News

Govt. mulls over curtailing expenditure on imported paper

Published

6 years ago

2020/09/24

By Saman Indrajith

State Minister of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Micro Finance, Self-Employment, Business Development and Underutilised State Resources Development, Shehan Semasinghe, told Parliament yesterday that the government’s attention had been drawn to find ways and means of curtailing its expenditure on paper.

Responding to a question raised by SLPP MP Mohammed Muzammil, the Minister said that around Rs. 369 billion had been spent on paper imports during the period 2015-2019.

The government had decided to bring down that cost, the Minister said, noting that special attention had been paid to promoting electronic correspondence. He said several systematic measures had been taken in that regard.

The Minister said that a proper programme would be implemented in the future to protect the environment and reduce the huge cost of paper imports; factories had been set up to produce high quality paper that could compete internationally on the instructions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, he said. The government was planning to promote paper production in the country and decided to simplify the tax policy to attract investors.

The Minister said that the new government had simplified the tax regime and introduced an easy tax collection system, which would make it easier for all small and medium enterprises.

All banks and financial institutions had been issued directives to simplify process of providing information to the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) and a new credit rating system would be introduced in the near future, he said.

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News

Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted

Published

11 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.

Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.

Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed

Published

11 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.

It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.

Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.

Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions

• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981

News

Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

12 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.

Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.