The Government will establish Jana Sabhas countrywide to function as grassroots level organisations to carry out development activity. These bodies, modelled on the lines of the Panchayat system in India, will replace the existing Pradeshiya Sabhas, the Sunday Times learns.

A tsunami warning was issued early this morning, and residents in coastal areas were alerted as several parts of Sri Lanka experienced a tremor around 1.00 am today following an earthquake near the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.