- President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa expresses gratitude to the Japanese government for their support in the debt restructuring process: The talks also revolve around key areas of cooperation, namely the Light Rail Transit, the East Terminal, the Kandy Development Plan, Central Highway, and the expansion of the BIA Airport.
- WB Country Director for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka Faris Hadad-Zervos says at least 3.18 million middle class persons in Sri Lanka will fall into poverty level with the rising cost of living and loss of income in the economic crisis; adds this has doubled the national poverty level to 25 per cent: adds 13.1% of the population (2.9 million people) falls under the ‘poor’ category; reveals while poverty jumped to 15% in urban areas, it skyrocketed to 52% in rural areas.
- Journalist and YouTuber Tharindu Uduwaragedara who was brutally assaulted and arrested by Borella Police while he was reporting on a protest in Colombo granted bail by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Court: National Movement for Social Justice calls for an immediate investigation into the inhumane attack.
- India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says as a large creditor to Sri Lanka, China is welcome to join the efforts steered by Japan, India and France to held the island nation to cope with its debt distress: adds a comprehensive, better and quicker approach is required to address the problem within the common framework of the IMF and World Bank, as well as “outside” it.
- The Colombo stock market achieves a sharp rebound with foreign investors stepping up buying, boosting the year to date net inflow to Rs. 3 bn: The active S&P SL20 shot up by nearly 4% and the active ASPI by 2.5%: Turnover gained to Rs. 3.3 bn involving 95.5 million shares.
- The Academy of Health Professionals says they have organised a token strike on August 03, to protest against the failure to cancel the circular issued censoring health workers from producing statements to the media without the Ministry’s approval: Union Chief Ravi Kumudesh says the Health Secretary has not yet responded to the queries made on the communique in question; asserts a special conference will be held on the same date, where health professionals and civil organisations will together reveal many other issues pertaining to the country’s health service.
- Higher Education State Minister Suren Raghavan says President Wickremesinghe’s proposal to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution without Police powers as a measure to foster national harmony may not be popular, but it is a forward-looking decision for the future of the country; adds this will pave the way for a new political journey anticipated by the young people who have been actively engaged in the ‘Aragalaya’.
- The Human Rights Commission says it conducted a Suo Motu (on its own motion) investigation on the death of a patient who was under residential treatment at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): adds it would call for reports from relevant parties related to this incident and summon all concerned individuals as well, for a detailed inquiry at the Commission as early as possible.
- Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara says the CPC has informed that anticipating the fuel price revision next month, 101 fuel station dealers for 92 Petrol and 61 fuel station dealers for Lanka Auto diesel have not maintained 50% stock capacity: adds that however, the dealers have placed adequate orders to maintain stock requirements as of yesterday: asserts the CPC took over the management of a few fuel stations last month, which had not maintained minimum stocks, and legal proceedings are being made on multiple other dealers.
- Reports surface claiming that the names of Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe’s two daughters were among the 21 names that have been included in the letters of endorsement from Sri Lanka Cricket for Australian visas allegedly put forward by SLC President Shammi Silva: A draft of the Auditor General’s report into the expenses incurred by SLC for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia revealed that SLC had spent Rs. 68 million on sending its officials to Australia, while also revealing 35 names of individuals.
