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Price of cement bag to drop

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The price of a kilogram of cement will decrease by a rupee, leading to a reduction of approximately Rs. 100 per bag of cement, Finance Ministry officials have said.

The Order presented by ministry officials to reduce the prevailing CESS tax on cement received approval from the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF).

 Matters related to the said were discussed when the Committee on Public Finance met in Parliament on Jan. 08, chaired by MP Dr. Harsha de Silva.

Steps to obtain CESS income
Accordingly, Order under section 14 of the Sri Lanka Export Development Act, No. 40 of 1979 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2400/25, Notification under Section 3(4) of the Strategic Development Projects Act, No. 14 of 2008 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2399/16, Order under Section 3(4) of the Strategic Development Projects Act, No. 14 of 2008 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2401/19, 06 Gazette Notifications published under 06 Orders under the Special Commodity Levy Act, No. 48 of 2007, and Notification under Welfare Benefits Act, No. 24 of 2002 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2415/66 were taken into consideration by the Committee.

Considering Order under section 14 of the Sri Lanka Export Development Act, No. 40 of 1979 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2400/25, the Chair of the Committee on Public Finance instructed officials of the Ministry of Finance to take necessary measures to ensure that revenue generated through the CESS tax imposed for export development is directly transferred to the relevant financial institutions.

Additionally, the Order to reduce the tax imposed on the export of rock boulders, which was introduced during the construction of the Hambantota Port, was also approved by the Committee. Accordingly, a tax of Rs. 1,000 per cubic meter will be levied for the export of one million metric tons of rock boulders.

Approval to increase benefits to Aswesuma beneficiaries

In consideration of the Notification under Welfare Benefits Act, No. 24 of 2002 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2415/66 The Committee on Public Finance approved the benefits to be provided to beneficiaries of the Aswesuma program by the end of this year. During the discussions, approval was given to increase the allowance for households under extreme poverty from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 17,500, for households currently receiving Rs. 8,500 to Rs. 10,000, and for households receiving Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 5,000. The allowance of Rs. 5,000 for households in reception of the said amount was decided to be kept unchanged.

Whilst the Notification under Section 3(4) of the Strategic Development Projects Act, No. 14 of 2008 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2399/16 pertaining to the Western Terminal of Colombo Port did not receive the approval of the Committee, it was decided to re-consider the Order under Section 3(4) of the Strategic Development Projects Act, No. 14 of 2008 published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 2401/19 Regarding a garment factory to be built in Batticaloa on a later date.

Moreover, 06 Orders under the Special Commodity Levy Act, No. 48 of 2007 were taken into consideration with regards to extending the validity periods and reducing taxes.

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Assets of 02 police officers to be probed

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Assets of two prominent police officers are to be probed after authorities received a number of complaints, highly placed sources in the government say.

One officer in question is a DIG while the other is a SSP, reports add.

The Police Illegal Assets And Property Investigation Division are conducting further investigations.

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AG seeks CID probe into social media smear campaign against his staff

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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has opened a probe following a complaint by Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe that his staff have been unduly targeted by false allegations on social media.

The AG’s instruction to the CID came after several of his staff complained to him over the allegation on social media.

Particularly targeted are senior AG’s Department officials awaiting promotions, sources said.

In one of the posts, a senior officer was accused of being supportive of granting bail to Thamil Makkal Viduthal Puligal (TMVP) leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillaiyan, when his fundamental rights application over his arrest was taken up. During the hearing of the FR case, the matter of bail was not even considered, the sources said.

Another allegation was that in a case related to the suspended Police Chief Deshabandu Tennakoon, the AG prevented a senior officer from representing the department and instead sent a junior officer. However, on the particular day, the senior officer was indisposed, the sources said.

These allegations surface as the AG’s Department has filed more than 600 new indictments in High Courts so far this year, while the Bribery Commission has also referred several bribery and corruption cases to the AG for prosecution.

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

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19-yr. old dies after falling from elevator

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A 19-year-old youth has died after falling from a service elevator at a hotel in the Pannai area, in the Jaffna Police Division.

According to the police, the incident had occurred last night (June 21) and the deceased has been identified as a resident of Nirveli, Jaffna.

According to investigations, the youth was employed at the hotel and had been using the service elevator -intended for transporting goods.

Further investigations are underway.

This incident follows a similar case recently reported from a hotel in Moratuwa last week.

Related News :

19-yr.-old dies after hotel elevator collapses

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