Colombo (LNW): President Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced the appointment of ten Ministry Secretaries and two Chief Secretaries, effective from January 1, 2024.

1. Ms. Wasantha Perera – Secretary to the Ministry of Education
2. Mr. M.N. Ranasinghe – Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Prisons & Constitutional Reforms
3. Mr. Gunadasa Samarasinghe – Secretary, Ministry of Wildlife & Forest Resources Conservation
4. Mr. A.C. Mohammad Nafeel – Secretary, Ministry of Water Supply & Estate Infrastructure
5. Mr. W.P.P. Yasaratne – Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils & Local Government
6. Mr. Saman Darshana Pandikorala – Secretary, Ministry of Irrigation
7. Mr. B.K.P. Chandrakeerthi – Secretary to the Ministry of Environment
8. Dr. Sulaksha Jayawardena – Secretary, Ministry of Power and Energy
9. Eng. Mr. Ranjith Rubasinghe – Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Highways
10. Dr. Dharmasri Kumaratunga – Secretary, Ministry of Technology
11. Mr. R.M.W.S. Samaradiwakara as the Chief Secretary of the North Central Province
12. Miss. S.L.D.K. Wijayasinghe as the Chief Secretary of the Western Province

Colombo (LNW): The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has opted to suspend the party membership of Amitha Bandara, the Kurunegala District Organiser, following reports of his apprehension in a recent drug raid by the Police.

In an official statement, the SJB disclosed that the decision was made in response to information indicating his involvement in the drug-related incident.

Bandara was arrested at the Mahawa Junction on Tuesday, accompanied by the seizure of 778.26 grams of heroin by officers from the Kegalle Crimes Investigations Bureau.

During the arrest, law enforcement confiscated a jeep used for transporting the narcotics, a car, an electric scale, multiple chequebooks from various banks, bank cards, and bank account books from the suspect.

In light of these developments, the SJB has promptly suspended Bandara’s party membership and removed him from the position of Kurunegala District Organiser.

Further decisions on this matter are slated to be addressed during the party’s working committee meeting scheduled for today, December 22.

Colombo (LNW): A total of 1,865 individuals were apprehended during the islandwide special operation ‘Yukthiya’ (Justice) conducted by the Police and the Special Task Force (STF) from yesterday until 12:30 am today.

The Ministry of Public Security reported that this operation aimed to combat the drug menace in Sri Lanka, and investigations are ongoing into the assets and possessions of 40 suspects among the arrested individuals.

The ministry further disclosed that 134 of the suspects have been referred for rehabilitation.

Since the commencement of the ‘Yukthiya’ island-wide special operation last weekend, nearly 10,000 suspects have been taken into custody.

The Police, in their operations, have confiscated various illegal assets and substantial quantities of narcotics.

Moreover, during yesterday’s operation, law enforcement seized assets estimated at around Rs. 92 million, including vehicles, land, houses, and gold.

These assets are believed to have been acquired using funds derived from illicit drug activities.

1. SLPP leader & former President Mahinda Rajapaksa alleges that USD 10,000mn in new International Sovereign Bonds were issued between 2015 and 2019 by the Yahapalana administration, comprising the UNP & SLFP which debilitated the economy: asserts when he was voted out in Jan’15, the outstanding ISB debt was only USD 5,000mn.
   
2. SJB MP & Economic Guru Harsha de Silva cautions Govt against counting loans received from IMF, World Bank & ADB as “external buffers” as they have to be paid back: asserts that loans from whatever sources are not earned reserves: analysts point out that at end-2019, when the Yahapalanaya Govt relinquished office, the External Reserves were USD 7.6bn, while the ISBs outstanding were USD 15.0bn, which meant that ISB loans were USD 7.4bn higher than the Reserves.
   
3. Anti-Parate Activist & National Construction Association Chairman Susantha Liyanaarachchi says businesses can’t get any support from the banking sector as all banks have tightened up after SL announced bankruptcy: laments SMEs which had previously contributed to around 51% of GDP, have now started to collapse.
   
4. Trade Unions of various sectors gear up for comprehensive joint discussions to address Govt’s attempts to privatise electricity, banking, insurance, telecom & postal services: initial discussions to commence next week.
   
5. Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles says orders issued to arrest 4,664 persons, who are allegedly involved in drug trafficking & underworld activities: explains ongoing islandwide Police operation “Yukthiya” at a media briefing: receives a threatening phone call after the briefing, which is now being investigated by Police.
   
6. Customs Dept fails to collect over Rs.61bn in tax arrears last year: able to collect only 9% of the outstanding taxes.
   
7. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith says a 4-member family requires at least Rs.120,000 per month to have 3 meals per day, but a common man receives a wage of about Rs70,000 to 80,000 only: asserts people have been pushed into borrowing & a “debt economy” is now emerging: also asserts professionals leave the country as the income they receive is inadequate to pay income taxes.
   
8. Benchmark 1-year T-Bill weekly auction fails for the 13th consecutive week: Central Bank able to sell only 14.2% (Rs 7,797 million) of its original offer of Rs 55,000mn: even after such a low sale, the weighted average yield increases by 10 bps to 12.93%: Central Bank also fails to sell the total T-Bills offered for the 2nd consecutive market week: analysts warn a Govt liquidity crisis of unprecedented magnitude is brewing.
   
9. State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe says “Aswesuma” payments for Dec’23 for 1,410,064 families, amounting to Rs.8,793mn has been transferred to Banks: also says the Govt has so far paid Rs.51,967mn from July to Dec’23 to 303,199 extremely poor families, 606,496 poor families, 290,624 vulnerable families and 209,745 transitional families.
   
10. Dept of Census & Statistics says Overall Rate of Inflation, as measured by National Consumer Price Index was 2.8% in Nov’23, compared to 1.0% in Oct’23: Food-Inflation in Nov’23 increased to -2.2% from -5.2% in Oct’23; Non-Food Inflation increased to 7.1% in Nov’23 from 6.3% in Oct’23.

Colombo (LNW): MP Dhammika Perera would be a commendable candidate from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) should he decide to run for the presidential election, Party Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said Wednesday (20), in response to reporters.

Rajapaksa, however, clarified that the official presidential candidate for the SLPP is yet to be decided.

The former President made this remark during his participation in an event at the Foundation Institute in Colombo.

Colombo (LNW): The initial segment of the third term for the academic year 2023 concludes on Friday, the 22nd, for both government and government-approved private schools.

Following this, the second phase of the third school term is scheduled to commence on February 1, 2024, granting students a substantial 39-day-long school holiday.

During this period, plans are underway to conduct the GCE Advanced Level Examination, with the Ministry of Education specifying the exam dates as January 4 to January 31, 2024.

Additionally, the Education Ministry has outlined that the inaugural school term of 2024 is set to commence on February 19.