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COPA unhappy over corrupt Samurdhi officials going unpunished

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The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) expressed strong displeasure for not giving a proper punishment to Samurdhi Development officials involved in misconduct and various corruption irregularities.

This was discussed when the said Committee met in Parliament on Jan. 10th under the Chairmanship of State Minister – Lasantha Alagiyawanna.

Officials from the Samurdhi Development Department affiliated with the Ministry of Women, Children Affairs and Social Empowerment had been called to before the Committee on this day.

The Committee inquired about the disciplinary action taken against the officials responsible for a financial irregularity in providing fishing nets to the prosperous people for livelihood in the Ampara Damana Divisional Secretariat. Accordingly, the Ministry of Women, Children Affairs and Social Empowerment was advised to re-investigate the incident and obtain a report, expressing their displeasure with the disciplinary measures followed. Accordingly, the Committee instructed the officials to take appropriate disciplinary action against the officials who engage in such misconduct from there on.

The Committee instructed the Samurdhi Development Department to prepare an immediate program to protect the Samurdhi beneficiaries. The Committee Chair instructed to pay more attention to the beneficiaries of Samurdhi who are not satisfied and work towards empowering them. Instructions were also given to send a report to the Committee including details of the amount of money in the seven funds currently under the care of the Samurdhi Development Department and the services provided by those funds.

The progress of computerization of the Samurdhi Bank system was also examined during the Committee. Accordingly, the officials informed that currently 1089 Samurdhi Banks have been networked. However, as all the banks are still not fully computerized, the officials were instructed to take the necessary measures to bring all the banks to operate through one system by giving a date for each bank to go through the system.

The Chair stated that the approval for the new staff of Samurdhi Development Department has been received and accordingly instructed to provide a report on the tasks expected to be carried out by the Department to solve the existing issues related to the staff and also advised to hire the new employees as soon as possible.

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UK’s relaxed trade rules to boost SL exports

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The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries like Sri Lanka after upgrades to the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).

The changes, announced as part of the UK’s wider Trade for Development offer, aim to support economic growth in partner countries, including Sri Lanka, while helping UK businesses and consumers access high-quality, affordable goods.

New measures include simplifying rules of origin, enabling more goods from countries such as Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and the Philippines can enter the UK tariff-free, even when using components from across Asia and Africa.

These changes are expected to be in place by early 2026.

This move strengthens Sri Lanka’s position in its second-largest apparel market, supporting exports, jobs, and economic growth.

The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick, said: “This is a win for the Sri Lankan garment sector, and for UK consumers. With the UK being the second largest export market and garments making up over 60% of that trade, we know manufacturers here will welcome this announcement.

“We want Sri Lanka to improve the utilisation of the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme for a wider range of goods, not just garments. With the Sri Lankan government’s ambition to grow exports, and with the simplification of rules of origin for other sectors too, we strongly encourage more exporters to explore how they can benefit from the preferences offered by the DCTS. The UK remains committed to working towards creating shared prosperity for both our countries.”

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Pakistan police arrest 149 including 2 Lankans in ‘scam call centre’ raid

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Pakistan police have arrested 149 people in a raid on a scam call centre, the country’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Thursday.

The agency told the BBC it acted after a tip-off about the network, which was operating in the city of Faisalabad.

It said the centre was involved in Ponzi schemes and tricked people into handing over vast sums of money in the name of fake investments.

Those arrested included 78 Pakistanis, 48 Chinese nationals, eight Nigerians, four Filipinos, two Sri Lankans, six Bangladeshis, two Myanmar nationals and one Zimbabwean national.
Eighteen of the 149 were women, the agency added.

A copy of a police report said victims of the alleged scam would initially receive a small return on their first investments, before being persuaded to hand over larger sums of money.

“The charged individuals ran WhatsApp groups where they lured ordinary people by assigning small investment tasks like subscribing to different TikTok and YouTube channels,” the agency said.

“Later, they shifted them to Telegram links for further online tasks requiring larger investments.”

Pakistani citizen Muhammad Sajid told BBC Urdu that he was added to a Telegram channel with tens of thousands of members and was impressed by the company’s work. He said he gave them more than 3.138 million rupees ($36,600) in various instalments.

The raid, which took place on Tuesday, saw authorities seize hundreds of computers, servers, cryptocurrency exchanges and foreign SIM cards from the site.

On Wednesday, 149 suspects appeared in court, 87 of whom were handed over to the NCCIA on a five-day physical remand.

A further 62 suspects have been transferred to the district jail on judicial remand until 23 July.

The agency said the raid was at the residence of Malik Tehseen Awan, the former head of Faisalabad’s power grid, who has not been arrested.

(BBC News)

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Milk tea price upped by Rs. 10

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The All Island Canteen and Restaurant Owners’ Association has announced a Rs. 10 increase in the price of a cup of milk tea.

Association President Harshana Rukshan stated that the decision was made in response to the recent rise in the price of imported milk powder.

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