- Under the “Presidential Scholarship Program” initiated as a concept of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, approximately 3,000 out of 5,000 scholarships will be awarded to lay students, student monks, and Sheela Matha in Piriven and Sheela Mata educational institutions. This marks the first scholarship program of its kind for lay clergy students in Piriven. The initiative extends financial support to student monks studying up to the Piriven (Ordinary Level) and lay students up to the G.C.E. (Ordinary Level), providing them with Rs. 9,000 initially and Rs. 3,000 monthly for 12 months.
- General Secretary of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the SJB will face the upcoming Presidential Election as the strongest alliance in Sri Lanka’s political history.The relevant agreement will be signed on August 8.
- A recent survey carried out by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) on Household Drinking Water Quality has found that 20.3% of the household population in Sri Lanka lacked even basic drinking water facilities. It has also been revealed that the main source of drinking water for 16.1% of the household population in the country were unprotected wells.
- The committee tasked with addressing salary discrepancies in the public sector has begun accepting suggestions for updating salary benefits. Accordingly, the proposals for revising the salary allowances will be accepted by the committee. Interested parties can access the application form on the official website of the President’s Office via http://presidentsoffice.gov.lk.
- India-funded projects in the neighbourhood received the bulk of the allocation for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) under the Union Budget presented by Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Sri Lanka, which has a number of India-funded projects, has received 2450 million Indian rupees (INR), an improvement of INR 950 million over last year’s funding of INR 1500 million, according to The Hindu.
- The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to publish the revised Online Safety Bill in the government gazette and to table it in Parliament. In line with the decision given by the Supreme Court on the draft bill on the security of online methods known as ‘Online Safety Bill’, and subsequent to being passed in Parliament, the Security of Online Methods Act No. 9 of 2024 is now in operation, the Department of Government Information (DGI) said.
- The National Election Commission is reportedly scheduled to meet on Thursday (25), in order to discuss regarding the holding of the upcoming Presidential Election. The discussions will be preliminarily focused on deciding the date for the 2024 Presidential Election and following that, the election date will be announced.
- The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal that the government should apologize to the sections of society affected by the compulsory cremation policy enforced in Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Sri Lankan migrant workers in Bangladesh have not been harmed in the recent unrest reported in the country, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said. Nanayakkara said that the Sri Lankan Embassy in Bangladesh has informed that no Sri Lankans have been injured in the unrest in Bangladesh.
- Sri Lankan track and field athletes Dilhani Lekamge and Aruna Darshana who have qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris have received financial aid from the Sri Lanka Army.Staff Sergeant Aruna Darshana of the Sri Lanka Artillery and Staff Sergeant Dilhani Lekamge of the Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps received financial rewards from Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage at the Army Headquarters.
