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The current problems of the country have nothing to do with the laws and statutes but with the governance where the executive has taken over the functions of the judiciary, opposition lawmaker Eran Wickramaratne said.

In the wake of rising world market prices and rupee depreciation, LP Gas companies have made a request from the government authorities to increase the price of a 12.5 kg domestic LP gas cylinder by at least Rs. 407 with immediate effect, official sources said.

But the reality was that Sri Lanka’s soaring food prices at present were due to bad weather and intermediaries, and they will come down in time for April New Year, market sources revealed.

"It is well-known that vegetable prices were increasing rapidly in the last few months," a spokesman of a traders' association in Colombo said.

"The main reason for this was the climate situation which resulted in excess rain in both upcountry and low country regions simultaneously," he added. 

Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index decreased to 3% in January 2021 from 4.2% in December 2020, Central Bank claimed. 

Further, non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 1.4% in January 2021 from 2.0% in December 2020.

The change in the CCPI measured on an annual average basis decreased to 4.3% in January 2021 from 4.6% in December 2020.

Responding to the government’s decision to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) on its own, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said India expects the expeditious implementation of the trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed in May 2019 among India, Japan and Sri Lanka for the development of ECT.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a Special Presidential Commission to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into political victimisation. The three member Commission will be headed by Supreme Court JudgeDhammika Priyantha Samarakoon. Supreme Court Judge Khema Kumuduni Wickramasinghe and Appeal Court Judge Rathnapriya Gurusinghe have been appointed as the other members of the commission.

In January 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed a three-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry to inquire into political victimizations that have taken place from 2015 to 2019.

The Commission were tasked with investigating incidents of political victimisation which had taken place in the wake of investigations conducted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), FCID, CID, and the Special Investigation Unit of the Police from January 8, 2015, to November 16, 2019.

The final report of the Commission consisting of three volumes and 2043 pages was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat on December 08, 2020.

Former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has warned that the military coup in Myanmar is a red light for Sri Lanka.

 General Secretary of the Independent Port Employees Union D.K. Jayasekera, General Secretary of the Jathika Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) Thushara Mendis, President of the Jathika Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya of the Engineering Corporation Sameera Sudarshana and its General Secretary Nalaka Silva were also present at the press conference.

The allegations levelled by Karunathilaka Herath comes in the wake of reports on social media which stated that both members of the government and the opposition are receiving monthly wages from the Adani Group of India and as a result, are acting according to the whims and fancies of the Indian conglomerate.
 
However, it is now being revealed how the Chinese Yuan played a role behind the spate of protests that were initiated against the move to bring in Indian investment for the development of the ECT.

The company has expressed its willingness to help establish milking sheds and chilling centres in the Government proposed lands.

With announcements of special lands being promised incidentally, The proposed chilling centres and milking sheds will help farmers milk their cows in a safe and clean environment, collect the milk and store them in chilling centres.

This will be an immense support in getting it delivered to the company on time thereby also increasing the productivity and efficiency of the industry, official sources said.  

The whole process will be able to be easily monitored and cleared by the veterinarians and health officials.

Commenting on the announcement to establish such sheds, Pelwatte Dairy Industries Managing Director Akmal Wickramanayake said: “they believe that these establishments will help secure spots for milking, storage and act as points of collection and transportation."

The milking sheds will be equipped with all necessary equipment as milking machines, required infrastructure and facilities to provide a comfortable environment for the cattle and the farmers.

The milking systems will be established as such as to provide a constant and repeatable environment every day, ensuring safe and healthy practices.

Milking machines will help mitigate the risks and improve quality and overall speed, as opposed to doing it by hand.

The facility will also arrange and mitigate overcrowding and spoilage before processing.

The sheds will act as direct one stop contact points to the company’s delivery system thereby establishing a steady stream of delivery processes ensuring that the milk reaches the chilling centres and factory in time.

Myanmar's military seized control of the country on Monday and detained leading politicians, including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.