Dec 5 (FT) CEB Deputy General Manager Noel Priyantha said that 85% of power connections disrupted due to Ditwah have now been restored. He noted that there are nearly 7 million electricity consumers across the country, with Ditwah disrupting supply to 3.9 million of them. As of now, around 85% of these consumers have had their electricity supply restored. During the emergency disaster situation, 16,771 transformers became inactive, and 14,549 of them have already been repaired and restored. more..

Dec 5 (NW) The Rebuilding Sri Lanka fund has received close to LKR 700 million from overseas Sri Lankans, according to Dr. Harshana Sooriyapperuma, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. Announcing the figures, he said more than 30,470 transactions have been made so far through the account operated under Bank of Ceylon. In addition, foreign currency deposits into accounts maintained at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka have contributed nearly LKR 61 million to the fund. more..

Dec 5 (ST) Sri Lanka’s emergency response to Cyclone Ditwah unfolded under immense pressure this week, with national and district authorities activating early warnings, evacuations and search-and-rescue operations as the system intensified. Yet many affected residents said that they only realised the severity of the cyclone by Thursday night, raising concerns about how effectively warning systems functioned on the ground. Residents in areas with power interruptions, more..

Dec 5 (ST) CIABOC, which is investigating the decision to move the Ministry of Agriculture to the DPI Tower Building in Rajagiriya during the Yahapalana govt, has decided to question members of the cabinet sub-committee involved in the decision. Former Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella, who was a member of the said sub-committee, has been summoned before the commission on December 10 to provide a statement on the matter. Sub-committee was appointed to study the cabinet proposal to obtain the building on lease. more..

Dec 5 (ST) The Legal Aid Commission (LAC) has taken steps to appoint lawyers to represent parties that have been unable to secure lawyers in criminal appeals filed before the Supreme Court. Up until now, court appointed lawyers were only assigned to cases before the High Court and Court of Appeal. As such, steps are now being taken to draw up a proper mechanism whereby lawyers are appointed to criminal appeals being heard in the Supreme Court, and to pay them a fee for their services. more..

Dec 5 (DM) The local construction sector is poised to play a pivotal role in the country’s post-disaster economic recovery, with a renewed focus on reconstruction and climate-resilient infrastructure following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. Access Engineering Deputy Chairman Christopher Joshua highlighted that the industry is gearing up for a strategic shift, driven by urgent rehabilitation and reconstruction needs. Speaking on the aftermath of the cyclone, Joshua noted that more..

Dec 5 (FT) Hatch Innovation has marked the conclusion of the first cohort of seven female-led startups from SL’s Northern Province under the GRIT Business Accelerator Program with a Demo Day on the 25 Nov 2025 at HatchWorks in Colombo, where the entrepreneurs showcased their products and businesses to a range of stakeholders including investors, ecosystem builders and market linkage supporters. This is an important step towards building a sustainable, gender-responsive more..

Dec 5 (TM) A representative of the IMF has announced that Sri Lanka is expected to receive access to approximately $ 350 million, the sixth tranche of the EFF, within two weeks. This pledge comes in the wake of development partners reaffirming their commitment to supporting SL during this critical period. Ministry of Finance on Wednesday convened a high-level donor forum bringing together diplomatic missions, bilateral and multilateral development partners and more..

Dec 5 (Island) Sri Lanka has been heavily affected by floods, and extreme flooding is rapidly becoming one of the most disruptive climate hazards worldwide. The consequences extend far beyond damaged infrastructure and displaced communities. The food systems and supply networks are among the hardest hit. Floods disrupt food systems through multiple pathways. Croplands are submerged, livestock are lost, and soils become degraded due to erosion or sediment deposition. more..

Dec 5 (Island) JVP-led NPP govt has laid bare its Jekyll-and-Hyde nature by deciding to use Emergency regulations to suppress the media. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his address to the nation on 30 November, stressed that the state of Emergency, declared in view of recent weather disasters, would not be misused for undemocratic purposes, but on 2 Dec Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala directed the police to use the draconian Emergency regulations against social media. more..

Dec 5 (CT) The role of the Auditor General in the country is essential and highly important in upholding the transparency and integrity of the nation’s financial sector. In other words, the AG is an independent guardian of public accountability, ensuring this accountability by conducting audits on govt finances, compliance, and performance to guarantee that public funds are managed with integrity and transparency. Under their purview, AG’s Office conducts financial audits more..

Dec 5 (TM) The scale of destruction caused by cyclonic storm Ditwah is unlike anything Sri Lanka has faced in recent decades. Entire communities have been displaced, livelihoods have been erased, and key infrastructure across provinces has been damaged beyond immediate repair. While emergency operations continue, it is increasingly clear that the country’s path to full recovery will not be measured in weeks or months, but in years. Rebuilding must begin with an honest understanding of more..

Dec 5 (TM) A detailed examination of SL’s public service performance and Govt financial disclosures has highlighted a structural challenge within the State’s machinery. Mobility is a key capability in governance and the SL State sector fleet of civilian vehicles seems to be in a dilapidated state, rendering effective State intervention and services challenging due to reliance on them. The national vehicle fleet, comprising more than 93,000 vehicles across ministries, more..

Dec 5 (GV) As Sri Lanka currently counts human and economic costs of Cyclone Ditwah, the images are both disturbing and somewhat familiar: flooded hospitals, access roads buried by landslides, evacuation centres overflowing with displaced families and officials in health and disaster management services scrambling to meet everyone’s needs. The death toll is at 355 and rising, with hundreds more missing and over 200,000 displaced, with effects being borne disproportionately in the central hills and more..

Dec 5 (CT) After the storm, comes the calm—and after the darkness, the dawn. It is the common place maxim about storms and perhaps cyclones. Calm is not something we will have in the foreseeable future. Dawn will not follow darkness any time soon. Instead, we are promised a convulsively deranged cacophony of recriminatory slanging between the govt and the opposition. Opposition has suddenly acquired plenty of wisdom on hydraulic engineering and metrological forecasting. more..

Dec 5 (SO) SL’s latest bout of extreme weather has triggered one of the most widespread disasters since 1978, with landslides, floods, and structural failures reported across the island. According to Deputy Minister of Environment and geologist Anton Jayakody, scale of devastation has been worsened by decades of unauthorised construction in high-risk zones, particularly on unstable slopes and near tank reservations. He outlined how illegal development more..

Dec 5 (DM) It goes without saying that Sri Lanka is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. In recent decades, the country has been regularly lashed by extreme weather conditions in the form of either prolonged droughts or relentless rains. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed or remain unaccounted for in the last week’s weather violence, due to the direct impact of Cyclone Ditwah, named after a picturesque lagoon in war‑ravaged Yemen. Prior to this, more..

Dec 5 (DM) The era of global warming, no country is immune from extreme climate events such as cyclones, floods, or heatwaves. Yet nations with stronger disaster-preparedness systems consistently mitigate damage and reduce death tolls. The global lesson is clear: countries must learn from past catastrophes and adapt their response mechanisms accordingly. Japan stands out as a textbook example. After the magnitude 7.3 quake that struck the Hanshin region of Kobe and Osaka, as well as the Awaji Island area, more..

Dec 4 (FT) Finance Ministry yesterday convened a donor forum with diplomatic missions, bilateral and multilateral development partners, and lending agencies to review the current situation, outline the way forward, and coordinate support for national relief, rescue, and restoration efforts following the impact of Cyclone Ditwah. The forum was Co-Chaired by CB Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and Treasury Secretary more..

Dec 4 (FT) SJB MP Mujibur Rahman called for a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the Govt’s preparedness for Cyclone Ditwah, arguing that the administration failed to act despite clear early warnings. He also challenged the legality of the Rebuilding SL Fund, claiming it bypassed established disaster management laws and oversight mechanisms. Rahman said there was continuing uncertainty over whether the Govt had been properly informed about approaching more..

Dec 4 (EN) Cyclone Ditwah has left 829 dead and missing in Sri Lanka with hardest hit in areas in the central province of the hill country of the Indian Ocean Island. By Dec 3 evening 479 persons were confirmed dead and 350 were still listed as missing in Sri Lanka, with 1.61 million were hit by floods and landslides, the island’s DMC data said. In the more highly populated Kandy area in the central hills which includes Gampola, 118 were confirmed dead and 171 missing. more..

Dec 4 (NW) Only 478 km of SL’s 1,593-kilometer railway network are currently usable following extensive damage caused by the recent cyclone, Commissioner-General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi said Wednesday in a detailed situation update. He said the cyclone had severely disrupted transport, agriculture, power supply and telecommunications across multiple districts. The Ministry of Health has directed more..

Dec 4 (TM) Housing, Construction & Water Supply Ministry is preparing to engage the general public in discussions regarding the permanent relocation of individuals from hazardous areas officially identified as risky by the NBRO. Deputy Minister T.B. Sarath said that the recent disaster of a cyclone and related floods and landslides, which has wrought widespread havoc, both on a human and material scale, has brought about a grave realisation of the situation’s gravity and severity more..

Dec 4 (NW) Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said the SJB will take strict disciplinary action against members of the Kandy Municipal Council who obstructed a volunteer-run relief centre operating inside the municipal premises. Premadasa apologised to those affected by what he described as the bad behaviour and unwarranted actions of the councillors. He said the conduct of the members who objected to the activities of Soome and his team of volunteers was unacceptable, more..

Dec 4 (FT) SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva called for Parliamentary approval and oversight over the Rebuilding SL initiative. Speaking in Parliament, he said the proposed Rebuild Sri Lanka Fund cannot be created without the approval of the legislature. “Parliament has full control over public finance in terms of the Constitution,” he said. He noted that the Public Financial Management Act does not permit statutory funds to be established at will. “We have no objections to establishing the fund. more..

Dec 4 (TM) Devotees from other parts of the country have been requested to refrain from attending religious observances to be held in view of the Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day in Anuradhapura today (04). The Chief Prelate of the Atamasthana, the Ven. Pallegama Hemarathana Thera made this request considering the prevailing adverse weather conditions affecting Sri Lanka. He conveyed this message during a media briefing held in Anuradhapura. more..

Dec 4 (Island) NDF MP Ravi Karunanayake told Parliament that the Central Bank had not been under his purview when the bond scams took place. “At no point during my tenure as the Minister of Finance I was assigned the Central Bank. This is the first time I am publicly mentioning this,” Karunanayake said. He said so making a special statement under the provisions of the Section 27/8 Standing Order of Parliament. more..

Nov 4 (DM) SL Banks Association (SLBA), in a meeting with the Governor of the CB, pledged its fullest support to revive the country’s economy, following the damage inflicted by Cyclone Ditwah. The banks represented by the association stated that a detailed impact assessment has already been initiated across the banks to identify the impact to individuals, small businesses and large corporates and encouraged the impacted customers to speak to their respective bank branch managers. more..

Nov 4 (CT) The Attorney General’s Department, yesterday, informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama that steps have been taken, with Cabinet approval, to open a special account at the Central Bank to deposit funds recovered from suspects linked to the ‘Onmax DT’ pyramid-style financial fraud. Appearing for the Attorney General, the State Counsel said this was the first time such an account had been opened and that it would remain strictly under govt control. more..

Dec 4 (NW) Opposition political party leaders and representatives said that no govt can face the current national crisis alone, calling for a collective national effort to rebuild the country following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. They made the remarks at a meeting held in Colombo, convened by former Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe at the UNP headquarters on Malik Road. UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena said leaders or representatives from more than 35 registered more..

Dec 4 (DN) SL celebrates Unduvap Poya on the Full Moon of the Unduvap month, usually in December, to honour the arrival of the Sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi sapling in Anuradhapura. This profoundly meaningful event was made possible by Sangamitta Theri, daughter of Emperor Ashoka, who brought the sacred Bo tree sapling from India in the 3rd century BC. This holy day also commemorates the establishment of the Bhikkhuni (nun) Order by Sangamitta Theri—an event that transformed more..