News

The case against former Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Hemasiri Fernando and IGP Pujith Jayasundara in connection with the Easter Sunday attack, was postponed till October 3 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.

The Chief Magistrate instructed the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), today (22), to carry out further investigations and report to the court on October 03 and ordered to expedite the investigation process.

The CID informed the Magistrate that they have concluded recording statements from Hemasiri Fernando but had only recorded two statements from former top cop. They said they were yet to record additional statements from Pujith Jayasundara.

A lawyer representing IGP Jayasundara said that his client has been affected by a recent press statement issued by AG’s office concerning the case recently.

However, Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris had responded saying that he was not aware of the statement, and it would be brought to the attention of the AG in due course.

The April - June quarterly report compiled by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the US which consists of a list of names of those who relinquished their US citizenship does not include the name of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The IRS releases a list of names of those who relinquished their US citizenship once every quarter which includes names of those who gave up their citizenship in the last quarter.

Though the list of the names relating to the June 30 quarter has not been officially released in the website of the Federal Registry, it is said to have already been compiled. It is usually published 30 days after the end of the quarter.

Prior to August 10th!

According to sources, the SLPP has put off naming their Presidential candidate to August 10 to check if Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s name would appear in the list and decide if the candidacy would be presented to him.

Following the June quarter list, the next one would be released for the quarter ending on September 30. This list would only be released in mid-October.

Therefore, if his name does not appear in the June list, then it is likely he will not be granted the candidacy, sources said.

 Two interviews:

Following the submission of documents to relinquish one's citizenship, he is subjected to interviews over the phone and in person. Thereafter, a background check of the person is carried out by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before he is relinquished of his citizenship.

Furthermore, the section relating to the renunciation of citizenship abroad on the US State Department's website clearly states that "...the act of renouncing U.S. citizenship does not allow persons to avoid possible prosecution for crimes which they may have committed or may commit in the future which violate United States law, or escape the repayment of financial obligations, previously incurred in the United States or incurred as United States citizens abroad."

After the individual faces these interviews and is cleared by the respective state agencies, his name is added to the list after six months.

 The US government also provides a certificate to such individuals after about a year once the above-mentioned interviews are carried out. However, according to sources, it is unlikely the US government will revoke his citizenship as there are two cases being heard against him in the US courts.

(Reuters) - The United States wants a special forces cooperation agreement with Sri Lanka to sidestep bureaucracy and has no intention of setting up a military base in the country, the American ambassador to the island nation said in a television interview.

The comments represent the latest attempt by ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz to assuage concerns over U.S. involvement in the Indian Ocean island after plans to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA) by the two countries was heavily criticized by local media and some political analysts who see it as a threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Also called the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), it will establish the framework for U.S. military personnel visiting Sri Lanka at the invitation of the government and is still being negotiated by both nations, Teplitz said.

“The visiting forces agreement is an update to an existing agreement and it is designed to address a number of red tape issues,” Teplitz told state-run TV channel Rupavahini in an interview late on Saturday.

Giving the example of the 2017 floods in Sri Lanka, Teplitz said the government had sought help from the United States and it brought in relief supplies but the aeroplanes transporting them required clearance from the government.

The agreement would allow the United States to speed up these procedures, she said, so that when there is an emergency “we don’t spend time to cut through the red tape.”

Sri Lanka sits near one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in the Indian Ocean and over the last several years China has become a major investor, building ports and highways.

India, which is just next door, is starting to push back against China’s growing influence and so are the United States and Japan, experts say.

Teplitz had earlier this week dismissed the idea that the military pact had anything to do with China.

“China has nothing to do with the VFA; this is all about the long-standing bilateral partnership with Sri Lanka,” she said during a live Facebook chat on Wednesday.

She said the U.S. and Sri Lanka currently renegotiate certain administrative issues around entry and exit of military personnel before every single training or ship visit which takes up a lot of time.

The agreement lays down rules for the benefit of both countries - “meaning no base, no permanent presence of U.S. troops”, said Teplitz, adding that Sri Lanka retains the right to approve or deny all entry of people, vessels and aircraft.

The debate on the need to have such an agreement has taken center stage especially after the Easter Sunday attacks and is driving a deeper wedge between the country’s President Sirisena Maithripala and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who are already at loggerheads.

Sirisena said earlier in July he would not sign any military cooperation deals that are “unsuitable for the country”.

Days later Wickremesinghe told the parliament that negotiations are still on with the United States to agree on a pact but he too would not agree to anything that challenges Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

The Sri Lankan government on Thursday signed a USD 91.26 million contract with India to upgrade 130 kilometres long railway track connecting Maho and Omanthai town of the Island Nation.

The agreement was signed between IRCON International Limited and Government of Sri Lanka under the Indian Concessional Financing Scheme, a statement by the Indian High Commission in Colombo read.

The agreement includes the upgradation of 12 crossing stations, seven halt stations, and 78 level crossings between Maho and Omanthai. The statement noted that this would be the first upgradation of this 130-kilometre long railway line in over a hundred years.

The project is expected to double the speed potential of railway track from the current speed of 60 km to 120 km per hour, as well as reduce its maintenance cost. In addition, it will improve the travel comfort of passengers and contribute to the modernisation of Sri Lankan railways.

"The contract agreement was signed by Sunil Kumar Choudhury, Chairman & Managing Director, IRCON International Limited and LP Jayampathy, Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka, in the presence of Arjuna Ranatunga, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Sri Lanka," the statement read.

India has so far committed lines of credit worth around USD 1.3 billion for the development of the Railway sector in Sri Lanka. The restoration of arterial railway lines, connecting the North and the South after decades of conflict, was undertaken under Indian concessional financing.

The tsunami-affected Southern Railway line was also upgraded under the Indian Line of Credit. India has so far upgraded around 300 kilometres of railway track and provided modern signalling and telecommunication system for around 330 kilometres of track in Sri Lanka.

Thursday's agreement is in line with India's efforts to partner with Sri Lanka for people-oriented connectivity projects in the Island Nation.

Chairman of the Beliatta Pradeshiya Sabah, Cyril Munasinghe has been taken into custody in connection to an incident of assault.

Police said that the Chairman was arrested for assaulting a former Pradeshiya Sabha member on the 18th of July at the Pradeshiya Sabha auditorium.

Media Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara said that the arrest was made after Munasinghe surrendered himself to police custody today(22). The suspect is to be produced before the Tangalle Magistrate’s Court today.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec Corp, said it has set up a fuel oil company in Sri Lanka as it looks to supply fuel to ships along a major maritime route, reported Reuters.

The new unit, called Fuel Oil Sri Lanka Co Ltd, has been registered in Hambantota on the southern tip of the country, according to a report on the website of Sinopec Group, parent of Sinopec Corp.

Fuel oil is a refined product mostly used as bunker fuel for ships and is also burned in power stations.

The move marks the latest investment in Sri Lanka by China, which sees the South Asian island nation as a pivotal part of its Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure plan.

Sinopec stressed the strategic location of Hambantota port on the Indian Ocean along a key shipping route between the Suez Canal and the Malacca Strait, which is transited by two-thirds of global oil shipments. The market to supply fuel to ships had "huge" potential, it said.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has selected KPMG India, which is identified as one of the leading international providers of risk and financial services, and business advisory, to carry out part of the forensic audit on the issuance of Treasury Bonds as recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into the Central Bank issuance of Treasury Bonds.

However, it has now been revealed that KPMG India has sought more funds to carry out the audit.

The call for more funds has been made in lieu of the many telephone conversations that have to be transcribed by the auditors during the audit and the lack of officers with language knowledge in the Indian company.

Therefore, KPMG India would likely have to outsource the transcribing of telephone conversations to another party.

CBSL yet to decide

CBSL Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy has told a weekly English newspaper that the CBSL had completed the process of awarding five forensic audits and out of those five, one audit was handed over to KPMG India.

“There are altogether five audits where the procurement has been completed and one of those audits is being conducted by KPMG India,” he has said, adding that KPMG has sought additional funds to complete the forensic audit and the CBSL will make a final call on this request next month.

The Governor has explained that the audit firm would have to translate and transcribe millions of recordings before auditing them.

“They have requested for an additional fee for translations as they have to review millions of telephone recordings,” Dr. Coomaraswamy has noted.

According to the Governor, the total cost of all five forensic audits was approximately Rs. 300 million.

The two cases filed by the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID) against Namal Rajapaksa and three others for their alleged involvement in laundering money amounting to LKR 30 million through Gowers Corporate Services (Pvt) Limited between 2013 and 2014, were postponed till October 24 by Fort Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayarathne. Namal Rajapaksa is accused of using parliamentary privileges for personal benefit

Chief Magistrate has postponed the case as the advice sought from the Attorney General has not been received. Furthermore, after considering requests made by defence counsels, the Chief Magistrate lifted the travel ban imposed on Namal Rajapaksa, Sujani Bogollagama, Nithya Senani Samaranayake and Sudarshana Bandara.

Power and Energy Minister Ravi Karunanayake has submitted a memorandum to the Cabinet of Ministers seeking approval to procure a new office space to house his Ministry.

The Power and Energy Ministry is currently located at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo 7, which is part of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) headquarters.

The Minister has noted that a new building has to be taken out by the Ministry since the existing term of the lease period of No. 72, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7 will be terminated by 31 July 2019.

The Ministry has reportedly called for tenders with regard to a new office space and a favourable alternative had been presented to the Ministry.

The Minister’s Media Spokesperson Sulakshana Jayawardene has told the media that it was understood that presently, the office space was not suited to continue their functions as a ministry.

“The building does not have the required facilities for the Ministry to engage with diplomatic missions and international agencies,” Jayawardene has told the weekly English newspaper, The Sunday Morning.

The memorandum to the Cabinet has also stated that the complex was old with a decomposing roof and that on rainy days water leakages could be identified.

Jayawardene has noted that the current building was not sufficient for the office staff to carry out their duties due to a lack of office space.

“The Cabinet is yet to approve the request made by the Ministry,” Jayawardene has added.

World Bank Vice President for South Asia Region, Hartwig Schafer said that the World Bank will increase assistance to Sri Lanka under three of its new operations which include the agriculture sector faced with climatic vagaries, irrigation, renewable energy, climate resilience operations and renovation of tanks in rural areas, the President's Media Division said in a statement.

Schafer made these remarks when he called on President Maithripala Sirisena at the President’s Office today (18). Referring to the Easter Sunday terror attack and its impact on economy, he said that the World Bank would provide monetary assistance to reduce budget gap so that Sri Lanka could continue global borrowings with a sound economic footing.

President Sirisena expressed his gratitude to the World Bank for long standing financial support to Sri Lanka and underscored the World Bank’s support extended to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.

Expressing gladness over the quick recovery made by Sri Lanka after the terrorist attack, WB Vice President said that the global community stands by Sri Lanka at this moment of need.

Schafer, who is in Colombo to chair the World Bank Senior Regional Managers Meeting, said that the Bank decided to hold its annual session in Colombo to show solidarity with Sri Lanka as the country is trying to restore normalcy after the terrible terrorist attack on Easter Sunday.

He congratulated Sri Lanka for rising to the level of Upper Middle Income Country and said it’s a testimony of the country’s resilience.

WB Country Director Idah Z Pswarayi-Riddihough, IFC Country Manager Amena Arif, Senior Operations Officer Anne-Kartin Arnold and Additional Secretary to the President, Esala Weerakoon also took part in the discussion.

Minister Mangala Samaraweera has directed his lawyers to file cases demanding Rs. 1000 Million from Thiniyawala Palitha Thera for levelling false allegations against him and another Rs. 1000 Million each from Hiru Network head Reno De Silva and Derana Network head Dilith Jayaweera for publicizing the allegations without any verification.

However, while TNL had given more widespread publicity to Thiniyawala Thera’s comments, the Minister failing to take any legal action against the channel is now being questioned on social media. This is because TNL had given the news story almost 4 minutes of air time where the Thera made a number of false allegations against the Minister.

Do people watch that channel?

However, when asked about this, Minister Mangala Samaraweera said TNL is not a channel watched by the people of the country and therefore he felt no need to take legal action against them.

Noting his time as Minister of Media, he said that he was well aware of the ratings of each channel and therefore he felt there was no necessity to waste money to take legal action against a channel like TNL.

Meanwhile, it is reported that a Media Head in the Prime Minister's Media Unit, Ishini Wickremesinghe had intervened and pushed for the clips of Thiniyawala Thera making allegations against Minister Samaraweera to be telecasted on Rajapaksa aligned media. A close associate of Minister Mangala Samaraweera confirmed these reports.

A Personal Grudge

According to him, Ishini Wickremesinghe had once served as the Private Secretary to the Minister and due to a clash of views, she is now harbouring a personal grudge against the Minister.

Support for her Uncle or Gota!

He also added that during a conversation with the Minister, Ishini had once commented saying “If my Uncle does not get the Presidential candidacy, then I will work towards ensuring that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is brought into power." This had led to a heated discussion about bringing a military-like dictator Gotabhaya to power. The Minister had opposed this view saying he cannot condone putting the country’s people in danger in order to gain power. “The Minister had then informed her to resign from the post of private secretary,” he added.

According to him, since then Ishini has been nursing a personal grudge against the Minister. TNL had even aired a special feature during its news telecast thereafter to mark the birthday of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Ursula von der Leyen has been confirmed as the new president of the European Commission and has set out her vision for her five-year term.

The first female president and the first German in the job for more than 50 years, von der Leyen only narrowly won the backing of the European Parliament on Tuesday, with 383 MEPs voting for her, just nine more than the minimum needed to secure a majority, but below the 400 threshold that would signal stable support for her leadership and policies over her term.

Von der Leyen faced considerable opposition, partly because she was not one of the European Parliament’s chosen spitzenkandidaten who were aligned with the European Parliament’s competing political blocs, but instead emerged through negotiation among Europe’s national leaders.

Von der Leyen won support from MEPs through a series of left-leaning policies outlined in her address to the parliament on 16 July, winning over the Socialists and stressing the importance of her being the first woman to be nominated to the position.

Her biggest cross-party promise to MEPs is to allow the parliament the right to propose legislation – a function that has been exclusively the European Commission’s until now.

The concession is a response to criticisms of the European Union’s workings, especially from populists and nationalists who have attacked its institutions as anti-democratic, and who made major gains in the recent European parliament elections.

An ambitious EU environmental programme, including a ‘Green Deal’ vision was also contained in her speech, with the offer of billions of euros in investment and a new EU carbon border tax, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality across member states by 2050.

Von der Leyen takes over from Jean-Claude Juncker on 31 October – the very same day that the UK is due to leave the European Union.

Boris Johnson, set to be the next British prime minister, is currently pledging to fulfil this, with or without a withdrawal agreement, although he may well find his way blocked by MPs in Westminster.

Von der Leyen said she would be open to Brexit being delayed further “for a good reason” but insisted the withdrawal agreement would not be renegotiated, despite Johnson’s determination to drop the Irish ‘back stop’, so reviled by the Conservative party.

After her appointment was confirmed by the European Parliament vote, von der Leyen said: “The trust you place in me is confidence you place in Europe. Confidence in a united and strong Europe, from east to west, from south to north. The confidence in a Europe that is ready to fight for the future rather than fight against each other.”