News

Legendary singer Desmond De Silva has passed away in Australia.

He was of age 77 at the time of his death.

Litro Gas Lanka Limited has decided to streamline the manufacturing of domestic and commercial gas cylinders and has already taken steps to increase its manufacturing capacity, Litro Gas Lanka Senior Manager, Chamani Herath Pathirage said.

While issuing a notice, she said that they have already released 220,000 cylinders to the market over the last two days.

Meanwhile, the company has taken measures to provide a maximum of 90,000 to 100,000 LP gas cylinders to the local market daily, the Senior Manager said.

She said that with the fast issuing of the stock, the gas shortage in the market would be fulfilled in a short period of time.

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka says that approval will be granted for scheduled power outages from Monday (10).

Its Chairman, Janaka Rathnayake stated that power cuts lasting for one to two hours will take place from Monday (10).

He stated that the relevant permission was granted for this after the Ceylon Electricity Board requested for it.

The judgement has been deferred until 12 January in the case pertaining to the riot at Welikada Prison.

The Colombo High Court trial-at-bar today (06) took the decision in the case on the killing of 27 inmates and injuring more than 30 others on 09 November 2012.

The three accused includes former superintendent of the prison Emil Ranjan Lamahewa.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi arrived in Sri Lanka this evening (08) on a two-day official visit.

He is accompanied by an 18-member delegation of officials.

Upon his arrival on board a Chinese carrier flight, minister Yi was accorded a warm welcome by minister Namal Rajapaksa and state minister D.V. Chanaka.

He is due to inaugurate the celebration of the 65th Anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations.

Also, he is expected to present a number of investment proposals.

Director of Colombo Crimes Division (CCD), SSP Janak Nandana was transferred with immediate effect, the police spokesman said today.

Accordingly, SSP Nandana has been appointed as the Personal Assistant to Senior DIG of Police Medical Services & Welfare Division, Ranmal Kodituwakku.

Veteran actor Robin Fernando passed away this morning at the age of 84, family sources said.

He had acted in more than 80 Sinhala films since his debut acting in the 1965 film Chandiya. In 1983, Fernando directed his first film Sura Doothiyo, which was based on real life incidents. His last direction came through Ninja Sri Lanka.

He was introduced to film director Titus Thotawatte by Ariyaratne Kahawita.

Former State Minister Susil Premajayantha was dismissed from his ministerial portfolio based on intelligence received to the President, said Ruling Party MP Thisakutti Arachchi, speaking to media today (05).

The decision was taken upon information reported to the President by the State Intelligence Service, the MP claimed.

Thisakutti Arachchi denied the claim that Premajayantha was dismissed due to a comment he had made at the Delkanda Market 24 hours prior to the dismissal, saying that neither the President nor the Government has fallen into an intolerance against criticism.

The agreements to develop Trinco Oil Tank Farm were signed on Thursday (6), said Energy Ministry Udaya Gammanpila.

The Office of the Minister of Energy in a statement late Thursday (6) said that a majority of the tanks at the Trinco Oil Tank Farm which were under Lanka IOC will now be under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation as a development project.

The statement noted that the agreement signed in 2003 with thus be terminated and the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm will be leased for a period of 50 years to the following three entities.

1. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation – 24 tanks

2. Trinco Petroleum Terminal – 61 tanks

3. Lanka IOC – 14 tanks

The statement said that 85 of the 99 tanks will be under the control of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

The new agreement will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers on the 10th of January and will be tabled in parliament on the 18th of January.

The agreement will be available to the public on the 11th of January via the CPC official website.

The Trinco Oil Tank Farm was built in the 1920s by the British who were ruling Sri Lanka at the time.

The Ministry of Energy said that 100 tanks were constructed across an areas of 827 acres and each tank can hold 10,000 MT of fuel.

On the 9th of April 1942 one of the tanks was destroyed in a Japanese Air Raid.

It added that as per article 2(iii) on the letters exchanged by the President of Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister of India on the 29th of July 1987, it was agreed to develop the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm as a joint venture between Sri Lanka and India.

However, on the 7th of February 2003, an agreement was signed to lease all 99 tanks to Lanka IOC for a period of 35 years.

Yet, Lanka IOC had only made use of 14 tanks while the rest were decaying with time.

The statement went on to note that an agreement was reached to lease all 99 tanks for 99 years through the MOU between Malik Samarawickrema-Sushma Swaraj in 2017.

The Ministry of Energy said that the latest agreement was the result of 16 months of negotiating with India.

The United Nations commended Sri Lanka’s green agriculture programme at a meeting held between UN Assistant Secretary-General Kanni Wignaraja and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (04).

Wignaraja serves as the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

Wignaraja said Sri Lanka was ranked 87th out of 165 countries in the 2021 Sustainable Development Report, moving seven points ahead from the previous year’s ranking. The possibility of attracting foreign investors to the green agriculture programme by further developing these conditions was also discussed.

The President pointed out the steps being taken by Sri Lanka to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals while seeking solutions to the socio-economic impacts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President said that a comprehensive mechanism has been set up for this purpose, including the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation and the Presidential Task Force on Creating a Green Sri Lanka and Sustainable Solutions to climate change.

UNDP Resident Representative Robert Juhkam, Deputy Resident Representative Malin Herwig, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga were also present.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 18 more coronavirus-related deaths for January 04, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 15,083

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 12 males and 06 females.

Five of the patients are between the ages of 30-59 years. The remaining 13 are in the age group of 60 years

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 18 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 30, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 15,055.

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 10 males and 08 females.

Five of the patients are between the ages of 30-59 years. Ten others are in the age group of 60 years and the remaining 03 are aged below 30 years.