report in The Island, Nov 9,2023Opposition MP Patali Champika Ranawaka on Tuesday claimed in Parliament that it was the Committee on Ways and Means that had paved the way for the collection of a part of the Rs 6,721 million to be collected from five liquor manufacturing companies which have defaulted on their taxes. Ranawaka said it was the Ways and Means Committee which recommended that bottles of liquor with counterfeit stickers should be confiscated.…
Posts published in “Sri Lanka”
Children fleeing probation, child-care issues: NCPA blames lack of facilities, institutional support
By Sahan Tennekoon in The Daily Morning, Nov 8, 2023The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said that the lack of required facilities and institutional support have intensified the issues persisting in the country’s probation and child-care sector. Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (7), the NCPA Chairman Udayakumara Amarasinghe said that some of the probation and child-care centres do not have the minimum facilities, and that therefore, many children have started fleeing such centres. He…
By Yohan Perera in Daily Mirror, Nov 8, 2023COLOMBO:- Sri Lanka has been identified as a soft target for cybercriminals, and according to the 21st edition of Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report. Cryptocurrency mining malware, where cybercriminals seek illicit profits by using victim’s computers to mine cryptocurrency coins such as Bitcoins have increased in the country, according to the Supreme Court determination on Online Safety Bill. According to the determination, concerns are growing over foreign involvement…
By Sheain Fernandopulle in Daily Mirror, Nov 8, 2023COLOMBO- While saying that people must take to the streets against the mismanagement of the economy, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said people should be ready to rally together even in defiance of existing legal restrictions. The MP asserted that it is imperative for individuals to express their discontent through demonstrations. “It’s high time for people to demonstrate their agitation more than ever, as this government has brought…
report in The Island, Nov 7, 2023The government would establish an independent authority to regulate microfinance institutions, State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told journalists yesterday (06). The draft laws on the agency, i.e., Microfinance and Credit Regulatory Authority, had been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, he said. Siyambalapitiya said about 11,000 microfinance institutions were operating in the country, but only five of them had been registered with the government. About three million Sri…
By Yohan Perera in Daily Mirror, Nov 7, 2023COLOMBO- The Supreme Court has dismissed the petitions filed against the Anti-Terrorism Bill. Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapaksa announced a short while ago in Parliament that the Supreme Court has informed that it cannot examine the Bill because it has not yet been included in the order book.https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Supreme-Court-dismisses-petitions-challenging-Anti-Terrorism-Bill/108-270756
report in Dailu Mirror, Nov 6, 2023The approval rating of the Government fell from 21% in June 2023 to 9% in October 2023 according to the latest round of the Gallup style ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll of Verité Research. The survey showed that satisfaction with the state of the nation also dropped by half to 6%, from 12% in June 2023. The economic confidence score also fell from negative (-) 44 in June to…
By SHIHAR ANEEZ in EconomyNext, Nov 5, 2023 at 10:54 pmChina has sought approval from Sri Lankan authorities for another research ship in early next year, but the approval is yet to be granted, two government sources said amid rising objections from the island nation’s neighbour, India, over the region’s security concern. The sources, however, said unlike the earlier approved requests, the latest has come without a local partner and the research area being decided…
Anti-Terrorism Bill: Concerns continue with calls for further reviewBy Skandha Gunasekara in The Sunday Morning, Nov 5, 2023Anti-Terrorism Bill: Concerns continue with calls for further reviewSri Lanka’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill, which was recently revised, has come under scrutiny from the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), raising concerns over its potential infringement on fundamental rights. The commission has submitted observations and recommendations to Minister of Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, calling for further revisions to…
report in The Sunday Morning, Nov 5, 2023The end-October deadline for the finalisation of Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring programme by the Paris Club consortium of the country’s creditors has been further delayed, with the consortium waiting to see the framework agreement on debt treatment reached between Sri Lanka and China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank), The Sunday Morning learns. Highly-placed Government sources told The Sunday Morning that the delay in the Paris Club consortium’s final proposal…
By Gagani Weerakoon in Ceylon Today, Nov 4.2023Higher echelons of the Government have issued directives to the committee, appointed to prepare a strategic plan for country’s national security, to submit their preliminary report to President Ranil Wickremesinghe within six months. Chief of Staff and Adviser on National Security Sagala Ratnayake has said instructions were given to prepare a strategic plan for the security of the country’s land and ocean, which should be given at the…