News

Results of the 2017 GCE Ordinary Level examination will be released in the afternoon today (March 28), Department of Examinations noted.

Commissioner of Examinations, Sanath Poojitha, said all preparations have been made to release the results via www.doenets.lk

The number of candidates who sat for the examination in 5116 examination centres is 688,573. The Department says 429,493 were school candidates while 259,080 were private candidates.

At the request of Government of Sri Lanka, High Commission of India organized an awareness workshop in Taj Samudra, Colombo on Goods and Service Tax (GST) on 23 March 2018. A three-member delegation from Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Government of India headed by Commissioner Mr. Upendra Gupta conducted the workshop. Ms. Sonali Wijeratne, Director General, Department of Commerce, Government of Sri Lanka and Mr. Arindam Bagchi, Deputy High Commissioner of India were also present. Several officials from various Ministries/Departments of Sri Lanka, representatives of the trade chambers, members from the industry etc. were also present. The discussions highlighted the fact that Sri Lankan exporters will now have access to hitherto unexplored markets of various states(provinces) in India, thanks to uniform rates of taxation all over India under the new GST Act.

Launched in July 2017, GST is hailed as India’s biggest tax reform since independence. GST has resulted in economic integration of India, by subsuming more than a dozen State and Central levies into one tax. GST has unified 29 states of India into a common national market for the first time. [One nation, One tax]. GST has also substantially increased ease of doing business in India. GST has mitigated cascading effects in taxation as well as ensured transparency, certainty and simplicity.

The new GST system will bring down the cost of imports and exports for Sri Lanka from/to India. The traders based in Sri Lanka will not have to bear the cost of any indirect tax except the basic customs duty and Social Welfare Surcharge, as applicable. Traders in India can now claim GST paid on imported goods as tax credit from Government of India.

Major General Dampath Fernando has been appointed the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army.

Fernando, formerly the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army was the Security Forces Commander in Mullaitivu previously. He is a highly decorated officer with a distinguished career who has commanded two infantry battalions, two brigades and three Infantry divisions in the north and eastern provinces and had taken part in many large and small scale operations.

He is also an outstanding sportsman who had represented Sri Lanka in basketball. Fernando joined the Army in 1983 with Intake 18 at the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa.

He was commissioned into Gemunu Watch Regiment and started his career as a Second Lieutenant. Presently he is the Colonel of the Gemunu Watch Regiment.

During his illustrious military career, he has held many important positions in the army in the fields of operations, training and staff.

Having been reinstated to the Army in 2015 by President Maithripala Sirisena, he gradually rose up to the position of Chief of Staff proving his professionalism and thus maintaining the correct protocol and seniority in the Army.

Source : Daily News

The Road to Rights, a Sri Lankan youth led organisation founded in 2009, was awarded the “Peoples Choice Award for the year 2018” at the Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development, organized by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Action Campaign.

The Global Festival of Action for Sustainable Development is an international gathering which aims to catalyze action on the UN SDGs worldwide. The competition saw the participation of over 700 organizations worldwide representing different countries and different fields of action.

The core principals of the Road to Rights form around the concept of creating awareness on human rights and the 2030 agenda thus empowering youth and creating a community which shares love and values interpersonal respect.

For the past 9 years, The Road to Rights has launched many successful campaigns island wide such as “Purposeful Play”, “Senses and souls”, iLead, YouthVote, human rights friendly cities, Rock the city, and Green girls.

 “Remember this, we are the last generation to act on climate change. The world is in our hands, so let’s act together” – Ashan Perera at the award ceremony in Germany.

Ashan Perera began volunteering when he was just 8 years old and the organisation is the fruition of one boy's passionate dream to serve marginalized groups and members of society. Despite facing many obstacles and challenges, he has been able to create a youth led organisation that involves and inspires many young individuals in Sri Lanka while extending the reach of the 'Road to Rights' to 18 countries across the globe.

Foreign tours of all Government Ministers and MPs have been cancelled from April 2 to 6 in view of the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the Prime Minister.

Speaking to the media at the Sirikotha UNP Head Office, UNP MP Ashu Marasinghe said all Government MPs currently overseas have been asked to cut short their visits and return to the country by April 1.

“The NCM is not only targeting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but also the Government. We will definitely defeat it and turn it around as a confidence motion on the Government. The Joint Opposition at the Party Leader’s Meeting wanted to delay the NCM and asked that it be taken up only after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The Government decided to give priority to it,” Prof. Marasinghe said.

He said no member in the Government ranks has the moral right to support the NCM, adding that those who signed the motion must resign from their portfolios before April 4. “After the NCM, we will start a new journey with new vigour. Those who dragged the Government from its feet have no place in it,” the MP said.

He said a decision on extending the Memorandum of Understanding between the UNP and SLFP would be taken after the NCM on April 4. “We hope that many SLFP members will continue to work with the UNP” he added.

He also said the UNP Working Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to decide on party reforms, adding that those changes could be expected before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The MP was confident of defeating the NCM even if the SLFP decides to vote in favour. “We have contingency plans. It is a good opportunity to expose and expel the Government members with double-standards.We can clean-up the Government and go ahead,” he said.

UNP backbenchers Wijayapala Hettiarachchi and Prof.Ashu Marasinghe were of the view that the JO’s NCM against the Prime Minister and Government invariably applies to the President as well because he is the Head of Government as per the Constitution.

Quoting the Constitution, they pointed out the President is a member of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers. “This is a conspiracy and it will not end by removing PM Wickremesinghe.The next target would be the Speaker and the President,” they said.

Source : Daily News

Sri Lanka Customs officials at the Colombo International Airport in Katunayake early this morning have arrested a Chinese national when he attempted to illegally smuggle a stock of gems worth over Rs 20 million into the country.

The 39-year-old Chinese man has arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport on a Cathay Pacific flight from Shanghai around 11:25 last night.

The customs officials have found 12 cut and polished precious stones each packed in a small box in his hand luggage.

The stock of gems containing sapphires, cat's eyes, star stones, and rubies weighed 68.87 carats and worth Rs. 21.1 million, according to the Customs.

Further investigations are being carried out on the instructions of Customs Director O.M. Jabeer.

Source : Colombo Page

The Treasurer of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Minister S.B. Dissanayake, said that it is hard to oppose the Joint Opposition’s no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister as a party and as an alliance. However, he said that the SLFP has not made a final decision and that there is no need to topple the government.

Minister Dissanayake made these remarks while addressing a press conference at the SLFP headquarters today (27). He further said that the party will make a decision soon.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) member Nawalage Stanley Dias was elected as the Mayor of the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council this morning.

He received 23 votes while UNP mayoral candidate Sunethra Ranasinghe received 21 votes.

Kirthi Udawatte of SLFP was elected as the Deputy Mayor with 25 votes.

Four members of the JVP abstained from voting

Former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunge had been arrested by the Dubai authorities yesterday (26), Ravi Waidyalankara, the Senior DIG in charge of the FCID told the Daily News.

He said that the Dubai authorities had arrested him based on the investigations and submissions made by the FCID.

Currently, the FCID is in discussion with the Dubai authorities with regard to handing Weeratunga over to the Sri Lankan authorities. He had been arrested by the Dubai authorities last morning.

Previously, a special team comprising officers from the FCID, Criminal Investigation Division (CID), Foreign Ministry (FM), Attorney Generals’ Department and Department of Immigration and Emigration was sent to Dubai to bring the former ambassador back based on a warrant obtained from the Colombo Fort Magistrate.

Earlier this year Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne had also ordered to suspend the transactions of 16 bank accounts with a balance of USD 1.5 million maintained by Weeratunga in connection with the inquiry conducted into the purchase of Ukraine-built MiG-27 aircraft in 2006.

Project Management, Youth Affairs and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said the government, over the past three years, has launched over 55,000 development projects in various part of the country and it has spent over Rs. 1 million on each project.

"It's tragic that we have failed to communicate this effectively to the public. Development communication must be at the heart of the government propaganda," Ratnayaka said today (26), addressing a meeting on developing infrastructure in rural areas.

Home Affairs Minister Vajira Abeywardena, Prime Minister's Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Secretary of the Ministry of Media and Finance Dr. R. H.S. Samaratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of Project Management, Youth Affairs and Southern Development Gamini Seneviratne and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister Saman Athaudahetti were also present at the meeting.

"There is a dire need for a comprehensive campaign on what we have done for the public. The people at the grassroots level are unaware of the crucial decisions made at the top level. These issues need to be corrected. One would say it's too late now, but we must understand the importance of these corrective measures," he added.

"Development alone is not enough to stay on top of our game. The due value should be given to communication as well," Ratyanaya said, adding that immediate measures have to be adopted to fill this 'communication-gap'.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will not support the no-confidence motion party insiders said. According to sources, the party has decided to not support the Joint Opposition in the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.

However, the TNA official was recently quoted as saying it would take a decision regarding the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe only on April 2 during their parliamentary group meeting.

Meanwhile Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) General Secretary and Minister, Patali Champika Ranawaka has said his party too will not support the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe submitted by a group involved in serious financial crimes much worse than the Central Bank bond scam.

He told a news conference that the government had carried out a proper investigation into the scam and brought the culprits to book.

“We have been of the view from the very beginning that the culprits involved in the bond scam should be brought to book. The bond scam had not only caused direct loss to the government but has also resulted in an economic crisis due to the increase in interest rates. The government appointed a PCoI on the matter and arrested those implicated. The government has taken proper action over the matter unlike during the Rajapaksa regime," the minister said.

He said the no-confidence motion was presented by a group involved in serious financial crimes such as MIG deal, which caused a US$6.8 million loss to the State.

“These frauds are worse than the CB bond scam. So we are not supporting a no-confidence motion brought in by such people,’ he said and added that there should be immediate reforms in the government and in the UNP, he said.

The Sri Lankan Navy has sent back more than 2000 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were fishing illegally in Sri Lanka's territorial waters on Sunday. The fishermen, however, have accused the Navy of snapping their fishing nets.

Detention of Indian fishermen by Lankan authorities is frequent, as they often cross the International Maritime Boundary Line for fishing in its waters. On March 3, over 2,500 fishermen from Rameswaram were allegedly sent back by the Lankan Navy while they were fishing near Katchatheevu.

Sri Lanka has long fumed over poaching and illegal fishing by Indian fishermen stating that it depletes the catch of its own fishermen.