It has been decided to increase bus fares from midnight today (30).
Accordingly, the director general of the National Transport Board Thilan Mirando said that bus fares will be increased by 22%.
Also, the minimum bus fare has been increased to 40 rupees.
It is stated that this increase has been done under the annual bus fare revision effective July 1st.
Jayantha de Silva has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Technology.
Jayantha de Silva received his letter of appointment from President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Colombo Fort this morning, according to the Presidential Media Unit.
Jayantha de Silva is also the Chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka and has over 30 years of experience in the field of Information Technology.
Two finance companies have been filed a total of Rs.1.5 million by the Central Bank (CB) for violating anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations imposed by the banking regulator (CB). The fines were imposed in September 2021.
The CB in a statement on Wednesday June 29 said Orient Finance PLC was imposed a fine of Rs.1 million on September 14, 2021 while on the same day Lanka Credit and Business Finance Ltd as imposed a fine of Rs.500,000. The CB didn’t give any explanation for the late announcement of these fines imposed in September 2021.
Although lapses in systems and procedures were observed, instances of business relationships with designated individuals or entities by Lanka Credit and Business Finance Limited were not revealed during the on-site examination. Since then, Lanka Credit and Business Finance Limited has taken initiatives to rectify the identified deficiencies.
Sri Lanka’s regulator for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) collected the above penalties to enforce compliance on financial institutions. The money collected as penalties were credited to the Consolidated Fund.
The FIU gave the same reason for fining Lanka Credit and Business Finance Ltd for violating anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations
“The FIU observed during the on-site examination that Orient Finance PLC had failed to implement systems and procedures to maintain the complete list of designated persons and entities under relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs).
It will , screen prospective customers at the time of onboarding as required by the CDD Rules and to screen the existing customer base or existing business relationships when any of the relevant UNSCR lists were updated in order to ensure that no business relationship was held by or linked to any of the entities or individuals included in the updated designated lists,” the statement said.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya has made arrangements to hold a massive public protest this afternoon (30).
Accordingly, all the people of Colombo are invited to come near the Fort Railway Station at 3.00 pm today to raid the Presidential Residence where President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is staying, said UNP MP Mujibur Rahuman.
“We brought motions of no-confidence in the parliament to remove this government in the democratic system, but in everyone that was brought, Rajapaksa supporters. If so, what do we have to do? In that case, the people will have to use the sovereign power of the people of this country outside the parliament. The people of this country have the right to overthrow this government. That is all that is left for the people of this country now. We appeal to oust these rulers through the sovereign power of the people and come near the Fort railway station by 3.00 pm on the 30th.”
Mujibar Rahman said this while addressing a press conference held yesterday (29).
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, says that he is ready to solve the basic problems of the country by getting the government power for a short time.
“In the world, governments and rulers who cannot fulfill the basic needs of people like this resign. That’s why we say now Gotabaya Rajapaksa must resign, Ranil Wickramasinghe must resign. We are ready to take the government even for a short time. If a cabinet of our choice is allowed to be elected by this parliament, we will make plans to solve the basic problem of this economy within a short period of time and bring the economy up. We invite all to abandon all party affiliations of all colors and form one People’s Movement, the People’s Movement for Building This Country. The people’s struggle against these corrupt and destructive people should be launched until the people’s rulers are ousted.”
Anura Kumara Dissanayake said this while addressing a rally held in Matara yesterday (28).
Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment, has implemented a practical program with the goal of bringing five hundred million US dollars monthly from expatriate workers into the country to solve the country’s problems.
At the same time, efforts have been made to speed up the program of dispatching workers to high-income countries such as Japan.
Air tickets were awarded yesterday (29) to five trainees for nursing jobs in Japan.
A group of 22 people have been training to leave for work in Japan since yesterday, and will leave on the 20th with eight nurses and 14 construction workers.
The Minister emphasized that the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment is sending workers to Japan for employment and that Japanese job seekers who send such workers will never have to pay intermediaries.
With the recommendation of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the approval of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Nandalal Weerasinghe will be given the governorship of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for another six years.
The relevant letter was sent to the President by the Prime Minister yesterday (29).
This is indeed a historic moment. This is because Nandalal Weerasinghe is likely to be the last Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the government has changed the monopoly on the importation of petroleum and now any company has been given the opportunity to import fuel into the country.
The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated this at a discussion held with the media chiefs yesterday (29).
Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition, says that at a time when there is a huge crisis in the country, we strongly condemn the attempt made by this government led by the Rajapaksa family to sell the Kolonnawa oil refinery, which is a valuable resource of the country, to foreign countries under the guise of that crisis.
Kolonnawa Oil Refinery in full operation can provide 100% kerosene requirement, 50% aviation oil and 100% Nakta requirement, 30% diesel, 14% gas, 8% gas and between 75-100% furnace oil. The leader of the opposition said that due to the collapse of the country’s short-sighted and inefficient governance, this national resource is being auctioned off for looting.
The leader of the opposition also mentioned that he would like to thank all the employees including petroleum trade unions who came forward to protect this state resource.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said this yesterday (28) during a discussion with a trade union delegation at the office of the opposition leader in Colombo.
Minister of Investment Promotion Dhammika Perera has taken steps to provide the people with daily information on the Tourism Industry as they hold high hopes on the industry amidst the economic crisis befallen the country.
Accordingly, the Minister has instructed the relevant parties to publish daily tweets on the number of tourists arriving in the island from Monday (04).
From next Monday, the number of tourists who arrived in Sri Lanka the day before will be announced at 9 am everyday on the official Twitter account of the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
MIAP
