News
Lanka appoints first female Acting Secy. to President
Chandani Wijewardena has been appointed the Acting Presidential Secretary, marking the first time in Sri Lanka’s history that a woman assumed this esteemed position.
The appointment comes as President’s Secretary, Saman Ekanayake, is accompanying the President on an official visit to India.The decision was announced on Thursday (20) and will remain in effect until Saman Ekanayake returns to the island.
Chandani Wijewardena, a senior civil servant, is currently serving as a Senior Additional Secretary to the President, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to her new role.
Her illustrious career spans back to 1994 when she joined the Sri Lanka Planning Service. Over the course of 22 years, Wijewardena held various critical positions within the Treasury and ultimately rose to the position of Director General of the Planning Department.
Notably, Chandani Wijewardena has also held significant leadership roles in various ministries. From 2015 to 2019, she served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Development Strategy and International Trade, contributing her insights and skills to the nation’s economic development.
Her appointment represents a significant milestone for gender equality and serves as an inspiration for women across the country, said the President’s Media Division.
Based on the prevailing disaster situation and the upcoming festive season, arrangements have been made to provide a nutrition allowance worth Rs. 5,000 to pregnant mothers.
This allowance, which will be provided only once, will be given to pregnant mothers who were registered at maternal clinics on or before 30 November 2025.
The distribution will take place through the Divisional Secretariat offices from 16 December, as a program of the National Secretariat for Early Childhood Development, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs.
The Situation Report released by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) at 6:00 AM today (13th December 2025) confirms that 640 persons have died and another 211 persons are missing due to flooding and landslides that took place in Sri Lanka within the past two weeks.
A meeting between representatives of UNICEF and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya was held on the 10th of December at the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the discussion, an initial review of the new digitalization policy draft was conducted, and it was emphasized that the new digital policy must be formulated to align with the ongoing education reforms.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the digital policy should be developed in a way that supports all five core pillars of the current education reforms, including curriculum reform, infrastructure development, and administrative restructuring.
It was further noted that the current draft is primarily focused on curriculum-related matters, and the digital policy should be structured to influence the overall education reform process.
Extensive discussions were also held on the importance of digital literacy, NEMIS, the provision of digital infrastructure, and minimizing the existing digital divide.
Attention was also drawn to the gaps in the current teacher training mechanisms , and the Prime Minister stressed the need to reduce paper usage.
The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives Dr. Emma Brigham and Deborah Wyburn, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Additional Secretary A.B.M. Ashraff, and several other officials.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
Pregnant Mothers to receive Rs 5000 Nutrition Allowance in December
640 deaths, 211 missing as at 6:00AM today (13)
New Digitalization Policy draft reviewed
The government is taking steps to streamline trade facilitation, customs processes, investment approvals, and improving export facilities – Prime Minister
Showers will occur in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, Uva, Central and North-Western provinces.
Big fossil fuel companies are responsible for climate crisis but poor countries like Sri Lanka are battered by it – Greenpeace South Asia
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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