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The Court of Appeal has fixed 4 and 6 August to consider several intervening petitions filed in connection with a case brought by former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Suresh Sallay challenging his arrest and detention by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Eight parties, including Venerable Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera and Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, have submitted intervening petitions seeking permission to make submissions in the matter.

When the case was taken up last week, Court of Appeal President Judge Rohantha Abeysooriya said the intervening applications would be considered after the conclusion of submissions by President’s Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena, who appears for Sallay.

Following agreement from lawyers representing the intervening petitioners, the Court directed that the applications be taken up on 4 and 6 August.

E-Visible recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, marking a significant milestone in its journey from a one-person operation to one of Sri Lanka’s leading shipping desk service providers.

The occasion also highlighted the company’s continued commitment to innovation with the introduction of Navitrax, a next-generation technology platform designed to transform shipping desk operations.

Founded in 2010, E-Visible began when a leading multinational company approached the team with a temporary logistics requirement. The success of the solution and the value it delivered soon transformed a short-term assignment into a long-term partnership, laying the foundation for a company built on innovation, operational excellence, and customer trust.

Over the past 15 years, E-Visible has established itself as a pioneer in shipping desk services in Sri Lanka. Through its unwavering focus on customer success and continuous improvement, the company has earned the confidence of more than 20 leading local and multinational organisations.

From humble beginnings serving a single customer, E-Visible has grown into an organisation of over 100 professionals. This remarkable growth reflects the company’s dedication to delivering exceptional service while building long-lasting partnerships with its customers.

As the logistics industry evolved, E-Visible also recognised the growing challenge of attracting and retaining the skilled workforce needed to support expanding operations. Rather than relying solely on manpower, the company identified technology as the key to driving greater efficiency, maintaining service excellence, and supporting sustainable growth.

This vision led to the development of Navitrax, a next-generation technology platform built on 15 years of industry expertise. Designed to streamline shipping desk operations, Navitrax enhances productivity, improves operational visibility, and reduces dependence on manual processes, enabling organisations to build more resilient, scalable, and future-ready logistics operations.

As it celebrates this important milestone, E-Visible remains focused on the future. Backed by 15 years of trusted expertise, the company continues to invest in technology, drive operational excellence, and develop innovative solutions that empower customers to succeed in an increasingly dynamic global logistics landscape.

Sri Lanka and India have amended their Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to introduce the internationally recognised Principal Purpose Test (PPT), empowering tax authorities in both countries to deny treaty-based tax benefits where one of the principal purposes of an investment or transaction is to obtain a tax advantage rather than support genuine commercial activity.

The amended protocol entered into force on 19 June after both countries completed their domestic legal procedures and has since been notified by Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry. The revised provisions will apply in India to income derived from 1 April 2027.

The PPT is a key anti-tax avoidance measure developed under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) framework. It allows tax authorities to refuse benefits available under the bilateral tax treaty if it is reasonable to conclude that securing a treaty-related tax advantage was one of the principal purposes of an arrangement or transaction, unless granting the benefit is consistent with the treaty’s object and purpose (https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Govt-in-the-dark-as-FDI-tax-incentives-become-obsolete/26-794423).

The amendment also revises the treaty’s preamble to clarify that the agreement is intended to eliminate double taxation without creating opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or tax avoidance.

For businesses operating between Sri Lanka and India, the changes mean treaty benefits will increasingly depend on whether investments and corporate structures are supported by genuine commercial substance rather than being established primarily to obtain favourable tax treatment.

The revised treaty shifts the focus from merely satisfying technical requirements, such as tax residency and documentation, to demonstrating a legitimate commercial rationale for cross-border arrangements.

The protocol aligns the India-Sri Lanka tax treaty with international tax standards under the OECD’s BEPS initiative and reflects the growing global emphasis on protecting tax revenues while facilitating genuine cross-border trade and investment.

England overcame France in the ultimate game of two halves in the bronze final of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Bukayo Saka hit a hat-trick and Jude Bellingham finally put an end to a comeback Kylian Mbappe had heroically inspired at Miami Stadium.

England annihilated France in the first half. Declan Rice stylishly struck home the opener from outside the box and, after Saka had a goal ruled out for offside, Ezri Kosna made it two. Saka then bagged a quick-fire brace to send Thomas Tuchel’s team in 4-0 up at the break.

France’s biggest World Cup defeat – when they effectively operated with 10 men in a 5-2 to Brazil loss in 1958 – appeared under severe threat, but they came out swinging. Michael Olise’s pass enabled Kylian Mbappe to get them on the board, and the Real Madrid forward set up Bradley Barcola to further decrease the deficit. Mbappe then pulled Les Bleus within one, before Olise came narrowly close to rounding off a breathtaking team move and equalising.

The Three Lions were under extreme pressure, but Saka gave them breathing space from the spot after Malo Gusto had tripped Djed Spence. It appeared to finally extinguish the comeback, only for Ousmane Dembele to get France within one again.

England’s player of the tournament had the final say, though, Bellingham dribbling past multiple bodies to seal victory in one of the greatest matches the World Cup has ever seen.

It was England’s best finish at the global finals since they triumphed on home soil in 1966, and brought to an end Didier Deschamps’ successful reign as France coach.

A high-level Sri Lankan delegation met with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chair Laura DiBella, during an official visit to Washington, D.C. in June.

The special meeting was arranged through the regional Indo-Pacific coordinator Dustin Bickel from the US Embassy Colombo, coinciding with the US Forum on Indian Ocean Ports and Supply Chains held in the USA.

The delegation included key officials such as Deputy Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku, Special Envoy to the President Hanif Yusoof, SLPA Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, and Shippers Academy CEO Rohan Masakorala. The group met with the FMC Chair and the FMC legal counsel, to discuss the Commission›s role in international ocean transportation. The delegation extended an official invitation to Chair DiBella to visit Sri Lanka to showcase the nation›s role as a key Indian Ocean logistics hub.

This meeting was part of a State Department-funded forum aimed at strengthening Indo-Pacific trade. Additionally, the delegation visited the Port of Baltimore to study automation and digital logistics to support the modernisation of the Port of Colombo.

There is renewed vigour within the country’s Opposition. Meetings are being held, alliances negotiated, and familiar calls for Opposition unity have once again become dominant in the political discourse. Yet, beneath the noise surrounding these coalition-building efforts lies an uncomfortable reality: that there is a striking absence of ideas. Beyond the singular objective of removing the current administration, the emerging Opposition has offered little vision of what it would do differently or how it intends to address the country’s long-standing structural challenges.

The principal force driving this newfound unity appears not to be ideological conviction, but political survival. The disparate parties and personalities, now attempting to come together, have little in common in terms of economic philosophy, governance, or social policy. Their common denominator is the existential fear of legal accountability.

One of the loudest advocates of Opposition unity is MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, who has repeatedly made this point, perhaps more candidly than he intended. On several occasions, he has argued that Opposition parties must unite, because many of their leaders face legal action, particularly over allegations of corruption. At a recent rally promoting Opposition unity, he went even further, suggesting that anyone who has held public office for over two decades is bound to have committed acts that could be construed as the misuse of public funds.

That statement goes to the heart of the political malaise. For decades, the country has tolerated the notion that a certain level of corruption, waste, and abuse of public resources is simply part of governance. Public office was too often viewed as carrying privileges that extended well beyond the responsibilities entrusted by the electorate. Misuse of State resources became normalised rather than condemned.

Examples abound. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s detour to England to attend an event involving his wife, while returning from an official engagement in New York, was widely treated as routine rather than questioned as a matter of public accountability. Likewise, almost every President in recent memory, other than the incumbent, undertook highly publicised ‘pilgrimages’ to Tirupati in South India, accompanied by large State-funded entourages. Such expenditures were accepted as the ordinary perks of office rather than scrutinised as costs ultimately borne by taxpayers.

These incidents are not merely anecdotes. They reflect a broader political culture in which waste and misuse of public funds became so commonplace that many ceased to recognise them as problems.

It is precisely this culture that has contributed to Sri Lanka’s present circumstances. Years of fiscal indiscipline, patronage politics, and the casual treatment of public resources have eroded public trust and weakened State institutions. The electorate’s demand for change was never solely about replacing one Government with another, but replacing a political culture that regarded accountability as optional.

Whether one agrees with every policy of the current administration or not, it is difficult to deny that corruption and accountability have moved closer to the centre of public discourse. Legal action against powerful political figures, once almost unimaginable, has become a routine. That shift reflects a broader public expectation that those entrusted with public office should also be answerable for their conduct.

If the Opposition genuinely wishes to present itself as an alternative Government, it must offer more than solidarity among politicians facing legal jeopardy. It must articulate a coherent vision for economic recovery, institutional reform, public sector efficiency, education, healthcare, and constitutional governance. Most importantly, it must demonstrate that it has learned from the failures of the political culture that brought Sri Lanka to this point.