member with immediate effect.

Fitch Ratings on Thursday downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term local-currency debt rating by two notches to “CC” from “CCC”, Reuters reported.

According to the report, Fitch cited a probable local-currency debt default in the face of high-interest costs and tight domestic financing conditions for the downgrade.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst financial turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948 as a result of economic mismanagement, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out the Indian Ocean island’s key tourism industry.

Sri Lanka aims to restore growth to pre-crisis levels in 2026, a state finance minister said on Wednesday, with policymakers intent on meeting a December deadline to present proposals that might help unlock an International Monetary Fund bailout

The ratings agency has affirmed Sri Lanka’s foreign currency debt rating at ‘RD’ or in default territory, reflecting the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.