- President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasized that there should be no fear regarding the constitutional amendment. Furthermore, Wickremesinghe expressed that Sri Lanka is unique in maintaining democracy following universal suffrage the President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a statement.
- Leader of the National People’s Power (NPP) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake left for a visit to Japan on Thursday, it was reported.
MP Dissanayake is travelling to Japan to attend a public meeting with Sri Lankans residing in Japan, which has been organized by the NPP’s foreign affairs committee. - The 22nd Constitutional Amendment was published via Gazette by order of the President. The 22nd Amendment involves changing the existing clause in Article 83 (b), from “exceeding six years” to “exceeding five years.” The Amendment was gazetted after the Secretary of the Ministry was instructed by the Justice Minister to defer the publication of the 22nd Constitutional Amendment in the official Gazette.
- Minister of Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Nalin Fernando stated that if the business community fails to pass on government-provided concessions to consumers, price controls will need to be implemented for certain goods. He also announced that proposals to amend the Consumer Act are planned to be submitted to Parliament within the next two weeks.
- Professor W.M.T Madhujith has been appointed to the post of Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
- The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SL CERT) has initiated an investigation into 40 government information systems in order to determine if they have been compromised by the mass global IT outage in software provided by a leading US-based cyber security firm.
- SriLankan Airlines announced that its internet booking services have been fully restored as of 08:30 GMT (02.00 pm local time), following a global outage of third-party service providers that affected the airline’s online booking services.
- Minister of Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva has officially inaugurated the runway development project at the Hingurakgoda Airport, which is set to become Sri Lanka’s sixth international airport. According to a government decision, construction work to modernize Hingurakgoda Domestic Airport for international flight operations commenced under the initiative of the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation.
- The Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake says that there are no impediments to declaring the Presidential Election by the gazetting of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Furthermore, the Elections Commissioner General stated that the commission has the power to fairly hold the upcoming elections despite any incoming influence.
- Sri Lankan actor and former MP Ranjan Ramanayake’s foundation has announced a donation programme to distribute free laptops to students in need. Accordingly, the laptops will be distributed on Tuesday (July 23) from 09.30 am to 01.00 pm at the Lotus Hall at BMICH in Colombo. The free laptop donation by The Ranjan Ramanayake Foundation is being conducted with the support of Indu Herath residing in the USA.
