Colombo (LNW): A minor earthquake of 4.65 magnitude in the Richter Scale has been reported in the seas about 300 kilometres North-East of Batticaloa this (11) morning, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau said.
The earthquake occurred at around 1.30 am in the morning, according to the Bureau.
There were no threats of tsunami to the island.
By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s businesses perform below expectations up to now this year as there was a significant anxiety on economic resurgence among them.
This was largely attributable to the fact that businesses started to show signs of slow recovery, amidst the economic crisis in the first half of this year amidst high interest rates until recently.
Several CEOs indicate that their businesses performed up to some expectations with the highest optimistic outlook signifying that some industries weathered the storm and performed well, despite a challenging macro environment in 2023 up to now.
Pioneering business magazine LMD reported, in its September edition: “Once again, the one-of-kind LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey highlights the steep decline in economic sentiment in business circles.”
NielsenIQ’s Market Leader – Sri Lanka Adrian Hakel added: “A large majority of businesspeople feel there is still no conducive environment for investment while the economic climate is poor.”
He explained: “Inflation and taxes are highlighted as the most pressing issues for doing business in the current context, followed by interest rates and the financial instability of both businesses and consumers.”
In the most recent BCI survey, the percentage of businesspeople expressing optimism about the economy ‘improving’ in the next 12 months dropped by 13% (down to 13% in August, from 26% in the preceding month).
“A quarter (25%) envision the economy remaining steady although expectations of a turnaround were short-lived: a notable 62% of poll participants now anticipate a decline – that’s a 17% uptick from July,” LMD noted.
The magazine also reported that: “The lack of optimism about sales volumes in the 12 months ahead continues with one-in-three (31%) expecting an ‘improvement’ as opposed to the 40% recorded in July.”
LMD’s report also revealed: “Slightly more than one-in-five (22%) survey participants foresee sales volumes ‘staying the same,’ marking a fall from 28% in the month prior.
Meanwhile, expectations of sales ‘worsening’ surged to nearly half (47%) – up from 32% in July.”
LMD’s publisher, Media Services, said the latest edition of the magazine will be released shortly. Its digital edition is shared on WhatsApp and the publisher’s social media platforms.
Central Bank will endeavour to attain the projected return for the members of the Superannuation funds
By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): It reveals discussions are ongoing to explore possibility of Treasury intervening to ensure promised returns until 2025 claiming domestic debt restructuring DDR would cause EPF bond portfolio to lose approximately 4%.
The Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill secured approval through a majority vote during the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) meeting held in Parliament under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Harsha De Silvalast week.
During the CoPF sitting, officials from the Central Bank clarified that the 30% tax increase, as outlined in the Internal Revenue (Amendment) Bill, specifically pertains to the interest income generated from the bond portfolio.
Additionally, it was highlighted that this tax rate would be lowered to 14% in cases where pension funds engage in the domestic debt restructuring process.
During the session, the committee also raised inquiries regarding the Central Bank’s capacity to assure a 12% return until 2025 and a 9% return thereafter to pension funds involved in domestic debt restructuring.
In response, the Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe expressed their commitment to endeavour to attain the projected return, though they could not provide a guarantee for every member.
He also noted that there were ongoing discussions about the Treasury intervening to ensure the promised benefit is upheld until 2025 if it becomes challenging to maintain this rate.
The Committee suggested that an inflation-adjusted interest rate should be explored to guarantee a positive return for members of the Employees’ Provident Fund.
The Central Bank Governor disclosed that if the Employees’ Provident Fund engages in the local debt restructuring, the opportunity loss for the EPF bond portfolio would be approximately 4%.
Nevertheless, he said if the EPF opts not to partake, the opportunity loss for the bond portfolio would escalate to 21%, primarily due to the elevated tax rate of 30%, as per the recent amendment to the Inland Revenue Bill. Furthermore, it has been noted that all pension funds not qualified for domestic debt restructuring (DDO) would be subjected to a 30% tax increase. This could potentially discourage the creation of new pension funds in the future.
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Showers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts, and fairly heavy showers about 50mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Puttalam, Galle and Matara districts, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather forecast today (11).
A few showers may occur in Mannar, Vavuniya and Anuradhapura districts, and showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Uva province and in Batticaloa, Ampara districts during the evening or night, the statement added.
Fairly strong winds about (40-45) kmph can be expected at times in western slopes of the central hills, Northern, North-central, and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather:
| Condition of Rain: |
| Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo and Galle. |
| Winds: |
| Winds will be south-westerly and speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed can increase up to (50-55) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Chilaw to Trincomalee via Mannar and Kankasanthurai and in the sea areas extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil. |
| State of Sea: |
| The sea areas off the coast extending from Chilaw to Trincomalee via Mannar and Kankasanthurai, and in the sea areas extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil can be rough at times. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers. |
Colombo (LNW): A severe data loss affecting all government offices using the ‘gov.lk’ email domain has recently occurred, confirmed the The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) in a statement.
A number of government offices using the ‘govt.lk’ email domain including the Cabinet office was affected by the data loss, and the crisis is believed to have been caused by a large-scale ransomware attack between May 17 and August 26, the Director for Strategic Communications of ICTA said in a statement.
Approximately 5,000 email addresses were impacted by the ransomware attack, and as there was neither an offline nor online backup system for a critical period of two months, several emails that were lost due to the attack are now irrecoverable, the statement added.
In the backdrop, ICTA has taken a measure to institute daily offline backup process, with other application processes being upgraded to the latest version with enhanced defences against malware attacks.
Efforts are being made to recover the lost data in a joint effort by ICTA and the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT).
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by the mistreatment in detention of two Vietnamese journalists who both received heavy sentences in 2021, and urges the authorities to release them immediately.
On 3 September 2023, Vietnamese freelance journalist Lê Trong Hungbegan a hunger strike to protest against his detention conditions in a prison in Nghe An province, in the north-central part of Vietnam. A week prior, freelance journalist Pham Chi Dung informed his family that he had also stopped eating in protest to the mistreatment inside his prison in Dong Nai province, in the south of the country.
“These two journalists did not commit any crime and have instead courageously risked their lives to expose the corruption within the Vietnamese regime. They should never have been arrested, let alone subjected to a harsh prison sentence. We call upon the international community to step up pressure on the regime to obtain the release of the 41 detained journalists and press freedom defenders in Vietnam.”
Cédric Alviani
RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director
It is not the first time Pham Chi Dung has gone on hunger strike. In January 2023, he was hospitalized after having stopped eating for eight months to protest against the lack of access to medical care in detention. As the president of the outlawed Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), he was arrested in November 2019 and sentenced two years later to 15 years in prison for spreading “anti-state propaganda”, a criminal charge regularly used by the Vietnamese regime to suppress journalists.
Lê Trong Hung, a freelance journalist who investigated corruption and contributed to the creation of the media Chân Hung Viêt Nam TV (CHTV), was arrested in March 2021 and sentenced nine months later to 5 years in prison, under the same charge of spreading “anti-state propaganda”.
In Vietnam, jailed journalists are almost systematically subjected to mistreatment and denied medical care. On August 2 2022, Do Cong Duongdied in detention, at the age of 58, as a result of mistreatment in the detention. More recently, in August 2023, the family of detained journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan revealed that he is suffering from a severe scabies infection for which he is still denied medical treatment.
Vietnam ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists.
REPORTERS SANS FRONTIÈRES / REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS (RSF)
Colombo (LNW): The Police released details on a shooting incident which occurred earlier this (10) morning near the Ratmalana Railway station.
A 34-year old individual was shot and injured as a black motor vehicle carrying four assailants arrived and fired shots at him.
The victim was admitted to Kalubowila hospital.
The Police are conducting further investigations into the incident.
The Select Committee of Parliament to look into and identify the mechanisms to be implemented in order to immediately control and eradicate the rapidly spreading drug menace in the country and to submit observations and recommendations to Parliament in that regard too into discussion the current setup of establishing a drug destruction center.
This was taken up for discussion when the said committee met in Parliament recently under the Chairmanship of the Tiran Alles, Minister of Public Security.
Ministry Of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Ministry of Fisheries, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Customs, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, Postal Department and Prison
Department were called before the Committee where the measures taken by these departments to control the drug menace in this country were discussed.
Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force appointed to control narcotics, stated that a drug destruction center will be built in Kalpitiya area and if the Committee intervenes to get water, electricity and road facilities for this purpose, this center could be prepared by the end of this year. In light of the said, the Committee Chair, Hon. Tiran Alles, mentioned that necessary interventions will be made for this purpose.
Furthermore, Members of Parliament who were present inquired about the delay in Government Analyst’s reports and the officials present mentioned that in the past it took about 9 months for this and now it only takes about 3 months. The officials present mentioned that the lack of officers has affected this and accordingly, they will take steps to recruit the necessary officers in the future.
Drugs being sold through cash transactions through ez cash and the measures that can be taken by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission regarding this was also discussed.
Furthermore, the State Minister Sisira Jayakody, suggested to the Ministry of Health to seek the support of the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine for the task of controlling drugs.
The measures taken to prevent the arrival of drugs through mail, the measures taken to reduce the spread of drugs related to schools and the measures taken to prevent the arrival of drugs through sea routes were also discussed here.
Moreover, the Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa, also joined this Committee and he mentioned that controlling the menace of drugs is directly related to national security and necessary steps should be taken for this purpose.
State Ministers Sisira Jayakody, Dr. (Mrs.) Seetha Arambepola, MPs Buddhika Pathirana, Jayantha Samaraweera, Dr. Upul Galappaththi, Major Sudarshana Denipitiya, Upul Mahendra Rajapaksha were present at the Committee meeting held.
Colombo (LNW): President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reportedly decided to appoint a committee to probe into the allegations levelled by British television network Channl 4 on the Easter Sunday Massacre, which took away more than 250 lives in April 2019.
The committee will be chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge, to inquire into the Channel 4 allegations.
Meanwhile, the government has reportedly decided to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate the allegation levelled by a former Attorney General on the existence of who he described as ‘a mastermind’ behind the Easter attack.
Upon the completion of the two investigations into the attacks, the reports from the PSC and the Presidential Commission on the attack will be presented to Parliament before any final decisions are made, the President noted.