A seven-member team, made up by top trade union representatives and industry watchers, based in the European Union, is set to visit the country in early January on a fact-finding mission, that will take them inside the country's export industrial zones to ascertain the rights and the working conditions of employees. The visit comes shortly after the Sri Lankan case to regain the GSP+ trade concessions was taken up for review by the EU in Brussels earlier this month.

During the sessions in Brussels several trade unions had lobbied hard to include the 'rights of the worker' in the EU agenda prior to approving the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka. "Right along the EU had been insisting the Lanka addresses human rights issues but there were little mention on the fundamental rights of the workers. Therefore, we urged our counterparts in the European bloc to campaign on behalf of the worker within the EU that was reviewing Sri Lanka's case to regain the trade concessions.

It is in this backdrop that the delegation will be arriving in the country for a 10-day fact finding mission where they will be able to meet both the employers and the employees, local trade union activists and government representatives", Palitha Athukorale, Secretary of the Industrial Sri Lankan Council told Ceylon Today. He warned that the country is slipping into a new anti-union era especially in the Free Trade Zones and manufacturing sector following the change of regime in January 2015 that seems to have strengthened the employers politically.

Furthermore, he said that manufacturers have direct access to the government and thus have the advantage of influencing labour and industrial policy. "The increased use of contract labour through supplying agencies has led to a serious factor in destabilizing trade unions while there is open hostility by employers against trade unions. It is with these concerns and many more that we organized this fact finding mission to the country so that they could get a firsthand knowledge", Athukorale said.

He added that the group will make their findings known to the EU in Brussels for necessary follow up action. "We are not against Sri Lanka regaining the GSP+ trade concessions but the multiple issues by the local workers must be addressed in a fair manner. This is a fair request and it is hoped that the workers too will be granted some concessions", Athukorale further added.

The Sri Lanka Army has decided to appoint a special investigation committee consisting of 07 senior officers chaired by a Major General to probe the accident that occurred during the Diyatalawa Fox Hill Supercross.

Vice Minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Haiyan, is set to arrive in Sri Lanka today for a two-day official visit, as reported by The Thinakaran Newspaper.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that their Consular Affairs Division will be relocated to the new premises at the 16th floor of “Suhurupaya”, Sri Subhuthipura Road, Battaramulla with effect from May 02, 2024.

Two persons have died after police fired at a three-wheeler that was driving in defiance of orders to halt at Millawa in Moragahahena.

A 78-year-old man, Gopal Rao, of Bengaluru, Karnataka, died of a heart attack while he was swimming from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka to the Dhanushkodi islet in Rameswaram, T.N., on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

The National People's Power (NPP) has officially notified the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday that they are prepared to hold the proposed debate between NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on one of the following days: May 7, 9, 13, or 14.

The Catholic Church is planning to present a proposal to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) through several foreign governments and international organizations to initiate an international investigation into the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks with a view to mete out justice to the victims of those attacks.

Seven individuals, including a child, lost their lives, and 23 others sustained injuries in a tragic accident at the “Fox Hill Super Cross 2024” racing event in Diyatalawa on Sunday (21). The casualties included four racing event officials serving as flag marshals and civilians who were spectators.

The latest iteration of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) training exercise – CARAT Sri Lanka 2024 will commence with participation by the United States Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and Sri Lanka Navy in Trincomalee today (22).

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who took up the position as the Acting Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) could lose his parliamentary seat, according to the party constitution of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), SLPP MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi said today.

Two racing drivers who participated in yesterday's Fox Hill Super Cross 2024 racing event have been arrested by the police over the accident which killed seven people. The arrested are a 36-year-old racer from Matara and 47-year-old from Mahakanda, Peradeniya.

Fmr Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda met with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval last Friday (19) in New Delhi. Moragoda, the founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, was on a short visit to India and has had discussions with several senior government leaders and heads of think tanks

The Fox Hill Super Cross 2024 racing event, held in Diyatalawa, turned tragic as a race car veered off the track, resulting in the deaths of five individuals and leaving 21 others hospitalized with injuries.

There is a total shortage of 40,000 teachers in schools in the country, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Union, Joseph Stalin said. Addressing the media, he said the shortage of teachers in schools is reported in the Western, Eastern, North-Central, Southern and Uva Provinces.

Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was appointed as the Acting Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) by the Maithripala Sirisena faction.The appointment was made during an executive committee meeting held at a hotel in Kotte with the participation of former President Maithripala Sirisena.

Prayers were offered at the St. Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade, led by the Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks and in commemoration of those whose lives were lost in the terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, another mass was held at the Tewatta Church in Ragama.

A tense standoff unfolded outside the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headquarters on Darley Road in Colombo 10, as a group attempting to enter the party building was met with resistance from the police.

Claiming that people will not vote as a gratitude for goods distributed by politicians, Minister Prasanna Ranatunge said people have already selected Ranil Wickremesinghe for Presidency as he can rescue the country from the economic crisis.

Nalini Kirubakaran, a 38-year-old at the rehabilitation camp for Sri Lankan Tamils in Tiruchi, became the first naturalised Indian citizen from the Kottapattu camp to vote in a general election on Friday.

The Catholic Church has not accepted proposals of the National Peoples Power (NPP) or the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) over the probes into the Easter Sunday attacks, Member of the Communications Committee of the Archdiocese of Colombo, Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando said today.