COLOMBO (News 1st): Irrational laws should not obstruct the policies formulated to achieve the economic objectives of the people, said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Head of State made this statement during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday (May 14), with officials ...

Colombo (News 1st); The Western Province Secretariat announced a grace period would be granted until the 31st of July to renew expired revenue licenses. A statement noted there will be no fine to renew revenue licenses which expired between 13th March 2020 and 31st July 2020.  According to a s...

The Coronavirus pandemic could cost the global economy between $5.8tn and $8.8tn according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). That's more than double last month's prediction and equates to 6.4%-9.7% of the world's economic output. It comes as measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 continue ...

Colombo (News 1st); A Passenger Transport Service Management Task Force was appointed to ensure public transport services are operated in a safe and secure manner until the coronavirus pandemic is contained completely. The 21 member task force will be chaired by Transport Ministry Secretary Gamin...

The International Olympic Committee has set aside $800million to help with the "severe" financial impact caused by the postponement of the games in Tokyo 2020. Organisers will get $650m after this summer's Games were postponed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The other $150m is set ...