News
Parliamentary watchdog committees summon several of state outfits
By Saman Indrajith
Parliamentary watchdog, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has summoned the Sri Lanka Football Federation before the Committee. The Department of Probation and Child Care Services has been summoned before the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA).
The Committee on Public Enterprises, the Committee on Public Accounts and 13 Committees including a number of Consultative Committees are scheduled to meet during the first week of August, Secretary-General of Parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake said.
The COPE Committee will meet under the chairmanship of Prof. Charitha Herath and the Committee on Public Accounts will meet under the chairmanship of Prof. Tissa Vitarana. The COPA Committee will review the Special Report of the Auditor General on the process of supplying Medical Supplies Division of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Auditor General’s Special Report on the Medical Processing Process carried out by the Medical Supplies Division of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine on Aug 03.
Additionally, the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice chaired by Minister of Justice Ali Sabry and the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Health chaired by Health Minister Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi are also scheduled to meet on Aug 03.
The Sri Lanka Standards Institution has been summoned before the COPE on Aug 04 and the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Foreign Affairs will also meet in Parliament on the same day under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Environment is scheduled to on August 05th under the chairmanship of Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera and the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice, the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Fisheries under the chairmanship of Minister Douglas Devananda is also scheduled to meet on the same day.
Furthermore, on the same day, the Industrial Development Board has been summoned before the COPE Committee and the Department of Cooperative Development has been summoned before the COPA Committee.
The Secretary-General of Parliament states that the National Savings Bank has been summoned before the COPE on Aug 06.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation to provide the required provisions to purchase the green gram harvest in a competitive manner with the private sector by expanding the program initiated by the National Food Promotion Board, on the advice of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation,
Green gram has been cultivated in an area of about 16,500 hectares in the 2025 Yala Season and intermediate season and a harvest of about 14,600 metric tons of green gram is expected. Currently, green gram harvesting has started in the Hambantota district, and it has been reported that middlemen are buying the harvest for a low price of Rs. 450/- per kilogram.
Approval has been granted at the cabinet meeting held on 08-02-2021 to award 326 bridge construction contracts to the State Development and Construction Corporation for the construction of bridges across the island under the Rural Bridges Program.
The construction of a further 23 bridges has been assigned to the Road Development Authority.
It had been decided in the year 2022, to stop the construction of 184 bridges, where construction had not been initiated. The construction of 45 bridges from the 142 remaining bridges have already been completed.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban
Development to recommence the construction of the remaining 74 bridges by the State Development and Construction Corporation and to complete the construction expeditiously.
Policy approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 16.06.2025 to repeal the Parliamentary Pension Act No. 1 of 1971 of the State Council.
In keeping with the promise given to all Sri Lankans who supported the vision of ‘A wealthy country – A beautiful life’ which appeared in the policy declaration of the Government, a draft bill has been prepared by the Legal Draftsmen for
repealing the Parliamentary Pension Act with the objective of cancelling pensions rights given to elected members of the Parliament and their spouses.
As the Attorney General has given clearance to the draft bill, the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted to the proposal submitted by the Minister of Justic and National Integration to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and subsequently to be presented to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Vijayakanth Viyaskanth added to Sri Lanka squad for tri-series
Purchasing of 2025 green gram harvest
Cabinet approves the completion 74 bridges under the Rural Bridge Program
‘Heartbroken’ Alcaraz pulls out of Davis Cup Finals
Parliamentary Pension Act No. 1 of 1971 to be repelled
Cabinet nod to appoint Dr. (Eng.) K. Waligepolage as Director General of Irrigation
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Foreign News2 days agoSearch continues for Royal Navy crew member missing off Donegal coast
-
Features6 days agoMiss Universe 2025 More ‘surprises’ before Crowning day!
-
Sports6 days agoAn opportunity missed for Sri Lanka
-
News6 days agoOxford Walk raises $13,000 for rural communities in Sri Lanka
-
Opinion7 days agoContributions of Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka and its future role
-
Features5 days agoTraffic chaos in Kandy: Urgent government intervention needed
-
Business6 days agoDialog and MEPA Unveil Sri Lanka’s First 5G-Enabled Autonomous Water-Surface Cleaning Robot
-
Features6 days agoThe ‘Art’ of Diplomacy