News

Lanka Sathosa has slashed the prices of six essential food items, including dried chillis and lentils.

Accordingly, the revised prices will be effective from tomorrow (26 Jan.), at all Lanka Sathosa stores across the island.

Listed below are the price revised prices; Dried Chillis – Rs. 1,700/kg White Raw Rice (local) – Rs. 169/kg Red Kekulu Rice – Rs. 179/kg White Nadu Rice – Rs. 184/kg Keeri Samba Rice – Rs. 235/kg Red Dhal – Rs. 365/kg

None of the decisions taken without the full quorum of the Election Commission are considered valid, said Dr. Prathibha Mahanama Hewa.

The former chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka noted the May 09 date announced for the local government polls is yet to be gazatted.

People will know for certain if the Election Commission’s decision was unanimous or divided, only after the issuance of the gazette.

According to the law, the election date becomes valid only after it is gazetted, and an announcement through the media does not carry any weight, he said.

The Election Commission is in limbo in the background of the Constitutional Council’s meeting due to January 25, he said.

Mahanama Hewa said the gazette should contain the names of all its five members, as in the case of the gazette that had announced the calling in of nominations.

The Export-Import Bank of China has offered Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on its debt and said it will support the country's efforts to secure a $2.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.

India wrote to the IMF earlier this month, saying it would commit to supporting Sri Lanka with financing and debt relief, but the island nation also needs the backing of China in order to reach a final agreement with the global lender.

China's Jan. 19 letter, sent to the finance ministry, however, may not be enough for Sri Lanka to immediately gain the IMF's approval for the critical loan, a Sri Lankan source with knowledge of the matter said.

Regional rivals China and India are the biggest bilateral lenders to Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people that is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades.

According to the letter, the Export-Import Bank of China said it was going to provide "an extension on the debt service due in 2022 and 2023 as an immediate contingency measure" based on Sri Lanka's request.

At the end of 2020, China EXIM bank had loaned Sri Lanka $2.83 billion which is 3.5% of the island's debt, according to an IMF report released in March last year.

"...you will not have to repay the principal and interest due of the bank's loans during the above-mentioned period," the letter said.

"Meanwhile, we would like to expedite the negotiation process with your side regarding medium and long-term debt treatment in this window period."

Sri Lanka owed Chinese lenders $7.4 billion, or nearly a fifth of its public external debt, by the end of last year, calculations by the China Africa Research Initiative showed.

"The bank will support Sri Lanka in your application for the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to help relieve the liquidity strain," the letter said.

The Sri Lankan source, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the confidential discussions, said the island nation had hoped for a clear assurance from Beijing on the lines of what India provided to the IMF.

"China was expected to do more," the source said, "This is much less than what is required and expected of them."

Sri Lanka's foreign and finance ministries and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters.

Sri Lanka's central bank chief P. Nandalal Weerasinghe said on Tuesday that the country hoped for assurances from China and Japan, another major bilateral lender, soon and complete debt restructuring in six months.

Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) has been suspended by FIFA from January 21st 2023 until further notice.

The suspension is reportedly due to third party interference in matters related to the FFSL as the Sri Lankan authorities had deviated from the agreed roadmap and complaints over the Sri Lanka football elections held on January 14th.

Consequently, The FFSL representative and club teams are therefore no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted.

A committee is to be appointed to probe into issues that have arisen in connection with the white water rafting water sport in Kithulgala due to the Broadlands hydroelectric project, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake has issued instructions to appoint the committee to look into the problems that have arisen in connection with the water sport around the Kitulgala area and to make recommendations on possible solutions.

The President’s Secretary issued these instructions during the discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (23) to find possible solutions to the said issues.

He also advised that this committee, comprising officials from the Ministry of Tourism and line institutions, conduct a field investigation into the issues raised and submit a report within two weeks.

White water rafting in the Kitulgala area has drawn a large number of local and foreign tourists.

According to those who provide related services, the Broadlands hydroelectricity project has had a significant impact on the operation of the Kithulgala water rafting industry. As a result, their livelihoods have been greatly impacted, and they have requested the authorities to help save this sport, which has the potential for earning foreign exchange for the country.

The Director of Broadlands Hydropower Project, who participated in this discussion, stated that steps have been taken to cooperate with the Kithulgala white water rafting service provider community in accordance with existing technical arrangements.

However, the President’s Secretary drew attention to the practical issues raised by the community providing relevant services and directed officials to provide solutions as soon as possible.

Member of Parliament Rajika Wickramasinghe, Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs K. Mahesan, Secretary of the Irrigation Ministry U.D.C. Jayalal, and officials from the Ministry of Tourism, Ceylon Electricity Board, Central Environment Authority, and other line institutions took part in this discussion.

Thushara Sanjeewa Vitharana has been removed as mayor of the Kurunegala Municipal Council effective from December 31, 2022.

Northwestern province governor Wasantha Karannagoda has issued a gazette notification to this effect after the 2023 budget of the Kurunegala MC was defeated.

Now, the position of its mayor is deemed vacant, according to the notification.

The Supreme Court today (24) sentenced retired Army Major Ajith Prasanna to four years of rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs. 300,000 after finding him guilty to a contempt of court charge.

Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional six months behind bars, a three-member judges panel decided.

The attorney general filed the case against Prasanna over his criticism of a ruling by a five-member SC judges panel at a media briefing on January 19, 2020.

The upcoming Local Government (LG) election will be held on 09 March 2023.

This was announced by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka today (21 Jan.).

The accepting of nominations for the upcoming election commenced at 08:30 a.m. on 18 January, and closed at 12 noon today.

The acceptance of cash deposits for the election also closed yesterday (20 Jan.), after it began on 18 Jan.

Meanwhile, the Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill was also passed in Parliament on Thursday (19 Jan.), with a majority of 61 votes.

The Bill was passed in Parliament with 97 votes in favour, while 36 MPs voted against the Bill.

Several political parties in the opposition including the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), however, expressed their discontent about scheduling the debate for today, citing the government’s attempts to pass the bill hastily in a bid to postpone the local government election, while various election monitoring organisations too, have raised concerns pertaining to the Bill, deeming the law inadequate.

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) contributed a sum of Rs. 03 billion to the Treasury. Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara officially handed over the cheque to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat today (23).

Considering the current economic situation of the country, the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has provided this amount from the operational surplus received last year, to use for essential services such as to purchase of medicine, to purchase of paddy and the payment of government employee salaries.

Previously, the total amount of money given to the Treasury by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment was Rs. 3.38 billion, and this is the first time in history that Rs. 03 billion has been given in a single contribution.

The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has taken steps to make a grant of Rs. 500 million for the purchase of the necessary medicines for the Cancer Hospital, of which a cheque of Rs. 100 million was also presented to the President.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe handed over the cheque to Heath Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

--PMD

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has decided not to impose power outages after 07:00 p.m. during the period in which the 2022 G.C.E Advanced Level Examination is scheduled to take place.

The decision was taken following a request made by the Department of Examinations, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayaka explained, adding that the decision was also made in accordance with the requirements of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

The 2022 G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination is scheduled to be held from 23 January to17 February at 2,200 centres across the island.

Meanwhile, power will be interrupted for 02 hours and 20 minutes, one hour during the daytime and one hour 20 minutes during night, for all groups today (21 Jan.) and tomorrow (22 Jan.).

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) says it has approved power cuts of 2 hours on 24th January (Tuesday).

Rolling power cuts had been imposed for 2 hours and 20 minutes over the past couple of days.

Accordingly, the two-hour power cuts will be imposed tomorrow as follows;

Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW - 40 minutes during daytime and 1 hour 20 minutes during night

Sri Lanka and India have reached an agreement to implement a joint programme between the two nations, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

According to the PMD, the agreement was reached during a meeting between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and visiting Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe warmly welcomed the Indian External Affairs Minister at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (20) where the duo engaged in cordial discussions. Prior to the official meeting, President Wickremesinghe hosted the visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar for breakfast and tea at his official residence at Paget Road, Colombo.

In addition, in the official meeting held between the President and Indian Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, many political, economic and social issues as well as investment matters between the two countries were discussed at length.

During this discussion, special attention was paid to the debt-restructuring program in Sri Lanka which had received a positive response from the Indian government.

The Indian External Affairs Minister recalled that in 1991, during the tenure of former Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, India had to face an economic crisis similar to what Sri Lanka is currently facing. He added that the Indian Government overcame the crisis by pledging the government’s gold reserves.

Therefore, Dr Jaishankar said that India has a good understanding of the situation Sri Lanka is currently facing and said that the Indian government will provide all possible support to solve the current economic problems faced by Sri Lanka.

The bilateral agreement related to raising the limit of the High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) implemented in Sri Lanka with the support of the Government of India was also signed during the meeting.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Siriwardena, signed the agreement on behalf of Sri Lanka and the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay signed on behalf of India.

This agreement guides many community development projects in Sri Lanka with the support of the Government of India. This agreement related to community development projects in Sri Lanka was signed in May 2005. Its individual project limit was Rs. 300 million, which will now be doubled to Rs. 600 million by the agreement signed today.

Meanwhile, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka in 2017, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of an Academy for Kandyan dancing as a gift given to Sri Lanka by the Indian Government and its people. The Indian Foreign Minister also virtually declared open the academy, which was built in close proximity to the historical Dalada Maligawa in Kandy.

The President and the Indian External Affairs Minister, also virtually handed over of 300 completed houses in Galle, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya – (100 houses each) under the housing project implemented in Sri Lanka with the support of the Indian Government.

In this project of 60,000 houses, 50,000 houses have already been completed. The third phase of the project of 400 houses for the people of the upcountry estate sector is currently underway and over 3,300 houses built under it have already been completed and are ready to be handed over to the beneficiaries.

The handing over of houses built in Anuradhapura and Badulla districts under the “Model Village Housing Program” implemented with the support of the Government of India for low-income families in Sri Lanka, were also symbolically handed over to the beneficiaries.

Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Presidential Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayake, President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake and other officials and a special Indian delegation attended the discussion.