Author: TELO Admin

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa says the importation of vehicles and recruitment of public sector employees will not be carried out in 2022.

Addressing an event, the lawmaker stressed that the government will have to impose restrictions on the aforementioned. Accordingly, new vehicles will not be imported and approval will not be given for recruitment to the public sector next year, he added.

Minister Rajapaksa urged the public sector authorities not to ask for new staff members. He stated that there is not enough workspace at some divisional secretariats for the employees.

Increasing the number of staff members will not improve the efficiency, he added.

Speaking further, the finance minister said an increase in foreign reserves was observed last year, but it drastically dropped this year due to the decrease in remittances sent by the migrant workers.

The country annually sends about 230,000 migrant workers overseas, but this figure shrunk to 53,000 last year, he added. However, more than 100,000 migrant workers are sent abroad now, Minister Rajapaksa continued, adding that the government’s target is to increase this number to 300,000 next year.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harsha de Silva has said that by January, the government will only be left with USD 140 million after repaying the foreign debt owed.

He made these comments while participating in the budget debate in Parliament.

He pointed out that the amount of debt owed between February and October is USD 4,843 million, but by the end of this month, only USD 140 million will be available. Therefore, the balance would be a negative USD 4700 million.

“If we are unable to settle the due loan repayments, the whole system will shut down,” he warned, while reasserting that the IMF is the only alternative left.

This would eventually lead the country to bankruptcy, he noted.

Meanwhile, participating in the ‘Neth FM Unlimited’ programme which aired last night (08), the opposition lawmaker said that the statement made by the Governor of the Central Bank calling for foreign currency to be brought into the country only through formal means is not practical.

He said that maintaining the value of the dollar at Rs. 200 by the Central Bank in the background where the black market price of a dollar hovers around Rs. 240 could create a further crisis.

Dr. Harsha de Silva also stated that the Central Bank does not have the capability to keep the dollar from depreciating by force.

Chief Opposition Whip Parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella says they will go before the Supreme Court if the Speaker fails to intervene in the threats faced by opposition Parliamentarians by government members.

MP Kiriella speaking in Parliament today said they have also notified the Inter-Parliamentary Union of the developments.

He said the Samagi Jana Balawegaya does not seek to take the matter outside of Parliament, yet called on the Speaker to reach decisions on what was witnessed.

MP Kiriella said Parliament cannot be controlled by ‘chili powder gangs’ adding that tarnished the reputation of the previous Parliament as well.

Chief Government Whip Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said certain words that were exchanged were inappropriate and called for the committee to commence proceedings promptly.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka joining the debate said incidents have been witnessed in Parliament during the present and past government’s terms.

MP Fonseka requested the Speaker to ensure everyone’s safety and to provide the House an assurance.

MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara said all 225 Members of Parliament must help change people’s notion of Parliament adding the public is displeased.

Olaf Scholz has been confirmed as German chancellor, leading a three-party government that takes over from Angela Merkel after 16 years in office.

He was voted in by the German parliament, where his coalition has a substantial majority.

Mr Scholz’s new government is formed of his Social Democrat party along with the with Greens and Free Democrats.

The handover of power marks an end to Mrs Merkel’s 31-year political career.

Mr Scholz, a soft-spoken 63-year-old, steered the Social Democrats to election victory in late September, positioning himself as continuity candidate because he played a key role in the Merkel government as vice-chancellor.

He was given an ovation after the German parliament, the Bundestag, backed him by 395 votes to 303 and he will now go to see President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before returning at midday (11:00 GMT) to be sworn in.

Since the election his party has worked with the Greens and business-friendly Free Democrats on a coalition deal, which was finally signed on Tuesday. He is set to take over from Mrs Merkel at 15:00.

The new government has ambitious plans to fight climate change by phasing out coal early and focusing on renewable energy, but their initial priority will be on tackling the coronavirus pandemic. Health authorities have recorded another 69,601 cases in the past 24 hours and a further 527 deaths – the highest number since last winter.

He and Greens leader Annalena Baerbock, who becomes foreign minister, will also have to respond to fears surrounding Russia’s military build-up near the border with Ukraine.

Although Russia has denied plans to invade its neighbour, Angela Merkel agreed with President Joe Biden and the leaders of the UK, France and Italy late on Tuesday that they would adopt a joint strategy to respond by imposing “significant and severe harm on the Russian economy”.

One obvious economic measure would be to threaten Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, which has been completed but is still awaiting approval from the German energy regulator. US officials say they have reached an understanding with Germany that the pipeline would be shut down, which would be a significant intervention.

First elected in December 1990, Angela Merkel was immediately given a ministerial job by then Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

But she then helped oust him and became Christian Democrat leader in 2000, before becoming chancellor herself in November 2005.

She will still have an office close to the Bundestag, in a flat that was once used by Margot Honecker, once dubbed the most powerful woman in communist East Germany.

Source: BBC

Trade unions representing the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) held a massive protest in Colombo yesterday (8) against, what they claimed are, plans by the Government to sell national resources and the agreement executed with US-based New Fortress Energy Inc. on the Yugadanavi Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya.

The main demonstration of the protest was held in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station after which they marched towards the Presidential Secretariat at Galle Face Green. There, several trade union representatives had the opportunity to hold discussions with officials of the Presidential Secretariat.

Speaking to the media after the discussion, CEB Joint Trade Union Alliance (CEBJTUA) Convenor Ranjan Jayalal said that a petition signed by employees of the CEB, the SLPA, and the CPC against the sale of national resources was handed over to the Presidential Secretariat officials.

“Senior Assistant Secretary to the President Malkanthi Rajapaksa and a group of officials had a lengthy discussion with us. They listened to us very attentively. In particular, the trade union leaders of the CPC informed them about the massive deal going on at the CPC and the SLPA trade union representatives informed the officials of the plans to sell the 13-acre land owned by the SLPA,” he said.

He further said that the officials of the Presidential Secretariat had promised to give them an opportunity to hold discussions with the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa within a period of week. Jayalal also said that he believed that the opportunity for a discussion would be given within a week and if the sale of national resources was not stopped even after that discussion, a massive trade union struggle would be launched in the future.

He said: “So far the Government has not discussed these matters with us. They have been negotiating with various other parties, but they should discuss with those who are really involved in this struggle. Therefore, we hope to have this discussion within a week. However, if the sale of national resources is not going to end even after that, we have the ability to take trade union action against the President and Prime Minister. We will definitely do that.”

The said trade unions earlier launched a series of protests on 3 November challenging the sale of national resources in front of their respective workplaces.

New Fortress Energy Inc. has said that it has signed a framework agreement with the Government to construct a new offshore LNG receiving, storage, and regasification terminal, primarily located in the Kerawalapitiya Power Complex, to supply gas to Sri Lanka’s power plants. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) announced on 26 October that the Government is set to receive a $ 250 million inflow from the partial divestment of the Yugadanavi Power Plant to New Fortress Energy Inc. and that the first tranche of the same is expected in November and December 2021.