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JO MP Kumara Welgama says he has no need to answer to Rtd. Major Ajith Prasanna. “Why should I answer to a man known by the whole country as insane” he questioned. 

The MP made these comments following a public meeting held recently. 

According to Welgama, Ajith Prasanna is a person who had to leave his residential area and contest in a different area in the election. The MP pointed out that he is a crazy person who was not even able to gather 5000 votes. “Why should I talk to someone like that?” he asked. 

Recently Ajith Prasanna had claimed that Welgama is being blackmailed by the government and he is therefore now leaking information regarding the JO to it. 

Speaking at the event, however, Welgama continued to voice his dissent against Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the next possible presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe says Sri Lanka Navy has been advised to emphasize on anti-submarine warfare. According to him the number of shore patrol vessels are also being increased. 

Attending an event in Colombo today Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe said the Hambantota port is being given far more publicity than deserved in recent times due to claims that the port could become a Chinese naval base. “But the agreement with China Merchant is that the security of the Hambantota port will be with the Sri Lanka government and the Sri Lankan armed forces,” he said adding that this was accepted. The Prime Minister said the government has now taken steps to move the Naval Southern Command from Galle to Hambantota as well as a result. 

According to him, the Indo-pacific concept put forward by the USA is being seen by China as a mechanism to contain China in the Indian and Pacific Oceans thereby increasing its strategic vulnerability. According to him, Sri Lanka also appears to have become entangled in the issue due to partnerships with Chinese organizations for the construction of the Hambantota Harbour and the Port City. 

The Prime Minister said discussions are now being carried out with the India Airport Company for a Private Public Partnership between them and the Civil Aviation Authority to manage the Mattala international airport.  According to him, therefore, no one can accuse the government of handing over projects to only China.

Thailand is proposing the use of the early harvest scheme (EHS) during the first round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks with Sri Lanka to accelerate implementation, as discussions began on Friday (14).

Deputy Commerce Minister of Thailand Chutima Bunyapraphasara said the EHS will help the FTA Sri Lanka to accelerate the negotiations faster as it usually takes 2-3 years at the soonest before a pact is settled.

President Maithripala Sirisena and Thai Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha, jointly announced the first round of FTA talks on Thursday after meeting in Colombo.

Sri Lanka is the fourth-largest trading partner of Thailand in South Asia and during 2013-17, bilateral trade between Thailand and Sri Lanka averaged US$ 491 million (16.4 billion baht) per year.

Ms. Chutima said Sri Lanka wants Thailand to open imports for Sri Lankan products, particularly for agricultural products such as tea, fruit, textile, jewellery, while Colombo is calling for more investment from Thai investors.

Thai companies are set to invest in Sri Lanka in the sugar and sugar cane, furniture, cement and agricultural industries, she said.

Former Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines Nishantha Wickremesinghe, the brother in law of Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa came into the board of Sri Lankan Airlines in 2008 and thereafter was made Chairman in 2010, where he demanded a monthly remuneration of Rs. 500,000.

At the Commission on Wednesday, the company secretary Dalrene Thirukumar produced what is called the Cost Center Document for the Chairman’s office which lists out the expenses of Nishantha Wickremesinghe excluding his salary and allowances. As per the witness’s testimony, the Chairman’s salary and allowances are handled by the office of the company secretary.

The Chairman’s Office consists of only the Secretary to the Chairman and the Executive Secretary.

From 2008 – 2009 the basic salary for the Chairman’s office staff was Rs. 288,000, however, after Wickremesinghe was made Chairman in 2010, that figure rose to Rs. 557,000. This is just for two employees serving in the Chairman’s office. In 2013 – 2014, the basic salary for the Chairman’s office staff reached Rs. 3.812 Million and dropped top Rs. 2.977 Million for the next financial year.

The entertainment expenditure reimbursements in the Cost Center Document notes, from 2009 to 2010 the figure was just Rs 46,000.

However, in the following year, that figure rose to Rs. 496,000 and was above Rs 150,000 each year until 2014, where it was Rs. 473,000.

Then we come to the “Duty Travel Overseas” column in the Cost Center Document. These numbers include the expenses of the Chairman as well. Let’s have a breakdown as follows.

2008 – 2009: Rs. 532,000
2009 – 2010: Rs. 184,000
2010 – 2011: Rs. 1,306,000
2011 – 2012: Rs. 3,133,000
2012 – 2013: Rs. 5,109,000
2013 – 2014: Rs. 6,346,000
2014 – 2015: Rs. 9,028,000

So in the latter part of his career as Chairman of the national airlines, his cost centre document for overseas travel shows a staggering number of just over Rs 9 Million.

The commission of inquiry also drew its attention towards the “Telephone Rentals” listed in the cost centre document. These number include chargers and trunk calls.

2008 – 2009: Rs. 22,000
2009 – 2010: Rs. 337,000
2010 – 2011: Rs. 460,000
2011 – 2012: Rs. 692,000
2012 – 2013: Rs. 873,000
2013 – 2014: Rs. 1,468,000
2014 – 2015: Rs. 1,056,000

So, when looking at those numbers, one would actually question who were they talking to for the airlines to incur such a cost.

Another key highlight in the proceedings on Wednesday was the Sales Related Pax Cost which can be defined as the cost for excess baggage. According to the witness, Commercially Important Passengers get their excess baggage cost waived off as per a policy and this revenue is usually lost by SriLankan Airlines.

According to the witness, this cost is shown in the cost centre document because Nishantha Wickremesinghe had waived off the cost for someone’s excess baggage and wants the airline to pay for that.

2008 – 2009: Rs. 32,000
2009 – 2010: Rs. 703,000
2010 – 2011: Rs. 00.000
2011 – 2012: Rs. 2,652,000
2012 – 2013: Rs. 1,986,000
2013 – 2014: Rs. 1,837,000
2014 – 2015: Rs. 516,000

In total from 2008 to 2015, Nishantha Wickremsinghe had waived off a sum of Rs. 7,726,000.

Speaking to News 1st an expert in ticketing and airlines baggage handling said, the usual rate for excess baggage carried by a commercially important passenger per kilogram would be between Rs. 2500 and Rs. 3000.

If we do the match, Rs. 7.7 Million would have been for around 03 tonnes which is equal to the combined weight of 36 grown men.

According to the witness, only the Commercial Department at SriLankan Airlines would be able to say who the Commercially Important Passengers were for these particular flights.

Source: Newsfirst

Deputy Minister Dunesh Gankanda has suggested that former Secretary of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa should take up one out of the two existing vacancies for an executioner at the Department of Prisons. 

He made these comments while attending a public meeting held in Ratnapura. 

According to him, the other vacancy could also be filled by a Rajapaksa. “They can take a pick as to who can be given the post from the family” he added.

Addressing the Subhaga Scholarship Awards Ceremony held at the Temple Trees yesterday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the New Education Standard Act comprising all the changes required to enhance the quality of the country’s education will be introduced in the near future.Wickremesinghe underscored that during the past three years, the government had implemented several programmes for the improvement of facilities in schools. But, the qualitative development of education in Sri Lanka is not up to the mark.

“Paying our attention towards quality education is an important factor. We have to provide scope and ensure quality education.

I have already instructed Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam to take necessary measures to develop national standards for education,” the Premier said.

The Prime Minister further said that the quality of education will improve the learning process. But, improving the quality of education is not an overnight development.

“Qualified and trained teachers, better infrastructural facilities, up-to-date curriculum and regular assessments of the students are the main tools of ensuring quality education,” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that education inspectors in England is considered as a very important profession and they care called Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education. They are responsible for the inspection of public and independent, primary and secondary schools, higher education colleges, community learning, Local Authority Education Departments and teacher education.

“The contribution of teachers is significant in ensuring the quality of the country’s education system. Therefore,it is essential to engage trained teachers in all schools to strengthen the teaching and learning process,” the Prime Minister said.

“The government has focused special attention towards all teacher requirements such as teacher recruitment to schools, training, national policy on teacher transfers, grading and promotions of teachers, teacher salaries and welfare services,” the Prime Minister said.

“Measures would be taken to make teacher training compulsory within the next four to five years. So the teachers who have not yet undergone training should complete their training by then,” the Premier added.

Writing to President Maithripala Sirisena regarding the government’s recent decision to re-introduce the death penalty the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has stressed that imposing the punishment is a human rights violation. Chairperson of the Commission Dr Deepika Udagama said having written to the President on January 1, 2016, the commission had made recommendations to remove the death penalty from the country’s legal system, the HRC is dismayed at the recent decision taken. 

She also said in the letter that the commission does not feel implementing the death penalty can address the issue of drug trafficking. According to them implementing the death sentence will only contribute negatively to a society where the public has lost faith in the justice system.

Udagama also reminded the President of a set of recommendations issued in 2016 which called for the abolition of the death penalty in Sri Lanka in keeping with Sri Lanka’s commitment to a more humane society consonant with human rights principles and values.

Full text of the letter :

President Maithripala Sirisena and the visiting Prime Minister of Thailand, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, held bilateral consultations yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat and discussed matters of mutual interest to deepen cooperation between the two countries. 

Both leaders commended the cordial relations between the two countries, especially since both nations were nourished by the theravada Buddhist philosophy and discussed ways to further strengthen such ties, the President's Media Division said. They also discussed ways and means of reducing the trade deficit between the two countries reduce the trade deficit between the two countries.

President Sirisena welcomed the progress made by Thailand in the agricultural and technical sectors and solicited Thai assistance to develop these sectors in Sri Lanka. 

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of the following MoUs; 

Treaty on the Transfer of Offenders and on Co-operation in the Enforcement of Penal SentencesMemorandum of Understanding on Strategic Economic PartnershipMemorandum of Understanding on Technological Collaboration Related to Value Addition of Primary ProductsJoint Action Programme for Cooperation on Sustainable Community Development Model Based on the Application of Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in Sri Lanka.Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will host the visiting Prime Minister at breakfast today (13), followed by discussions focusing on economic cooperation, trade and investments between the two countries.

An undergraduate of the University Kelaniya has gone missing after falling over the ‘Asupini Ella’ in Aranayake the Police said. The victim has been identified as a male. Search operations are being conducted.

Japan has agreed to provide concessional loan amounting to Japanese Yen 10,639 million ( approximately LKR 15,500 million) under the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) of  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the implementation of the Health and Medical Service Improvement Project.

Non Communicable Disease (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases and cerebrovascular diseases have increased in the recent past in Sri Lanka due to apparent epidemiological, socio- economic and demographic transitions.

According to the statistics of the World Health Organization 75% of the mortality in Sri Lanka is caused by NCDs and cardiovascular diseases in particular are the leading cause of mortality accounting for 40% of the total.  

To address the issue, Sri Lanka has decided to implement the Health and Medical Service Improvement Project to prevent NCDs by improving the facilities of tertiary care hospitals in Anuradhapuura, Kandy, Kurunegala, Badulla and Trincomalee.

This project will expect to improve the diagnosis and treatment of non- communicable diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases by improving the medical facilities and equipment in tertiary hospitals. 

The facilities of the Bio Medical Engineering Services Unit of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine (MOH) and the training institutions for the Medical Laboratory Technologists (MLT) will be upgraded with new technologies

Prices of all bakery products except bread will be increased by Rs 5, stated the All Island Bakery Owners Association.

According to them the rise in diesel prices has warranted the increase as many machines in bakeries run with fuel.  The price increase will be in effect from midnight Sunday (15).

India-made Renault Kwid which is a popular car in Sri Lanka has scored a Zero Star safety rating in a recently conducted crash test by the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries a.k.a. ASEAN NCAP. The Renault Kwid achieved a total score of 24.68 points in which it is rated as Zero-Star. The Kwid's score can be broken down into 10.12 points for adult occupant protection (AOP) category, and 14.56 points for child occupant protection (COP) category. However, considering the fact that the model was not equipped with any safety assist technologies like - ABS, ESC, seat belt reminders, and more, ASEAN NCAP did not get any score for SATs category.

ASEAN NCAP Secretary-General, Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim said, "We are truly disappointed to find that there are still cars out there that do not offer a high degree of safety levels to its occupants in the ASEAN region. What is more disappointing is that these cars are sold in countries that recorded one of the highest numbers of road fatalities; in which WHO published Thailand with 14,059 fatalities while Indonesia had 26,416 number of road fatalities."

In terms of safety equipment, Renault Kwid tested by the ASEAN NCAP featured a driver's side airbag and pre-tensioners and load limiter for the driver-side seatbelt alone. Commenting on the Renault Kwid's poor performance and lack of safety features, David Ward, Secretary-General, Global NCAP, said, "It's very disturbing to see such a poor result for the Kwid. Renault has shown that they can make a much safer version in Latin America, so why not in South East Asia too? Different regions and double standards from Renault is deeply disappointing!”
Earlier in May 2016 the India-made car also scored zero stars safety rating in the crash test conducted by the Global NCAP. Post that Renault made some safety updates to the Kwid, which garnered it a 1-star rating in a second crash test that was conducted in September 2016. The India-spec model too gets only driver's side airbag and pre-tensioners and load limiter, but unlike the Indonesia spec model, the come as an optional feature on the top-spec model.