President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has arrived in Parliament to inaugurate the second session of the 9th Parliament.

There will be no salute shootings or car parades this time around for a very modest celebration.

President was being welcomed as per tradition and the proceedings of Parliament began at 10 am.

Its live stream is below.

It is reported that the Ceylon Electricity Board is in a severe crisis due to the lack of fuel to generate electricity.

A CEB spokesman said that there is only enough fuel left to generate electricity for tomorrow and that the power plants will have to close down once the stock runs out.

He said that although the CPC had agreed to supply the fuel stocks until the 22nd of this month, the fuel stocks had not been delivered yet and if the fuel stocks were not received by tomorrow, the power plants would have to be closed.

Meanwhile, a special discussion is to be held tomorrow between top officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board and senior officials of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

The CEB spokesman said that they hope to resolve the fuel crisis during the discussion.

The Second Session of the 9th Parliament is scheduled to convene tomorrow (18) at 10.00 am for the first time in the New Year.

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will deliver the throne speech and then the House will adjourn.

Foreign dignitaries, former presidents, former prime ministers as well as the Chief of Justice, Supreme Court judges and the Attorney General will be among the distinguished guests at the event.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa presented the “Yathivara Suraksha” Scholarships to student monks in the Ratnapura District at the Sabaragamuwa Maha Saman Devala premises, today (16).

According to the National Policy Framework “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour”, the Buddhist Affairs Division of the Presidential Secretariat implements the program with the aim of giving foremost priority to Buddhism while protecting and nurturing it. Under this program, priority will be given for the medical insurance policies to monks and Sil Māthās, and assist in the certificate course of Practical Buddhist Studies of Bhikku students, development of attitudes, skill development and international language courses.

The Faculty of Languages of the University of Sabaragamuwa offers English, Tamil, Chinese, Hindu, Japanese and German language courses for monks.

Under the supervision of Vice Chancellor of the Sabaragamuwa University Prof. Udaya Rathnayaka, the program was initiated to award scholarships to student monks in the Ratnapura District. Marking this program, the President presented scholarships to eleven student monks who have qualified for the International Diploma in Languages course.

President Rajapaksa visited the Maha Saman Devala in Ratnapura and received blessings. A large crowd gathered at the temple greeted the President and the President spoke to them and inquired into their well-being.

Ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, MP W.D.J Seneviratne, Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura, MPs Gamini Waleboda, Muditha de Zoysa, Akila Ellawala, Basnayake Nilame of the Devala Migara Jayasundara, public representatives and government officials were also present.

High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, Hon’ble Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Development Co-ordination and Monitoring and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development and Hon’ble Jeevan Thondaman, Minister of State for Estate Housing and Community Infrastructure jointly handed over house keys to more than 1000 beneficiaries from plantation areas of Sri Lanka at a public event in Kotagala on 15 January 2022. Hon’ble Members of Parliament Mr. S.B Dissanayake and Mr. M. Rameshwaran and other dignitaries took part in the event.

2.​Speaking on the occasion, High Commissioner conveyed Pongal Greetings in Tamil. He stressed that India will stand with Sri Lanka and continue to work for the development of Indian origin Tamil community. He noted that the community was an organic link between India and Sri Lanka and underlined that the Festival of Pongal represented shared civilizational ties between the two countries.

3.​Handed over houses were built under the third phase of the Indian Housing Project. 4000 houses are being constructed with grant assistance from Government of India in planation areas, spread across seven districts of Sri Lanka, under this phase for the estate workers in Sri Lanka. Around 3000 houses have already been handed over to beneficiaries till date and handing over of close to 750 houses is being scheduled under this phase. The remaining houses are at various stages of implementation.

4.​Indian Housing Project is a flagship development assistance program in Sri Lanka that is being carried out in different phases. 46,000 houses were built/repaired in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka in the first two phases. Another 10,000 houses shall be constructed in the plantation areas in the next phase. This would take the Government of India’s overall commitment under the project to 60,000 houses.

5.​The dignitaries took part in a traditional ‘Maatu Pongal’ ceremony prior to the handing over event, which was attended by thousands and featured cultural performances.

6.​Celebration of Pongal in Sri Lanka attests to the abiding cultural linkages between the people of India and Sri Lanka as well as the shared heritage.