News

Court suspends divestiture process of SLT & Lanka Hospitals

Published

1 year ago

February 28, 2024

nipuni

The Court of Appeal yesterday (27) issued an interim order preventing authorities from proceeding with the divestiture process of Sri Lanka Telecom and Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC, until March 12.

Three Petitions were filed for Sri Lanka Telecom PLC including by Lyca Mobiles, and S.M.R. M company, while two petitions were filed for Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC including by Lyca Leasing Holdings.

Upon the oral submissions made by President’s Counsel Kuvera De Zoysa, Court of Appeal Justice D.N. Samarakoon issued notices on respondents, returnable for March 12.

The petitioners named Minister of Finance Ranil Wickremesinghe, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe, the members of the special Cabinet-appointed negotiating committee for the purpose of selecting pre-qualified bidders for the strategic divestiture pertaining to 51.34% shares of Lanka Hospitals PLC and several others as respondents.

Kuvera De Zoysa, PC with Raslka Dissanayake, Sajana de Zoysa, Dinusha Pathirana and Shablr Huzalr instructed by Sanath Wijewardane appeared for the petitioners.

The petitioners had informed the court that they had submitted bids per the required criteria for the divestiture of the Sri Lankan Government’s shares of 50.23% in Sri Lanka Telecom PLC and 51.34% in Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC.

The petitioners alleged that, however, the Cabinet of Ministers had rejected the bids without providing any clear explanations, adding that the decision was against the law.

News

Decision to gazette 04 elephant corridors

Published

2 hours ago

April 16, 2025

editor

The government has decided to gazette elephant corridors.

Deputy Minister of Environment – Anton Jayakody has announced that 04 elephant corridors will be gazetted under the first phase, focusing on areas within the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts.

He further says that this decision aims to mitigate the ongoing human-elephant conflict in the region.

News

800 drunk drivers caught in 2 days

Published

2 hours ago

April 16, 2025

editor

Police have filed cases against 800 persons driving under the influence of alcohol during the festive season.

Police Media Spokesman SSP Buddhika Manatunga says that these drunk drivers were identified during special operations conducted on April 13 and 14.

He stated that with many people returning to Colombo after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holidays, traffic volumes are expected to rise.

Motorists are urged to drive responsibly and prioritize road safety.

News

Maithripala attends 2025 World Summit of the Universal Peace Federation (Pics)

Published

2 hours ago

April 16, 2025

editor

Former President of Sri Lanka – Maithripala Sirisena recently attended the 2025 Universal Peace Federation (UPF) World Summit 2025 Seoul, South Korea which kicked off on April 10.
As the Asia-Pacific Regional Chair of the International Peace Summit Council of the World Peace Conference, Mr. Sirisena also addressed the inaugural session of the summit.

There, he emphasized the need to build a bi-cameral global organization that integrates religion and politics to maintain global political stability and peace, manage climate change, and manage conflicts.

The 2025 Global Summit was attended by former heads of state, current speakers, current members of parliament, and other diplomats, scholars, and professionals from about 40 countries.

Maithripala Sirisena, the Asia-Pacific Regional Chair of the International Peace Summit Council of the World Peace Conference.