- President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the “Gen Z Dialogue” initiative will bring the perspectives of the younger generation into the governance process. To support this effort, the National Youth Service Council will be tasked with establishing youth centers at the national, provincial, district, and regional levels and organizing these dialogues, he said.
- Samagi Jana Balavegaya presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa has pledged to usher in a golden age for Sri Lanka’s gems and jewellery industry under his leadership. Speaking at an event, Premadasa emphasized the formulation of new policies to achieve this vision. Premadasa criticized the involvement of multinational companies in the industry through crony relationships and vowed to prevent such practices. He stressed the importance of adopting modern technology and assured that his team would not be influenced by money or privileges.
- India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, has met with National People’s Power (NPP) leader and presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake. During his visit, Mr. Doval is scheduled to review deliberations of the Colombo Security Conclave, a regional initiative that began as a trilateral effort among India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. It has since expanded to include Mauritius and Bangladesh as members, and the Seychelles as an observer.
- Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval participated in the signing of the Founding Documents of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC), during his visit to Sri Lanka from 29-30 August 2024. According to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, the Charter and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the CSC Secretariat were signed in Colombo today by India, Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
- The Colombo Chief Magistrate has allowed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to detain and interrogate the custodian in charge of the evidence room of the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, who was arrested in connection with the disappearance of a large quantity of the heroin from the evidence room.
- The overall rate of inflation as measured by the Colombo Consumers Price Index (CCPI) on a Y-on-Y basis has decreased to 0.5% in August 2024 compared to the 2.4% calculated for the month of July 2024, according to the latest data released by Sri Lanka’s Department of Census and Statistics.
- The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Sri Lanka’s presidential election has deployed 26 long-term observers (LTOs) to all nine provinces of Sri Lanka on Thursday.
- The Election Commission has announced the locations reserved for marking postal votes in the upcoming presidential election. According to the Election Commission, postal votes can be marked on September 4 at District Secretariats and the offices of the Election Commission.
- The Land Valuation Indicator (LVI) for the Colombo District increased by 6.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis during the first half of 2024, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) reported.
- Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced that the Sri Lanka U-19 Women’s team will tour Australia from September–October 2024. According to the SLC, the Sri Lanka U-19 Women’s team will engage in a tri-series, which will see the team playing both T20 and 50-over games against Australia and New Zealand.
