Over 1700 arrested for violating curfew

Indian origin Tamils back new reforms proposal

Indian Origin Tamils (IOT) have welcomed the cabinet’s latest decision on electoral reforms, the New Indian Express reported. “It is a victory for the combined efforts of the parties of the IOT and the Muslims, and also small parties representing the Sinhalese, ” said Mano Ganeshan, IOT leader and head of the Democratic Peoples’ Front (DPF). The Lankan cabinet on Friday decided that the total number of seats in parliament should be raised from 225 to 237.Out of the 237, 145 should be filled th

12 Jun, 2015

Lanka to raise up to $2 bn in foreign borrowings

Sri Lanka’s new government plans to borrow up to $2 billion from overseas, the finance minister said Thursday, just two weeks after raising a billion through its first international bond issue, the AFP news agency reported. Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the government was seeking at least $1.0 billion with a five-year tenure, but may increase the loan amount to $2.0 billion depending on the market response. “Tomorrow we will advertise and call for bids. We hope to collect $1.0 billion in a c

11 Jun, 2015

Cabinet agrees on a new 20-A proposal

The cabinet, which met for another special session today, has agreed on a new proposal for electoral reforms via the 20th Amendment to the constitution. Accordingly the cabinet, which on Monday agreed on a 225 member parliament, has now agreed to a proposal by President Maithripala Sirisena for a 237 seat Parliament, the Government information department?said. The 237 seats will be divided into 145 members elected via the First-Past-The-Post system, 55 via the Proportional Representation syste

12 Jun, 2015