Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis decided that it was not appropriate to set bail for the personal bail application submitted by Karadana Gamaralalage Wageesha Adarsha, who is said to be the girlfriend of former presidential advisor Ashu Marasinghe.
Accordingly, the Magistrate dismissed the application which was filed seeking bail in case she is arrested by the police.
The Magistrate stated that the allegations made in relation to the investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) appear to be bailable offences, and that the investigation of the incident is not at the initial stage but is scheduled to be completed.
The officials of the Computer Crime Division of the CID appeared based on summons issued by the court to present facts related to this incident, and a panel of lawyers including lawyer Chaminda Athukorala appeared on behalf of the aggrieved party Ashu Marasinghe.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has said that an investigation into the recent incident where a student fell from the footboard of a ‘Sisu Sariya’ school bus, has revealed that the accident had resulted from the careless and negligent behaviour of both the driver and the conductor.
Issuing a statement, the NTC noted that, based on the preliminary findings, the Road Passenger Transport Authority of the North Western Province has taken steps to temporarily suspend the services of the driver and conductor involved.
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation – K.D. Lal Kantha has announced that the government has decided to import 300,000 MT of maize.
Speaking to the media after attending a District Development Committee meeting at the Kandy District Secretariat yesterday (July 03), the Minister explained that this decision was taken to prevent traders from artificially inflating maize prices.
He stated that certain large and medium-scale businesses dealing with animal feed have been hoarding maize, buying it from farmers at fair prices and reselling it at much higher rates.
According to the Minister, these traders were trying to push maize prices up to Rs.190-200 per kilogram, which would have driven up the cost of eggs to Rs.200 each and increased meat prices significantly.
The Minister emphasized that while businesses are entitled to make a profit, the government will not allow unfair price manipulation. He also noted that, in the past, even ministers profited from animal products, but those days have ended and racketeers will not be allowed to control the market.
To prevent excessive price drops that could hurt farmers, the Food Security Committee has proposed imposing a tax on imported maize, he said.
