The Value Added Tax (VAT) is to be increased to 15% with effect from May 02, 2016, the Finance Ministry announced. Accordingly, VAT will also be imposed on supply of telecommunication services, import or supply of telecom equipment or machinery, high tech equipment including copper cables for telecom industry and supply of healthcare services.

SriLankan Airlines flight UL 309 was instructed to return to Changi International Airport by the Singapore authorities due to security reasons soon after it was airborne to Colombo on April 14. The flight later arrived in Colombo at 0042 hrs on April 15, 2016 with a total delay of 3 hours. Issuing a statement, the SriLankan said that

The Q branch police in India today arrested one of the two persons who came from Sri Lanka in a registered boat and jumped off their vessel and escaped after they saw the Coast Guard officials off Dhanushkodi near Rameswaram, the Press Trust of India reported. Edmund (40) from Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka was arrested by the Q branch police at Thangachimadam and was being questioned, they said.

Ottawa, ON

The United States will be encouraging reconciliation and justice in Sri Lanka in keeping with the joint resolution the Government co-sponsored with the US at the UN Human Rights Council, US Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski said. He said this after releasing the 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices compiled by the US State Department. Also speaking at the event, Us Secretary of State John Kerry said that the world has seen important democratic gains in such countries as Tunisia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Burma, though in each there are challenges that still need to be overcome.

Sri Lanka's ruling United National Party will hold its May Day rally this year at the Campbell Park in Borella on May 1st. The party has made all arrangements to celebrate the May Day on a grand scale and trade union leaders and a large crowd will attend the May Day Celebrations this year.The working committee of the UNP expects an assembly of approximately 400,000 to attend the rally, the NewsRadio said.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena celebrated the dawn of Sinhala and Tamil New Year with his family at the official Residence in Mahagama Sekara Mawatha Wednesday (13).

The Swiss government has received 146 applications from asylum seekers from Sri Lanka in the first three months of 2016, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration said in a statement Thursday. It said that the number of asylum applications filed with the Swiss government in the first quarter of 2016 dropped by 45 percent comparing to the last quarter of 2015. The Swiss authorities received 8,315 asylum seekers

A T-56 weapon and five revolvers have been stolen from the Laggala Police station in Matale in the early hours today, police said. Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that an unidentified man had entered the Police station and taken away these weapons at around 1 am today. Meanwhile, acting IGP S.M. Wickremesinghe has ordered the Central Province, Senior DIG to conduct an immediate inquiry into the incident.

Sri Lankan Minister of Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen, who is on an official visit to Pakistan, has said that the island nation would facilitate the import of vegetables, including potato and onions from Islamabad. Bathiudeen, said that the issue of exempting imported consignments of vegetables from regularity duties would be taken up in the next cabinet meeting, during a lunch arranged by Pakistan-Sri Lanka Business Forum in his honor, reports Colombo Page.

Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran is to meet President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss concerns related to the North. Wigneswaran said that he is scheduled to meet the President and Prime Minister on April 18 to discuss his concerns. Among the issues he hopes to raise at the meeting is the occupation of civilian land by the army in the North.Wigneswaran told the Northern Provincial Council today that the army was in the North, not for National Security but for other reasons.He claims the army has been placed in the North to safeguard the Sinhalese communities in the area, including Sinhalese fishermen who travel by boat from the South to catch fish in the Northern seas.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says the past year

Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi today stressed that the security forces will not take back the lands in the North as some groups have alleged. The security forces have been accused of attempting to re-acquire the land in Kayts area of Jaffna at a time while the government is gradually returning the land in the North and East taken by the security forces during the war to the rightful owners. A group of Sri Lanka's Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members of the Northern Provincial Council Monday launched a protest demanding to halt the transfer of lands in the area to security forces. The Defense Secretary has rejected the allegation, the BBC Sinhala Service said.

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Resolution on Constitutional Reforms, which was to be passed yesterday, was put off until April 22. The Resolution presented to NPC by Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran on April 7 proposed the setting up of two states in the country, one by merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the other by merging the seven other Provinces. It further proposed to declare Muslim majority districts within the Eastern Province as an autonomous region, and a similar autonomous region for the estate community in the South.

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) is against the initiatives taken by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) based on language issues as they are on a path to divide the country, national organiser and JHU Western Provincial councillor Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said. He said measures are being taken to canvass the matter before court. Pointing out that the system followed by the NPC is against the Constitution, Warnasinghe added that the President, the Prime Minister and Governor should look into these issues.

Work on the Colombo Port City Project will begin in May this year, State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs Niroshan Perera said.The Minister said that all agreements had been finalized.

Nearly one year before Sri Lanka concluded its military assault against Tamils in a bloody massacre, the country's President had made his intentions clear to the United Nations. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had informed in 2008 that "he is about to embark on a huge campaign to end terrorism in his country, and that I should not criticize him," the former UN rights chief Navi Pillay revealed. She made the stunning revelation while delivering the N Sivalingam memorial lecture at Toronto's York university on Friday (07).

China hopes some outstanding issues on the Port City project are resolved so that work on the project can resume. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said that China also hopes that the two sides will maintain communication and reach agreement on unsolved issues at an early date to pave the way for the resumption of the project.

President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed Senior DIG S.M. Wickremesinghe as the acting IGP, police said. N. K Illangakoon who served for five years as the 33rd IGP, retired yesterday.

India and Sri Lanka could soon finalise an agreement for building a bridge connecting both the countries, union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping MinisterNitin Gadkari said on Monday. "The project is under consideration, it is under discussion. But nothing has been finalised," Gadkari told journalists at the Foreign Correspondents Club here. He said discussions have been held on the issue with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. The Sri Lankan side is also "interested" in the project, he said, adding that even the Asian Development Bank has made a recommendation to that effect.

Sri Lanka Navy, in accordance with naval traditions, welcomed two Japanese naval ships arrived at the Port of Colombo on Monday. Two Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ships, "JS Makinami (DD-112)" and "JS Suzunami (DD-114)", arrived at the Port of Colombo on a goodwill visit on 11th April 2016.

The Prime Ministers official visit to China can be described as the most successful state visit by a Sri Lanka leader in recent history, Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa said.He said that in comparison, state visits by previous governments can be considered both wasteful and unsuccessful.Premadasa made these comments at a meeting after the opening of the Isurupaya Udagama in Sampath Nuwara, Welioya recently.He said that the Prime Minister was able to obtain China's assistance to transform large scale development projects of the previous regime - which were white elephants - into profitable ventures, during his visit.

The newly formed Social Democratic Party of Tamils (SDPT), which has ditched tags such as

Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Affairs Minister D.M. Swaminathan quelled rumours surrounding the tender for the 65,000 housing project in Jaffna as he affirmed that Arcelor Mittal had already been awarded the project. "There is no question about awarding the tender to another," the minister said. The Cabinet in February this year approved the first phase of the housing project to build 65,000 houses for IDPs in the North and East.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said Sri Lanka need not pay any compensation for the delay in the Colombo Port City Project. He was addressing a special press conference at Temple Trees yesterday to brief about the major outcome during his visit to China. The Prime Minister said the matter of compensation was not raised during his visit in China and assured that it would be solved easily. "It was the Sri Lankan media which reported about the compensation. There was a one year postponement of the project, and they asked for compensation. We consulted legal opinion .

The Eurupean Union (EU) has given preliminary approval for the lifting of the fishing ban imposed on Sri Lanka, Fisheries Ministry sources said. The order to remove the ban will be submitted to the EU Parliament. Once this is approved the EU will inform Sri Lanka in writing that the ban had been lifted. A Sri Lankan Government delegation headed by Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has conducted the final round of discussions in Brussels last month. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that relevant documents pertaining to removal of the ban will be received by Sri Lanka in the coming month.

Former president and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa today commended the official visit undertaken by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to China. Addressing a gathering at Angunukolapelassa, he said it was essential to maintain good relationships with neighboring foreign countries. He said the government members continued to blame the previous government for its development projects started with Chinese funds, but today it had turned towards China."Not only did they speak against China funded projects but they also halted work on them once they came to power. If they continued with the envelopment projects, the country could have had more extensive expressway network today," he said.

President Maithripala Sirisena sternly warned a security officer of the president's security detail when journalists complained to him of the threatening attitude of that officer towards the journalists. Journalists said they were obstructed by members of the president

Sri Lanka and China hope to finalise a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of this year and sign it next year during a visit to Sri Lanka by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Speaking to reporters in Colombo today on his just concluded visit to China, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the agreement will be finalised before the visit by the Chinese Prime Minister to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Navy assisted the repatriation of 96 Indian fishermen, released from Sri Lankan custody by providing them with safe passage onboard Sri Lanka Naval Ship Ranavijaya and Sri Lanka Coast Guard Vessel CG 43 on 9th April 2016. The apprehended Indian fishermen were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard Ships