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President Maithripala Sirisena said that he would take control of the country’s economy and be responsible for managing the rising cost of living. He made these remarks at an election rally in Kegalle yesterday.

President Sirisena said that although he allowed the United National Party (UNP) to manage the economy for the last three years, he would directly manage the economy through a special economic council headed by him, taking over the responsibility from the UNP.

Ready to fight after elections

The President stated that he will accept the full responsibility of strengthening the national economy of the country by safeguarding local industries, local products and local investments.

He urged local investors to keep investing their capital in Sri Lanka and not overseas, and requested them to join hands to build their motherland.

For a country that is rich in natural resources, the only obstacle that prevents us from becoming a developed nation in the world is the existence of corrupt politics, the President added. He said that he would start his campaign to end the corruption that is prevalent in politics with the local government election on February 10.

Cabinet Reshuffle

A senior official from the Presidential Secretariat who commented on the President’s statement in Kegalle said that the President has decided to go for a cabinet reshuffle as soon as the local government elections are over.

Several portfolios related to the economy would also be taken under the President, the official added.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne yesterday ordered the Land Registrars of Attanagalla and Colombo to stop the sale or the transfer of ownership of the properties in Dompe and Borella purchased in the name of former Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga.

The FCID sought court’s permission to issue an order directing the Land Registrars to prevent the identified properties from being sold to another party.

On last Thursday (18) the FCID informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate that it had traced properties worth Rs.94 million belonging to Udayanga Weeratunga.

The FCID informed court that they were able to trace seven acres valued at Rs.40 million in the Dompe area. A land and apartment in Colombo valued at Rs.25 million and Rs.29 million have also been traced.

The FCID revealed these facts after filing a further report regarding the alleged financial fraud that is alleged to have taken place in procuring seven MiG-27 ground attack craft for the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).

Source : Daily News

Think Tank, Verité Research says that the ban on the sale of liquor to women by the Finance and Mass Media ‘within the premises of a tavern’ by the Cabinet is unconstitutional.

The Minister of Finance and Mass Media issued a notification on January 10 amending the Excise Notification No. 666 of December 31, 1979, removing the ban on the sale of liquor to women ‘within the premises of a tavern’. This was subsequently revoked by the Cabinet.

According to Article 12(1) of the Constitution, it states that ‘all persons are equal before the law, and are entitled to the equal protection of the law’. Moreover, article 12(2) states that ‘no citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of…sex.’ Therefore, acts that discriminate against women on the grounds of their sex violate their fundamental rights and are thereby unconstitutional. Article 16(1) of the Constitution states that ‘all existing written law and the unwritten law shall be valid and operative notwithstanding any inconsistency with the preceding provisions of this Chapter’ (emphasis added). Article 16(1) only applies to the written and unwritten law enacted prior to 1978. Thus any law that is enacted today must be compliant with the fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution, and cannot discriminate on the grounds of sex.

Verité Research further states that the Cabinet’s decision, therefore, discriminates women on the grounds of their sex.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is due to undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka on the invitation of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena from the 22 – 24 of January, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Prime Minister Lee is scheduled to have bilateral discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena. The two leaders are set to sign several MoUs at the Presidential Secretariat.

PM Lee will also call on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and is expected to meet Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan during his visit.

‘Pohottuwa’ stalwart Basil Rajapaksa has declared that he will defeat former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in the Attanagalla electoral seat while going on to erase her mark from the political arena. The politician is said to have made these claims while meeting several Joint Opposition (JO) of the Gampaha district.

'Chandrika is inciting Maithri against us' Basil is said to have said claiming that if she continues to be in politics there will be no political future for him and his supporters. According to sources, he had also admitted to pitting five teams from Attanagalla to defeat her while advising the MP’s to go to Attanagalla and work against her.

With Attanagalla being a Bandaranaike stronghold since 1948 Basil is said to spending the most for the campaign in Attanagalla a leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna told ISIS news.

The Former SLFP party organizer of Gampaha and former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has returned to active politics during this election to ensure SLFP wins. However, she is also said to have announced she will retire from active politics after this election.

Pope Francis has married a couple of flight attendants on board a flight from Santiago, Chile, to the northern city of Iquique.

Carlos Ciuffardi and Paola Podest had planned to wed on February 27, 2010, but a massive earthquake struck and their church collapsed on their intended wedding day. They eventually had a civil service, but had yet to be formally married in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

The two LATAM Airlines flight attendants were on the trip from Santiago to Iquique and, as all crew members are given the opportunity to do, went up to the front of the aircraft for a photo with Pope Francis.

When the pope asked them if they were married, the couple revealed the story of how the deadly quake had forced them to cancel their wedding. The pontiff asked if they would like him to conduct the ceremony right there on the plane, and they agreed.

The pope asked them repeatedly if they were sure, but they didn't waver. Pope Francis blessed the wedding rings the couple have worn since their civil ceremony. The couple, who met when Podest was working as Cuiffardi's boss, now live in Santiago with their two children.

"We can't believe the Pope married us," Carlos told members of the media on the flight. "A pope has never married anyone on a plane."

"We hope it will promote marriage," the groom added. "We have a Vatican document, it's all valid."

A handwritten wedding certificate records the marriage of LATAM Airlines flight attendants Carlos and Paula Ciuffordi, conducted by Pope Francis during a flight on Jan. 18, 2018 between Santiago and Iquique, Chile.

Two members of the same family were found killed yesterday morning at their residence located in the Mount Pleasant Watta, Wakwella belonging to the Poddala Police division. The victims had been attacked with a sharp object the Police said.

The victims have been identified as siblings 75-year-old Jayanama Jagoda and 65-year-old Namini Jagoda. Suspects regarding the murder are yet to be identified. Poddala Police are investigating.

In what many see as a discriminatory move towards women, President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka has reversed a decision by his finance minister, Mangala Samaraweera, to allow women to buy alcohol for the first time since 1955.

The president's office also ordered the cancellation of the gazette notifications from the ministry of finance that would have allowed women to work in bars without a permit and paved the way for licensed alcohol shops to operate for longer hours.

The president's intervention came after an apparent backlash from a sector of the Buddhist population [Kirill Kudryavtsev/Reuters]

The president's intervention came after an apparent backlash from a sector of the Buddhist population.

But women's rights activists and many Sri Lankans on social media have criticised the move that they say is discriminatory to women.

Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, a human rights activist based in Colombo, asked "why there is any interest in 2018 to impose on women laws that don't apply to men".

"It is patriarchy at its best, implying that women are unfit to make decisions for themselves," she said.

'Against the equality principle'

The issue has also highlighted fissures within the ruling coalition.

"I am against the discrimination of women in Sri Lanka. This whole alcohol ban is unfair and against the equality principle. Ban men too then," Deputy Minister for the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs Harsha De Silva tweeted.

These developments take place ahead of crucial local elections scheduled to take place next month under a new voting system that combines both the first past the post and proportional representation systems.

The new electoral method also makes it mandatory for the first time that all parties include at least 25 percent women on their list of nominated candidates.

The mayoral candidate of the United National Party (UNP) - the coalition partner of Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) - for Colombo is a woman.

Sri Lanka's social media landscape is predominantly occupied by urban populations who are more sensitive to gender issues, but the majority of the president's desired voter base are rural Sinhalese Buddhists who reside outside of Colombo.

"The president will not be unpopular because of these specific decisions across the country, possibly as a reflection of the fact that sensitivity to gender issues is not felt right across the country as it is felt in major cities like Colombo," Kalana Senaratne, a senior lecturer at the Department of Law, University of Peradeniya, said.

'Consolidating Buddhist values'

Kalana asserted that this electoral demographic would be inclined to see these acts pertaining to alcohol as the president "consolidating Buddhist values".

A World Health Organization report shows that of Sri Lankans above the age of 15, 80 percent of women were lifetime teetotallers in comparison to men, of whom 56 percent were lifetime abstainers.

Critics have pointed out the president's misplaced priorities as Sri Lankan women continue to face far more pressing gender issues.

The president's moves preceded by days an incident where a 14-year-old girl from Tissamaharama, a southern town, died in hospital after she attempted suicide after allegedly being raped by three youths.

Many feel that the existential issue to do with female inequality has now been reduced in the public imagination to a single issue, the inability to buy alcohol.

"Many of those who took to social media have focused solely on this issue without using this as a platform to highlight the larger issues facing women in Sri Lanka, eg the gender pay gap, inability for women to rise up to board level, and being looked at negatively when it comes to recruitment among many other issues," said Selyna Pieris, a lawyer and director of a hand loom company.

"A frivolous, dormant law got significantly more publicity in local and international media than these larger issues," said Selyna whose company has hired more than a thousand women.

"And as a collective, I feel like we missed a big opportunity to highlight other more pertinent discriminatory issues faced by Sri Lankan women."

(Al Jazeera)

The Government will stop imports of motor vehicles below Euro IV emission standards and those without airbags, Anti-locking Braking System (ABS) and three-point seat belts from 1 July.

Issuing a statement, the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media yesterday said that importation of motor vehicles below Euro IV emission standards or its equivalent and those that do not comply with the following safety standards would totally be prohibited effective from 1 July.

Imports of vehicles which do not carry air bags for driver and front seat passenger, Anti-locking Braking System (ABS) standards and three-point seat belts for driver and passengers travelling front and rear seats, except the middle seat, will not be allowed into the country, the Ministry said.

It was revealed that having considered the representations made by motor vehicle importers and manufacturers for a lead time to make required adjustments to comply with the proposed emission standards and safety measures, the Ministry had decided to postpone the implementation of the Budget proposal on introduction of emission standards and safety measures from 1 July.

As this rescheduling of the implementation is made based on industry representations, the dealers, importers and manufacturers are strictly advised to refrain from establishing any Letter of Credit (LCs) for import of motors vehicles which do not comply with the specified standards and safety standards with an estimated arrival date after 1 July.

Further details on the implementation of the new standards for vehicles, including the types of vehicles, will be notified by the respective implementation agencies shortly, the Ministry said.

Source : Daily FT

An intellectual gathering to discuss setting up of an action plan to eliminate bribery and corruption, chaired by Secretary to the President, Austin Fernando was held at the Presidential Secretariat today.

The action plan is aimed at ensuring sustainable development in economic, social, cultural, legal and environment fields in Sri Lanka by eliminating bribery and corruption.

All countries in the world have identified the imperative need to eliminate corruption and bribery and measures have been taken to enact international agreements, laws, regulations and mechanism for this purpose.

Sri Lanka too has identified this requirement for such a programme and the cabinet has approved to formulate a National Action Plan at the ministerial meeting held on October 24, last year.

At present, the preparation works of that National Action Plan is being carried out speedily and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption is expected to get the ideas and suggestions of all the stakeholders, including the state sector, private sector, civil societies and the media.

In today’s meeting, the ideas and suggestions of intellectuals have been taken and it was discussed in detail regarding the strengthening of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, strengthening of the investigation process as well as the prosecution procedure and regarding the steps that should be taken to eliminate fraud and corruption.

It has also been identified regarding the need for awareness and educational programmes on eliminating the fraud and corruption. It is expected to eradicate the bribery or corruption acts done by the people’s representatives and to increase their adherence to truthfulness through the establishment of the National Action Plan with the participation of the public including the state sector, private sector and civil societies.

During this meeting, the attention was also paid to the prevention of fraud and corruption in the private sector, prevention of fraud and corruption in the public finance management and state procurement procedure, enactment of laws regarding recovery of properties earned by fraud, corruption, money laundering and other criminal activities, protecting individuals who raise voices against corruption as well as to limit the funding for the election propaganda.

Source: Daily News

The Bribery Commission yesterday filed a fresh case against former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and two others.

The Commission has withdrawn its previous case where he was named for allegedly committing a Rs. 53.1 million fraud while importing sports equipment during last Presidential Election.

In the new case, the Bribery Commission has named Nalin Ranjeewa Fernando as the third suspect. He had been named as a witness in the previous case.

When the case came up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara, the third suspect, Fernando was noticed to appear before the court on.

Meanwhile, former Minister Aluthgamage and another official were ordered to be released from the previous case.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption had filed a corruption case in Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court against former Sports Minister, Joint Opposition MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, and another official at the Sports Ministry, over a Rs. 53.1 million fraud said to have taken place when importing sports equipment to the sports clubs.

Senior State Counsel Asad Navavi with Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Deputy Director General (Legal), Ganga Heiyanthuduwa appeared for the prosecution.

Source : Daily News

The U.S. government will award more than 183 million rupees ($1.2 million) to counter trafficking in persons in Sri Lanka over the next three years. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs will award the new project “Equipping Sri Lanka to Counter Trafficking in Persons (EQUIP)” to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Country Office for Sri Lanka and Maldives.

U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap applauded the effort, saying, “The United States has a strong commitment to working with international partners to tackle the root causes of modern slavery and protect victims and vulnerable populations. Through the EQUIP project, we will continue to support the government of Sri Lanka in combating the scourge of human trafficking.”

“This is a very timely opportunity for the ILO to step up efforts to combat human trafficking,” said Simrin Singh, Country Director of the ILO for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. “Well-known ILO tools on Fair Recruitment and the application of recommendations of ILO Conventions and Protocols on Forced Labor will make a positive dent in tackling the challenges at national and grass root levels.”

 EQUIP will directly assist Sri Lankan men, women, and children who are at risk and those who are victims of human trafficking. The project will work closely with “agents of change”– policy makers, law enforcement, recruitment agents, trade unions, as well as business – to amplify the impact of interventions and achieve lasting change.