News
Two more petitions filed against sale of Yugadanavi shares to US firm
By Saman Indrajith
The Samagi Jana Balavegaya yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition before the Supreme Court against the transfer of shares of Yugadanavi LNG Power Plant at Keralawalapitiya. The case was filed by SJB General Secretary, MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara.
The SJB named the Cabinet of Ministers, the West Coast Power Limited – the owner of 310 MW Yugadanavi Power Plant at Kerawalapitiya, US firm New Fortress Energy, the Attorney General and several others as respondents.
Meanwhile, another petition was filed by Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara and Dr. Wasantha Bandara.
They too have named the Cabinet of Ministers including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as respondents in the petition.
They have said that the decision taken by the Cabinet to transfer the shares of Yugadanavi power plant to New Fortress Energy was unlawful and therefore requested the court to issue a writ order quashing the decision.
So far three petitions have been filed challenging the Yugadanavi power plant deal. On Monday (18), the Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and Venerable Elle Gunawansa Thera filed a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court.
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.
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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
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