Sep 4 (AD) Cabinet has granted approval to the proposal to issue a new circular regarding the admission of students from Grade 2 to Grade 11, excluding Grades 5 and 6, in govt schools. Decision has been taken considering the need to implement the proposed new education reforms and to maintain the number of students per classroom within the approved limits. Therefore, it has been recognized that an appropriate mechanism more..

Sep 4 (CT) A senior officer of the Civil Security Dept revealed that more than Rs 62.76 million owed to the Govt remains unsettled from a special rice project carried out by the dept’s Welisara Sub-Unit. According to the officer, outstanding amount relates to rice, grain varieties, and other products obtained from seven battalions during 2021, 2022, and 2023. Despite the funds being due, no payment had been made as of 13 Feb 2024. “Welisara rice project does not have sufficient funds more..

Sep 4 (CT) Former General Secretary of the SLFP, Dayasiri Jayasekara, yesterday (2) claimed that current SLFP Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva and Acting General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake are not legally entitled to chair the party’s 74th Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was held at the party headquarters yesterday. Jayasekara criticised the 74th AGM, which he did not attend, and accused de Silva and Dissanayake of being illegally appointed to their positions. more..

Sep 4 (CT) The Green Climate Fund has taken steps to implement a special project that will provide direct and indirect benefits to 300,000 families of agricultural, rural, and estate communities living in villages and lower valleys surrounding the World Heritage Knuckles Forest. This programme is being implemented with the support of 89 stakeholders. This programme has been named the Dumbara Green Empowerment Project. This project, which aims to minimise the negative impacts of more..

Sep 4 (Island) Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), together with the Alumni Association of KOICA Fellows in SL (AKOFE), organized donation ceremonies on August 31 and Sept 1, to support schools in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla Districts with essential educational equipment. The donations were made to Soragune Maha Vidyalaya in Haldummulla and Heewelkandura Maha Vidyalaya in Mawelagama, both of which serve students from Grade 1 to Grade 13, more..

Sep 4 (Island) Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda said that the role played by the Navy in eradicating the LTTE couldn’t be suppressed by Amazon UK stopping sale of the wartime Navy Chief’s memoirs The Turning Point: The Naval Role in SL’s War on LTTE Terrorism Karannagoda, who served as the Navy Commander during Sep 2005 to July 2009, said that he was quite surprised by the Amazon UK decision. more..

Sep 4 (KT) Kuwait Airways announced that it will resume commercial flights to Colombo, starting Oct 26. The national carrier will operate four weekly flights on Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. In a press statement, the airline said Colombo remains an important tourist destination for its passengers, adding that the decision to relaunch flights reflects the company’s commitment to meeting customer demand and offering a wide range of global travel options. more..

Sep 4 (SM) A fishing competition targeting the invasive predator fish species known as the Giant Snakehead (locally known as Deduru Naya) is to be held later this month. The competition is organized by the National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA), Dept of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (DFAR), and Ministry of Fisheries of the North-Western Province. It will take place from 5 am – pm on Sep 20th, near the Natiya Bridge area of the Deduru Oya reservoir. more..

Sep 4 (Island) US Ambassador Julie Chung and Minister Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi, yesterday inaugurated the Godawaya Shipwreck Exhibition at the BMICH in Colombo, together with the Central Cultural Fund’s Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU). The event marked the culmination of the multi-year Godawaya Shipwreck Project, funded through the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), a US–SL partnership to preserve more..

Sep 4 (EN) SL has delayed a digital services tax till April 2026, from the original Oct 1, to iron out practical difficulties, Cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said. The VAT on digital services was part of an expansion of the tax based under an International Monetary Fund program. The delay was also discussed with the IMF, he said. Service providers had also requested more time. There have been concerns that the services like Paypal, and Stripe which are financial facilitators, more..

Sep 4 (TM) The Bar Association of SL (BASL) has voiced concern over recent threats of legal action against lawyers for their professional work on behalf of clients. In a statement, the BASL emphasised the independent role of attorneys in representing their clients' best interests within the law. The association reminded the public that there are established legal mechanisms for reviewing professional conduct. The BASL also cited a Supreme Court judgment from July 2021, which convicted more..

Sep 4 (TM) Former Secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) Saman Kumara Gunawardana says that the sport’s domestic governing body yesterday officially conveyed to World Athletics (WA) of the temporary suspension of the registration imposed on the former by Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage, last week. He said that they had taken a bit of time to undertake the task as they had not wanted to upset the applecart of the Monaco-based global body. This was in light of three Lankan elite athletes more..

Sep 4 (NW) Cabinet has approved a proposal to establish formal diplomatic relations between SL and Antigua and Barbuda. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the move is aimed at strengthening friendship and cooperation in political, socio-economic, and cultural fields, while securing mutual benefits for both nations. SL had earlier initiated diplomatic ties with 13 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and Antigua and Barbuda remained the last on the list. more..

Sep 4 (AD) Cabinet has approved a proposal presented by Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization, and National Policy, to formally close down 33 non-operational State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as part of Phase 2 of the govt’s state-sector reform program. The closures will be carried out systematically after the establishment of a Special Liquidation Unit under Ministry of Finance. more..

Sep 4 (EN) Sri Lanka is looking for private investors to set up a Customs inspection center at Kerawalapitiya as a public-private partnership, minister Nalinda Jayatissa said. A land belonging to the SL Land Development Corporation has been transferred to the SL Customs for this purpose, he told reporters. A committee appointed to determine the methodology for the establishment of the center has submitted its recommendations for selecting a viable business model. more..

Sep 4 (DM) Former MP Namal Rajapaksa has no chance of electoral success, even if he campaigns from village to village or house to house, Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe said. Minister Samarasinghe criticised past govts, saying, “They have been ruling from village to village, bankrupting the country, making it so poor that it is impossible to open an LC, and turning it into a nation unable to pay its debts. The people who saw that gave us a two-thirds majority. more..

Sep 4 (DM) Cabinet has approved to abolish the concessional payment scheme granted to former MPs for the purchase of houses from the Viyathpura Housing Complex. In July 2022, Cabinet approval was first granted to provide 101 housing units from the complex on a rental basis for one year to MPs who had lost their homes during the unrest of May 9, 2022. However, in July 2024, following requests from the MPs, Cabinet approved more..

Sep 4 (DM) Former Colombo Bishop of the Church of Ceylon Right Rev. Kenneth James Fernando passed away after serving the faithful for almost 70 years. He was a product of Royal College Colombo, Uni of Preradeniya and the University of Oxford UK. Bishop Fernando is the husband of Chihra Fernando a retired school principal and the father of two sons who are well established medical practitioners. His remains will lie at Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour Colombo from 10am Sunday more..

Sep 4 (AD) The case filed by the Attorney General under the Public Property Act against former ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Nalin Fernando and the former Secretary of the Ministry of Sports, Nanda Mallawaarachchi has been scheduled for further hearing on October 10 at the Colombo High Court. The case was called today (04) before Colombo High Court judge Manjula Tilakaratne. During the proceedings, former ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Nalin Fernando more..

Sep 4 (FT) The upcoming UNP annual convention this Saturday (6) will be unlike any other in its long history. It will be the first major event organised by an Opposition party since Ranil Wickremesinghe’s arrest and release, and the UNP is expected to use the heightened public and media attention to its advantage. Wickremesinghe’s planned special announcement alone would give the convention weight, but this year’s meeting is significant for more than optics and symbolism. more..

Sep 4 (CT) The hullabaloo over whether Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) misused public funds when he extended his official trip to Cuba and the US to attend a convocation ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton where his wife received an honorary degree has consumed significant amounts of media space and has attracted various comments, observations and views in support of, and against, RW. What is obvious from the comments and the views expressed is that, just like beauty is more..

Sep 4 (CT) Engineers and employees of the CEB have decided to launch an islandwide work-to-rule campaign from midnight today, in protest against what they allege is a restructuring process that violates provisions of the amended Electricity Act. Executive Committee Member of the CEB Engineers’ Union, Dhanushka Ramanayake, said that all trade unions of the CEB had unanimously agreed to take this trade union action more..

Sep 4 (DN) Two people have died and one person has been hospitalized after a bowser and a container lorry crashed through a safety fence and overturned in a road accident that occurred in the Madurupitiya area near the Meerigama entrance on the Central Expressway at midnight on Tuesday (02), the Expressway Police said. Police said that the deceased were identified as the bowser’s assistant, a resident of Deewela, Kegalle, and the driver of the lorry, a resident of Yapahuwa. more..

Sep 4 (DM) Dept of Examinations has released the results of the 2025 Grade 5 Scholarship Exam. Results can now be accessed online via the official websites of the Dept of Examinations: www.doenets.lk. Students can check their individual results by entering their admission number. A total of 51,969 candidates have passed the cut-off marks in the 2025 Grade Five Scholarship Exam. Exam was held on Aug 10 with 302,026 applicants, while 303,670 candidates actually sat for the exam. more..

Sep 4 (TM) The Human Rights Commission of SL (HRCSL), which conducted a fact-finding mission on the ongoing investigation into the mass grave site in Chemmani, Jaffna, has found that while specific institutional actors appear to be discharging their duties with commitment and care, there remains a gap in capacity and will among the law enforcement authorities to ensure accountability for the deaths of persons found at the site. more..

Sep 4 (FT) Health Ministry said it plans to install advanced infectious waste incinerators in 15 Govt hospitals under the Infectious Waste Management Improvement Project, funded by the JICA. The initiative, backed by a 503 million yen ($ 1 million) grant from the JICA, is intended to improve medical waste management and promote safer disposal methods. Incinerators are already operational at Trincomalee District General Hospital, Ratnapura and Kurunegala Teaching Hospitals, more..

Sep 4 (FT) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday urged the Government not to misuse the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as a tool to silence political opponents. Premadasa said the treaty is designed to protect individual rights and uphold democratic values. He referred to the Rabat Plan of Action, adopted under the ICCPR to provide guidance on preventing incitement to hatred without undermining free expression. more..

Sep 4 (Island) Dept of Zoology of the Uni of Colombo, in collaboration with Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, has launched SL’s first research project to track bats with GPS collars to assess the risk of Nipah virus transmission to humans. The initiative follows the discovery of the deadly pathogen in local bat colonies. Nipah is classified as a Stage III zoonotic disease, an infectious agent capable of spilling over from animals to humans and triggering limited outbreaks more..

Sep 4 (NF) Sri Lanka’s Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption has introduced a dedicated WhatsApp number for citizens to report suspicious activities. The number — 077 777 1954 — is now active and open to receive information related to bribery and corruption incidents across the country. The initiative aims to make it easier for the public to share evidence, tips, or complaints directly with investigators, using a platform that’s widely accessible and familiar. more..

Sep 4 (EN) SL is detaining BYD cars imported by the agent, and not third parties and other EV brands are also allowed to enter the country without tests, a statement after the latest court hearing said. SL authorities are planning to test EVs after the dispute over motor power, where the same model are sold with different power output by manufacturers. “Counsel for JKCG also drew the attention of Court to the fact that; SL Customs is, selectively, more..

Sep 4 (Island) Sri Lanka is setting its sights on becoming a regional digital powerhouse, with a USD 15 billion digital economy and USD 5 billion in digital exports projected by 2030, said Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eranga Weeraratne. Speaking to journalists at the Cinnamon Grand on the forthcoming INFOTEL 2025, the country’s largest and oldest ICT exhibition to be held between Nov 7 and 9 at BMICH, Weeraratne said the govt is accelerating its digitalisation drive more..

Sep 4 (DN) Skipper Vimath Dinsara led from the front with a fighting 45 off 61 balls studded with five boundaries, while wrist-spinner Vigneshwaran Akash turned the tide with a superb spell of 3 for 30 from his ten overs as Sri Lanka Under-19 fought back gallantly to snatch a one-wicket win in their second Youth ODI against West Indies Under-19 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Tuesday. Electing to bat first, West Indies Under-19 were bundled out for 201 in 47.5 overs. more..