The Order under the Convention Against Doping in Sports Act, scheduled to be taken up for debate in Parliament on June 17 for the purpose of being passed, has received the approval of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Youth Affairs and Sports.
This approval was granted at the meeting of the said Committee held today (June 13) at Parliament, chaired by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sunil Kumara Gamage.
Deputy Minister of Sports, Sugath Thilakaratne was also present at this Committee meeting held.
At the meeting, officials stated that, in relation to sports, Sri Lanka is legally updating the relevant regulations through this Gazette notification in accordance with the list published annually by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). It was further pointed out by the officials that certain substances are newly added to the list while some are removed from it. For instance, the substance “Caffeine” has now been removed from the list.
In addition, matters such as the possibility of obtaining the assistance of the Ministry of Sports for inter-university sports competitions, challenges related to establishing youth societies across the island, the shortage of youth service officers, and the need to develop sports including cricket at the rural level were raised by the MPs present at the meeting. Accordingly, the Minister instructed the relevant officials to take prompt action regarding these matters.Members of the Committee, Members of Parliament who are non-member members, and a group of officials including the Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports were present at this committee meeting held.
A Sri Lankan government delegation is scheduled to leave for the United States this Friday (July 18) to negotiate a further reduction in the tariffs imposed on Sri Lankan exports to the US, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.
The Foreign Minister made this statement while speaking to the media following an event held in Colombo today (July 15).
A recent announcement made by the US President on July 09 saw the reduction of reciprocal tariff tariffs to 30% from the initially imposed 44%.
The new 30% tariff is scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2025.
A meeting was held today (July 15) at the Ministry of Environment with officials from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, aimed at tightening laws against the shooting of wild elephants.
The discussion was chaired by the Minister of Environment – Dr. Dammika Patabendi, along with the Deputy Minister of Environment – Anton Jayakody.
Noting that incidents of elephant shoots are regularly reported to the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Minister instructed the Director General of the Department to take the necessary steps to strictly enforce the law against such acts.
The discussion also focused on strengthening the process of punishing offenders by updating laws related to the killing of wild animals. It also emphasized enforcing strict laws against the illegal construction of electric fences on private lands, which often harm elephants.
To help reduce human-elephant conflict, the Ministry and the Department are working together on long-term, positive solutions. Accordingly, elephant fences are being built in districts with frequent elephant encounters.
Furthermore, multi-purpose officers have been recruited for the maintenance of these fences and the involvement of civil defense personnel is also being considered.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation announced that a special media briefing will be held in the coming days to inform the public on these initiatives.