News
Church rejects Udaya’s claims
By Norman Palihawadana
Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, and Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Colombo, yesterday (22) said that the Church rejected the report of the Committee of Inquiry, chaired by retired High Court Judge A.N.J. de Alwis.
They questioned whether former Minister Udaya Gammanpila had been engaged in a despicable project to undermine the fresh investigations launched by the new government.
Addressing the media at the Archbishop’s House, Borella, Rev. Fr. Fernando questioned the appointment of A.N.J. de Alwis, the sister of senior policeman Prasanna de Alwis, who is accused of concealing and destroying evidence in a murder investigation, as the head of this committee.
Rev. Fr. Fernando said that the report, produced under controversial circumstances, couldn’t be regarded as impartial or independent.
“Therefore, we completely reject this report,” Rev. Fr. Fernando said.
The Church called the media briefing to respond to former Minister and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila’s call to remove Senior DIG Ravi Seneviratne and SSP Shani Abeysekera, currently holding the position of Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security and head of Easter Sunday investigation, respectively, as they were faulted by the Alwis Committee.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Selfies and smiles: South Korea seeks ‘new phase’ in ties with China
M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
Implementing the programme to provide concession for pepper, coffee and cardamom plantations affected by the disaster
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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