by Hannah Ellis-Petersen in The Gurdian, De 24, 2023 at 06.00 GMTAccusations are growing that the former Sri Lankan government, led by strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, blocked an investigation into the country’s worst terrorist attack amid claims that they had helped orchestrate the blasts in order to return to power. In the attacks on Easter Sunday in 2019, six suicide bombers targeted churches and luxury hotels across the country, killing 269 people, including eight British…
Posts published in “Sri Lanka”
report in The Island, Dec 26, 2023The police have taken into custody 235,689 cannabis plants during countrywide search operation carried out in the 24 hours that ended at 00.30 on Saturday morning, police said in a media statement. The raids were a part of an ongoing operation to crack down on narcotics, police said. The police took into custody 692 grams of heroin, 393 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 42.1 kilos of cannabis, and large stocks…
report in The Island, Dec 25, 2023BBC has reported that Police in Sri Lanka have claimed to have arrested almost 15,000 people during a week-long drive against drug traffickers across the country. The police also say the operation led to the seizure of almost 440kg of various types of narcotics, including heroin. Local media showed footage of officers using sniffer dogs to search homes in Colombo and other places. Rights activists said the raids were…
report in ECONOMYNEXT, Dec 24, 2023 at 7:26 pmA logistics centre in Colombo Port with China’s CM Ports, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Access Engineering will get a 15-year tax holiday, according to a gazette notice. Thirty expatriates will be completely freed from income tax. The corporate income tax exemption will start from the first year the project company makes a taxable profit or two years after commercial operations, whichever comes earlier. Taxes on dividends…
By Namini Wijedasa in The Sunday Times, Dec 24, 2023The Government has granted generous 15-year exemptions on corporate income tax and tax on dividends to the proposed Chinese-led logistics centre in the Colombo Port.President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as Investment Promotion Minister, on Friday gazetted the initiative under the 2008 Strategic Development Projects Act (SDPA), stating that the aim was to turn the Colombo Port into a logistics hub for South Asia. The use…
by Buddhika Samaraweera in The daily Morning, Dec 21, 2023The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) stated that they are currently considering several candidates including Government Parliamentarian and businessman Dhammika Perera, in order to decide whom to field in the upcoming Presidential Election. During a media briefing at the SLPP headquarters in Colombo yesterday (20), the media queried SLPP General Secretary and Government MP attorney Sagara Kariyawasam as to whether it is Perera who would…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Dec 20, 2023Re-elected leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) and its founder Basil Rajapaksa (BR) declared last week that the party would definitely win the next national election. The boastful prediction was made at the second convention of the party held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium on Dec 15, two days after the SLPP voted for President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s (RW) Budget for 2024, presented…
By Kelum Bandara in Daily Mirror, Dec 20, 2023Colombo, Dec.20 (Daily Mirror) – Political circles are abuzz with speculation whether President Ranil Wickremesinghe will declare the general elections ahead of the presidential elections scheduled before the end of October 17. Various news reports, circulating both in mainstream and social media, suggest that the general elections will precede the presidential elections. According to inside political sources, some of the key members of the United National Party…
by Asiri Fernando in Daily Morning, Dec 18, 2023The Government of Sri Lanka is considering a moratorium on granting diplomatic permission for foreign marine scientific research (MSR) vessels for 2024 and beyond, senior government sources close to the matter told The Daily Morning. The decision comes weeks after Sri Lanka communicated a reviewed standard operational procedure (SOP) to grant diplomatic approval for foreign warships, aircraft, and research vessels to traverse Sri Lankan waters, airspace, and…
By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya in Daily Mirror, Dec 18, 2023Colombo, Dec 18 – A total of 2,121 suspects were arrested within the last 24 hours during island-wide operations launched yesterday. Police said that during this period, they recovered 2kgs and 232gms of heroin, 178kgs of cannabis, 769gms of Ice drugs, 35kgs of Ash, 626gms of Mawa, 30,550 cannabis plants, and 3,489 narcotic pills. Among the 2,121 suspects arrested during the operation, 12 suspects are being…
report in The Sunday Morning, Dec 17, 2023Several key officials, including President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka, currently serving at the Presidential Secretariat, are set to be removed from their current positions to join President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s upcoming Presidential Election campaign, according to sources within the Presidential Secretariat. The names of the key officials to be appointed to fill the vacancies remain undisclosed. Changes in the President’s official staff are anticipated as the campaign gears…