Jul 3 (AD) A 12-hour water cut has been announced for Colombo and several surrounding areas from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow. Accordingly, water supply will be suspended in Colombo 01 to Colombo 15, as well as Battaramulla, Pelawatta, Hokandara, Koswatta, Thalawathugoda, Sri J'pura Kotte, Rajagiriya, Mirihana, Madiwela, Nugegoda, Nawala, Kolonnawa, IDH, Kotikawatta, Angoda, Wellampitiya, Orugodawatta, Kaduwela, Maharagama, Boralesgamuwa & Piliyandala. more..

Jul 3 (DM) Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga Bodaragama today ordered that Attorney-at-Law Rakitha Rajapaksha, SJB Horana former Organiser Charith Abeysinghe and former Airport Director of the Civil Aviation Authority Aruna Sri Chathuranga be further remanded till July 17. The three suspects were arrested by the CIABOC in connection with the alleged demand and acceptance of a Rs. 120 million bribe from the wife of an alleged organized criminal in return for facilitating benefits for him. more..

Jul 3 (FT) As calls grow from Opposition lawmakers for SL to secure a successor IMF program before the current EFF expires next year, Advocata Institute CEO Dhananath Fernando argued that another bailout need not become inevitable if the Govt uses its political mandate to implement long-delayed structural reforms now. Fernando said SL had regained macroeconomic stability through painful adjustment more..

Jul 3 (DM) Police have taken a private bus into custody and arrested its driver following a viral video showing a highly dangerous and competitive incident of reckless driving. The event, which involved a private passenger bus and a state-run SLTB bus, took place in the Kotavila area along the Galle-Midigama road. According to DIG W.P.J. Senadheera, the incident occurred on July 1 at approximately 4:30 PM. Video footage shows the private bus aggressively blocking SLTB bus, more..

Jul 3 (NW) Court of Appeal has fixed Aug 31, 2026, to hear arguments in the Quo Warranto application challenging the eligibility of MP Archchuna Ramanathan to hold office. The matter came up before the Court of Appeal today but was postponed as the bench was not properly constituted. The application was filed by Oshala Herath, leader of the Abhinawa Niwahal Peramuna, who claims that MP Ramanathan submitted his nomination papers for the recent General Election while still serving more..

Jul 3 (AD) Health authorities have warned of a growing spread of dengue among children, noting that some infected children are developing complications even after recovering from the illness. Dr. Deepal Perera of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH) said dengue can, in rare cases, lead to complications affecting the brain, while also causing severe muscle and bone pain and potentially impacting the heart. more..

Jul 3 (NW) The distribution of land permits under govt’s large-scale programme to issue 10,000 land permits in Uva Province was successfully carried out, providing legal land ownership documents to residents of Bandarawela, Haputale, Haldummulla and Ella. The programme, aimed at securing land rights for people in the Uva Province who have been occupying land without formal permits for a long period, is being implemented under the issuance of 10,731 land permits. more..

Jul 3 (NW) An official meeting was held on July 2, at the Ministry of Ports and Civil Aviation between Minister Anura Karunathilaka and a Pakistani delegation led by Defence Secretary Muhammad Ali. During the meeting, extensive discussions were held on further strengthening the long-standing friendship and bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Special attention was paid to expanding cooperation in the aviation sector, improving air connectivity between the two countries, more..

Jul 3 (NF) Judges of the Civil Appellate High Court of Negombo, Yvonne Fernando and Nirosha Fernando, dismissed a petition filed on behalf of former IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former State Intelligence Chief Nilantha Jayawardena seeking relief. The petitioners had challenged the order of the trial court refusing to take up an objection as a preliminary issue of law. Victims of the Easter Sunday attacks had filed actions against Pujith Jayasundara and Nilantha Jayawardena, claiming more..

Jul 3 (CI) Sai Sudharsan had retired hurt during the first four-day fixture between Sri Lanka A and India A, but returned to action with an unbeaten century on day two of the second game at Galle. He was unbeaten on 104 at stumps, and giving him company was Devdutt Padikkal, who was 94 not out. Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal's partnership was unbroken on 181 for the second wicket, leaving India A only another 119 runs behind Sri Lanka A's first-innings total of 366. more..

Jul 3 (TM) SL’s gross official reserves are likely to miss the IMF's end-2026 target of $ 8.8 billion by roughly around 19%, as the current account transitions into a deficit and the Central Bank faces challenges in maintaining its existing pace of reserve accumulation, First Capital Research (FCR) has projected. Citing the last publicly available data for end-May, the unit noted: “Gross Official Reserves was recorded at more..

Jul 3 (NW) Leaders of the People’s Joint Opposition met the Mahanayake of the Amarapura Chapter, Most Venerable Karagoda Uyangoda Maithree Moorthi Thera, at the Devram Vehera Temple in Pannipitiya on Thursday to brief him on several issues facing the country. According to a statement issued by the alliance, the discussions focused on the country’s ongoing economic difficulties, including the foreign exchange shortage, the growing budget deficit and what it described as the unfair more..

Jul 3 (DM) Colombo Law Society (CLS), a premier professional association serving attorneys-at-law in SL has urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to refrain from proceeding with any Constitutional amendment seeking to extend the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, warning that such a move could undermine public confidence in the independence of the judiciary. In a letter dated July 2, Executive Committee of CLS said it had unanimously more..

Jul 3 (AD) Minister K.D. Lalkantha, states that a significant portion of the country’s tax revenue is spent on the farming community. Minister made these remarks while attending the event held to mark the renovation of the Maha Mankadawala tank bund and the construction of a gated spillway structure, implemented under the Vari Mahima Ape Urumaya (Grandeur of Irrigation, Our Heritage) national programme. more..

Jul 3 (NW) Court of Appeal today dismissed a revision petition filed by Yoshitha Rajapaksa seeking a ruling that the conspiracy charge against him in the money laundering case before the Colombo High Court could not be maintained. The petition challenged the conspiracy charge filed by the Attorney General under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, with Rajapaksa arguing that the charge was not legally sustainable. Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Amal Ranaraja and more..

Jul 3 (NW) Deputy Minister of Labour Mahinda Jayasinghe has instructed the Commissioner General of Labour to conduct a full investigation into complaints against Ceylon Newspapers Ltd, including the alleged non-payment of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) contributions. The Labour Ministry said the investigation will also cover complaints relating to the alleged non-payment of salaries and gratuity, as well as the alleged termination of employees. more..

Jul 3 (AD) Ministry of Health has announced that steps have been taken to grant appointments to a total of 2,652 Health Service Assistants, Public Health Management Assistants, Field Assistants in Mosquito Control, and Overseers within the next month. The appointments, made on the instructions of Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, are aimed at improving the quality of the country’s free healthcare system, enhancing the efficiency of hospitals, and ensuring uninterrupted hospital administration more..

Jul 3 (AD) Govt has decided to provide 50 modern paddy drying machines to cooperative societies across the country with each machine reportedly capable of drying nearly 10 metric tonnes of paddy per day. Accordingly, the govt has allocated Rs. 500 million in decentralized funds to supply the machines, each valued at approximately Rs. 10 million, to active and financially stable cooperative societies. Cooperative societies requiring paddy dryers may apply by submitting a proper more..

Jul 3 (DN) Former SL Navy Commander, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, was arrested today by the CIABOC after being summoned to record a statement in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation. CIABOC stated that the arrest was made at around 10 a.m. within the Commission premises by its investigative officers, following questioning related to alleged irregularities in the 2006 recruitment of more..

Jul 3 (NW) SL batsman Pathum Nissanka has successfully undergone wrist surgery in London, his manager Asanka Wijewardena confirmed. The operation was carried out today and was successful. Nissanka is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks as he recovers from the procedure. The surgery was performed at Sarum Road Hospital in London. Injury will rule him out of this year’s Lanka Premier League, but he is expected to be fit in time for SL’s upcoming Test series against India. more..

Jul 3 (DM) A delegation of the Tamil National People's Assembly (TNPA), led by its leader and MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, today met with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Joseph Vijay at the Tamil Nadu Govt Secretariat in Chennai and held discussions on several issues concerning SL Tamils. During the meeting, the TNPA submitted a written memorandum outlining its demands and concerns. Discussions focused on the political and human rights issues faced by Tamils in SL's N&E more..

Jul 3 (DM) The data released by DMC and Central Bank of SL indicate that Govt of SL has so far disbursed more than Rs. 24.4 billion in relief and compensation for those affected by Cyclone Ditwah. According to the data, the principal compensation payment has been the Rs. 25,000 house-cleaning allowance, which has been paid to 423,914 households. This represents more than 97% of the affected households. more..

Jul 3 (NW) Professor Fazeeha Azmi has assumed duties as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador-designate to Iran, becoming the country’s first female envoy appointed to the post. She formally assumed duties at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tehran on June 30. Addressing embassy staff, Prof. Azmi outlined the Govt’s priorities and stressed the importance of strengthening Sri Lanka’s longstanding ties with Iran, as well as with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, where she is also accredited. more..

Jul 3 (DN) Homagama Magistrate’s Court ordered the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) depot in Homagama to pay a fine of Rs.25,000 for maintaining dengue mosquito breeding grounds on its premises. The legal action was initiated following an inspection by the Homagama Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Office, which found mosquito larvae at multiple locations within the depot. Recent inspections by the Homagama MOH uncovered active dengue mosquito larvae breeding more..

Jul 3 (FT) Over the next six months of this year, we will see significant changes in monetary policy and the use of macroprudential policy tools to bring private credit growth back, at least to a moderate level of around 13% or so. The objective is to stabilise and prevent significant volatility in the foreign exchange rate. A stable exchange rate is crucial to a country’s economic growth. This is true for a country that plans to increase Foreign Direct Investment to balance Balance of Payments more..

Jul 3 (FT) If you are a lawyer, and you have taken an oath to uphold and safeguard the law of this land, then live by that oath. Ethics cannot be selective. Integrity cannot be situational. If you are a President’s Counsel, your obligation is even greater. With seniority comes responsibility. With stature comes accountability. You cannot preach principles in public and practice compromise in private. You cannot speak of justice while participating in systems that undermine it. more..

Jun 3 (Island) The CIABOC probing bribery allegations pertaining to the recent arrest of attorney-at-law Rakitha Rajapakshe, former SJB Horana organiser Charitha Abeysinghe and another person is expected to question drug dealer Nadun Chintaka alias Harak Kata being held under the PTA. CIABOC arrested Rakitha and Charitha Abeysinghe and former Director of Airport and Aviation Services Aruna Sri Chathuranga more..

Jun 3 (DM) A unique operation set to mark a historic moment in SL’s railway history is scheduled to be carried out tonight, with a locomotive being transported between Kandy and Peradeniya without using railway tracks. Accordingly, M5 class locomotive No. 781 is being prepared to travel from Kandy to Peradeniya via the highway, in what is believed to be the first such movement in the country’s history. The Department of Railways said the decision was taken as restoration work more..

Jun 3 (Island) Deputy Minister Hansaka Wijemunige states that the Ambuluwawa Biodiversity Complex and Reserve in Gampola is a public property and therefore it will be taken over by the govt soon. Ambuluwawa Biodiversity Complex and Reserve in Gampola is currently managed by the Ambuluwawa D.M. Jayaratne (former PM) Religious Centre and Bio-diversity Complex Trust Fund. It was established as a statutory body corporate under a dedicated Act of Parliament (Act No. 44 of 2009). more..

Jun 3 (Island) Denying social media claims that Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith used the 2019 Easter Sunday attack to have his term extended, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in SL (CBCSL) has declared its confidence in him. The CBCSL emphasised that only His Holiness the Pope has the full authority to decide the date on which the retirement of a Bishop will officially take effect. more..

Jun 3 (AD) An Extraordinary Gazette Notification has been issued introducing amendments to the food colour-code labelling regulations for sugar-containing liquid food products. The amendments were issued by Minister Nalinda Jayatissa under Section 32 of the Food Act, No. 26 of 1980, and were published in the Extraordinary Gazette dated June 23. According to the new amendments, new regulations have been introduced for the design and display of red, amber & green colour logos more..

Jul 3 (NW) Former Minister S.M. Chandrasena was served with indictments before the Colombo High Court in connection with corruption charges filed by the Bribery Commission. The indictments were presented before High Court Judge Ravindra Premaratne, who ordered Chandrasena’s release on cash bail of Rs. 50,000 and two surety bails of Rs. 1 million each. The case has been fixed for hearing on July 22. The charges relate to the period between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2014, when more..