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Parliament to meet without media
By Saman Indrajith
The Parliament will convene from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm, on Thursday (12), to take up for debate the 2020 Appropriation Bill. This was decided at the Committee on Parliamentary Business meeting held yesterday (09).
Parliament sources said that the second and third readings of the Appropriation Bill would take place from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. From 5.00 pm to 8.00 pm the Adjournment Debate under a motion moved by the Opposition will take place. Session would not be open to media, according to sources.
Whilst Questions for Oral Answers will not be taken up on the said date, it was also decided that the Sittings will continue without a lunch break.
Meanwhile, the Appropriation Bill for 2021 will be presented to Parliament by Minister of Finance and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Nov 17.
It was discussed that post the presenting of the Appropriation Bill the Second Reading and Committee Stage debate should be limited to 11 days due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Disapproving the matter, the Opposition proposed that the complete number of days should be allotted for the Second Reading and Committee Stage.
Accordingly, a decision regarding the number of days wasn’t made conclusive and it was mutually agreed that the Committee on Parliamentary Business will meet again on Thursday (12) in order to further decide regarding the said matter.
The Committee on Parliamentary Business was chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and Deputy Speaker Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella, Mahinda Amaraweera, Susil Premajayantha, Wimal Weerawansa, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Rauff Hakeem, Gayantha Karunatilleka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Mano Ganesan as well as the Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake and Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff Neil Iddawala were also in attendance, sources said.
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“Improve the quality of infrastructure and services provided to tourists visiting the country.” – President
President Anura Kumara Disanayake emphasized the necessity of providing high-quality infrastructure and services for tourists visiting Sri Lanka, as the country has gained significant international recognition as an attractive tourist destination.
Accordingly, the President instructed officials to pay special attention to this matter and take necessary actions.
President Disanayake issued these instructions during a discussion held today (17) at the Presidential Secretariat with officials from the Ministry of Tourism.
During the discussion, officials briefed the President on the budgetary allocations designated for the Ministry of Tourism and the projects being implemented under those funds.
With the tourism sector taking a new step forward, Sri Lanka aims to attract three million tourists this year. The discussion also extensively covered the utilization of these budgetary allocations for the development of essential infrastructure to support this goal.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Foreign Employment Vijitha Herath, Deputy Minister of Tourism Dr. Ruwan Ranasinghe, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Aruni Ranaraja, along with a group of senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism, attended this discussion.
The French Navy Ship PROVENCE arrived at the Port of Colombo on a formal visit on Sunday (16 Mar 25) morning.
She was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in compliance with the time-honoured naval traditions.
The 142.20m long Destroyer is Commanded by Captain Lionel SIEGFRIED and manned by a crew of 160 members.
During the stay in the island, crew members of PROVENCE will visit some tourist hotspots in the country and the ship is scheduled to depart the island on 20 Mar.
The Court of Appeal this [17] morning dismissed the writ petition filed by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon, seeking an interim injunction to prevent the execution of the arrest order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court against him.
“Improve the quality of infrastructure and services provided to tourists visiting the country.” – President
French Navy Ship PROVENCE arrives in Port of Colombo
Court of Appeal dismisses Ex-IGP’s writ petition
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