March 28, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, currently undertaking a state visit to China, convened with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday (27) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

During their deliberations, both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to fostering bilateral relations grounded in principles of friendship, peace, mutual respect, and non-interference in internal affairs—an approach consistent with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

The importance of nurturing mutual respect and productivity between the two nations was underscored, with the understanding that such cooperation serves as a model for constructive engagement on the international stage.

President Xi reiterated China’s steadfast support for Sri Lanka’s endeavours toward political and socioeconomic advancement, emphasising China’s unwavering stance in safeguarding Sri Lanka’s independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.

Expressing gratitude for the historical ties between their families, President Xi acknowledged the support extended by Prime Minister Gunawardena’s father, Philip Gunawardena, to China.

He noted the mutual desire of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s party and other political entities in Sri Lanka to deepen collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party.

In turn, Prime Minister Gunawardena expressed appreciation for China’s assistance during Sri Lanka’s recent economic challenges and its provision of debt restructuring facilities.

He provided an update on the progress made in implementing agreements reached during President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s previous visit to China.

The Prime Minister also extended gratitude to President Xi for China’s support across various sectors, including education, agriculture, health, technology, culture, and religion.

Accompanying Prime Minister Gunawardena were Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, Home Affairs State Minister Ashoka Priyantha, MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong, and Prime Minister’s Secretary Anura Dissanayake.

March 28, Colombo (LNW): President Ranil Wickremesinghe conducted an inspection tour, visiting the John de Silva Memorial Theatre and the National Art Gallery, both of which have faced prolonged delays in completion since construction began in 2011, reported the President’s Media Division.

During his visit, President Wickremesinghe urged officials to expedite the opening of the National Art Gallery by the end of the year, stressing the importance of consensus among artists and architects.

He assured government support for necessary financial allocations to facilitate this process.

Furthermore, the President emphasised the need for high-quality yet affordable theatres in Colombo, questioning the feasibility of such facilities following the completion of the John de Silva Theatre.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe highlighted the significance of consulting dramatists before finalising decisions on construction and maintenance projects.

He directed the Ministry Secretary to explore options for revitalising the Lumbini Theatre and the Nawarangahala, while also initiating plans for the construction of a drama theatre at Colombo’s Sudarshi Premises.

Additionally, President Wickremesinghe underscored the importance of establishing a national cultural zone, encompassing key venues such as the Nelum Pokuna, Kalabhavana, John de Silva Memorial Theatre, Museum, and related areas.

He tasked the Ministry of Cultural Affairs with preparing a comprehensive report on this initiative.

Furthermore, he urged officials to elevate Sri Lanka’s museum system to international standards and instructed them to identify a suitable country for mentorship in this endeavour.

Accompanying the President during the event were Secretary of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Somaratne Vidanapathirana, Additional Secretary Thilak Hettiarachchi, Director General of the Department of Cultural Affairs Yasintha Gunawardena, the team of architects from the University of Moratuwa involved in the design of these buildings, and Navy officers overseeing the National Art Gallery renovations.

Several prominent artists including Prof. Praneeth Abhayasundara, Prof. Chandragupta Thenuwara, Parakrama Niriella, Mohamed Safeer, and Saman Athaudahetti also addressed the gathering, sharing their perspectives on behalf of the artistic community.

March 28, Colombo (LNW): The government has enacted a reduction in the special commodity levy on imported onions and rice, effective from March 27.

Specifically, the Special Commodity Levy previously set at Rs. 65 per 1kg of rice has been adjusted to Rs. 1, a measure set to remain in effect until April 03, 2024.

Additionally, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has directed a reduction in the tax imposed on imported other onions (Rose Onions) to Rs. 10 per kilogram, applicable until April 30, 2024.

This directive, issued by the President, stems from the authority vested in him under the Special Commodity Levy Act, No. 48 of 2007.

By: Isuru Parakrama

March 28, Colombo (LNW): Showers or thundershowers will occur in Western, Southern, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva, and North-western provinces after 2.00 p.m, and fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather forecast today (28).

Several spells of showers may occur in Eastern province, the statement added.

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts during the morning.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Marine Weather:

Meanwhile, heat index, the temperature felt on human body is expected to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Western, North-western and North-Central provinces and Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Galle districts districts.

The public is urged to stay hydrated and take breaks in the shade as often as possible, check up on the elderly and the sick, never leave children unattended, limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated, wear lightweight and white or light-coloured clothing.

By: Staff Writer

March 27, Colombo (LNW): The year 2024 is already seeing a turnaround for private equity deals with Sri Lanka expecting deals amounting up to USD 250 million, says the Hong Kong-based merchant banking firm MCM Partners.

Managing Director of MCM Partners Jahnavi Bhagwati explained as to why she sees a turnaround for private equity deals in 2024 as opposed to a sluggish 2023.

According to her, countries like India and Sri Lanka, which is a turnaround story, are going to present opportunities in the private space this year after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates in March, ending the country’s historic era of negative interest rates in a move that marked a historic shift in monetary policy.

Bhagwati mentioned that the stock markets in the region are already seeing a pickup as inflation has been curbed, adding that investment activity will spur when rate cuts kick in.

Noting that a flurry of more activity is observed in private market space in 2024 compared to last year, the MCM Partners’ Managing Director acknowledged that 2023 was a very difficult year, except for Japan, throughout which the rest of the market suffered. “But we are seeing a turnaround now in terms of investor interest, in terms of people wanting to look for opportunities.”

Speaking further, she said, “I myself have been asked in Sri Lanka for different investment opportunities. As you know the IMF has made almost USD 3 billion of commitments in terms of a loan. But there are some points that they [Sri Lanka] needs to adhere to for the provisions of that loan.

Therefore, Sri Lanka has several huge assets which are being divested, and a lot of institutional players and investors are looking to come in which will also spur activity there.”

When asked about the sizes of these equity deals, Bhagwati said Sri Lanka is expecting deals of about USD 250 million whereas Bangladesh is anticipating a potential deal amounting to USD 1 billion. Meanwhile, in India, the deal sizes are small, ranging between USD 10 million – 20 million and up to half a billion, she added.

By: Staff Writer

March 27, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka will recommence the construction work of its expressways that have been postponed for several years, by shifting the projects currently handled by the Road Development Authority (RDA) to Sahasya Investments Ltd. (SIL), a State institution operating under the purview of the Treasury,

Government approval was granted for the shifting of the expressway network from the Road Development Authority (RDA) to Sahasya Investment Limited.

While addressing the media, Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana said after shifting the expressway network to Sahasya Investment Limited, the land owned by highways, highway loans, and related staff can be managed more commercially.

The respective action plan was approved at the Cabinet meeting held on February 5.Accordingly, the proposal presented by the Transport and Highways Minister is to shift the daily operations and management of expressways to Sahasya Investment Limited from April 2024.

This was in accordance with a formal management agreement and to transfer all the relevant assets to Sasahasya Investments Limited within six months consequent to a legal and financial feasibility study jointly conducted by the Road Development Authority and Sahasya Investments Limited.

The Government will be considering investments for all expressway projects for which the proposals have already been submitted, including those that have been suspended over the past several years.

Accordingly, investments are expected for the Central Expressway Project (CEP), Ruwanpura Expressway Project (REP), and the Elevated Highway Project from New Kelani Bridge to Athurugiriya.

The RDA engages with the maintenance of the assigned roads, including the expressway network. It provides public services which cannot be commercially priced (except the expressway network). In this sense, the RDA is a non-commercial State-Owned Enterprise (SOE).

.The proposals for which Cabinet approval has been granted include to separate the expressway network, lands, loans (local), and staff from the RDA and assign them to SIL to manage them in a more commercial manner.

It is also proposed to reconstitute the Board of Directors of SIL with independent directors with the required expertise and industry knowledge and revalue its assets with current market prices to improve the balance sheet of the entity.

Further, the Treasury will provide the gap financing facility to SIL to pay the loans obtained for the construction of the expressways until the SIL improves its financial position to enable a loan repayment capacity.

It is also proposed to explore the possibility of implementing the new expressways and existing expressways under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model arranged by SIL with the advice of the PPP Unit established under the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies.

By: Staff Writer

March 27, Colombo (LNW): The government is eyeing to promote the registration of ships under the Sri Lankan flag in a bid to general direct and indirect employment opportunities.

As such, the Cabinet of Ministers has green-lighted a proposal, tabled by the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation seeking permission to invite qualified domestic and foreign investors to register ships under the Sri Lankan flag.

The government will thus call Expressions of Interest (EOIs) and proposals to select the most suitable investor on the recommendation of the Procurement Committee, consequent to the evaluation of the proposals by a Technical Evaluation Committee.

Ship registration is a major source of foreign exchange to the country’s economy and has the potential to generate many direct and indirect employment opportunities, the government said in a statement

The Ports, Shipping, and Aviation Ministry is to convert the ships, ports, and total maritime industry to zero emissions in the future.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said, as far as the maritime industry is concerned, the primitive maritime industry is no more there. We are going to zero emissions such as ammonia, hydrogen, and green energy.

“That transformation is not easy; it needs a lot of money and professionalism. It is a question of how we are going to build that. Therefore, we have to ensure that we make changes to our ports, ships and services very soon. We have to start with it, not itself; otherwise, we will be lacking behind the other countries in which we are competing in maritime,” the minister said.

However, thankful to the Indian government, we have taken action to expand the port activities, he said.

“I have already taken action for the ship registration. We had been unable to attract more and more ships to be registered in Sri Lanka, as many other countries do. We are employing the private sector for that because we cannot keep everything in the government. We need to spread our economy more widely,” Minister Silva said.

One of the obstacles we face in registering ships is that we do not have enough ships owned by us. We have only two ships in the shipping company he added

March 27, Colombo (LNW): Rituximab, a crucial weapon in the fight against lymphatic system cancers, has been at the center of a scandal involving fraudulent production and distribution.

Recent revelations have exposed a disturbing trend where counterfeit medications, including Rituximab and human immunoglobulin, were deceitfully administered to patients through medical supply channels.

Former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwellama publicly admitted that the human immunoglobulin contained saline or an unidentified liquid, raising grave concerns about patient safety.

Investigations by News 1st uncovered alarming details: on October 12 of the previous year, Rituximab, a lifeline for cancer patients, was administered as a counterfeit drug. Shockingly, both the counterfeit Rituximab and Human Immunoglobulin were traced back to the same company: Isolez Biotech Pharma.

Cancer experts emphasize the critical role of authentic Rituximab, which can substantially improve patient survival rates by up to 15 percent. However, the counterfeit drugs supplied by Isolez Biotech Pharma jeopardized patient outcomes.

During a recent court session, Deputy Solicitor General Lakmini Girihagama presented damning evidence, highlighting the absence of crucial anti-cancer monoclonal protein in the fraudulent Rituximab.

This revelation comes after testing at the National Cancer Institute, underscoring the dire consequences of the counterfeit medications being administered to vulnerable cancer patients

March 27, Colombo (LNW):Early this morning (March 27), a disturbing incident unfolded as a group of assailants discharged gunfire into a residence situated on Galwarushawa Road in Athurugiriya. The targeted establishment purportedly belongs to Manoj Muthukumarana, known in criminal circles as “Muthuwa.”

Reports indicate that despite the intensity of the attack, which saw at least 7 shots fired into the house, there were fortunately no casualties.

It is reported that Muthukumarana, operating from overseas, has been linked to a series of criminal activities documented in Athurugiriya and Nawagamuwa regions in recent times. The incident adds to the escalating concerns surrounding his alleged involvement in illicit operations within the area.