State

President Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday that even US President Donald Trump is re-imposing the death penalty to execute those convicted of rape and child abuse.

The Colombo Stamp Exhibition organised by the Postal Department *Philatelic* Bureau will be held at the Postal Department on D. R. Wijewardena Mawatha from tomorrow to Sunday (2-4 August) from 9.00am to 6.00pm.

The Ministry of Finance has received reports that several organized groups of fraudsters have exploited the letter head of the Ministry to send letters to loan applicants and institutions who have applied for loans under the Government’s Enterprise Sri Lanka saying that their loans have been approved.

The government will soon introduce a price formula for milk powder, wheat flour and bread, Co-operative Development, Vocational Training & Skills Development State Minister Buddika Pathirana said.

Abolition of Death Penalty Bill, which makes provisions to prevent the implementation of the death sentence, was presented to Parliament today.

තොරතුරු ලද මොහොතේ නිලධාරීන් සිය වගකීම් නිසි ලෙස ඉටු කළේ නම් සහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස තමන්ව දැනුවත් කිරීමට කටයුතු කළේ නම් පාස්කු ඉරිදා බෝම්බ ප්‍රහාර මාලාව වළක්වා ගැනීමට තිබුණු බව ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා පවසයි.

Urban Development Lending Agencies cancelled loan facilities for reconstruction of Gatambe Water Treatment Plant.

A telephone conversation between the Shangri-La Hotel bomber and his wife on April 21 reveals the series of explosions had been carried out in retaliation to Christchurch mosque shootings and harassment against Muslims, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene told Parliament yesterday.

The state-owned banks should be strengthened at all times and there should never be any attempt to privatize them, President Maithripala Sirisena declared yesterday.

ත්‍රස්තවාදය තමන් කිසිවිටක අනුමත නොකරන බවත්, ත්‍රස්තවාදය විනාශ කිරීමට රජය ගන්නා ඕනෑම පියවරකට සහාය පළකරන බව අමාත්‍ය රිෂාඩ් බදියුදීන් මහතා පවසයි.

The launch ceremony of two books, the research-based scholarly compilation “Polonnaruwa – Narapathi Yugaye Sita Janapathi Yugaya Dakwa” and the pictorial volume “Moragahakanda Dream Reservior”, was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) yesterday evening under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Muslim World League yesterday donated 5 million US dollars to Sri Lanka to be spent on the victims of the Easter Sunday terrorist bombings.

Uva Province Governor Marshal Perera had reportedly tendered his resignation to President Maithripala Sirisena today.

Under the state policy of granting government appointments to unemployed graduates islandwide, 1,560 graduates in Galle district were awarded appointments yesterday at a function held at Galle Municipal Council.

The graduates who received their appointment letters today will be required to take the lead in modernizing their villages while solving villagers’ problems and upgrading their livelihoods, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.

National Identity Card (NIC)'s will be issued for students from the age of 15 from next month, Department for Registration of Persons Commissioner General Viyani Gunathilaka said.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal to amend some of the terms and words in the Penal Code Ordinance.

Sri Lanka Government has taken pragmatic measures increasing funding towards developing urban areas to promote urban share of the population which is well below the standard level.