Divi Neguma to become Samurdhi

The Cabinet has approved to amend the Divi Neguma Act to use the term ‘Samurdhi’ instead of Divi Neguma, Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunatilake said.

Addressing the weekly cabinet media briefing yesterday at the Government Information Department the minister said that cabinet approval has been granted to publish the draft Bill for the Amendment of Divineguma Act No 1 of 2013 in the gazette and present it in Parliament, following the proposal made by Social Empowerment and Welfare Minister S.B.Dissanayake.

The Minister said that the cabinet of ministers has already approved the amendment of the Divi Neguma Act No 1 of 2013 following the request made by rural level officers who coordinate programmes related to improvement of living standards of low income communities, to use the term ‘Samurdhi’ instead of ‘Divineguma’.

Responding to a question raised by a journalist as to why the government has decided to change the name Divi Neguma to Samurdhi,the Minister said that it is more convenient for the rural level communities and the officers who coordinate this programme to use the term Samurdhi since they used the term Samurdhi from the beginning after it was introduced by Minister S.B.Dissanayake.

Suspects Remanded Over Kosgoda albino turtle theft

Balapitiya Magistrate Sachitra Jayasuriya yesterday remanded three suspects including former Commodore Ajith Boyagoda accused of stealing an albino turtle from a conservation hatchery at Kosgoda.They were remanded till Nov. 02, 2017.

Commodore Boyagoda had been the captain of the Navy vessel Sagarawardhana, which was blown up by the LTTE in September, 1994 following which they kept him in their custody for eight years. After the LTTE released him, he retired from the service in 2004.

Thereafter, Boyagda took to exporting ornamental fish.

A Maldivian businessman is believed to have given the contract for stealing the albino turtle.

Police said that investigations had so far found that Commodore Boyagoda had allegedly obtained Rs. 100 million from the Maldivian businessman to give him the albino turtle.

The white turtle was stolen from the hatchery on Dec. 06, 2013. Later popular Singer Amal Perera, too, was accused of the theft.

Police found four other white turtles in the hatchery. Police under the impression that the hatchery owner had made a false complaint and filed a case against him.

The white turtle incident came to the surface again with information elicited by the Colombo Crime Division sleuths from the suspects of the Aduruppu Street jewellery shop robbery where three-and-a-half kilos of gold jewelry was taken away by the four robbers.

The robbery was masterminded by a serving police sub inspector.

The Peliyagoda Police Crime Division sleuths recovered a stock of gold jewellery and arrested four suspects in connection with the heist including the notorious underworld character Army Sampath last Saturday (15). Under interrogation Army Sampath revealed that he had stolen the white turtle.

Army Sampath divulged that the stolen white turtle had died. He said the contract for stealing the turtle had been given to him by Commodore Boyagoda. He had been promised six million rupees for the operation.

After eliciting information from Sampath Director of the CCD, SP Nishantha Soysa and a team took Commodore Boyagoda and three other suspects into custody.

Investigations have revealed that the three suspects and Army Sampath received four million rupees from the retired navy officer.

The dead white turtle had been burnt to destroy evidence, Sampath revealed.

The CCD officials are conducting further investigations under the supervision of the Western Province Senior DIG Nandana Munasnighe and Colombo DIG Lalith Pathinayake.

President accepts Dilrukshi’s resignation

President Sirisena has accepted the letter of resignation tendered by Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe, Director General of the Bribery Commission.

Dias Wickramasinghe resigned from the post on Monday, in the wake of public criticism from the President the week before.

At an event at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on October 13, the President warned investigative bodies - specifically the CID, the FCID and the CIABOC - not to work to political agendas.

The Deputy Director General of the Commission will be appointed as the Acting Director General, until the position is filled.

Army officer Jayamanne’s body to be exhumed

The body of 52-year-old retired sergeant major, who is alleged to have committed suicide in Kegalle on Friday, will be exhumed today on a court order obtained by the CID because it had failed to remove the fingerprints from the body before burial.

Sgt. Major Ilandarage Jayamanne, who resided in Kegalle is alleged to have committed suicide after writing a letter claiming responsibility for the killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickramatunge.

Mr. Wickrematunge was shot in the head at Attidiyain Dehiwala on January 8, 2009 by two gunmen on a motorcycle. (Rohan Kumara)

Tissa Attanayake remanded until December 5

The Colombo High Court today remanded former General Secretary of the United National Party (UNP) Tissa Attanayake in case against him for allegedly preparing fraudulent documents.

The former Minister has been ordered to be remanded until 5 December. Earlier, the Colombo High Court had issued a notice on Attanayake to appear before the Court today.

The Attorney General indicted Tissa Attanayake over the case on September 09. The former UNP General Secretary had been accused of forging the signatures of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena in a letter.

Attanayake, who defected from the then opposition and was made Health minister for less than three weeks, is accused of fabricating the document to discredit the President and the PM. Attanayake has said that the purported document was received by him the day he assumed duties as health minister.

Sri Lanka Cricketers refuse to sign contract

Sri Lanka’s National cricketers and their Board are squaring off for a stand-off over a fresh contract, with the players firmly rejecting to sign the new performance-based agreements on offer.

The new contract sees a substantial cut in players’ annual contract fees although they have been offered significant win bonuses and individual performance bonuses.But the players have registered their firm disapproval, demanding a ten percent increase in their contract fees instead.

The dispute comes just days ahead of the team’s departure to Zimbabwe for a two-match Test series followed by a Tri-Series also involving the West Indies.

Skipper Angelo Mathews, his Deputy Dinesh Chandimal and veteran spinner Rangana Herath who are in the top category failed to reach a compromise when they met the Board’s CEO Ashley de Silva yesterday. They will meet board officials again this morning in the hope of avoiding a full blown crisis.

SLC’s decision to introduce pay-cuts was largely motivated by finding the Board had disbursed Rs. 684.85 million - approximately around 33 percent of Board’s income - among the 16 players in the National Squad during the previous contract year.

A player in the top category received a contract fee of US $165,000; in category 2, US $100,000; US $70,000 in category 3; and US $40,000 in category 4 during the 2015-2016 contract period which ended in February in addition to match fees, 10 percent share from the ICC and ACC events and a percentage from team sponsorship.

But SLC’s new administrators decided to reduce this substantially where a player in the top category will now receive a reduced annual contract fee of US$ 125,000 as opposed to the US$ 165,000 received last year.

A player in category 2 will receive US $ 80,000 while the contract fee for category 3 has been set at US $ 60,000. A category 4 player will receive an annual fee of US $ 40,000 and US $ 20,000 per player in category 5.

Accordingly, the Test match fee has been brought down to US $ 5000 from US $ 7500.This amount will be increased to US $ 10,000, if they win.

Also, every century scored or five or more wickets taken in a Test match will earn a player an additional US $ 5000.

The ODI and T20 match fees remain the same at US $ 3000 and US $ 2000 respectively. However, in order to create competitiveness and encourage individual performance, the Board is offering US $ 5000 for every century scored in a limited-over match and a five-wicket haul taken.

In T20’s, this has been increased by further US $ 2500, meaning a century or a five wicket-haul will fetch them US $ 7500.

In 2014 players and Board engaged in a major contract stand-off after SLC refused a share of ICC and ACC events. (Champika Fernando)

Political hand behind Dilrukshi’s resignation

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) said there may be a political hand behind the resignation of the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery Or Corruption (CIABOC) Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe.

“The controversial Treasury bond issue is the most disgraceful incident of the Yahapalana government,”  JHU National Organiser Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said.

“The COPE report on the issue is due to be presented to Parliament next week - the report contains names of a number of ministers who are connected to the issue.”

“We think the Director-General is trying to take her hands off the issue, as it is the Bribery Commission that will have to conduct investigations into the matter, once the COPE report is presented.”

“She is using the President’s criticism levelled against the Commission as a shield for her resignation,” he said.

He was addressing the media at JHU party Headquarters yesterday.

“The statement by President Maithripala Sirisena does not hinder independent commissions in any way. Putting an end to bribery and corruption and punishing those engaged in financial crimes during the previous regime were the top election promises of the Presidential Election. The civil society that ensured the President’s victory was keen on implementing a mechanism to prevent corruption because an election victory and a change of a regime were not adequate to end the culture of corruption,” Warnasinghe said.

He said the anti-corruption drive had slowed down, shattering the hopes of those who voted for the President.

“President Sirisena making such a statement is reasonable, as a leader who was appointed by the public to prevent corruptions and as the progress on the complaints have been slow,” he said.

“It shows that investigations into most allegations of financial crimes have not even reached the second stage of inquiry,” he said.

“The Director-General owes an acceptable reason for her resignation to the public, as she had been paid her salary by the taxes of the public,” Warnasinghe said.

Obama talks post White House life

US: A soon-to-be out of work Barack Obama suffered the indignities of the job interview, at the hands of “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.

In a taped segment that aired Monday night, Obama got in an appeal to millennials to vote on November 8 and shamelessly plugged his accomplishments as President.

But Colbert, in the guise of clueless office manager “Randy,” was not impressed.

“55. Tough time to start over for a man,” he said, looking over Obama’s resume.

“I don’t see any promotions for the last eight years. That’s not always good. Can you explain that?” Colbert asks.

“Honestly, there wasn’t a lot of room for advancement in my last job,” said Obama.

“The only one with a more powerful position was my wife.”

Obama gave no hint about what he actually might like to do after vacating the White House in January, but he seemed in no hurry to leave the political scene.

“You know what I really love doing? Is encouraging the youth of America to get out and vote this November so that the good work that we’ve done over the past eight years can continue on into the future,” he said.

Obama didn’t say who they should vote for, but when Colbert gave him a choice between “an extra fibre nutrient bar, which has traveled to more than one hundred countries, or this shriveled tangerine covered in golden retriever hair, filled with bile that I wouldn’t leave alone with the woman I love,” Obama said: “I think I’ll go with the fibre nutrient bar.”