The Sri Lanka Air Force is planning to purchase 18 new aircraft, including fighter jets, passenger planes and transport planes. Air Force spokesperson, Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne said the new aircraft will meet the requirements which existed over the past five years.

He said that some of the existing aging aircraft had to be replaced to meet the modern day requirements. Seneviratne said that an open international tender has been called to purchase the new aircraft. He also said that some planes need spare parts and the costs of these spare parts are too high. The Air Force spokesperson noted that the security situation in Sri Lanka has seen a major change. He says the Air Force now needs planes to be used for maritime security. Sri Lanka had earlier purchased aircraft for the Air Force from the United States, China, UK, Russia and Ukraine.

Seneviratne said that some countries had made offers for the new tender and the Air Force will take a final decision after carefully studying the offers. The Sri Lanka Air Force played a crucial role during the fight against the LTTE by bombing key targets and assisting ground troops. Following the end of the war the Air Force shifted its focus on commercial operations by using some of its aircraft for passenger transportation.

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.