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Veteran vocalist, lyricist and composer Nihal Nelson passed away on Tuesday (13). He was 76 years old at the time of his demise.

Nihal Nelson was one of the most influential singers in Sri Lanka and considered ‘undefeated on the concert stage’.

Nelson holds the record for the most albums recorded by a Sri Lankan artist with 113 albums.

Nihal Nelson was born on 1946 in Moratuwa, and received his primary education from Innocent Maria Mixed School which is currently known as Rawathawaththa Methodist College.

After passing grade 8, he entered Moratu Maha Vidyalaya where he completed A/L in 1960.

Nelson married Malini Sriyalatha in 1974.

He was among the first Sri Lankan vocalists to release a cassette in 1978 with Gune Ayyage Kamare. Nelson was also among the first to release a compact disc.

He was known for his popular hits such as “Pansala Palliya”, “Kiri Dunne Daruwantai”, “Lassanata Pipunu Wana Mal”, “Karuna Suwanda” and many more.

He also worked as a playback singer for many films.

The Chairman of the National Election Commission Nimal Punchihewa says the gazette notification for the local government polls will be issued soon.

According to the Local Government Polling Act, to hold the election on 20th March 2023, the relevant gazette notification must be issued before January 5th 2023.

Therefore, several rounds of discussions have been held regarding the upcoming elections.

The Chairman of the NEC further said the related discussions will also be held in the coming days.

Direct flights between Chennai in India and Jaffna, Sri Lanka recommenced today (12), with the landing of the first passenger flight operated by Alliance Air.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry confirmed on Twitter that the first flight from Chennai landed at the Jaffna International Airport in Palaly this morning.

Flight operations between Chennai and Jaffna recommenced today after a lapse of 2 years.

With the resumption of operations, Air Alliance is expected to operate 04 weekly flights between the Jaffna International Airport in Palaly and Chennai.

According to MP Angajan Ramanathan, who is the Chairman of the Jaffna District Development Committee, the costs of flight tickets are as follows:

One-way ticket – starting from Rs. 44,000 Return ticket – starting from Rs. 65,000.

Air quality in most parts of Sri Lanka has dropped to unhealthy levels due to an increase in dust particles in the atmosphere, warns the National Building Research Organization.

It says cooler weather and cyclonic conditions in the Bay of Bengal have exacerbated pollutants from India to enter the island and blanket many areas in thick fog.

The air quality index has fallen to 200 in Gampaha and to 167 in Colombo.

NBRO’s senior scientist Sarath Premasiri said the condition will ease by tomorrow when the cyclone moves away further from the island.

He said caution should be taken to prevent respiratory illnesses from the foggy condition, such as keeping to indoors as much as possible, wearing masks outdoors and keeping doors and windows closed.

The Ministry of Education has announced that admission for Grade 01 students will only be carried out by schools and not via the Education Ministry.

The Ministry further said that 2022 GCE Ordinary Level students whose schools do not consist of their preferred GCE Advanced Level streams will be required to submit applications to the schools with the relevant GCE Advanced Level streams.

2022 GCE Ordinary Level students have been instructed not to forward such applications to the Education Ministry.

The Education Ministry also informed that the process of providing admission to students to enroll in schools mid-semester has been halted from 5 December 2022.

The enrollment of students mid-semester for 2023 will commence only after the completion of the 2022 third academic term, which falls on 24 March 2023.

The admissions will be provided after inspecting applications and based on vacancies in schools, the Ministry added.

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga has ruled out joining another party by leaving the SLFP.

In a statement, she pointed out that she was born and bred politically in the SLFP, came under attack on behalf of that party and would die as a SLFPer.

She said she would engage in politics as per the Bandaranaike vision which she values, while at the same time giving guidance to any other party.

The SLFP is in a woeful state due to its present policies as its leaders betray the party for opportunistic, petty gains, said Bandaranaike, adding that she remained committed to safeguard the Bandaranaike policies.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya has appointed Sajith Premadasa as the Leader of the party for the year 2023.

The decision was reached during the annual party convention held at the Campbell Park in Colombo on Sunday (11).

Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka was appointed SJB Chairman, while MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara was named as the General Secretary.

MP Tissa Attanayake was appointed National Organizer of the SJB while Dr. Harsha de Silva was named as the Treasurer of the party.

An extraordinary gazette notification has been issued regarding compulsory retirement of government employees who have completed 60 years of age.

The extraordinary gazette notification has been issued by the Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, in his capacity as Minister of Public Administration Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government and will come into effect from January 01, 2023.

“Any Government employee may be directed to retire from Government Service on or after attaining the age of fifty-five years. All civil officers must retire compulsorily on attaining the age of sixty, except those officers whose age of compulsory retirement is fixed by the Constitution or by any other law, unless otherwise decided by a competent authority,” the gazette notification says.

Leader of the Samabima Party Deepthi Kumara Gunaratne has questioned the discipline in the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

In a video posted on social media, Gunaratne referred to remarks of insulting nature by SJB MP Nalin Bandara directed at state minister Diana Gamage in Parliament.

That has yet to be condemned by any, not even by the known feminist and wife of the SJB and opposition leader, Jalani Premadasa, Hirunika Premachandra who speaks about rights of women and various human rights groups, he said.

This shows how the SJB treats the women and the level of its discipline, Gunaratne added.

Senior journalist Uvindu Kurukulasuriya too, in a facebook post, condemned Nalin Bandara’s remarks.

Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena has called for the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), Kingsley Ranawaka.

In a letter addressed to the SLTB chairman, the minister states that the ‘Park and Ride – City Bus Service’, which was initiated under a policy decision of the government, has been suddenly suspended without informing him, based on a decision reached by the Director Board of the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

The minister says that the City Bus service was immensely popular among the commuters and had managed to reduce traffic congestion on High-Level Road to a certain extent during rush hours in addition to the fact that it helped reduce CO2 emissions.

In the letter, the Transport Minister emphasizes that by suddenly suspending this programme, which was launched based on a policy decision of the government with the aim of providing facilities to the general public and easing traffic congestion and reducing environmental pollution, the SLTB chairman has disobeyed policy decision of the government.

Therefore, the Minister, under the powers vested in him by Sri Lanka Transport Board Act, No. 27 of 2005, has instructed Mr. Kingsley Ranawaka to resign from the posts of SLTB chairman and Director Board member with immediate effect.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the government would assist the Colombo University to improve its quality.

The President made this observation during a discussion at the Dean’s Office of the Law Faculty having taken part in the Back to the Faculty-Faculty of Law, at the University of Colombo, which was organized to mark its 75th Diamond Jubilee today (10).

The President participated in the event as the first alumnus of the Colombo Law Faculty who became the Executive President of the country.

The casual discussion held with the participation of the Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. H. D. Karunaratne, Dean of the Faculty of Law Prof. Sampath Punchihewa,

Parliamentarians Professor G. L. Peiris and Madura Withanage, President’s Counsel Ronald Perera and several others.

The President, during the discussion, instructed the university authorities to prepare a program to establish the postgraduate institute and to recruit permanent staff to it to enhance the quality of university education. He said that the focus should be drawn to bringing the university among the best universities in the world rather than developing more and more of its infrastructure facilities.

This is how the university could attract foreign students into the country, he added.

He as well as several others recalled that the education of the law faculty was qualitatively high in the past even when the infrastructure facilities were not as good as today. During the discussion, the President also inquired about the progress of the planning to construct the engineering faculty at the Colombo University to which the authorities said that an area of four acres had been allocated.

On President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s arrival, he was received by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Secretary to the Law Faculty’s Law Society Senaka de Seram at the entrance of the Law Faculty.

The President posed for selfie photographs with the alumni on their request and a group photograph as well.

Over a thousand alumni were present at the occasion including Professor Prathiba Mahanamahewa, and Attorney-at-Law Shiral Lakthilaka.

Former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has told a court in Colombo that he cannot personally take responsibility for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday Terror Attacks.

He told the court on Monday (5) that as he is no longer the President of the country, the victims and their families must seek compensation by filing a case against the government, and not against him.

Earlier, a request made by Former President Sirisena to remove him from the list of respondents in the petitions filed over the Easter Sunday Terror Attacks at a separate court was rejected.

Sirisena filed an appeal challenging the decision, and the matter will be taken up again on the 28th of December 2022.