Kegalle District SJB MP Kabir Hashim yesterday accused the Government citing that the budget of Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake are the same.

Hashim said the Interim Vote on Account presented yesterday allocated the same amount to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for the first four months of 2025 as was allocated to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe for the first four months of 2024.

Hashim stated this while speaking during the debate on the Government’s interim budget. 

NPP MP Lakmali Hemachandra responding to the allegation made by MP Kabir Hashim said in Parliament that the US$ 1,300 million given to the Presidential Secretariat by the World Food Programme is included in the President’s expenditure head, and when all of that is added up, it has been equal to former President’s Ranil Wickremesinghe’s expenditure head. 

She said that the budget for President’s personal staff has been reduced by 64 percent this time. 

MP Kabir Hashim said that the NPP continued to accuse the former President of having too many privileges.

But there is no visible difference in the interim budget presented by the NPP Government.

In 2024, Rs. 1.4 trillion has been allocated for former Presidents under the Presidential Expenditure Head from January to April. In 2025, the same amount of Rs.1.4 trillion has been allocated to the present President from this interim budget from January to April. 

There is no difference in that amount. So what is the difference?” asked MP Hashim.

(DailyNews)

(This story, originally published by DailyNews has not been edited by SLM staff)

Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe told Parliament yesterday that action will be taken to sell 200,000 kilograms of rice daily to the public through the ‘Lanka Sathosa’, at a controlled price of Rs.220 per kilo to the public from today.

The Minister also said that steps will be taken to provide a coconut to the people in the suburban areas through Lanka Sathosa at a price of Rs.130 a nut within the next two weeks. He said this while participating in the debate on the government’s policy statement presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently.

The Minister also said that rice mill owners have agreed to release 200,000 kilos of rice per day to be sold through Lanka Sathosa at a price of Rs.220 per kilo.

The Minister also said that considering the current demand for rice in the local market and the damage caused to paddy cultivation due to heavy rains, the rice import restrictions have been lifted until midnight on December 20. The Minister also stated that the Government has taken steps to provide solutions to this problem by making rice available in the market as a solution to the rice shortage that has arisen in the market. Steps have been taken to solve the coconut shortage in the market in the next two to three weeks and to prevent consumers from exploiting. For this, 1 million coconuts will be released to the market.

In the past, various individuals and institutions have intervened to create shortages of goods in the country. We are trying to resolve this problem through discussions with those individuals and organisations. Otherwise, we will take specific measures as a government to prevent the people from being inconvenienced and exploiting,” he said.

(dailynews.lk)

(This story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

Action was filed in the Commercial High Court of Colombo by DSI through their Attorneys Sudath Perera Associates against the entity Lakpa Footwear Ltd., with its headquarters based in Horana. The action was filed for the infringement of DSI’s ‘Fun Souls’ trademark and brand and the shoe design on the basis of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and passing-off.

D. Samson & Sons Ltd., widely known as DSI, is a leading homegrown brand and manufacturer of footwear, apparel, and bicycle tyres across the country and has established a strong reputation for quality products in Sri Lanka since its inception. In 2016, DSI introduced and developed the brand ‘Fun Souls’ with a youth identity, to offer a range of unique shoes and bags, including infant shoes, toddler shoes, boys’ and girls’ footwear, and accessories. This ‘Fun Souls’ shoe design was an original concept presented by the DSI brand family.

On 1 November, Commercial High Court Judge Jagath A. Kahandagamage issued an enjoining order against the Defendant for engaging in the sale of kids’ footwear with a brand name/design identical or confusingly similar to the ‘Fun Souls’ trademark and the shoe design.

The Plaintiff, DSI, pleaded that the Defendant has copied the mark ‘Fun Souls’ and the design of the shoe belonging to the Plaintiff in a similar manner with the deliberate intention of passing off its products as those of the Plaintiff.

The Plaintiff further pleaded that the slight, insignificant changes in the impugned mark and the design used by the Defendant are unnoticeable to the average consumer and deliberately adopted with the mala fide intention of the Defendant to usurp the goodwill and reputation of the Plaintiff’s ‘Fun Souls’ trademark and the shoe design.

The Commercial High Court, after hearing the submissions of the Lead Counsel for the Plaintiff, issued an enjoining order as requested by the Plaintiff. The order restrains the Defendant from continuing to use or carrying out business using its infringing shoe design, under the name, sign, or mark ‘Fun Shoe,’ which is misleadingly similar to the Plaintiff’s trademark ‘Fun Souls’ and its associated shoe design.

It also prohibits the Defendant from using any other variation of the name, sign, mark, or shoe design that is confusingly similar to the Plaintiff’s trademark or trade name, and from adopting any trade name or trademark that could cause confusion with the Plaintiff’s trademark or trade name.

(ft.lk)

(This story, originally published by ft.lk1st has not been edited by SLM staff)