Tag: Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sri Lanka extends state emergency by another month after Easter Sunday attacks

Over 100 people including 10 women are in custody in connection with April's Easter Sunday suicide attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo.

June 22, 2019

Sri Lankan presidential polls to be held between November 15 and December 7

Sirisena backed by the then main Opposition United National Party (UNP) became the common Opposition candidate against his former boss Rajapaksa.

June 2, 2019

Got no reports that terrorists involved in Easter bombings had travelled to India: Lankan president

"Had I known it, I would not have left the country," he said.

June 1, 2019

Sri Lanka, Israel, other nations congratulate PM Modi as NDA set to form govt

Nations like Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal congratulated PM Modi on his landmark victory in the Lok Sabha election 2019.

May 23, 2019

SL President frees 762 prisoners on Buddha Purnima

All those freed were in jail for minor offences and did not include convicts jailed for rape, child abuse, heroin use and drug trafficking.

May 18, 2019

Sri Lanka serial blasts: Anti-Muslim riots kill one despite curfew

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the curfew was declared to prevent unidentified groups destabilising the country by orchestrating communal violence.

May 14, 2019

Sri Lankan churches shut a week after bombings

There, Buddhist monks joined Catholic priests for prayers in a show of solidarity with the Christian community.

April 28, 2019

Lanka didn’t arrest citizens who joined IS as joining foreign terror outfit not against law: PM

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Easter terror attacks on three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels that claimed 253 lives but the government has blamed a local Islamist extremist group National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) for the bombings.

April 26, 2019

India alerted Sri Lanka thrice on suicide blasts, intel inputs ignored due to feud within govt: Reports

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday claimed that intelligence report warning of attacks was not shared with him adding that he expects to change heads of defence forces within 24 hours.

April 24, 2019

4 Indians among over 200 killed in Sri Lanka serial blasts, High Commission releases helpline numbers

The Indian High Commission in Colombo is closely monitoring the situation. Indian citizens in need of assistance or help can call on +94777903082, +94112422788, +94112422789, +94777902082 and +94772234176

April 21, 2019

Sacked in October, Ranil Wickremesinghe again sworn in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister

This comes after Mahinda Rajapakse resigned on Saturday as Prime Minister after he was appointed the PM by Sirisena following Wickremesinghe's dismissal on October 26.

December 16, 2018

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns as Sri Lanka PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe to return

Rajapaksa resigned after two crucial Supreme Court decisions made the embattled former strongman's efforts to cling to premiership untenable.

December 15, 2018

Mahinda Rajapaksa to step down as PM, says son

The news comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that Rajapaksa should not exercise the powers of the office he has claimed since October 26.

December 14, 2018

Rajapaksa reined in

Last Thursday and Friday Parliament passed two motions stopping all cash flow to Rajapaksa and his so-called cabinet ministers who lack legitimacy even as they were busy taking administrative decisions and passing orders.

December 6, 2018

Struggle in Lanka

The political crisis in Sri Lanka that began on 26 October when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former President and Sinhala chauvinist Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister and sacked serving Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for which the President does not have the requisite power under the Constitution, had deepened by Friday and there seems to be …

Continue reading "Struggle in Lanka"

November 18, 2018

Chaos prevails in Lankan Parliament as leaders hurl chilli power, furniture

Ousted prime minister and United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe warned of anarchy if the situation in the country was not resolved.

November 16, 2018

For a few sunny smiles in Beijing

A pair of prime ministers, an embattled president, and a brewing constitutional crisis: the scenario that has been unfolding in one of Asia’s oldest democracies over the past three weeks occasions a mixture of -fascination and alarm. Sri Lanka’s post-colonial history has been peppered with bouts of instability and bloodletting. It came as a pleasant …

Continue reading "For a few sunny smiles in Beijing"

November 15, 2018