Ranil Wickremesinghe: News

23 Nov 2023

Jay Shah

Jay Shah doesn't run Sri Lankan cricket, says Ranil Wickremesinghe

Former cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga recently commented that BCCI secretary Jay Shah runs Sri Lankan cricket.

12 Aug 2023

Narendra Modi

Why PM Modi's statement on Katchatheevu Island is raising eyebrows 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi—during the no-confidence motion debate in the Parliament on Thursday—blamed former PM Indira Gandhi for "gifting" the disputed Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka.

17 Jun 2023

Narendra Modi

Sri Lankan president to visit India, may seek financial support 

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to visit India on July 21 for the first time since the country's political chaos and economic crisis last year.

03 Sep 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka crisis: Gotabaya Rajapaksa returns; apprehension of protest grows

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to the country on Friday nearly two months after fleeing the island country amid the worst-ever economic downturn, according to AFP.

21 Aug 2022

Sri Lanka

IMF to visit Sri Lanka on Wednesday to assess debt

A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be visiting Sri Lanka this week to assess the island nation's total external and internal debt.

01 Aug 2022

Sri Lanka

More important to rebuild Lanka than my own house: Wickremesinghe

Sri lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in reference to the protesters' threats, said that there was no point in asking that he "should go home" because he has nowhere to go.

22 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka crisis: Military uses force against protesters, dismantles tents

Hundreds of Sri Lankan army personnel and police stormed the major anti-government demonstration camp in the capital city, Colombo, on Friday.

20 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's 'comeback man' Ranil Wickremesinghe elected as new President

Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the new President of crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

18 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe declares state of emergency

Sri Lanka's acting President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, imposed a state of emergency late on Sunday night as his administration continues to suppress civil unrest and address the country's economic problems.

16 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

'Did everything to save Lanka': Rajapaksa says in resignation letter

On Saturday, Sri Lankan parliamentarians began selecting a new president to serve the remainder of the term left vacant by Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

16 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Parliament convenes, new president election on July 20

Battling an acute economic crisis, Sri Lanka's Parliament convened for a session on Saturday to start the procedure of electing the island nation's next president. The house will be voting on July 20.

15 Jul 2022

Animal Rights

Sri Lankan protesters help tear-gassed dog outside PM office

An act of kindness by protesters in Sri Lanka is winning the internet.

15 Jul 2022

Singapore

Ranil Wickremesinghe takes oath as Acting President of Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday took oath as Acting President of Sri Lanka after Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation was officially accepted.

14 Jul 2022

Singapore

Curfew imposed in Colombo; President Rajapaksa likely to reach Singapore

Acting President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday asked Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to nominate a prime minister who is acceptable to both the government and the Opposition.

13 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: PM Wickremesinghe orders military, police to restore order

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed the country's acting president and a state of emergency has been declared in the island nation following a standoff between the security forces and angry protesters who tried to enter the Prime Minister's Office.

13 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan PM declares emergency as Gotabaya flees to Maldives

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet after facing a massive public revolt for the collapse of the country's economy.

12 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Airport authorities block ex-FM Basil Rajapaksa from leaving Sri Lanka

Former Finance Minister of Sri Lanka, Basil Rajapaksa, attempted to flee to Dubai in the early hours of Tuesday amid a wave of protests but was unsuccessful after the airport's immigration officials blocked him.

11 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Amid Sri Lanka crisis, IMF chief warns of global debt

With Sri Lanka reeling under its worst economic crisis in seven decades, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva warned G20 nations over global debt.

10 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Army chief seeks public support to maintain peace

Seeking the public's support to maintain peace in the country, Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff, General Shavendra Silva, on Sunday said an opportunity to resolve the current political crisis in a peaceful manner is now available.

10 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Lanka crisis: Gotabaya to resign, Wickremesinghe's house set on fire

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday agreed to step down from his post after violent protests in which demonstrators stormed his official residence in Colombo, forcing him to flee to an unknown location.

09 Jul 2022

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka crisis: Ranil Wickremesinghe quits as PM

In a significant but expected development, Ranil Wickremesinghe has resigned as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, paving way for an all-party administration to take charge.

28 Jun 2022

India

Sri Lanka under virtual lockdown over fuel scarcity amid crisis

Citizens of Sri Lanka have been placed under a virtual lockdown as the worsening sovereign debt crisis has deprived the South Asian country of fuel.

18 Jun 2022

India

Sri Lanka fuel crisis: 2-week 'work from home' for employees

The Sri Lanka government on Friday declared work from home (WFH) for its government employees for the next two weeks as the island nation is grappling with an acute fuel shortage amid the worst financial crisis it has seen since its independence in 1948.

28 May 2022

India

Sri Lanka PM thanks India for support during 'difficult period'

Sri Lankan Prime Minister (PM) Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday thanked India and Japan for the move to set up a foreign aid consortium.

17 May 2022

Sri Lanka

Lanka to sell national airline, print salary money amid crisis

In a televised speech on Monday, Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced plans to privatize its national carrier SriLankan Airlines.

13 May 2022

Sri Lanka

Who is Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's new PM amid crisis?

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of Sri Lanka's United National Party (UNP), was sworn in as the country's 26th prime minister on Thursday, succeeding Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned on Monday amid protests over the island nation's current economic crisis.

09 Jun 2019

Narendra Modi

Sri Lanka: PM Modi pays tributes to Easter attack victims

PM Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning, has paid tributes to the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo that took place in April this year.

27 Apr 2019

ISIS

Sri Lanka: 15, including 6 kids, dead during ISIS' raids

A raid at an ISIS hideout near Kalmunai in Sri Lanka ended in deaths of 15 people, including six children, the country's police said on Saturday. Three suicide bombers blew themselves up and others were shot dead, police added.

26 Apr 2019

Sri Lanka

Joining foreign terror outfit not against Sri Lankan law: PM

PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government knew that Sri Lankan nationals who joined the Islamic State had returned, but they could not be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organization is not against the law in the island nation.

22 Apr 2019

Sri Lanka

#SriLankaAttacks: Suicide bomber queued for breakfast, then set off blast

Minutes before he ticked off a bomb at Sri Lanka's Cinnamon Grand hotel on Easter Sunday, the suicide bomber stood in a queue for breakfast buffet, reports AFP.

21 Apr 2019

Narendra Modi

Eighth blast reported in Sri Lanka, toll reaches 160

Hours after near-simultaneous explosions devastated three churches and three high-end hotels in Sri Lanka, two other blasts were reported in the country.

21 Dec 2018

Sri Lanka

UN Secretary-General welcomes resolution of political crisis in Sri Lanka

UN chief Antonio Guterres has welcomed the resolution of the political crisis in Sri Lanka and called on all the political actors to resolve all outstanding differences in the interest of people of the country.

18 Dec 2018

Sri Lanka

After Wickremesinghe's reinstatement, Lanka-Parliament to convene today for first time

Sri Lanka's Parliament is set to convene today for the first time after the reinstatement of Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister that ended the 51-day political standoff in the country.

15 Dec 2018

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa resigns, Wickremesinghe likely to take oath tomorrow

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister on October 26 by President Maithripala Sirisena in a controversial move, resigned today, as two crucial Supreme Court decisions made the embattled former strongman's efforts to cling to premiership "untenable".

10 Dec 2018

Sri Lanka

Ongoing crisis issue between foreign, indigenous thinking: Sri Lankan President

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has described the ongoing political crisis in the country as one between foreign and local values.

Talks between Lankan President, UNF lawmakers end without breakthrough

Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said that President Maithripala Sirisena has assured that he will resolve the ongoing political crisis when the Parliament meets again next week even as the talks between the two sides ended without any breakthrough yesterday night.

14 Nov 2018

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Major setback to Sirisena; Parliament votes against Rajapaksa

In a major setback to Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena, the Sri Lankan Parliament today passed a no-confidence motion against the government headed by his controversially-appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

13 Nov 2018

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Supreme Court stays President's decision to dissolve parliament

On Tuesday, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court stayed President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to dissolve the country's parliament till another hearing, scheduled for next month.

10 Nov 2018

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: President dissolves Parliament, announces snap election in Jan'19

Sri Lanka's political crisis deepened yesterday as President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Parliament and announced snap polls on January 5.

09 Nov 2018

Sri Lanka

No snap election to end political-crisis in Lanka: President's aide

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has decided that there will be no snap elections or a national referendum to end the current political and constitutional crisis in the island nation, according to his close aide.

04 Nov 2018

Sri Lanka

Long-held Tamil prisoners may be released soon: Rajapaksa's son

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's legislator son Namal today indicated that the long-held demand of the Tamil minority community to release all Tamil prisoners in the country may be fulfilled soon, a move aimed at persuading the Tamil legislators to support Rajapaksa.

04 Nov 2018

Sri Lanka

Guterres urges Lankan President to allow vote in Parliament soon

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced concern over the ongoing political crisis in Sri Lanka, urging President Maithripala Sirisena to revert to parliamentary procedures and allow Parliament to vote "as soon as possible".

29 Oct 2018

Sri Lanka

Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga arrested over shooting charges

Former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team Arjuna Ranatunga was arrested for his involvement in a shooting incident, which left one person dead.

28 Oct 2018

Sri Lanka

#ConstitutionalCrisis: Wickremesinghe recognized as PM by Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker

Sri Lankan Parliament's Speaker Karu Jayasuriya Sunday recognized Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country's Prime Minister in a major relief to the embattled UNP leader, who was sacked as the premier by President Maithripala Sirisena.

27 Oct 2018

Sri Lanka

#ConstitutionalCrisis: US urges Sri Lankan parties to refrain from violence

The US urged political parties in Sri Lanka to abide by the Constitution and refrain from violence, as the island nation faces a constitutional crisis after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked his former ally Ranil Wickremesinghe and made controversial strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa the new premier.

27 Oct 2018

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Sirisena sacks PM Wickremesinghe; Rajapaksa sworn in

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena today issued two extraordinary gazette notices making controversial strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa the new Prime Minister and formally recognizing Ranil Wickremesinghe's dramatic dismissal, leading to a constitutional crisis.

20 Oct 2018

India

Swaraj meets Sri Lankan PM, reviews progress of development projects

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday called on visiting Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe and reviewed the progress of India-assisted development projects in the island nation.

29 Apr 2018

Sri Lanka

Lanka's new Cabinet to be sworn in on May 1

New Cabinet of Sri Lanka's unity government will be sworn in on Tuesday, President Maithripala Sirisena announced today, weeks after he had suspended Parliament in backdrop of ongoing political turmoil in country.

13 Jan 2018

Sri Lanka

Now, Sri Lankan Prime Minister wants to watch 'Padmaavat'

One can say that Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Padmaavat' that has constantly been marred by controversies has finally seen the day of light. It is slated to be released on January 25.

28 Aug 2017

Karnataka

Bengaluru: Woman throws off her 7-year-old daughter twice from terrace

In a very disturbing incident, a seven-year-old girl, Aishika Sarkar, was allegedly killed by her mother Swathi who threw her off to the ground twice from their four-story residential complex's terrace at Jaraganahalli in Bengaluru's JP Nagar.