News

GL gives comprehensive account of new VC selection process

Published

6 years ago

2020/12/10

By Saman Indrajith

Education Minister Prof G.L. Peiris told Parliament yesterday that the government had introduced a transparent and fair method to select university Vice Chancellors.

Responding to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Prof Peiris said that the government had set up a five-member committee to select eligible applicants. The committee comprises experts from the administrative service.

Prof Peiris said that under the previous system, the names from the applicants for the post of Vice Chancellor had been selected by a vote at University Councils. There had been room for irregularities under that system, he said, adding that there had been instances where university Council Members were under pressure to vote for certain candidates.

Three applicants who got the highest votes would be sent to the President to select a person of his choice, Prof. Peris said.

The Minister said that under the new system candidates would face evaluations at two phases. Those who had rendered an outstanding service to the university system would get priority under the new system. The candidates would, according to the marks in evaluations conducted by the five-member committees would be selected. The government had no intention of changing the newly introduced mechanism, the Minister said.

Prof. Peiris disagreed with Opposition leader Premadasa’s observation that the new mechanism of selecting Vice Chancellors would amount to a contravention of Section 34 (1) –A of the Universities Act No 16 of 1978 and Universities (Amendment) Act No 7 of 1985.

The government had not given the Vice Chancellor or Acting Vice Chancellor posts to its friends and supporters, the Minister said.

Opposition Leader Premadasa asked whether the Minister could table the marking schemes and the number marks obtained by those who had applied for the post of Vice Chancellor at the universities of Jaffna, Uva, Kelaniya, Sabaragamuwa, Wayamba and Aesthetic University, and the Minister said that he would do so.

Opposition Leader Premadasa said that recently a Vice Chancellor had been selected to the Aesthetic University under the new mechanism and he was an expert in agriculture sciences and not aesthetic subjects. Prof Peiris said that selection had been made on consideration of the candidate’s administrative skills and there was no mandatory provision that the Vice Chancellors should be selected from a particular discipline.

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News

Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted

Published

3 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.

Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.

Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed

Published

3 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.

It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.

Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.

Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions

• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981

News

Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

3 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.

Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.