Maithripala Sirisena | The Asian Age

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Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Friday sworn in as the new Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena. (Photo: Twitter | @PresRajapaksa)

Ex-Lankan prez Rajapaksa becomes new PM amid political drama

The development came after Sirisena's UPFA announced quitting current unity govt with PM Ranil Wickremesinghe's UNP.

26 Oct 2018 9:14 PM

The alleged plot briefly threatened to cause tension between Sri Lanka and India, after a report that Sirisena had accused India's intelligence services of involvement - a claim New Delhi and Colombo have both denied. (Photo: File)

Sri Lanka wants Chinese help to recover evidence of 'assassination plot'

A man named as M. Thomas from Kerala was arrested in Sri Lanka on September 22 on suspicion of involvement in the plot.

24 Oct 2018 11:11 AM

Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena (Photo: AP)

Sri Lanka Prez Sirisena calls Modi, denies accusing RAW of ‘kill’ plot

Sri Lanka says media reports that Sirisena had blamed RAW of plotting to assassinate him were ‘utterly false and mischievous’.

18 Oct 2018 1:12 AM

Addressing the media persons here Friday, Sirisena said he would use his address at the UN general assembly later this month to make a case for removal of war crimes charges. (Photo: File)

Sri Lanka to urge UN to remove war crime charges against its troops

Sirisena, who will lead a delegation to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, will address general debate on September 25.

15 Sep 2018 1:26 PM

'Returning from Kathmandu, I was served some cashews on board a Sri Lankan flight, but it was so bad even a dog wouldn’t eat it,' Sirisena said. (Photo: File)

‘Even dog wouldn’t eat’, airline removes nuts after Sri Lanka Prez’s rage

'I want to know who authorised the purchase of these nuts,' the President told a meeting of farmers.

12 Sep 2018 3:53 PM

Sirisena said he would hold talks with talks with Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan on repatriating the condemned Pakistanis and having them executed there. (Photo: AP)

Sri Lanka to end execution moratorium soon: President

The five are among 18 people, including a woman, on death row for drug offences whose execution will go ahead, according to Sirisena.

23 Aug 2018 11:26 AM

'We have defeated terrorism of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), but we have not been able to defeat their ideology,' Sirisena said. (Photo: AP | File)

Tamil separatist-extremists regrouping abroad, warns Sri Lanka President

Maithripala Sirisena said govt forces had failed to quash the Tamil rebels’ separatist ideologies despite military conquer.

21 May 2018 11:31 AM

Tensions between Muslim groups and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community in the country have escalated since the end of the civil war in May 2009. (Photo: File)

Sri Lankan Prez Sirisena to appoint committee to probe anti-Muslim riots

Anti-Muslim riots, since Monday, have left two persons dead and damaged several homes, businesses and mosques in the Kandy district.

10 Mar 2018 5:26 PM

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Saturday left on a foreign tour even as his country has been hit by communal violence that has killed at least two people. (Photo: File)

Prez Sirisena India bound amid Sri Lanka state emergency, violence

Mr Sirisena will be in India to attend the first conference of the founding members of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi.

10 Mar 2018 4:25 PM

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena (Photo: AP)

Lanka: Act decisively to keep peace intact

The vulnerability of the minorities was stressed as Muslim shops and residences were burnt in the central hill district of Kandy.

10 Mar 2018 1:42 AM

Muslim-owned businesses and religious sites came under attack from majority Sinhala mobs, forcing the government to enforce curfew. (Photo: AP/ Representational)

Sri Lanka president removes Prime Minister after communal riots

Mr Wickremesinghe's 11-day tenure as the law and order minister was marred by racial tension in the central district of Kandy since Monday.

08 Mar 2018 6:23 PM

Buddhist-Muslim relations have worsened in recent years amid the rise of hard-line Buddhist groups, which accuse Muslims of forcing people to convert and destroying sacred Buddhist sites. (Photo: AP/ Representational)

Sri Lanka emergency: Buddhists continue attack on Muslims despite curfew

At least 20 Muslim homes appeared badly damaged and flames engulfed one two-story home.

08 Mar 2018 1:36 PM

Maithripala Sirisena said he had ordered Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to revoke his decision last week to overturn the 1979 law prohibiting the sale of any type of alcohol to women. (Photo: AP)

Sri Lanka’s president reimposes ban on women buying liquor

'The idea was to restore gender neutrality,' ministry spokesman Ali Hassen said of the decision to roll back the ban.

15 Jan 2018 10:51 AM

This agreement comes after a nearly six-month delay since the signing of the framework deal, which immediately drew public criticism and protests. (Photo: AP)

Sri Lanka signs long-delayed $1.5-billion port deal with China to pay off loan

Sri Lankan officials have said, the port’s security will be handled by Colombo to allay fears that China could use it as a military hub.

29 Jul 2017 5:51 PM

Patients most at risk of dying are the elderly, children or those with other medical complications. (Photo: Representational/AFP)

Dengue outbreak in Sri Lanka kills 225

The highest number of cases is in the region around the city of Colombo, though cases were being reported across the tropical island nation.

04 Jul 2017 2:44 PM

PM Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at Buddhist Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy in Sri Lanka. (Photo: AP)

Wooing Sri Lanka

Bringing Sri Lanka back into India’s sphere of influence in the region’s geopolitics may be a greater priority.

14 May 2017 12:09 AM

Sri Lankan army soldiers and rescue workers stand near buried houses in a collapse of a garbage dump in Meetotamulla, on the outskirts of Colombo. (Photo: AP)

Sri Lanka: Garbage dump collapse kills 19, destroys over 100 homes

Sri Lanka's parliament was warned recently that the 23 million tonnes of garbage rotting at Kolonnawa was a serious health hazard.

15 Apr 2017 1:56 PM

Sri Lanka drought: India to donate eight water bowsers, 100 tonnes of rice

During his visit, the Indian Foreign Secretary called on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

21 Feb 2017 9:59 AM

Sri Lanka's civil service is largely based on traditions inherited from the country's former British colonial rulers who governed the island nation from 1815 until 1948. (Photo: Pixabay)

Sri Lanka strips suit and tie from official dress code

Unlike bureaucrats, male Sri Lankan politicians have traditionally opted to wear the national dress.

09 Jan 2017 8:49 PM

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. (Photo: AP)

Lankan man who hit Rajiv Gandhi in 1987 predicts Sirisena's death

Vijitha Rohana Wijemuni, who was jailed for attacking Gandhi, made an astrological prediction on Facebook about death of Sirisena.

21 Dec 2016 10:51 AM

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