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More than 3,000 Sri Lankan refugees, who had been staying in India, have left for their home country since 2015, the Tamil Nadu government said.

The largest number in this regard was reported last year, at 1520, said a policy note of the Public Department, a portfolio held by Chief Minister K Palaniswami, tabled in the state Assembly.

The refugees had been repatriated with the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, it said.

While 1520 refugees left for Sri Lanka last year, 557 of them have been repatriated till May 2018, it added.

Over 3.04 lakh Sri Lankan Tamil refugees had come to Tamil Nadu following the ethnic violence in the island republic in 1984, the policy note said.

As many as 61,422 persons were now staying in 107 refugee camps in 24 districts of the state as on May 1, 2018.

“In addition, 35,316 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are staying outside the camps as on April 30, 2018,” it said.

The refugees were provided with various relief measures as stipulated by the Central and state governments, it said.

These included monthly doles and education assistance.

Various Tamil Nadu government welfare schemes were also being extended to them, it added. 
 
Source : PTI

Media reports claim that Former State Minister of Women and Child Affairs has admitted that the statement made by her recently regarding an LTTE revival was irresponsible and incorrect. “I had already understood my mistake when the Prime Minister contacted me to request that I meet him” she said over the phone, speaking to a local television channel. 

“As a Minister in a responsible position I requested that action be taken against me” she said adding that she decided to step down from her post till the inquiry concludes. “I will not disrupt the work of the government and expect they too will take a correct decision regarding me” she added. 

However, calls have been mounting to not only remove her from the Ministerial post but also take away her parliamentary seat.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne yesterday imposed a travel ban on four directors of Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI).

ETI directors Jeewaka Edirisinghe, Deepa Edirisinghe, Nalaka Edirisinghe and Asanka Edirisinghe were also noticed to appear in courts on July 17, 2018.

These orders were made following a request made by the Attorney General's Department over the ongoing magisterial inquiry against ETI, based on the allegations that it had been operated by its management violating monetary laws and regulations of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka since 2011.

Kobawaka Damminda thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Kataragama Kiri Vehera Raja Maha Vihara claims his life is still in danger following an assassination attempt last month. As he continues to receive treatment after being shot speaking from the hospital the monk claimed he has received a number of threats in the recent past. 

“From the day I was appointed as the Chief Incumbent I have faced intimidation from various parties,” he said adding that various monks also had aims of taking over the temple. “This is a result of these threats,” he said. According to him, those arrested in connection have sworn to kill him after being released from prison. 

Dhamminda thera was shot on the temple premises on June 11. The custodian of the Mahasen Devalaya and several others were arrested in connection to the incident. According to the thera, the attempt on his life was a bid to ensure a monk related to the custodian is made the next chief incumbent of the temple.

Reports claim that a secret meeting was held on Tuesday night (3) at the Ministry of Justice in a bid to take necessary decisions to expedite legal cases regarding corruption which had taken place during the previous Rajapaksa regime. 

The meeting which had been held at 10.30 pm was attended by Minister of Justice and Prison Reforms, Thalatha Athukorala, Minister of Health, Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Law and Order, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police. 

Sources claim it had been discussed to take up cases at a stretch which is set to be heard at the newly set up special courts. Additionally, they had also decided to arrest those accused of corruption soon and take legal action against them.

Presenting the progress of the investigations into the Central Bank Bond scam in Fort magistrates courts today, appearing for the CID, Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda revealed that three mobiles and five sims have been recovered from the H ward in the Magazine prison Aloysius and Palisena are being housed in. Prior to this reports were rife that the duo is receiving preferential treatment within the prison. 

According to Kodagoda, one mobile phone was found under the mattress being used by Arjun Aloysius. Following the revelation, the court ordered that all records of the mobiles and sim cards should be presented to courts. Meanwhile, Kodagoda also alleged that an external party is blocking the CID from entering the computer system of Perpetual Treasuries which is embroiled in the bond scam.

Speaking at a Conference for the Heads of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the cost of inefficiency of SOEs cannot be passed down to the general public.

Despite their strategic importance, SOEs have not achieved full potential, which is reflected by its low Return Over Assets (ROA) ratio at 0.64 percent, he said. 

Identifying the reasons for such under performance which ranges from lack of good governance practices, including lack of a clear accountability mechanism, policy and legal framework to a weak supervisory role, Samaraweera told the Heads of SOEs in attendance to immediately address these difficult, but serious issues.

Samaraweera also said that during 2017, 55 SOEs recorded a total turnover of nearly LKR 1800 billion which was almost 13.22 percent of the GDP.

Out of the 55 SOEs, 39 recorded a net profit that amounted to LKR 136 billion while 16 made net losses that amounted to LKR 87 billion in 2017.

The Minister also noted that the performance of some SOEs in recent years has been a source of concern for the fiscal balance.

“In 2017, four of the main loss making SOEs i.e. Ceylon Electricity Board, Sri Lankan Airlines, Sathosa and Agriculture and Agrarian Insurance Board combined in losses amounting to LKR 84 billion. I may say this as a dismal performance that creates public outcry over the mismanagement of our national resources”, he added.

Samaraweera pointed out that the government’s strategy is to encourage and facilitate SOEs to be self-sufficient through improved corporate practices, management reforms, innovative financing, strong and prudent financial management, exposure to competitiveness and international best-practices and effective human resource management, while enhancing public accountability.

“As the key players in our national ventures, you may have to relook at your operations seriously to achieve reasonable management improvements in the interest of our fellow citizens”, he said.

The Finance Ministry announced that fuel prices of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation were increased from midnight yesterday. 

Accordingly, a litre of 92 Octane Petrol will be increased by 8 rupees while a litre of 95 Octane Petrol will be increased by 7 rupees.

The Ministry added a litre of Diesel will be increased by 9 rupees while a litre of Super Diesel will be increased by 10 rupees.

The previous fuel price revision based on a Cabinet-approved pricing formula reflecting international price fluctuations and other costs was to be reviewed on July 5 taking account of the behaviour of crude oil price in the previous two months.  

“These prices will be reviewed every two months and announced on the fifth of that month according to this formula. When the benchmark crude oil price goes up it will be reflected and of course when the price goes down, that will also be reflected,” the Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera was quoted as saying during the last price revision.

Udaya R. Seneviratne has assumed duties as the new Secretary to the President at the Presidential Secretariat today (06). 

Seneviratne, a senior administrative officer, had previously served as Secretary to the Ministries of Science and Technology, Sports, Highways and Investment Promotion and, Environment and Mahaweli Development.

Minister of Media Mangala Samaraweera has condemned recent attacks on two Sri Lankan journalists who contributed to the New York Times report on massive financial misappropriation linked to the former regime.

Minister of Finance and Media Information Mangala Samaraweera in a statement said he was alarmed by recent attacks and vehemently condemned "such practices where journalists are attacked for doing their job."

Reiterating the government's commitment to ensure that all journalists are safe to do their work, "even when that means brooking scathing criticism against this administration by the media," the Minister said there must be an "immediate halt to these practices."

He called on the leadership of SLPP to take full responsibility for these attacks and ensure that there is no repetition of this behavior.

Source : Colombo Page

President Maithripala Sirisena has not given any orders to reduce the fuel prices that was increased last night as reported by certain media outlets, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said today.

This was in response to media reports that cited JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake who stated in Parliament today (06) that the President had ordered to reduce the fuel prices.

Refuting such media reports, Senior Director of the PMD Dharma Sri Ekanayaka when contacted said that the President had made no such directive.

The Ministry of Finance had increased the fuel prices according to the fuel pricing formula that was introduced in May.

According to the fuel pricing formula, a litre of 92 octane petrol was increased by Rs. 8 per while a litre of diesel was increased by Rs 9 from midnight yesterday (05).

However, the price for a litre of kerosene remains unchanged.

According to the current fuel pricing formula, prices will be amended once in two months with the next revision of prices slated for September 5.

Although a committee was approved by the Cabinet to oversee the fuel price revisions, the Finance Ministry opines that a weekly revision as opposed to one in two months will be far more beneficial to the general public.

It is also reported that the Finance Ministry is exploring the possibility of introducing a weekly revision. However such a measure would be subjected to Cabinet approval.

Sri Lanka Navy Ship Nandimithra rescued 3 Somali fishermen stranded at sea about 115 nautical miles off Galle Lighthouse yesterday. 
 
Receiving a distress call from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources about a Somali fishing vessel along with 3 persons onboard lost at sea, the Naval Headquarters promptly dispatched SLNS Nandimithra with a team of Medical Assistants to the location by 5.20 p.m. yesterday to rescue them.
 
Having reached the location, the Navy Medical Assistants aboard SLNS Nandimithra administered first aid to the distressed fishermen and they were later safely brought to the Galle harbour and handed over to the Galle Police.