News

The Attorney General has filed charges against former Senior DIG, Anura Senanayake for deliberately concealing information in connection to the murder of former Sri Lankan rugby star Wasim Thajudeen.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday congratulated his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, as the BJP-led NDA government looks all set to form the government for the second term at the Centre. 

"Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you," Wickremesinghe tweeted.

As counting of the ballots for 542 Lok Sabha seats for the world's largest democracy is underway, the BJP seems to lead with 348 seats while the Indian National Congress is placed second in the list with 90 seats, as per the official Election Commission trends. 

In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won 282 seats, 10 more than the halfway mark, on its own and crossed the 300-mark with its allies.

If the trends convert into seats, this would be the first time in more than 40 years in India that a party with a majority on its own will be coming back to power with a similar showing.

The Lok Sabha polls that commenced on April 11 and wrapped up on May 19, saw approximately 900 million voters exercising their right to franchise and deciding the fate of around 8,000 candidates across 542 seats in the country. Out of these candidates, 724 were women and four were transgenders. 

The Sri Lanka Army held a series of events to mark the peaceful decade of peace since the end of the war.

The Permanent High Court-at-Bar has decided to commence hearing the case filed against the former Secretary to the Ministry Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in connection to the misappropriation of public funds used to construct the D.A. Rajapaksa Museum, on the 19th of June.

The order was delivered by the three-judge bench comprising judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratne, and Champa Janaki Rajaratne this morning (23).

The Special High Court also issued summons on four defendants of the case to appear before the court on the 19th of June.

The Attorney General had filed the case against Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former Chairman of Land Reclamation and Development Authority (LRDA) Prasad Harshana de Silva and five others for allegedly misappropriating state funds amounting to Rs 49 million for the construction of the D.A. Rajapaksa Museum and Memorial in Medamulana.

Cabinet approval was granted to construct two flyover bridges at Kohuwala and Getambe.

The proposal was submitted by the Minister of Highways, Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development, Kabir Hashim. Construction of the two flyovers will be carried out with the assistance of the Hungarian government.

The Kohuwala flyover will be constructed on Dutugemunu street to ease traffic on the Colombo- Horana road while the Gatambe flyover will ease traffic in Kandy.   

The ration and other allowances paid to all officers and other ranks in the Tri – Services have been increased by the government, the Ministry of Finance said today.  

Some of these allowances had not been increased for over the last 20 years.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera via Budget 2019 had proposed to increase the uniform allowance, rental allowance, the good performance allowance and the commando allowance of the armed forces. 

Accordingly, the monthly ration allowance paid to the officers of the Tri-Forces has been increased up to Rs. 23,231 and of other ranks up to Rs 19,350 with effect from January 2019.

The General Treasury last week granted its approval for the increase of the ration allowance following the calculation made by the Department of Census and Statistical on the list of goods included in the ration by the Sri Lanka Army.

In the meantime, the following allowances will be increased from the July 01,2019. 

• The rental allowance paid to all Tri Services personnel will be increased by 100 percent. 

• The Commando allowance, which is applicable to equal ranks in the Sri Lanka Navy and the Air force too will be increased from Rs 1000.00 to Rs 5000.00 per month. 

Furthermore, the Good Conduct allowance and the uniform up keeping allowance too will be increased by a substantial percentage. The Management Services Circular No 02 0f 2019, in this regard, was issued by the Treasury on May 21, to the relevant authorities.

The debate on the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen will be held on the 18th and 19th of June, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya informed parliament today.

It was reported that during the party leader’s meeting held yesterday, several opposition party leaders had voiced their displeasure over the dates of the debate. The Joint Opposition had demanded that the NCM debate be held on the 5th and 6th of June.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya however, pointed out it was not up to him to fix the dates and that it was up to the Government to do so in consultation with Party Leaders. 

Accordingly, the Speaker said the dates for the NCM debate for 18th and 19th of June and requested the opposition parties to accept it.

Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Mahindananda Aluthgamage, attending a media briefing yesterday, said that if the government postpones the no-confidence motion against Minister Bathiudeen, they would continue to obstruct the proceedings of the parliament.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has extended the date of ‘Allama Iqbal Scholarships’ till May 31 for as many as 1000 Sri Lankan students to study in the best higher educational institutions in the country.

According to the HEC official on Thursday, the scholarships would be provided under the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme.

The Scholarship offers full tuition fee of the Programme for study in Pakistani universities, accommodation allowance, study allowance, books allowance, and one-time return air-ticket, sources informed.

The official further informed that the scholarships were spread over next five years and provided an excellent opportunity for 1000 Sri Lankan students to visit Pakistan and pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degree programs in Engineering Science, Basic and Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences.

The programme aimed to promote an effective exchange of knowledge and better understanding of cultures and tradition between Sri Lankan and Pakistani students, he added.

The selected candidates will study in top-ranked Pakistani universities, learn about Pakistani society and values, acquire leadership skills, and help educate fellow Pakistani students and community groups about their country and culture, he said.

The Allama Iqbal Scholarships were part of HEC’s internationalization initiative to encourage international students to study in Pakistan. The women candidates were highly encouraged to apply for these scholarships.

The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thero has been granted a pardon by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Executive Director of the BBS, Dilanthe Withanage also confirmed the presidential pardon on his Facebook profile. 

It was reported that the Department of Prisons had sent a report with details pertaining to Gnanasara thero to the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. 

The President's Office had requested a detailed report including details on his behaviour in prison.