- Govt starts acquisition of lands, mostly privately owned, for the Adani-backed 250MW Mannar Wind Power Project.
- Group of undergraduates storm the main administrative building of the Kelaniya University in protest against police attacks on them: on the previous night, the students had demonstrated opposite the university against an invitation extended by the university administration to President Ranil Wickremesinghe to open a new administrative building at the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
- International investors of SL ISBs say they are “extremely frustrated” over alleged Govt’s lack of engagement for months: allege that claims by Govt that it is making “good progress” on external debt re-structuring is a “distortion” and damages credibility & image of SL: value of ISBs increases from USD 12 bn to USD 13bn due to the delay so far in finalising settlement.
- Police fire water cannons & tear gas to disperse SJB protesters near the Public Library, Colombo: one person injured & admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.
- SLAF spokesman says 2 SLAF & 2 SL Army paratroopers suffered minor injuries due to their parachutes getting entangled while landing during Independence Day rehearsals.
- SL Telecom Chairman Reyaz Mihular and 3 other directors abruptly resign: no reasons given: inside sources have indicated that Mihular & the other directors were asked to resign by the Govt which is the controlling shareholder.
- Police attached to the Women’s and Children’s Bureau arrest a group of Parliament employees for allegedly abusing a fellow female staff member: Parliament Serjeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando says these employees have already been interdicted as they were found guilty during an internal inquiry.
- Head of the Tsunami Division of GSMB – Seismologist Nilmini Thaldena says people need not panic because the probability of a tsunami striking the coastal areas of SL is very low: also says even an earthquake is unlikely in SL due to its geological position.
- Point Pedro Magistrate sentences 10 Indian fishermen to 2-year prison terms suspended for 5 years for poaching in the SL waters: also orders the owner of the trawler to be present in Court on 24th Oct’24 when the case will be next heard.
- West Indies Under-19 Cricket team beats SL Under-19 team by 3 wickets in their encounter in the ICC Cricket Championship held in South Africa: SL Under-19s – 231 in 50 overs: Dinura Kalupahana 53, Supun Waduge 31, Malsha Tharupathi 42; WI Under-19s – 232/7 in 49.3 overs: Dinura Kalupahana 2-39, Vishwa Lahiru 2-32, Sineth Jayawardena 2-39.
