Colombo (LNW): Senior Professor Nilanthi Renuka De Silva has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya.

The new appointment was made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and will be in effect from August 24, 2023, for a period of three years.

Colombo (LNW): President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Defence has issued an extraordinary gazette declaration lifting the ban that was imposed on five Islamic organisations since the Easter Sunday massacre in 2019.

These organisations are;

• The United Thowheeth Jama’ath (UTJ),
• Ceylon Thowheeth Jama’ath (CTJ),
• Sri Lanka Thowheeth Jama’ath (SLTJ),
• All Ceylon Thowheeth Jama’ath (ACTJ), and
• Jamiyathul Ansaari Sunnathul Mohomadiya (JSM) has been lifted.

These organisations were authorised to be proscribed along with six more in 2021 by former Attorney General Dappula De Livera, following the occurrence of the massacre.

Colombo (LNW): Former Convenor of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Wasantha Mudalige has been arrested by the Kuruduwatta Police a short while ago.

He was arrested near the Borella Cemetery, and the Police claimed that they were in possession of a warrant to make an arrest.

Mudalige is currently being held under the custody of the Kurunduwatta Police.

Colombo (LNW): The Colombo Lotus Tower plans to launch a new bungee jumping programme by December this year, Daily Mirror reported quoting its Head of Management Prasad Samarasinghe.

This will reportedly be the world’s highest bungee jumping event, and will be initiated as per a contract entered by the Colombo Lotus Tower and Singapore Go Bungy Company.

The two companies signed the contract to start bungee jumping for the first time in Sri Lanka.

The initial launch was schedule for August this year, but was delayed since the management found that some upgrading had to be done to the ski ramp, along with certain changes in the plan from the company’s end, Samarasinghe revealed.

Bungee jumping being introduced to Sri Lanka is expected to boost the tourism industry in the crisis-hit island nation.

By: Isuru Parakrama

Colombo (LNW): Tourism Minister Harin Fernando has held a discussion with representatives of Adani Group, India’s multinational conglomerate, yesterday (26).

“In this meeting, the upcoming work of the Adani Company in Sri Lanka and a large solar panel project expected to be constructed in the country were discussed,” the Minister wrote on his Twitter.

Dhaval Shah and Manoj Deshmukh from the Adhani Group joined the discussion.

A friendly meeting took place between Mr. Dhaval Shah and Mr. Manoj Deshmukh and me, the representatives of Adani Company.#VisitSriLanka #AdaniGroup #HarinFernando #lka pic.twitter.com/kLiC6fTiE5

— Harin Fernando (@fernandoharin) July 26, 2023

Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Tourism Brand Ambassador, also joined for the occasion, Fernando added.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), becoming the 178th state to endorse the treaty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.

The instrument of ratification of CTBT, the document by which a State expresses its consent to be bound by the treaty, was deposited with the UN Office of Legal Affairs (UNOLA) on Tuesday (July 25) at the UN Headquarters in New York.

By depositing the CTBT instrument of ratification, Sri Lanka’s status as a signatory is elevated to a complete State Party to the Treaty.

Drafted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and adopted by the General Assembly on 10 September 1996, the CTBT has been open for signature since 24 September 1996 at the United Nations, New York.

Sri Lanka was among the first signatories of the CTBT in October 1996, just days after the Treaty opened for signature.

Sri Lanka later entered into a Facility Agreement with the CTBTO in June 2000 which led to the establishment of an auxiliary seismological station in Pallekale, Kandy, as part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) to verify compliance with the CTBT.

The Geological Survey & Mines Bureau is the national technical focal point of Sri Lanka for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) based in Vienna, Austria.

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions everywhere, by everyone, and for all time. The Treaty is nearly universal, with 186 Signatory States and 178 ratifying states. However, the Treaty will only enter into force, once it is ratified by all 44 States listed in its Annex 2.

Sri Lanka’s ratification at this juncture bears testimony to its long-standing commitment towards nuclear non-proliferation and its pursuit to achieve the principle objectives of the CTBT.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): The ‘Local Loans and Development Fund’ under the Ministry of Public Administration is set to overhauled eliminating current in efficiency mal practices and shortcomings,

The ministry has been directed to rectify present issues of the this state owned fund for the benefit of public sector employees who have already obtained membership of the fund.

Ministry of Public Administration Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government officials were summoned to the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) which met recently under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Prof. Ranjith Bandara.

This institution has been established by Ordinance No. 22 of 1916 with the aim of providing financial facilities at a concessional interest rate to the local government bodies for running public utility services as authorized by law.

It has been amended on several occasions and has been named as the Local Loans and Development Fund under Act No. 24 of 1993.

The investigation was done through the following basic facts related to the Auditor General’s reports for the financial years 2020, 2021 and current performance.

Since this is a financial institution similar to a bank, the need to amend the Act was emphasized by taking into consideration the timely matters, the statement said.

According to the Act, it is not appropriate for the Secretary of the Ministry to act as the Chairman of the Fund, so the Auditor General pointed out the importance of making amendments by focusing on all those matters.

It was discussed that, in 2018 ‘Asian Foundation’ had given a report regarding the restructuring of the institution and if it had been acted upon, great progress could have been achieved.

Since the Prime Minister as the Minister in charge of the subject has also held a discussion to amend the Act, the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government was informed to take steps promptly.

The committee’s attention was drawn to the fact that the position of Director General has been an acting position for many years.

It was also discussed about the absence of a permanent Internal Auditor. Accordingly, the COPE ordered to inform within two weeks about the next steps to be taken to appoint a permanent Director General as well as a full-time permanent Internal Auditor.

It was revealed that the fund has received 9 projects worth 249 million rupees in the year 2023, but the board of directors has not considered them yet.

Thus, it was recommended that a formal system and set of guidelines be set up, focusing on issues such as granting and recovery criteria, loan recovery capabilities, projects using loans and productivity.

The committee emphasized the need for the loan committee to operate according to that formal system.

The COPE chairman revealed that 691 million rupees of the total loan amount of 847.7 million rupees has been given to the North-Western Province in 2021. The committee recommended that the loan distribution system to each province be streamlined.