COLOMBO (News 1st)

Your Thursday Morning Brief

1. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is to make his inaugural overseas visit with a trip to India later today on a two-day state visit. 2. Three Deputy Ministers and 35 State Ministers sworn in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 3. Bandula Gunawardana and Ramesh Pathirana have been named as co-cabinet spokespersons. 4. Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has called for laws to regulate media institutions during the period of an election. 5. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland state that a local employee of the Swiss embassy in Colombo was detained against her will by a group of unidentified men. 6. Readers of the upmarket travel publication Conde Nast Traveler have voted Sri Lanka the fourth best country to travel to in 2019. 7. Nation Building Tax imposed on household goods and service products have been completely removed. 8. The Government removes the Withholding Tax on interests. 9. The debit tax imposed on banks and other financial institutions as well as the Capital Gains Tax imposed on the Colombo Stock Exchange has been removed. 10. The cabinet has also granted approval to abolish the Pay-As-You-Earn Tax as well as the Debt Services Tax.

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”