Three newly appointed Court of Appeal Justices were formally sworn in before President Anura Kumara Disanayake today (11), at the Presidential Secretariat.

Accordingly, the appointments were conferred upon High Court Judges W.K.S.U. Premachandra, K. Priyantha Fernando and A. Premashankar.

Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was also present at the occasion.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the following proposals presented by the Minister of Power and Energy.

• To pay US$ 25,000 as an annual subscription continuously from 2024/25 financial year

• To establish Solar Technology Application Resource Center (STAR-C) in Sri Lanka.

• To sign the Country Partnership Framework between Sri Lanka and the International Solar Alliance

The International Solar Alliance has been established with the objective of supporting the measures taken by the member countries to promote the use of solar energy. So far, 75 countries, including Sri Lanka, have taken the membership of the Alliance, and 54 countries have ratified the Partnership Framework Agreement. According to the category that includes Sri Lanka, US$ 25,000 should be paid as an annual subscription. As a member country, Sri Lanka has the potential to acquire benefits from the International Solar Alliance relevant to the field of solar power, such as capacity building through the Solar Technology Application Resource Centers (STAR-C), policy development, access to funds, global networking, and sharing of knowledge.

It has been noted that the provisions of the Industry Promotion Act No. 46 of 1990 existing at present are not sufficient to compile industry policies that enable fulfilling the contemporary requirements in the fields of technical, trade, skills, and environment in the industry sector. Therefore, approval has been granted to amend the said Act at the cabinet meeting held on 08-03-2021.

At present, the legal draftsman is in the process of amending the said Act, and the legal draftsman has shown the necessity of obtaining the policy consent of the present cabinet of ministers for the function of amending the Act.

Accordingly, taking into consideration the proposal presented by the Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to grant the policy consent for the expeditious completion of the function of preparation of the said draft.