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Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is to strengthen state shareholding by issuing shares through a private placement to State Owned Businesses and Contribution Funds.

The aim is to fulfill 10 percent minimum limit of General Stock Exchange imposed by the Colombo Stock Market, SLT sources said.

Employees Provident Fund, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation ltd, and National Savings Bank have been directed to invest in the equity of SLT through the private placement subject to the approval of their respective board.

The cabinet of Ministers approved the joint proposal presented by Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera and Minister of Telecommunications, Foreign Employment, and Sports Harin Fernando for this purpose.

This will pave the way for state-run funds and banks to buy SLT shares to meet a public float requirement, a senior official of the SLT said.

According to the latest financial report the minimum public float of SLT was 5.52 percent.

The secretary to the Treasury (49.5 percent) and Global Telecommunications Holdings NV, (44.9 percent) are the two main shareholders of SLT.

The company’s present issued capital is Rs 18 billion and is represented by 1.8 billion ordinary voting shares.

Sri Lanka’s loss-making state-run retail store chain Lanka Sathosa is defaulting its suppliers of essential commodities,.

A group of leading commodity suppliers has already informed in writing to the President and the Prime Minister that Lanka Sathosa is delaying their payments running up to millions of rupees accumulated in the past couple of years.

They are also contemplating legal action against Sathosa management for breaching supplier’s contracts.

The state-run retailer is now trying to sell more high-margin grocery items in order to be profitable without paying dues to its suppliers, they alleged.

It has to sell essential food items at cost which account for 60 percent of revenue an official of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said.

There was  a mismatch that’s preventing us from becoming profitable, with high-margin goods accounting for around 40 percent of total revenue, he added.

Lanka Sathosa reported a 23 percent growth in revenue to 17 billion rupees during the first six months of 2018 from a year earlier, with un-audited profits somewhere around 45 million rupees, official data showed.

But even with some profits, the state-run retailer has defaulted commodity suppliers sending them from post to pillars.

Critics, including Sri Lanka’s Auditor General, have revealed that there is more to LakSathosa’s losses than simply selling goods below cost at tax-payer expense.

LakSathosa and the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment before that, had made chronic losses amid mismanagement and gone through repeated ‘restructuring’ and bailouts at people’s expense.

A Finance Ministry report in 2018 said there were stock losses of 2,331 billion rupees in 2016, and 1,845 billion rupees in 2017.

Indian high Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu called on the Sri Lankan construction sector for greater collaboration as India’s construction industry is expected to reach USD 1 trillion by 2025.

He pointed out that while the demand for new infrastructure should be met quickly and smoothly, there was also a need for demand to be studied first and to be catered to, in environment-friendly ways.

There was a need to harmonise growth trajectory with environment sustainability he said while expressing his happiness over presence of a number of Sri Lankan companies in the Indian market.

Indian High Commissioner was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of  the 8th Sri Lanka Buildcon International Expo & 7th Wood International Expo 2019 in Colombo yesterday (08).

Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka and Taranjit Singh Sandhu, High Commissioner of India inaugurated the exhibition.

Minister Ranawaka appreciated the role of the construction sector in uplifting the Sri Lankan economy.

He expressed hope that such exhibitions would facilitate greater international collaboration at the industry and people level.

The Minister also thanked the CII for organizing large scale Indian participation at the event.

More than 70 Indian companies with a focus on varied products and services related to Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC), Commercial & Residential Building Construction, and Government & Civil Infrastructure are participating in the Exhibition,

It is being supported by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of India.

The Attorney General (AG) has indicted former United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena over money laundering charges yesterday (5).

He was granted bail by the Colombo High Court after being indicted by the Attorney General.

The former MP was indicted by the Attorney General on the charge of money laundering amounting to over Rs 306.26 million, under Section 3 [1] [a] of Money Laundering Act No 05 of 2006 as amended by Act No 40 of 2011.

After indictment papers were served, the Colombo High Court has ordered the defendant be released on a cash bail of Rs 500,000 and two personal bails of Rs 5 million each. The judge has also called for a report after obtaining the defendant’s fingerprints.

The court has also issued a travel ban on Gunawardena and has directed him to hand over his passport to the court.

The case is to be taken up again on October 1.

Gunawardena was the Monitoring MP of the External Affairs Ministry during the previous Rajapaksa regime.

Related News:

AG serves indictment on Sajin

A decisive meeting is to take place between United National Party (UNP) Leader, Prime Minister Ranil Wicremesinghe and UNP Deputy Leader, Minister Sajith Premadasa tomorrow (8).

The meeting will focus on the UNP candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections.

The decision to hold a one to one meeting between Wickremesinghe and Premadasa was made at the meeting held yesterday (6) between the UNP Leader and 15 UNP ministers at Temple Trees.

Sunday’s scheduled meeting is expected to result in both leaders reaching a consensus on the UNP presidential candidate.

However, several media reports last night quoting sources said that Wickremesinghe at yesterday’s meeting had announced he would contest at the next presidential election.

Despite much discussion on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s (SLFP) stance at the next presidential election, SLFP Spokesperson, United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Weerakumara Dissanayake said the party is to field a candidate at the forthcoming presidential election.

Dissanayake observed that the SLFP General Secretary, MP Dayasiri Jayasekara has informed the Elections Commission of the party decision to field a candidate at the presidential election.

The decision was made amidst negotiations between the SLFP and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to form an alliance for upcoming elections.

SLFP MPs have requested President Maithripala Sirisena to contest as the party’s candidate at the next presidential election. Sirisena however has remained silent on the matter.

A third committee to probe the Easter Sunday attacks will take place when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appoints an independent committee to investigate the Easter Sunday attacks.

Wickremesinghe speaking at an event in Galle yesterday (6) said he will appoint an independent committee for the probe.

The Prime Minister’s decision comes in the wake of Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s repeated calls for an independent and transparent probe into the attacks.

According to the Prime Minister, the third committee will use the information gathered by the Presidential Committee as well as the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing Easter Sunday attacks to conduct further independent investigations.

Accordingly, in six months, the new committee would be able to declare the finding of the investigations, Wickremesinghe said.

General Secretary of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), MP Mahinda Amaraweera says President Maithripala Sirisena has consented to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks.

Amaraweera has told parliament that the PSC had informed the President to appear before the Committee.

“As the President, he could have refused the notice. But as a person who respected democracy, he gave his consent to appear before the PSC,” the MP has observed.

He has further stated that steps would be taken to prevent similar attacks in the future under the leadership of President Sirisena.

Arrangements have been made to send the extradition documents of former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjuna Mahendran after President Maithripala Sirisena signed the final documents yesterday (6).

Mahendran is an accused in the controversial Central Bank bond scam in 2015.

Earlier this week, the Attorney General’s Department handed over documents amounting to 21,000 pages to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka for authentication and transmission to the Government of Singapore.

The Government of Singapore meanwhile stated that it would consider the extradition request, but was awaiting the required documents.

United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader, Minister Sajith Premadasa said he will contest the next Presidential elections with the support
of UNP leader, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.

This statement was made by Premadasa at a massive public rally held in Kurunegala last evening. The event was attended by many government ministers, MPs, party organizers and the party’s representatives in provincial
as well as local government bodies.

The UNP Deputy Leader further noted that his hands were clean as he was not involved in corruption or any criminal activity.

“I don’t have blood in my hands. I don’t have any corrupt or criminal activities in my hands,” Premadasa charged.

He said that false allegations are being made against him and yet he was not shaken.

Premadasa further added that the more allegations are made against him the more determined he becomes to do more for the people.

The Kurunegala rally is the third such event organised by the UNP to support Premadasa’s candidacy at the next presidential election. Rallies were earlier held in Badulla and
Matara.

However, the UNP is yet to decide on its Presidential candidate and both Wickremesinghe and Jayasuriya are among the contenders apart from Premadasa.

What the survey says!

While speculation is still rife about the presidential candidate selection of UNP, the Party is silent on a survey they have conducted which says it all.

It has become clear why we see strong support within the Party for its Minister Sajith Premadasa to be nominated as the Presidential candidate for the 2019 Election. Per the survey, if there is one candidate who can take UNP to victory against the strong Rajapaksa base, it is its Deputy Leader, Minister Sajith Premadasa.

The survey indicates around 43% of the votes for UNP, if Sajith Premadasa is nominated as its Presidential candidate as opposed to only 17% of the votes if PM Ranil Wickremesinghe is nominated and a paltry 13% of the votes if Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is nominated as the candidate.

While nobody from the Party was available to comment, the survey is a clear indication that, with only few months left for the election, the only way UNP stands any chance to win this election is by nominating Sajith.

The survey also indicates that the feet on street approach of Sajith Premadasa on development activities has made him popular not just amongst the lower middle class but also amongst the youth and women who are fed up of the scams and corruption in the country. Per the survey, neither Rajapaksa or Ranil Wickremesinghe have scored well on any of these fronts. On the index of corruption alone, Sajith Premadasa’s clean image has helped him score 56%.

If the UNP does not act fast on its decision, it may very well give the victory in a platter to its opponent.

Sri Lanka discussed investment and trade opportunities with the Sri Lankan diaspora at a forum in the UK.

A roundtable presentation followed by a networking lunch on ‘Investment and Trade Opportunities in Sri Lanka’ for the British – Sri Lankan business community was held at the Holiday Inn Kensington High Street in London, the Foreign Ministry said.

In her opening remarks, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK Manisha Gunasekera welcomed the convening of the first diaspora outreach event organised under the Foreign Ministry’s Economic Diplomacy Programme.

She expressed the interest and intent of the Sri Lanka Government to build on this initiative and reach out to many more potential investors and business persons from the British – Sri Lankan community in the future.

She also requested the dissemination of information communicated at the forum among participant contacts and networks for optimum results.

The High Commissioner also appreciated the efforts of those community representatives who supported the event by tapping into potential investors and businesspersons who were thus engaged.

Selected members of the British – Sri Lankan community representing all ethnicities, i.e., Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim, with investment or trade potential or already engaged in business, participated in the roundtable on the invitation of the High Commission.

A black day was noted in parliament by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Bimal Ratnayake yesterday (5) due to the absence of all ministers from whom oral questions were raised during yesterday’s session.

“This is a black day in Parliament as none of the Ministers are present to answer all 15 oral questions raised from them,” Ratnayake has said.

“It’s been one year since we handed over some oral questions and none of them are answered by the ministers. What is the use of holding Parliamentary sessions if the Ministers cannot come and answer the questions that are raised by the MPs,” the MP has added.

Joining in, United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Ananda Aluthgamage has said it is better to dissolve the House and go for a snap general election as the function of the present Parliament had almost come to a standstill.

“Millions of rupees are being spent for sessions and all these go waste as Ministers are absent,” he has said.

Meanwhile, several back bench MPs of the governing party have also supported the views expressed by the opposition MPs.

United National Front (UNF) MP S. M. Marikkar has said parliamentary privileges of MPs have been violated by the Ministers by not being present in the House to answer the questions.

Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella has also said he would agree with the matter raised by the MPs.

“Ministers fail to attend sessions despite the advice given to them by the Prime Minister to give priority to Parliament,” he has said