- The Cabinet approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to implement a special loan scheme to remove obstacles for women to engage in economic activities by using Rs. 2 billion out of the Rs. 20 billion previously allocated to implement an investment scheme to re-strengthen the enterprise sector. It is observed that women’s participation in Sri Lanka’s economic affairs is at a lower level than other regional and Asian countries. There are various reasons for this and according to the 2022 survey of Sri Lanka’s workforce, 35 percent of the economically active population are women.
- Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday (02) that the government had failed to secure the optimal deal in the debt restructuring process. Soon after the President made a special statement to the House, Premadasa said that the government haD failed to secure the best possible deal in the debt restructuring process.
- The Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera, stated that Lanka IOC will be launching a 100 Octane premium petrol to the market.
- This order was issued by the two-member Appeals Court bench comprising President of the Court of Appeal Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne and Justice Shashi Mahendran following an extensive consideration of the facts presented related to the petition. Accordingly, the judge bench also ordered the related parties to file written submissions related to the case, if any, before July 15, 2024.
- The Findings and Preliminary Recommendations Report from the recently concluded National Symposium on ‘Catalysing Change: Making Local Governance Future Fit’ carried out by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been handed over to Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The report was officially handed over by Ms. Azusa Kubota, Resident Representative, UNDP in Sri Lanka and Mr. Johann Hesse, Head of Cooperation at the European Union (EU) Delegation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
- Two 15-year-old students, a male and a female, have reportedly died after falling from the Altair building in Colombo. The students are believed to have fallen from the 67th floor of the building, with their bodies being discovered on the 3rd floor by the police.
- The price of Laugfs domestic LP gas cylinders will remain unchanged, despite price reductions made by Litro Gas PLC, the company announced. Accordingly, the current prices of Laugfs domestic LP gas cylinders are as follows; 12.5 kg cylinder – Rs. 3,680: 05 kg cylinder – Rs. 1,477
- The Election Commission states that despite the deferral of the 2023 Local Government (LG) elections, the local government election law remains in effect as the polls have not been completed. It highlighted that accordingly, the local government election law is still effective as per the Article 104 (a) of the Constitution.
- The Colombo District Court issued an interim order, preventing the removal of Dayasiri Jayasekara from his position as General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and his expulsion from party membership. This decision comes in response to a petition filed by Jayasekara.
- Sri Lankan athletes Tharushi Karunaratne and Dilhani Lekamge have qualified to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Tharushi Karunaratne has qualified for the Women’s 800m event while Nadeesha Lekamge qualified for Women’s Javelin Throw events at the Paris Olympics.
