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Prominent young journalist, digital media strategist, and civil society leader Vimukthi Dushantha has been elected by vote as the Assistant Secretary of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Alumni Association for the upcoming term. The appointment recognizes his extensive contributions to media, digital advocacy, public communication, and strengthening bilateral professional ties between Sri Lanka and India.

Dushantha, who currently serves as the Assistant Manager (Web News) at Lotus Technologies (Hiru News), brings over a decade of multifaceted experience spanning newsroom leadership, government communications, and civic advocacy. He is the Founder of Info Sri Lanka and also serves as the Assistant Secretary of the Sri Lanka–India Media Friendship Association (SLIMFA).

His distinguished career includes serving as the Director of Communications and Public Relations at the Jathika JanaSabha Secretariat under the Presidential Secretariat, as well as holding key editorial positions at Lake House (The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd). He has also contributed his strategic expertise to election monitoring initiatives, anti-corruption boards, and regional reconciliation frameworks, including roles with the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM) under the Prime Minister's Office and the UN-assisted ‘Ahanna’ reconciliation campaign.

An alumnus of professional training programs in India—holding a specialization in media management from the Dr. Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute of Telangana (MCRHRDIAP)—Dushantha’s election to the ITEC Alumni Association executive committee marks a significant step forward in fostering stronger professional, cultural, and collaborative networks across the region.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has written an emotional letter to his son, MP Namal Rajapaksa, who is currently in remand custody, recalling the advice he gave him when he first entered politics in 2010.

In the letter, Mahinda Rajapaksa said Namal had sought his permission to enter politics and that he had warned him to be prepared for imprisonment and hardship.

“If you want to enter politics, do so. But be prepared to go to prison and face hardships,” the former President recalled telling his son.

He said the advice was based on his own experience of being imprisoned over what he described as baseless allegations shortly after entering politics, before Namal was born.

Mahinda Rajapaksa urged his son to maintain his faith in the judiciary, saying it had been his only source of confidence during his own imprisonment.

“Whatever anyone says, place your trust only in the judiciary,” he said.

The former President also revealed that he and his wife, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, are currently receiving treatment at Nawaloka Hospital, where Namal was born.

He said Namal’s younger brothers, Yoshitha and Rohitha, were looking after them during their hospitalisation.

Referring to legal proceedings involving Yoshitha, Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that one case against him stemmed from his decision to join the Navy.

He also urged Namal not to seek revenge against political opponents if he returned to power, saying the children of political figures should not be held responsible for their parents’ actions.

“Children are not responsible for what their parents do. Not taking revenge is the way and tradition of the Rajapaksas,” he said.

The former President further claimed that the Rajapaksa family had been unfairly blamed despite its contribution to ending the country’s war.

Although the family had suffered electoral defeats, he urged Namal to continue believing that Sri Lankans were a grateful people.

The letter concluded with a Buddhist blessing for his son.

The letter comes as Namal Rajapaksa remains in remand custody in connection with ongoing bribery investigations.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court further remanded him and former Krrish Group director Janaki Siriwardena until November 6 after rejecting their bail applications in the Krrish transaction case.

Litro Gas Lanka Limited has announced plans to distribute 350,000 gas cylinders across Sri Lanka over the next three days following the arrival of a fresh liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shipment.

According to the company, the vessel CORINTHIAN, carrying 3,900 metric tonnes of LPG, arrived in Sri Lanka on October 22.

Unloading operations began yesterday evening, enabling the company to proceed with the planned release of gas cylinders to the market.

Litro Gas stated that the arrival of the shipment would support the uninterrupted distribution of LPG throughout the island, allowing consumers to purchase cylinders through normal channels.

The company also appealed to the public to avoid panic buying and the unnecessary accumulation of gas cylinders, urging consumers to purchase gas according to their usual requirements.

Priority must immediately be assigned to public awareness campaigns regarding narcotics to address the growing drug crisis, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Hector Appuhamy said.

Speaking during the debate on the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Bill on 22 October, he emphasised that educating children and society on the dangers of illegal substances would safeguard families and preserve vital national funds.

Highlighting economic distress across the island, he noted that citizens have been forced to pawn gold worth Rs. 1,010 billion simply to settle their tax burdens.

Appuhamy questioned the government's foreign policy conduct, contrasting the heavy security assigned to a visiting Indian dignitary with the lack of official protocol provided to the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand during a recent public bus journey.

He expressed serious concern over proposed anti-terrorism legislation, alleging that the new law seeks to bypass the judiciary by establishing an independent body empowered to detain individuals for up to two years without trial.

He further cautioned that political opponents, dissidents, or ordinary citizens targeted over personal grudges risk being arbitrarily branded as terrorists and imprisoned under the prospective legal framework.

Concluding his address, the parliamentarian urged legal professionals and the public to scrutinize the proposed measures while holding the executive accountable for deteriorating living standards.

Aggamaha Panditha Senior Professor Most Ven. Dr. Gallelle Sumanasiri Thera has been appointed as the new Chancellor of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

The appointment was made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with the official letter of appointment handed over to the Thera at the Presidential Secretariat today (October 23).

The letter was presented by Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

Most Ven. Dr. Sumanasiri Thera is a distinguished Buddhist scholar and academic who serves as the Chief Incumbent of Kotamudungala Rajamaha Viharaya in Molagoda.

He previously held the position of Vice-Chancellor at the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka and also served as Chancellor of Rajarata University. However, he subsequently resigned from the latter position.

His appointment marks his return to a university chancellorship in Sri Lanka's higher education sector.

The Opposition has submitted a motion calling for the appointment of a special Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of iconic tusker ‘Kavantissa’.

The motion was handed over to the Speaker of Parliament in Colombo on Friday (23) by Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, alongside a group of opposition lawmakers.

The proposed committee aims to establish whether state wildlife authorities and relevant government bodies fulfilled their statutory duties in protecting the animal prior to its demise.

Speaking during the submission, Premadasa urged parliamentarians to treat the loss of the revered elephant as a non-partisan issue and called for immediate legislative measures to safeguard the island’s diminishing wild tusker population.

He proposed that the investigative panel operate under a joint co-chairmanship representing both government and opposition benches, drawing a parallel with the non-partisan structure currently utilised by the parliamentary committee on climate change.

In a world increasingly fractured by major power rivalries, smaller nations are discovering that the cost of taking sides is a luxury they simply cannot afford.

Speaking with CNN's Richard Quest on October 22, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya cuts straight through the diplomatic fog surrounding the ongoing Middle East tensions stating that "conflicts like the Iran war serve no one".

For an island nation positioned along major Indian Ocean shipping routes, the war is not a distant headline but an active threat to domestic stability.

The National People’s Power (NPP) government has spent months navigating an intense diplomatic tug-of-war.

Colombo previously rejected requests from Washington to land military aircraft at Mattala Airport, while concurrently denying specific naval requests from Tehran.

By turning away both superpowers, Sri Lanka has sent a clear message: it will not allow its territory, sea, or airspace to become a staging ground for external war games.

The collateral of conflict

The Prime Minister’s comments highlight a harsh economic reality.

Recovering from bankruptcy, Sri Lanka faces a "triple whammy" of soaring global fuel costs, disrupted trade corridors, and maritime emergencies right off its southern coast.

From rescuing survivors of sunken vessels to handling damaged foreign warships, the island has absorbed heavy logistical burdens.

The Prime Minister's stance asserts that the Global South should not be forced to bear the systemic shockwaves of conflicts triggered by the West or regional powers.

Humanity above geopolitics

What distinguishes Sri Lanka’s current foreign policy is its balance of strict military non-alignment with aggressive humanitarianism.

Despite political pressure from Western allies to withhold assistance or block the repatriation of rescued sailors, Colombo has consistently prioritized international maritime law and humanitarian values.

A parliamentary oversight committee has demanded immediate operational coordination between energy utilities and the public regulator to avert further islandwide power failures following Sri Lanka's latest national grid collapse.

The directive was issued by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Member of Parliament S.M. Marikkar, who chairs the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Infrastructure and Strategic Development, during a inquiry into the blackout of 17 October.

Preliminary investigative findings submitted to the committee revealed that the blackout occurred at 11.43 a.m. when output at Unit 1 of the Norochcholai coal power plant suddenly plunged from 187 megawatts to five megawatts.

At the time of the failure, the coal complex was generating 529 megawatts while rooftop solar installations were contributing 1,700 megawatts to the national network, creating a severe supply-demand imbalance that destabilised the system.

Grid operators re-established supply in phases by routing initial hydroelectric power through the Biyagama substation to restore essential feeders before 4 p.m.

Technical officials informed lawmakers that attempts to manage the crisis were hampered because numerous rooftop solar owners failed to comply with requests to disconnect their systems during the restoration phase.

Uncontrolled solar generation automatically re-enters the network when local feeders are energised, introducing unmonitored power that threatens to trip a fragile grid during recovery operations.

Data presented by the energy regulator also highlighted a fundamental structural shift in national power use, with peak electricity demand moving from traditional evening hours to daytime periods due to expanding commercial activity.

The committee chairperson urged authorities to educate the public on grid balancing complexities and requested a comprehensive final report to ensure future system resilience.

The recent collapse marks the second nationwide power outage in under two years, following a similar solar-related grid failure in February 2025 that took over six hours to rectify.

Claims made by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Dr. Harsha de Silva regarding the background of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's economic adviser Duminda Hulangamuwa have been rejected in Parliament by Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake.

Speaking in parliament yesterday (23), the Minister clarified that the senior adviser had never held any advisory position under former President Ranil Wickremesinghe or any previous head of state.

He said that the appointment under the present National People's Power (NPP) government represents the first time the economic expert has accepted a formal state advisory role.

Rathnayake noted that adviser's past involvement with previous governments was restricted entirely to committee memberships held in his official capacity as Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

He said that former President Wickremesinghe had never directly appointed the economic expert to any official post or advisory team.

Calling the assertions completely false, Rathnayake requested the Opposition parliamentarian to formally withdraw his statements.

Sri Lanka has recorded the highest domestic electricity tariffs in South Asia compared to regional neighbours India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, according to a new study published by leading stockbroking firm SenFin Securities.

However, the report highlights that the country maintains some of the lowest commercial electricity rates in both the region and the wider world, giving local exporters a distinct competitive edge in international markets.

According to the research paper titled SenFin Sri Lanka Electricity Generation Review, the study details several key findings regarding national power pricing.

The average retail price for household electricity in Sri Lanka stands at USD 0.116 per kilowatt-hour. This figure significantly exceeds rates across the region, where households pay USD 0.077 in India, USD 0.064 in Pakistan, and USD 0.062 in Bangladesh.

Domestic consumers in Sri Lanka pay nearly double the unit rate charged in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Despite the regional disparity, the report notes that Sri Lankan household tariffs remain below the global average of USD 0.174 per unit.

In contrast to household costs, Sri Lanka offers exceptionally competitive pricing for commercial and business power users across Asia and global markets.

Commercial electricity in Sri Lanka costs an average of USD 0.091 per unit, compared to USD 0.123 in India, USD 0.154 in Pakistan, and USD 0.100 in Bangladesh.

With global business electricity costs averaging USD 0.164 per unit, SenFin Securities notes that lower commercial rates provide crucial relief for local manufacturers and exporters aiming to reduce overheads.

Conflicting government directives regarding anticipated El Niño climatic threats have caused widespread rainfall damage to paddy crops across several agricultural regions, opposition lawmakers alleged.

Speaking in parlaiment on 22 October, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Nalin Bandara highlighted that inconsistent guidance issued by local agricultural officers left numerous farmers vulnerable to unseasonal heavy downpours.

He claimed that while certain officers provided accurate technical guidance, others issued flawed instructions, leading farmers to cultivate early only to see their crops submerged.

In response, Deputy Agriculture Minister Namal Karunarathne defended the government's strategy, saying that the decision to advance the Maha cultivation timeline by two weeks was based on weather forecasts supplied by the Meteorology Department and global climate models.

He pointed out that extreme evaporation rates, which have risen by roughly 20 per cent, were rapidly depleting water storage in wells and major reservoirs.

The Deputy Minister noted that advancing the agricultural cycle was necessary to protect water reserves for the upcoming Yala season, when severe drought conditions are expected to peak in January and February.

He added that farmers had been instructed to sow short-term Yala paddy varieties to ensure harvesting could be concluded before the onset of dry weather, while reassuring the assembly that affected cultivators would receive state financial compensation.

Sri Lankan authorities are facing growing scrutiny after failing to detail measures taken to secure public infrastructure against two high-severity global software vulnerabilities.

The silence from the Ministry of Digital Economy comes as cybersecurity agencies across Europe, North America, and Asia order immediate system updates or full offline suspensions to prevent remote server takeovers.

Global emergency triggers mass offline suspensions

International intelligence agencies and heads of state from Washington to Tokyo have issued emergency advisories regarding the two defects in the PHP programming language.

Rated at a critical severity level of 9.2 out of 10, the technical flaws allow unauthorised threat actors to gain full administrative control of web servers without requiring access credentials.

Governments in Europe temporarily deactivated state portals on Wednesday, while cloud infrastructure providers in Japan suspended selected services to prevent potential breaches.

The flaws had remained hidden within the code for years before being identified through artificial intelligence tools, prompting China and South Korea to elevate national cyber readiness levels.

Statutory limitations hamper local response

Sri Lanka's national cyber security body issued an urgent directive instructing both public and private entities to apply official vendor patches immediately or disconnect vulnerable systems.

However, the agency operates as a registered company under corporate law and possesses no statutory powers to enforce compliance or pull compromised websites offline.

Industry experts note that the lack of regulatory enforcement authority exposes critical sectors to heightened risk, particularly following past security failures where outdated state IT systems led to multi-million dollar financial diversions.

Calls have intensified for the Central Bank to intervene by mandating commercial banking institutions to verify the security status of their PHP-reliant customer portals and payment gateways.

Regulatory delay heightens infrastructure vulnerabilities

The ongoing crisis has renewed focus on the delayed legislative framework intended to establish an independent cyber security regulator with legally binding enforcement powers.

Although ministerial officials had signaled that the enabling legislation would be gazetted within weeks, the statutory mechanism required to compel state agencies to act remains unpassed.

With foreign threat actors actively scanning for unpatched servers, analysts warn that failure to act could disrupt online payment systems and public services across the country.

The Ministry of Digital Economy has yet to confirm how many public sector websites have successfully applied the security updates.