News

Member of Parliament Patali Champika Ranawaka has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Council’s sub-committee on identifying short- and medium-term programs related to economic stabilization.

MP Patali Champika Ranawaka was elected as the Chairman of the National Council’s sub-committee during the first meeting of the said sub-committee held in Parliament today (07).

MP Ranawaka’s name was proposed for the post of Chairman by MP Vajira Abeywardena, which was seconded by MPs Mano Ganesan and Naseer Ahmed.

The committee members expressed their views on the measures that can be taken for the future economic security of the country, such as developing tea cultivation, increasing milk production, restructuring agriculture, fertilizer production, tourism industry, etc.

The members also agreed to discuss with experts in various fields and submit a report to the National Council on the 20th of October that includes economic development proposals related to each field.

Accordingly, the members agreed to call experts on foreign exchange issues, and debt restructuring, as well as officials from the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance before the committee on the 13th of October to get their views.

Also, it was decided to invite experts and relevant officials in the fields of food, health, transportation, energy etc.. to the committee on the 14th of October to get their opinions and suggestions.

The MPs also agreed to hold the next meeting of the National Council’s sub-committee on identifying short- and medium-term programs related to economic stabilization on the 19th of October.

Minister Naseer Ahmed, State Ministers Sisira Jayakodi, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, and Members of Parliament Vajira Abeywardena, M. Rameswaran, Mano Ganesan, A. L. M. Ataullah and Rauf Hakeem, and the Assistant Secretary General of the Parliament Tikiri Jayathilaka, were present at the meeting.

A special discussion took place yesterday (02) between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Most Rev. Dr. Harold Anthony Perera, Bishop of Kurunegala and the President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka at the Bishop House in Kurunegala.

The President's Media Divison said that discussions centered on Catholic Religious affairs.

Most Rev. Fr. Piyal Janaka Fernando of Kurunegala Catholic Diocese, the Treasurer of Kurunegala Catholic Diocese Most Reverend Sagara Prishantha and former Minister Ravi Karunanayake also participated at this occasion.

Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana today announced to the House that Member of Parliament Patali Champika Ranawaka has also been nominated to serve in the National Council.

Furthermore, the Speaker announced that Member of Parliament M. Rameshwaran has been nominated to serve in the National Council to fill the vacancy occurred due to the resignation of the MP Jeevan Thondaman from the Membership of the National Council.

The next meeting of the National Assembly is scheduled to be held tomorrow (06).

The price of a domestic LP gas cylinder will be slashed effective from midnight Wednesday (05) said Muditha Peiris, Chief of the state-run LITRO Gas Company.

Accordingly, the revised prices will be made public soon, he added.

Litro Gas Lanka has announced a reduction in the prices of its domestic gas cylinders.

The primary gas supplier said that the price reduction will come into effect from midnight today.

The new prices are as follows:

12.5 kg gas cylinder reduced by Rs. 271 New price: Rs. 4280

5kg gas cylinder reduced by Rs. 107 New price: Rs. 1720

2.3kg gas cylinder reduced by Rs. 48 New price: Rs. 800

Measures will be taken to reduce the price of wheat flour during the course of this week, Minister of Trade Nalin Fernando told Parliament today.

The minister said that it is expected to reduce the price of a kilo of wheat flour by Rs. 250.

He further said that the stock of wheat flour that was imported has arrived in Sri Lanka and clearance will commence this week.

Minister Nalin Fernando said that nearly 100 containers with imported wheat flour are currently at the Colombo Port.

Stating that Wheat flour had been imported from Turkey and Dubai recently, he said a delay in the shipment had resulted in an increase in the price of wheat flour.

The Minister of Trade made the statement in response to a question raised by Rohana Bandara in Parliament.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kabir Hashim has been appointed as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA).

The Parliament of Sri Lanka announced that MP Kabir Hashim has been appointed to the post unanimously.

On Monday (03), Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced a 27- member COPA committee.

The members were nominated to the COPA Committee by the Parliament Committee of Selection.

Billions of rupees of state funds were misappropriated in the Central Cultural Fund when Sajith Premadasa was the minister of cultural affairs in the good governance regime between 2015 and 2019, according to a report by the auditor general.

The AG’s report notes that staff maintenance had cost between 38 per cent and 58 pc of the CCF’s total expenditure during the period.

Archaeological excavations and preservations had received minimum allocations.

Excessive staff had been recruited, including positions not in the CCF’s cadre, says the report.

In 2017 alone, 3,401 more staff than required were recruited, with the excessive staff standing at 1,596 by 2019.

More than Rs. 479 million in 2018 and over Rs. 581 million in 2019 had been spent on their salary payments.

The CCF’s income in 2015 was Rs. 2.9 billion, while the spending amounted to Rs. 2.01 billion.

In 2019, with an income of Rs. 4.037 billion, it had spent Rs. 4.168 billion, a sum of Rs. 0.131 billion more than its income.

During 2018 and 2019, Rs. 321 million of CCF money had gone for various payments without following the procedures.

INSEE Cement Sri Lanka announced that it had decided to reduce the prices of two types of cement to benefit the country's construction sector.

Accordingly a 50 kg package of INSEE Sanstha and INSEE Mahaweli Marine Plus cement will be reduced by Rs.100 effective midnight on Tuesday (4).

INSEE Cement Sri Lanka is the country’s leading and only fully integrated cement manufacturer offering a comprehensive portfolio of construction solutions to meet the escalating demands of Sri Lanka’s construction landscape.

INSEE Cement Sri Lanka, also known as Siam City Cement (Lanka) Limited, is a subsidiary of the Siam City Cement Public Company Limited (SCCC) of Thailand.

Veteran actor Darshan Dharmaraj has passed away on Sunday (2).

A Spokespeson for the Colombo National Hospital stated that he passed away on Sunday morning due to a heart attack.

He was 41 years old at the time of death.

Born in Rakwana, Dharmaraj entered the industry with the television drama A-9 directed by Sydney Chandrasekaran.

In 2008, Darshan Dharmaraj made his debut in the movie Prabhakaran.

Since then, he contributed to many Sinhala and Tamil films including Machang, Iniwan, Mata, Tsunami and Komali Kings.

Constantly praised by critics as an actor full of realistic acting skills, Dharmaraj retained his popularity among Sinhalese as well as Tamil fans.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is due to make a special statement to parliament on October 06 with regard to the economy and international assistance.

Announcing this, he also told government MPs at a meeting yesterday (03) that a House debate would be given if necessary on his statement, said state minister Jagath Kumara.

It comes amidst plans by justice minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe to hold a House debate on the 22nd amendment to the constitution on October 06 and 07, followed by a vote.

However, Wickremesinghe was asked by S.B. Dissanayake and other SLPP MPs as well as president’s chief of staff Sagala Ratnayaka at yesterday’s meeting not to table the amendment and stressed that the executive presidency should continue.

Namal Rajapaksa has openly declared that he would vote against the amendment.

Further, 10 cabinet ministerial hopefuls in a list submitted by Basil Rajapaksa have decided to boycott the vote if they are not given the portfolios.

They are Johnston Fernando, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Gamini Lokuge, S.B. Dissanayake, C.B. Ratnayake, Pavitra Wanniarachchi, Wimalaweera Dissanayake, S.M. Chandrasena, Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Sarath Weerasekara.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has reduced the prices of Petrol.

Accordingly, the price of Petrol 92 will be reduced by Rs 40 per liter and Price of Petrol 95 by Rs 30 per one liter from midnight on Saturday (01).

The new prices are as follows;

Petrol 92 – Rs 410 per liter

Petrol 95 – Rs 510 per liter

Prices of other petroleum products such as kerosene and Diesel will remain the same.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Lanka IOC, Manoj Gupta announced that LIOC has also reduced its fuel prices in parallel.