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CoPF decides on Parate Law

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The Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) has approved, subject to conditions, the Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Bill which was amended to facilitate legal provisions for the suspension of Parate Law until December 15 2024. 

Accordingly, the banks’ practice of acquiring properties of whose loans are yet to be paid off will be suspended until December 15 and the Recovery of Loans by Banks (Special Provisions) Act No. 4 of 1990 will be amended to facilitate the necessary legal provisions.
The approval was given when the Committee on Public Finance met in Parliament recently (30) under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha De Silva.

Officials representing the Ministry of Finance said that they hope to provide temporary relief to the creditors. Accordingly, the committee questioned the officials what action will be taken in this regard after December 15. Thus, the officials present failed to give a clear answer in this regard and the committee recommended to provide a road map for the actions to be taken after December 15 to those subject to Parate Law.

Also, the committee recommended that all the parties who have done business with the banks subject to Parate Law should be given a fair opportunity to negotiate with the banks.

The committee also questioned the officials about the distribution of loans under the Parate Law. The chair of the committee inquired about the manner in which the micro, small scale and medium scale enterprises in particular have received loans under this law and the criteria under which they are classified. The officials did not have the correct data about this and the chair of the committee instructed the officials to provide that data to the committee.

The committee also inquired the percentage of the sectors that were most affected. Furthermore, the committee asked the officials to provide data on the implementation of the Parate Law in other periods compared to the specific period in which there was an economic recession due to the impact of the corona virus in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The officials present mentioned that the data on this matter this will be presented to the committee in the future.

Meanwhile, the committee has also given its approval for the orders under the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 and the regulations under the Sri Lanka Securities and Exchange Commission Act No. 19 of 2021. Also, the committee approved the regulations under the Import and Export (Control) Act No. 1 of 1969.

State Minister Dr. Suren Raghavan, Members of Parliament Premnath C. Dolawatta and Madhura Withanage participated in this committee.

Also, officials representing several government institutions including the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy, the Auditor General’s Department, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka Customs were present in this committee.

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Over 10,000 local & foreign election observers monitoring Gen. Election

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Over 10,000 local and foreign election observers will be taking part in monitoring the 2024 Parliamentary election.

43 foreign election observers are in Sri Lanka for this purpose.

Among them are 3 election observers of the European Union and 30 from the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL).

10 election observers from neighbouring countries are also in Sri Lanka.

About 10,000 local election observers representing 10 organizations will be taking part in the monitoring process of the 2024 Parliamentary election.

Meanwhile People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has deployed 5,000 election observers.

8 organizations have been granted permission for mobile surveillance operations.

The National Election Commission also says that a special security arrangement is in place to ensure the safety of all election observers.

(News1st)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by News1st has not been edited by SLM staff)

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Israel NSC eases travel warning for SL

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The National Security Council of Israel has removed the severe travel warning for Sri Lanka, after last month calling on Israelis to leave the Arugam Bay area and other beaches in the island’s south and west immediately, citing terrorism threats.

The NSC says the threat level is being updated from level 4 (high) in the southwest of the country and level 3 (moderate) in the rest of Sri Lanka, to level 2 (an occasional threat) for the entire country.

The NSC says Israeli travelers should alert local security forces if there are any hostilities toward Jews or Israelis, and cautions against wearing Jewish or Israeli symbols.

Last month, the NSC called on Israelis to leave Sri Lanka’s south and west, and said Israelis should postpone travel to the rest of the country. They also urged nationals to hide signs that indicate they are Israelis and avoid gathering in large numbers.

Three people were later arrested over terror threats against Israelis.

(Excerpts : timesofisrael.com)

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33 train journeys cancelled today

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Sri Lanka Railways says that 33 train journeys will be cancelled today (Nov. 14).

10 of these journeys were scheduled to commence during the morning hours with the remaining 23 journeys scheduled for the evening.

Accordingly, 13 train services on the main line, 08 train services on the coastal line and 06 trains each on the Puttalam and Kelani Valley lines will be cancelled.
The cancellations are due to the absence of drivers and their assistants.

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