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Man remanded over sword attack on teen

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The Welisara Magistrate’s Court has ordered to remand a suspect until Jan. 19 over a brutal attack on a teenager.

The suspect had reportedly attacked a 14-year-old child with a sword over a dispute that had occurred between the two groups of people, resulting in a finger of the child’s left hand being severed, police say.

However, the suspect, Dilruk Prashantha Silva, a father-of-three, had surrendered to police after evading arrest for 11 days, following the discharge of the victim from the hospital, the police further said.

Nevertheless, on Sunday (15) Welisara Magistrate Thusitha Dhammika Uduwawidana ordered the suspect to be remanded in custody, after considering a request made by Ragama Police stating that the investigations are still underway in search of the sword used in the attack.

Attorney-at-Law Shamindra Soysa, who appeared on behalf of the victimized child before the courts, had previously filed a motion alleging that the police, who had arrested the suspect previously, had released the suspect due to the pressure exerted on the investigating officers by a senior police officer.

The magistrate, who took all facts presented into consideration, ordered the case to be recalled on January 19, 2024 and also ordered the police to report the progress of the investigations related to the case to the courts on the aforementioned date.

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Schools in Kolonnawa, Kaduwela, and Wattala to close due to bad weather

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The Western Province Education Ministry has announced that all government schools in the Kolonnawa and Kaduwela Education Zonal Divisions in the Colombo district, as well as the Wattala Zonal Division in the Gampaha district, will be closed tomorrow (14) due to adverse weather conditions.

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Major presidential candidates fail to submit campaign finance details

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None of the four leading presidential candidates—current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, and Namal Rajapaksa—had made their campaign expenditure declarations as of Friday, in keeping with the campaign finance laws.

The parties and candidates were due to submit election expenditure details relating to last month’s presidential election today. However, as of Friday, the Election Commission  noted that only 13 of the 38 candidates had filed their accounts under the Election Expenditure Act No. 3 of 2023. The EC on Friday listed out the names of these candidates.

The Election Expenditure Act holds that all parties and independent candidates must submit records of the donors to their campaign within 21 days of the election results being announced. In conjunction with this Act, which was implemented for the first time since its enactment, a gazette detailing the stipulations around these submissions was published in August.

Accordingly, each candidate was permitted to spend up to Rs. 109 per voter for campaign activities, amounting to a total of 1,868.3 million rupees ($6 million). This marked another first for Sri Lanka’s election law, as a verifiable expenditure limit has not been in place before.

The EC said the report should include an estimated cost of all donations and contributions accepted or received in cash or kind by such recognised or other political party or candidate, stating whether they are donations, loans, advances, or deposits, as well as the “name, address, national identity card number, tax number (TIN), or the registration number of the donor, contributor, or the institution, incorporated or non-incorporated.”

Expenditure on media promotions, from printed handbills and banners to advertisements and broadcast programs, must be included in the submission.

The expenses for all media activities—handbills, posters, banners, pictures, advertisements, propaganda notices, radio and television shows, news bulletins, magazines, periodicals, social media, digital exposes, and any other digital media or publications—as well as the fuel supply for vehicles, regardless of whether payments were made or not, should be included in this report.

The Election Expenditure Act also requires all political parties that participate in the presidential election to include the tax payment information of individuals and companies that are funding presidential candidates.

Submitted records will be available for public viewing within two weeks of the deadline today. The EC had also noted, before the election, that those who failed to meet the deadline provided with accurate and honest information would be subject to the penalties prescribed in the Election Expenditure Act.

(The Sunday Times)

(This story, originally published by The Sunday Times has not been edited by SLM staff)

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President instructs Finance Ministry to allocate Rs. 50 mn for relief services

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to provide immediate relief to those affected by the recent adverse weather conditions across the country, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

He also instructed the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence to ensure that special attention is given to the safety of people in districts impacted by floods and landslides and to provide necessary support for 
effective relief operations.

The President emphasised that the government will take action to provide necessary assistance to all affected citizens and that Local Government officials in the affected areas ensure that the people receive the required aid.

Until such time, the President requested the public to act cautiously.

Additionally, the President instructed the Ministry of Finance to allocate Rs. 50 million for relief services and urged state officials to ensure proper coordination in delivering the relief to those in need.

According to the Disaster Management Centre, 24,492 individuals from 6,018 families have been affected by floods and landslides in 11 districts due to the adverse weather conditions experienced in recent days.

At present, 2,200 individuals from 584 families are being sheltered in 23 relief centres. 

Relief operations in all affected districts have already begun, coordinated by state officials through the Chief of Defence Staff’s office.

Emergency situations can be reported by contacting the Disaster Management Centre’s hotline number 117 or by calling 0112136136, 0112136222 or 0112670002.

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