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Clarification of the false information published in relation to the President's visit to the United Kingdom.

It is observed that some parliamentarians and social media are trying to mislead the public by spreading false and incorrect information about the delegation representing Sri Lanka at the funeral ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II held at Westminster Abbey in Britain.

Based on the official invitation received for this occasion, only President's Private Secretary Sandra Perera and President's Director on International Relations Dinouk Colombage joined the official delegation along with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. In addition, the President's official doctor attended.

First Lady Senior Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe participated the tour at her personal expense and Presidential Advisor on Climate Change and Deputy Leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ruwan Wijewardene also joined the Sri Lankan Diaspora meeting held yesterday (19) while on a private visit to the United Kingdom.

Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agatha Kornhauser-Duda, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Indian President Draupadi, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, United States President, Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, French President Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Trogneux and many other heads of state were in attendance representing other foreign countries on this occasion.

President Media Division

World leaders who were in London to attend the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on the 18th of September.
The picture shows President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who participated in the event, having a friendly conversation with King Charles III.
Senior Professor Mrs. Maitri Wickramasinghe also joined the event.

A preliminary discussion was held today (14) under the chairmanship of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to reach a bilateral agreement between Nepal and Sri Lanka on the development of Sri Lanka's tourism sector and the expansion of university education opportunities.

H.E. Mr. Bashu Dev Mishra, Ambassador of Nepal to Sri Lanka, attended the meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat.

During the discussion, an agreement was reached to implement a youth exchange program enabling the youth of both the countries to join university education and tourism sector opportunities.

The administrative measures to make the agreement a reality is to be done by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka and the Government of Nepal

The Lotus Tower in Colombo will be opened for the public on Thursday. Colombo Lotus Tower Management Company said that keeping the tower closed will only add to the financial losses of the tower. Major General (Retired) Prasad Samarasinghe said that the observation deck and a few areas in the tower will be open to the public from 15th September. Tickets will be priced at 2000 rupees and 500 rupees to enter the tower. He said that the tower will be open from 2.00pm to 10.00pm on weekdays and 12.00pm to 11.00pm on weekends. The tower will also be open for school tours at a special rate. The 350-metre Lotus Tower has been built at an estimated 113 million US dollars.

At the 18th Kazan International  Film Awards held in Russia, Sarath Kothalawala and Kumara Thirimadura, who played the lead roles in the film “The Newspaper,” represented Sri Lanka and won the joint Best Actors Award.

This film was able to garner high acclaim in several foreign film festivals previously. The film was directed by the above winning two actors as well while Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, Ravindrara Guruge and W. Premasiri are the co-producers of the film. The awards ceremony was held last Sunday night in Russia’s Kazan Province with Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena receiving the award on behalf of the two actors.

The Minister of State for Media Shanta Bandara started his duties today. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Member of Parliament Nimal Siripala de Silva, Secretary of the Ministry of Media Anusha Palpita, Director General of Government Information Dinith Chinthaka Karunaratne and Postmaster General Ranjith Ariyaratne were present at this occasion.FB IMG 1663057229731

Sri Lankan actors Sarath Kothalawala and Kumara Thirimadura, who played the lead roles in the film “The Newspaper,”  won the joint Best Actors Award at the 18th Kazan International Film Awards held in Russia.

The 18th edition of the film festival was organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan city administration in Russia.

The awards were accepted by Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, the producer of the movie, on behalf of Kothalawala and Thirimadura.

“The Newspaper” is a movie woven around a small poor family in a remote village at dry zone who faced a series of miseries due to a wrong news report published in the national media stating that their son is involved in a suicide bomb blast carried by the LTTE terrorists.

This film was able to garner high acclaim in several foreign film festivals previously.

The film was directed by Kothalawala and Thirimadura  while Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, Ravindrara Guruge and W. Premasiri are the co-producers of the film.

Senior Journalist Dinith Chinthaka Karunaratne assumed duties as the Director General of Government Information Department yesterday (8).

With experience over three decades in the field of mass media, Karunaratne has held numerous positions including the Associate Editor position. He began his career as a journalist attached to the Lankadeepa Sinhala newspaper of the Wijeya Newspapers Company.

Karunaratne is a past pupil of Ananda College, Colombo. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Bio-Science. He has also completed his higher education in Mass Media and Communication from the Santa Monica College in California.

Mass Media Secretary Ministry and ANCL Chairman Anusha Pelpita, former Director General of Government Information Mohan Samaranayake and officials of the Ministry of Mass Media and Department of Government Information were present on this occasion held at the department.

Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the nation’s figurehead for seven decades, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace

The 37 State Ministers of the new government were sworn in before President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the President's Office this morning (08).
Below is the list of newly appointed State Ministers.
01- Hon. Jagath Pushpakumara - Foreign Employment Promotion
02- Hon. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya - Finance
03- Hon. Lasantha Alagiyawanna - Transport
04 -Hon. Dilum Amunugama - Investment Promotions
05- Hon. Kanaka Herat - Technology
06- Hon. Janaka Wakkumbura - Provincial councils and Local Government
07-Hon. Shehan Semasinghe - Finance
08- Hon. Mohan Priyadarshan de Silva - Agriculture
09- Hon. Tenuka Widanagamage - Urban Development and Housing
10- Hon. Pramitha Bandara Thennakoon - Defence
11- Hon. Rohana Dissanayake - Sports and Youth Activities
12- Hon. Arundika Fernando - Urban Development and Housing
13- Hon. Vijitha Berugoda - Piriven Education
14- Hon. Lohan Ratwatte - Plantation industries
15- Hon. Tharaka Balasuriya - Foreign Affairs
16- Hon. Indika Anuruddha - Power and Energy
17- Hon. Sanath Nishantha - Water Supply
18- Hon. Siripala Gamlath -Highways
19- Hon. Shantha Bandara - Mass Media
20- Hon. Anuradha Jayaratne - Justice and Prison Reforms
21- Hon. S. Viyalanderan - Trade
22- Hon. Sisira Jayakody - Indigenous Medicine
23- Hon. Piyal Nishantha de Silva - Fisheries
24- Hon. Prasanna Ranaweera - Small and Medium Enterprise Development
25- Hon. D.V. Chanaka - Conservation of Wildlife and Forest Resources
26- Hon. D.B. Herath - Livestock Development
27- Hon. Shaheendra Rajapaksa - Irrigation
28- Hon. (Dr.) Seetha Arambepola - Health
29- Hon. Kader Masthan - Rural Economy
30- Hon. Ashoka Priyantha - Home Affairs
31- Hon. Aravindh Kumar - Educational
32- Hon. Geetha Kumarasinghe - Women and Children Affairs
33- Hon. Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan - Rural road Development
34- Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan - Higher Education
35- Hon. Diana Gamage - Tourism
36- Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake - Primary Industries
37- Hon. Anupa Pasqual - Social Empowerment

President extends felicitations to newly elected UK-PM Elizabeth Truss

President Ranil Wickremesinghe extending his congratulations to the newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Elizabeth Truss, added that Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom enjoy longstanding friendly relations bound by a shared history.

Conveying his warm felicitations on Ms. Elizabeth Truss’s assumption of office as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and elected to the leadership of the Conservative Party, President Wickremesinghe noted that her wide-ranging experience, having served in numerous cabinet portfolios would be invaluable in delivering on her mandate as the Prime Minister.
The multifaceted partnership reinforced by democratic ideals encompasses a wide spectrum of engagement ranging from political, economic and cultural relations to strong people-to-people interactions, President Wickremesinghe said.
President Wickremesinghe added that he anticipates further strengthening of the relationship with the UK, particularly in the context of Global Britain and the UK’s new Platinum Partnership scheme with the Commonwealth family of nations. He also appreciated Sri Lanka’s inclusion as a beneficiary country in the recently announced Developing Country Trading Scheme of the UK.
As Sri Lanka stands prepared to celebrate its 75th Anniversary of Independence in February 2023, President Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka looks forward to the further consolidation of corporation with the UK.

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