The Opposition yesterday argued in Parliament that the National Environment Amendment Bill was unconstitutional. The Opposition said that it violated the 13th Amendment.

SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa argued that the approval of the Provincial Councils was required for the Bill to go ahead, as it was a subject in the Concurrent List of powers as per the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The MP also said that the clause which enables the Central Government to file legal actions against Local Government bodies was unconditional as well, since local bodies are included in the Provincial Councils list.

“How can you go ahead at a time when the Provincial Councils do not function properly,” Premadasa questioned.

ITAK MP P. Sathyalingam also raised the issue, but Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne, who responded, said the MPs could raise the relevant matters during the debate.

The leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and parliamentarian Sivagnanam Shritharan recently met the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu state president, Nainar Nagenthran in India during a three-day visit in which discussions centred on the political and livelihood challenges facing Tamils in the North-East of Sri Lanka.

According to a statement issued by MP Shritharan, the talks ranged across a number of contemporary issues confronting the Tamil people among them the demolition of ancestral Tamil Hindu temples and the construction of Buddhist viharas in their place, the skeletal remains being exhumed at the Chemmani mass grave, and efforts to secure justice for the alleged genocide committed against the Tamil people.

The statement said the two sides had also discussed a lasting settlement to the Tamil national question.

“There was an extensive exchange of views between both sides on a permanent political solution for the Eelam Tamils and the political aspirations of the Tamil people.”

The two had agreed to continue such meetings and consultations in future, the statement added, and Shritharan was hosted for lunch during the visit.

Also present was the veteran Tamil political figure K. S. Radhakrishnan, described in the statement as having more than fifty years of experience in Tamil political affairs, along with the BJP’s Tamil Nadu state secretary and several senior party representatives.

Nagenthran, a former Tamil Nadu state minister, has headed the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit since April 2025 and is leading the party’s bid to unseat the governing DMK in the state.

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) yesterday (24) said that over 5,000 Sri Lankans, working in Israel, had been affected by action taken by the Israeli government against Global Remit Currency Services, a major remittances service provider.

The SLBFE said that the problem had arisen due to the Israeli government suspending the company on May 13, 2026. Altogether 11,400 foreigners working in Israel had been affected, SLBFE said, adding that of them 5,100 were Sri Lankans.

The SLBFE urged various interested parties not to propagate that the Sri Lankan workers had lost their money due to hacking.

Earlier, Opposition MP D.V. Chanaka raised concerns over a possible cyber-related issue affecting remittances sent by Sri Lankan workers in Israel.

Chanaka claimed that a significant number of Sri Lankan workers, in Israel, had been unable to access funds remitted during April and May, with the money allegedly remaining unavailable to recipients in Sri Lanka.

“There are many Sri Lankan workers in Israel who continue to work despite risks to their own safety. On average, one worker sends around US$3,000 per month,” he said.

Global Remit Currency Services, a company specialising in international money transfers, has filed an urgent request with the Central District Court for a temporary stay of proceedings and the appointment of administrators after accumulating debts of approximately NIS 35 million ($12.4M).

According to the company, it became insolvent almost overnight after being barred from operating following a police investigation into suspected money laundering offences.

The SLBFE said that altogether funds amounting to USD 6.9 mn had been held up due to the legal action faced by the Israeli company.

It said the money couldn’t be secured until the liquidation process in respect of the relevant company ended.