- President Ranil Wickremesinghe says SL is relatively stable compared to countries in Africa which are facing severe debt crises: emphasises that African countries are in dire need of debt relief: expresses support for African countries facing challenging circumstances.
- Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera urges public to maintain “home gardens” for the cultivation of chillies, tomatoes & various types of leaves to deal with the rise in vegetable prices: says vegetable crops have been destroyed due to recent heavy rains: urges people to stop blaming each other as that will not solve the problem.
- Acting IGP Deshabandu Thennakoon says more than 100,000 offensive video clips of children being sexually abused & their nudity exposed, have been shared on social media: also says Police have initiated investigations to identify & apprehend those responsible for uploading these videos.
- Report of the Finance Ministry of Finance on public fiscal management reveals that the use of landline phones & mobile phones during the first 6-months period of 2023 had dwindled by 19.4% & 5.3% respectively.
- SriLankan Airlines misses it’s 3rd coupon interest payment on its International Dollar Bond: says it doesn’t intend to pay the coupon that fell due on 25th Dec”23: it has already missed payments in Dec”22 & Jun’23.
- Public Security Minister Tiran Alles slams UNHRC for criticizing the Govt’s anti-drug campaign which has nabbed around 39,000 for their involvement with narcotics: SL has recognized the drug menace & underworld operations as key threats and a Police-led operation titled “Yukthiya” to nab the drug distributors across the country is continuing since Dec’23.
- Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon says 163 persons, including more than 30 police officers who have been in contact with notorious drug trafficker Nadun Chinthaka Wikramaratne alias ‘Harak Kata’, have been identified: also says the Police will analyse the bank details & assets of those police officers: reveals that ‘Harak Kata’ has smuggled over 4,000 kgs of heroin into the country between 2016 and 2023.
- Another potential pharmaceutical price hike looms as the industry awaits an evaluation of prices to reflect the indirect impact of VAT & exchange rate fluctuations: the industry is now expecting a further price hike of nearly 12%: local pharmacists claim sales have already dropped by around 30% since the 1st price revision.
- Controller General of Immigration & Emigration I S H J Ilukpitiya says the Electronic Passport (e-passport) will be introduced by end-2024: adds the SL passport will become one of the well-recognized passports among countries with the introduction of the e-passport.
- SL wins the 3rd Cricket T20 against Zimbabwe by 9 wickets: Zimbabwe 82 all-out in 14.1 overs: Wanindu Hasaranga 15/4, Angelo Mathews 15/2, Maheesh Theekshana 14/2: SL 88/1 in 10.5 overs: Pathum Nissanka 39, Kusal Mendis 33, Dhananjaya de Silva 15: SL wins the series 2-1.
