Oct 4 (TM) The CIABOC has identified approximately 34,000 individuals who failed to submit their asset declarations and fines will be strictly enforced against all defaulters. CIABOC Director General Ranga Dissanayake revealed the enforcement action at a meeting of the COPF held last week. Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development Department of National Budget Additional Director General more..

Oct 4 (TM) A backlog of 678,000 driving licences awaiting printing at the Dept of Motor Traffic (DMT) is likely to take until around the end of the year to clear, based on figures presented to Parliament, even after new printing machines are installed in mid-October. The figures were revealed by the DMT during a recent meeting of the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Infrastructure and Strategic Development, chaired by MP S.M. Marikkar. Deliberations at the meeting disclosed a critical bottleneck more..

Oct 4 (SO) All document preparation for seeking the release of Sivarasa Anojan, who has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, under a Royal Pardon has been completed, his family has been informed. These efforts are being carried out through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A four-member delegation, including two President’s Counsels, is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia tomorrow to hold discussions on commuting the death sentence imposed on Anojan Sivarasa. more..

Oct 4 (SO) Major capacity building initiatives in the Govt Analyst’s Dept within the past few months have eased congestion in remand prisons to a considerable extent with the Govt ensuring more timely upgrades to the Dept’s human resources and technology. Govt Analyst’s Dept has issued 17,506 reports within August and Sept alone, mostly relating to cases backlogged since 2025, thus bringing down the number of remand inmates more..

Oct 4 (DM) Police and the Urban Development Authority (UDA) have launched a joint initiative to strengthen security and maintain law and order across 24 UDA-managed housing complexes in and around Colombo. The high-level discussion was held at the Colombo DIG’s Office under the direction of IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya and chaired by Colombo Division DIG Nishantha de Zoysa. The initiative is aimed at protecting the lives and property of residents living under more..

Oct 4 (AD) GMOA has called for amendments to several Sections of the recently proposed Elimination of Rabies and Registration of Dogs Draft Bill. GMOA Media Spokesperson Dr. Lasitha Kannangara made these remarks during a press conference held yesterday (2). Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Govt has taken steps to introduce the Elimination of Rabies and Registration of Dogs Draft Bill, aimed at eradicating rabies in SL and registering dogs. more..

Oct 4 (AD) Veterinary surgeons have expressed their opposition to a recent statement by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) calling for amendments to several Sections of the recently proposed Elimination of Rabies and Registration of Dogs Draft Bill. Speaking on the matter, founder of the Association of Veterinarians for Humane Management of Animal Population, Dr. Chamith Nanayakkara, said they were concerned about the statement made by the GMOA. more..

Oct 4 (CB) In a game dictated by bowlers, Tharindu Ratnayake's counter-attacking 65 became a big difference as Sri Lanka downed Bangladesh to secure the bronze medal at the Asian Games 2026. Sri Lanka were in dire straits at 54 for 5 in the 11th over when Ratnayake and Sahan Arachchige combined forces for a blazing 93-run stand. It powered Sri Lanka to 165/9 after which Bangladesh were bundled out for 102, with Ratnayake among four bowlers to pick two wickets each. more..

Oct 4 (Island) The national cricket team is bracing for a major shake up, with several new faces set to be drafted into the national set up as officials begin plotting a course towards next year’s World Cup. The national team has endured a wretched two months across all three formats and several prominent players are now in the firing line ahead of the tour of Pakistan, one of the longest assignments undertaken by a SL side more..

Oct 4 (TM) Asian Games men’s javelin throw Gold medal-winning athlete Rumesh Tharanga has reportedly been presented with a brand new luxury Honda Vezel car worth over Rs. 20 million by the SL Automobile Association in Japan (SLAAJ), along with contributions from Sri Lankans domiciled in Japan. The handsome prize was handed over to Tharanga following his historic throw covering a distance of 88.55 m, which saw him clinch Gold in the men’s javelin throw event at the ongoing more..

Oct 4 (EN) Deloitte SL brought together board directors and business leaders for Cyber Resilience Starts at the Top: The Board’s Strategic Role in Building a Resilient Organization, a discussion on how boards can better prepare organisations for complex cyber disruption. The programme explored organisational resilience, cyber readiness, risk quantification and crisis response, and included an interactive cyber wargaming exercise designed to simulate a real incident and more..

Oct 4 (Island) SL’s track and field team may have failed to match the medal haul of the previous edition at the Asian Games, but athletes from the 24-member squad finished among the top eight in at least seven events, a feat few countries managed. Those performances did not receive the recognition they deserved, as the spotlight fell on Rumesh Tharanga’s historic javelin gold. ‎At the 2023 edition in China, SL won one gold, one silver & two bronze medals. This time, team won only one gold. more..

Oct 4 (DM) IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya identified combating organised crime, curbing the drug menace and maintaining traffic discipline as the three main challenges currently facing the SL Police. He made these remarks while speaking at the opening of the new official residence for the OIC of the Buttala Police Station in the Monaragala Police Division. IGP said the Police Dept was also facing a shortage of around 38,000 to 40,000 personnel, as between 2,000 and 2,500 officers retire more..

Oct 4 (TM) Govt has no plans to provide supplies or other facilities to Iranian vessels currently positioned off the island as they remain outside SL’s territorial sea, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism said, amid heightened scrutiny over US sanctions targeting Iran and entities dealing with sanctioned parties. Ministry Public Diplomacy Division Director General Thushara Rodrigo said that more..

Oct 4 (DM) Govt has urged the public to cut fuel consumption, avoid peak energy-demand periods and switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles, including electric vehicles, as SL moves towards cleaner energy sources. Minister Anura Karunathilaka said controlling fuel prices alone would not be enough to strengthen the country's energy security, stressing that reducing consumption was equally important. "As a country, we must focus not only on controlling fuel prices but also on controlling fuel more..

Oct 4 (AD) Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who was subject to an arrest warrant, has been arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) at the Thiniyawala Aranya Senasanaya in Kalutara, SL Police said. Ven. Gnanasara Thero was arrested in accordance with an arrest warrant issued for his arrest and production before the court. The arrest warrant was issued after the Supreme Court recently invalidated the presidential pardon granted to the General Secretary of the BBS more..

Oct 4 (AD) FCID of SL Police says it has launched an extensive investigation into 17 more companies suspected of illegally transferring US dollars overseas under the guise of importing goods. The FCID said it believes that all 17 companies are operated by one or two individuals. The investigation follows a complaint lodged by SL Customs with the FCID alleging that several companies had been transferring funds overseas, more..

Oct 4 (AD) A total of six individuals who participated in a protest organised by the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) and the People’s Struggle Movement in Pettah today (03) have been arrested. They were arrested on charges of participating in an unlawful assembly, officials said. The protest march, organised by the FSP and the People’s Struggle Movement against the govt’s tax policies and the rising cost of living, commenced near Campbell Place in Borella this evening. more..

Oct 4 (FT) Govt has approved Rs. 95 billion in concessionary interest loans for 2026, the highest such allocation in SL’s history, Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe said. Of the total, Rs. 25 billion has been set aside for the expansion of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), covering businesses from micro-enterprises with an annual turnover below Rs. 20 million to medium-scale firms with a turnover of up to Rs. 1 billion. more..

Oct 4 (AD) The total tax revenue collected by the IRD so far this year has increased to Rs. 2,040 billion, as of Sept 30, marking a significant 24% increase compared with the corresponding period in 2025, according to the department. During the corresponding period in 2025, department collected Rs. 1,642 billion in tax revenue. Accordingly, the latest figure reflects an increase of Rs. 398 billion compared with the corresponding period last year, representing a 24% growth in tax revenue. more..

Oct 4 (FT) Central Bank of SL (CBSL) said it has reached an official agreement with Government to continue to target quarterly headline inflation of 5%, with an accountability margin of plus or minus two percentage points, for the next three years. New Monetary Policy Framework Agreement (MPFA) was signed on 1 Oct by Prez and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake and CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, under Section 26 of the Central Bank of SL Act, No. 16 of 2023. more..

Oct 4 (FT) Free Trade Zone Manufacturers’ Association (FTZMA) yesterday urged the Govt to offer non-resident shareholders a tax credit equal to the 15% dividend tax if they reinvest profits in SL. The proposal was included among a set of Budget 2027 proposals aimed at strengthening the country’s foreign exchange earnings. The dividend tax on non-resident shareholders was introduced in 2023. Under the FTZMA proposal, more..

Oct 4 (SO) When faced with a prison sentence most Sri Lankans have no option but to accept the Court verdict. However, a small number of convicts, often rich and powerful, with political connections, had a get out of jail free card, i.e., appealing to the President. Starting from the President J. R. Jayewardene era, a number of individuals convicted for some of the most heinous crimes were freed with Presidential Pardons, a tool initially instituted by the US Constitution more..

Oct 4 (TM) What if the moment that feels most like going backwards is actually preparing you to move forward? Watch a bowman for a moment. The target is ahead, but the first movement is backwards. The string tightens, tension builds, and for a few seconds everything seems to be moving in the wrong direction. Then comes the release, and suddenly the pullback makes sense. Life often feels similar. We like to imagine progress as a straight line: study, work, succeed, move forward. more..

Oct 4 (FT) A recurring critique of the Main Opposition party, SJB and its leader, Sajith Premadasa, is that they are insufficiently engaged with the economic and social questions affecting ordinary citizens; that it becomes animated by constitutional or institutional controversies, like the 22nd Amendment, while neglecting household incomes, taxation, jobs and the cost of living. Various essays and thought pieces also make this critique. Sri Lanka, Beyond 22, published in the DailyFT on more..

Oct 4 (FT) With the hearing of the 22nd amendment to the country’s Constitution, the person and the role of the Chief Justice has come into sharp focus. This attention should be welcome, the courts after all only exercise the judicial powers of the people, and are an institution wholly upheld with public funds. Justice is an expensive business, not only in monetary terms, on a daily basis it engages the time of many thousands across the island who have to attend court in various capacities. more..

Oct 4 (TM) Govt is moving ahead with plans to equip SL Police officers with body-worn cameras, beginning with an initial batch of 500, with the devices to be incorporated into a new Police uniform expected by mid-2027. Tender for the first phase, however, has drawn allegations of irregularities from activists, which the Police has rejected. Plans for body-worn cameras emerged in March 2025, when Police sources outlined a proposal to more..

Oct 4 (TM) Some years ago, in a village temple in the Kandyan hills, I asked the incumbent whether anything old from his teacher had been kept. He thought about it, found a key, and opened an almirah in a side room. Inside were brass lamps, a silver betel box, a folded length of cloth that had clearly once been fine, and a small reliquary that I would guess, though only guess, to be 19th century. I asked who had given them. He said his teacher would have known. His teacher had died in more..

Oct 4 (Island) Sri Lanka has never been without industrial policy. For decades, successive governments have attempted, in different forms, to promote manufacturing, protect domestic industries, attract foreign investment, develop exports, create employment and move the economy towards higher value-added production. Yet the country has struggled to transform these individual initiatives into a sustained process of industrial upgrading. This raises a fundamental question: more..

Oct 4 (SO) The war in the Middle East is intensifying once again, sending global fuel prices sharply higher and raising fresh concerns in SL over fuel supplies, queues and the possibility of further price increases. With fuel costs affecting almost every aspect of daily life, uncertainty over the duration and impact of the conflict has become a matter of serious public concern. CPC Chairperson Janaka Rajakaruna discussed the country’s more..

Oct 4 (TM) The NPP Govt has signed plans to change the iconic khaki-brown Police uniform, with negotiations underway with suppliers to source a preliminary batch of uniforms and body-worn cameras, in line with a growing international trend towards evidence collection and encounter monitoring. NPP has called for reform in the law enforcement community and has taken steps to address long-standing gaps in pay and resources. However, changing the image of more..

Oct 4 (Island) A private company has complained to the police, alleging that Kaduwela Mayor Ranjan Jayalal and NPP MP Asitha Niroshana forcibly took over a block of land belonging to it in Athurugiriya for a Metro bus stand. Lawyers representing the company have told the media that the police have not acted on their complaint due to political pressure. The NPP politicians remain defiant, insisting that the new bus stand will not be shifted under any circumstances. more..