President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing the Ruling Party MPs’ meeting last (03) night shared his views on former MPs of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Sunil Handunnetti and K.D. Lalkantha
Following the anti-government protesters’ acquisition of the Presidential Secretariat and the President’s House at the July 09 uprising, both Handunnetti and Lalkantha drove the public to seize Parliament in a plot to weaken all parliamentary affairs, the President said.
Claiming that no probe was ever conducted into this act, President Wickremesinghe urged Leader of the House Prasanna Ranatunga to inform the Speaker in this regard.
The two former JVP MPs may be arrested based on an investigation into the allegation of provoking the public via Social Media, according to political sources.
Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa addressing the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Authority Board meeting in Hiniduma Electorate two days ago (02) said that the ‘Slander Campaign’ of the Rajapaksas is levelling baseless allegations against him regarding the Cultural Fund and assured that he during the previous government had acted in full compliance with the Cultural Fund and that all projects undertaken during the period were carried out with full transparency.
The event was organised by SJB Hiniduma Chief Organiser Piyasena Gamage and was attended by a large number of people.
Stressing that he will never submit himself to such baseless allegations, the Opposition Leader added that he acted according to the Cultural Fund, and all the projects carried out using its funds were transparent and all the relevant projects and constructions were carried out using government agencies, making it the only mistake he ever committed.
Responding to questioning by certain parties as to how the SJB as an Opposition is undertaking projects such as ‘Husma’ and ‘Sakwala’ and distributing buses to schools, Premadasa pointed out that anyone who acts true to their conscience and with transparency is capable of making a donation.
The President, who revoked the gazette declaring High Security Zones the minute he returned from his foreign tour, must revoke the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in the same manner, the Opposition Leader demanded.
He emphasised that the country shall sway away from the obsolete methods and it is essential to build a young generation that can deal with the International Community.
The Judicial Service Union, a judicial collective in which all magistrates and district judges of Sri Lanka hold membership, has lodge a petition at the Court of Appeal demanding a probe and penalisation against State Minister and Ruling Party MP Sanath Nishantha on the allegation of committing contempt of court based on one of his comments during a recent press conference.
The petitioner pointed out that State Minister Nishantha’s comments during a briefing on August 23, 2022 on anti-government protesters being granted bail has undermined the power of the magistrates and the dignity of the Judiciary, thereby violating Clause 105 (3) of the Constitution which leads to contempt of court.
A separate petition against Nishantha’s comments has already been lodged with the Appeal Court and the Ruling Party MP has also been issued summons.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to a deliver a special statement in Parliament this Thursday (06), Ruling Party MPs confirmed.
The President expects to present facts regarding the country’s economic situation and the support expected by the international community, and a parliamentary debate may be held on the said statement, if necessary, according to Ruling Party MP Jagath Kumara.
Despite the government earning a profit of about Rs. 01 from each litre of diesel, there is no possibility to drop the price of diesel at the moment, said Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, responding to a query by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kings Nelson in Parliament yesterday (03).
“The Singapore Flat Average in the global market and the imported price is considered. Now, there is a profit of about Rs. 01 per litre, but we cannot drop the price by Rs. 10 – 15 at the moment. Because, had we done that, we may lose money to purchase the diesel stocks required for next necessities,” the Minister said.
Wijesekara went on: “And, we were able to drop the price of petrol because we earned a profit of about Rs. 70 during the last imports. But we cannot predict the price of fuel on the sole basis of crude oil price. Because we do not fulfill our total requirement by the refinery alone.”
An offshore patrol vessel provided by the United States to Sri Lanka, called over at Port Apra in Guam while on its way to Colombo.
Offshore Patrol Vessel P 627 of the Sri Lanka Navy commenced her home bound journey from Seattle on 03rd September 2022.
The Sri Lanka Navy officially took delivery of the EX-United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Douglas Munro on 26th October 2021.
Subsequently, she was designated with the Pennant Number P 627 in SLN Fleet and underwent certain modernization to suit the operational needs of the Sri Lanka Navy. The ship departed for Sri Lanka from the Port of Seattle, United States on 03rd September 2022.
Having covered a long sea voyage of about 5898 nautical miles (10923km) in the Pacific Ocean, P 627 called at Port Apra in Guam for replenishment on 02nd October.
During the passage she is also expected to make port calls at Manila in the Philippines and Changi in Singapore for replenishment and services.P 627 is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Colombo in the first week of November 2022.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued an extraordinary gazette declaring several services required to maintain the life of the general public as essential services.
Accordingly, the following services have been declared as essential services;
All services related to power supply
Supply or distribution of petroleum products and fuels
All services, work or labour of any description required or to be performed in affiliation with the maintenance and reception, care, feeding and treatment of patients in hospitals, nursing homes, dispensaries and other similar establishments
The price of wheat flour will drop next week, revealed Trade Minister Nalin Fernando, responding to an oral query in Parliament yesterday (03).
Accordingly, the price of one kilogram of wheat flour will be dropped to Rs. 250, he added.
Adding that wheat flour is imported from Dubai and Turkey, Minister Fernando pointed out that the unloading of about 100 containers carrying wheat flour has already commenced.
The promotion of business cooperation between the Nordics and Sri Lanka remains an important and relevant priority, Ambassador of Norway to Sri Lanka Trine Joranli Eskedal emphasized, at the recent Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka NORDIC Business Council (SLNBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
Strategic partnerships and investments in areas such as clean and sustainable energy, ICT and shipping will also help Sri Lanka to emerge from the current economic crisis and more forward, she said, adding that SLNBC continues to act as a vital link facilitating opportunities for cooperation in terms of trade, investment and private sector led growth between Sri Lanka and NORDIC partner countries.
Referring to recent positive developments related to addressing the economic crisis, Outgoing President of the Council Mr. Prasath Mahalingam said the Council would continue to work to create opportunities for trade and investment between Sri Lanka and the Nordics.
It included organizing more events such as a recent knowledge sharing session between SLNBC Member organisations and Sri Lankan ICT companies on overcoming entry barriers to the Norwegian market.
Mr. Jehan Perinpanayagam of Infomate (Pvt) Ltd was elected as President of Sri Lanka–NORDIC Business Council (SLNBC) at the 21st Annual General Meeting.
SLNBC was inaugurated in 2001 to promote trade, tourism, investment and services between Sri Lanka and the partnering countries and the council continues to act as the vital link between the countries, to develop new initiatives and areas or corporations in terms of trade, tourism and investment.
The SLNBC membership comprises a wide spectrum of companies engaged in infrastructure, logistics and services, financial services, tourism and leisure, import and export trading, manufacturing, ICT and telecommunication.
Executive Council Members elected for the year 2022/2023 are as follows:
Mr. Anthony Ousman- John Keells IT – Vice President, Mr. Kapila Abeywardane – Aitken Spence Travels, Ms. Bobby Jordan Hansen – Columbus Tours (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Andre Fernando – MAC Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, Ms. Maleena Awn – Meridian Maritime Services Ltd, Mr. Shaameel Mohideen – Spillburg Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, and Mr. Kavinda Rajapaksa – Samson Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd. Mr. Prasath Mahalingam of 99X Technology joined the council in his capacity as the Immediate Past President
The Excise tax revenue targeted for the year 2022 is plummeting as the sale of alcoholic beverages have significantly dropped owing to the recent excessive pricing on the booze, the Department of Excise revealed.
The prices of DCSL brands of liquor has been increased by an average of Rs. 150 per 750 ml and with immediate effect.
The move follows the 2.5% Social Security Levy coming into force from 1 October. The levy has a cascading effect on manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.
According to the Department of Census and Statistics, headline inflation in Alcoholic Beverages in September was 39.4% as against 35.6% in August.
Excise Chief M. J. Gunasiri said that they were unable to meet the required targets of the tax revenue on alcoholic spirits as the sale of booze had reduced significantly.
The Excise Commissioner General had pointed out that they were given a target of Rs.185 billion to achieve by the end of 2022 from the Ministry of Finance and by June they have only achieved Rs.90 billion.
Although half of the target had been achieved by the first six months, it will not be possible to achieve the rest within the next six months as the sale of liquor is drastically going down since the last couple of months.
The increase of VAT twice within the year and the prices of Ethanol and fuel had skyrocketed in the first few months had forced the manufacturers to increase their pricing on the liquor products, thus resulting in the consumers to distance themselves from the booze gradually, the manufacturers have pointed out.
Also, they have told the Excise that 37% of Sri Lanka’s liquor consumption is based on illicit products and by controlling the illicit factor the legalized products could gain its sales gradually.
The Excise chief had responded by applying the recently introduced security sticker feature on the legalized products, the illicit trade could be addressed efficiently.
The Department of Excise has seen in its revenue dip as price hikes hit consumption of legal alcohol products.
However, since then there has been a further significant drop in sales that has impacted revenue collection Commissioner General of Excise M.G. Gunasiri had told industry representatives last Friday during a meeting.
Alcohol industry representatives too had outlined that it was difficult to achieve production and revenue targets for this year, as consumer purchasing power has been significantly impacted by the cost-of-living rise.
Concerns were also raised on consumers switching to illicit alcohol, as the price of legal products skyrocketed. Sri Lanka has one of the highest per capital consumption of alcohol, with the majority of consumption being illicit, reports the World Health Organisation.
Commissioner General of Excise Gunasiri had stated that the recently introduced security sticker could help reduce illicit alcohol, but this does not take into account the hundreds of illicit liquor dens that operate around the country.
