The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, has called on the Speaker of the Parliament, Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, at the Parliamentary premises recently. During the meeting, High Commissioner Santosh Jha extended his New Year wishes to Speaker Dr. Wickramaratne and reaffirmed the strong bilateral relationship between India and Sri Lanka. He invited…
Sri Lanka’s health authorities are on the alert for the recent spread of Human metapneumovirus (HMPV), but no patients have been confirmed from the island so far, Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said. Speaking in Parliament yesterday (Jan. 09), he said that there was a suspected patient but tests were negative. “We are keeping watch on…
The Bill for the Appropriation Act to allocate funds for the 2025 fiscal year is scheduled to be presented in Parliament today for its first reading. According to the Parliament’s Department of Communication, the second reading of the Bill, also known as the Budget Speech for this year, is scheduled for the 17th of February….
Underwriting profitability for Sri Lankan non-life insurers will gradually improve as they enhance practices and shift focus to more profitable non-motor segments, Fitch Ratings says in a new report. This shift includes adjusting policy pricing, particularly for motor and medical insurance, to better cope with inflation and rising claim costs. Motor insurance profitability faces challenges…
According to the latest reports from the Department of Prisons, the capacity of prisons in Sri Lanka has exceeded by approximately 300%. The reports reveal that the capacity of remand prisons has surged by 400%. Sri Lanka has 18 remand prisons, with severe overcrowding reported in Magazine Prison, Colombo Remand Prison, and Welikada Prison. Additionally,…
The newly declared detention center at the Mullaithivu Air Force camp has reportedly been used to detain 103 Rohingya refugees rescued recently. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijeyapala stated that an investigation is underway to verify if these individuals are genuine refugees, as there are allegations of connections with human traffickers. The Sri Lanka Human Rights…
Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasekara issued a stern warning to prison officials, emphasizing, “Prisoners are humans too,” after witnessing 40 detainees shackled together with a single chain and brought into the courtroom. The Magistrate criticized the inhumane treatment and instructed prison officers to refrain from treating prisoners like animals. The incident occurred during the judicial…
The Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government has announced that the amended Provincial Councils Elections Bill will be presented to Parliament next week. Minister Professor Chandana Abeyrathna stated that the bill has already been gazetted. He mentioned that after the bill is presented to Parliament, it will be passed by this month,…
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) reached a historic 2.41 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in throughput, marking its highest-ever performance. The Port of Colombo, including terminals like South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) and Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), recorded a total of 7.78 million TEUs. Ongoing infrastructure developments, including the partial operation of the…
Sri Lanka Police have launched the e-Traffic mobile application, a cutting-edge tool aimed at reducing traffic violations and improving road safety in line with the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative. The app was officially launched yesterday (January 01) by Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasuriya, at a ceremony held at the Police Headquarters….
