News

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) will not be abolished and instead its board of directors has been reconstituted.

Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, who called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa separately on Tuesday, conveyed his government’s displeasure on the manner in which Sri Lanka reneged from its commitment in keeping with the 2019 Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) to develop the East Container Terminal of Colombo Port jointly with India, informed sources said.

A gazette notification was issued yesterday (02) relaxing the import restrictions imposed on tiles and ceramic products.

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a US$ 40 million (Rs. 7.5 billion) term loan facility to SDB bank to promote financial inclusion, resulting in more support to SMEs, particularly female-owned Small and Medium Enterprises.

Fuel price hike on the cards if no tax cut petrol and diesel are set to become costly as international oil prices continue to rise compelling the government to mitigate with appropriate tax reduction or removing import duty surcharges without burdening the public.

The Sri Lankan government has decided to reject the report compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet on the deterioration of human rights in Sri Lanka, Energy Minister Minister Udaya Gammanpila said.

They urged the  UNHRC to explore all possible options for advancing accountability in the country, including through further international accountability measures.

The UN experts also urged the Sri Lankan authorities to stop rolling back hard fought progress made in recent years on rebuilding democratic institutions, and to press for accountability for past crimes and deliver justice for victims and promote reconciliation between communities.

The independent experts published today an assessment of the government’s follow up to some 400 recommendations made following 10 official visits from 2015 to 2019.

They called on the Human Rights Council to continue its efforts to increase independent human rights monitoring in the country and to ensure accountability for past crimes.

“Human rights experts  are dismayed at the emerging trends setting back the promotion of reconciliation, accountability and human rights, reducing civic space.

They expressed concern on eroding important institutional safeguards for the protection of human rights, issues also raised in the High Commissioner’s report."

They pointed out that the the government’s increasingly majoritarian rhetoric was threatening victims and minority communities.

“The Easter Sunday terrorist attack in April 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic has put an enormous strain on the country. The national security centred response to these crises and the accelerated trend towards militarization of civilian public functions, including through the appointment of active and former military personnel allegedly implicated in war crimes, is alarming,” the experts said.

The Deputy High Commissioner of India, Vinod K Jacob, reiterated India's long standing and principled position on meaningful devolution through full implementation of 13th Amendment and Provincial Councils.

In the wake of spending LKR 10 billion to purchase 18 million Covid-19 vaccines, Sri Lanka is now ready to accept Russia’s offer to assist the country with manufacturing 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccines.

The quality of fish in multi-day fishing vessels with deep freezers is now under scrutiny of  the Fisheries Ministry.