It is reported that Minister Prarasanna Ranatunga has been convicted in a case filed against him of threatening a businessman named and demanding Rs. 64 million to evict unauthorized occupants of a land in the Meethotamulla area in Kolonnawa and to refill the land
Accordingly, he was been sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment suspended for a period of five years by the Colombo High Court and fined Rs. 25 million by the Colombo High Court.
The chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs has confirmed a vote of confidence in Boris Johnson will be held by Conservative MPs from 18:00 to 20:00 BST.
Sir Graham Brady told reporters that the vote was triggered after at least 54 Conservative MPs asked for it.
No 10 says Mr Johnson “welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs”, and that tonight’s vote is “a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on”.
According to CBSL insiders Governor Nandalal keeps reminding his staff that the Prime Minister and he cannot get on because of the bond scam.
What he forgets is that some time ago a motion was submitted to the Colombo Magistrate’s Court to name the Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe and the retired Deputy Governor Ananda Silva as suspects in the Central Bank bond scam. The attorney appearing for perpetual treasuries had informed the Court that the Presidential Commission which had examined the bond issue had recommended that Nandalal Weerasinghe and Ananda Silva also should be held responsible for the Central Bank bond scam.
There are many other allegations against him within the CBSL we are investing. So far Weerasinghe has only aggravated and heaped more burden of the public. He seems to have no feeling for the poor . He should either focus on his job, stop playing politics, stop running to the president like a cry baby and focus on giving relief to the poor. He has no clue about the industry problems. He should maintain the dignity of his office by shutting up and focus on saving the economy.
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/Jan24_1548349640CH.php
President convenes an emergency meeting of Pohottu MPs
It is reported that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has convened a special meeting of the SrLPP Parliamentary Group.
Accordingly, this special meeting is scheduled to be held this afternoon (06).
Sources said that the 21st amendment to the constitution will be discussed at this meeting and the meeting will be heated.
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Publicity Secretary Vijitha Herath has said that the detention of a Russian Aeroflot aircraft should not have taken place in Sri Lanka and that the Sri Lankan government should intervene to resolve the issue sooner or later.
By holding the Russian plane, we are really annoying Russia. In fact, it will be a blow to our tourism industry and tea exports. Now the government is trying to say that this is not a diplomatic issue but an issue between companies. The Russian government does not consider it that way. They had summoned the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia and questioned her about this. There were also requests to allow the flight to return to Russia without interruption. Facing such a situation would have a huge impact on the country. Also, the Civil Aviation Authority had announced in March that no such holdings would be made. However, the disappearance of such a thing will inevitably affect our country’s tourism industry and tea exports. We also sees this as a blow to the long standing friendship between Russia and Sri Lanka. This should not be. However, the government should intervene immediately to rectify this. Or this issue could be more serious ”
Vijitha Herath stated this while expressing his views to the media this morning (06).
It is reported that the Public Service Commission is scheduled to meet tomorrow (07) to review two reports regarding a statement made by IGP CD Wickramaratne that OICs have been appointed to 182 police stations islandwide due to political pressure and the sudden transfer of three senior DIGs.
As the Public Service Commission has observed that the IGP has acted beyond its powers in relation to both these incidents, the Commission has requested the IGP to submit two reports in this regard and it is said that he has submitted those reports within 7 days.
According to the IGP, if the OICs were appointed on the recommendation of politicians, it would be an abuse of the powers vested in the IGP by his commission. It was reported that the Public Service Commission was of the opinion that the IGP had acted beyond his powers by transferring.
Sources said that a final decision on the next course of action regarding the two IGP reports will be taken tomorrow.
It is reported that the Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath has informed all the Secretaries of the Ministries in writing that if a head of a state institution belonging to a Ministry is removed, prior notice should be given to the Presidential Secretariat.
Sources said that the ministers have also lost the power to appoint new heads of state institutions as a circular issued by the President in 2020 regarding the appointment of heads of state institutions has not been canceled yet.
The Ceylon Private Bus Owners’ Association says that the operation of private buses in many parts of the island will be completely disrupted today (06).
Accordingly, private bus services in Mannar, Vavuniya, Gampaha District, Southern Province, Kegalle, Mawanella, Polonnaruwa, Badulla and Puttalam will be completely disrupted, said the President of the Association Gemunu Wijeratne.
He said that the reason for this was the non-issuance of diesel for private buses as promised by the SLTB depots in those areas and stressed that the relevant authorities and the Minister of Energy should take full responsibility for this.
One person has been killed in a shooting in Tangalle yesterday (05).
Police Media Spokesman Nihal Thalduwa stated that the shooting took place in the Moraketiara area in Tangalle and two others were injured.
Accordingly, four shootings have been reported in the last three days and 4 people have been killed in those.
Sri Lanka is grappling with its worst financial crisis in over seven decades with a severe foreign exchange shortage that has left it struggling to pay for essential imports including food, fuel, fertilisers and medicines.
Its Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, spoke to NDTV on the present situation in the island nation and also thanked India for its support with the credit line and the swap during the time of crisis.
He noted that despite the current situation being managed by the government, he is trying to reach into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Denoting that he is the ‘Crisis Prime Minister’ of Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe added that the ministers are backing him to resolve the crisis befallen the country, despite the political instability which the young protesters are demanding elimination of.
Setting aside the economic crisis only to focus on the political instability should not happen, he emphasised, making it clear that his focus is to bring the country’s economic situation back to normalcy than to focus on the political dialogue.
MIAP