Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has expressed solidarity with the people and Government of Nepal following devastating floods and landslides that have killed at least 162 people. In a post on X, Premadasa stated that he was deeply distressed by the devastation and extended his thoughts to the families of those who died and the hundreds still missing. He also expressed support for rescue teams involved in ongoing search and rescue operations.

 Sajith extends condolences to Nepal as flood death toll reaches 162

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has expressed condolences and solidarity to Nepal following the loss of lives in devastating floods. In a post on X, the President stated that Sri Lanka stands ready to assist Nepal with rescue and clearance operations. He also conveyed condolences to the Government and people of Nepal, including President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Balendra Shah, as relief and recovery efforts continue.

 Sri Lanka offers support to Nepal amid deadly floods

The death toll has risen to 162, according to Nepali police. Among those killed, 64 were found in downstream areas in the Chitwan district while another 26 were found in Nawalparasi East, police said in a statement this morning.&nbsp;Twenty-eight police officers are among the hundreds still unaccounted for, it added.&nbsp;Chitwan, a tourism hotspot known for its jungle safaris, is one of several municipalities that have been placed on high alert as floodwaters rise.&nbsp;Source: BBC

Death toll from floods on Nepal-Tibet border rises to 162

Showers will occur at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-Western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts today (27), according to the Department of Meteorology.Fairly heavy rainfall above 50 mm is possible in some areas. Showers or thundershowers may occur in parts of Ampara, Monaragala, Hambantota and Batticaloa after 2.00 p.m. Strong winds of 40–50 kmph are also expected in several areas, including the western slopes of the Central Hills, Northern, North-Central and North-Western provinces. The public has been advised to take precautions against strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Fairly heavy rainfall expected in several areas today

<ul><li>Police probe groups targeting women and children</li><li>NCPA urged to pursue offenders under child protection laws</li><li>CERT says Meta providing details of anonymous users</li></ul> The Government has ordered a crackdown on a disturbing wave of Facebook groups in which anonymous users allegedly share photographs of women and girls without their consent, including children as young as five, while making sexually explicit and degrading claims about them.The Women and Child Affairs Ministry has directed the Police to take legal action against those operating and participating in the groups, while calling on the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to initiate proceedings against perpetrators under its enabling legislation.The move follows mounting outrage over Facebook groups, some with more than 14,000 followers, where photographs of women and girls are circulated alongside sexually suggestive captions. Activists have also revealed that some users allegedly offer the photographs for monetary transactions and make claims the women and girls depicted are their mothers, sisters or children, while openly inviting others to engage in sexual relationships with them for money.Speaking to The Daily Morning, Women and Child Affairs Ministry Secretary Tharangani Wickramasinghe said that the Police are investigating the matter and that relevant authorities have been instructed to take action."We have informed the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Bureau for the Investigation of the Abuse of Children and Women, and the Police Computer Crime Investigation Division, which oversees social media-related offences, is attending to the issue. We have also written to the Attorney General's (AG) Department to explore further legal avenues regarding the matter," she said.Meanwhile, the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) said that efforts to remove the offending content from social media platforms are continuing, with several groups already taken down.CERT Lead Information Security Engineer Charuka Damunupola told The Daily Morning that takedowns had already been carried out on TikTok and Telegram, while action against the Facebook groups was ongoing."From TikTok and Telegram, the takedowns have already happened, and the issue still lies with the Facebook groups. Some of the groups have been removed, but there are some that still remain," he said.He said existing laws could be used to prosecute those involved, particularly where child exploitation and child sexual imagery are concerned, despite concerns that the Computer Crime Act predates the emergence of newer social media platforms."In this particular situation, practices such as child exploitation and child sexual imagery can be addressed under the prevailing law, as they are taken under child abuse," Damunupola said.He added that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, generally provides information requested by authorities to identify anonymous users."When we request Meta regarding the details of these anonymous members in the groups, on most occasions, they provide us with the information. We don't need a separate Act for this; under the Penal Code, we can punish the offenders," he said.According to Damunupola, the main challenge is identifying those behind the accounts, with the relevant Police division having already requested information to assist in the investigations.He noted that existing provisions, including Section 345 of the Penal Code, which deals with assault or the use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, could also be used by the Police to pursue offenders.The development comes after a recent wave of Facebook groups sparked widespread outrage over the non-consensual sharing of photographs of women and girls, with sexually suggestive and degrading captions.The issue came to wider public attention after a foreign social media personality highlighted in a video that the practice was widespread on Facebook in Sri Lanka.The NCPA has also been called upon to take legal action against those responsible, particularly in cases involving children.When contacted by The Daily Morning, NCPA Chairperson Inoka Ranasinghe requested that the newspaper contact her after the weekend.Officer-in-Charge of the Police Bureau for the Investigation of the Abuse of Children and Women, Nimali Fonseka, was unable to provide details of the ongoing investigation when contacted and requested that the newspaper contact her in person.

Crackdown on vile Facebook abuse  

The Government is considering amendments to the Ayurveda Act, No. 31 of 1961, with the aim of modernising and upgrading the legal framework governing Ayurveda, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hansaka Wijemuni said.Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (26), Dr Wijemuni said that, along with the proposed amendments to the Homoeopathy Act, the Health Ministry is also seeking views on changes that need to be introduced to the Ayurveda Act. “We are also seeking the views of various parties these days on changing the Ayurveda Act,” he said.&nbsp;Informed Ministry sources, when contacted for further comment on the matter, stated that the proposed changes are aimed at modernising and upgrading the existing Law to meet the current requirements. The sources noted that the Ayurveda Act had been amended on several occasions, with the most recent Amendment being the Ayurveda (Amendment) Act, No. 19 of 2023.&nbsp;The 2023 Amendment introduced several changes to the 1961 Act, including changes relating to the Ayurveda Medical Council and the administration and regulation of Ayurveda. The proposed review would therefore seek to further update the legal framework governing Ayurveda in line with present requirements.

Ayurveda Act to be amended

<ul><li>Indian agri and manufacturing supplies to SL may face disruptions</li></ul> The Government is discussing contingency measures in case India restricts or suspends exports of essential food items due to the impact of the anticipated El Niño conditions, Deputy Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Minister R.M. Jayawardena said, noting that Sri Lanka relies heavily on India for a range of food imports.Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (26), he said the Government is considering what steps should be taken if El Niño affects India’s agricultural and manufacturing activity and eventually disrupts supplies to Sri Lanka. “El Niño isn’t going to affect only us. It can also affect India. There could be an impact on production activities in India as well. We import a lot of food items from India. Therefore, it’s very important to plan what we’re going to do if India, at some point, stops exports or imposes restrictions on exports.” He said the matter had been discussed recently at a meeting chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, but that no specific decision had yet been taken on what measures would be introduced. “We haven’t yet arrived at a definite decision that we’ll take this particular action. But, we’re paying attention to this issue and continuing discussions. We are having discussions on this regularly,” he said. The Government has already been preparing for a possible disruption to domestic rice supplies by bringing forward this year’s (2026) Maha cultivation season by about a month. The Maha season normally runs from around September to March and is closely linked to the North-East monsoon. The preparations come as the relevant institutions monitor the development of El Niño, a climate pattern associated with changes in rainfall and temperatures across different regions. The World Meteorological Organisation stated in June that there was an 80 per cent probability of El Niño conditions emerging between June and this month (August), rising to around 90 per cent for the next month (September)-December period. Most forecast models indicated that the event could reach at least moderate strength, with the possibility of becoming strong.

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions 

&nbsp;<ul><li>Call for formal inquiry&nbsp;</li></ul> Former Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and former Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe have rejected allegations arising from a special audit into fuel and vehicle use in the Eighth and Ninth Parliaments, with both of them calling for a formal inquiry into the matter and saying that they are ready to respond to any investigation. When contacted by The Daily Morning, Abeywardena, against whom allegations have been levelled in the audit, said the claims first emerged about a year and a half ago but that the Government had still failed to conduct an investigation or take legal action.&nbsp;“That is because there is no acceptable ground for the Government to do something like that,” he said. He said the Speaker is provided with several official vehicles, including a bulletproof security vehicle, and that the fuel used by those vehicles is handled by the drivers. “I was given five vehicles. I was also given a security vehicle - a bulletproof vehicle. That vehicle does only a small number of kilometres per litre of fuel. All of that was handled by the drivers,” Abeywardena said, adding that he had not personally signed the relevant fuel orders except on one or two occasions in Matara, adding that such approvals were always granted by Parliamentary officials in Colombo.&nbsp;Speaking further, he said: “The audit report has the vehicle numbers and says how many vehicles there were. Then, it has added the fuel used by all those vehicles together. So, someone looking at it would think that it is a huge amount. However, the vehicles and amounts of fuel used for each of them should have been listed separately. The Police vehicle that travelled behind me was also included there. The Police provided the vehicle and officers, but the fuel had to be obtained through Parliament. That is still how it is done today.” Abeywardena also said that he is prepared to answer the allegations through any inquiry. Rajapakshe also rejected the allegations, saying that all expenditure had been incurred within the law and that Parliamentary officials had followed the required procedures. “Nothing was done outside the law. Everything was done legally. Parliament’s Audit Division reviews such expenditure every year and officials wouldn’t engage in any wrongdoing. We didn’t have time to check how much fuel was being used for our vehicles. Parliamentary officials always carry out these things properly. They would never do something wrong,” he said. He further said that he did not accept the relevant audit report`s findings and alleged that some relevant individuals had been left out. “This is a process of repeatedly creating a narrative in society targeting me and the former Speaker.” The Secretary-General of Parliament, attorney Kushani Rohanadheera was not available for comment. &nbsp; The special audit covering the Eighth and Ninth Parliaments examined fuel allocations, vehicle privileges and related expenditure involving senior Parliamentary positions, including the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Chairperson of Committees and the Secretary-General. The audit found that there had been no effective limit on the Speaker’s fuel entitlement.&nbsp;

Audit on Parliament perks:  Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report 

<ul><li>BY Dhanushka Dharmapriya</li></ul> Amid the circulation of video footage showing a group of Tamil women being forcefully taken away from the Jaffna District Secretariat by the Police, with no context provided and implying that families of missing persons seeking justice for their disappeared loved ones were forcefully chased away, the Chairperson of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has clarified the situation.Speaking to The Daily Morning, OMP Chair Mahesh Katulanda said that no forceful chasing away of members of the public who had come seeking justice had taken place in Jaffna. He stated that the group that was taken away was a politically motivated group that had attempted to disrupt the commemoration of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances."The commemoration of the International Day was held at the Secretariat, and 350 families of the disappeared from many areas, including Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Jaffna, and Mannar, were invited. They were taken to the premises after scanning a quick response code, and the event followed a welfare programme for them, including an eye test and a health camp," he said."But another group protested outside the gates, trying to prevent the selected families from entering the Secretariat. When they failed, they started to forcibly enter the premises for the attention of the international media. They were taken outside the premises," he added.He further stated that, as far as it had been found, the group that attempted to enter the premises had no relation to anyone who had disappeared.He also said that it was announced at the commemoration that the third phase of the Chemmani mass grave excavations had recently been concluded, with an expenditure of Rs 57.8 million, and that 584 skeletons had been found to date. He said that measures would be taken to accelerate the process of collecting blood samples from the families and conducting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests to identify the recovered bodies.However, longstanding tensions between some parties in the North and the OMP persist, amid accusations that the OMP has not conducted satisfactory investigations, as only 25 of the 16,996 reportedly missing persons have been found to date.

Sajith extends condolences to Nepal as flood death toll rea ...

Sri Lanka offers support to Nepal amid deadly floods

Sri Lanka offers support to N ...

Death toll from floods on Nepal-Tibet border rises to 162

Death toll from floods on Nepa ...

Fairly heavy rainfall expected in several areas today

Fairly heavy rainfall expected ...

Crackdown on vile Facebook abuse

Crackdown on vile Facebook abu ...

Ayurveda Act to be amended

Ayurveda Act to be amended

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions

El Niño impact: Govt discusses ...

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex ...

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

Sri Lanka offers support to Nepal amid deadly floods

Sri Lanka offers support to N ...

Death toll from floods on Nepal-Tibet border rises to 162

Death toll from floods on Nepa ...

Fairly heavy rainfall expected in several areas today

Fairly heavy rainfall expected ...

Crackdown on vile Facebook abuse

Crackdown on vile Facebook abu ...

Ayurveda Act to be amended

Ayurveda Act to be amended

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions

El Niño impact: Govt discusses ...

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex ...

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

Bringing the news paper to your fingertips

Sri Lanka offers support to Nepal amid deadly floods

Sri Lanka offers support to N ...

Death toll from floods on Nepal-Tibet border rises to 162

Death toll from floods on Nepa ...

Bringing the news paper to your fingertips

Fairly heavy rainfall expected in several areas today

Fairly heavy rainfall expected ...

Crackdown on vile Facebook abuse

Crackdown on vile Facebook abu ...

Ayurveda Act to be amended

Ayurveda Act to be amended

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions

El Niño impact: Govt discusses ...