The World Bank (WB) has warned the government that the US$ 100 million loan facility in the pipeline for release in September will be suspended unless the Audit Bill is tabled without further delay in Parliament and approved by it. Well-informed sources told this paper that this had come up at talks between officials of the World Bank, Finance Ministry and officials of the Auditor General's Department on 16 June.

However, an adviser to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) and a top official of the Finance Ministry who had attended the talks had been of the view that the Audit Bill could never get Parliament's approval. World Bank officials had expressed deep displeasure on hearing this remark, the source said. However, the CCEM adviser had stressed that it was difficult to get the Bill passed by the legislature because 'a top man in the government' is also opposed to it. A Finance Ministry official had pointed out that he was against its ratification as most of the ministry secretaries were opposed to the Surcharges Powers included in the Audit Bill.

The Auditor General's Department source who participated in the discussion had emphasized that the Bill has to be passed by Parliament at any cost. The World Bank officials who had supported his stance had stated that if they are to make the US$ 100 million loan facility available to Sri Lanka in September, then the Government has no other alternative but to persuade parliament to approve the Bill. The World Bank officials are now planning to meet Auditor General Gamini Wijesinghe this week to further discuss the issue. The Audit Bill will have to pass into law if Sri Lanka is to receive this loan facility from the World Bank. The discussion had focused on the conditions that Sri Lanka has to fulfill ahead of receiving the said loan facility. It is also learnt that in these circumstances the Auditor General has decided to inform the President in writing, about resistance from top authorities to the Audit Bill.

The AG has informed the Speaker concerning the matter with the latter too being in agreement that the Bill has to be ratified forthwith. A Government source said that the Speaker had informed the AG that the government was duty bound to fulfill the plethora of promises it had given to the public at the last election. Though the Audit Bill was to be tabled in Parliament in December 2015 it had been put off until March 2016. Opposition to the Bill has emerged from Ministers and MPs who resent some significant powers of the AG being vested in a Commission or similar body.Cabinet has directed the Draft Audit Bill to a Cabinet Subcommittee chaired by Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama asking that the clause vesting the AG's surcharges powers in a Commission be instead retained by the AG.

All trade unions of the AGs Department protested against the removal of the surcharge powers from the AG. Meanwhile, President Sirisena has said at the G-7 Summit on 27 May that the Audit Bill will be approved by Parliament without any delay. Against a backdrop in which the Government's fiscal management is being critically challenged, the Auditor General's Department and civil society representatives have urged the government often to have the Audit Bill immediately approved.

Sri Lanka took minimal steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses, the 2023 report issued by the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour on Sri Lanka's Human Rights Practices has alleged.

A top delegation of the Chinese Communist Party headed by Vice Minister of the International Department, Sun Haiyan met National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the JVP head office today. The delegation included head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party Liu Jianchao and Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Chen Xiang Yuan.

The head of one of Canada’s largest police forces met with a Sri Lankan inspector general of police who two weeks earlier had been found by the South Asian country’s highest court to have “participated in the torture” of an arrested man.

The Colombo District Court issued an interim injunction preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ebrahim Raisi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe jointly inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP) a short while ago. This project is one of the largest irrigation projects in Sri Lanka following the Mahaweli Development Project

The three-day adournment debate on the Easter Sunday attacks commenced in Parliament today. The adournment debate was moved by SJB MP Niroshan Perera and seconded by SJB MP Kavinda Jayawardane. The debate will be held for three days.

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.