Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) indicates further depreciation against the US Dollar today (06) compared to yesterday as per the official exchange rates list issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
Accordingly, the buying price of the US Dollar has increased to Rs. 315.93 from Rs. 314.87, and the selling price to Rs. 327.51 from Rs. 326.65.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Rupee also indicates fluctuation against several other foreign currencies, whilst indicating a depreciation against Gulf currencies.
Colombo (LNW): The government has decided to exempt domestic rice production and equipment used by people with special needs from the Social Security Contribution Levy (SSCL), announced Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya today (06).
The Minister made this announcement on his X (previously known as Twitter) handle.
Colombo (LNW): The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) said it commenced a special initiative to probe over 11,000 complaints lodged by the public regarding human rights violations.
Accordingly, these complaints will be investigated at the head office and district level office, said HRCSL Commissioner Nimal Punchihewa.
Initial findings suggest that a portion of complaints submitted to the Commission would be better addressed by different entities, and these complaints, therefore, will be forwarded to the Public Service Commission, National Police Commission, Department of Labour and Consumer Affairs Authority.
The HRCSL Commissioner asserted that he is committed to overseeing the investigations undertaken by these institutions, and pointed out the importance of swift inquiries into all reports to ensure justice in cases of human rights infringements.
Colombo (LNW): MP Dayasiri Jayasekara has been relived of his position as the Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
The Party decision has been communicated to the MP via a letter from the SLFP Chairman, former President Maithripala Sirisena.
The letter highlighted that Jayasekara’s suspension from the post comes in his ineligibility to serve as the SLFP Secretary General.
Furthermore, there are impending disciplinary proceedings against Jayasekara due to several accusations directed at him.
Jayasekara has acknowledged receiving the letter which officially states his removal from the post and the subsequent suspension of his party membership.
Meanwhile, reports claim that Sarath Ekanayaka, the Deputy General Secretary of the SLFP, is now serving as the party’s Acting General Secretary.
Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lankan Rupee indicates depreciation against the US Dollar today (06) in comparison to yesterday as revealed by leading commercial banks of the country.
Accordingly, Peoples Bank reveals that the buying and selling prices of the US Dollar have increased to Rs. 313.85 from Rs. 313.37 and to Rs. 328.60 from Rs. 328.09, respectively.
At Commercial Bank, the buying price of the US Dollar has increased to Rs. 313.74 from Rs. 313.23, and the selling price to Rs. 325 from Rs. 324.50.
At Sampath Bank, the buying price of the US Dollar has increased to Rs. 316 from Rs. 315, but the selling price remains unchanged at Rs. 326.
Sri Lanka has become the first South Asian country to introduce Al-powered early cancer detection technology
Having gone through clinical trials, Opthascan garners approvals and accreditation from the European Union.
Furthermore, the solution is live in four European countries as well as parts of Africa. The solution is also GDPR compliant, ensuring the integrity of data and robust measures which makes it impervious to breaches.
At present, Opthascan is live in Sri Lanka, striving to democratize this transformative technology within Sri Lanka with the help of the Government. This concerted endeavour emerges as a substantial contribution to the nation’s overarching battle against cancer.
Over the past years, the incidence of cancer in Sri Lanka has surged from 13,372 cases in 2005 to a staggering 31,848 cases in 2019, marking a significant surge of 138 percent. Globally cancer incidences have risen at similar rates.
The World Health Organization and other leading international organizations have indicated early detection of cancer is one of the most effective strategies for the fight against cancer.
Early detection yields more efficacious treatment outcomes and improves recovery prospects. Herein emerges the promising innovation of Opthascan, a newly unveiled non-invasive screening application for several internal cancers. Setting itself apart as the first-of-its-kind on-demand, real-time screening solution, Opthascan offers a beacon of hope in the fight against cancer.
Opthascan is for the first time in South Asia introducing their pioneering technology which harnesses the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to detect various forms of cancer non-invasively.
By merely analyzing a photograph of a patient’s iris, the product boasts an impressive accuracy rate of over 98 percent in diagnosing internal cancers including, but not limited to, lung, prostate, breast, uterine and cervical cancers.
Having gone through clinical trials, Opthascan garners approvals and accreditation from the European Union.
Furthermore, the solution is live in four European countries as well as parts of Africa. The solution is also GDPR compliant, ensuring the integrity of data and robust measures which makes it impervious to breaches.
Colombo (LNW): Reforms to improve SOE performance and reduce losses and liabilities are critical for Sri Lanka’s recovery and the sustained growth and it’s heartening to see the government’s ongoing commitment to reform and to hear their ambitious plans going forward.
This was stated by Takafumi Kadono, Country Director Sri Lanka Resident Mission ADB at the Serendipity Knowledge Program held yesterday in Colombo.
“As we undergo our own reforms in ADB, we will be providing our first support to Sri Lanka’s SOE reform.
Currently we are already working or supporting the government led power sector reform, which involves the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board. But going further and prompted by this session,
He said there was a need to be real reforms to enable SOE to be much more commercial and professional.
He also stressed the importance of creating an institution like a holding company to protect and professionally manage those assets under strong professional government and oversight.
Tomasek Singapore is one of the successful examples of SOE holding companies and it was interesting to see that they are making a 14% return.
He said it was vital segregating policy from professional management of public commercial assets and the need for political will and political stability, which is essential for SOE transparency, including the importance of implementation of internationally accepted accounting and auditing standards and disclosure of the country’s SOE liabilities to the public and with state banks etc.
And as a first step establishing the SOE restructuring unit under the leadership of Suresh Shah in Sri Lanka and introducing new legal and regulatory frameworks including a SOE Policy, SOE Act and plans to establish a SOE holding company were bold steps taken by the government.
Kadono said as the panelist presented the country needs to have data on its public commercial assets, including real estate, understanding their values and knowing the potential of how much yield that such commercial assets can produce if managed commercially and professionally.
Sri Lanka has about 80 state commercial entities that need not be in state hands based on several criteria, Director General of State Enterprise Restructuring Unit, Suresh Shah said.
There are about 130 commercial state-owned enterprises in Sri Lanka out of which 15 are non -operational and have to be closed.
There were another 80 commercial entities that did not meet the conventional arguments for being kept in state hands.
There are about 20 which could remain under government control for various reasons, but could be candidates for public private partnerships, Shah said.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s Mattala Airport has lost a billion rupees so far in 2023, Ports and Airports Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament.
“When you take 2023, the aviation earnings have been Rs. 54 million, and non-aviation earnings have been Rs. 109 million,” Minister de Silva said.
The total earnings are Rs168.8 million. The full expense is Rs1.2 bn rupees.”“The loss is about a billion rupees.”
The airport was built with a 1.3 billion yuan loan (189 million dollars) with a 2 percent interest rate from the Exim Bank of China payable in 15 years, he said.
“That was a concessionary loan.”Another 4.0 billion rupees was borrowed from state-run National Savings Bank though 15 year bond, which also had a 2 percent interest rate, he said.
he latest report issued by the National Audit Office states that the operational cost of Mattala International Airport has exceeded 2 billion rupees, but that cost is about twenty times more than the income.
The report also shows that the amount of more than 36.56 billion rupees spent for the construction of this airport has not been used effectively.
Mattala Airport’s net loss after tax in 2021 was 4 billion rupees and the net loss after tax from 2017 to 2021 is more than 2 billion rupees, according to the heads of the audit department.
The audit report states that although the expected annual passenger capacity of the airport is one million, only 91,747 passengers have arrived in the last five years and only 2,396 flights have taken place in the airport in the last five years.
It further states that the company had paid more than 2.6 billion rupees as annual loan installment including interest for the loan of 190 million US dollars taken for the construction of the airport.
The International Airport was opened for operations on 18 March 2013. The Airports and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Company Ltd. is in charge of its operations.
Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lanka Government will bring in new laws for online safety with the aim of regulating social media, promoting ‘digital security curtailing online misinformation and promoting media ethics, public security ministry sources divulged.
It has been transpired that the new law has been modelled on ‘Singapore’s Social Media Regulation Act’.
Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) has come under widespread criticism from human rights groups for violating freedom of expression in Singapore.
The Sri Lankan government is now set to introduce new laws that would make it an offense to communicate false information online and to incite riots via such false information.
The relevant draft bill for these new laws had been drafted, and the Cabinet had granted its approval to publish the draft bill via gazette and produce it to the parliament for approval.
The Department of Government Information said that the draft bill approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday (4) is titled the Draft Bill on the Security of Online Methods.
The draft bill was produced by the Minister of Public Security, and details offenses that are carried out via online methods.
A growing institutional evidence from the region and around the world shows that, in the hands of repressive states, laws purportedly aimed at ‘regulating social media’ and ‘promoting digital security’ could become tools of surveillance, repression and information control.
The government announced plans to enact a new Obscene Publications Act with an eye on expanding the ambit of the existing Obscene Publications Ordinance to online spaces.
However, following concerns raised by civil society groups, the government decided to withdraw the extraordinary gazette Notification of the Bill, and announced that it will hold consultations with interested stakeholders.
Under this set up the draft bill was devised by the Minister of Public Security, and details offenses that are carried out via online methods.
Several startling actions have been interpreted as offenses in the draft bill among them were – Communication of false statements on the incidents within Sri Lanka, False statements causing defamation. Pave way for riots by provocation without reason and – Disturbing a religious assembly through false statements.
Further Communication of false statements with the sole intention of hurting religious emotions,- Communication of false statements with the sole intention for the abomination of religious emotions,-and Fraud- Cheating by impersonation.
Colombo (LNW): The No-Confidence Motion forged against Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella is due to be taken up for debate in Parliament today (06).
The debate on the No-Confidence Motion will be held on Thursday (07) and Friday (08) as well.
It has been decided to debate motion against the Health Minister from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm on these two days, and the vote is scheduled to be held at 5.30 pm.
The No-Confidence Motion was tabled by the Samgi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).
