Author: TELO Admin

The Batticaloa Campus which was taken over by the security forces following the Easter Sunday terror attacks, was returned to former Governor M. L. A. M. Hizbullah.

The former governor said that the premises were returned to him, following a request made to the president.

M.L.A.M. Hizbullah built the Batticaloa Campus with international financial aid to operate a higher education institution.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has delivered grain to Sri Lanka and other countries despite Russia’s maritime blockade.

He says he reminded the SDG Summit held in the US that despite Russia’s maritime blockade, Ukraine has delivered grain to many countries around the globe.

The President named Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Somalia, Tunisia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viêt Nam, Iraq, Oman, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Yemen.

”Our products have also reached Ethiopia and Sudan via transit ports. In total, we provided 32 million tons of food. 32 million tons less chaos,” he said.

The President also thanked all of the leaders who have supported Ukraine’s export programs, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and “Grain From Ukraine”.

“We can accomplish even more if we work together. Ukraine proposes very concrete steps forward to mitigate the global food crisis,” he added.

Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles has stated that no police personnel have been charged in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings of 2019 thus far.

Speaking in Parliament today (20 Sep.), he stated that as per the reports submitted by the relevant Presidential Commission of Inquiry, no police personnel have been charged in this regard, and have only been under observation thus far.

The Minister asserted this in response to a question raised by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Hector Appuhamy, pertaining to the officials allegedly accused in connection with the attack, adding that the relevant names of the personnel were handed over to the Attorney General for further proceedings.

“Therefore, it would be wrong of me to name certain personnel, as if they are already charged, until they are rightfully prosecuted”, he said in this regard.

Commenting on concerns raised pertaining to providing some sort of relief to the victims of the 2019 bombings, Minister Alles requested for a period of two days to provide an answer for the matter.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Colombo has claimed that using those accused in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks in order to brief MPs on the investigations into the said attacks, is an insult to the Parliament.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena, too, has emphasised the need for an international investigation into the attacks, claiming that this is the only way the truth behind the Easter bombings would be uncovered.

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has published a Gazette Extraordinary stipulating the minimum rates that can be charged by tourist hotels located within the limits of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area, for the occupancy of a room and the provision of meals.

The regulations in the communiqué, issued by the SLTDA chairman, will come into effect from October 01, 2023.

Accordingly, the rates for corporate and free independent tourist hotel rooms are as follows:

5-star tourist hotels – USD 100
4-star tourist hotels – USD 75
3-star tourist hotels – USD 50
2-star tourist hotels – USD 35
1-star tourist hotels – USD 20

The gazette notification notes these rates are payable for a period of 24 hours and excludes service charges and other applicable taxes, fees, or charges levied for any other services provided.

Meanwhile, for hotels that fall under the category of residence or apartments for short-term business (less than one month), there will be an additional charge of USD 15 or its equivalent in LKR per extra guest over double occupancy.

Additionally, the gazette notification has stipulated the rates for the meals provided to residential guests.

5-star tourist hotels – USD 10 (breakfast) / USD 15 (lunch) / USD 17 (dinner)
4-star tourist hotels – USD 9 (breakfast) / USD 14 (lunch) / USD 16 (dinner)
3-star tourist hotels – USD 8 (breakfast) / USD 10 (lunch) / USD 14 (dinner)
2-star tourist hotels – USD 6 (breakfast) / USD 8 (lunch) / USD 10 (dinner)
1-star tourist hotels – USD 5 (breakfast) / USD 7 (lunch) / USD 9 (dinner)

Iranian leader Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi has accepted an invitation by his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe to visit the South Asian island nation in the near future, President’s media unit said.

Wickremesinghe met Raisi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Wednesday.

“The two leaders engaged in cordial discussions and Dr. Raisi accepted President Wickremesinghe’s invitation to visit Sri Lanka in the near future,” President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a statement.

If visits, Raisi will be the first Iranian leader to visit Sri Lanka after Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in April 2008. Analysts say the diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Iran have been intact despite a sanction by the United States deprived Sri Lanka of receiving cheap Iranian light crude since 2012.

Colombo has been in the process of repaying a $251 million due for crude imports before the sanctions via tea exports to Tehran. Sri Lanka inked a deal in December 2021 to set off export of tea to Iran against the legacy oil credit owed by state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to the National Iranian Oil Company, without busting US sanctions.

When the foreign ministers of both countries met last month, both Iran and Sri Lanka agreed on the need to promote cooperation in trade and tourism as well as expanding cooperation in the scientific and cultural areas and in using their knowledge-based firms’ capacities.