News
Lankan fish exports exceed imports by USD 110 mn in first seven months of 2021
Text and pix by PRIYAN DE SILVA
Revenue from seafood exports had exceeded the cost of seafood imports by over 110 million US dollars during the first seven months of 2021 the State Minister of Ornamental Fish, Inland Fish & Prawn Farming, Fishery Harbour Development, Multiday Fishing Activities and Fish Exports Kanchana Wijesekera said on Sunday.
The Minister said that 99% of the annual requirement of dried sprats was imported and in 2020 over Rs. 31 million rupees had been spent to import dried sprats alone
Wijesekera said so, addressing the 261 entrepreneurs in the Matara district engaged in 11 related industries to ornamental fish breeding, inland fish breeding and the fish food manufacturing industry who were provided with financial grants at a ceremony held at Kamburupitiya.
New entrants to the industry received a grant of 100,000 rupees while those already engaged in the enterprise received grants of 250,000 rupees each. The Minister said that the government had allocated Rs. 565 million which would be disbursed among over 3000 entrepreneurs in the sector.
Wijesekera said that a person who had the basic infrastructure such as land and water resources, could earn Rs. 17.500 a month on an initial investment of Rs. 100,000. He said that state banks had been instructed to provide loans on concessional terms to those who wished to expand their enterprises.
Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Minister of Mass Media Dullas Alahapperuma, representatives of local government institutions and ministry officials attended the ceremony.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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