1. Defence Ministry says the news circulating on social media that telephone conversations are recorded and whatsapp, facebook Twitter messages are monitored is false.
2. Former CB Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal says the economy is now being controlled from Washington: asserts it won’t be easy to meet the IMF conditions: Colombo Magistrate’s Court rejects private complaint filed against him by former Provincial Governor Kerthi Tennekoon.
3. Outbound travel visa applications from Sri Lankans due to reach pre-pandemic levels this year after reaching 68% of per-pandemic levels in 2022: travel driven by pent-up demand, opening of international borders, and eased COVID protocols.
4. Human Rights Commission raises concerns that the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill poses threats to the fundamental rights of the public: says it makes it difficult to distinguish an actual act of terrorism from a legitimate protest.
5. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe says the Anti-Terrorism Bill, that has led to much controversy, is expected to be passed in May.
6. Kalubowila (Colombo South) Teaching Hospital decides not to accept any more unidentified bodies that are brought to the hospital: notice issued to the police stations of the area to remove the bodies from the hospital morgue that have been brought to the hospital for various reasons.
7. Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara says 40 fuel stations that have continuously not adhered to QR quotas will be suspended: orders all fuel stations to maintain a minimum 50% of stock tank capacity: GPS tracking systems to be fixed to all CPC owned fuel tankers by 15th April.
8. President Ranil Wickremesinghe approves the recommendation of the Constitutional Council & appoints retired Senior SLAS Officer Sanath Jayantha Ediriweera as the Chairman of the Public Service Commission: also appoints 6 other members.
9. Workers’ remittances in March 2023 records USD 568.3 mn: cumulative figure for January – March 2023 reaches USD 1,413.2 mn.
10. Govt bans the import of several single use items including drinking straws, stirrers, plates, cups, spoons, forks, knives with effect from 1st June 2023.

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara has announced that licenses for 40 fuel stations will be suspended for continuously failing to comply with QR fuel quotas. In addition, all fuel stations will now be required to maintain a minimum of 50% of stock tank capacity, with GPS tracking systems to be installed on all Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) owned fuel tankers by April 15. The Minister also stated that private tankers will be monitored closely.

These decisions were made during a progress review meeting held on April 6 with the CPC and Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited (CPSTL) management and officers. The meeting also covered the fuel cargo plan for the next eight weeks, refinery operations, and fuel distribution during the upcoming festive season.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Central, North-Western and North-Central provinces and in Mannar district during the afternoon or night. Fairly heavy showers above 50mm are likely at some places in above areas.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05^th to 15^th of April in this year. The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (07^th) are Koralawella, Ingiriya, Kiriella, Embuldeniya, Haldummulla, Rathmalwehera and Waradeniyawa at about 12:13 noon.

Parliamentarian Rajitha Senaratne says that there is favor among the people regarding the program of President Ranil Wickramasinghe.

“I have no hope of joining the government alone. First of all, the President should make a request from all political parties. But if they don’t listen to that request, we can make a decision as a group.” he said.

Rajitha Senaratne said this yesterday (06) while replying to an inquiry made by journalists.

State Minister of Defence Hon. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon visited the Indian Navy Ships taking part in the SLINEX-23 joint naval exercise, at the Port of Colombo, (Apr 05).

The State Minister was received by the Commanding Officers of the two Ships respectively upon his arrival on-board this morning. High Commissioner of India H.E. Gopal Baglay was present at the occasion.

Both Ships, INS Kiltan and INS Savitri arrived in the island on Monday (03) to take part in the annual Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise (SLINEX) -23 being held in Colombo. Respective Commanding Officers of visiting Ships while accompanying the State Minister Tennakoon and the Indian envoy in Sri Lanka within respective Ships explained the events intended to take place during the joint naval exercise.

They also described the capabilities and technical features of respective Ships to the State Minister and afterwards posed for a photograph with ship crews of the Indian two Ships during the session.
State Minister following cordial discussions with the officers of the visiting Ships exchanged mementoes to mark his visit.
Defence Attaché of the Indian High Commission Captain Vikas Sood was also present at the occasion.

By: Isuru Parakrama

Colombo (LNW): The Colombo Magistrate Court today (06) rejected a private plaint filed against former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Ajith Nivard Cabraal, ruling that the complainant failed to provide adequate evidence against the accused.

The complaint was filed by former Governor of the Southern and Central Provinces, Rajith Keerthi Thennakoon accusing Cabraal of misappropriating public funds during his tenure as the CBSL Chief from 2006 to 2015.

Colombo Magistrate Harshana Kekunawala denied the hearing of the plaint taking the preliminary objections raised by the accused party’s lawyer into account.

By: Isuru Parakrama

Colombo (LNW): GPS tracking systems will be installed to fuel tankers owned by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) and all private tankers will follow in the same manner, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said.

These GPS tracking systems will be installed by April 15, 2023, and the Minister said all fuel stations will be required to maintain a minimum 50 per cent of stock tank capacity.

Following a progress review meeting with the CEYPETCO and the Ceylon Petroleum Stock Terminal Limited (CPSTL) management and officers this (06) morning, the Minister emphasised that the fuel cargo plan for the next eight weeks, refinery operations and fuel distribution during the festive season have been reviewed.

Decisions were taken to suspend forty fuel stations that have failed to adhere to the QR quotas, he added.

Colombo (LNW): The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) expresses its deep concern about the latest attempt by the Sri Lankan government to introduce a new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) instead of repealing the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) introduced in 1979. The government frames ATA as a result of their response to the internal and international pressure against the PTA for over 40 years, justifying the Act as a set of proposals that meet the standards introduced by some other developed countries. 

FUTA finds this justification a grossly misleading exaggeration, especially in light of the grave governance issues the country is undergoing, i.e., the relentless undermining of democratic values and the marked deterioration of social welfare. We are especially concerned that the ATA is being introduced in the context of the government misusing the police and the military as well as exploiting the coercive power of the law as a means of curbing citizens’ rights to protest and assemble. FUTA is of the view that the danger of the ATA is that it will not impact only one community but to the larger Sri Lankan society, paving the path for a severely abused state structure. 

FUTA strongly opposes the new Act based on the following concerns: 

1.   ATA’s definition of terrorism does not meet UN standards and instead lowers the bar for acts that are to be considered terrorist acts (i.e., property damage, unlawful assembly, robbery, theft, damage to religious or cultural property). Thus, the ATA challenges the rights entrenched by the Sri Lankan constitution. 

2.  ATA dangerously empowers the president to declare any organization as a proscribed organization if the president has reasonable grounds to believe that said organization has engaged in a terrorist offence. As per section 82(3), a proscription order may include one or more of the following prohibitions: prohibition of any person being a member of a proscribed organization, prohibition of the organization recruiting members; prohibition of any person acting in furtherance of the objectives of the organization; prohibition of meetings, activities, and programmes; prohibition of the  use of bank accounts; prohibition of the organization entering into contracts; prohibition of raising of funds and receiving of grants and bequests; prohibition of the transferring of funds and assets of the organization; prohibition of lobbying on behalf of such organization; and prohibition of any person publishing any material in furtherance of the objects of such organization. FUTA holds the view that this law could be used to persecute organizations as well as associated members who hold opposing views to the government, posing a serious threat to the right to express dissent.

3.  FUTA is also concerned how ATA grants permission to the president to declare any place of the country as a “prohibited place.” Placing such an unlimited and an unchallenging power to the executive can discourage the citizens’ right to protest.

4.   ATA suggests granting the power to issue detention orders to the Deputy Inspector Generals (DIG), a power that has previously been granted to the president under PTA. Apart from that, the proposed law overrides the magistrate’s power, as now the magistrate can only decide whether the person can be discharged on the grounds put forward by the police. The magistrate is not empowered to discharge the person, but only to release them on bail, in situations where the police request the continued detention of a person even if there are no reasons to believe the person has committed an offence under the Act. FUTA is heavily concerned about the check and balance of the Act in its execution. 

5.  ATA also proposes to legalize military intervention in civil matters in a very    problematic way. Traditionally the military could intervene in civil matters only at times where an emergency situation is declared by the President. But the ATA grants power to any member of the armed forces to search any person, vehicle, vessel or train or any premises or land without any prior authorization, warrant or oversight. This becomes further problematic looking at how the military has behaved in the past few months, e.g., the brutality that broke out at the Gota Go Gama, challenging the role of the military in a democracy.

Due to all these grave concerns, FUTA expresses strong opposition to the ATA. We consider this Act as a serious move towards de-democratization, making the people subservient to a highly authoritarian and corrupt political system. We urge the government to reverse the proposed ATA which we consider as an anti-democratic and an anti-people piece of legislation.