News
Speaker and deputy Speaker
By Saman Indrajith
Senior southern politician Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was unanimously appointed as the 26th Speaker of Parliament of Sri Lanka yesterday.Abeywardena entered Parliament in 1983 as a UNP MP by winning the Hakmana by-election.
He was one of the two MPs to vote against the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which came about as a result of the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987. He was removed from the UNP for violating party rules and later joined a breakaway faction of the UNP, the DUNF. He joined the SLFP in 2015.
Born on 10th October, 1945 in Makandura, Matara, Yapa Abeywardena received his primary education from Thelijjavila Central College and Rahula College, Matara. He then obtained his first degree from the University of Colombo. He has also received specialised training in Management from the Institute of Management, Chandigarh in India.
From 1993 and 2001 he was a member of the Southern Provincial Council; he served as Chief Minister from 1994 to 2001.
He has also held a number of Ministries such as Health, Cultural Affairs and National Heritage, Irrigation and Rural Development, Industry and Commerce, Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture.
Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, who was appointed Deputy Speaker completed his primary education at Vandala junior school and later joined Royal College, Colombo.
He first entered Parliament in 2004, as an MP for the Kegalle district. In 2005, he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Finance and Senior Minister under President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In 2007, he also served as the Minister of Finance and Revenue.
During the 2010 parliamentary elections, he was elected to Parliament with the highest number of preferential votes of 146,623 from the Kegalle district. He became the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and the Cabinet Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology. After the 2015 election, he served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, State Ministry of Environment and Cabinet Minister of Power and Renewable Energy.
He was subsequently elected as the State Minister of Education after the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Chartered Computer Institute of Sri Lanka was established in 1976 as the premier and sole body representing professionals in the Information and Communication Technology sector in Sri Lanka. It has recognized the importance of establishing the Sri Lanka Chartered Computer Association as the main professional organization to act on behalf of the interests of professionals representing the computer sector in Sri Lanka, which should be treated equally with other professional organizations that have obtained chartered status and other formal recognition.
Accordingly, taking into account a resolution furnished by the Hon. President, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to grant policy approval for the establishment of the Chartered Computer Institute of Sri Lanka and to instruct the Legal Draftsman to prepare a draft bill in line with the proposed objectives.
it has become essential to introduce appropriate revisions to the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act No 54 of 2007 so that a proper formal mechanism can be maintained in treatment and rehabilitation.
Accordingly, considering a resolution forwarded by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to grant the policy approval to revise the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act No 54 of 2007 and direct the Legal Draftsman to formulate a draft bill including the relevant amendments.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to appoint Mrs. O. T. M. I. Thilakarathne, the senior most officer in Sri Lanka Surveyors’ Service serving as an Additional Surveyor General of that Department to the Post of Surveyor General that will be vacant from 20.08.2026.
Charted Computer Institute of Sri Lanka to be established
Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act No 54 of 2007 to be amendmend
Mrs. O. T. M. I. Thilakarathne appointed to the Post of Surveyor General
Purchase of 600 buses for intercity / long distance services of the Sri Lanka Transport Board
Protection of Historical, Cultural, and Traditional Intellectual Property related to the Kandy Esala Perahera
Development of roads which are not under the Road Development Authority
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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