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President Maithripala Sirisena called on the people to fulfill their respective duties towards the environmental conservation with a continuous programme, not limiting that responsibility to only one day.

The President further said that it is not a duty of one party, but all the citizens, including the politicians, public servants and school children must be united in this regard.

He made these remarks addressing a ceremony held in Kegalle to commemorate the World Environment Day, today (04), the President’s Media Division said.

The President said that today’s environment degradation would become a problem for lives of future generation and many countries in the world that achieved rapid development have faced a similar tragedy. Hence, we must immediately take steps to protect our environment, he said.

He pointed out that a special gazette has been issued to curtail use of polythene and plastic as that was a duty needed to be fulfilled today for the sake of tomorrow. Many people tried to stop that and it was an unfortunate situation, he recalled.

President Sirisena emphasized the adverse effects caused to the environment by limitless excavation of sand and stone for construction works and said the use of alternative raw materials is a timely need.

He also pointed out that corrupted businessmen harm the environment by illegal activities and they have also caused several deaths in recent years.

The environment day activities were organized to mark the World Environment Day. “Let’s avoid the environmental pollution caused by plastic waste” is the theme for this year’s World Environment Day.

The national ceremony of the commemoration of the World Environment Day started by the President by planting a sapling.

Launching the booklet on Environment profile of Kegalla district and launching the survey report regarding basic bio environment data conducted in the main ports of Colombo, Galle and Trincomalee districts also took place.

The sand mountain area ranging from 106 hectares of Pottuvil Panama and the mangroves of Shastrawela forest of Ampara district were declared as a conservation forest and announcing the catchment area of Pansalthanna of Ukuwela Divisional Secretariat of Matale district as an environmentally protected area.

Source: PMD

Sri Lankan Airlines has informed that times of several flights arriving and departing from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) have been changed today (03). 

According to the airline, several test flights taking place in the skies of the Indian ocean has prompted the airline to delay certain flights. 

Therefore UL 318/319, UL 06/307, UL 402/403, UL 314, UL 302, UL 318, UL 306 and UL 402 flight times are set to change. The airline has urged the public to call 1979 for further information. 

However foreign media reports claim the time slots are to be changed due to missile tests being carried out by India over the Indian ocean. 

India has already successfully tested an SFDR (solid fuel ducted ramjet ) propulsion based missile becoming one of the few countries in possession of next-generation missiles while moving away from conventional missiles.

Chief Justice Priyasath Dep said that Sri Lanka is exploring the possibility of introducing an electronic filing system as part of improving the judiciary system. 

He made these remarks while representing Sri Lanka at the 13th Conference of the Presidents of Supreme Courts of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States that was held from 24-25 May 2018 in Beijing with the participation of a number of Chief Justices, Heads of Supreme Courts, Supreme Court and High Court Judges, other officials of the Judiciary and the diplomatic corps.

Chief Justice Dep also called on Chief Justice Zhou Qiang, Head of the Supreme Court of China, the Foreign Ministry said.

A temporary batch of office bearers was appointed at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee meeting which was held today (03).
 
Accordingly, the temporarily appointed SLFP office bearers are : 
 
SLFP General Secretary - Professor Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa 

SLFP National Organizer - Irrigation and Water Resources & Disaster Management Minister Duminda Dissanayake 

SLFP Treasurer - Parliamentarian S. B. Dissanayake 

SLFP Senior Deputy Chairmen - Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Parliamentarian  Susil Premajayantha, WDJ Seneviratne, Anura Pridarshana Yapa 

SLFP Advisory Board - Former Presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa & former Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne 
 
The meeting was chaired by the SLFP Chairman, President Maithripala Sirisena. The Central Committee of the SLFP, which met on May 17 to carry out party reorganization, has decided to appoint a new board of office bearers. In addition to the Central Committee, the All Island Committee and Executive Committee will also convene today.

Twenty-six nations including Sri Lanka, will participate at the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime exercise, scheduled between June 27 to Aug. 2, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. This is the first time Sri Lanka is participating in RIMPAC.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command reported that 47 surface ships, five submarines, 18 national land forces, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the exercise.

As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity designed to foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s interconnected oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

The theme of RIMPAC 2018 is “Capable, Adaptive, Partners.” Participating nations and forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces. These capabilities range from disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting. The relevant, realistic training program includes amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.

This year’s exercise includes forces from Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

This is the first time Brazil, Israel, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are participating in RIMPAC. Additional firsts include New Zealand serving as sea combat commander and Chile serving as combined force maritime  component commander. This is the first time a non-founding RIMPAC nation (Chile) will hold a component commander leadership position. This year will also feature live firing of a Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) from a U.S. Air Force aircraft, surface to ship missiles by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from a launcher on the back of a Palletized Load System (PLS) by the U.S. Army. This marks the first time a land based unit will participate in the live fire event during RIMPAC. RIMPAC 18 will also include international band engagements and highlight fleet innovation during an Innovation Fair.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the fourth review under the Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka, approving the disbursement of US$ 252 million. 

Issuing a statement, the IMF said that Sri Lanka continues to make important progress under the program and that major achievements include the launch of the new Inland Revenue Act as well as important steps in energy-pricing reforms and towards flexible inflation targeting.
 
On June 1, the IMF Executive Board completed the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s economic performance under the program supported by a three-year Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. 
 
Completion of this review enables the disbursement of the equivalent of SDR 177.774 million (about US$ 252 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to the equivalent of SDR 715.23 million (about US$ 1,014 million).
 
Sri Lanka’s three-year extended arrangement was approved on June 3, 2016, in the amount of about SDR 1.1 billion (about US$1.5 billion, or 185 per cent of quota in the IMF at that time of approval of the arrangement). 
 
The Executive Board also concluded the 2018 Article IV consultation with Sri Lanka today. 
Following the Executive Board’s discussion of the review, Mr Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Acting Chair and Deputy Managing Director, said:
 
“Sri Lanka has made important progress under its Fund-supported program. The authorities’ efforts to improve the policy mix through fiscal consolidation, prudent monetary policy, and landmark structural reforms are supporting the economic recovery, despite recent shocks. Sustaining the reform momentum is critical to strengthen the country’s resilience to shocks, given the still sizable public debt and low external buffers, and to set the foundation for strong and inclusive growth.
 
“Further progress with revenue-based fiscal consolidation, supported by the new Inland Revenue Act, is needed to help safeguard important social and infrastructure spending, including in response to natural disasters. Going forward, a robust fiscal rule and medium-term debt management strategy will help place debt firmly on a downward path.
 
“The recent approval of an automatic fuel pricing formula is a major achievement towards reducing fiscal risks from state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In this regard, it is essential for the authorities to implement an automatic pricing formula for electricity and a restructuring plan for Sri Lankan Airlines, as well as further strengthening SOE governance and transparency. The impact of the reforms on the vulnerable can be mitigated by ongoing efforts to strengthen social safety nets.
 
“The Central Bank of Sri Lanka should continue to manage monetary policy prudently, in the face of price shocks and market volatility. Efforts to build up international reserves should be sustained, with exchange rate flexibility as the first line of defence in response to volatile global capital flows. Upgrading the central bank law will be instrumental in the new inflation targeting framework. While financial soundness indicators remain stable, continued credit growth in the real estate sector warrants close monitoring.
 
“The authorities should step up implementation of structural reforms, with a focus on fostering gradual trade liberalization and the investment climate, developing a natural disaster risk financing framework, and promoting gender equality in the labour market together with well-targeted social safety nets.”

Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya says that the document listing the MPs who had telephone conversations with the former director of Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) Arjun Aloysius will be presented in parliament this week.
 
Speaker said that the names of the MPs mentioned according to the documents in the report of the Presidential Commission of Injury that investigated the Central Bank bond scam will also be revealed.
 
Jayasuriya said that he had requested the Secretary to the President to give him the list of names of the parliamentary members who had conversed with the owner of the Perpetual Treasuries.
 
According to the Speaker however there is no list of MPs who have taken money from Aloysius for campaign funding although some claim that there is a list of 118 MPs.

Kollupitiya Police today handed over veteran filmmaker, late Dr. Lester James Peries’ lifetime award, which was stolen and then found in a 177 private bus recently, to his wife Sumitra Peries at her residence in Colombo 05. 

The award was stolen from Lester’s residence during his last rites at the Peiris residence. The award had been presented to the veteran filmmaker by the Indian government.

Sri Lanka will mark 'World Environment Day 2018', which falls on June 5, with a National Ceremony at the Independence Avenue, Kegalle on 4th June with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena as the Chief Guest.
 
This year, the theme for World Environment Day is "Beat Plastic Pollution" which calls for people to come together to combat one of the great environmental challenges.
 
The government has declared an 'Environment Week' from 4th June and during the week the Central Environment Authority (CEA) has taken measures to regulate polythene and plastic waste disposal and raise awareness among the public, CEA Chairman Chandrarathne Pallegama said.

Eastern Province Governor Rohitha Bogollagama's wife and daughter who evaded courts were ordered to be arrested by the Colombo Chief Magistrate a short while ago.

The duo was alleged to have been involved in a case pertaining to assaulting a woman in Cinnamon Gardens.

In December 2017 the wife of Bogollagama, Deepthi Bogollagama also threatened a group of Tamil devotees while visiting a religious site in Trincomalee.  She was seen on tape walking over ‘Kolam’ drawn at the religious site while wearing shoes and threatening the people present causing widespread outrage.

Former Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is said to have been given a special commando security team on the orders of President Maithripala Sirisena. 

The team is said to be accompanying Rajapaksa on his trips to various areas across the island in his bid to be nominated as the next Presidential candidate from the Joint Opposition. 

However, while the President and the Prime Minister only has security from the Special Force in the Army, not even former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who were instrumental in ending the war has been given commando security. They have only been provided by officers from the Police Special Task Force (STF). 

Source : Anidda

Sri Lanka Navy apprehended six (06) migrants from India who were reaching the island onboard an Indian trawler yesterday (30th May). These immigrants were taken into naval custody by a troop of naval personnel attached to the North Central Naval Command who were on routine patrol in the seas off Urumalai in Talaimannar.

The apprehended group was consist of three (03) males, one (01) female and two (02) children and Navy provided them with first aids and medical treatment after they were brought to SLNS Tamanna. The group of migrants and the trawler were handed over to Talaimannar Police for further investigations.