- President Ranil Wickremesinghe officially opened “The Mall,” a newly constructed duty-free shopping complex in the Colombo Port City area on Thursday (September 5). This marks the debut of the first urban duty-free shopping mall in the region, featuring a range of stores, restaurants, and various retail outlets
- The blueprint 3.0 of the economic manifesto of the presidential candidate of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa has been unveiled. The SJB said that the original Blueprint, tabled in Parliament on 12 August 2022, spelled out their alliance’s thinking on how to stabilise the economy. Blueprint 2.0, published on 14 February 2023, described how to move beyond stabilisation towards sustainable and inclusive growth.
- Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, emphasised that President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to increase public sector salaries is not merely an election promise. It has received approval from both the Treasury and the Cabinet. He highlighted that during the peak of the economic crisis, there were suggestions to reduce public servant salaries
- The Colombo Magistrate’s Court has postponed the hearing of a plaint filed against the presidential candidate of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Namal Rajapaksa and several others over an alleged financial fraud. Accordingly, when the case was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage, it was ordered to be recalled for hearing on February 13, 2025.
- President Ranil Wickremesinghe has officially removed four State Ministers from their ministerial portfolios with immediate effect. Accordingly, State Minister of Ports and Aviation Services Premalal Jayasekara, State Minister of Power and Energy Indika Anuruddha, State Minister of Agriculture Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva and State Minister of Highways Siripala Gamlath have been removed from their respective positions with immediate effect.
- The Governor of the Uva Province, A. J. M. Muzammil, says he has tendered his resignation as the Uva Province Governor in order to support SJB Presidential Candidate and Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming presidential election.
- The Election Commission has issued a notification outlining leave entitlements for employees in both public and private sectors during the 2024 presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on September 21. However, the election regulatory body stated that the relevant leave provisions will facilitate the voters to attend the polling stations for voting without any loss of pay or impact on their personal leave allocations.
- Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga states that she will not back any candidate during the 2024 presidential election and will remain neutral. Issuing a statement, the former President said that she does not intend to support any candidate in the near future as well.
- A new political alliance, the Podujana Eksath Nidahas Peramuna, was officially launched in a ceremony held in Battaramulla. The event saw the participation of several key ministers & mps from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) who are backing independent presidential candidate, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
- Sri Lanka’s rising star Harshitha Samarawickrama has been joined by two of the most consistent performers from Ireland in being nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for August.
