The rice distributed among schools said to be unsuitable for children's co consumption was provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) and not by the government, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha assured today.

Speaking in Parliament today, he said those packets of rice were provided additionaly by the WFP to support the government programme.

The government ensures that food distributed with government funds is suitable for children's consumption. Even after stocks of rice are distributed to Provincial Education Centres through the Director General of Health Services, they advise regular quality checks with the assistance of Provincial Public Health Inspectors (PHIs), Minister Premajayantha said.

The government allocated Rs. 110 for each child, with additional funds coming from various sources. As a result, the Minister requested that the government-funded stocks of rice should not be mixed with those provided by the WFP programme.

The Government of India has decided to bear the cost towards applicable taxes and other charges to the tune of over LKR 25 million per month for a period of one year for the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in India and Kankesanthurai (KKS).

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is set to make a final decision on its presidential candidate in June, according to Party sources. The SLPP will decide whether to nominate a candidate from within the Party or to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe for re-election. The Party has scheduled a series of electoral summits starting next week to seek public opinion on the presidential candidate.

apanese Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday. The Japanese Government’s intention to resume the Yen-denominated loans and the stalled Japanese investment initiatives, including the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) expansion project and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, were among the topics taken up for discussion. Discussions were also held on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to debt restructuring in Sri Lanka.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers who deserted the Sri Lanka Army have received legal discharge as of May 4 during an amnesty period declared by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence.

The Examinations Department issued the rescrutiny results of the 2022 (2023) General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (O/L) Examination yesterday. They said a total of 49,312 applicants had applied for rescrutiny and 250,311 answers were rescrutinised.

Tourism Industry veterans cautioned that heightened confusion over the new visa system, along with the abrupt increase in visa fees, could derail 2.3 million tourist arrival target set for the year. This could potentially reduce arrivals below 2 million, while service providers stand to gain $50 million in fees.

The Supreme Court granted leave to proceed with the Fundamental Rights petition filed by former CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara challenging the National Police Commission’s decision to interdict him from police service following the Presidential Election 2019.

China assured its fullest support and cooperation to conclude the debt restructuring process in Sri Lanka, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena has appeared before the Criminal Investigations Department in order to record a statement yesterday (3). Accordingly, Sirisena recorded a statement for two hours at the CID, regarding the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, in response to allegations about the tender process, said there is no such requirement to call for tenders because these are the only companies involved in e-visa processing in different countries.