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Former Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen is set to appear tomorrow (26) before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) investigating the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile, Army Commander Lt Gen. Mahesh Senanayake is also expected to appear before the PSC tomorrow.

According to reports, the Secretary to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the General Manager of the Industrial Development Board (IDB) have also been summoned to testify before the committee.

The Sri Lankan government has initiated several investigations into the Easter Sunday blasts, including by a presidential committee and a parliamentary select committee.

The panel announced on Saturday that both Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the State Defence Minister and two former law and order Ministers would meet it to give evidence.

IGP Pujith Jayasundara, former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former Easter Province Governor M.L.A.M. Hizbullah and former Western Province Governor Azath Salley are among several high ranking officials who have testified before the panel so far.

The Attorney General has requested the Chief Justice to appoint a three-member judge bench of the Permanent High Court at Bar to hear the case over the Welikada Prison riot in 2012, the Attorney General’s Department said.

A case is due to be filed against three defendants with 33 indictments including the murder of several inmates of the Welikada prison in the year 2012. IP Neyomal Ranagajeewa, former Commissioner of the Welikada prison, Emil Ranjan Lamahewa and Imaduwage Indika Sampath who was attached to the Prisons Intelligence are the three defendants.

The Attorney General has specified to the AG that the indictments due to be filed against these defendants should be taken up before a special tripartite bench and not a jury. He further said that the third defendant in the case Imaduwage Indika Sampath has been avoiding the police.

MP Gamini Lokuge appears to have hopped on the racist anti-muslim bandwagon by attempting to cause fear and panic about free meals given to patients near several major hospitals.

“Muslim organizations which provide free meals near hospitals must be looked at by officials,” the MP said adding that patients arriving for clinics at several major hospitals appear to be their targets. He made these comments at a press briefing held recently.

“We are suspicious as to why they are providing such a large number of free meals,” Lokuge said. Attempting to further spread fear Lokuge even went on to say that he has suspicious if the meals are making the women who consume them infertile. “Why are they so bothered to feed these patients,” he said perhaps finding it inconceivable that a person or organization would conduct a charitable venture without an ulterior motive.

The MP went on to claim that the group targets Buddhist women, in particular, to hand out free coupons to obtain the meals. However, he failed to explain how the group identifies Buddhist women from others who attend clinics at these major hospitals. “I urge the President to look into this” he further added.

The organization Lokuge singled out for attack is the Janaposha Foundation which provides hundreds of free meals in the vicinity of several major hospitals in Colombo daily. They have been in operation for the past five years. Providing breakfast and lunch to those attending clinic sessions, the organization usually provides meals for around 350 people daily at the premises close to the National Hospital while providing 300 meals for patients visiting the Kalubowila Hospital. Another 350 free meals are given out at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital.

The Sri Lanka Transport Boad (SLTB) has cancelled the leave of all its employees in a bid to reduce the inconveniences faced by the public due to the railway strike which is currently underway.

Meanwhile, one train each has been operating from the Matara, Galle, Kandy, Chilaw, Rambukkana, and Mahawa railway stations while two trains are set to travel towards Colombo from Kandy.

Further, another train would be operating along the Kelani Valley line from Avissawella to Colombo, the Railways Department said adding that another train will operate from Mount Lavinia to Jaffna.

Accordingly, a total of 10 trains would operate today in the backdrop of the 48-hour train strike which commenced last midnight.

On the sidelines of the Passing out Parade (PoP) at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS) at Maduruoya, Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake inaugurated the newly-constructed medical (dressing) centre at the SFTS on Friday.

The construction was completed by the Corps Engineer Services troops in consultation with medical authorities at the Colombo Army Hospital, the Army said in a statement.

The statement further said that philanthropist Mr. Senaka Rodrigo, together with his family members had donated a large stock of essential medical equipment to the new medical station, after considering the valuable role that is being performed by SF soldiers. The Army Commander along with the donors inspected the new ward, waiting hall and other units and had a close look at its expansion project in future.

Later on, the Army chief laid the foundation stone for another wing in the same premises in order to provide better medical facilities for SF soldiers.

Mr. Senaka Rodrigo was also awarded an appreciative memento at the same occasion by Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake.

A Sri Lankan doctor who sexually assaulted a vulnerable patient at a West Australian regional hospital and led a double life, with his phone records showing he also had a fetish for prostitutes, has been jailed for three years.

Priyantha Padmike Dayananda, 49, was last week convicted following a trial of sexual penetration without consent.

The District Court of WA heard he inserted his hand into the victim's underwear during an abdominal examination at Bunbury Hospital's emergency department in December 2017.

Priyantha Padmike Dayananda was today jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a patient. (9News)

The woman, who has a history of trauma, earlier told the court she ran from the hospital as fast as she could without discharging herself and took a taxi home.

He called and texted her multiple times for the next five to six weeks, with one message reading: "Remember I touched your beautiful tummy at emergency".

The woman also said he had paid her "special attention" when she was in hospital for a fortnight recuperating from surgery in October that year, suggesting they "meet up" and stroking her hair.

The woman was assaulted at Bunbury Hospital.

In video footage of his police interview, Dayananda told detectives he didn't and wouldn't inappropriately touch "a girl like that" because he didn't find her attractive, she could have diseases and he had a wife.

The father-of-one also denied sending the woman texts, but could not explain how they had been sent from his phone.

Dayananda was sentenced today, with Judge Belinda Lonsdale saying he had committed a gross breach of trust. He will be eligible for parole after he's served 18 months.

The Fundamental Rights (FR) Petition filed by former IGP Pujith Jayasundara has been re-fixed for support on July 31 by the Supreme Court. The petition was taken up before Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, S. Thurairaja, and L.T.B. Dehideniya this morning (24).

Jayasundara had filed the petition against him being sent on compulsory leave by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Court observed that Director of the State Intelligence Service Nilantha Jayawardena and Secretary to the President, Udaya R. Seneviratne, had filed affidavits with regard to the subject matter on June 21, 2019, hence, the court was in need of a reasonable time to consider them.

However, attorney Viran Corea representing IGP Jayasundara told court that he had not received such affidavits so far.

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando and former Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis, who were also among the respondents to the petition, were represented by President's Counsels Anuja Premaratne and Shanaka Ranasinghe respectively.

India's NDTV, citing three intelligence letters sent to police chiefs in the southern Indian state of Kerala, said that ISIS was now urging its “operatives” to carry out attacks at their home countries.

Senior Indian officials reportedly named several states as being the most threatened. According to police, at least 100 people are believed to have joined the ranks of the Takfiri terrorist group from Kerala over the past years, while around 3,000 are currently under surveillance.

ISIS may also target key installations in Kochi, Kerala’s most populous city with 2 million people, another letter accessed by NDTV said. The southern state lies close to Sri Lanka, where terrorist attacks in April claimed the lives of over 250 Christians celebrating Easter.

The attacks sparked new concerns about a resurgent ISIS, which once controlled vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria but gradually lost them.

The terrorist group was declared militarily defeated in 2017. Over the years, many members of the terrorist group have returned to their home countries — including in Europe — to carry out terrorist attacks.

A special Bodhi Pooja to wish good health for Pohottuwa’s proposed Presidential candidate, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was held on Sunday evening at the Pepiliyana Sunethradevi Rajamaha Vihara.

Rajapaksa who underwent surgery at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital is currently recuperating in the country prior to his return to Sri Lanka.

According to Dilith Jayaweera’s media organizations, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party convention is to be held on August 11 where Mahinda Rajapaksa will be appointed as the SLPP leader who then will announce Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s candidacy.

According to reports, the information had been revealed by SLPP National Organizer Basil Rajapaksa at a recently held party meeting.

As per the plan formed, the group is set to travel to Anuradhapura on Monday to worship at the Ruwanweliseya. They will then continue on to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, the Kirivehera in Kataragama arriving in Colombo to meet Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. The group is also expected to visit the Chilaw Munneswaram Kovil thereafter.

Accordingly, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his supporters from Monday - Friday that week will visit religious places across the country and meet with religious leaders to receive their blessings.

Basil is said to have taken the decision due to the pressure exerted by the ‘Jathika Chinthana’ group led by Prof. Nalin De Silva The Leader reported. De Silva had recently announced that Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be named as the SLPP presidential candidate. He claimed the only candidate chosen is Gotabaya Rajapaksa. De Silva made these comments at the special meeting called by the ‘Jathika Samatha Balawegaya’ in Colombo on June 19. At the event, De Silva had claimed the blessings or approval of either Mahinda Rajapaksa or his brother Basil Rajapaksa is not needed for Gotabaya to be named as the next Presidential candidate.

De Silva and the ‘Jathika Chinthana’ group have been attempting to influence the decisions being made by the Joint Opposition and the SLPP. They have also launched a nationwide campaign to engage with opposition powers to this end.

(Xinhua) - China on Wednesday donated a batch of security equipment to the Sri Lankan Parliament to ensure the safety of the public and legislators following the recent terror attacks in the country.

The security equipment, which is worth Rs. 33 million (187,000 USD), including three state-of-the-art portable X-Ray machines and five walk-through metal detectors, were handed over to Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya by Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan.

Karu Jayasuriya, while thanking the Chinese government and its people, said the donation of the security equipment to the Sri Lankan Parliament was "very valuable" following the terror attacks.

"During the time of any natural or tragic calamity, China has been one of the first countries who has always stood ready to help Sri Lanka. We are grateful to the Chinese government and its people," Jayasuriya said.

Ambassador Cheng said after the brutal terrorist attacks on April 21 in Sri Lanka, the Chinese government and its people have been standing together with the Sri Lankan side and firmly supported Sri Lanka to safeguard its national security and stability.

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka also issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the urgently needed security equipment provided by China will better secure the safety of the MPs from all political parties, as well as the Parliament staff, journalists and visitors.

"Currently, the Chinese government is studying implementing the requests raised by the Sri Lankan government case by case according to the priority," the statement added

Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been issued summons to appear before the Presidential Commission probing state sector corruption on July 8.

I.M.K.B. Illangasinghe, Education Ministry Director (Supplies) told the Presidential Commission today (24) that the Minister had instructed his colour photo to be published along with his message on all school text books.

As a result, it was revealed that the government had to incur an additional cost of around Rs 160 million in order to print a page containing the colour image of the Minister.

Mr. Illasinghe also told the Commission that the government prints around 40 million text books per year and that the printing of this special page had costed Rs 4 each.

A complaint against the printing of these text books had been filed by parlimentarian Wijedasa Rajapaksa. (Sunday Times)

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is unable to visit Sri Lanka as previously announced due to unavoidable scheduling conflicts during his upcoming visit to the Indo-Pacific region that includes accompanying President Donald J. Trump to the G20 Summit in Japan, US embassy in Colombo said

The embassy statement added that Secretary Pompeo regrets that he is no longer able to visit Colombo at this time. He hopes to travel to Sri Lanka at a later date to underscore our strong partnership with Sri Lanka, which is rooted in a commitment to democracy, economic growth and a free, open Indo-Pacific region.

The United States remains committed to these objectives and looks forward to building on our longstanding partnership.