COLOMBO (News1st): The interactive dialogue on the report of the UN human rights chief on Sri Lanka continued for the second day at the 46th UN Human Rights Council sessions today. Several members countries of the UN expressed their views on the report during the session. The UK, that leads the Core Group on Sri Lanka [2/25/2021] …
COLOMBO (News1st): Former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the then president Maithripala Sirisena had not convened National Security Council meetings after the political crisis in October 2018. After he dismissed me as Prime Minister, when Mahinda Rajapaksa was made prime minister for 52 days he did not invite him for the meeting either, [2/25/2021] …
COLOMBO (News1st): The government cannot claim that they are being targetted by Western countries, opposition lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said. …this government that violated democratic principles in the country, and demolished the legal framework as well, Dissanayake said on Wednesday. He pointed out that foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardana had informed the UN human rights council [2/25/2021] …
COLOMBO (News1st): An Indian aircraft carrying 500,000 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka, from Chennai, India this afternoon. The consignment was brought to the country on the aircraft’s freezer storage facility, before being placed in the refrigeration facility at the Import Cargo Storage Complex of the Katunayake Airport. The consignment of [2/25/2021] …
COLOMBO (News1st): The gazette on allowing the burials of COVID-19 deceased has been sent to the department of government printing, minister S.M. Chandrasena has said. He said that health minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi had conveyed this matter during a party leaders meeting held on Thursday. The technical committee has declared that the bodies of COVID-19 deceased [2/25/2021] …
The Executive Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party on Thursday (25) unanimously decided to reject the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the 2019 April 21st Attacks. The proposal on rejecting the report was presented by MP Nimal Siripala De Silva, and it was unanimously approved by the [2/25/2021] …
Police investigations have revealed the 45 kilograms of heroin seized from Horana on Wednesday (24) night, were part of a drug trafficking ring operated by two leading traffickers from Dubai. Deputy Police Chief Ajith Rohana speaking to reporters on Thursday (25) said one of them is identified as Ruwan Chinthaka from Weligama, who [2/25/2021] …
Police Special Task Force personnel fired shots into the sky in order to stop a car suspected of transporting drugs on Thursday (25) evening in Wattala. Sri Lanka Police said STF personnel were in pursuit of a car in Wattala and had opened fire into the sky, in order to stop it. The [2/25/2021] …
Sri Lanka’s crude oil price stabilization fund, which was set up to absorb shocks in global price fluctuations without changing the local oil prices, has hit rock bottom, it was revealed on Thursday (25). Finance Secretary S.R. Attygalle speaking to reporters said the surcharge was directed to the oil price stabilization fund, and [2/25/2021] …
State bodies in-charge of forest land management were not consulted when lands from the Rambakan Oya forest reserve were released for private investments, an investigation had revealed. The Rambakan Oya forest reserve is surrounded by the Hambe-Hela, Kabaragala, Nil-Gala, Manikkawel and Mal-Gaha-Ussa forest systems, and the ancient ruins dating back to the era of King Buddhasa add more historic value to the forest [2/25/2021] …
