News

Aragalaya far from dead, warns SF

Published

4 years ago

2022/08/15

By Saman Indrajith

SJB Gampaha District MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament on Friday that the Aragalaya campaign was very much alive and asked his fellow MPs to beware of another wave of popular uprising.

Participating in the debate on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent policy statement in the House, Field Marshal Fonseka said that some boasted that they had put an end to Aragalaya. “They are mistaken. The Aragalaya is not over. It is taking heavy blows of suppression. It will survive this suppression. The youth will regroup and come back to end this rotten system. As always, my blessings are with them. People have no other way but to extend support to the youth, revolting for the system change. I call on the President to stop this suppression, covering behind the Emergency Regulations,” the Field Marshal said.

MP Fonseka said that President Wickremesinghe’s policy statement contained nothing new but the very same projects that the latter had been speaking of for decades. “Yet, this time around he did not promise to turn Trincomalee into a Singapore. Last time, he tried to do that under the Yahapalana government and even paid Rs 250 million to a team to design that project. But nothing happened. This time he did not speak of the project to build an underground road system, to end traffic in Kandy. A fee of Rs 300 million was paid to design that project. Corruption and frauds continue even under this government. Recently a shipload of gas was imported, paying 34 dollars extra per a tonne of gas. It incurred a loss of Rs 1,360 million. When the Yahapalana government came to power, SriLankan Airlines was showing an annual loss of Rs. 65 billion, but the incumbent President, then as Prime Minister, appointed one of his friends as Chairman and increased the salary, for the post, from five million to 10 million rupees a month. I pray that this time he would govern the country without that mindset to misappropriate the public funds.

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News

Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted

Published

7 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

7 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

8 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.