Speaker Karu Jayasuriya questioned the president's decision to suspend parliament till November 16, saying it will have "serious and undesirable" consequences on the country.
Sirisena's sacking of Wickremesinghe was the culmination of an year of bitter relations between them on several policy matters. The president has been critical of the prime minister and his policies, especially on economy and security.
Surface and air links between Kashmir and rest of the country were cut off on Wednesday due to snowfall in the valley as the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed for traffic and all flights to Srinagar Airport cancelled.
Cyclone Hudhud pounded the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with heavy rain and winds of almost 200 kmph on Sunday killing four people and left a trail of destruction with Vishakapatnam where the very severe storm made landfall the worst hit.
Berhampur, the biggest city in southern Odisha, on Monday looked like a war zone as Cyclone Phailin left behind a trail of destruction. The cyclone accompanied by heavy rain hit Gopalpur, about 15 km from Behrampur, and battered the city and its nearby areas.
According to a report, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have already declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012.
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours.
Sudhir Bisht recalls the battle of 1984, in which UP's strongman H N Bahuguna was felled by Bollywood superstar turned political novice Amitabh Bachchan.
Over 500 soldiers, 1,000 people and 62 speedboats have been sent for rescue work while more than 10,000 people have been sent to ensure the safety of river banks.
A Molotov cocktail of lies, abuse and bigotry is blowing up social media.
With a rich political and personal legacy, George Herbert Walker Bush left no shortage of memorable photos from his time both in and out of office. Bush died at the age of 94. The 41st US president, congressman, Central Intelligence Agency director and oil tycoon was also father to the 43rd president -- George W Bush. The younger Bush in a statement remembered his father as "a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for." Delving into archives here are the US former president's most memorable days.
'Our Lockdown Life has a sort of schizophrenic, Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde personality about it,' says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'Mumbai stands tall yet again.' Bollywood raves about the city's resilience.
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
Sylvia Dyer's life began nearly 90 years ago in a forgotten, untamed land. She spent her childhood on a plantation on the Bihar-Nepal border in pre-Independent India, lived through the '65 war as the wife of a decorated army officer and saw an era grow and fade in front of her eyes.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
India does not have a unified regulatory regime to counter Ponzi, or pyramid, schemes whose operators typically grab new deposits to meet their promise of guaranteed returns to existing savers, point out Manoj Kumar and Mayank Bhardwaj.
With Pakistan moving towards tactical nuclear weapons, there is an increasingly higher risk of nuclear theft, a US think-tank report has warned ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington later this month.
The maximum death toll has been reported from Idukki district, where 43 people have lost their lives so far, as per official estimates. 28 deaths were reported in Malappuram and 27 in Thrissur.
He is only the second Englishman following three-times champion Nick Faldo to win the coveted Green Jacket
'The airline business is very dynamic. If you are unable to keep up and lead, you end up last.' 'This is what has happened to Jet.'
Current events in Haryana have set the state back 20 years. But this is just the beginning. Let's play a game. Let's try figuring out how much further the state can slide.
The recent tragedy confirms the view of humanitarian aid as a political weapon
The Nepal earthquake has driven home the importance of home insurance. What are the factors you need to keep in mind before insuring your property? Indrani Roy offers a checklist.
Two men and a woman were on Sunday pulled out alive from under the rubble of their homes in Nepal
'I wasn't comfortable with the intimate scenes. There were 40 men behind the camera. It's mechanical and doesn't mean a thing but there are so many eyes watching you! I got panicky and asked Vikram (Bhatt, director) sir to help me out.' Patralekha gets bold and beautiful in Love Games.
Aseem Chhabra looks at the year's best Non-Hindi Indian movies.
Life in Mumbai was on Wednesday slowly coming back on tracks as rains subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services.
'Some of the good wrestlers are making really good money.' 'If you look at their lifestyles, they are no less compared to our cricketers.'
Has Make in India's mascot, the metal lion, begun to rust?
South Mumbai's Bhendi Bazaar is all set for a much-needed transformation.
'Solace' emerged from the heart of a mother who knew what it feels like to be a helpless parent when treatment for a sick child is expensive.
'The summer of 1857 saw violence, perpetrated by the Indians and the Britons, on an unprecedented scale.' 'Never before and never after in the history of British rule in India was there violence at the level that 1857 witnessed.'
'When I met the prime minister on November 15 there was no RBI report with the prime minister as to why this was done.' 'When I asked the PMO officer about this, he said the RBI did not bring this to the PM and did it independently.' 'When I asked how could the RBI ban DCCBs from accepting deposits from farmers in old notes when the government gazette released on November 9 allowed them to do so, this officer told me that not even senior PMO officials had any idea about this RBI ban.'
The jury of the 58th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected an image by Danish photographer Mads Nissen as the World Press Photo of the Year 2014.
Rahul Bhattacharya recounts the anxiety of being in the labour room and the joy that follows.
Sanjeeb Mukherjee, who was eight years old when the deadly gas leaked from Union Carbide's factory, gives his account of living in the city during that fateful period
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
The public-private partnership model is a compulsion, says the minister.
