- President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized the imperative of not forgetting the hardships endured in the past due to shortages of essential resources such as medicines, fuel and fertilizers critical for the country. He called upon all citizens to unite behind the government’s initiative aimed at fostering a new economic transformation in Sri Lanka, ensuring that future generations do not have to face similar challenges.
- Responding to the allegations levelled by former President Maithripala Sirisena, a Spokesman for the Catholic Church on Friday said that the Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has distributed over Rs. 500 million of financial aid received to assist the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks.
- Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayaka, announced that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed take the necessary measures to either rebuild or provide compensation, subject to a maximum limit, for houses that were completely damaged by the recent adverse weather conditions.
- The Department of Prisons has released 289 inmates from prisons across the island under a special state pardon granted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in view of Poson Poya Day.
- On the request of the Sri Lanka Police, the High Commission of India has been facilitating capacity building training courses for the personnel of the Sri Lankan Police at the premier Police training institutions viz. Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI), Jaipur; CDTI, Hyderabad; CDTI, Kolkata and National Security Guard (NSG), Manesar in India.
- It was disclosed at the Committee on Public Enterprises that due to dishonesty existing within the Corporation and the deliberate delay of 08 years and 08 months in issuing the relevant circular to the filling station owners by the marketing department of the Corporation, the Corporation has incurred a loss of Rs. 3,416 million for the period 2014-2022. In such context, COPE was of the view that the marketing department should assume responsibility for committing a large-scale fraud to the Corporation.
- The Narcotics Control Unit of Sri Lanka Customs has apprehended an officer of the airport security division while attempting to smuggle 18 gold biscuits worth around Rs. 48 million out of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.
- The Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs has called for an investigation into an alleged distortion of the Karaniya Metta Sutta that has been circulating on social media. The Ministry reported receiving numerous complaints about an AI-generated video clip that purportedly distorts a Buddhist sutra from the Pali Canon, which has been widely shared on Facebook and TikTok.
- The High Commission of India in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry celebrated the 10th International Day of Yoga as a 10-day Yoga Mahotsav by the Kandy Lake.
- Sri Lanka women’s cricket team completed a clean sweep of the ODI series against the West Indies, clinching a decisive 3-0 victory as they won the third and the final match by 160 runs.
