By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has issued an extraordinary gazette declaring a maximum retail price for the sale of eggs.
Accordingly,
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Rs. 860 million from the SAMURDHI funds are being used for new year celebrations, on the sidelines of the government’s so called initiative of distributing 10 kilograms of rice to each poor family in Sri Lanka, SAMURDHI trade unions alleged.
Joint Secretary of the All Ceylon SAMURDHI Managers’ Association, E.A.S. Edirisinghe told media that the money that belongs to the poor people of this country is being wasted by the government.
He added that they are against the wastage of money and such political hype programme, at a time when the children cannot even afford supplies such as books for their education.
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka made a strong response over the media reports on the Sri Lankan government’s alleged attempts to sell toque macaque monkeys to China, stating that neither its government China’s official bodies responding to flora and fauna conservation is aware of such a move.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy said that the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, have clarified that they are not aware of any request to import toque macaque monkeys from Sri Lankan and has not received such application from any side.
Full statement:
The Embassy has noticed recent disinformation on local and foreign media about Sri Lanka to export “100 thousands” of “endangered” toque macaque monkeys to a Chinese private company for “experimental purpose”, as well as detailed clarifications by the Minister of Agriculture and the Cabinet Spokesperson of Sri Lanka thereafter.
The Embassy has also checked with relevant authorities in Beijing. The Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, clearly clarified that it is not aware of the request and has not received such application from any side. The Embassy would like to further stress that as a contracting party of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), China has already adopted its Wildlife Protection Law in 1988 with several amendments afterwards. The Chinese government always attaches great importance to wildlife protection and actively fulfill international obligations, which makes China one of top countries in the world in terms of wildlife protection legislation and law enforcement.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the education of children cannot be allowed to be taken hostage and if teachers do not make themselves available for A/L exam paper marking by next week, he would not hesitate to make education an essential service under emergency law and initiate legal action against teachers flouting their responsibility.
He said all the teachers responsible for marking exam papers last year must be available for paper marking this year, failing which, he will prosecute them. “You can’t stop the education of the children. What nonsense is this? By next week I must tell the AG to be ready with the emergency regulations.”
President Ranil Wickremesinghe mentioned this while joining the discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (19) to review the progress of the special budget proposals implemented in the year 2023 by the Ministries of Education and Higher Education, Labor and Foreign Employment.
He also noted that the matter would be put to parliament for a vote where MPs would be asked to vote by name. “Let’s see which MP is going to vote against it. I will ask for a vote by name.”
He told the Education Ministry authorities that he will not allow the education of children to be taken hostage by anyone and demanded that the teachers come back to paper marking immediately.
“Tell them if they don’t want to come back and they want a confrontation, we are willing to come for a confrontation. No one is going to hold the education of children as hostage. That can’t be allowed. You’ll must come up with a solution by the end of this week. If you don’t have one I will take it up in Cabinet and then we will decide what to do. Speak to the minister and we will have a meeting by Friday,” the President told the Education Ministry officials.
During the meeting, the President advised officials to create a program that would enable at least four students per year, based on their exceptional performance in the GCE Advanced Level Examination, to pursue graduate courses in foreign universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard.
The President also stressed the importance of annually increasing the number of students who could benefit from such an opportunity. Additionally, the President emphasized the significance of providing equal opportunities to students from public and private universities and encouraging more students to pursue technical subjects.
He also noted that a decision would have to be made regarding the University in the East established by Mr. Hizbullah and was told by the education authorities that a sub-committee had been appointed headed by State Minister Mrs. Seetha Arambepola to look into that matter.
Furthermore, the President instructed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to prepare a plan to provide internet facilities to schools with Advanced Level within two years, followed by all schools with educational facilities up to the O/L.
The President has directed the creation of a joint program between public and private universities to produce 10,000 engineering and technology graduates and 5,000 medical graduates annually. In order to carry out this initiative, the President has called for the formation of a suitable committee to prepare and submit a report on the matter.
Moreover, the President has stressed the importance of integrating over 350 government-run technical and vocational training institutes and implementing training programs.
Recognizing the complexity of existing labour laws, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasized the need to consolidate them into a single, unified labour law. The Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment has been tasked with preparing the necessary bill for its enforcement by May.
The meeting was attended by various government officials, including the Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Mr. Sagala Ratnayake, President’s Secretary Mr Saman Ekanayake, President’s Adviser on Economic Affairs Dr. R.H.S. Samarathunga, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Mr. Mahinda Siriwardena, Secretary of the Ministry of Education Mr. M.N. Ranasinghe, Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment Secretary Mr. R.P.A. Wimalaweera, and Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe, among others.
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The heat index continues to increase up to ‘Caution’ level at some places in Eastern, Northern, North-Central and North-Western provinces, and Moneragala and Hambantota districts, the Department of Meteorology said in an advisory statement.
Meanwhile, showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western and North-central provinces and in Galle and Matara districts during the afternoon or night, the Department said in a statement today (20).
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 thunder showers may occur at a few places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Galle via Colombo during the night. |
| Winds: |
| Winds will be south-westerly to southerly over sea areas around the island and wind speed will be (20-30) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (40-45) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Kankasanthurai to Mannar. |
| State of Sea: |
| The sea areas off the coast extending from Kankasanthurai to Mannar will be fairly rough at times. The other sea areas around the island will be slight to moderate. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers. |
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP S.B. Dissanayake may be appointed as the new Minister of Higher Education during the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle, political sources disclosed.
Dissanayake previously served as the Higher Education Minister in previous regimes.
The proposed Cabinet reshuffle may take place within the next week, according to sources.
By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Although overall consumer sentiment remains pessimistic, the biggest gains were in future expectations suggesting the IMF funding agreement has lifted perceptions
The Institute for Health Policy (IHP) released today the March 2023 update of its Consumer Confidence Indices, which are generated from its Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS).
There was broad improvement in consumer sentiment in March, during which the IMF approved new funding for Sri Lanka according to consumer confidence indices generated from SLOTS of IHP.
This led to all three of IHP’s Consumer confidence indices significantly improving, although all remain at pessimistic levels.
The Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS), the broadest measure of the public’s view on their personal economic status and the national economy increased four points to 16 points.
The ICS ranges from zero to a potential maximum 100, with levels below 50 indicating net pessimism.
The Index of Consumer Expectation (ICE), a measure of perceptions about the future, improved five points to 22 points, but the Index of Consumer Conditions (ICC), a measure of perceptions about current conditions increased only two points.
In contrast, views about current buying conditions remains unchanged in March, which were at very low levels (below 10 points) indicating consumer demand for large purchases will remain very low, IHP said.
IHP is an independent, non-partisan research centre based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The SLOTS Lead Investigator is Dr. Ravi Rannan-Eliya of IHP, who has trained in public opinion polling at Harvard University and has conducted numerous surveys over three decades.
The IHP’s consumer confidence indices are generated from its Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS), which combines data from a national sample of adults (ages 18 and over) reached by random digit dialling of mobile numbers, and others coming from a national panel of respondents who were previously recruited through random selection.
All consumer confidence index estimates are weighted to be representative of the national population, including characteristics such as age, gender, province, sector, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and education, the IHP said, explaining its methodology.
According to the statement, funding for the opinion tracker comes from the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Asia Foundation, and others.
The sponsors play no role in the study design, analysis, or interpretation of findings, the IHP said, adding that interested parties can contact IHP for more detailed data and results.
By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is to fund the construction of battery switching stations in Colombo for electric two-wheelers.
USAID Sri Lanka Energy Program and Sling Mobility (Pvt.) Ltd. signed a grant agreement to develop and operate two battery swapping stations for electric two-wheelers.
This grant, the first of its kind for the program, will fund construction of the stations, also known as battery switching stations, in Colombo. The stations allow E-vehicle owners to quickly exchange empty batteries for fully charged ones and avoid the waiting time for charging.
The project also will recruit 20 new riders to pilot the deployment of E-bikes for delivery services in a timely, cost-saving, and environmentally safer manner. This one grant activity, within a larger group of grants, will assist in catalyzing the development of EV charging stations in the country.
“The United States and the American people are proud of our enduring and robust 75-year partnership with the people of Sri Lanka,” said USAID Mission Director Gabriel Grau.
“We remain fully committed to support locally led initiatives to advance E-technologies that are critical to promote the progress of a nation in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way.”
“Sling Mobility is a technology solutions company focused on electric vehicles, and its demand driven approach is key to future of EVs in Sri Lanka and beyond,” said Love Yadav, general partner for Sling Mobility.
“Its business model is stitched around improving EV affordability and faster adoption, reducing rider downtime, and building a platform for sustainable charging. The USAID grant is an important validation for Sling Mobility’s operating model, and we are extremely happy to be a part of this journey.”
The results of the pilot program will show the energy project and Sling Mobility the feasibility of promoting E-battery swapping stations in the country.
The USAID Sri Lanka Energy Program is one component of the United States’ long-standing partnership with the Sri Lankan people to promote a healthy, educated, and employed population.
The program supports transforming Sri Lanka’s power sector into a market-based, secure, reliable, and sustainable system by mobilizing investment to deploy advanced technologies, increase flexibility, and enhance competitiveness.
The Collective of Samurdhi Trade Unions has announced that they will launch a trade union action by boycotting the “Wasath Siriya 2023” Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations organized by the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday (April 22) at Colombo Shangri La Green in Colombo. The decision was made due to the government’s decision to spend a large amount of money on the celebrations despite the ongoing economic crisis.
P.K. Ranugge, the Chairman of the All-Ceylon Samurdhi Managers’ Association, criticized the government’s decision and accused them of pressuring managers to implement their program of spending Rs. 81.6 million early. He also stated that Samurdhi managers are not afraid of any cowardly actions by the administration.
Furthermore, Samurdhi managers have decided to boycott the New Year celebrations on April 22, and will not certify any related expenses. This decision was made to protest against the government’s wasteful spending during tough economic times.
The Collective of Samurdhi Trade Unions urges the government to prioritize the needs of the people and take steps to address the ongoing economic crisis.
