Ceylon Electricity Board is compelled to re-introduce record nationwide 12-hour daily power cuts as it ran out of coal stocks to run Norochcholai coal power plant on top of a severe shortage of fuel affecting thermal power generation.
The Chairman of Public Utility Commission Janaka Ratnayke said that at present the CEB is generating power by making maximum use of hydro and coal power plants as the country receives high rainfall in catchment areas.
However he added that prompt action taken to place orders for coal shipments as it could only bring down in to the country during the period between October- April
The South Asian nation of 22 million people is in its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, because of a severe shortage of foreign currency to pay for imports.
The state electricity monopoly said it was imposing the 10-hour power cut, up from a seven-hour outage since the beginning of the month, because there was no oil to power thermal generators.
More than 40 percent of Sri Lanka’s electricity is generated from hydro, and the hydro power plants are running with full capacity as reservoirs were overflowing due to intermittent rains, officials said.
Most electricity production is now from coal and hydro. But Coal stocks are in short supply as the country does not have enough foreign exchange to pay for supplies.
Cheap and clean renewable energy (RE) led by ‘CEB Hydro’ provided over 50 per cent of Sri Lanka’s electricity demand for 11 consecutive days to Wednesday (10 August), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) data showed.
The last time this phenomenon took place was 63 days ago, where, for 30 consecutive days to 8 June 2022, over 50 per cent of the island’s electricity needs were met by RE led by ‘CEB Hydro.’
In the interim 63 days to Wednesday, over 50 per cent of the island’s electricity needs were met for 32 days, though, not continuously, by the imported and pollutive fossil fuels (FFs) comprising coal and diesel, respectively, 30 days by RE and in the remaining one day, the split was evenly divided (50-50) between FF and RE, respectively.
In the 222 days that have transpired in the year to Wednesday, RE was responsible for providing 50 per cent or over of Sri Lanka’s electricity needs in only 61 (27.48 per cent) days and FFs in the balance 161 (72.52 per cent) days, respectively.
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s 2021 Annual Report, the cheapest source of electricity generation to the CEB last year was ‘CEB Hydro,’ costing a mere Rs 1.67 a unit or per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity followed by Coal (Rs 10.87), nonconventional RE such as Mini-Hydro, Wind-both CEB and PS, Biomass and Solar (Rs 18.99), ‘CEB Diesel’ (Rs 29.01) and ‘PS Diesel’ (Rs 30.35), respectively.
CEB compels to re-impose 12 hour power cut due to dwindling coal stocks
FTZ industrialists highly worried over ‘unreasonable’ power tariff hike
The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) has expressed serious concern over the recent hike in power tariff as “unreasonable” and warned of severe repercussions to exports and the economy if the anomaly is not rectified.
The FTZMA is the sole trade chamber representing BOI investor companies in the zones and has expressed its objection to the tariff in writing to Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.
It said that the published electricity hike by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is “unreasonably beyond the requested raise” by the CEB and is a rising concern of the export manufacturing sector which uses more electricity.
“This is quite alarming, and we are dumbfounded by this unprecedented move by the PUCSL as some of the enterprises might be facing the danger of closure,” FTZMA Chairman Jatinder Biala and Secretary Dhammika Fernando informed Minister Wijesekera.
FTZMA has analysed the proposed price hike by CEB versus what has been published and that industry sectors in all categories are currently experiencing the largest hikes. “This incremental cost is going to add to their manufacturing cost which would result in making ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ products in export markets highly uncompetitive,” FTZMA warned.
“Moreover, the Small Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the category 1-1 being hit hardest by this price hike are extremely worried about the impact on their liquidity position and business survival,” it emphasised.
Minister Wijesekera was told that the attractiveness of Sri Lanka for foreign direct investment (FDI) is evaluated by using many criteria of which the cost of operation is a significant determinant because energy cost, electricity is directly associated with the cost of production of the investors.
FTZMA has urged the Minister to revisit and analyse the price structure once again, bearing in mind that FDIs are the future lifeline and the back-bone of Sri Lanka’s economy.
It also expressed hope that the Minister would realise the overall impact on investors who are seeking a reasonable revision in the price change. A meeting with the Minister has also been sought by the FTZMA to discuss the issue further and reach a win-win agreement.
Govt allocates US$20mn from Indian credit for animal feed
Families with limited income have been struggling to cope up with the hike in commodity prices following the current economic crisis.
Many middle-class families have cut their menu of fish, egg, meat and vegetables to manage the expenses as the price of egg has gone up to rs 70 from Rs 50 and the price of a kilo of chicken meat risen to Rs.1700 from Rs1300 recently.
The All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association has urged President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government to act fast to curb the rise in egg costs and import eggs from India at a discount.
According to N.K. Jayawardena, President of the Association, eggs are now sold in India for about 18 rupees, but it is very simple to import eggs from India and sell them for 20 rupees.
Under This set up , Sri Lanka plans to use 20 million US dollars from a billion US dollar credit line from India to import maize to make animal feed, Trade and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando said.
“One of the biggest problems we had in recent months was the difficulty in getting raw materials for poultry farmers to make feed,” Trade and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando said.“That is one reason the price of chicken and eggs went up so sharply.
“So Trade Ministry has allocated US$ 20 million US from the Indian credit line to import maize.”
Sri Lanka printed money for two years to suppress rates leading to a collapse of a soft-peg with the US dollar from 182 to 360 to the US dollar with the currency falling from 200 from March 2022.
Due to a failed float and continued money printing forex shortages continued.
Sri Lanka’s domestic maize production was also hit by a ban on chemical fertilizer. Though it was relaxed in late 2021, forex shortages from the broken peg made it difficult to import fertilizer.
Minister Fernando said imports of maize will be made until domestic production recovers.
Meanwhile the central bank had also raised rates to kill private credit and reduce forex outflows and inflation. The external sector as well as domestic money growth has sharply shown in May and June 2022.
Sri Lanka gets first-ever Dornier Aircraft on Monday from India with love
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) will induct the first-ever Dornier 228 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to its fleet on August 15 (Monday) under the comradeship of neighbouring India.
The induction will be done in a ceremonial procession under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe and High Commissioner of India Gopal Baglay with the authentication by Secretary to Defence Ministry, General Kamal Gunaratne (Retd.) and under the supervision of Ari Force Commander, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana at SLAF Base in Katunayake.
During the Defence Dialog between India and Sri Lanka on January 09, 2018 in New Delhi, the Sri Lankan government had sought the possibility of obtaining 02 Dornier Reconnaissance Aircraft from India to enhance the maritime surveillance capabilities of Sri Lanka.
As a sequel to the request from Sri Lanka, India agreed to provide 01 Dornier 228 Maritime Patrol Aircraft from Indian Naval Fleet on gratis basis for first two years of the interim period since it would be required two years to manufacture new aircraft.
Afterwards, the Indian government expressed their assent to provide a brand-new Dornier 228 Maritime Patrol Aircraft free of charge.
Subsequently, another brand-new Dornier 228 will be inducted to Sri Lanka Air Force through mutually agreed terms and conditions between both countries.
The Indian Naval Dornier (INDO – 228) is a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL), multirole light transport aircraft with a turboprop twin-engine, produced since 1981.
Dornier GmbH of Germany being the Original Equipment Manufacturer has produced 245 aircraft during the period of 1981-1998. Subsequently, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited commenced the production of Dornier aircraft, under the license of Dornier GmbH since 1993.
Accordingly, the first-ever Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft to be inducted to Sri Lanka Air Force, will be flown and maintained only by a crew of 15 SLAF personnel who were specifically trained in India for a period of four months consist with pilots, observers, engineering officers and technicians along with the supervision by the Indian government’s technical team attached to SLAF comprising of engineering officers and technicians.
The team would undertake comprehensive supervision of aircraft, airframe, Aircraft Support Equipment, Ground Support Equipment, relevant documents and would ascertain the serviceability of all the assets.
The SLAF says it intends to effectively employ the Dornier aircraft specifically to conduct Maritime and Coastal Surveillance Operations within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Search and Rescue Operations (SAR), Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) and Maritime Pollution Monitoring and Control within Sri Lankan Search and Rescue Region (SRR) to attain SLAF ultimate vision of “Ensuring the National Security through Effective Employment of Airpower” within Sri Lankan Airspace.
SL Ports effectively wither the negative impact caused by youth turmoil
Sri Lanka Ports have been able to overcome the negative impact exerted on the local port and shipping industry with maximum efforts of the work force, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva disclosed.
He was addressing a special progressive meeting to discuss the current issues in view of the need to expedite ongoing development activities and a program at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was held recently at the auditorium of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation.
SLPA Finance Division revealed that during the first and second quarters of 2021, the revenue generation of SLPA slightly decreased compared to the first and second quarters of this year.
Due to the present economic recession faced by Sri Lanka and trade union actions launched in support of the ‘Galle Face Aragalaya (Youth Struggle),’ about 17 ships to be called at the Port of Colombo (POC) were diverted to other ports in the region.
It was also revealed in these discussions that due to these issues, several shipping lines are still reluctant to avail the services of the port.
The Minister instructed the Marketing and Business Development Division of SLPA to take necessary steps to acknowledge the shipping lines and their local agents through effective discussions that the port operations were restored and back to normal and strengthen efforts towards attracting more ships to Colombo.
The Minister also commended the steps taken to purchase new cranes with a financial utilisation of $ 46 million for the East Container Terminal (ECT) even amidst prevailing difficulties and emphasised that his objective was to offer priority towards the development activities of the terminal.
The Minister directed the officials to facilitate financial allocations for the remaining ECT construction work on a priority basis.
He also instructed SLPA officials to discuss with the relevant contractors and engineers on the progress and future plans of the construction activities of the ECT and report him on their current status.
Further speaking at this meeting, the Minister emphasised that the welfare of the employees who perform dedicatedly towards efficient and productive operations and the development of the port should be strengthened.
The Minister also pointed out the importance of further strengthening the SLPA’s Mahapola Ports and Maritime Academy in order to train seafarers and establish enhanced facilities for the youth of the country willing to take increasing opportunities in the commercial maritime sector. He noted that this sector is a good opportunity to increase foreign exchange revenue in the country and instructed officials of the institution to immediately take steps to utilise buildings already under SLPA to extend training facilities for the purpose.
Innovate Lanka assists to accelerate new startups and SMEs
Innovate Lanka, a national initiative that brings all the start-up and SME ecosystem partners together, has announced its latest initiative to select, fund, mentor and accelerate budding start-ups and SMEs.
The selected applicants or entrepreneurs will be called for a pitching and Q&A session on 2 September and the finalists will be selected to participate at the Innovate Lanka 2022 Demo Day scheduled for 9 September at Elegance, Colombo.
This competition aims to fund early-stage start-ups and SMEs those clearly solve a problem with an innovative solution for a large addressable market. Innovate Lanka is open to any start-up across all sectors island-wide in all three languages.
Applications are accepted until 30 August and those interested can submit duly completed applications to https://bit.ly/3BvGc0G.
The winner of Innovate Lanka 2022 will enter the (Global Entrepreneurship Network) GEN-Global Program, where they will take part in the Entrepreneurs World Cup 2022 Regional program.
At the same time, all entrants will have the opportunity to secure funding via LAN and, its extensive global network of international Angel Investors and VC (Venture Capital) firms.
The program will have a number of business domain and tech experts to mentor, accelerate, and assist them with go-to-market (GTM).
Innovate Lanka is a platform, that assists start-ups or SMEs with an innovative idea helping them with funding, accelerating, and mentoring until maturity or exit.
This is an initiative of the Council for Start-ups (CFS) of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Lankan Angel Network (LAN), and Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM).
Innovate Lanka is inclusive for all stakeholders who work and operate in the start-up and SME ecosystem domain. Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), Export Development Board (EDB), and Industrial Development Board (IDB), being the National Partners; and the Council for Start-ups of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is the Industry Advocate.
The other stake holders are Lankan Angel Network, Indian Angel Network, Global Business Angels Network, BOV Capital, Venture Engine and nVentures being the Investment Partners; KPMG, and PWC being the Knowledge Partners, SLASSCOM, and Sri Lanka @100 being the Ecosystem Partners; Wijeya Newspapers, Roar Global, The 87 Agency, and LMD being the Media Partners; Are We Legal, and Heritage Partners being the Legal Partners; and The American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka (AMCHAM-SL) being the Business Network Partners.
; Venture Frontier, Hatch, Lanka Accelerator, Good Life X, Centre for SMEs of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and Youth Business Sri Lanka (YBSL) being the Accelerator and Incubator Partners for this initiative.
These entities have joined together to facilitate Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in accessing opportunities that will make them truly competitive in global markets.
ICTA relieves the public fear of misusing their NFP data
The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) has relieved the public fear relating to the use of personal data collected and managed for the National Fuel Pass (NFP) system.
In a statement, the agency said the fuel pass system is operated and managed by the Ministry of Power & Energy, with technical assistance from ICTA.
“The NFP was launched in order to facilitate implementation of a fuel quota allocation system for citizens in order to reduce the consumption of fuel, thus reducing importation costs during the economic crisis, while ensuring a convenient and easily-accessible solution to obtain fuel for citizens,” it read further.
The fuel pass system also helps to manage a crisis, hitherto never experienced in the country, the ICTA added, explaining that it provides the ministry and its stakeholders transparency and visibility to manage the fuel distribution supply chain in a more effective and efficient manner.
The agency said the public can rest assured that any personal data provided online through the registration process located at fuelpass.gov.lk is processed only for the purpose of facilitating the use of the NFP system.
The data collected is processed by the ministry or on behalf of the ministry to prevent fraud, by cross-referencing the vehicle number with the chassis number or the revenue license number through the Department of Motor Traffic, the ICTA continued.
The agency reiterated that the data is used only for verification purposes through an Application Programming Interface (API) which only verifies the data to offer the NFP service.
“No data is taken away from the Department of Motor Traffic by either the ministry of ICTA,” the statement read further.
The stated also noted that the Ministry of Power & Energy, together with ICTA, is taking all necessary steps to maintain and manage personal data collected, in an effective and secure manner.
“The data is solely used to validate information provided by users and manage the QR system and for no other purpose whatsoever, and the Ministry and ICTA have taken steps to ensure compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act No: 09 Of 2022.”
SL set up Rs 200 billion financial safety net of to assist the needy
Sri Lanka aims to set up a financial safety net of Rs 200 billion to provide social security support to the needy amidst the worst economic crisis in the country, President RanilWickremesinghe has announced.
The government is making maximum effort to reduce the impact through providing financial and logistical support,” said Mr.Wickremesinghe, who also holds the post of the finance minister of the debt-ridden economy.
President Wickremesinghe also explained that due to the pending food shortage, he was launching the food security programme in the country.
He was hopeful that through the food security programme, the government of the crisis hit country would be able to provide food free of charge to 10 percent of the population, who were unable to afford three meals.
He had previously warned of a food crisis in addition to the ongoing economic crisis, which has also left the country in shortage of fuel, gas, medicines as well as essential supplies.
Discussions were underway with Japan to regain their confidence and secure their support, the President added.
He said that countries were stepping forward with assistance in food and medical supplies, however, no country was providing fuel free of charge.An IMF bailout programme is being currently worked out .
The government has introduced a new tax called “SocialSecurity Contribution” (SSC) at 2.5% on the annual threshold turnover of companies exceeding Rs 120 million.
The Finance Ministry estimates Rs 140 billion revenue throughthis tax. The SSC appears to be similar to NBT since it is a turnover tax although details of the base have not been providedIn 2018 and 2019, revenue collection from NBT was Rs 105 billion.
The tax base for 2022 could be estimated as Rs 128 billion by considering nominal GDP growth since 2019.
SSC rate (2.5%) is 25% higher than the NBT rate (2%)which could provide a potential SSC revenue of Rs 160 billion.
However, theSSC tax-free threshold (turnover Rs 120 million per annum) is 10 times higher than the NBT threshold (Rs 12 million per annum).
A 30% reduction in collection could be assumed due to this higher threshold (reducing the potential SSC collection from Rs 160billion to Rs 112 billion).
India man wins 22-year court battle against railways over 21 pence
An Indian man has won a case related to an overpriced railway ticket after almost 22 years.
Tungnath Chaturvedi, a lawyer, was charged 20 rupees ($0.25; £0.21) extra for two tickets he had bought in 1999.
The incident occurred at Mathura cantonment railway station in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
A consumer court last week ruled in Mr Chaturvedi’s favour and asked the railways to refund the amount with interest.
“I have attended more than 100 hearings in connection with this case,” Mr Chaturvedi, 66, told the BBC. “But you can’t put a price on the energy and time I’ve lost fighting this case.”
Consumer courts in India specifically deal with grievances related with services. But they are known to be overburdened by cases and sometimes it can take years for even simple cases to be solved.
Mr Chaturvedi, who lives in Uttar Pradesh, was travelling from Mathura to Moradabad when a ticket-booking clerk overcharged him for the two tickets he had bought.
The tickets cost 35 rupees each, but when he gave 100 rupees, the clerk returned 10 rupees, charging 90 rupees for the tickets instead of 70.
He told the clerk he had overcharged him, but Mr Chaturvedi didn’t get any refund at the time.
So, he decided to file a case against North East Railway (Gorakhpur) – a section of the Indian Railways – and the booking clerk in a consumer court in Mathura.
He said it took him years because of the slow pace at which judiciary works in India.
“The railways also tried to dismiss the case, saying complaints against the railways should be addressed to a railway tribunal and not a consumer court,” said Mr Chaturvedi. A railway claims tribunal is a quasi-judicial body set up to address claims related to train travel in India.
“But we used a 2021 Supreme Court ruling to prove that the matter could be heard in a consumer court,” Mr Chaturvedi said. At other times, hearings would get delayed because judges were on vacation or condolence leave, he added.
After the long fight, the judgement ordered the railways to pay him a fine of 15,000 rupees ($188; £154). The court also directed the railways to refund him the 20 rupees at 12% interest per year, from 1999 to 2022. The court also ordered that if the amount was not paid in the specified time of 30 days, the interest rate would be revised to 15%.
Mr Chaturvedi said the compensation he got was paltry and it doesn’t make up for the mental anguish the case caused him. His family tried to dissuade him several times from pursuing the case, calling it a waste of time, but he kept going.
“It’s not the money that matters. This was always about a fight for justice and a fight against corruption, so it was worth it,” he said. “Also, since I am an advocate myself, I didn’t have to pay money to a lawyer or bear the cost of travelling to the court. That can get quite expensive.”
He also believes that no matter what a person’s official designation is, they “can’t get away with wrongdoings if people are prepared to question them about it”.
He said that he believed that his case would serve as an inspiration to others that “one doesn’t need to give up even when the fight looks tough”.
China’s ‘spy’ Ship Continues Course Towards Sri Lanka Despite Island’s Call To Defer Visit
China’s research and Survey vessel, Yuan Wang 5 has continued to proceed toward Sri Lanka’s port of Hambantota even though the island’s authorities asked Beijing to defer the visit, reported ANI citing local media. On Tuesday, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested China defer the vessel’s visit. However, on that same day, Yuan Wang 5 increased its speed and reached a point around 600 nautical miles away from Hambantota.
Media reports had stated last night that the vessel is said to have slowed down abruptly to a speed of 5 knots and changed its direction to the Andaman Islands. But, On Wednesday, Yuan Wang 5 returned to its original course. This came after on Monday, Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry requested the Chinese vessel Yuan Wang 5 be scheduled to dock at the Chinese-leased Hambantota port on August 11 for refuelling and leave on August 17.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry had even stated that it wishes to reaffirm the enduring friendship and excellent relations with China which are on a solid foundation. The strong bilateral ties between China and Sri Lanka were also reiterated on August 4 by the two Foreign Ministers Ali Sabry and Wang Yi at a bilateral meeting in Phnom Penh.
China said it ‘fully respects coastal countries’ jurisdiction
While reacting to varying media reports regarding Yuan Wang 5, China’s Foreign Ministry had said that Beijing “always exercises freedom of the high seas in accordance with law and fully respects coastal countries’ jurisdiction over scientific research activities in waters under their jurisdiction.” The mainland also called on “relevant parties” to see the marine scientific research activities in a rational light and stop the disruption of normal exchange and cooperation between Colombo and Beijing.
“It is completely unjustified for certain countries to cite the so-called “security concerns” to pressure Sri Lanka,” it said.
China’s Yuan Wang 5 is a designated research and survey vessel and was built in 2007. With a carrying capacity of 11,000 tonnes, the ship conducted satellite research in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean during the reported visit to a crucial port in Sri Lanka. However, the vessel’s course sparked security concerns in India as Hambantota port is located around 250 kilometres from Sri Lanka’s capital. Remarkably, it is built with a high-interest loan from China while Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis as it struggles to pay back debt taken from Beijing.
INDIAN DEFENSE RESEARCH WING