01. President Ranil Wickremesinghe departs the country for a two-day official visit to Singapore: The President has a series of significant meetings planned, including discussions with Singapore’s President, Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Sustainability and Environment Minister: The latter to engage in bilateral talks with the SL President.
02. President Ranil Wickremesinghe says the tourism industry stands as the paramount sector capable of swiftly advancing the country’s economic objectives: emphasises the significance of substantial contributions from both the public and private sectors: adds the government is diligently working to provide necessary amenities for all stakeholders involved.
03. Health Ministry says 120 specialist doctors who have left the country have been blacklisted: adds 363 doctors had left for overseas training and returned to the island during the time period from January 09, 2022 to August 18, 2023: asserts those blacklisted can return to Sri Lanka, but will have to submit an appeal to the Public Service Commission to resume local practice.
04. The historic Esala Perahera of the Holy Temple of Tooth Relic in Kandy commences the first ‘Kumbal’ Perahera today and will tour the streets till August 25: Following Kumbal Perahera, the first ‘Randoli’ Perahera will commence walking on August 26 and will be touring till August 30, later to conclude on August 31 simultaneous to the ‘Diya-Kepime Mangalyaya’ ceremony at the Getambe pier of the Mahaweli River.
05. Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says he expects the Agriculture Department to immediately submit a report on the cultivation of b-onions in the country: laments the b-onion cultivation has largely failed for the past seven – to – eight years: Ministry data point out that the annual requirement of b-onions in SL is 300,000 MT, and the amount of b-onions imported during the period is 131,795 MT due to the national production being only 4,716 MT.
06. India’s ‘Spice Jet’ aviation service resumes between Madurai and Colombo with six weekly flights: Flights operate every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from Madurai to Colombo and from Colombo to Madurai.
07. The Registrar General’s Department announces all duplicate copies of birth, death and marriage certificates in Sri Lanka do not require a validity period: reiterates all duplicate copies of birth, death and marriage certificates will be accepted without time limitation: adds a decision has been made to amend the earlier requirement of a validity period of six months from the date of issue of the documents.
08. The Customs says an increase has been observed in financial fraud utilising the institution or related information in the country at present: Customs Director Sudath Silva says fraudsters are utilising records similar to the official documents and telephone numbers of the Customs Department, as well as the names of officials of the institution: urges the public to refrain from transferring money to the bank accounts of unknown persons.
09. Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says there is no need to fear that there will be a shortage of rice: asserts the current stock of rice and paddy will be sufficient until the harvest of the next season: adds, however, that the government does not have any additional rice or paddy stock (buffer stock) and currently all the paddy stocks are in the private sector.
10. Sri Lankan boxer Niraj Wijewardena ends his campaign by winning a bronze medal at the 13th Taipei City Cup International Boxing Meet after his campaign ended in the semi-final bout losing finally on points to the Taiwanese boxer Huang Guan-Qun after it went the full distance.
