Seven persons accused of video recording the high security zone surrounding the Victoria Dam have been apprehended.

The suspects have been accused of recording the zone via a camera attached to a drone, and have been arrested in a joint effort by the Army and the Mahaweli Security Forces.

MIAP

The occurrence of a shortage of eggs in the country may be a possibility in the future due to the egg producers’ tendency to drop their businesses, warned the Western Province Poultry Traders Association.

According to Union President Niresh Rupasinghe, despite an egg being sold for Rs. 50 in the market, the eggs are bought from their producers for less than Rs. 45.

MIAP

The Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE) told the officials from the Ministry of Lands to discuss with the relevant institutions and the Treasury regarding the Rs. 2 billion arrears in tax revenue to be collected from Government institutions and arrange for an immediate settlement.

The CoPE recommended to the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands Chulananda Perera to update the Land Reforms Commission (LRC) Act and carry out the necessary measures to restructure its operations.

Accordingly, the CoPE recommended that a report be given within 6 weeks, based on the action taken in this regard.

These recommendations were made when the CoPE was convened on Friday (21) under the chairmanship of MP (Prof.) Ranjith Bandara, to examine the Auditor General’s report for 2020 and the current performance of the Land Reform Commission.

The CoPE delivered several recommendations to the LRC and decided that the Commission be summoned before the CoPE on another occasion within three months to review the implementation of the recommendations tendered.

The CoPE observed the concerns in the transfer of land by the Commission and thus the Committee Chief recommended that a report containing detailed information about the transfer of land in the last 20 years should be submitted to the CoPE within a period of one month.

It also recommended setting up a Task Force to identify and estimate the value of land and recommended that the Secretary to the Ministry report to the CoPE within two weeks the details of the responsibilities assigned to the task force.

If further recommended the appointment of the Surveyor General or his representative as well as the Government Assessor or his representative for this Task Force.

Furthermore, the CoPE discussed the “2018 project to distribute 10,000 plots of land” and Committee Chief Bandara recommended that a detailed report on the progress of this be given to the Committee. In particular, he recommended that the 214 people recruited on a temporary basis for this project should be discussed with the management department and a definite final decision should be taken to include them in the approved number of employees, and if necessary, they should be referred to the Cabinet for approval.

The CoPE also recommended to include the procedure of the LRC in a national policy on land distribution and make necessary arrangements, adding that updating the 50-year-old LRC Act to suit the present-day context would be of importance.

The CoPE recommended that within two weeks, the Organic Fertiliser Project, which was initiated by the LRC and temporarily paused at a cost of Rs. 350 million, should be transferred to a state agency which has the knowledge of fertiliser products.

The missing files of the LRC were also taken into discussion and the CoPE informed the commission to immediately submit the missing files to the Auditor General.

It added that immediate action be taken to resolve the existing issues regarding the beneficiaries identified earlier under the statutory assignments.

The Auditor General’s opinion on the financial statements of this commission has been disclaimed for about 10 years, the notice was given to prepare the financial statements correctly and arrange for the annual reports to be tabled in Parliament within three months.

The CoPE recommended taking action against the alleged company to recover the amount of Rs. 17 million paid to a private computer company for the creation and development of a fully integrated computer system and to take disciplinary action against the officials involved in the matter.

Furthermore, the Committee recommended taking legal action within two weeks to recover the amount of nearly Rs. 12 million for the 06 acres of land assigned to a private company without a tax deed in the Homagama area. It was also instructed to inquire and report to the CoPE regarding not making an agreement and charging 04 per cent instead of 06 per cent of the assessed value.

The CoPE recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the officials concerned for renting the building where the head office of this Commission is run, exceeding the government assessment from the year 2016 without a rental agreement, contrary to the decision of the Cabinet and that immediate steps be taken to move the office to a Government building.

The Committee further recommended to inquire into the relevant agencies regarding an investigation officer who is a lawyer who received two salaries and arrange to recover Rs. 1.7 million salary and other allowances and recommended action against that officer.

It was also recommended to discuss with the relevant institutions and the treasury regarding the two billion arrears of tax revenue to be collected from the government institutions and arrange for an immediate settlement.

State Ministers Jagath Pushpakumara, Indika Anuruddha, D.V. Chanaka, Shantha Bandara, Janaka Wakkumbura, MP Anura Dissanayaka, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Eran Wickramaratne, Nalin Bandara, Nimal Lanza, S.M. Marikkar, Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, (Prof.) Charitha Herath, Mujibur Rahman, Madhura Withanage, Upul Mahendra Rajapaksha, Premnath C. Dolawatte and Jagath Kumara Sumithraarachchi were present at the occasion.

The prevailing showery condition over the island is expected to reduce to some extent, said the Department of Meteorology in a statement today (25).

Several spells of Showers will occur in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-Western and Northern provinces and in Galle and Matara districts, and showers or thundershowers may occur at several places in Uva, Eastern and North-Central provinces during the afternoon or night.

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

Marine Weather:

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed to increase the weekly fuel quota of 05 litres issued for professional passenger transport three-wheelers to 10 litres.

As the first phase, the registration of professional three-wheelers in the Western Province is scheduled to commence on November 1st.

This was revealed during the discussion held today (24) between the President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Mr Sagala Ratnayake and the professional three-wheeler associations.

Accordingly, from November 6th, 10 litres of fuel per week will be issued to all three-wheeler passenger vehicles in the Western Province.

The registration of passenger transport three-wheelers will commence from November 6th to 13th, after which it is planned to issue the fuel quota to three-wheelers in other provinces of the island.

Currently, there are 1.08 million three-wheelers in Sri Lanka, out of 400,000 are passenger transport three-wheelers, according to the three-wheeler associations.

Around 300,000 three-wheelers have been registered with the Sri Lanka Police, and if it is not possible to register the three-wheelers in the entire island by November 13, it was also decided to release the fuel quota for the three-wheelers registered with the police as an initial step.

Provincial Governors and Provincial Road Transport Authority officials are also to be notified regarding this decision immediately.

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of State for Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna, President Trade Union Director General Saman Ratnapriya and a group of officials participated in this discussion.

PMD

1. Group of economists including Nishan de Mel and Shanta Devarajan who strongly recommended debt default previously, now recommend restructuring of domestic debt “as it would benefit the Government”.
   
2. GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge says there is an acute shortage of more than 90 essential medicines in most government hospitals: also says the hospital network in the country will collapse due to shortages.
   
3. Tea production down 7.8% YoY in September 2022: total output for the 9 months also down 18%: cost of production up 35%: lowest production since 1996.
   
4. State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage to visit USA next month to initiate talks in constructing South Asia’s first “Disneyland” in Hambantota; estimated investment to be USD 18 bn.
   
5. Lanka Bakery Owners’ Association claims false prices of wheat flour are being circulated to force a reduction in the price of a loaf of bread: says current price of 1 kg of wheat flour is around Rs.320.
   
6. Army and the Mahaweli Security Forces apprehend 7 people who took videos of the Victoria dam and the high security area around it with a drone camera.
   
7. Weekly fuel quota of 5 litres issued for passenger transport three-wheelers increased to 10 litres: first phase to start on 1st November in the Western Province.
   
8. Angelia Gunasekara crowned the first ever “Miss Sri Lanka – New York” at a pageant held at The Vanderbilt in South Beach: 300 attendees: massive brawl at the “after-party” that followed the successful pageant.
   
9. Treasury promises to pay Rs.18 bn out of the total amounts due of Rs.230 bn in the construction sector: Rs.5 bn to be paid in November and Rs.13 bn in December.
   
10. State Finance Minister Siyambalapitiya says betting and gaming taxes will be increased: also says annual tax for casinos will be increased from Rs.200 mn to Rs.500 mn from 1st August: casino entrance fee of USD 20 to be charged from locals.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in many parts of Sri Lanka on October 25, 2022, at the sunset. The eclipse will also be visible over much of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and western parts of Asia. In Sri Lanka, the eclipse is best seen from Jaffna said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, the Director of the Astronomy and Space Science Unit of the Department of Physics, University of Colombo.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in a straight line between the Earth and the Sun. The Moon’s shadow then passes across the Earth’s surface and blocks the Sun’s light as seen from Earth. A solar eclipse occurs on a new moon day.

Areas and times when this partial solar eclipse will be visible:

For the city of Jaffna, the partial eclipse begins at  5.27 p.m. and the maximum eclipse occurs at 5.46 p.m. with 8.8 % of the solar disk covered by the moon. Though the eclipse ends at 6.20 p.m. we can observe it only up to the sunset due at 5.49 p.m.   This eclipse will be visible to Jaffna for 22 minutes.

The northern part of Sri Lanka, from Anuradhapura to Jaffna, is the most suitable region to observe this eclipse.

For those who live in Colombo, the beginning of the partial eclipse can be observed at 5.43 p.m. and the maximum eclipse occurs at 5.49 p.m. with the moon covering about 1.6% of the solar disk. The partial solar eclipse cannot be observed after 5.52 p.m. due to sunset. This eclipse will be visible to the Colombo area for about 9 minutes.

This eclipse is not visible to the southern parts of Sri Lanka.

Professor Chandana Jayaratne also said that since this eclipse occurs when the sun is very dim near the western horizon close to sunset, it is fairly okay to observe the eclipse even without a solar filter. Naked eye observations at the eclipse maximum time and afterwards for a short period of less than 30 seconds will not cause any damage to the eyes. A solar eclipse will again appear in Sri Lanka after 5 years, on August 2, 2027.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row with a two weeks gap. Accordingly, 14 days later, on November 8^th  there will be a total lunar eclipse too visible to many parts of the world. That eclipse will be visible to Sri Lanka as a partial lunar eclipse at the moon’s rise on the eastern horizon from 5.48 p.m. to 6.19 p.m.

Prof. Chandana Jayaratne

Professor in Physics, and Director, Astronomy and Space Science Unit, University of Colombo