Everything you need to know today

by Staff Writer 10-01-2019 | 9:23 AM

COLOMBO (News 1st) 1. Two cases of malaria were reported from Siyambalanduwa recently, after the country being declared free from malaria in 2016. 2. Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne imposed an overseas travel ban on the President’s former Chief of Staff K. Mahanama and former STC Chairman P. Dissanayaka yesterday (January 9). 3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to provide USD 400 million to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka under its SAARC SWAP facility. Further discussions are ongoing for another bilateral SWAP arrangement of USD 1 billion. 4. The Appropriations bill that was presented to the cabinet has allocated Rs. 2.2 trillion of the government expenditure for debt servicing, this totals a 95% of the total budget. 5. MP Arundika Fernando has issued an apology for sitting on the speakers’ seat during the unruly behaviour that ensued within the parliamentary chambers. 6. Major General Shavendra Silva has been appointed as the 53rd Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. 7. Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Washington tomorrow (January 11) to meet with the IMF and discuss the External Fund Facility. 8. Indictments were read out in the presence of Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Tillakaratne against Janaka Ranawaka, a private secretary to the President 9. SriLankan Airlines had made over-payments of US$ 1.1 million, between the years 2014 to 2017 to Lufthansa. 10. Three Supreme Court justices were sworn in before the President yesterday. They are,