Today is World Habitat Day

The government strives to renew its commitment towards establishing sustainable parameters in meeting the housing needs of the country, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stated.

Issuing statement in accordance with celebration of the World Habitat Day, Wickremesinghe further said that housing efforts of the government aims at strengthening and empowering the people of Sri Lanka in what they need most, which is a shelter for all.

"As urbanization increases and living spaces become limited, we must be able to secure and maintain the status quo of the home as the abode of the individual, where he or she can rest and connect with the family. It must be done within the challenging environment presented to us in a complex world of today," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Housing and Construction Sajith Premadasa stated, provision of housing is a key to fight poverty. Providing housing has become an integral part of the fight against poverty under the present government, Premadasa added.

The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day. The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all, to have adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.

Fate of missing teledrama actor unknown

Police have so far failed to ascertain the whereabouts of teledrama actor and film star Upali Keerthisena, who went missing more than nine months ago.

His family members said he had left for Anuradhapura with some friends and never returned.

At the time he was wearing an expensive gold chain and the Welikade police obtained a statement from one of his friends with whom the missing person had last spoken on his mobile phone.

"We could not obtain any vital clues from his friend," police said.

Police after obtaining permission from the Court examined the bank accounts of the missing person and funds were not missing.

Popular teledrama actress and film star Damitha Abeyratne said that police should conduct an in-depth investigation into the disappearance of the actor.

Report reveals unusual profits in CBSL bond scam

The Business Times reported on Sunday October 2,  that the 5.2 billion rupee profit recorded by Perpetual Treasuries in the year ending March 2016, was higher than the year end profit after tax of five major commercial banks in the country.

The report further highlights that the unusual profits earned by the rookie primary dealer implicated in the Central Bank bond scams, is almost 100 times more than the profit earned by their nearest and more experienced competitor.

The paper says that the company – owned by the son-in-law of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran – made a killing compared to a low post-tax profit of Rs. 57 million by Capital Alliance, one of Perpetual Treasuries’ competitors.

Perpetual Treasuries’ 5.2 billion rupee post tax profit, is higher than the post tax profits reported for the same time of DFCC bank with Rs.4.3 billion, Seylan Bank with Rs. 3.8 billion, NDB with Rs.3.5 billion, NTB with Rs.2.6 billion, PABC with Rs.1 billion and Union Bank with Rs.192.6 million.

Incidentally, Perpetual Treasuries, only received its license as a primary dealer in 2013.

According to the newspaper, certain primary dealers are frustrated by the fact that authorities are not looking into the matter.

The matter was raised at a press briefing held at the Central Bank Last week.

Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy on September 28 said that its is a publicly quoted company and presumably they have an auditor who will audit  -and their people as a matter of course they supervise and examine the primary dealers.

The governor added that if they see something untoward, obviously they will take action. But as part of their normal supervision and normal examination of primary dealers, if something is found, clearly, they would take action.

Over to you – For denial or action…..

Suspect throws hand grenade at police

Police have shot at a suspect who attempted to hurl a hand grenade at a group of police officers in Athurugiriya. The police officers had attempted to apprehend the suspect who is a resident of Athurugiriya, on the morning of Sunday, October 2.

Police say that officers shot at the suspect’s hand when he attempted to hurl a hand grenade at them, following which the suspect had fled the scene.

While a search was underway for the suspect as of Sunday evening, he has not been taken into custody as yet. Police say that the suspect is wanted in connection with several crimes.

My speeches have been misinterpreted

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran who has been at the centre of a political storm recently said that his recent actions and speeches have been misinterpreted by certain, defeated political elements for ulterior gains.

He said that these political elements that should currently be spending time in prison than in the open were trying to boost their sagging political image by attacking him.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the National Sports Festival in Jaffna yesterday, Wigneswaran said that he was only trying to propagate certain issues faced by the Tamil people with the intention of finding viable solutions to them.

He also said that some of the speeches he made in Tamil have been wrongly translated in order to distort the meaning of his message.

Wigneswaran speaking in Sinhala requested the people in the South to understand the true meaning of his speeches and then criticise him if they feel that is the right thing to do.

He also noted that those who initiate development projects and constructions in the North have to be always mindful to seek the views and the suggestions from the provincial administration.

He said that if such a consensus can be arrived at, it will shut the door on speculation, misunderstandings and canards.

Meanwhile Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan said that a viable political resolution to the national question should be found through Constitutional Reforms.

Sampanthan said the new Constitution should guarantee justice, peace and prosperity for all citizens of the country regardless of their ethnic, religious or social differences. He also praised the government for holding the National Sports Festival in Jaffna adding that it was a step in the right direction to usher unity among communities.

Forbes website Says Sri Lanka’s debt crisis is ‘so bad’

The Forbes Website has published an article on Sri Lanka under the headline Sri Lanka’s Debt Crisis Is So Bad The Government Doesn’t Even Know How Much Money It Owes.

The article has been published by Wade Shepard a contributor to the Forbes Website and author on Emerging markets in Asia.

The article says that according to the official estimates, Sri Lanka currently owes its financiers $64.9 billion, $8 billion of which is owned by China. It also adds that the country’s debt-to-GDP currently stands around 75% while 95.4% of all government revenue is currently going towards debt repayment.

The activities carried out by previous government are also highlighted in the article which states that the previous government utilized state-owned enterprises to take out additional loans on its behalf.

Quoting finance ministry sources, the article reads that the full extent of this extracurricular lending seems unknown, current estimates peg it at a minimum of $9.5 billion.

The article published on the Forbes website further reads that much of Sri Lanka’s pile of debt was accrued in the process of initiating an entire buffet of large-scale and extremely expensive infrastructure projects under the direction of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

It noted that between 2009 and 2014 Sri Lanka’s total government debt tripled and external debt doubled, as the country engaged in a number of costly undertakings — such as attempting to build a new, multi-billion dollar city in the middle of a jungle which includes the world’s emptiest international airport, constructing one of the most expensive highways ever made, as well as other pricey endeavors, such as spending $42 million just to remove a rock from Colombo Harbor.

The article shows statistics to say that this year alone $4.5 billion is due to foreign lenders and next year $4 billion is owed.

Principal arrested for alleged abuse of students

Ella Police yesterday arrested the principal of Yahalawela Vidyalaya on the charge of sexually abusing four students of the same school.

The students studying in Grades 10 and 11 were allegedly abused separately at the teachers’ restroom and shrine room.

The arrest was made after parents lodged a complaint with the Ella Police.

Preliminary Police investigations revealed that the 52-year-old suspect had been found guilty for abusing her nieces too. The suspect was to be produced before the Magistrate yesterday.

Two former IGPs, DIG to be arrested soon

Former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa leaving the Colombo Magistrate Court after being enlarged on bail in the case filed by the Bribery Commission which said that Rajapaksa and six others had committed an offence by permitting the Avant Garde Maritime Services to operate a floating armoury causing a Rs.11.4 billion financial loss to the government. Pic by Dimuthu Premaratne

Two retired IGPs and a former DIG would be arrested soon on charges of hiding evidence, shelving investigations and destroying evidence connected to the murder of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickremathunga, Police headquarters sources said yesterday.

The CID had already questioned them several times and recorded statements from them, police sources said.

An IGP and the DIG had been accused of hiding a note book belonging to Wickrematunga. It had contained the names of the persons who had threatened the editor with death, police said.

The other IGP had been accused of handing over the investigations on Wickremathunga’s death from the CID to the Terrorists Investigation Division.

Sources said investigations conducted so far had determined that the three former officers had sabotaged the investigations into the killing of the editor.

The charges against those retired senior officers were of a very serious nature and they would soon be taken into custody, sources added.