Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in most provinces of the island after 01.00 p.m.Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, North-western and Uva provinces.Showers may occur at some places in Northern and Eastern provinces and in Hambantota district during the morning too.Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the morning.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Colombo (LNW): The Agriculture Ministry has announced a subsidy of 40 litres of diesel per hectare for farmers who suffered crop damage in the last Yala season.
The fuel vouchers were distributed to eligible farmers in the Walawe zone, Hambantota, and Kurunegala districts, covering at least 65,000 acres of paddy affected by drought.
Minister Mahinda Amaraweera directed the Department of Agricultural Development to provide this subsidy to assist farmers in harvesting their paddy during the current Maha season.
The diesel, originally provided by the Chinese government for free distribution during the last Maha season, had a surplus of 2 million litres.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka experiences approximately one million hospital admissions and 12,000 deaths annually due to various accidents, Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana disclosed.
This substantial figure underscores the critical nature and urgency of the issue, as emphasised by the Minister, addressing the International Conference on Injury Prevention at the Waters Edge.
The Minister the alarming statistics, noting that the accidents lead to an average of 1,000 deaths per month or nearly 35 deaths daily. Traffic accidents alone contribute to around 3,000 annual fatalities, while suffocation, drowning, falls, poisoning, electrocution, burns, and animal attacks collectively result in thousands more deaths, he noted.
Individuals aged between 15-44 are particularly vulnerable to these accidents, with accidents ranking among the leading causes of fatalities, Pathirana emphasised.
Recognising the gravity of this trend, the Health Minister pointed out that immediate attention should be paid and action taken, focusing on addressing the social impacts.
Thereby, preventive measures should be implemented and remedial actions should be taken, with a focus on enhancing the collaboration of various sectors involved in managing these issues, Dr. Pathirana stressed.
The Minister expressed his full commitment to implementing effective policy actions to address this crisis.
Colombo (LNW): Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE) Prof. Ranjith Bandara engaged in a contentious exchange in Parliament, trading fresh allegations against each other.
Premadasa accused Prof. Bandara of impropriety, asserting that the Colombo Business School, owned by the professor, prepared corporate plans for state enterprises summoned before CoPE, charging them a fee. Specifically, he cited the Sri Lanka Vocational Training Authority as an example.
This allegation was in response to Bandara’s claim that CoPE would investigate fraud in the Central Cultural Fund and a land deal involving a prominent opposition MP.
Bandara asserted that funds from the Central Cultural Fund were spent without the approval of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the ‘Good Governance’ government.
The Opposition Leader expressed apprehensions about Bandara overseeing a CoPE meeting regarding Sri Lanka Cricket, citing a potential conflict of interest.
Highlighting Bandara’s leadership role in a private campus that had provided services to SLC, Premadasa questioned the legality of individuals with such affiliations heading Parliamentary committees. He called for a transparent report detailing the transactions between SLC and Bandara.
In response to the allegations, Bandara stated he would resign if proven true.
The Ruling Party lawmaker also said that he denies sexual harassment allegations made by Opposition MP Hesha Withanage, declaring the accusation false and thereby requesting the Speaker to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee for discussion.
He pledged to resign if found guilty but insisted on consequences for Withanage if the allegation is proven to be untrue.
Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) indicates a slight appreciation against the US Dollar today (20) in comparison to last week’s Friday, as per the official exchange rates by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
Accordingly, the buying price of the US Dollar has dropped to Rs. 322.79 from Rs. 322.83, and the selling price to Rs. 333.20 from Rs. 333.25.
However, the Sri Lankan Rupee indicates depreciation against several other foreign currencies, including Gulf currencies.
Colombo (LNW): Four senior officials from the Medical Supply Division have been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) a short while ago, in connection with the procurement of substandard immunoglobulin injection vials.
The individuals apprehended include Dr. Kapila Wickramanayake, Director of the Medical Supply Division, Assistant Director Devasantha Solomon, Accountant (Supply) Neran Dhananjaya, and Stock Controller Sujith Kumara, confirmed the Police Media Spokesman.
Colombo (LNW): The government experienced a significant 43.5 per cent surge in revenue during the initial eight months, although the escalating budget deficit compelled a reinforcement of the revenue-centric fiscal consolidation strategy aligned with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a report by Daily Mirror said.
To address this, the government plans to implement a Value-Added Tax (VAT) increase from the upcoming year, raising it from the current 15 per cent to 18 percent.
This decision, not included in the recently presented budget, also involves eliminating VAT exemptions, except for health, education, and select food items.
Recent Treasury data reveals that the government collected Rs. 1,826.62 billion in revenues from January to August, compared to Rs.1,272.78 billion in the corresponding period the previous year.
Taxes imposed and increased contributed significantly, amounting to Rs. 1,661.15 billion, marking a 47.8 per cent rise from the same period in 2022.
Under the IMF program, Sri Lanka elevated corporate income tax, personal income tax, and VAT. Additionally, it reintroduced taxes like withholding tax and introduced new levies such as the Social Security Contribution Levy, aiming to replenish its depleted finances.
Despite these measures, the failure to meet revenue targets suggests that a contracting economy struggles to achieve desired tax revenue, regardless of rate hikes, ultimately impinging on economic growth.
The budget for the upcoming year anticipates a 45 per cent revenue growth to Rs. 4,127 billion, primarily relying on the VAT increase and anticipated economic growth with the normalisation of imports.
Concurrently, expenditure rose by 38.2 per cent to Rs. 3,297.20 billion in the initial eight months.
Recurrent expenditure soared by 44.0 per cent to Rs. 2,941 billion, while capital expenditure and lending minus repayments increased by 3.5 per cent to Rs. 355.6 billion.
In this economic landscape, the eight-month budget deficit climbed to Rs. 1,470.66 billion from Rs. 1,112.49 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Revised budget estimates for 2023 project an overall deficit of Rs. 2,402.0 billion (8.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product) and Rs. 2,401.0 billion (7.6 per cent of GDP) in 2024, excluding the Rs. 450 billion allocated for State bank recapitalisation.
Colombo (LNW): The number of recorded dengue cases in 2023 has exceeded 73,000, the Epidemiology Unit disclosed.
As of November 19, the total reported cases stand at 73,032, with the Colombo district contributing the highest number at 15,509.
The Western Province has the highest provincial count at 34,700, and the month of November alone has witnessed 4,539 new Dengue cases.
Health officials anticipate a further increase in dengue cases due to the ongoing rainy conditions.
In light of this, the public is strongly advised to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings and eliminate potential mosquito breeding sites to prevent the spread of dengue.
Colombo (LNW): Dr. Palitha Mahipala, former Director General of Health Services, officially took on the role of Secretary to the Ministry of Health today (20).
He succeeds Janaka Sri Chandragupta, who retired from state service yesterday.
Dr. Mahipala previously served as the Additional Secretary of Health and Deputy Director of General Public Health Services.
He is qualified in the field of public health, health sector management, business administration and economic development, and is recognised as a prominent figure in the medical sector.
Dr. Mahipala is well known amongst the Sri Lankan LGBTQIA+ community for his groundbreaking intervention in 2016 for the introduction of the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which is the key component allowing people of transgender identities to legally change their gender in Sri Lanka.
Colombo (LNW): Macksons Tiles Lanka (Macktiles), Sri Lanka’s largest tile manufacturer, is positive about the Sri Lankan economy and believes this is the time to uplift local industries.
“We always believed that there is victory in adversity and this is the time we must show our commitment by doing our part to build the economy,” says Macktiles Lanka Chairman Milfer Makeen.
The company has already invested Rs. 16 billion for its expansion between 2020 and 2022, bringing new best-in-the-world technology to the country that’s on par with Italian and Spanish tile manufacturers and is now ready to launch aggressively into the export market.
The Chairman says, “It was our mission to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in tiles and the restriction of imports certainly allowed us to achieve this objective.
Compared to imported tiles, we are very much ahead in terms of quality and have a wider range which is far superior to the low-quality tiles that come into our market”.
The manufacturing capacity of Macktiles which was 6,000 square meters a day in 2013 was increased to 14,000 in 2017.
But after the 2020 expansion, the company has the capacity to produce a mammoth 44,000 square meters of tiles per day, making it the largest tile manufacturing facility in the country.
The company, which now has 40% share of the local market, is positioning to become an exporter of tiles.
The machinery we now use in our factories is state of the art and equal to what’s used by our international competitors in Italy and Spain.
Sri Lanka has the added advantage of having the best quality raw materials such as feldspar, ball clay, dolomite and Silica sand.
Our factories manufacture a range of tiles from high-end to general use without compromising quality.
For this reason, our products are attracting international buyers as well as Sri Lanka’s construction industry, including architectural and engineering communities.
The company sources 85% of its raw materials locally and has given a significant boost to raw material suppliers, some of whom are dedicated to supplying Macktiles, given the volumes the company demands.
“It would be fair to say we have empowered young entrepreneurs to join the raw material industry, and we have suppliers who source the highest quality materials exclusively for us.
In that sense, we have definitely revived the raw material industry which is indirectly contributing towards the economy.
In terms of direct contribution, with our drive to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in tiles, we as an industry were able to save approximately $ 150 million in annual foreign exchange outflows from the country,” the Chairman adds.
