The proposed amnesty allows individuals or firms to pay previously unpaid taxes without being subject to some or all of the financial and criminal penalties that the discovery of tax evasion normally entails, a senior official of the Finance Ministry said. He said this initiative would grant people an opportunity to comply with their tax obligations vis a vis the due revenues to the country and to give them a deadline to comply with so that they may thereafter carry on as honest citizens.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has directed officials to hold talks with the household in which a Sri Lankan female domestic is alleged to have murdered a toddler in her charge as discreet diplomatic efforts were underway to secure her release, a senior official said yesterday.