Jan 21 (EN) SL�s tea exports have dropped to a 25-years low in 2022 hit by a fertilizer shortage due to an ill-advised agrochemical ban, an industry report said. SL exported 250.19 million kgs of tea in 2022, 13% down compared to 2021 and it is the lowest since 1997. All categories of tea have recorded a drop except the instant tea. �In a very challenging year of poor supply, turbulent domestic working environment, compounded by multiple int'l challenges, SL exported 250.19 million kg more..

Jan 21 (CT) SL, with food inflation at 64% last year, has the sixth largest food inflation in the world, the World Bank (WB) said on Friday. Five countries which were ahead of SL were Zimbabwe (376%), Lebanon (171%), Venezuela (158%), Argentina (94%) and Turkiye (77%). WB has tracked the inflation movement of 176 economies. SL has been described as being a low income country by WB. WB has captured 67 out of the 176 countries tracked as being low income countries. more..

Jan 21 (CT) A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the Bill titled Licensing of Shipping Agents, Freight Forwarders, Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers and Container Operators (Amendment) tabled in the Parliament on 5 Jan 2023, citing that the Bill is unconstitutional as the service providers mentioned in the Bill impose a charge, levy or a tariff, which is exclusive power of the govt. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Port City Colombo (PCC) recently welcomed a delegation of senior representatives from the Thai-SL Chamber of Commerce, the SL-Thailand Business Council and the Embassy of Iran. Objective of the visit was to explore potential opportunities for foreign direct investment within the project. Delegation was led by Thai-SL Chamber of Commerce President Akram Saroof and SL-Thailand Business Council former President Rizan Nazeer and Embassy of Iran Economic and more..

Jan 21 (DM) MAS Amity Pte. Ltd, a subsidiary of MAS Holdings, signed a joint venture agreement with Tata Group�s Trent Ltd, setting up an entity in India for the joint development of business into intimate wear and other apparel-related products. Over time, MAS and Trent would pool their domain expertise to undertake design, development and manufacturing of a range of intimate wear and other apparel products. Initially, the joint venture would facilitate design, sourcing of related products. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Govt reiterated any decision to hold Local Govt polls amidst poor financial position could worsen the ongoing economic crisis. �The Treasury is faced with an extremely dire financial situation. Govt is grappling to allocate funds to make ends meet where the State revenue is insufficient to secure funds for the essential requirements. Against this challenging economic backdrop, the reality of the Govt coffers more..

Jan 21 (CT) After 35 years of service, the field operation of the Northern Province Office of UNHCR has been shut down. However, the UNHCR will continue to facilitate the voluntary repatriation and reintegration of SL refugees from India and elsewhere. Outgoing UN�s SL Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said, that the field operation in the North is shut down concluding 35 years of work supporting the forcibly displaced in SL to access their rights and find lasting solutions. more..

Jan 21 (DM) Ronald C. Perera assumed duties as Chairman of Bank of Ceylon (BOC). Perera was welcomed by the bank�s General Manager Russel Fonseka, members of the corporate management, bank staff and other well-wishers. An experienced lawyer, Perera had his education at St. Joseph�s College, Colombo before going on to obtain his LLB from the Uni of Colombo and an LLM in Int'l Trade Law from Northumbria Uni. Perera was appointed as a President�s Counsel in 2012. more..

Jan 21 (DM) Keselwatta Police has filed a B report before Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court against a group of lawyers who organised a protes on 18th of January, condemning the Attorney General's alleged interference with the judiciary. According to the B report, Keselwatta police alleged that a group of lawyers including Senior Counsel Gunaratne Wanninayake, Nuwan Bopage and Senaka Perera had organised a protest by violating Election Laws and provisions of National Thoroughfares Act. more..

Jan 21 (FT) National People�s Party Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has proposed a 75% cut to the salaries of Local Govt councillors if the Govt claims it lacks the funds to hold Local Govt elections. Dissanayake taking part in the debate on the Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill on Thursday in the Parliament said his party would agree to slash the salaries of Local Govt councillors by 50%. �Till the crisis is over, halve the salaries of Local Govt councillors to reduce costs. more..

Jan 21 (PTI) India considers the full implementation of the 13th Amendment in SL critical for achieving reconciliation with the minority Tamil community, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, underlining that New Delhi has always supported both the political and economic stability in the island nation. India has been pressing SL to implement the 13th Amendment which was brought in after Indo-SL agreement of 1987. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Fitch Ratings has downgraded the National Long-Term Ratings of five SL finance and leasing companies (FLCs) after the recent sovereign downgrade and recalibration of the agency�s SL National Rating scale. The FLCs� ratings remain on Rating Watch Negative (RWN). The downgrades follow similar action on 10 SL banks. For details, see Fitch Downgrades 10 SL Banks� Ratings, dated 12 Jan. The recalibration of the national scale is to reflect changes in relative creditworthiness more..

Jan 21 (FT) Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa�s office strongly refuted rumours of him using 19 vehicles for his personal use and also Rs. 950,000 for his food. In a statement issued by Private Secretary to the Seventh Executive President Rajapaksa Sugeeshwara Bandara, he said the allegations were false and misleading the public. �Firstly, it should be mentioned that former Prez Rajapaksa did not misuse any vehicle during his tenure as the President. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Govt issued a Gazette notification stipulating the new Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for eggs. As per the new Gazette, a white egg must be sold at a maximum price of Rs. 44, while a brown egg must be sold at Rs. 46. Gazette notification was issued by the Consumer Affairs Authority Chairman. This is the second time an MRP was announced. In August an MRP of Rs. 43 was fixed on white eggs and Rs. 45 on brown/red eggs. The latest move comes after the Cabinet approved more..

Jan 21 (DM) Claiming that the Treasury Secretary submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court detailing the cash flow management of the govt, State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said it was up to the Supreme Court to take a decision on conducting the LG election. He told a news conference that the Finance Ministry had no authority to decide on an election and that the Parliament, the Supreme Court or the Elections Commission was authorized to take decisions on that matter. more..

Jan 21 (EN) Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) has taken a U-turn and agreed to the cabinet decision on a retrospective electricity tariff hike with immediate effect after a meeting with Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe. Janaka Ratnayaka, PUCSL Chairman, earlier had told media that the cabinet decision to raise electricity tariff retrospectively was against the law and he would not allow such price hike. more..

Jan 21 (FT) Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake claims the newly passed Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill will not be an obstacle to the holding of the upcoming LG elections. However, Ratnayake says Election Commission of SL will now be required to take the necessary measures to formulate new regulations on campaign financing after the passing of the Bill. �Bill has to be signed off by the Speaker. Election Commission will then have to commence more..

Jan 21 (CT) Longer power cuts are predicted as the Ministry of Finance is currently working tirelessly to find Rs 55 billion to pay for the coal shipments, a senior Govt source said. A sum of Rs 20 billion has been found after the intervention of Prez�s Secretary Saman Ekanayake and Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and negotiations have begun to find the remaining Rs 35 billion. Engineers from the CEB claimed that if the money is not found and coal is not imported by the end of the month, more..

Jan 21 (FT) India reiterated it will stand by SL in its hour of need and expressed confidence in overcoming challenges. The latest expression of support came from India�s visiting External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar following meetings with Prez Wickremesinghe, PM Gunawardena and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry. Bilateral talks focused on commitment to reinforce strong bilateral ties as well as new measures more..

Jan 22 (SO) President Ranil Wickremesinghe has repeated his call for all political parties and ethnic communities to get together to rebuild the nation that is at a perilous juncture. He highlighted this in Parliament and at several venues across the country. This is a timely call, given the need to move forward with an accelerated program to extricate ourselves from the present economic quagmire, a result of following wrong and misguided policies for the past 75 years. more..

Jan 22 (TM) While hectic preparations are underway to transform the Galle Face Centre Road into a parade platform to mark the nation�s 75th Independence anniversary in two weeks from now, equally hectic preparations seem to be underway on the political front to derail the upcoming LG Elections, for which nominations closed yesterday. According to those in the know, the modus operandi for this particular manoeuvre appears to be a legal googly; seeking a determination on whether more..

Jan 22 (SO) Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena outlined the genesis of the current economic crisis and the many proposals that he had brought forward over the years to avert such a situation. The origin of SL�s economic crisis is not recent and wrong economic policies followed by most Govts have led to the present situation, Dr. Gunawardena said. He lamented that SL lacked economists who could have guided leaders more..

Jan 22 (ST) Stinging judgment last week by the country�s apex court against former Prez Maithripala Sirisena and others is the second against a former Prez after Chandrika Kumaratunga was fined in the Waters Edge case where she abused her position as Finance Minister to help a friend living in England make a packet. Both were the results of initiatives by ordinary citizens through a progressive provision in 1978 Constitution that made Fundamental Rights justiciable and not by official law enforcement more..

Jan 22 (ST) Aiyo Sirisena, You are all over the news these days. If people thought they got rid of you when you ended your rather controversial term of office, you have proved quite clearly that they were mistaken. Although you are in the news for the wrong reasons, I am sure you enjoy it too. What brought you back to the headlines this week was the verdict given by the highest court of the land. They held that you were, in a way, responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks because you didn�t do more..

Jan 22 (ST) Tamil political parties may have many political-ideological differences among them but when it comes to calls from Big Brother, they seem to have united or at least pretend to be on the same front. That call came from the Indian High Commission to facilitate a meeting with visiting External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Accordingly, almost all Tamil parties representing the North and East were brought under one umbrella. more..

Jan 22 (ST) Despite vocal protests by the opposition that the Regulation of Election Expenditure Bill was being used as a ploy to delay the upcoming LG election, it was passed in Parliament by a majority of 61 votes. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella asked for a division after the govt rejected an amendment moved by the opposition at the Committee Stage. Amendment called for the insertion of a clause stating that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to the elections more..

Jan 22 (Island) Armies in the midst of combat learn incredibly fast. This isn�t the case with peacetime militaries, as has been evident in SL. During the 25-year-long war that it waged against the Tamil separatist LTTE, SL military came up with a strategy and a series of tactics in the last phase of the war that enabled it to inflict a comprehensive defeat on the terror outfit. SL intelligence services efficiently identified targets and eliminated them, stymieing LTTE operations & making rear areas safe. more..

Jan 22 (TM) State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has pinned the blame for the Govt�s delay in obtaining IMF assistance on the domestic interests of bilateral creditors, charging that they have been continuing to hold up the obtaining of IMF Executive Board approval for the $ 2.9 billion EFF. He admitted that the continuing delay in obtaining financial assurances from certain bilateral creditors was one of the reasons for the continuing hold-up in obtaining the IMF fund facility. more..

Jan 22 (TM) Opposition may call it a nadagama, but the Govt is unveiling its intentions about the forthcoming LG Elections like a Japanese Noh play. It is trying stage by stage to derail the election with novel attempts, with the hope of confusing the Opposition. Its latest ploy � via a Parliamentary act � is to gazette regulations regarding election expenses, which will take more than a month for the Elections Commissioner to formulate. The enabling legislation for this move was passed by more..

Jan 22 (TM) Amid rising prices and soaring inflation given the unprecedented economic crisis, survival has become a daily struggle for many people in Sri Lanka and savings are non-existent. In fact, for many people, eking out a living each day has become impossible without falling into debt. Rising prices have impacted every single aspect of daily life, from food, transport, and education to electricity, water, and medicine. more..

Jan 22 (Island) I am a lawyer by profession who also happens to have an interest in the subject of tax. My tax liability and income tax payments for the year of assessment 2023/2024 would be more than 300% of that in 2021/2022. Not great by any means. I have been watching in silence the continuous agitation by professionals in particular with regard to the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Act No.45 of 2022 (2022 Amendment) and the additional tax which is payable thereunder by individuals. more..

Jan 22 (Island) Non-partisans with eyes to see and ears to hear are now unanimously of the view that both Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe and his govt of the Rajapaksas� Pohottuwa party are hellbent on putting off the countrywide local authority that must be held by March. The election, no doubt, has been announced and the process of accepting deposits from prospective candidates is ongoing. The media is full of visuals and images of political hopefuls, accompanied by bigwigs of various parties more..

Jan 22 (ICC) The inaugural U19 Women's T20 World Cup heats up with a dozen teams moving to the Super Six stage to battle it out for a semi-final spot. From Bangladesh's opening day victory over Australia, to Rwanda's win over regional rivals Zimbabwe, First Round results point to a competitive Super Six phase of the tournament. Carry-over points, net run rate, how the fixtures work and much more - here is everything you need to know ahead of the Super Six phase that starts on Jan 21. more..

Jan 22 (ST) Hyacinth Wijesinghe, the coach of SL�s netball team that won the Asian Championship last year, stepped down on personal reasons effective Friday, days ahead of her year-long contract expires on Jan 31. Despite applying, and later deciding to withdraw, Wijesinghe had made up her mind to move on in spite of knowing she�s likely to get it renewed. The renewal order also came from National Sports Council (NSC) Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga, citing her experience and more..

Jan 22 (ST) Any move to suspend or cancel Sri Lanka Cricket�s (SLC) membership by the Sports Ministry on the recommendation of a six-member committee that investigated incidents related to last year�s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia has been, at least briefly, by the Court of Appeal directing that the status quo of SLC shall be maintained until the next hearing on Feb 1. This was after SLC President Shammi Silva and more..