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Newly-elected President Maithripala Sirisena today invited all political parties in parliament to unite in forming a national unity government. “I invite all political parties in parliament to join the all-party government to create good governance and drive the country towards expected aspirations,” he said, delivering his first address to the nation. He also pledged that the unlimited powers vested with the Executive Presidency will be transferred to the Parliament, Cabinet and Judiciary. The President addressed the nation from the Paththirippuwa (the Octagon) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) in Kandy. Sirisena stated that the first step of his new government would be to eradicate poverty from the country and also pledged to promote religious coexistence and communal harmony in the country by ensuring the freedom and rights of every religion. He further said that the new government would take every measure to also eradicate ...

The Sri Lankan authorities should urgently investigate deadly violence against Muslims by Buddhist hardliners, Human Rights Watch said Friday. The violence, which began June 15 after a rally led by the Buddhist Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS), left several dead, 80 injured, and numerous homes and businesses destroyed in Aluthgama town and surrounding areas. Senior government officials as well as President Mahinda Rajapaksa have denounced the violence and promised compensation to the victims. But the government needs to seriously investigate who is responsible for the attacks on Muslim communities, Human Rights Watch said. Police have detained at least 40 people. “Sri Lankan authorities need to do more than arrest those carrying out the anti-Muslim violence. They need to investigate and identify any instigators,” said the US-based group.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Beruwala area a short while ago, President’s Media Division confirmed. He is scheduled to ascertain the current situation in the area first hand after unrest in the last few days. 

India’s next Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to invite all heads of governments of SAARC countries including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his swearing-in ceremony on May 26. Modi apparently wants to send out through this invitation a “very strong signal of a neighbour-friendly new government “, BJP sources say. Modi conveyed this wish of his to President Pranab Mukherjee when he met him on Tuesday. The President seemingly welcomed it as a ‘good idea’ and has passed this on to the ministry of external affairs which is now examining the proposal, sources in Rastrapati Bhavan said here. There is no recent precedent for inviting foreign heads of governments when an Indian prime minister has been sworn in, but Modi has a penchant for doing the most unusual. SAARC nations include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Modi apparently wants to send out through this invitation a “very strong signal of a neighbour-friendly n...

Though the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) was first to introduce PayPal to Sri Lanka through the Sampath Bank, it is revealed that three other banks too have been now earmarked by the CBSL. A senior official from the CBSL told AdaderanaBiz, “We were to first introduce PayPal through the Sampath Bank. However, we now plan to introduce this service to the country through four banks. We also plan to gradually involve the rest of the banks in the country.” While the CBSL is discussing with the PayPal branch in India to introduce the service to Sri Lanka, PayPal’s Indian arm has reportedly requested a report on Sri Lanka’s exports. The senior CBSL official told AdaderanaBiz that they would be submitting such a report and hence the introduction of PayPal to Sri Lanka would face a slight delay. Though cash cannot be remitted to Sri Lanka through the world renowned PayPal money transfer service sending money from Sri Lanka is possible even now.

India’s ambassador urged Sri Lanka’s government on Friday to expedite power sharing with ethnic minority Tamils after a recent United Nations resolution authorized an international war crimes investigation. Ambassador Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha said early talks between the government and the main ethnic Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, are a “key imperative” and urged the government to create conditions that would lead to a resumption of the dialogue. The party is seeking wider regional autonomy in Tamil-majority areas ravaged by the civil war, which ended in 2009 with the government’s defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels. The rebels fought for an independent Tamil state. The talks stalled in 2011 when the government said it wanted issues of greater local autonomy to be discussed by a parliamentary committee, instead of in talks with the Tamil alliance. The party now controls the provincial council in the northern region after winning a majority of seats in an election last year. Sinha’...