Colombo (LNW): State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has noted a surge in import activities by businessmen ahead of the upcoming VAT revision, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024.
He highlighted that the daily import volume of essential goods, which typically stood at around 700 containers, has recently increased to approximately 1,000 containers.
Additionally, the State Minister clarified that organic fertilisers have been granted an exemption from the Value Added Tax (VAT).
Colombo (LNW): The Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka (DCSL) has declared a forthcoming increase in the prices of its alcoholic beverages effective January 1, 2024, attributing the adjustment to the recent revision of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
The price adjustments will be as follows based on bottle size:
Colombo (LNW): The number of reported dengue infections in December this year surpassed 10,000, contributing to a total of 87,078 cases recorded in 2023.
The highest incidence occurred in the Colombo, Gampaha, and Kalutara districts, according to health authorities.
Of the overall cases, 39,543 were reported in the Western Province. Specifically, the Gampaha District documented 18,401 cases, followed by the Colombo District with 16,020 cases, and the Kalutara District with 5,122 cases.
Additional cases were identified in the Puttalam and Kandy districts.
Tragically, three individuals, including a university student and an 11-month-old infant, succumbed to dengue fever in recent days.
Furthermore, 62 Medical Officer of Health (MOH) areas have been classified as ‘high-risk’ zones, indicating elevated vulnerability to dengue infections in those regions.
Colombo (LNW): A woman, aged 54 and a resident of the Medawachchiya area, who had contracted the Covid-19 virus, died yesterday (29) while receiving treatment at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital.
The deceased, a mother of three, was initially admitted to the Medawachchiya Hospital for a respiratory condition and subsequently transferred to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital for advanced medical care.
The cause of death was confirmed to be related to the Covid-19 infection during the course of her treatment.
Colombo (LNW): The “Little Hearts Project” in Sri Lanka received a tremendous boost with a generous donation of Rs. 1,000,000,000.00 from renowned businessman Mr. Nahil Wijesuriya.
This philanthropic initiative aims to enhance cardiac and critical care facilities for children at Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital (LRH) in Colombo.
The donation by Mr. Wijesuriya is expected to significantly expedite the completion of the Cardiac and Critical Care Complex, making a substantial impact on paediatric healthcare in the country.
The Little Hearts Project focuses on addressing the healthcare needs of young patients, particularly in the realm of cardiac care.
The substantial contribution by Mr. Wijesuriya underscores the importance of private philanthropy in supporting critical infrastructure projects within the healthcare sector.
Absolutely thrilled that Mr. Nahil Wijesuriya has donated Rs. 1,000,000,000.00 to the Little Hearts Project! 🙌 His generosity will accelerate the completion of the Cardiac and Critical Care Complex at Lady Ridgeway Hospital. Kudos to a true philanthropist! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/gHa9T3HA2h
We're immensely proud of my father-in-law, Nahil Wijesuriya, for his extraordinary donation of one billion Rupees to the Little Hearts account at Lady Ridgway Hospital.
His generosity is a beacon of hope for the children of our country, and we're profoundly grateful for his… pic.twitter.com/P620GJs5o1
Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa lauded Wijesuriya’s generosity, recognising him as a true philanthropist.
The funds donated will play a crucial role in advancing medical facilities for children, contributing to the overall well-being of young patients at the LRH.
A philanthropist and a well-known business figure, Mr. Wijesuriya is also the father-in-law of Rehan Jayawickreme, the former Chairman of Weligama Urban Council.
Colombo (LNW): Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Eastern and Uva provinces and in Polonnaruwa, Matale, Nuwara-Eliya and Hambantota districts, with fairly heavy showers above 75 mm being expected at some places, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather forecast today (30).
Several spells of showers will occur in Northern province and in Anuradhapura and Kandy districts, the statement added, revealing that showers or thundershowers may occur at several places elsewhere of the island after 2.00 p.m.
Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expected at times in Eastern slopes of the Central hills and in Northern, North-Central, North-western, Eastern,Uva and Southern provinces.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Sabaragamuwa and Western provinces during the morning.
The public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather:
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Galle via Batticaloa, Pottuvil and Hambantota. Showers or thundershowers may occur at several places in other sea areas around the island during the afternoon or night.
Winds:
Winds will be north-easterly and wind speed will be (25-35) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (50-55) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Colombo to Kankasanthurai via Puttalam and Mannar and from Pottuvil to Galle via Hambantota. Wind speed may increase up to (40-50) kmph in the sea areas off the coast extending from Kankasanthurai to Pottuvil via Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Colombo to Kankasanthurai via Puttalam and Mannar and also from Pottuvil to Galle via Hambantota will be rough at times. The sea areas off the coast extending Kankasanthurai to Pottuvil via Trincomalee and Batticaloa will be fairly rough at times. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
Colombo (LNW): The Government will amend the Sri Lanka Social Security Board Act to streamline contributory pension scheme for self- employed persons specially farmers and fishermen.
State Minister of Social Empowerment Anupa Pasqual said that he has submitted a proposal to the finance ministry to amend the Act and devise the scheme in consultation with the Labour Ministry.
The contributory pension scheme for self-employed who are not members of the existing social security schemes is to be presented in parliament soon, he divulged.
Existing social security and pension schemes are to be expanded ensuring better social protection for self-employed persons countrywide, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said.
He noted that a decision has been taken to restructure the Sri Lanka Social Security Board and devise a necessary plan and methodology to expand and extend the existing social security scheme enrolling more self-employed.
The Social Security Board is to be transformed into an institution that is not a burden to the Treasury and provides more services to the people by introducing novel and innovative income generating schemes.
All persons who are not entitled to receive pension or are not holding pensionable jobs are eligible to enroll in these schemes.
There are also contributory pension schemes for the informal sector workers which include the Farmers Pension and Social Security Benefit Scheme (FMPS), Fishermen’s Pension and Social Security Benefit Scheme (FSHPS) and the Self-employed Persons Pension Scheme (SPPS).
Meanwhile due to the absence of a system for granting pensions for 64,117 Fishermen who had contributed to the Fishermen’s Pension and Social Security Benefit Scheme when they reached the age of 60.
Fishermen’s Pension Benefit had not been granted to the 22,402 fishermen out of 27,976 people who had contributed to the scheme as of 31 December of the year 2022 under review and reached the retirement age by exceeding age of 60.Auditor Generals latest report revealed.
Payment of Rs.6 million of Pension arrears for 137 fishermen who have applied for pension in respect of the period from January 2009 to December 2016 and 83 fishermen who have applied for pension in the year 2022 had been delay from 01month to 07 years after completing 60years of age.
Farmers Pension and Social Security Benefit Scheme has also failed yo make pension payments properly to farmers.
Administrative expenses received from the Treasury have been credited to the bank account of the Agriculture and Agrarian Insurance Scheme Rs.190 million received from Treasury for administrative expenses of Farmers
Pension Fund during the year 2022 under review was not credited to the bank account of Farmers Pension Fund and had been credited to the bank account of Agriculture and Agrarian Insurance Scheme.
871,425 contributors are registered in the existing data system and pension benefits had not been paid for 246,531 contributors out of 439,025 contributors who have completed 60 years of age as on 31 December 2022.
Colombo (LNW): Harith Gunawardena, a distinguished journalist and renowned advertising designer, passed away on the morning of December 28.
His remains are currently placed at his residence at No. 181/B/1/6, Suhanda Mawatha, Arawwala Road, Moraketia, Pannipitiya.
The funeral is scheduled to take place at the Arawala Public Cemetery on Saturday (December 30) at 4:00 pm, his family relatives confirmed.
Gunawardena gained popularity through his longstanding political column, “King Banat,” published on the “Sunday Island” newspaper for several decades. Additionally, he is remembered for his creative contributions, including the hit political muppet show “Always Breakdown,” broadcast on TNL. Characters like Kiriberti, Amden Aiya, Anibal Akka, Alpenis, Binkomando, Gonson, and Saline, created by Gunawardena, enjoyed widespread popularity among fans.
His exclusive feature articles series, “Atamassa” and the “Advertising Lokaya,” were published in The Leader and LNW.
Gunawardena, who recently held the position of chairman at Salasine, served as a creative director in various well-known advertising agencies in Sri Lanka.
An alumnus of Ananda College, Colombo, he is also a graduate of the University of Colombo.
Colombo (LNW): National Audit Act No 08 0f 2018 is to be amended soon, making legal provisions to tackle public sector corruption, financial fraud and irregularities.
The Auditor General’s Department will be given wide powers via the new amendment of the National Audit Act next year, justice ministry sources said.
The new amendment of the National Audit Act will empower the AuditorGeneral to levy surcharges on officers, including Chief Accounting Officers, for failure to properly discharge responsibility for oversight and accountability for use of public resources.
According to the proposed draft bill, the Auditor-General will be allowed to share findings, preliminary or otherwise, with law enforcement authorities for possible criminal investigation into fraud and corruption revealed by the audit query, prior to the full report being tabled in Parliament.
The Ministry of Justice recently revealed that the Auditor-General has had little control of the hiring, promotion, and firing of officers, as well as limited involvement in budget setting and allocation.
The creation of the Audit Service Commission was intended to strengthen resource management, but the intended impact remains to be felt up to now, it added.
According to the official procedure, a report is filed with the Chief Accounting Officer of the ministry or state entity being audited for the imposition of a surcharge on the value of the deficiency or loss in each of the entity’s transactions.
Amending this provision to allow for the direct reporting and imposition of surcharges by the Auditor-General would address the current procedural challenges that have interfered with the effective utilisation of this power.
It has been revealed that since the 2018 Act came into force, no officials have been made subject to surcharges, despite its significant provision for holding personally – financially –accountable for failure to prevent or remedy actions associated with fraud and corruption.
The Audit act No 08 0f 2018 was passed in parliament on July 5 2018 despite many obstacles.
The Audit Commission was among the independent commissions that were set up under the 19th amendment to the constitution passed in parliament on May 15 2015.
The newly appointed members of the Audit Service Commission were sworn in on the April 9 before the Speaker of the Parliament.
The Auditor General is appointed as the ex-officio Chairman to the Commission and accordingly, W.P.C. Wickramaratne took oath in the said position.
The state audit service is still to function properly as the salary issue of members of the service has not been settled, official sources said.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka cruise tourism industry is now on a steady path towards a strong revival following the record number cruise ship arrivals in the island, and will likely welcome an upbeat 2024, given the gradual return of cruise lines to the region,tourism ministry sources said.
The Hambantota International Port (HIP) has welcomed over 6000 tourists to Sri Lanka, in the latter part of November and during December. The passengers arrived on 5 cruise liners that called at the port.
The ‘Azamara Journey’ docked on 29 November carrying 620 passengers. The Luxury cruise liner Mein Schiff 5 which arrived in Sri Lanka from Muscat on 10 December, called at HIP on 11, carrying 2200 passengers.
A group of disembarking passengers from the luxury liner got on e-bikes to go sightseeing in the Hambantota area, keeping with HIP’s green-port drive. This is the cruise ship’s second call for 2023, and its 3rd call at the port, counting the visit in May last year.
Other cruise ships that called were the ‘Celebrity Millennium’ on 5 and 16 December carrying 3500 passengers and the ‘Nautica’ which arrived on 19 December bringing 498 visitors.
To date this year, HIP has recorded approximately 22 cruise ship calls with most of them arriving from Chennai, via Cordelia Cruise Lines.
The shipping line, which offers holiday packages to Indian and international travellers, made a number of ship calls to HIP from June to September this year, on their cruise liner ‘Empress.’ Approximately 7500 tourists arrived at the port throughout the year.
The Nautica and the Celebrity Millennium are bound for Phuket Thailand as their next port of call while the ‘Azamara Journey’ is headed to Sabang, Indonesia.
The Mein Schiff 5 is on her onward journey to the Langkawi archipelago in Malaysia. The port’s initiatives to develop the cruise business as well as enhanced facilities to ships and passengers have paid off, resulting in the increase of ship calls HIP.
Seventeen cruise ships have already arrived in Sri Lanka with Queen Mary 2, one of the largest and popular ships, Colombo’s harbor master said, as the island nation is looking for alternative avenues to boost its faltered tourism sector.
The rise is expected to bring thousands of high end tourists with higher spending capacity after two years. The island nation saw a record high 54 ships in 2019, rising from the previous year’s 42, Nimal Silva, Colombo Port Harbor Master said.
