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Data Protection Authority comes into operation

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Sri Lanka’s new Data Protection Authority has come into operation following a gazette issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as Minister of Technology.

A gazette notification dated July 19 said that provisions of part V of the Personal data Protection act, No. 9 of 2022 comes into operation from July 17 onwards.

“By virtue of the powers vested in me by Subsection (5) of Section 1 of the Personal data Protection act, No. 9 of 2022, read with paragraph (3) of article 44 of the Constitution of the democratic Socialist republic of Sri lanka, I, Minister of Technology, Ranil Wickremesinghe, do by this Order, appoint July 17, 2023 as the date on which the provisions of Part V of the aforesaid act shall come into operation,” the gazette signed by President Wickremesinghe said.

Part V of the act deals with the establishment of a Data Protection Authority, first proposed in November 2022.

Section (1) of Part V reads: “There shall be established an authority which shall be called the Data Protection Authority of Sri Lanka for the purposes of this Act.

Section (2) reads: “The Authority shall, by the name assigned to it by subsection (1), be a body corporate and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue and be sued in such name.”

Wickremesinghe told parliament in November that the government would take steps to set up the Data Protection Authority in 2023 and the body would be independent and engaged with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Securities and Exchange Commission, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRCSL) and all relevant sectoral regulators to ensure a proper governance of personal data.

Sri Lanka parliament enacted the Data Protection Act aiming to promote a digital economy amid concerns raised over the privacy of individuals and adverse impact on media reporting on March 10, 2022

The bill was passed without a vote after a raft of amendments was made to the original version.

(economynext.com)

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

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Thusitha Halloluwa further remanded until June 20

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Former Executive Director of the National Lotteries Board – Thusitha Halloluwa, has been further remanded until June 20 by the Fort Magistrate Court.

This is in relation to an investigation for the alleged misuse of a computer and mobile phone valued at over Rs.470,000, which were obtained during his tenure at the Board.

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Norochcholai generator to shut down for 25 days

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The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) announced that the generator No. 01 at the Norochcholai Power Plant will be deactivated from midnight today (June 13) for scheduled maintenance lasting 25 days.

This will result in a temporary reduction of 300 megawatts from the national grid.

However, the Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Plant, which had been deactivated for around one and a half months for maintenance, will also be reactivated from midnight, contributing 165 megawatts back to the system.

CEB Media Spokesman – Dhammika Wimalaratne noted that the timing of the maintenance aligns with increased hydroelectric generation capacity due to current rainfall.

(Source: Aruna)

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Global oil prices soar after Israel attacks Iran

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Global oil prices jumped after Israel said it had struck Iran, in a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

Benchmark oil contracts Brent Crude and Nymex light sweet were up by more than 10% after the news emerged.

Traders are concerned that a conflict between Iran and Israel could disrupt supplies coming from the energy-rich region.

The cost of crude oil affects everything from the price of food at the supermarket to how much it costs to fill up your car.

Analysts have told the BBC that energy traders will now be watching to see whether Iran retaliates in the coming days.

“It’s an explosive situation, albeit one that could be defused quickly as we saw in April and October last year, when Israel and Iran struck each other directly,” Vandana Hari of Vandana Insights told the BBC.

“It could also spiral out into a bigger war that disrupts Mideast oil supply,” she added.

In an extreme scenario, Iran could disrupt supplies of millions of barrels of oil a day if it targets infrastructure or shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, with about a fifth of the world’s oil passing through it.

At any one time, there are several dozen tankers on their way to the Strait of Hormuz, or leaving it, as major oil and gas producers in the Middle East and their customers transport energy from the region.

Bounded to the north by Iran and to the south by Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Arabian Sea.

“What we see now is very initial risk-on reaction. But over the next day or two, the market will need to factor in where this could escalate to,” Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Financial said.

(BBC News)

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