The Colombo Magistrate’s Court has ordered the lifting of the travel ban imposed on former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
Accordingly, he has been granted bail.
Ranjan pleads guilty. A Two-year prison term suspended for five years
Former parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake, who pleaded guilty in the second contempt of court case, has been sentenced to two-year rigorous imprisonment suspended for 5 years by the Supreme Court.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, Gamini Amarasekera, and L.T.B. Dehideniya delivered the judgment today (07).
Aeroflot increases the number of flights to the Maldives
Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot has increased the number of flights to the Maldives. The decision will take effect on June 10.
The company has decided to suspend flights to Sri Lanka due to a court order to keep an Aeroflot aircraft at the Katunayake airport and to increase the number of flights to the Maldives as an alternative.
The number of Russian tourists visiting the Maldives during the past year has exceeded 67,000, which is close to 10% of the total foreign tourist arrivals in the country.
The number of Russian tourists visiting the Maldives will increase further due to the new decision of Aeroflot.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survives confidence vote
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has survived a confidence vote that could have seen him removed from power.
Despite profound discontent within his ruling Conservative Party, Johnson won a vote of confidence on Monday by 211 to 148 votes.
Winning the vote means there cannot be another leadership challenge for a year, but the rebellion by 148 of his 359 Conservative Party legislators has dealt a serious blow to his authority.
Johnson put a positive spin on surviving the confidence vote, saying his “convincing” and “decisive” victory would now enable the country to move on.
“I think it’s a convincing result, a decisive result and what it means is that as a government we can move on and focus on the stuff that I think really matters to people,” he told reporters.
The confidence vote was triggered on Monday when party official Graham Brady said he had received letters calling for a no-confidence vote in Johnson from at least 54 Conservative Party members of parliament – enough to trigger the measure under party rules.
Johnson needed to win the backing of a simple majority of the 359 Conservative legislators in the parliament of the United Kingdom to remain in power. If Johnson had failed to secure that majority, the party would have been forced to choose a new leader who would also have become the next prime minister.
‘Sigh of relief’
Leon Emirali, a former ministerial aide in the Johnson government, said that while there will be a “big sigh of relief” in Downing Street – there will be difficulties further down the line.
Emirali described Johnson’s win as “a razor-thin majority”.
“I do think there’s going to be an initial feeling of relief, initial feeling of they’ve gotten away with it. But, ultimately, the bigger problems are going to come further down the line,” Emirali told Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from Westminster.
Dhammika Perera responds to the tax evasion allegation in connection to Bally’s Pvt. Ltd (VIDEO)
Millionaire businessman Dhammika Perera yesterday (06) responded to the allegation of Rs. 575 million in tax arrears of Bally’s Pvt. Ltd which has caused a is a lot of controversy on social media
Speaking on the ‘Salakuna’ interview program on Hiru TV, Dhammika Perera emphasized that the company was owned by his brothers and not himself and had paid 100% of the tax.
Duminda Nagamuwa, Member of the Political Bureau of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) had earlier rebutted the allegation made on a television program during the Salakuna program and Dhammika Perera had given the following answer in detail.
“Dhammika Perera owns a company called Bally’s – a casino and it is run by his younger brother. The money he owns is from the casino. 575 million he has not paid taxes. How is he talking about building this country? How is he talking about bringing in a billion dollars now? He is also giving lectures on developing the country in 2030. I say to Dhammika Perera, you have to pay taxes first ”- Duminda Nagamuwa
Qu: Now this is the issue raised by Duminda Nagamuwa. It’s about the Bally’s Pvt. Ltd which is owned by you.
“No, it’s not mine. The two brothers own it ”
Q. That is Kuruppu Arachchige Don Anuradha Perera . Is that your brother?
“Yes”
Question – According to what we know the tax arreas is 575 billion
“No, it’s 575 million ”
Question – Yes. 575 million tax revenue is in arrears. That means not paid. Do you accept this first, that it is not paid?
“No, I do not accept this. It’s really another issue. That was an issue that went to court. I’ll tell you about that too. There are taxes that are usually levied, and then there are taxes that are levied as a one-time tax. That’s a tax like that. They had paid it in installments. But Mangala Samaraweera had asked to stop and had filed a case against the director. They take the document and release it to the media. Then the court had advice about what to do, which is to pay the 575mn – and it has been paid accordingly.
Q: So what was not paid then?
A company has to pay taxes. What is the use of suing the directors? So it takes time for the court to file a case against the directors. They work with the knowledge of lawyers. But in this case, when the lawyers had said it was a problem, the brothers had said that they will pay the sum. And it was paid. When it comes to this level of business, people consider taxation as an expense, but we do not have relatives or friends with such accounts departments. There are 100% professional outsiders. Can those people ask not to pay taxes? ”
Q. Then all the taxes due to Bally’s Pvt. Ltd. involved in this incident have been paid?
“100% paid”
Q. Did they pay the sum when this incident took controversy in the country?
There is no need to pay while the case is been heard in court. But it has been paid anyway!
Dinesh Gunawardena says that we need to re-establish our old agricultural civilization
Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government says that the ancient agricultural civilization of the country should be re-established and a surplus of local produce should be created and set an example to other countries in the world.
“We need to re-establish our old agricultural civilization. In the past, Sri Lanka was a model country in agricultural production for other countries. Our garden should be enriched with local crops. At the same time, every home garden should be encouraged to cultivate local medicinal plants and all youth and school children should be encouraged to do so and strengthen those programs. ”
The Minister said this addressing a function held at the Gorakapitiya Grama Niladhari Office.
Crime on the rise: One person killed in a shooting in Modara
One person was killed in a shooting in the Redbanawatte area in Modara yesterday (06).
A 24-year-old resident of the Aluth Mawatha area in Colombo was shot dead by two unidentified persons who had arrived in a three-wheeler.
The motive for the murder has not been identified yet and police suspect that it may have been a personal dispute over drug trafficking or some other reason.
Accordingly, the number of shooting deaths has increased to 5 in the last 4 days.
Dilip Wedaarachchi’s son and daughter-in-law surrender to police
The son and daughter-in-law of Samagi Jana Balawega MP Dilip Weda Arachchi, who was wanted in connection with a recent altercation with a group of police officers on duty on the Southern Expressway, have surrendered to the police through a lawyer yesterday (06).
The two suspects were handed over to the Weeraketiya Police Station and will be produced before the Walasmulla Magistrate’s Court today, according to the Police Media Spokesman’s Office.
SL Government urged to urgently launch a humanitarian operation
Sri Lanka government has been urged to urgently launch a humanitarian operation, with a focus on preventing national level starvation and social unrest , in partnership with the civil society, the women’s association collective said.
They have demande several measures based on the premise that the government must prioritize the basic needs of the citizenry. The government in all its negotiations within and outside the country, to emerge from the present economic crisis, must address basic public needs by allocating and reallocating resources accordingly.
It has been suggested to implement an island-wide food distribution system to reach all households with basic essential ration packs – this should include rice, oil, sugar, tea, dhal and triposha.
Existing systems of Sathosa, Samurdhi and Cooperatives should be strengthened to reach everyone, they said adding that ensuring food security through controlling kerosene and gas prices; urgent support and subsidies to farmers; and relief for fisheries and other farming communities must be implemented immediately..
A people-centred Samurdhi support system that upholds its original vision must be strengthened as such benefits are being cut in many districts and different excuses are given at the community level.
The government must respond to the reality that more families are falling below the poverty-line and expand Samurdhi benefits and increase monthly Samurdhi payments to match the rising cost of living, they pointed out.
Health sector must be supported by the State to secure and provide medicines, other essential medical equipment, health products and reproductive health services.
They also urged e the government to implement progressive taxation to meet the country’s public revenue needs, including introducing appropriate wealth taxes. Such taxation must not add to the burden of the poor and working people of the country.
The Government must ensure that public revenues are utilised to implement social security programmes that are responding to the crisis alongside measures to recover the economy, they claimed.
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to increase electricity tariff after eight years
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is likely to increase the electricity tariff after eight years with the consent of the cabinet of ministers to day (Monday 05), CEB sources said.
The Public Utilities Commission has submitted the proposed electricity tariff structure to the treasury for observations on providing subsidy follow income earners and necessary revisions recently.
The CEB was now losing Rs 13 per unit and a tariff increase has been sought to raise Rs 14 billion in extra revenues, the relevant memorandum indicated.
For the lowest category the per unit rate of Rs 5.50 had been proposed from the current Rs. 2.50 and the fixed fee will go up to Rs 290 from Rs. 30 .
According the memorandum electricity tariff for factories will be increased by 38 percent, hotels 23 percent and state institutions 22 percent.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is on the verge of collapse and it was trying trying to obtain an overdraft from a state bank to pay employees’ wages CEB sources said.
CEB Chairman M.M.C. Ferdinando noted that t there was an urgent need to increase the electricity tariffs as the Board was now struggling to pay the salaries of its employees.
“It has been observed the CEB is currently incurring a loss of over Rs. 300 billion per year as its expenditure had now increased to over Rs. 500 billion, while revenue is around Rs. 200 billion.