The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Sri Lanka – Mr. Qi Zhenhong, paid a courtesy call on the newly elected Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka – Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne on Jan. 01 at the Parliamentary premises.
The meeting was also attended by the Secretary General of Parliament, Mrs. Kushani Rohanadeera.
During the meeting, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong presented the letter of greetings from Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (Speaker of the Parliament of the People’s Republic of China) – Hon. Zhao Leji to the newly elected Speaker.
The Ambassador extended New Year wishes and emphasized the longstanding cooperation between the two nations. He also highlighted the importance of strengthening ties between two legislative bodies in the future, particularly through exchange programs.
The Speaker reflected on his prior experience as Deputy Director of the China – Sri Lanka Friendship National Nephrology Specialized Hospital in Polonnaruwa and expressed gratitude for Chinese development projects in Sri Lanka, which have been highly beneficial to the people of Sri Lanka. He also expressed interest in reviving the Sri Lanka-China Parliamentary Friendship Association in the Tenth Parliament to strengthen ties between two parliaments.
Ambassador Qi further highlighted the preparations underway for the first state visit of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to China, describing that this historical event would further enhance bilateral relations.
The Meteorology Department says that several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts today (July 07).
A few showers may occur in the North-western province.
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night.
Strong winds of about 40-50 kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Ampara District Organizer of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal party and former member of the Eastern Provincial Council K. Pushpakumar alias Iniya Bharathi has been arrested.
He was arrested over the abduction and disappearance of the former Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. Subramaniyam Ravindranath.
Sivanathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and former State Minister, was arrested by the Colombo Criminal Investigation Department at his office in Batticaloa on April 8, over this incident.
He was later detained for 3 months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Iniya Bharathi, also known as Kumaraswamy Pushpakumar, was arrested based on information revealed during the interrogation of Pillayan.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said the electronic Revenue Licence system (eRL 2.0) is currently unavailable due to a critical technical infrastructure issue.
According to the ICTA, the disruption began on July 3, 2025, and has made vehicle revenue licence issuing services inaccessible.
The unavailability is expected to continue until July 9, 2025.
The ICTA expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the public and assured that technical teams are working urgently to resolve the issue.
The agency also said that further updates will be shared as work progresses, with an official notice to be issued once services are restored.