Jan 14 (AM) The Right to Information (RTI) Commission yesterday (13) ordered the Presidential Secretariat to release, before 31 January, information requested on vehicles handed over to the Secretariat by officials whose appointments were limited to the term of the former President. Freelance journalist Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi had filed the original RTI request seeking details of the vehicles handed over to the Presidential Secretariat after 23 September 2024. more..

Jan 14 (AD) Police have intensified measures against drivers operating vehicles under the influence of drugs, with a mobile laboratory now in operation to detect drug-impaired driving, according to DIG in charge of the Traffic and Road Safety Range, W.P.J. Senadeera. DIG stated that the law will be strictly enforced against drugged drivers. He revealed that more than 7,000 cases related to drunk driving have been recorded so far this year. DIG Senadeera emphasized that while consuming alcohol is a personal choice, more..

Jan 14 (DM) Drug addiction in the Kandy district has increased fivefold in 2025 compared to the previous year, Senior DIG in charge of the Central Province, Lalith Pathinayake, said yesterday. Addressing the Ratama Ekata National Operation aimed at eradicating the drug menace, held at the Kandy District Secretariat, Senior DIG Pathinayake said police raid reports indicate a sharp rise in the circulation and use of narcotics in the district. more..

Jan 14 (TM) A new and exciting tourism attraction, the Dambulla Bustaurant, is set to be introduced in Dambulla tomorrow, offering visitors a novel way to explore the region while enjoying a mobile dining experience. Designed to serve tourists traveling along the popular Dambulla–Sigiriya corridor, the specially outfitted bus will operate as a moving restaurant, allowing passengers to savor meals as they journey through key destinations. The circular route will begin in Pelwehera, more..

Jan 14 (AD) Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar has announced today that the delivery of the verdict in the case pertaining to the murder of former MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala has been postponed until 11 Feb. MP and his security officer, a Police Constable, were reported dead amidst the unrest in the Nittambuwa area during the nationwide incidents of violence on May 9, 2022. Initially, a shooting incident was reported in the Nittambuwa area that evening, following which a total of six injured more..

Jan 14 (DM) Patients at the Colombo National Hospital (CNH) have raised serious concerns over deteriorating services, claiming that basic facilities including cleaning and meal provision are not being carried out according to established procedures. Several patients alleged that the hospital’s meal service is in disarray, with raw eggs being served for breakfast alongside a piece of papaw and a bowl of boiled gram. According to patients, no tools were provided to crack the eggs, more..

Jan 14 (IE) In a lengthy and sharply worded letter to PM Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has sought to push India back into the centre of one of South Asia’s most unresolved moral and political questions: the future of the Tamil people in SL. The letter, written after what Stalin describes as detailed representations from Tamil leaders in India and SL, demands direct intervention at a moment when SL is preparing a new Constitution under Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake, more..

Jan 14 (DM) Former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake cautions that SL’s 2026 recovery remains on a fiscal knife-edge. Despite IMF-led gains and restructured debt relief of $17 billion, rising pressures from natural disasters and rigid revenue targets leave no room for error. MP Ravi Karunanayake has cautioned that SL’s economic recovery in 2026, while showing visible improvement on the surface, remains tightly constrained by debt obligations, fragile foreign exchange flows, and more..

Jan 14 (CT) Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC), the cultural arm of the High Commission of India in Colombo, organised the second Bharat-Sri Lanka Hindi Sammelan on 12 Jan at Sri Lanka Foundation, Colombo. The event witnessed the participation of over 400 scholars, teachers and students of Hindi from both SL and India, symbolising the deep cultural and linguistic ties between the two nations. The event was inaugurated by Santosh Jha, the High Commissioner of India to SL, more..

Jan 14 (DM) The proposed Salaries & Pensions Commission will be established as a top priority to ensure sustainable management of public employee salaries and pensions, The Public Admin, PCs and LG Minister, Professor Chandana Abayaratne said. Minister highlighted that the 2026 national budget includes the creation of the commission to address longstanding salary anomalies and pension-related issues, while taking into account challenges to public financial management. more..

Jan 14 (DM) Sri Lanka continues to fail survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, with decades of alleged abuses by State security forces remaining largely uninvestigated and unpunished, according to a new report covering the period from 1985 to 2024. The report documents a pattern of rape, sexual torture and other forms of sexual violence, primarily against civilians from marginalized Tamil communities, both during and after the armed conflict. more..

Jan 14 (AD) The Colombo High Court today ordered the recall of the arrest warrant issued against former Minister Wimal Weerawansa after he appeared before the court through his legal counsel. When the case filed by the CIABOC, alleging the unlawful acquisition of assets exceeding Rs. 75 million, was taken up this morning, the defendant was not present in court. Accordingly, Colombo High Court Judge Mohamed Mihal issued a warrant for his arrest and production before court. more..

Jan 14 (DM) Govt of the Federative Republic of Brazil has donated 10 high-capacity Water Purification Units to assist SL’s flood relief and recovery efforts following Cyclone Ditwah, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism said. The ministry stated that the donation was formally handed over to Minister Vijitha Herath by the Charge d’Affaires of the Brazilian Embassy in SL, Ms. Monica Maria Meirelles Nasser, on Jan 9, at the ministry’s headquarters. more..

Jan 14 (FT) SL Customs and Inland Revenue Dept have signed a MoU to conduct joint investigations into under-valuation of imports and related tax evasion, as part of broader Govt efforts to strengthen revenue administration. MoU was signed at the Ministry of Finance on 13 Jan in the presence of Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma. Operational reviews by SL Customs have identified that under-valuation of imported goods has resulted in tax revenue losses to the Govt. more..

Jan 14 (Island) Cabinet has approved the recruitment of more than 23,000 teachers to the state service, a move expected to support the implementation of the proposed education reforms. Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said the intake would strengthen the govt’s reform programme in the education sector. In Dec 2024, Cabinet appointed a committee headed by the Secretary to the PM to identify vacancies in the state service and review existing recruitment procedures. more..

Jan 14 (NW) Ministry of Education has issued guidelines for conducting Grade 6-13 educational activities this year after postponing the implementation of the new Grade 6 educational reforms until 2027. For grades 06-13, daily schedule must be revised to eight periods, with each period lasting 40 minutes. Timetables should be prepared accordingly, following the format used in previous years. Syllabus implemented for Grade 6 in previous years will remain in effect for the year 2026. more..

Jan 14 (CT) More than 135 women and women’s organisations have jointly written to the Prez, calling for urgent action to make the National Women’s Commission fully functional by allocating adequate finances, resources and independent office space. In the letter, the signatories say they have observed a worrying increase in incidents of violence against women across SL in recent months. They note that violence continues unabated in homes, workplaces, public spaces and online platforms. more..

Jan 14 (DM) Importers have agreed to reduce the prices of imported milk powder from Jan 16, Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security & Cooperative Development said. Accordingly, the price of a kilogram of imported milk powder will be reduced by Rs. 125, while a 400-gram packet will see a reduction of Rs. 50 from Jan 16. Ministry said the decision was made following discussions with milk powder importers today. Reduction aims to pass on the benefits of lower int'l prices directly to SL consumers. more..

Jan 14 (Island) A foreign couple was arrested by Wildlife officers over the alleged illegal collection and possession of insect and small animal specimens at the Horton Plains National Park, Dept of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) said. The arrest followed a routine inspection of tourists’ baggage carried out on the morning of 11 January at the entrance to the World’s End nature trail, inside the Horton Plains National Park, which comes under Central Wildlife Zone. more..

Jan 14 (CT) Cabinet approved a proposal to increase the festival advance provided to govt officers from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said. He said that under the existing provisions of the Establishments Code, govt officers are entitled to obtain a festival advance of up to Rs 10,000 to celebrate major religious and cultural festivals, including Thai Pongal, Ramadan, Sinhala & Hindu New Year, Vesak, Deepavali & Christmas, as well as for pilgrimages such as Sri Pada and Hajj. more..

Jan 14 (EN) Revenue collected by SL Customs in the first 13 days of January accounted for over 66% of January 2026 target. Custom’s January revenue target has been set 160.2 billion rupees. But the revenue collecting body has already collected 106.6 billion rupees in the first 13 days of this month. Customs has been accelerating container clearance since last month after Ditwah devastation hit the usual activities for at least four days in November amid higher imports in December. more..

Jan 14 (AD) Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) has decided not to implement an electricity tariff revision for the first quarter of 2026 due to the failure of the CEB to submit a formal tariff revision proposal within the due time. Commission said it reached this decision after considering the following factors: the failure to submit a formal proposal before the specified time, the defects in the original proposal, and the disadvantages of a high percentage change more..

Jan 14 (NW) A SL man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a SL woman whose body was found on a street in the Welsh capital last year, British media reported. Thisara Weragalage, 37, admitted killing Nirodha Niwunhella, also known as Nirodha, during a hearing at Newport Crown Court on Monday. Nirodha, 32, was found seriously injured between two parked cars on South Morgan Place in the Riverside area of Cardiff on Aug 21, 2025, and was pronounced dead at the scene. more..

Jan 14 (AD) Four Buddhist monks, including Ven. Balangoda Kassapa Thero, and five other individuals have been remanded until Jan 19 by the Trincomalee Magistrate’s Court for allegedly violating coastal conservation laws by placing a Buddha statue at the Trincomalee Bodhiraja Vihara on Nov 16, 2025. A tense situation had alter ensued following an attempt by authorities to remove the statue from the temple premises. Coast Conservation Department had previously lodged a complaint with the police, more..

Jan 14 (FT) Nearly seven years after the Easter Sunday bombings tore through churches and hotels, killing more than 270 Sri Lankans and injuring nearly 500 others, the most uncomfortable truth is this: the problem is no longer a lack of evidence, but a lack of political will. This is not a charge made lightly. It is a conclusion reached after watching successive govts promise closure, commission inquiries, reshuffle investigators, and speak solemnly at memorials—while more..

Jan 14 (FT) SL’s tourism industry has been guided by the Tourism Act No. 38 of 2005 through nearly two decades of growth, crises, and recovery. Its endurance is proof of its sound design and the careful consultation that shaped it. Having spent almost five decades in the hospitality sector, serving as President of the Tourist Hotels Association of SL, Group CEO of two major hospitality companies, and today as Chairman of the Asian Council on Tourism, I have seen firsthand how strong governance more..

Jan 14 (CT) Sri Lanka’s first-ever cable car project at Ambuluwawa, developed with technical and product expertise from China Machine-Building International Corporation under Amber Adventure, has threatened to withdraw, citing what the company calls unlawful threats and arbitrary actions by govt authorities that undermine the project’s viability. Director Huang Yuping stated that the company reserves its full legal rights to more..

Jan 14 (FT) Outgoing US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung paid a farewell call on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Tuesday (12). She is scheduled to depart from Sri Lanka on 16 January, marking the conclusion of her tenure as the United States’ top diplomat in Colombo from 2022 to 2026. During the meeting, President Dissanayake expressed his appreciation for Ambassador Chung’s indefatigable efforts to strengthen US–SL relations throughout her term of office. more..

Jan 14 (DM) Chief Incumbent of Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya, Walawahangunawewe Dhammarathana Thera, has criticised the govt’s proposed education reforms, claiming they would cause harm to the country. Thera said he was prepared to meet US Prez Donald Trump to explain what he described as the govt’s actions in destroying the country. He further alleged that a tax imposed by the US on SL had previously been reduced after a student known to him had approached the Trump family more..

Jan 14 (FT) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake sent a strong signal that the Govt would not allow Cyclone Ditwah to derail its economic and fiscal program, stressing that policy continuity would be maintained despite the scale of the disaster. “At the time we faced this disaster, Parliament was in the process of preparing our Budget,” Prez said at the public launch of Rebuilding SL post-Ditwah relief & recovery program. more..

Jan 14 (NW) Chief incumbent of the Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya, Walawahangunawewe Dhammarathana Thera, appeared before the CID in connection with recent public statements allegedly made about him. Thero’s lawyer said the visit was to lodge a complaint alleging that Minister K.D. Lal Kantha has been carrying out a strategic and well-planned attack against the monk using several online and social media platforms. The lawyer said the thero is a widely respected public figure more..

Jan 14 (Island) Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Agriculture and Resource Sustainability focused its attention on the progress of distributing compensation received in relation to the damage caused by the X-Press Pearl vessel, including payments made to fishermen and expenditures on coastal conservation. Accordingly, Committee recommended that a comprehensive report be submitted detailing the total amount of compensation received to date, more..