The Mount Lavinia District Court has ordered former MP C.B. Ratnayake to pay Rs. 250 million as compensation for defaming Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP – Sujeewa Senasinghe during a televised talk show related to the Central Bank bond scam.

Cabinet approval has granted approval to import a capacity equal to 200 million coconuts of coconut kernel-related products and dried coconut pieces with coconut (non–copra) husks for manufacturing coconut oil adhering to the guidelines.

Secretaries to the Ministries of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development as well as Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities were ordered at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held of 27.01.2025 to prepare a methodology by inquiring all relevant parties regarding the possibility of immediately importing coconut kernels and other coconut related raw materials adhering to the legal provisions applicable at present. This was done so that an increased amount of local coconut harvest can be utilized for the industries utilizing coconut as a raw material temporarily as a remedy to the crisis in the market for use in the local consumption due to insufficient coconut production in the country.

Accordingly, the Department of Agriculture, Coconut Research Institute, Coconut Development Authority, Plant Quarantine Service and Sri Lanka Standards Institution jointly have prepared and submitted guidelines applicable to import of chilled coconut kernel and dried coconut pieces with coconut (non – copra) husk, coconut milk / coconut milk powder and desiccated coconut.

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted their concurrence to the joint proposal forwarded by the Ministers of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development as well as Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities to take measures to import a capacity equal to 200 million coconuts of coconut kernel related products and dried coconut pieces with coconut (non – copra) husks for manufacturing coconut oil adhering to the given guidelines.

As per the recommendations of the intellects committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers to submit recommendations on the actions to be taken for circumventing the shortage of passports, the procurement process has already been started to supply 1,100,000 empty passports with “P” category chip from the supplier. 

Accordingly, a programme has been planned to issue 4000 passports per day by monitoring the operations of the Department of Emigration and Immigration throughout the 24 hours to eliminate the delay of issuing passports which prevails at present. 

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to supply the additional staff required for the purpose by engaging the officers served in that Department and got retired on contract basis with the concurrence of the Public Service Commission in addition to attaching the officers currently in government service with the consent of the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Governments.