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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who is in Sri Lanka on an official visit, met with President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday after arriving in Colombo.

During the meeting, Maithripala Sirisena referred to the old history of bilateral and friendly relations between Iran and Sri Lanka and revived the memory of his ‘beneficial and constructive’ visit to Iran earlier in May where he met with Iranian senior officials on expanding bilateral cooperation, especially in areas of energy.

“There is no barrier obstructing the expansion and deepening of bilateral relations between Iran and Sri Lanka,” he asserted after voicing his country’s willingness for further bolstering and developing of bilateral cooperation and alignment at international communities.

Iranian top diplomat, for his part, delivered ‘the warmest greetings of President Rouhani’ to Sri Lankan president and re-voiced Iran’s resolute will for expanding friendly and intimate relations.

The Iranian diplomatic chief described the areas of cooperation between the two countries as diverse and broad and called for expansion of interactions in areas of energy, agriculture, as well as technical and engineering services.

The both sides continued their dialogue exchanging views on the latest most important regional and international developments.

Maithripala Sirisena visited Iran on May 13, 2018 where he signed a host of MoUs and agreements on economic and cultural cooperation with Iran. Also at a joint presser on the same day, the two presidents called for the establishment of a direct flight between Tehran and Colombo to boost tourism.

President Maithripala Sirisena and President Rouhani had already met on the sidelines of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit in Bangkok in October 2016.

Also on January 15, 2017, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Science, Technology and Research Susil Premajayantha met with Iranian Foreign minister Zarif while he was visiting Tehran at the invitation of Iran’s Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari.

Import and Export Controller M.G. Gamini who was arrested for accepting a bribe has been further remanded till August 7.

The suspect had allegedly requested a bribe of Rs 200,000 from a businessman in Weligama to provide a report containing recommendations necessary to bring down two vehicles from Japan which are around 10 years old through legal channels. He was arrested by officials of the Bribery Commission while accepting the bribe in Battaramulla on July 20.

The construction work on the last phase of the Colombo Outer Circular Highway (OCH) is expected to be completed by July 2019, the Road development Authority (RDA) said.

The 29.5 kilometer OCH starts from Kerawalapitiya along the Colombo - Katunayake Expressway to link with the Southern Expressway crossing A-4 highway at Kottawa and the main A-1 Colombo-Kandy highway at Kadawatha.

The third and last phase of the OCH (OCH-3) from Kadawatha to Kerawalapitiya extending 9.63 kilometers is currently under construction. The RDA said that about 65% of the construction work has already been completed. 

The second phase of the Outer Circular Highway from Kaduwela to Kadawatha was opened to the public in September 2015 while the first phase from Kottawa to Kaduwela was opened in March 2014.

In the third phase, a new interchange will also be constructed close to the starting point of the proposed Colombo-Kandy Central Expressway. The four-tier interchange will be the highest in the country, according to RDA.

6.3 kilometers of the total distance will also be on long bridges since the expressway runs through the Muthurajawela wetland area and low land areas with paddy fields.
RDA further said that the water drainage plan was prepared after gaining approval from the Central Environment Authority.

Government has decided to increase the rates of allowances paid to doctors for being on call during emergency situations. Accordingly the allowance will be increased from Rs. 35 000 to Rs 50 000 while specialist doctors allowance will be increased to Rs 60 000. 

Accordingly allowance for doctors working in the government service will increased by Rs. 15 000 for a normal doctor and by Rs. 25 000 for a specialist doctor. 

However while the allowance is being provided, sources say there is no transparent method to check if the doctor actually provided the service.

According to him, the war affected the doctors needing them to be on call but without such a situation the increasing of the allowance seems unusual he said. 

Already the starting salary of junior doctors are Rs. 167, 000 while a specialist doctors starting salary is Rs. 250 000. The are also granted Rs. 3 600 000 as tax relief and vehicle permits.

Commenting on the recent claim made by the Examinations Department that a project will be launched to disable mobile phone signals within the examination centers at the upcoming G.C.E. Advanced Level examination next month, Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said that it would not be possible to jam signals from telecommunication towers since it may disturb the communication of the public.

“How many examinations centers are there island wide? If we are to do this, we have to install jammers at all these locations. At how many areas should we do this signal jamming? This seems rather impractical,” Fernando said. 

“If we jam the signals from telecommunication towers, it will affect everyone in those areas. It will definitely have a negative impact on business interactions and similar other communications. Therefore, it does not seem practical either,” the Minister added.

Fernando said that a discussion should be held with the Examinations Department and other relevant parties before installing signal jammers at examination centres.

Department of Examinations has announced that holding tuition classes for students sitting the Advanced level examination this year will be banned from tomorrow midnight (31).

According to Commissioner General of Examinations Sanath Pujitha, the ban will be in place till September 1. 

Meanwhile, tuition for Grade 5 scholarship exams will also be banned from August 1 midnight till the exam is over he said. 

Accordingly holding tuition classes, seminars, workshops, printing of model examination papers, distributing them including posters, banners and handouts will be illegal in any format.

Sri Lanka’s first ever tourist-friendly ‘Tuk Tuk’ service was launched at the Galle Face Green under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday.

A concept introduced by the Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera as a proposal under Budget-2018, the government commissioned this  ‘tourist friendly tuk-tuk’ programme in collaboration with the hospitality industry.


Minister Mangala Samaraweera with Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Japanese Ambassador Kenichi Suganuma riding a Tuk. 

This programme provides for existing three-wheeler drivers to register with the SLTDA so that a three-wheeler would not only be a mode of transportation, but the driver to serve as a local tourist-guide as well.

Over 750 Tuk Tuk drivers have been trained by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) to date under its tourist-friendly training programs across several districts. 

Furthermore, all drivers who successfully complete the program will get a special ID from the SLTDA, in addition to the tourist-friendly logo that will be displayed on these Tuk Tuk as a unique mark to distinguish them from other three-wheelers.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that under the Enterprise Sri Lanka credit schemes, the Ministry of Finance will incorporate a subsidised loan scheme to enable Tuk Tuk drivers to invest in a multitude of additional services including meters, WIFI, and GPS facilities that would act as value-added services that are already provided to consumers, both domestic and tourists.

Minister of Wildlife and Sustainable Development, Sarath Fonseka says the decision if to implement the death penalty or not must be taken after a referendum.

The Minister speaking to the media recently at an event held in Wellawaya claimed the punishment should be reserved for those whose actions are detrimental to the country.

“If the government gets in order the public too will follow suit” the Minister added.

Inaugurating a new construction industry training course at the Talalla National Vocational Training Institute, Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera said that he government intends to establish four vocational training facilities in Anuradhapura, Badulla, Kandy and Trincomalee to provide opportunities for students who are unable to gain admission to local universities.

"Although nearly 250,000 students sit for the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination every year, only about 25,000 students are eligible to enter local universities. Some affluent parents are able to send their children abroad or to private institutes for higher education", the Minister said.


A section of the youth selected from the Southern Province who would follow a four month training course in welding, carpentry and masonry. 

"What about those who are deprived of a university education since they lack the financial means to pursue higher education?", Samaraweera inquired. 

The government will set up four vocational training facilities at Anuradhapura, Badulla, Kandy and Trincomalee with German and Swiss financial backing within the next three years to provide wider opportunities to these youth, especially in the technological sector, he said. 
Furthermore, Samaraweera pointed out that he had allocated LKR 1000 million through Budget 2018 to set up the aforementioned vocational training institutes.

The Minister also stated that steps are already underway to establish a technological university in Matara with German assistance.

Addressing a meeting held in Nawagaththegama recently, State Minister of Disaster Management Palitha Range Bandara announced that he is ready to quit politics in the year 2020. According to him the public often votes against politicians no matter how much of a service they had done for them.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today announced that a mega-development plan will be implemented with the objective of uplifting rural areas in the next two years.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made these remarks while participating in the opening ceremony of the newly built Manmunai Pattu Divisional Secretariat building in Batticaloa on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that necessary steps have been taken to develop tourism industry in the Eastern province.

"We have already started an accelerated development program throughout the country. With the present government taking office, in 2015, each Grama Niladhari division in the country was given 1 million rupees for development programs. The Divisional Secretariat is the main hub of development work. In 2015 there were many shortcomings existed in these Divisional Secretariats and we decided to addres them."
"By now, steps have been taken to fix the shortcomings in Divisional Secretariats and provide efficient services to the people," the Premier added.

He said the government is planning to continue the implementation of the mega development plan for rural areas in the year 2019 and 2020.
"The President has initiated the "Grama Shakthi" Rural Development program according to this plan. We have also started the Gamperaliya program. In addition, several other development projects have been started focusing on developing the village," the Premier said.

The rural development programs will renovate existing and construct new reservoirs anicuts and roads, the Premier explained. He added that when these constructions are carried out, the government hopes to give priority to local farmers associations and constructors not to the large scale contractors in order to direct the money to the village.

"In addition, we have launched other programs to develop the conflict-affected East. One step is to develop the tourism industry in this area but the main issue is the difficulty in transportation. As a solution we are planning to commence aviation services for tourists in the Eastern Province," he said.

The Prime Minister also vested in the public the new Eravur Divisional Secretariat building.

The new Manmunai Pattu and Eravur Divisional Secretariat buildings were constructed with the financial allocation from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Government has spent over 69 million rupees to construct the new buildings consisting of fully equipped auditoriums and all facilities needed by the staff.

The Minister of Home Affairs, Vajira Abeywardena, State Minister of Highways and Road Development, ALAM Hisbulla, Governor of the Eastern Province, Rohitha Bogollagama, Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs, S.T. Kodikara and a large number of government officials including politicians and politicians participated in the events.

Source : Colombo Page

High Commissioner of India, Taranjit Singh Sandhu visited and reviewed the progress of the construction of National Tri Lingual School in Polonnaruwa which is being built under Indian grant assistance of Rs. 300 million. 

The School is one of the key projects prioritized in close consultation with President Maithripala Sirisena under the “Pibidemu Polonnaruwa” (Awakening of Polonnaruwa) district development program. The Project is expected to be completed by January 2019.