Author: TELO Admin

The Chinese Embassy says that Sri Lanka agreed to retest the rejected Chinese organic fertilizer via a third party, the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka says.

The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong made these remarks after a meeting with Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanaratana Thera, Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter today (14).

Speaking further, the Ambassador stated that the issue is merely a commercial dispute, however some parties are attempting to politicize it.

The United Nations (UN) International Law Commission (ILC) failed to elect former Chief Justice Mohan Peiris to its ranks last week.

According to the ILC, the election of the members of the Commission for a five-year term, beginning in January 2023, took place by secret ballot at the 32nd meeting of the General Assembly at its 76th session held last Friday (12).

Peiris was seeking one of eight seats on the ILC allocated to the Asia-Pacific region.

Eight nominees from India, Vietnam, Japan, China, South Korea, Cyprus, Mongolia, and Lebanon were elected from the secret ballot. While Peiris secured 112 votes, he failed to make it into the eight.

Accordingly, Professor (Dr.) Bimal N. Patel (India), Dr. Vilawan Mangklatanakul (Thailand), Asada Masahiko (Japan), Nguyen Hong Thao (Vietnam), Huikang Huang (China), Prof. Keun-Gwan Lee (South Korea), Andreas D. Mavroyiannis (Cyprus), Munkh-Orgil Tsend (Mongolia), and Nassib G. Ziade (Lebanon) were the eight selected nominees.

Peiris, along with two others from Kazakhstan and the Philippines, failed to gain a seat among the vacant 34 member positions.

The Attorney General’s advice is to be sought with regard to the letter of demand issued by the Chinese company which supplied the controversial stock of organic fertilizer.

Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co Ltd recently directed a letter of demand to Dr. W.A.R.T. Wickramaarachchi, Additional Director of the National Plant Quarantine Service of the Department of Agriculture, seeking USD 8 million in damages from the National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) of Sri Lanka.

The letter of demand in question was subsequently referred to the Attorney General.

In the Letter of Demand, sent through its local lawyers, Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co Ltd warns that failure to pay the said sum in three days would result in legal action.

The Sri Lankan government had decided to complete the shift from chemical to organic farming in April, with the government allocated 3.8 billion US dollars for organic fertilizer purchase in August by importing certain nutrients.

The Agriculture Ministry had selected China’s Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co. Ltd through open bidding to supply organic fertilizer.

The government decided to import 99,000 metric tonnes of organic fertilizer at a cost of 63 million US dollars from the Chinese company. However, the consignment was rejected after an analysis reportedly found it to be “tainted”.

In two samples, the Sri Lanka Standard Institutions as also National Plant Quarantine Service and Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board found micro-organisms, pathogens, and diseases harmful to the soil, plants, and humans.

They had warned that China’s organic fertilizer would be an agricultural disaster as the samples were found to be infected with Erwinia, a notorious plant pathogen that causes severe post-harvest losses in crops.

After the rejection of the consignment this month, China announced the blacklisting of state-owned People’s Bank of Sri Lanka, citing a “vicious” Letter of Credit “default”.

China said that the Sri Lankan bank’s decision caused huge losses, but the bank clarified that it was only following court orders prohibiting it from making payments.

Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, delivered his inaugural budget speech today (12). This is the 76th budget of an independent Sri Lanka and it is also the second budget of the incumbent Government.

Key takeaways from the Minister’s speech are detailed below:

Annual Warrant for State expenditure to be made a Quarterly Warrant in the future
Telephone expenditure in State institutions to be slashed by 25%
Construction of new office buildings for State institutions to be suspended for two years
Eligibility for MPs’ pensions to be extended to 10 years from the current 5 years
Radio/TV Broadcasting & Telecasting licences to be issued on an auction basis
Petrol allowance of Ministers & State officials will be reduced by 5 litres per month for an individual
The Special Commodity Levy to come into effect from 01 January 2022
Age limit for Govt. sector employees’ pension extended to 65 years
Rs. 15 million to be allocated for the development of their areas to each MP
Rs.600 Mn to 3-wheelers sector, Rs. 1,500 Mn for Private bus industry, Rs. 400 Mn for school vans & buses and Rs. 500 Mn to Event Management sector to be allocated to compensate for loss during pandemic
Rs.15,000 Mn allocated to provide relief packages to low income earning families
A one-time tax surcharge of 25% to be imposed on individuals or companies earning an annual taxable income of Rs. 2,000 Mn in financial year 2020/21
Rs.5 to be increased on the current retail price of each cigarette
Value added tax on financial services provided by commercial banks & financial institutions to be increased from 15% to 18%
All vehicles held up at SL Customs due to non-payment of taxes or other reasons to be released after charging such relevant taxes and fines
A levy to be imposed on motor vehicles meeting with accidents & such levy to be reimbursed through insurance.
Rs. 1,000 Mn allotted for senior citizens and people with special needs
Proposal to establish telecommunication network covering entire country
Govt. to extend retirement age of public servants to 65 years
Proposal to transfer Rs. 8.5 Bn that Perpetual Treasuries Limited earned in violation of the Code of Conduct at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, to the Treasury.
Another Rs. 4 Bn allocated for every electorate in the country
MSME sector allocated Rs. 5 billion in relief
Additional Rs. 5000 Bn allocated to promote Organic Agriculture
Additional Rs. 15,000 Bn allocated to ensure access to clean drinking water
Rs. 500 Mn allocated to develop the renewable energy sector
Rs. 2000 Mn allocated for urban housing projects, Rs. 5000 Mn allocated for rural housing
Rs. 500 Mn allocated for the development of houses for people living in estate Line-Houses
Rs. 85,000 Mn will be allocated for rural community development
Rs. 3 Mn for every Grama Niladhari Division. A total of Rs. 42,053 Mn will be allocated for this purpose.
Read the Minister’s full speech by clicking the link courtesy Ada Derana – Finance Minister’s Full Budget Speech – 2022 by Ada Derana on Scribd.

The India- Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Association for the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka was established on Thursday at the Parliament complex under the patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana.

The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay was the Guest of Honor.

The meeting was attended by more than 100 Members of Parliament and included several Ministers, State Ministers and MPs. Speakers at the meeting highlighted that this was the largest number of attendees they had seen for the establishment of a Parliamentary Friendship Association. This was highlighted as a testimony to the strength of India- Sri Lanka bilateral relationship.

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Chamal Rajapaksa, Minister of Irrigation and State Minister of National Security & Disaster Management and State Minister of Home Affairs was elected as the President of the Association. MPs Rauff Hakeem, M.A Sumanthiran and Dr. V. Radhakrishnan were elected as Vice- Presidents. Further, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, MP and Jeevan Thondaman, State Minister for Estate Housing and Community Infrastructure were elected as the Secretary and Asst. Secretary respectively. Jagath Kumara Sumithraarachchi, MP, was elected as the Treasurer.

Speaking at the event, Foreign Minister Prof. G.L.Peiris highlighted the close civilizational ties between India and Sri Lanka. He also highlighted that the greatest gift of India to Sri Lanka was Buddhism and stressed the importance of people to people connect between the two countries.

In his remarks, High Commissioner Baglay congratulated the President and office bearers on their membership of the Association. He also expressed confidence that the establishment of the Association would reinvigorate Parliamentary exchanges and interactions between the two democracies. He added that this would further aid in strengthening the multi-faceted bilateral relationship between the two nations, especially in six areas including fostering sharing of democratic values, cooperation in combating common challenges, enhancing people-to-people connectivity, encouraging greater economic engagement, strengthening the cultural connect and sharing the fruits of development partnership.

The High Commissioner also read out excerpts from a message from Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha addressed to the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka extending his heartiest congratulations on the occasion.

Sri Lanka Friday reported 23 deaths due to COVID-19 after the figures were confirmed by the Director General of Health Services on Thursday, November 11.

Among the deaths reported today, 11 are of males and 12 of females. The majority of deaths – 21 – are of elderly people in the 60 years and above age group. A female below 30 years of age also succumbed to the disease.

According to the data reported by the Government Information Department, the total deaths due to Covid-19 since the pandemic began last year has now risen to 13,950.