Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has scheduled a meeting of all political party leaders in Parliament at 11:00 a.m. on 20 April. This meeting will be the first gathering after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, and all party leaders have reportedly been informed to attend.

The upcoming Parliamentary session on 25 April will be the first one after the festive season, and the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill is expected to be taken up during this session. However, a final decision regarding the matter will be made at the party leader’s meeting scheduled prior to the session.

The proposed Bill, which was initially supposed to be tabled in Parliament on 04 April, has faced opposition from several parties. As such, preparations have been made for the upcoming meeting to discuss the matter and reach a consensus.

The meeting is anticipated to provide a platform for party leaders to deliberate on critical national issues and make informed decisions for the betterment of the country.

In light of the ongoing festive season, Gemunu Wijeratne, the President of the Private Bus Owners’ Association, has confirmed that special buses will be available for individuals who had traveled to their hometowns and need to return to Colombo.

Wijeratne revealed that only 25% of the buses were operational on April 15, but expects the number to increase to nearly 50% by April 16. This initiative is expected to ease the travel burden on individuals who had gone to celebrate the festival with their families and friends.

Furthermore, the Sri Lanka Railways Department has also announced the operation of special trains for long-distance journeys from April 15. The General Manager of the Sri Lanka Railways stated that several trains will be in operation from outstation areas to Colombo, including two trains from Galle and Badulla, which will start operating from tomorrow morning. Additionally, a special train from Anuradhapura to Beliaththa is also scheduled to be in operation.

However, the police have also expressed concerns over the increasing number of road accidents during the festive season. To ensure the safety of individuals traveling during this period, they have implemented a special safety program. Thus, travelers are advised to exercise caution and follow all necessary safety measures while traveling.

The World Bank’s Regional Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser, has praised the progress made by Sri Lanka on fiscal, financial and economic governance reforms. Raiser made the comments during a meeting with a Sri Lankan delegation, led by Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington DC.

During the meeting, Raiser and the Sri Lankan delegation discussed the country’s reform initiatives, including the transformation to a digital economy, progress on targeted social safety nets, and cooperation on renewable energy. The two sides also talked about supporting export-oriented small- and medium-scale businesses.

Raiser stressed the importance of transparency for the success of reforms, particularly social protection measures aimed at protecting vulnerable people. He expressed delight at Sri Lanka’s progress on fiscal, financial and economic governance reforms but noted that continued efforts were necessary for a full recovery of the country’s economy. The World Bank official reiterated the bank’s support for Sri Lanka through ideas and financing.

The Sri Lankan delegation also met with Assistant Secretaries of the US State Department, Donald Lu and Ramin Toloui, to discuss mutual interests and the US commitment to the island’s economic recovery and reform process. State Minister Semasinghe also had a productive meeting with IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okumura, who appreciated the Sri Lankan government’s commitment to meeting the first review targets and completing debt treatment negotiations as quickly as possible.

Air Seychelles, the State-owned national flag carrier for Seychelles, has announced plans to launch a new international service from Mahe to Colombo, Sri Lanka, starting on June 20. The carrier will operate the service twice a week with its Airbus A320neo airliners, configured to carry 12 business class and 156 economy class passengers. The return flights from Colombo will be operated on Wednesday and Sunday mornings.

Air Seychelles will also partner with Sri Lankan Airlines, giving its passengers access to more than 20 destinations across Asia and Australasia, including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo. The partnership will enable travellers to purchase a single ticket for travel beyond Colombo to other destinations in the region.

Air Seychelles already operates international services to Johannesburg, Mauritius, Mumbai, and Tel Aviv, and scheduled domestic services with up to 30 roundtrips each day between Mahe and Praslin, as well as charter flights to other islands in the archipelago. The carrier’s acting CEO, Sandy Benoiton, highlighted that the new destination to Colombo will reinforce the regional service and provide enhanced connectivity to Southeast Asia and beyond.

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage accompanied by the Embassy’s Second Secretary (Commercial) and the Public Diplomacy Officer of the Embassy visited the West Java Craft Council

The Ambassador highlighted the contribution made by the craft industry to the growth of the economy and requested training for Sri Lankan craftsmen in the field of batik and rattan. The officials of the West Java Craft Council invited Sri Lankan craft industry representatives to participate in their upcoming exhibition in June. They also suggested entering into an MoU to provide training for the Sri Lankan craft industry including proposals for collaboration between the craft industries of the two countries.

The West Java Craft Gallery displays craft items produced in 27 districts of the West Java province. A team of officials from West Java Craft Council participated in the meeting including Head of the Department of Trade and Industry Department of West Java Noneng Komara Nengsih, West Java Dekranasda Deputy Secretary II Dr.Dian Agustin and Trade Shows, Exhibitions, Seminar, and Training Organizer Darningsih Rustiadji .

Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts during the afternoon or night.

Mainly fair weather will prevail elsewhere over the island.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05th to 15th of April in this year. The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead tomorrow (15th) are Nallur, Paranthan and Chundikkulam at about 12:10 noon.

On Thursday, Japan, India and France announced a new platform to coordinate talks among bilateral creditors for the purpose of restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt. The move is intended to serve as a model for solving the debt problems of middle-income economies, according to a report by Reuters. The initiative, launched by Japan as this year’s G7 chair, aims to begin a series of meetings among Sri Lanka’s creditors, with the first round scheduled to take place “as soon as possible”, said French Director General of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin during a briefing.

However, it remains unclear whether China, Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor, will join the initiative. According to official government data, Sri Lanka owes $7.1 billion to bilateral creditors, with China being owed $3 billion, followed by $2.4 billion to the Paris Club and $1.6 billion to India. In addition, the government also needs to renegotiate more than $12 billion of debt in eurobonds with overseas private creditors and $2.7 billion on other commercial loans.

The new platform’s launch has put pressure on major economies to come up with an alternative scheme to address the debt restructuring issue in Sri Lanka. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said the establishment of the negotiation process is a “historical outcome” as the committee is open to all creditors. It remains to be seen how this initiative will affect Sri Lanka’s debt burden and economic outlook in the long run.