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Price of kerosene is set to be reduced from tomorrow. According to State Minister of Fisheries and Rural Economy Dilip Wedaarachchi, the prices will be lowered from between Rs.25 and Rs. 30. 

He says the decision was taken after considering the inconvenience faced by the fishing community and families of low-income earners due to the recent price increase.

Following the reduction, a litre of kerosene will be available for the price between Rs.70 and Rs. Rs. 80 from Monday.

Mohamed Ismail was sworn in as a Member of Parliament today evening before Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. He is the replacement for Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed Navavi of the All Ceylon People’s Congress who was elected to parliament through the United National Party.

The MP had recently resigned thereby creating a vacancy for a parliamentarian. According to sources, Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam had propose the name of Mhamed Ismail for the position.

Issuing a condolence message on the death of veteran writer, journalist, scriptwriter Somaweera Senanayake, Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said Somaweera Senanayake was a senior literati who had left permanent memories in the field of literary arts.
 
“While writing cartoon stories for Sathuta, he gave a facelift to the traditional art. His first teledrama script which was based on his own novel, Yashorawaya, can be considered the first instance where the tele adaptation of a novel was successful,” he said.
 
Senior Journalist, author and teledrama and film scriptwriter Somaweera Senanayake passed away at a private hospital in Colombo, yesterday. He was 74.
Senanayake was the scriptwriter of over 30 teledramas, including popular teledramas Doo Daruwo, Asalvesiyo, Palingu Menike, Sitha Niwana Katha, Yashorawaya and Charitha Thunak. He was also the scriptwriter of the movies Ammawarune and Mihidum Sihina.
 
Yashorawaya was one of the many books authored by Senanayake. Other notable works of fiction by him include Mawakage Geethaya, Baladevage Lokaya, Irahanda Payana Loke and Ambu Samiyo. Senanayake was the first ever Sri Lankan to be awarded a Master of Arts for a novel.
 
Born in Udugama, Gampaha in 1944, Senanayake obtained an Arts degree from Vidyodaya University. Senanayake then began his career as a journalist at Lake House and contributed to its many publications, including Silumina and Sarasaviya.
 
He had also written cartoon stories to Sathuta, the first cartoon paper in the country. He succeeded Edwin Ariyadasa as the editor of the periodical, Navayugaya and held the position until his retirement.
 
The remains of Somaweera Senanayake lie at No. 43, Ambillawatta Road, Boralesgamuwa. The funeral will be held at 6.00 p.m. on June 11, at the Godigamuwa Cemetery, Maharagama.
Source : Sunday Observer

Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera challenged Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa yet again to a public debate on the country’s current national debt stock and economic situation.

He made this challenge while commencing the debate on the five notifications under the Excise Ordinance in Parliament yesterday (07).
Samaraweera said that Mahinda Rajapaksa was following Goebbels' theory to discredit the government while propagating misinformation with the help of lackeys.

“Goebbels once said that if you repeat a lie continuously, it will ultimately become the truth. Rajapaksa is following the same theory to discredit and tarnish the government. It was his government that employed fascist ideologies. He claims that the cost of living has increased.

It is good. At least now he is taking note of the cost of living since during his presidency, he ate off of the people’s money. His lackeys, too, are spreading the same lie. However, he is yet to respond to my challenge to a public debate the country’s national debt stock during now and the at the time he was President”, Samaraweera added.

Reducing taxes by 20%

Referring to Rajapaksa’s statement where he said he will reduce taxes by 20% if he attains power, Minister Samaraweera charged that such claims are unrealistic.

“Though he is promising to reduce taxes by 20%, during the Rajapaksa regime, the public was burdened with over 80% of the indirect taxes placed on them.  Furthermore, he has not even presented a mechanism to reduce taxes. Rajapaksa should know that prices of many food items are still lower than it was during his time”, Samaraweera said.

Finance Minister stated that the current government wishes to reduce VAT by 2.5% before 2020.

Daughter of Shan Wickramasinghe and Director of the TNL broadcasting corporation, Ishini Wickramasinghe is to be appointed as a private secretary to Minister of Finance and Media, Mangala Samaraweera from July 1.

The Minister made this announcement in parliament while presenting facts on the closure of the TNL Polgahawela transmission centre.

Expressing his concerns on the closure, the Minister also affirmed that the government is dedicated to ensuring free and responsible media in the country.           

He also noted that majority of the media are giving more airtime to the opposition but however the government continues to be cooperative with all media institutions.  

Ishini Wickramasinghe has also served as Media advisor to the Minister during his tenure as Minister of Posts and Media.

Fly Dubai, the only international airline operating in the Mattala airport has decided to suspend its operations. Fly Dubai, the only international airline operating in the Mattala airport has decided to suspend its operations. 

Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Ashok Abeysinghe said that the airline will suspend its operations till November. 

It is learnt that the Mattala airport, which was once dubbed by Forbes as the world's emptiest airport, is not commercially viable anymore.

In a recent statement, MP Prasanna Ranatunga has revealed the reason he did not support MP Sudarshini Fernandopulle during the vote held in parliament to choose a deputy speaker. According to him the decision to not support her was based on the fact that her faction had helped the United National Party (UNP) to gain power of the Seeduwa Municipal Council.  

He also says the group of 16 that left the government must choose if it will join former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLPP or remain with President Maithripala Sirisena and the SLFP. 

However, it is a popular fact that Fernandopulle had come forward to contest in the vote to be appointed as deputy speaker with the acknowledgement of Rajapaksa as confirmed by Wimal Weerawansa, Gammanpila and Vasudeva. 

Sources say Weerawansa, Gammanpila and Vasudeva had even stayed away from a joint opposition meeting in protest of Ranatunga not supporting Fernandopulle.

While a constant tussle between the two groups since the no confidence motion has been on going sources say the real cause for the issue is a rift of the JO due to the power struggle between Basil and Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines Suren Ratwatte has resigned from his position. 

Ratwatte had tendered his resignation to SriLankan airlines Chairman Ranjith Fernando. He joined the national carrier as CEO in October 2015 but had failed to revive the loss making institution as expected.

PM Ranil Wickramasinghe has challenged Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to reveal how he would reduce the country’s debt by 20 per cent if he comes back to power as claimed by him. According to the PM after having set a world record for obtaining loans during his tenure, Rajapaksa should now show how he intends to reduce the debt as claimed. 

The PM made this public challenge while attending the opening of the Ranwala Aswatta bridge recently. 

According to the PM during his tenure Rajapaksa increased the country’s debt by Rs. 7391 Billion thereby increasing the country’s total debt by three-fold and setting a record for loan taking. The PM also noted that the burden to repay these loans have now fallen on the public. 

Wickramasinghe also pointed out that when his government took over in 2015 the coffers were empty with no funds left for development. “We have now begun developing the country while repaying the loans taken by him,” he said adding that the newly opened bridge is proof of that development. 

He also noted that taxes had to be increased in order to pay off the loans taken by the Rajapaksa regime. “Some may scold us over taxes but we must repay these loans by 2023” he clarified adding that if not the future of the country’s young generation will be extremely bleak.

The Attorney General has informed the Secretary to the President that releasing section C350 of the Bond Commission report will not impact the ongoing investigations into the Central Bank treasury bond scam, the Presidential Secretariat said. 
 
Section C 350 or the ‘Forensic Report on Communication Information Analysis’ - is said to contain detailed phone records collected by the CID of conversations between individuals connected to Perpetual Treasuries Limited including its owner Arjun Aloysius and politicians, journalists, religious leaders and civil society members.
 
President’s Secretary Austin Fernando had sought the advice of the Attorney General on releasing certain sections of the Bond Commission report which had not been released previously, based on several requests received by him from various parties.  
 
Issuing a statement to the media on June 1, the President’s Secretary said that there have been repeated calls from various sections for the release of the names of 118 MPs who allegedly accepted money from Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL).
 
However, Fernando said that he does not know where the media or others who talks about it got their information as he is not aware if there are 118 such names. 
 
He stated that MP Dayasiri Jayasekara has requested from him, under the Right to Information Act, for the CID investigations reports as well as all other documents and information mentioned in the Bond Commission’s report and not presented to the parliament.
 
However, he said that he cannot do so due to the advice given to him by the Attorney General and the Bribery Commission DG and that he cannot release those information without asking them. 
 
Fernando said that he made a request to the Attorney General in writing seeking his advice on the matter. 
On June 5, it was reported that sections C 350 to C 360 of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Central Bank bond scam, which had not been released previously, have been handed over to the Speaker of Parliament.

A 19 –year-old worker fell to his death from the 13th floor of the Lotus Tower this afternoon. According to sources he had fallen down the lift shaft of the building. 

According to Police, the victim Koneswaran Nidharshan from Kilinochchi, had died in the accident which had occurred at the tower which is currently under construction. The youth is said to have fallen from a height of some 145 meters while reports say that the elevator he had fallen from was also under construction at the time. Police are carrying out further investigations into the incident.

Police have arrested Yashodha Range Bandara, the son of State Minister Palitha Range Bandara, over the suspicion of drunk driving and misuse of public property. 

He has been arrested while admitted in the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital following a motor accident on Wednesday (6), the Police Spokesman said. The Chairman of the Puttalam Pradeshiya Sabha and Yasodha Range Bandara, 25, were injured when the vehicle driven by the latter had lost control and crashed into a house in the Kottapitiya junction, on the Chilaw-Puttalam road.

A double cab, belonging to the Ministry of Irrigation, was involved in the accident while it was later reported that the state minister’s son had been under the influence of alcohol at the time. 

Arachchikattuwa Police had launched an investigation into the incident.  Chilaw Magistrate and District Court Judge yesterday ordered the Arachchikattuwa Police to arrest Yashoda Range Bandara and Puttalam Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Anjana Sandaruwan.

Source : Ada Derana