COLOMBO (News 1st):

Your Tuesday Morning Brief

1. Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva was appointed as the acting Chief of Defense Staff by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 2. The Embassy of Switzerland in Sri Lanka says that the Embassy hopes for a swift return to an environment conducive to resuming the positive cooperation between Switzerland and Sri Lanka. 3. Minister Susil Premajayantha stated that they will call on professionals to secure data when digitizing public services. 4. Joint cabinet spokesperson, Minister Bandula Gunawardena noted that plans were drafted to increase the number of university admission by 25%. 5. MP Udaya Gammanpila states that a sick prisoner can only be kept in a government hospital. 6. Ven. Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thero stated that Ranil Wickremesinghe is a mere MP now and he could be arrested for the bond scam. 7. Tax relief in effect from today. 8. Senior DIG in charge of the Central Province, S.M.Wickremesinghe stated capable police personnel were deprived of an opportunity to uplift the Department of Police during his retirement ceremony. 9. The Sri Lanka Transport Board states that they have taken steps to import 2,000 new buses. 10. According to the annual labour force survey issued by the Department of Statistics, unemployment in Sri Lanka has increased to 4.4% in 2018, from 4.2% in 2017.