Courtesy Adaderana

IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the second review of the 4-year EFF-supported program and the 2024 Article IV Consultation. 

Once the review is approved by IMF Management and completed by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka will have access to SDR 254 million (about US$337 million) in financing, bringing the total IMF financial support disbursed under the arrangement to SDR 762 million (about US$1 billion), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Macroeconomic policy reforms are starting to bear fruit. Sustaining the reform momentum and addressing governance weaknesses and corruption vulnerabilities are critical to put the economy on a path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive growth.

Completion of the review by the IMF’s Executive Board requires: 

(i) the implementation by the authorities of prior actions; 

(ii) the completion of financing assurances review, confirming multilateral partners’ financing contributions and assessing adequate progress with debt restructuring.

After constructive discussions in Colombo, IMF Senior Mission Chief Mr. Peter Breuer and Deputy Mission Chief Ms. Katsiaryna Svirydzenka issued the following statement:

The IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the Sri Lankan authorities on the second review under the economic reform program supported by a 4-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and concluded the 2024 Article IV Consultation discussions. The EFF arrangement was approved by the IMF Executive Board for a total amount of SDR 2.3 billion (about US$3 billion) on March 20, 2023.

The staff-level agreement is subject to the approval by IMF management and the IMF Executive Board in the period ahead, contingent on: (i) the implementation by the authorities of prior actions; (ii) the completion of financing assurances review, which will focus on confirming multilateral partners’ committed financing contributions and whether adequate progress has been made with the debt restructuring to give confidence that the restructuring will be concluded in a timely manner and in line with the program’s debt targets.

Upon completion of the Executive Board review, Sri Lanka would have access to SDR 254 million (about US$337 million), bringing the total IMF financial support disbursed under the arrangement to SDR 762 million (about US$1 billion).

The authorities are making good progress in implementing an ambitious reform agenda under the EFF with commendable outcomes, including rapid disinflation, robust reserve accumulation, and initial signs of economic growth while preserving the stability of the financial system. Public finances have strengthened following substantial fiscal reforms. Program performance was strong, with all quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for end-December 2023 met except for the indicative target on social spending. Most structural benchmarks due before end-February 2024 were either met or implemented with delay. Reforms in some areas are still ongoing.

The economic situation is gradually improving. Growth turned positive after six consecutive quarters of contraction, registering 1.6 percent and 4.5 percent y-o-y growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 respectively. High-frequency economic indicators point to a continued pick-up in manufacturing, construction, and services. Inflation has come down from a peak of 70 percent in September 2022 to 5.9 percent in February 2024. Gross official reserves increased to US$4.5 billion at end-February 2024 with sizeable foreign exchange purchases by the central bank.

Sustaining the reform momentum is critical to put the economy on a path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive economic growth. We welcome the authorities’ commitment to fiscal reforms. Continued progress towards the introduction of the property tax is critical, together with revenue measures to meet the revenue mobilization goals in 2025 and beyond. Revenue administration and anti-corruption efforts to boost tax collections are also key. Maintaining cost recovery in fuel and electricity pricing will help minimize fiscal risks arising from state-owned enterprises.

While inflation has decelerated faster than expected, continued monitoring is warranted to help anchor inflationary pressures and support macroeconomic stability. Against ongoing external uncertainty, it remains important to continue to rebuild external buffers through strong reserves accumulation.

Sri Lanka’s Agreements in principle with the Official Creditor Committee and Export-Import Bank of China on debt treatments consistent with program parameters were important milestones putting Sri Lanka’s debt on the path towards sustainability. The critical next steps are to finalize the agreements with the official creditors and reach Agreements in Principle with the main external private creditors in line with program parameters in a timely manner. This should help restore Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability over the medium term.

The authorities’ recently published Action Plan to implement the key recommendations of the Governance Diagnostic Report is a welcome step. Sustained efforts to implement these reforms will be essential for addressing corruption risks, rebuilding economic confidence, and making growth more robust and inclusive.

The IMF mission team met with tea plantation workers in Nuwara Eliya and learned first-hand about some of the challenges Sri Lanka’s most vulnerable face. Continued efforts to improve targeting, adequacy, and coverage of social safety nets, particularly Aswesuma, remain critical to protect the poor and the vulnerable.

The IMF team held meetings with President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Minister of Power and Energy Mr. Kanchana Wijesekera, State Minister Mr. Shehan Semasinghe, Chief of Staff to the President Mr. Sagala Ratnayaka, Secretary to the Treasury Mr. K M Mahinda Siriwardana, and other senior government and CBSL officials. The team also met with Parliamentarians, representatives from the private sector, civil society organizations, and development partners.

We would like to thank the authorities for the excellent collaboration.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Acknowledging that the independence of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) is an ‘absolutely key pillar’ under its program, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it is important to maintain a high degree of transparency to explain how the CBSL’s decisions are benchmarked.

These remarks were made by Peter Breuer, the IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, while responding to a question raised by a media person on the recent controversy on the CBSL’s independence and unprecedented salary hikes.

A special press briefing was convened by the visiting IMF delegation on Thursday (March 21) to announce the staff-level agreement reached between the IMF staff and Sri Lankan authorities on economic policies to conclude the second review of the 4-year EFF-supported program and the 2024 Article IV Consultation.

When asked if there has been any delay in reaching agreements with official creditors and China Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, Mr. Breuer said it is common for these procedures to take some time, however, he urged that the debt restructuring process be moved along expeditiously because it seals what has been agreed”.

The IMF Mission Chief noted that it is critical for Sri Lanka to finalize the agreements with official creditors and reach agreements in principle with the main external private creditors in line with program parameters in a timely manner.

Mr. Breuer is of the view that this should help restore Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability over the medium term.

He told reporters that the IMF looks to see swift progress with the outstanding items, in particular reaching an agreement with international creditors, including private bondholders and China EXIM Bank to cement the path to debt sustainability.

Asked about the IMF team’s interactions with opposition politicians in Sri Lanka and their reaction to maintaining the IMF program’s conditions amidst coming elections, he said that they are willing to listen to alternative suggestions of how the IMF program objectives can be reached as long as they are realistic and achievable” within the timeframe of the program.

For us what is absolutely key is that the program objectives are achieved. Because Sri Lanka has a chance of emerging from the crisis. The path is a knife-edge path.” 

We are willing to listen to alternative suggestions of how the program objectives can be reached. These must be realistic and achievable within the timeframe of the IMF program which was the result of robust discussions that we had in the summer of 2022,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The vote on the no-confidence motion against Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, was defeated in the Parliament today (March 21), following a three-day debate.

The Speaker survived the no-confidence motion, moved by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), by a majority of 42 votes.

A total of 117 lawmakers had voted against the motion while 75 voted in favour.

Accordingly, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena will continue to function as the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

The third day of the parliamentary debate on the no-confidence motion against the Speaker commenced at 09.30 a.m. this morning. 

The parliamentary debate on the no-confidence motion tabled by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) was initially slated to be held for two days, however the Committee on Parliamentary Business later decided for it to be debated for three consecutive days.

The debate commenced in the Parliament on Tuesday (March 19). 

The motion brought forth by the opposition against the Speaker was officially handed over to the Deputy General Secretary of Parliament on March 05. 

It had been signed by 44 parliamentarians including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella and MPs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Rohini Kumari Wijeratne, Hesha Vithanage, Mano Ganesan, Rishad Bathiudeen, M.A. Sumanthiran, S.M. Marikkar, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Thalatha Atukorale, Vijitha Herath and Chandima Weerakkody.

The no-confidence motion alleges that the Speaker had ignored the Supreme Court’s recommendations pertaining to Sections 13, 17, 20, 33 (6), 34 (1), 35 (1), 21, 22 and 33 of the Online Safety Bill.

The Speaker is also accused of allowing the third Reading of the Online Safety Bill to be passed without a vote and disregarding the Chief Opposition Whip’s call for a division at the Committee Stage.

Further, the opposition MPs claim that the Speaker had ‘unconstitutionally and unlawfully’ used his decisive vote to affirm the appointment of IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon when the other members of the Constitutional Council were divided on a tie on the matter. It was reported that four members had voted in favour of the appointment while 2 voted against and 2 others abstained. However, considering the 2 abstentions as votes cast against, the Speaker had used his vote as the deciding vote to go ahead with the appointment, they allege.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has informed the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) today (March 21) that they accepted all recommendations from COPF report on salary revisions, the Chairman of the COPF, MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said.

He also mentioned that President Ranil Wickremesinghe will appoint a committee to review salaries as soon as possible, until which salary increases will be deferred from next month.

Furthermore, he stated that they have agreed on a 4-week timeframe for the committee’s report to ensure a swift resolution. 

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) to announce this, MP de Silva said: I am glad we were able to come to a consensus without an amendment to the CBSL Act. Thank you to all involved for working towards a positive outcome.”

On Wednesday (March 20), the COPF recommended to the Central Bank to defer the salary increases until a mutually acceptable solution is reached on the matter. This was mentioned in the COPF report on the Central Bank Salary Revision 2024-2026, presented to the parliament by the committee’s chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva.

COPF compiled this report on the recent salary increase of the Central Bank staff members upon a request made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister. The request came about after several MPs raised this issue in the House, joining the general outcry opposing the steep salary increase.

In its recommendations, the COPF says the Finance Minister should, with immediate effect, appoint an independent remuneration committee with the concurrence of the Central Bank Governor to review the salary increase under discussion.

COPF also recommended that a report on the same be submitted within 4 weeks and that Central Bank defer the salary increase until a mutually acceptable solution is arrived at, based on the findings of the report.

The COPF further noted that the members of this independent remuneration committee need to be co-opted from Central Bank as well as from outside; both within and outside the public sector as necessary.

COPF says it expects this committee to arrive at reasonable adjustments in remuneration for all staff categories, keeping in mind the expertise of the specialised staff and comparability of the same as relevant to the Central Bank.

Proposing that the methodology for determining salaries of professional staff be decoupled from non-professional and minor staff, the COPF went on to recommend that this committee arrive at a transparent formula for future revisions to CBSL staff remuneration.

#CBSL Accountability to @ParliamentLK established. Gov @CBSL informed COPF today that they accepted ALL recommendations from COPF report on salary revisions. Pres @RW_UNP to appoint a committee ASAP to review salaries, until which salary increases will be deferred from next month— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) March 21, 2024

2/ We also agreed on a 4-week timeframe for the committee’s report to ensure a swift resolution. I am glad we were able to come to a consensus without an amendment to the @CBSL Act. Thank you to all involved for working towards a positive outcome. #lka #SalaryRevision #Democracy— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) March 21, 2024

•  COPF recommends deferment of CBSL salary increase
  Mar 20th, 2024
•  CBSL to reach decision over salary hike controversy
  Mar 18th, 2024
•  29% – 89% salary hikes given to CBSL employees: PM reveals in parliament
  Mar 6th, 2024
•  CBSL officials summoned to Cabinet over salary hike controversy
  Mar 4th, 2024
•  CBSL requests President for opportunity to explain recent salary hike
  Feb 25th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a new country partnership strategy (CPS) for Sri Lanka covering the period 2024–2028. The strategy will focus on restoring the country’s macroeconomic stability, reviving growth, and establishing the foundation for sustainable recovery and resilience.

This new partnership strategy will build on ADB’s ongoing assistance to support the country’s efforts to restore macroeconomic stability, and to achieve green and long-term sustainable growth,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono. The CPS responds to Sri Lanka’s economic situation by tailoring ADB assistance to address the country’s long-standing macroeconomic imbalances and structural impediments through knowledge solutions, policy advisory support, and priority investments.”

Sri Lanka is showing signs of stability and recovery from a deep economic crisis. Inflation significantly declined from 69.8% to 4.0% between September 2022 and December 2023. Foreign exchange reserves have increased to $4.4 billion in 2023 from $1.9 billion in 2022. Sri Lanka’s economic growth returned to positive territory in the second half of 2023 and that momentum is likely to continue.

ADB’s assistance under the new CPS will focus on three strategic objectives: strengthening public financial management and governance; fostering private sector development promoting green growth; and improving access to climate-smart public services and deepening inclusion. Three thematic priorities—climate action, disaster resilience, and environmental sustainability; gender equality and social inclusion; and governance, capacity development, and digitalization—will be integrated into the CPS objectives.

The new CPS will support the country’s efforts to tackle the key underlying causes of the crisis. ADB will focus on reforming public financial management system, strengthening governance, accelerating domestic resource mobilization, and improving fiscal and debt sustainability, as well as measures to improve the performance of state-owned enterprises.

The strategy recognizes the critical role of the private sector in the country’s recovery and long-term economic growth. Structural reforms to promote greater private sector participation in the economy and diversify the economy with emphasis on green and sustainable growth will be supported under the new strategy. ADB will continue to support financial inclusion and small and medium-sized enterprises development, especially those managed by women, and provide advisory and capacity building support to promote trade and investment. The strategy aims to improve access to climate-smart public services and deepen inclusion through strengthening social protection and human capital development and fostering agriculture modernization.

As of the end of December 2023, ADB had committed more than $3.7 billion in 45 public sector loans and grants in Sri Lanka, as well as $25.6 million in private sector investments. 

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

-ADB-

Courtesy Adaderana

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has raised concerns about the recent trend of using currency notes to prepare ornaments and gift items and promotion of such activities through social media.

In a special notice issued to the members of the public, the CBSL’s Superintendent of Currency advised against wilful mutilation or defacement of currency notes.

Pursuant to Section 55 of CBSL Act, No. 16 of 2023, any person found guilty of cutting or perforating; affixing any seal or stamp by printing, stamping or drawing on; attaching or affixing things to; reproducing or making a facsimile of currency notes; or using such mutilated or defaced notes as a legal tender would be subjected to a fine of Rs. 25 million, imprisonment of up to 3 years or both.

As such, the CBSL urged the members of the public to refrain from engaging in the aforementioned unlawful activities.

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන

අධිකරණයේ නඩුවකට පෙනී සිට කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කළ නීතීඥවරයෙකු රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගත කර නඩුව අවසන් වන තෙක් නීතීඥ වෘත්තීය කටයුතු වල යෙදීම අත්හිටුවා ඇති බව අද දින මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා කිහිපයක පළ විය. ලංකාදීප අන්තර්ජාල වෙබ් අඩවියේ මනෝප්‍රිය ගුණසේකර විසින් අධිකරණයට අපහාස කළ නීතීඥවරයෙකු රිමාන්ඩ් යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ පුවතක් පළ කරමින් එකී නීතීඥවරයාට එරෙහිව අධිකරණයට අපහාස කිරීම යටතේ චෝදනා ගොනු කරන ලෙස ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන් 3කු විසින් නීතිපතිවරයාට නියම කර ඇති බවත් දැක්වේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් 2024 අංක 8 දරන අධිකරණයකට, විනිශ්චය අධිකාරයකට හෝ ආයතනයකට අපහාස කිරීම පනත  2024 පෙබරවාරි මස 01 වන සිට බලාත්මක කර අධිකරණයකට, විනිශ්චය අධිකාරයකට හෝ ආයතනයකට අපහාස කිරීමට අදාළ නීතිය ඒකාකාර ලෙස අදාළ වීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් විධිවිධාන සැලැස්වීම, අධිකරණයකට, විනිශ්චය අධිකාරයකට හෝ ආයතනයකට අපහාස කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් දඩුවම් ලබා දීමේ කාර්ය පටිපාටිය පිළිබඳව විධිවිධාන සැලැස්වීම සඳහා සහ ඒ හා සම්බන්ධ හෝ ඊට ආනුෂංගික කරුණු සඳහා විධිවිධාන සැලැස්වීම පිණිස නීති පනවා ඇත.

එකී පනත මගින් අධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ නීති තර්ක, නීති කරුණු, ලේඛනමය හෝ වාචිකමය සාක්ෂිමය කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කරන නීතිඥයන් හෝ පාර්ශවයන් මුල් අවස්ථාවේ සිටම නිදහස්ව, ස්වාධිනව, ජීවිත ආරක්ෂාවට තර්ජනයක් නොමැතිව සහ අපහාසයන්ගෙන් තොරව සිය කටයුතු සිදුකිරීමට අවස්ථාව දී තිබේද යන්න ප්‍රශ්නාර්ථයක් කර ඇත.

තමන් ඉදිරියේ සෑම පාර්ශවයක්ම ඉදිරිපත් කරන කරුණු සළකා බලා නීතියට අනුව විනිශ්චය කිරීම විනිසුරුවරයාගේ කාර්යය වන අතර නීතිඥවරයෙකු අධිකරණයේදී නීතිමය කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කරන අවස්ථාවක ඔවුන්ගේ වෘත්තීය අයිතිවාසිකම් අහිමි කිරීම හෝ රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගත කිරීමට විනිසුරුවරයෙකු කටයුතු කරන්නේ නම් නීතිඥවරයෙකු විනිසුරුවරයාගේ පෞද්ගලික ආකල්පද, පෞද්ගලික අභිලාශයන්ද තේරුම් ගැනීමට සිදුවිය යුතු තත්ත්වයක් උද්ගත වේ. එය අධිකරණයේ ස්වාධිනත්වයට පමණක් නොව සාධාරණ නඩු විභාගයකටද අයෝග්‍ය තත්ත්වයක් වන අතර අපක්ෂපාතී විනිශ්චයක් එමගින් අහිමිකර විනිසුරුතැනගේ පෞද්ගලික ආකල්ප, අරමුණු මත කටයුතු කරන නීති ගුරුකුල බිහිවීමට පටන් ගනී.

ඉහත පුවත දෙස අවධානය යොමු කිරීමේදී 2024 අංක 8 දරන අධිකරණයකට, විනිශ්චය අධිකාරයකට හෝ ආයතනයකට අපහාස කිරීම පනත  විධිමත් ලෙස නැවත සමාලෝචනය විය යුතු බවත් විනිසුරු ගරුත්වය, ආරක්ෂාව, රැකවරණය සහ අභිමානය මෙන්ම නීතිඥවරයෙකුගේ ගරුත්වය, ආරක්ෂාව, රැකවරණය සහ අභිමානයද තුළනය විය යුතුය. 

වරදක් කරන්නේ යැයි කියන අයටම චූදිතව හෝ සැකකරුව රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගත කිරීමේ අධිකරණ බලයද ලබා දීම ශිෂ්ට ලෝකය අනුමත නොකළ යුතුය.  එය අනුමත කළහොත් තමන්ගේ නඩුව තමන්ම විසදා ගැනීම නුසුදුසු බව කියන ස්වාභාවික යුක්ති මූලධර්මයද බිදවැටේ.

මහාධිකරණ නඩුවකදී චූදිතව ජීවිතාන්තය දක්වා සිරගතකළ හැකි පරිදි සාක්ෂි සටහන් සිය තනි අභිමතය අනුව වෙනස් කර චූදිතව ජීවිතාන්තය දක්වා සිරගත කිරීමේ දඩුවම් නියම කළ විනිසුරුවරයෙකු තවමත් සේවයේ යෙදෙයි.

අධිකරණය යනු නීතියේ රැකවරණය සළසන රන් දේවාලයකි. විධායකයේ අනීතික හස්තයෙන් බැටකන ජනතාව පිහිට පතා එන්නේ අධිකරණයටය. තමන්ගේ නඩුවට තමන්ම නියෝග දීමත්, තමන්ගේ ප්‍රකාශ සහ වාර්තා ප්‍රශ්න කිරීමට අවස්ථාව නොදීමත්, අවසානයේ ගත යුතු විනිශ්චය මුල් අවස්ථාවේ ගැනීමත් 2024 අංක 8 දරන අධිකරණයකට, විනිශ්චය අධිකාරයකට හෝ ආයතනයකට අපහාස කිරීම පනත ඇතුලු අධිකරණයට අපහාස කිරීමට දඩුවම් කිරීමට අදාල නීතියේ පවතින නීතිය මත පාලනයට ඇති අහිතකර ලක්ෂණය. ඒවා නිවැරදි කිරීමට ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදකයන් කටයුතු කළ යුතුය.

අධිකරණයේදී නීතිය කතා කිරීම හෝ නීතියෙන් ලබා දී ඇති අයිතිවාසිකම් භාවිතා කිරීම මුල් අවස්ථාවේම රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාර ගත කිරීම දක්වා දිව යන්නේ නම් ඒ නීතිය ස්ව්‍යංප්‍රත්‍යක්ෂ ලෙසම සදාචාරයට පටහැනි නීතියකි.

https://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2024/03/blog-post.html

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන

B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col), සමායෝජක,

වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394

(2024.03.20)

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

General Kamal Gunaratne, the Defence Secretary as the Author of the Deegawapiya Aruna Trust and First Trustee of Deegawapiya Stupa Restoration Board of Trustees engaged in a field study tour at the historic Deegawapiya premises at Ampara and Neelagiri Maha Seya in Lahugala, today (March 20) and reviewed the progress in order to provide further directives on the restoration works.

The review focused on the current progress of the restoration works related to Deegawapiya Stupa and Neelagiri Maha Saya sacred sites. During the tour, General Gunaratne provided technical advice to the project officials to carry out the construction in a speedy and effective manner. Discussions were held regarding the existing problems and how to carry out future work.

Commander of the Army Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage, Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa, Security Force Commander (East) Maj. Gen. Prasanna Gunaratne, Military Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Defence Maj. Gen. Dammika Welagedara, Commander South Eastern Naval Area, Rear Admiral Mahesh De Silva, Director of Architectural Conservation of the Department of Archaeology Mr. Prasanna Ratnayake, Col. Mohan Kumar and several members of the Technical Committee were also present at the occasion.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය 

දේශීය වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ව්‍යවසායකයන් ඇඟයීමේ Golden Inmediens 2023 ව්‍යවසායකත්ව රන් සම්මාන උළෙල  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් 2024.03.19  දින  බත්තරමුල්ල  වෝටර්ස් ඒජ්හී දී පවත්වනු ලැබීය.

දේශීය වෛද්‍ය රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය නීතීඥ සිසිර ජයකොඩි මැතිතුමන්ගේ සංකල්පයකට අනුව දේශීය වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ව්‍යවසායකයින් ඇඟයීම, දේශීය හා විදේශීය වශයෙන් ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම මූලික කරගනිමින් දේශීය වෛද්‍ය රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය, ආයුර්වේද දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයුර්වේද ඖෂධ සංස්ථාව යන ආයතනයන් හී මඟ පෙන්වීම මත  ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයුර්වේද ප්‍රවර්ධන පෞද්ගලික සමාගම විසින් මෙම ව්‍යවසායකත්ව සම්මාන උළෙල සංවිධානය කර තිබිණ.

දේශීය වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රය තුළ රෝගී සත්කාර සේවා  පවත්වාගෙන යමින්, ජාතික සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවට සුවිශාල දායකත්වයක් දක්වමින්, සංචාරක ක්ෂේත්‍රය තුළ දේශීය ආර්ථිකය සවිමත් කිරීමට දායක වූ ව්‍යවසායකයින් ඇතුළු අධ්‍යාපන, ප්‍රතිකාර, ඖෂධ ,නිෂ්පාදන, සේවා යන අංශ  නියෝජනය කරමින් විශිෂ්ටතමයින් 60 දෙනෙකු සඳහා සම්මාන ප්‍රදානය කිරීම මෙහිදී සිදුකෙරිණ.

අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන නිමල් සිරිපාල, මහින්ද අමරවීර,  වෛද්‍ය රමේෂ් පතිරණ , රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන නීතීඥ සිසිර ජයකොඩි,  ජානක වක්කුඹුර, සීතා අරඹෙපොළ, දේශීය වෛද්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අතිරේක ලේකම්වරුන් වන චන්දන තිලකරත්න, ශම්මි දෙනාවත්ත, ආයුර්වේද කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල් ධම්මික අබේගුණවර්ධන, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයුර්වේද ඖෂධ සංස්ථාවේ සභාපති අනුර ඇතුලත්මුදලි,  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රමුඛපෙලේ ආයුර්වේද ක්ෂේත්‍රයට අදාල ව්‍යවසායකයින් පිරිසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගී වී සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය      

Geopolitical Economy Report

Several reports in mainstream US media outlets show how the CIA has helped to direct the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and played a role in causing the conflict in the first place. Ben Norton examines the evidence.

By  Veeragathy  Thanabalasingham Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, March 18: Sri Lanka has so far witnessed eight Presidential elections. But in no previous election have we seen the kind of confusion prevailing among the main political parties in the run-up to a Presidential election.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has not yet announced his candidacy, though the election is only six months away. He cannot think of entering the fray relying only on his United National Party (UNP).  

After the three decades of Wickremesinghe’s leadership, the UNP is now at its weakest in its history. Wickremesinghe believes that his popularity among the people is gradually  increasing as a result of the economic restructuring programme being carried out by his government with the help of the International Monetary Fund(IMF).

Moves by the President to forge a grand alliance ahead of his bid for the Presidency have not seen significant progress so far. He is relying entirely on a section of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP ) parliamentarians who defected from the Rajapaksas after the popular uprising the Aragalaya.  

At the same time, the President is having talks with Rajapaksas also. It was reported that during their talks last week SLPP leaders Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa were unable to take a final decision on forming an alliance. The Rajapaksa brothers are said to have vehemently objected to the President approaching the ministers and MPs of their party bypassing the leadership.

The Rajapaksas, who are not ready to understand the current extent of their support among the people, do believe that their party has the capacity to decide the future of Sri Lanka. They say whoever gets their support will become the next President. 

As for the Rajapaksas, they must either come to power or ensure that someone who does not hold them accountable for the past mistakes comes to power.

Although it is widely believed that President Wickramasinghe will  contest the presidential election with the support of the Rajapaksas, it cannot be said that their support will be of great benefit to him either. But both sides almost have no choice but to support each other.

On the other hand, as far as Wickramasinghe is concerned, he always has the option of avoiding contesting if he finds that there is no conducive situation for his victory.

The Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power ( NPP ), which is said to be at the forefront of popular support in the South has been carrying out its campaign with great enthusiasm and conviction. Important foreign powers are also paying attention to its leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is seen as a front-runner for the Presidency.  NPP leaders are talking about their future government’s plans as if they are forming the next government.

There is confusion within the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (United People’s Power – SJB)  led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa also. He is unable to keep many MPs of the party including chairman Sarath Fonseka who has been openly critical of him under his control.

Premadasa seems to be imitating the NPP in several political strategies, including inducting ex-army and police officers into the party and mobilizing women’s support across the country.

Though President Wickremesinghe has not yet announced his candidacy, it is widely expected that the Presidential election will be a three-way contest between him, Anura Kumara and Premadasa.

Candidates from many other parties are also likely to contest the election. It is noteworthy that as many as 35 candidates contested  the 2019 presidential election.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena, the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), had earlier announced that he would also contest the Presidential election. But he hasn’t been talking about it in recent weeks.

The President of the United Republic Front (URF ) Champika  Ranawaka has been meeting leaders of various parties including the President with his policy plan. He even said that he was ready to consider contesting as a common candidate if he was approached. It is unlikely that anyone will be fielded as common candidate of the opposition this time.

It is reported that many SLPP MPs want parliamentary elections to be held before the Presidential election. Basil Rajapaksa said in a television interview last week that people do not vote rationally when a parliamentary election is held after the Presidential election and if the parliamentary election is held first, there is a better chance for a balanced parliament.

This is a strange argument. When almost all the recent opinion polls showed clearly that it is impossible for any party to get an absolute majority in the next parliamentary elections, one is at a loss to understand as on what basis Basil Rajapaksa says that a strong government can be formed if the parliamentary elections are held before the Presidential one.

The President currently has the power to dissolve Parliament at any time. But it is not clear whether he would like to dissolve Parliament at the moment.  A motion requesting the President to dissolve Parliament can be passed with a two-thirds majority. But with the ruling party lacking a two-thirds majority it is certain that the opposition will not support such a motion. Those parties are firm in their stance that the Presidential election should be held first.

Common Tamil Candidate

Meanwhile, an idea of fielding a Tamil common candidate has been floated  in the Northern Province.

The leaders of the Democratic Tamil National Alliance, comprising five Tamil parties, have agreed in principle on the need for a Tamil common candidate. Politicians and observers have already commented on its pros and cons.

Even as 15 years have passed since the end of the civil war, the numerous humanitarian problems resulting from the conflict and the national ethnic problem have not been resolved. The argument presented to justify the idea of a Tamil common candidate is that the Presidential election should be used as a referendum in the Tamil North and East to tell the Sinhala South and the world about the current stance of the Tamil people regarding a solution to their problems.

A civil society organisation called ‘Makkal  Manu’ (People’s Petition) has taken the initiative to take this idea among the Tamil people. Last week this organisation arranged a public seminar at Thanthai Chelva  Art Gallery in Jaffna under the topic of ‘How to face the Presidential election?’.

Apart from the three political analysts who were invited to address the gathering, leaders of some Tamil parties also presented their views in this regard.

Since the Tamil people of the North and East have so far voted in Presidential elections mostly with the intention of defeating the Southern  candidates they despised, the essence of the speeches of the analysts at  the seminar was that the Tamil people should abandon the behaviour of voting in this way and treat it as a referendum using their votes to tell their present predicament to the world.

It was argued that the person who can be nominated as a common  candidate should have no personal political ambitions. He should be an eminent  figure in the society who enjoys the respect of the Tamil people of both provinces. That is, he will only be a symbol that will be used to tell the world about the political aspirations of the Tamil people today. It may be very difficult to find such a person in the Tamil community in the present context.

It cannot be expected that the Tamil people will be able to decide for themselves how to advance the next phase of their struggle for political rights or what kind of political solution to the ethnic problem should be found in the new internal and international political climate.

It requires a visionary political leadership with clarity of thought. It should have learnt proper lessons from past experiences. Such a leadership is absent among the Tamil people today.

While the Tamil polity is severely fragmented into various parties and groups with their leaders having different agendas, it should be understood that today’s Northern and Eastern Tamil community does not possess any characteristics of being a society that has gone through a three-decade of liberation struggle marked by great sacrifices.

Before thinking about a Tamil common candidate, the Tamil parties should come to a unified stance on the ways to find solutions to the immediate problems faced by the Tamil people and also on the short-term and long-term political solutions to the national problem.

Some Tamil politicians with extremist views have demanded for a long time that a referendum should be held to know the present opinion of the Tamil people regarding the national problem without a proper understanding of the exercise. There are those who asked that the referendum should include the Tamil Diaspora as well, but nobody heeded that.

In the end, the idea has been put forwarded that the Tamils themselves should think of the Presidential election as a referendum in the North and East.

The leaders of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF ) who put forward the demand for a separate state, used the July 1977 parliamentary elections to claim a mandate of the Tamil people and captured 18 seats in the North and East. Appapillai Amirthalingam became the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and made history  as the first ever Opposition Leader from the Tamil community. History tells us what Tamil leaders could achieve with such a mandate”.

In the absence of a clear unified stance by the Tamil parties to guide the Tamil people in a prudent way the attempt to field a Tamil common candidate would not only become a political farce but render the votes of the Tamil people meaningless. It will create the risk of undermining the legitimate political aspirations of the Tamil people.

By DBS Jeyaraj/Daily Mirror Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Col. Karuna

Colombo, March 16:  Karuna projected himself as the Eastern national leader”, second only to Prabhakaran in the LTTE hierarchy. He kept the LTTE’s resistance alive during the days of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). He and his former deputy, Reagan, led the counter offensive against the ill-fated Tamil National Army after the withdrawal of the IPKF.

Twenty years have passed since he made a dramatic breakout from the LTTE. Much water has flown under the bridge since the eastern tiger revolt against the group’s North Lankan leadership. Nevertheless, the episode that fragmented the LTTE, remains an important chapter in the history of the ethnic conflict.

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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) organization fought the armed forces of Sri Lanka for 33 years in pursuance of its political goal of establishing a separate state  called Tamil Eelam in the Northern and Eastern provinces of the Island.

The LTTE known generally as the Tigers had the reputation of monolithic unity. This image was seriously dented in 1993 when the LTTE’s former Deputy Leader Gopalswamy Mahendrarajah alias Mahathaya” was arrested and executed on the orders of tiger supremo Veluppillai Prabhakaran for alleged treason. There was also a related purge of cadres suspected of being Mahathaya loyalists.

Despite this internal crisis in 1993, the LTTE continued to wax in the years that followed. Though the LTTE was basically a guerrilla outfit, the tigers began to acquire the attributes of a conventional army and engaged in positional warfare by seizing and retaining territory. The dawn of the new millennium in 2000 saw the LTTE controlling the greater part of the Northern mainland known as the Wanni, the lower part of the Jaffna peninsula and swathes of territory in all three districts of the Eastern province.

In February 2002, the Government of Sri Lanka with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the helm, entered into a ceasefire and peace talks with the LTTE. The peace process was facilitated by Norway. A monitoring mission comprising representatives from Scandinavian countries was set up to  oversee and supervise the ceasefire.

It was during this ceasefire period that the LTTE suffered a very serious debacle.

The Tigers’ unity that was dented by the Mahathaya affair was shattered beyond repair by an internal split in the LTTE in 2004. The then Eastern commander of the LTTE Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Ammaan” and Col”Karuna rebelled against the leadership of Veluppillai Prabhakaran. Karuna framed the revolt as one of Eastern assertion of equality against Northern hegemony.

The Eastern LTTE revolt spearheaded by Karuna was militarily suppressed by the mainstream LTTE. Hundreds of Tiger cadres died in the fratricidal conflict. Karuna himself fled to the South of Sri Lanka and ultimately sought the protection of the Sri Lankan State. The breakaway Eastern Tiger group known as the Karuna faction” formed a politico-military organization called the Thamil Makkal Viduthalip Puligal” (TMVP) meaning Tamil People Liberation Tigers. The TMVP aligned itself with Sri Lankan intelligence authorities and played a crucial, decisive role in militarily combating the LTTE.

Twenty years have passed and much water has flown under the bridge since the eastern Tiger revolt. Nevertheless the episode that fragmented the LTTE, remains an important chapter in the history of the ethnic conflict. It is against this backdrop that this column re-visits the Eastern LTTE revolt led by Muraleetharan alias Col. Karuna this week. I shall be drawing from some of my earlier writings for this article.

Karuna’s Background

Let me commence with a brief description of Karuna and his background. At the time of his revolt in  March 2004, Vinayagamoorthy Muraralitharan alias Karuna Ammaan” was in charge of the Batticaloa and Amparai districts of the East for 17 years since 1987. Karuna was Muralitharan’s nom de guerre in the LTTE while the suffix Ammaan meaning uncle was a form of respect. He was also one of seven tiger commanders given Colonel” rank in the LTTE.

Muralitharan alias Karuna is from Kiran in Batticaloa district. His father Vinayagamoorthy was an agriculturist. Kiran comes under the Kalkudah electoral district in Batticaloa. Karuna, born on 22 June 1966, is the fifth of seven children. The other siblings were three elder sisters, an elder brother and two younger sisters, His male sibling Reggie” was killed by the mainstream LTTE after Karuna’s split. Karuna’s sisters are schoolteachers or housewives. At least four of his nieces and nephews were members of the LTTE.

Young Muralitharan had his primary education at Kinniaddy Maha Vidyalayam and secondary education at Vantharumoolai Madhya Maha Vidyalayam and the Government College (now Mahajana) in Batticaloa. He was good at mechanical matters. Karuna is said to have repaired or upgraded a lot of LTTE equipment.

He became a Tiger helper” in 1982 as a GCE Advanced-Level student. After the July 1983 violence Karuna quit school and joined the LTTE formally. He was enrolled in the third batch of recruits, and he received training in 1984 at a tiger camp in Kolathoor in Tamil Nadu under senior tiger leaders  Ponnammaan and Radha.

Thereafter he functioned as a member of the dreaded LTTE intelligence outfit TOSIS (Tiger Organisation Security Intelligence Service) in Chennai. Karuna was also a bodyguard of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran for some time.

He returned to Sri Lanka in 1985 and began his fighting career under the then Batticaloa commander Basheer Kakka. Karuna continued serving in Batticaloa under Aruna and Kumarappa. He also worked under Pottu Amman when Pottu was acting chief of Batticaloa in mid-1987.

All these four men were of Jaffna origin. In 1987, the LTTE began appointing members from a particular district as the respective district leaders.

Assumed Command

Since the pioneering LTTE men from the East, Ramalingam Paramadeva alias Rajan and Ranjan Kanagaratnam alias Simon, had been killed earlier at Kaluwanchikudy and Kokkilaai respectively, Karuna was now the son of the eastern soil” next in seniority. He assumed command of Batticaloa district shortly before the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 29, 1987. When fighting against the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) began, the former LTTE military leader of Amparai (Digamadulla) district David was taken into custody. Thereafter, Karuna took over the adjacent Amparai district too and retained control of both districts until his revolt.

Karuna kept LTTE resistance alive during the days of the IPKF. He and his former deputy Reagan led the counter offensive against the ill-fated Tamil National Army after the withdrawal of the IPKF.

Karuna was instrumental in raising and training the LTTE’s second infantry division Jeyanthan Padaippirivu”. This comprised cadre from the East alone as opposed to the North-based Charles Anthony division. Karuna’s crowning moment of glory came in the mid-1990s when the government forces, conducting Operation Jayasikurui” (Certain Victory), were making rapid strides into Tiger-held territory in the Northern mainland of the Wanni.

On receiving an SOS from the high command, Karuna took his fighters to the North and helped resist the Army. Prabhakaran’s hideout in Kaeppaapulavu was on the verge of being encircled at the time.

Counter Offensive

Karuna also planned and launched the third phase of the LTTE counter offensive. He became the joint commander of all LTTE fighters in the Wanni and executed several successful operations, reversing the military situation.

He was also the field commander-in-chief for Operation Oyatha Alaigal (Unceasing Waves), during which the LTTE wrested back control of the triangular swathe of territory within Oddusuddan in Mullaitivu, Vidathaltheevu in Mannar and Omanthai in Vavuniya.

Special Commander

Karuna returned home in triumph, having won the confidence and respect of Prabakaran. He was promoted as Special Commander of both Amparai and Batticaloa districts.

He was given virtual autonomy and allowed to set up parallel structures of power. Karuna set up, in addition to the Jeyanthan brigade, the Visaalagan and Vinothan brigades for men and the Anbarasi and Mathana brigades for women. He also formed the Johnson artillery unit and began the Balendra Officer Training College. He took over the Government agricultural farm and school in Karadiyanaaru and constructed the Thenagam” base complex.

Eastern National Leader”,

When Great Heroes Day was observed on November 27, Karuna replicated the Wanni ceremony at Tharavai. At the same time that Prabhakaran lit the eternal flame in the Wanni, Karuna did the same in Tharavai. He also delivered a Great Heroes Day address like Prabakaran. Karuna projected himself as the Eastern national leader”, second only to Prabhakaran in the Tiger hierarchy.

Though Karuna raised the flag of revolt against Prabhakaran, the eastern warlord was regarded as the Tiger supremo’s blue eyed boy for years. An immensely grateful Prabhakaran allowed carte blanche” to Karuna due to the services he rendered in the Wanni.  Moreover there were transport and communication difficulties between the Wanni and the East. Thus Karuna ruled the roost in Batticaloa and Amparai having virtual autonomy. 

The advent of the Oslo-facilitated ceasefire changed this situation. LTTE leaders from the Wanni visited the East. What these Wanni-based tiger leaders perceived in the East was not complimentary to Karuna. Prabhakaran began to get negative reports about Karuna. Prabhakaran kept summoning Karuna to the Wanni for further inquiries but the latter disobeyed him and stayed put in the East. Karuna feared that Tiger intelligence Chief Pottu Amman who was to Prabhakaran what Beria was to Stalin.

The simmering tensions erupted into an open revolt on March 3, 2004. Technically the ceasefire facilitated by Norway between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE was in force then. Prabhakaran arranged for a helicopter on 2 March 2004  to pick up Trincomalee LTTE Chief Paduman and Batticaloa-Amparai commander Karuna and bring them to the Vanni for consultations”. Paduman complied but Karuna smelling a rat” (Pottu) did not. That was the flash point. 

Thenagam” Conference

Karuna realised that he had crossed the Rubicon by this defiant act. He acted fast. He summoned an urgent conference for senior eastern cadres on March 3, 2004.  Around 125 to 150 senior stalwarts of the Batticaloa – Amparai LTTE  gathered at Thenagam” conference hall at Karadiyanaaru in Batticaloa district. Colonel” Karuna took the floor. He launched a verbal tirade against Prabhakaran and the Northern Tigers.

Many of those present could not believe their ears. Karuna Amman” related a litany of complaints against the LTTE hierarchy. His chief targets were Intelligence Head Pottu Amman, Financial Controller Thamilendhi and Police Chief Nadesan. What Karuna wanted was that the eastern LTTE component to have autonomous authority. He advocated that the eastern Tigers should be free of central control by the LTTE hierarchy. We will throw off the northern yoke and create an eastern renaissance,” Karuna said.

Many were flabbergasted. Some who knew Karuna’s mindset were not surprised but did not expect such open defiance. Whatever their inner thoughts or misgivings almost everyone seemed to agree. Some kept silent, but many articulated their willingness to go along with Karuna openly. Ironically some of the wildly enthusiastic lieutenants later went over to Prabhakaran’s side and turned vehemently against Karuna.  

Kausalyan

There was only one open dissenter. This courageous lone wolf who dared to defy the eastern Tiger chief was  the then LTTE Eastern political commissar Eliyathamby Nagenthiran Lingarasa alias Kausalyan. He respectfully told Karuna that the destiny of the eastern and northern Tamil was inextricably intertwined. The Tamil people had to be united. Disunity meant the end of the armed struggle, he pointed out. All problems with the leadership should be resolved through discussion. Kausalyan urged Karuna to refrain from this course of action and go to the Wanni and meet leader Prabhakaran directly.

Karuna argued back and did his best to change Kausalyan’s stance. At one point he asked Kausalyan himself to write the amount of income earned by the LTTE in the east and remitted to Wanni. With trembling fingers, Kausalyan did so. With all that money we can make our ‘Batticaloa motherland’ a golden Eastern Eelam,” said Karuna.

Kausalyan stood his ground. He could have been executed by the impulsive Karuna. Yet, Kausalyan did not relent. Finally, Karuna lost his temper. He scolded Kausalyan in foul language and asked him to get out. Go to Wanni immediately. Take your Manisi (woman) with you. I don’t want to set sight on you. If I see you again I will finish you.” 

While a dumbstruck audience watched, Kausalyan left the place. Losing no time he went to Ambilanthurai and picked up his fiancee Pushpa then a final year undergraduate at the Eastern Campus. He made his way quickly to the Wanni even as news of Karuna’s revolt reached Prabhakaran. There was no doubt that the LTTE leader was happy to see Kausalyan. They were immersed in discussions for a long time.  

Subsequently people like Ramesh, Ramanan, Ram, Praba and Karikalan too deserted Karuna and came over. But the man who fearlessly defied Karuna’s divisive revolt was Kausalyan alone. The Tiger leader was greatly appreciative of Kausalyan’s loyalty and in a few weeks’ time witnessed his marriage to Pushpa. 

However, nine months later, Kausalyan along with four others including former Amparai district MP Ariyanayagam Chandranehru was shot dead by TMVP assassins on 7th February 2005.

Scandinavian Monitors

The open revolt by Col” Karuna became known to the world on March 3, 2004. Since the ceasefire facilitated by Norway was in force then, Karuna informed the Scandinavian ceasefire monitors that the Batticaloa and Ampara district component of the LTTE was chartering an independent course and wanted Oslo to arrange for a separate truce between Colombo and Batticaloa.

Declared Independence”

After communicating this to the Scandinavian peace monitors, Karuna held a news conference at the Thenagam” secretariat in Karadiyanaaru  and declared independence” for the Eastern Tigers from the Wanni-based LTTE. He charged that the LTTE hierarchy had discriminated against the Eastern wing despite the sacrifices and contribution made by the Batticaloa-Amparai sections.

Karuna alleged that of the 32 departments within the LTTE, none was headed by an Eastern Tamil. The 15-man central committee had only two Easterners (Col Paduman and Col Karuna ) who were there by virtue of being Trincomalee and Batticaloa-Amparai commanders respectively. Karuna compared this with the military situation where the Eastern Tigers had made proportionately higher sacrifices. At that point of time as many as 4,543 Eastern Tigers had lost their lives in the armed struggle. Of these 2,302 died in Northern battles. Operations on Eastern soil took only 2,241 lives. Despite these sacrifices, Eastern Tigers had not received a fair deal after peace, charged Karuna. With that exercise, news of the LTTE eastern revolt began spreading like wildfire.

Understanding with Colombo

From the time of his rebellion Karuna tried to forge a separate understanding with the powers that be in Colombo. He wanted Norway to facilitate a separate memorandum of understanding between himself and Colombo. Karuna claimed that the ceasefire signed by Prabhakaran would not bind him but was willing to abide by it until a new one was signed.

Karuna knew he could not fight Colombo and Kilinochchi at the same time. He seemed to prefer a deal with Colombo. The LTTE, however, acted fast and foreclosed Karuna’s option. The Tigers threatened to pull out of the ceasefire if Karuna was recognised. This put all moves in that direction on hold in Colombo.

The Eastern Tiger revolt split the LTTE both horizontally and vertically. The military balance between  the Karuna  faction and the mainstream LTTE was quite intricate and precariously fluid. What happened thereafter would be narrated in detail in a forthcoming article.

D.B.S.Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com

By Mohamed Aheeyar, Giriraj Amarnath and Niranga Alahacoon Courtesy IWMI

The FRESH Initiative, in collaboration with the ClimBeR initiative, is providing Sri Lankan farmers with climate information and agronomic advisories straight to their mobile phones.

In recent years, Sri Lanka has experienced the impacts of climate change with recurrent extreme droughts and intense rainfall events. Vegetable farmers in the upcountry areas traditionally rely on predictable seasonal rainfall patterns. However, climate change has disrupted these patterns, leading to erratic precipitation and an increasing number of extreme weather events like droughts and heavy rainfall. These climatic variations pose a significant challenge to vegetable cultivation, making crops susceptible to pests and diseases, potentially reducing productivity, and jeopardizing the quality of the harvests.

Integrated crop management: An un-beet-able approach

The CGIAR Initiative on Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH) is implementing activities in four countries including Sri Lanka, to increase fruit and vegetable intake and improve diet quality, nutrition, and health outcomes. One of the research focuses is on safe and sustainable vegetable production for year-round availability by adopting options for sustainable diversification and intensification. FRESH is promoting the integrated management of vegetable production systems, including good agricultural practices that prioritize resource use efficiency, leading to greater productivity while offering safe food, environmental protection, and improved farmer well-being. The Initiative also addresses key constraints such as the lack of awareness and knowledge gaps in regenerative agricultural practices and climate change-related issues.

Despite the commendable efforts of Sri Lanka’s extension service in building farmer awareness and capacity, a critical gap remains in delivering essential services at the individual level. The limited number of field-level extension officers, each responsible for over 3,000 geographically dispersed farmers, creates a significant hurdle. This lack of personnel and expertise hinders the economic and environmental sustainability of Sri Lanka’s high-potential vegetable production system.

An urgent need is the substantial expansion of the extension workforce. Farmers require comprehensive training on integrated pest, disease and nutrient management practices. Tailored technological knowledge, specific to crops and local conditions, is also crucial for adopting integrated management approaches. This requires external support and collaboration to develop customized solutions for diverse farming contexts. By investing in a more robust and localized extension system, Sri Lanka can unlock the full potential of its vegetable sector, ensuring both economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.

Farming for the future

Using CultivateX,” a mobile platform developed by the International Water Management Institute, FRESH, in collaboration with the CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR), is providing real-time climate information and agronomic advisories to farmers through existing mobile platforms. This is enabled by good digital infrastructure, including mobile phone penetration, usage, internet coverage and the high level of farmers’ literacy. Information sharing through digital platforms is expected to help minimize existing information asymmetries and extension gaps. On a pilot scale, 75 farmers received context-specific local weather alerts twice a week (at intervals of 3-4 days) and weekly agronomic advisories throughout the cultivation season. The provision of weather and agronomic advisories was designed to build the farmers’ climate resilience and capacity to understand climate variation and enhance knowledge of recommended agronomic practices.

Evaluation of the pilot farmers who read the delivered climate advisories indicates that the advisories were accurate for 74 % of the farmers and fairly accurate for all others. The agronomic advisories were very useful for 65% of the farmers. Farmers found the advisories on the effective use of fertilizers and agrochemicals, efficient planning of crop management activities, efficient scheduling of irrigation as per the climate forecast, and water and energy conservation to be the most useful. The agronomic advisories have helped the farmers to select the right pesticides, conduct the best crop management activities, reduce crop damage and minimize the use of agrochemicals.

Farmer reflections on the impact of advisories

• Samaraweera, Kulatunge and Jinasena are three tomato farmers aged 48-55 in Balangoda area. During the 2023 dry season, Kulatunge and Jinasena received climate advisories through a family member’s phone and from his friend, respectively. All three farmers mentioned that the climate advisories provided were accurate and guided them to decide the appropriate days for fertilizer and agrochemical application (rain-free days to avoid washaway) to make use of limited resources efficiently.
• Ratnasiri is a 74-year-old experienced farmer cultivating 0.25 acres of land in the same area said the weather forecasts he received helped him to plan 3-4 days ahead, including the hiring of labor and off-farm work. This has helped to save LKR 6,000-8,000.
• Silva confirmed that climate and agronomic advisories helped her to save money by applying the right inputs at the right time and deciding the right labor requirement, saving LKR 4000.
• A 41-year-old farmer said that the agronomic advisories helped him to identify many pests and diseases correctly and that he shared the messages received to his phone with many of his friends.

courtesy aa.com

Initiative to offer students above grade 8 opportunity to delve into AI within realm of information technology, says Colombo

Sri Lanka has begun integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into school education, an official statement said.

The island nation’s Education Ministry signed an agreement with Microsoft on Tuesday to commence a pilot project to integrate AI into the school curriculum.

This initiative will offer students above grade 8 the opportunity to delve into AI within the realm of Information Technology,” said the statement.

Education Minister Susil Premjayanth said Colombo expects to fully implement the program by next year.

Initially, the project will be rolled out in 20 schools across 20 districts, with a commitment to provide conducive classrooms and necessary technical equipment.”

A dedicated team from Microsoft will extend support to facilitate online educational activities,” it said.

Courtesy Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Global investors and Sri Lanka officials expect to start negotiations aimed at restructuring $12 billion in defaulted global bonds next week, according to people familiar with the matter.

A group of bondholders, known as a steering committee, will begin talks as they weigh a proposal from the government to rework the overseas debt that has been in default since 2022, the people said, declining to be named because negotiations are private. The goal is to reach a deal quickly, the people said, particularly as Sri Lanka is scheduled to hold presidential elections later this year.

Rothschild & Co., which advises the bondholders, and Lazard Inc., an adviser to the government, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The government couldn’t be reached for comment when contacted outside regular business hours. 

The prospect for a deal in Sri Lanka comes as creditor talks in two other stalled restructurings — Ghana and Zambia — are also gaining traction. Breakthroughs in those cases would mark a victory for the International Monetary Fund and G-20 leaders ahead of next month’s meetings of world leaders in Washington, D.C., where the topic of debt burdens for poor countries is on the agenda.

Read more: Zambia and Creditors to Restart Bond Restructuring Negotiations

Last month, Sri Lanka sent a proposal to holders of dollar bonds as part of its plan to overhaul $27 billion of foreign debt, including bonds and loans. The restructuring is critical to ensure financing from the IMF bailout keeps flowing. President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in February that authorities expect to complete the debt revamp within the first half of the year.

The government has already struck deals with official creditors, including China, India and the Paris Club as well as with holders of its local debt.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

දණ්ඩනීති සංග්‍රහය සංශෝධනය කිරීම සඳහා පනතක් ගැසට් කර ඇත්තේ රටේ ස්ත්‍රී දූෂණ සහ ළමා අපචාර ප්‍රචලිත කිරීම සඳහා බව දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයේමහ ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පවසයි.

ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුව විසින් අද(20) මේ පිළිබඳව පැවැත් වූ මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවේ දී  වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා අනාවරණය කළේ මෙම පනත මගින් කිරීමට උත්සාහ දරන්නේ මෙරට දරුවන් අපයෝජනයට ලක්කිරීම ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම සඳහා බවයි.

1995 වසරේ දී සිදු කළ දණ්ඩනීති සංග්‍රහයේ සංශෝධනයට අනුව මෙරට අවුරුදු 16 ට අඩු දැරිවියක් ස්ව කැමැත්තෙන් අපයෝජනයට ලක් වුවද එය ස්ත්‍රී දූෂණය යටතට වැටෙන බරපතළ වරදක් බවත්, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍ය විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ මහතා එම වයස් සීමාව මෙම පනත මගින් අවුරුදු 14 දක්වා අඩුකර ඇති බවත් ඒ මහතා මෙහිදී චෝදනා කළේය.

මෙහිදී වරදකරුවා බවට පත්වන පුරුෂයාගේ වයස් සීමාව අවුරුදු 18 සිට 22 දක්වා ඉහළ දමා ඇති බවද පෙන්වා දෙන ඒ මහතා, හදිසි අවශ්‍යතාවයක් ලෙස සලකා මෙම පනත ගෙන එන්නේ මෙය ජනතාවගේ දැවෙන ප්‍රශ්නයක් නිසාදැයි ප්‍රශ්නකර සිටියේය. 

ආර්ථික අර්බුදයෙන් ගැලවීමට ලිංගික සේවා වෙළෙඳපොළක් මෙරට ප්‍රචලිත කිරීමේ සැලැසුමක් ඇති බවද වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා මෙහිදී හෙළිකළේය.

සවිස්තරාත්මක වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න…

Courtesy Adaderana

The Police Special Task Force (STF), in a raid conducted on Tuesday night (March 19), has managed to arrest three suspects involved in organized crimes.

Accordingly, a close associate of the infamous gangster Keselwatte Dinuka”, identified as Tharindu Ruwan Kumara, was apprehended in Borella. The STF personnel found 6.5 grams of heroin on the suspect at the time of the arrest.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Jeffrey Ahmed Rizwan alias Goda Rizwan”, a member of the notorious criminal figure Kanjipani Imran’s” gang, was arrested in Maligawatta along with 6.4 grams of heroin.

Finally, a close associate of the gangster Pookudi Kanna”, identified as Munaweera Arachchilage Susantha, was arrested with 6.62g of heroin in Kajimawatta.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe has assured that the economic reforms being implemented will not be disrupted by the coming elections and that the government is ready to make the ongoing reforms a law of the country.

The State Minister had stated this during a discussion with the IMF’s Executive Director for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan, Prof. Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian.

During the discussion, ensured that the reforms implemented will not be disrupted with election been announced and the government is ready to make the ongoing reforms a law of the country which demonstrates the dedication to stability and sustainable growth,” he said in a post on ‘X’. 

Semasinghe further said that wide-ranging topics were discussed around the current IMF programme and attention was also paid to the challenges in digitising the tax process.

He said it was pointed out that the government has taken steps to increase the number of tax files, which had decreased due to various policy decisions, to approximately one million at present. 

Meanwhile, the State Minister of Finance has also held a discussion with the Deputy Chief Economist at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Dr Fergus Cumming, and the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick.

He said the discussion delved into various aspects of current economic trends, exploring their implications and identifying emerging challenges and opportunities, particularly in the context of post-crisis recovery efforts. 

Additionally, he said they examined the outcomes of the IMF programme and discussed reforms extending beyond the programme’s scope. The emphasis was placed on the significance of maintaining momentum with reforms,” he said in a post on ‘X’.

Furthermore, views were exchanged on enhancing tax administration practices, Semasinghe stressed.

Courtesy Adaderana

A new study has challenged the alleged health benefits of intermittent fasting, a popular diet often praised by celebrities and health gurus alike.

Intermittent fasting is a well-known practice in which you eat all your food in an eight-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours of the day.

However, a study from the American Heart Association published on Monday, 18 March has found that limiting mealtimes to just eight hours a day was linked to a 91 per cent increase in risk of death from heart disease.

Researchers, led by Dr Victor Zhong of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, analysed approximately 20,000 adults in the US with an average age of 49 years who had followed intermittent fasting, also known as the 16:8 plan.

According to the study – which was presented at the AHA’s Epidemiology and Prevention conference in Chicago, Illinois – those who limited their eating to eight hours a day were 91 per cent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who ate across 12 or 16 hours.

Among participants with existing cardiovascular disease, an eating duration between eight and 10 hours per day was also associated with a 66 per cent higher risk of death from heart disease or stroke.

Meanwhile, people with cancer who ate for more than 16 hours a day were less likely to die from the disease. Researchers also found that time-restricted eating did not reduce the overall risk of death from any cause.

Restricting daily eating time to a short period, such as eight hours per day, has gained popularity in recent years as a way to lose weight and improve heart health,” said senior study author Dr Zhong. However, the long-term health effects of time-restricted eating, including risk of death from any cause or cardiovascular disease, are unknown.”

We were surprised to find that people who followed an eight-hour, time-restricted eating schedule were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. Even though this type of diet has been popular due to its potential short-term benefits, our research clearly shows that, compared with a typical eating time range of 12-16 hours per day, a shorter eating duration was not associated with living longer,” he said.

The study analysed data from participants in the 2003-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, and compared it to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Death Index database on people who died in the US from 2003 through December 2019.

 Researchers acknowledged that the study was limited in its findings because it relied on self-reported dietary information, as well as failed to focus on other factors that may play a role in participants’ health.

Overall, this study suggests that time-restricted eating may have short-term benefits but long-term adverse effects. When the study is presented in its entirety, it will be interesting and helpful to learn more of the details of the analysis,” said Dr Christopher D Gardner, the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.

One of those details involves the nutrient quality of the diets typical of the different subsets of participants. Without this information, it cannot be determined if nutrient density might be an alternate explanation to the findings that currently focus on the window of time for eating. Second, it needs to be emphasised that categorisation into the different windows of time-restricted eating was determined on the basis of just two days of dietary intake,” he said.

Approximately half of the participants were men and half were women. Around 73 per cent of the participants were non-Hispanic white adults, while 11 per cent were Hispanic. Eight per cent of participants were non-Hispanic Black adults, and nearly seven per cent of adults identified as another race.

It will also be critical to see a comparison of demographics and baseline characteristics across the groups that were classified into the different time-restricted eating windows,” added Gardner. For example, was the group with the shortest time-restricted eating window unique compared to people who followed other eating schedules, in terms of weight, stress, traditional cardiometabolic risk factors or other factors associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes?

This additional information will help to better understand the potential independent contribution of the short time-restricted eating pattern reported in this interesting and provocative abstract.”

In June 2023, a similar study analysed the weight loss results for adults with obesity who participated in intermittent fasting, compared to traditional calorie counting. The results, which were published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that those who engaged in eight-hour time restricted eating had improved insulin sensitivity compared to those in the control group who ate their calories any time over 10 or more hours a day.

Source: The Independent
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

If Sri Lanka continues to rely on borrowing to address the imbalance between imports and exports, the nation will inevitably confront another economic crisis within a decade, says President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

He also underscored his vision to establish economic stability and expedite the transformation of Sri Lanka into an export-oriented economy.

The President said that a new law is planned to be introduced to parliament in April, alongside another legislation aimed at improving financial governance within the government. These measures are designed to propel the nation’s economy forward.

Wickremesinghe made these remarks during his attendance at the inauguration ceremony of Bodhigara and Golden Fence, constructed near the historic Mangedara Tempita Viharaya in Kegalle today (March 20).

The President also noted that negotiations concerning certifying Sri Lanka as a debt-paying country are anticipated to conclude by June and July. He further emphasized that the foreign aid lost due to the country being labelled as bankrupt will be retrieved and returned to the nation.

Additionally, the President highlighted that the country’s economy will receive a boost as the national currency strengthens with the renewed engagement of foreign banks and companies that had previously refrained from conducting business with Sri Lanka.

Reflecting on how all citizens were impacted during the previous economic crisis, the President also stressed that the benefits of the growing economy are meant for everyone, not just a select few.

The President, who visited the historic Mangedara Tempita Viharaya in Kegalle, unveiled a commemorative plaque, inaugurating the new Bodhigara and golden fence, and offered flowers at the Bodhiya.

This new Bodhigara and golden fence were erected following guidance from Ven. Sri Jananandabhidana Nayaka Thero, the Viharadhipathi of the Mangedara Tampita Viharaya and Chief Sanghanayaka of Kegalu Maha Disawa.

The President also granted commemorative gifts upon Jagath Sumitra Karunaratne and Mallika Karunaratne.

Addressing the gathering President Ranil Wickremesinghe further said:

We are looking forward to talking to the International Monetary Fund and wrapping up our work soon. In 2022, Sri Lanka was labelled as a bankrupt country. Because of this, international financial institutions and banks stopped providing us with support and loans. Our first priority is to lift this ban. Therefore, we need to reaffirm that we are a country that pays its debts.

Over the past year, we have played a crucial role in rescuing the country from economic troubles. If these challenges persist, we may endure another two or three years of hardship. However, as an initial step, we have now reached the final stage of the government’s program aimed at steering the country away from bankruptcy. Achieving this required numerous steps, but we’ve successfully executed them in a remarkably short timeframe.

The on-going discussions are reaching their last phase, and we anticipate wrapping them up by tomorrow. Following that, our objective is to proceed with negotiations involving the countries that have provided loans to us. This process is being overseen by France, Japan, and India, who are chairing the discussions involving all the countries that have officially lent money to us.

The local staff and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are anticipated to reach a staff-level agreement this weekend after concluding their discussions. Concurrently, discussions with China are on-going, and discussions with private creditors are underway. The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank are scheduled to return to Europe to engage in discussions with these groups.

Following the declaration of our bankruptcy-free status, a joint meeting of the World Bank and the IMF is planned for April. Subsequently, the relevant agreement is expected to be signed shortly thereafter.

I aim to complete all these tasks by June and July, especially considering the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. It’s crucial to finish these activities before the elections. Once completed, we will demonstrate to the world that we are capable of repaying our debts, which will lead to the return of aid money that we haven’t received yet and an increase in the country’s dollar reserves.

Currently, many banks and companies are hesitant to engage in business with us, but once these activities are concluded, they will resume business with us. Consequently, our available funds are expected to increase.

We have passed a challenging period and had to make tough decisions to overcome this situation. However, we have now reached a point where we can offer some relief.

The rupee has been strengthening, and it’s expected to reach Rs.280 rupees by June, leading to a decrease in the prices of goods. We anticipate the rupee will continue to strengthen next year as well.

Moreover, salaries of the government employees have increased by Rs. 10,000 before the Sinhala Tamil New Year. Additionally, the Aswasuma” program has been introduced to provide benefits three times higher than Samurdhiya to the people, with the number of beneficiary families increasing from 800, 000 to 2,400,000.

Considering these factors, the relief provided to the people as a bankrupt country is three times greater than what was provided during a stable economy. These efforts ultimately benefit the country’s economy. Additionally, the funds that were not used for decentralized budgeting over the past two years will be released, contributing to the country’s economic growth.

Looking ahead, we have opportunities for further progress after June.

Stabilizing the country’s economy alone will not solve all our problems because we are currently reliant on imports, leading to a trade imbalance where exports are lower than imports. This gap is often bridged through foreign loans, which sets us up for another economic crisis in about a decade.

To prevent such a scenario, I plan to hold discussions with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to initiate a program aimed at swiftly transitioning the country towards an export-oriented economy. As a fundamental step, we have introduced the agricultural modernization program, which will require another 6 to 7 years to achieve success.

It is worth mentioning that the proposed law aims to foster economic stability and transition the country into an export-based economy. I plan to present this law to Parliament by April. Additionally, another law focused on financial governance within the government will be introduced, enabling us to sustain economic activities effectively.

The previous economic challenges impacted everyone in the country. Therefore, the benefits of the developing economy should not be limited to a select few but should extend to all citizens.

–PMD

By Palitha Ariyarathna

GKUP Group

As residents of Sri Lanka, we all play a role in maintaining a healthy environment for every living creature in our region. Today, I want to address several issues related to our local area, particularly focusing on poor city trash management. Having lived in Mahanuwara City (Kandy) for over four decades, I’ve witnessed and experienced the challenges of urban living. Whether we’re government employees or private citizens, it’s our collective responsibility to work together peacefully. Let’s set aside titles like ‘Governor’ or ‘Leader’ and recognize that we all share this village, city, country and this earth, and this. Trash management and environmental cleanliness go hand in hand, and it’s crucial to address these issues through collaborative efforts, awareness campaigns, and stricter waste management regulations. Additionally, safeguarding the Mahaweli River, the longest river in our country, is essential for both environmental sustainability and public health.

Let’s start from Mahanuwara-Kandy: Kandy, also known as Mahanuwara in Sinhala, is a major city in Sri Lanka, located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings’ era of Sri Lanka. The city is situated amidst hills in the Kandy plateau, which spans an area of tropical plantations, primarily tea. Kandy serves as both an administrative and religious city and is the capital of the Central Province. One of its most significant landmarks is the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), which is one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. The temple houses the relic of the Buddha’s tooth and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Kandy attracts numerous visitors due to its rich cultural heritage, scenic beauty, and historical significance. Here are some reasons why Kandy is a popular destination: which I am not going further to explain one by one. Anyone can imagine why managing waste effectively in a city like Kandy is crucial for maintaining cleanliness, environmental health, and the well-being of its residents. We have lived for a longer period in Mahanuwara-Kandy itself as students in famous Kandy schools and colleges. We lived there, as for the Vision and Mission of the Kandy Municipal Council, we don’t know who the founder is, but it clearly reflects the needs of our own people and our commitment to enriching our heritage. Living in Mahanuwara-Kandy, we witness firsthand how attractive our city is and how kind and honest the people in the area are. The KMC’s Vision and Mission align with these values.

Vision

An attractive city that leads through good governance enriching heritage”

Mission

Our mission is to provide and manage all the public utility services, thoroughfares and other welfare activities, ensuring welfare and good health of the people living within the Municipal limits and of those visiting the city daily in protecting historical and natural beauty of the World Heritage city by using the physical, financial and human resources available to the council efficiently and effectively by virtue of the powers vested in it by the Municipal Councils’ Ordinance and other Numerous Acts with much dedication and motivation.

As the author of these articles and a former member of the Commercial Grid Team, I served as Secretary, dedicating my free time to JICA’s collaborative public team, working closely with KMC and local authorities to formulate the Greater Kandy Urban Plan (GKUP). My commitment and goals are focused on fulfilling the second line of the KMC mission. In this paper, I will address critical issues, propose practical project suggestions, outline necessary personnel, and explore international approaches to managing the trash crisis. My overarching goal is to safeguard the welfare and good health of both residents living within municipal limits and visitors to our beautiful World Heritage city. Additionally, I am dedicated to preserving the historical and natural splendor that defines our beloved city here are some strategic steps for more effective waste management:

Sincerely, waste management in Kandy, like many other cities worldwide, faces several challenges. Let’s explore some of the key issues. All findings related to the Municipality can be true, or if they have currently been fixed, the relevant officers can ignore them and focus on the most relevant and latest issues.

Image: The accumulation of trash until the next morning in some places, from approximately 6 PM to early morning, due to tight garbage handling operations can indeed have significant consequences for the atmosphere and pedestrians in Kandy City. The impact may include air pollution, which affects the health and well-being of residents.

Inadequate Infrastructure:

1. Kandy lacks sufficient waste disposal infrastructure, including composting facilities, recycling centers, and waste treatment plants.
2. The absence of proper facilities can leads to illegal dumping, open burning, and environmental pollution.

Poor Waste Segregation:

1. Residents often mix different types of waste (organic, recyclables, and non-recyclables) together.
2. Without proper segregation, recycling efforts are hindered, and valuable materials end up in landfills.

Lack of Public Awareness:

1. Many residents are unaware of the importance of waste reduction, proper disposal, and recycling.
2. Educational campaigns are essential to promote responsible waste management practices.

Uncontrolled Dumpsites:

1. Kandy faces challenges related to unmonitored dumpsites.
2. These sites contaminate soil, groundwater, and air, posing health risks to nearby communities.

Health and Environmental Impact:

1. Improper waste management leads to vector-borne diseases (such as malaria and dengue fever).
2. Open burning releases harmful chemicals, affecting air quality and respiratory health.

Visual and Olfactory Effects:

1. Improperly managed waste negatively impacts the city’s aesthetics and quality of life.
2. Littered streets and unpleasant odors affect residents and visitors.

Limited Resources and Funding:

1. Municipal budgets may not allocate sufficient funds for waste management infrastructure and services.
2. Kandy needs sustainable funding models to address waste-related challenges.

Population Growth and Urbanization:

1. Rapid population increase in urban areas strains existing waste management systems.
2. As Kandy grows, waste generation escalates, necessitating better planning and resources.

Behavioral Change:

1. Encouraging behavioral change among residents is crucial.
2. Promoting responsible waste disposal habits requires community engagement.

Collaboration and Governance:

1. Effective waste management requires coordination among local authorities, Mindful NGOs, and citizens.
2. Transparent governance and stakeholder involvement are essential.

Addressing these above challenges requires a holistic approach, involving infrastructure development, education, policy enforcement, and community participation. Kandy can work toward sustainable waste management by prioritizing these aspects.

Remember that waste management is a collective effort involving residents, local authorities, and businesses. By implementing these strategies, Kandy can improve its waste management practices and create a cleaner, healthier environment for all.

Let’s go back to JICA and GKUP. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has played a significant role in supporting waste management and urban development in Kandy over the past years in Sri Lanka. Here are some key initiatives that have been implemented:

Kandy New Wastewater Management System:

1. JICA provided financial assistance for the construction of the Kandy New Wastewater Management System.
2. The project aims to address wastewater-related challenges in Kandy, benefiting over 300,000 people, including residents and daily migrants.
3. The system improves sanitation, reduces pollution, and enhances the overall quality of life in the city1.

Greater Kandy Urban Plan (GKUP):

1. JICA collaborated with local authorities to formulate the Greater Kandy Urban Plan (GKUP).
2. The plan revises the urban development vision for Kandy, focusing on sustainable growth, heritage preservation, and efficient waste management.
3. It includes strategies for waste reduction, recycling, and infrastructure development2.

Solid Waste Management Master Plan:

1. JICA’s assistance extends to formulating a Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Kandy.
2. The plan emphasizes strengthening governance, fostering ownership, and implementing waste management based on past experiences.
3. It envisions a cleaner, healthier city prepared for rapid urbanization3.

These collaborative efforts between JICA and local authorities demonstrate a commitment to sustainable waste management and city development in Kandy. Frankly, further evolution on the above subject is limited due to a lack of relevant knowledge and resourceful data from authority and public papers and articles.

Let’s jump to our target area, Lewella, where I have faced challenging times while discussing and addressing the current day-to-day issues. I have lodged numerous complaints regarding the area’s trash management sector, including the frontline employees responsible for daily trash collection. My long-term efforts aim to uplift people’s quality of life and find the right solutions to safeguard our county’s natural environment.

Where we live: Lewella, a village and northeastern suburb of Kandy in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, is situated along the banks of the Mahaweli River.

Here are some key details: It appears that my concern is related to a community with nearly 5,000 residents.

Trash Dumping: Improper waste disposal poses a significant challenge to the Mahaweli River.

A few Unorganized and Unofficially directed trash collection areas are igniting fires after manual trash segregation. These areas contain all types of trash, and the resulting burning releases smoky emissions that affect nearby main roads and the riverside. The open fires pose a threat to the riverside environment, and the residual waste left over after several days of burning eventually washes into the Mahaweli River, affecting different climate conditions such as the effect of wind and rain

Challenges Facing Mahaweli River:

Water Pollution: Solid waste dumped into the river affects water quality and ecosystems.

Environmental Impact: Open dumping sites near the river contribute to pollution and harm aquatic life.

Health Risks: Polluted water can lead to health issues for communities downstream.

Life and Traffic issues: A few very narrow junctions are used for daily trash collection and burning activities. This has an impact on the lives and nearby properties, resulting in a very smoky environment. Burning trash poses serious health risks to both people directly exposed to the smoke and the environment. It can lead to respiratory issues, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and long-term health problems. Proper waste management and recycling are crucial to mitigate these harmful effects. The road adjacent to the burning activity sites is approximately fifty meters from both the beginning and ending of Wagolla Road.

The issue of waste mismanagement in the Lewella area of Kandy is a pressing concern. Here are some observations and challenges related to waste management in that locality:

Improper Collection and Disposal:

1. The municipal authorities may not have an efficient waste collection system in place.
2. Irregular collection schedules or inadequate coverage can lead to waste accumulation on streets and in residential areas.

Lack of Segregation at Source:

1. Residents might not segregate waste properly at the source (homes and businesses).
2. Without proper separation of recyclables, organic waste, and non-recyclables, effective waste management becomes difficult.

Illegal Dumping and Littering:

1. Some individuals may resort to illegal dumping, especially in poorly monitored areas.
2. Littering in public spaces exacerbates the waste management challenge.

Insufficient Awareness Programs:

1. Lack of awareness about responsible waste disposal practices contributes to the problem.
2. The municipality should conduct educational campaigns to inform residents about proper waste management.

Inadequate Infrastructure:

1. The Lewella area may lack sufficient waste bins, collection points, and recycling facilities.
2. Insufficient infrastructure hinders effective waste management.

Environmental and Impact:

1. Poor waste management affects the environment, soil quality, and water sources.
2. Open burning of waste releases harmful pollutants into the air.

Current Health Risks:

1. Accumulated waste attracts pests, leading to health hazards.
2. Residents may suffer from vector-borne diseases due to improper waste disposal.
3. Disposable diapers often referred to as nappies,” including adult and other diapers, pose significant challenges in waste management. Raising awareness about proper diaper disposal and exploring innovative solutions is essential for environmental health. In several cases, human-monkey complicity has been observed, due to the rising of many unhygienic trashes being dragged along to other houses. Additionally, unsupervised dogs in villages impact the scenario.
4. To dispose of Pedigree dog waste from home, you must monitor and ask the owner of a large or small puppy if they are collecting the waste. It should not be dumped in the nearby area or hidden away. Instead of flush their dog poops down the toilet; it’s one of the most eco-friendly ways of disposing of dog poop. Rather than unknowingly carrying out improper disposal poses a health risk for municipality staff and finely community. Register all dogs in the area will be advantage of starting management of this crisis. Also set up designated areas with waste bins for dog owners to dispose of their pets’ waste. Encourage villagers to use these stations and provide bags for collecting dog poop.
5. While implementing strategies to manage village dogs and their poop issues, it’s essential to acknowledge that achieving the desired goal might not always be straightforward. However, persistence and a combination of approaches can make a difference. Lack of Community Engagement:
6. The municipality should involve residents, community leaders, and local organizations in waste management initiatives.
7. Encouraging community participation can lead to better outcomes.

Lack Of: Staff, Equipment, Motor and Non-Motorized Equipment,  

Addressing these challenges requires a collaborative effort between municipal authorities, residents, and relevant stakeholders. By implementing better waste management practices, the Lewella area can improve its environmental conditions and overall quality of life.

Lack of Occupational health and Safety Issues:

Ensuring the safety of municipal workers is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive community. These dedicated individuals play a vital role in keeping our cities and villages clean, safe, and functional. Municipalities should prioritize worker health and safety.

What do we have to do to reach the goal of proper trash management in the area? Here are some observations and potential solutions. It can be practical or manageable.

Door-to-Door Collection:

1. Establish a systematic collection system where waste is collected directly from households and businesses.
2. Regular collection schedules should be followed to prevent accumulation.

Recycling Programs:

1. Promote recycling by setting up collection points for recyclable materials.
2. Collaborate with recycling companies to process and reuse materials.

Composting:

1. Encourage composting of organic waste to produce nutrient-rich soil.
2. Educate residents on home composting techniques.
3. Conduct awareness programs on waste reduction, proper disposal, and environmental impact.
4. Involve schools, community centers, and local media to spread the message.

Landfill Management:

1. Properly manage existing landfill sites to prevent pollution and health hazards.
2. Explore alternatives to landfills, such as waste-to-energy facilities.

Public Awareness:

1. Encourage residents, businesses, and institutions to separate waste into different categories: organic (food waste), recyclables (plastic, paper, glass), and non-recyclables (such as hazardous materials).
2. Implement color-coded bins or bags for easy segregation.

Community Engagement:

1. Solution: Involve local communities, schools, and civic groups.
2. Activities:
   1. Organize clean-up drives in popular areas.
   1. Conduct workshops on waste management.
   1. Encourage reporting of illegal dumping.

Collaboration with Businesses and Tourism Industry in the area and beyond:

1. Solution: Engage local businesses, hotels, and tourism operators.
2. Actions:
   1. Encourage waste reduction practices.
   1. Promote responsible tourism and waste management.

Collaboration with NGOs and Civic Groups:

1. Work with non-governmental organizations (Mindful NGOs) and community groups to organize clean-up drives, tree planting, and awareness events.

Strategic Bin Placement:

1. Solution: Install waste bins strategically in popular streets and public spaces.
2. Benefits:
   1. Encourage proper waste disposal.
   1. Discourage littering and open dumping.

Regular Clean-Up Drives:

1. Solution: Organize periodic clean-up events in popular areas.
2. Engagement:
   1. Involve schools, colleges, and community volunteers.
   1. Raise awareness during these drives.

Public Art and Beautification:

1. Solution: Use public art installations and beautification projects.
2. Benefits:
   1. Enhance aesthetics.
   1. Instill pride in maintaining clean spaces.

Increased Surveillance and Enforcement:

1. Solution: Strengthen monitoring and enforcement by municipal authorities.
2. Actions:
   1. Deploy surveillance cameras in key locations.
   1. Impose fines for illegal dumping.
   1. Collaborate with law enforcement agencies.

Enforcement and Penalties:

1. Enforce waste management regulations and impose fines for illegal dumping.
2. Encourage responsible behavior through penalties and incentives.

Innovative Solutions:

1. Explore innovative technologies like waste-to-energy conversion, biogas production, and smart waste bins.
2. Consider partnerships with private companies for sustainable waste management solutions.

Reporting Mechanism:

1. Solution: Establish a user-friendly system for reporting waste dumping.
2. Features:
   1. Mobile apps or hotlines for reporting incidents.
   1. Swift response from municipal teams.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

1. Regularly assess the effectiveness of waste management programs.
2. Collect data on waste generation, collection rates, and recycling rates.
3. Long-Term Sustainability:
   1. Solution: Implement waste management practices that ensure long-term sustainability.
   1. Considerations:
      1. Proper landfill site selection.
      1. Recycling and composting facilities.
      1. Groundwater protection.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, tackling the challenges of waste management necessitates a joint endeavor involving municipal authorities, residents, and other stakeholders. By adopting more effective waste management practices, the Mahanuwara- Kandy City, Lewella area can enhance its environmental conditions and elevate the overall quality of life.

By Palitha Ariyarathna

Writer, Journalist, Author Publisher

Dip.HRM,CC.Dip, HMT, Marine Science ,SRM,PADI Advance Open Water Diver, Sky Diving, RLLS UK Rescue Craft and Boat Handling and Life Saving, CPR/AED/Emergency First Responder, Air Way Management RLLS UK, Fire and Water Safety, Former Beach Filed Officer and Life Safety Officer

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

·       රට ගොඩනැගෙන්නේ සහයෝගයෙන් සහ එකමුතුවෙන්. රට ගොඩනැගුනොත් එහි ප්‍රතිඵලය ඔබටයි ඔබගේ දරුවන්ටයි.   

                                                                        –අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ උඩුගම මූලික රෝහලේ සිව් මහල් ගොඩනැගිල්ල සහ නියාගම ප්‍රාදේශීය රෝහලේ තෙමහල් ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ පළමු අදියර  ජනතා අයිතියට පත් කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවන්ට 2024.03.18 දින එක්වෙමිනි.

දකුණු පළාත් සභා ප්‍රතිපාදන සහ ලෝක බැංකු ආධාර යටතේ ප්‍රාථමික සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා සත්කාර පද්ධති සවි බල ගැන්වීමේ ව්‍යාපෘතිය මගින් උඩුගම මූලික රෝහලේ රුපියල් මිලියන 400ක වියදමින් මෙම නව සිව් මහල් ගොඩනැගිල්ල ඉදිකර ඇති අතර  ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ බිම් මහලේ අනතුරු හා හදිසි අනතුරු ඒකකය, අධිකරණ වෛද්‍ය ඒකකය, පළමු මහලේ ශල්‍යාගාරය A,B,C සහ දෙවන මහල වාට්ටු අංක 01, තෙවන මහල වාට්ටු අංක 05 ප්‍රදේශයේ රෝගී සත්කාර සේවාවන් අවැසි ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් සුව සහනය සලසනු ඇත.

නියාගම ප්‍රාදේශීය රෝහලේ  තෙමහල් ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ පළමු අදියර සඳහා වැය කළ මුදල රුපියල් කෝටි නමයයි දශම පහකි. පළමු අදියර තුළ බාහිර රෝගී අංශය සායන සහ හදිසි ප්‍රතිකාර ඒකකයන්ද වන අතර එහි දෙවැනි අදියරේ ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු සිදු කිරීම සඳහා සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය රුපියල් මිලියන විස්සක ප්‍රතිපාදන ලබාදීමට පියවර ගෙන ඇත.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක් වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා – 

ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය පුරා සෞඛ්‍ය සහ අධ්‍යාපනයට සුවිශේෂ බරක් යොදා තිබෙනවා. මේ ආයෝජනයන් දෙක නිසා ජාත්‍යන්තර මිනුම් දඬුවල අපි ඉදිරියෙන්ම සිටියා. ඒ තුළින් බිහි වූ වෛද්‍ය පරම්පරාවන් රටවැසියාට ලබා දුන් සේවාව අගය කළ යුතුයි. අපි ගමන් කළේ බොහොම අමාරු කාලයක්. ඒ අමාරු කාලය අප අමතක කළ යුතු නැහැ. ඒ අමාරු කාලේ අපේ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගනුදෙනු නැවතුණා. ජාත්‍යන්තර බැංකු, ලංකාවේ බැංකු එක්ක ගනුදෙනු කරන්නේ නැහැ කියලා තීරණය කළා. ඒ අපේ රට වැටිලා තිබුණු මූල්‍ය ආර්ථික අර්බුදය නිසයි. ඒ අවස්ථාවේ ආණ්ඩුවට පුළුවන්කම ඇතිවුණා ඒ අමාරු දුෂ්කර කාලය ගතකරලා යලිත් වරක් මේ කපා තිබූ පෙකණි වැල සම්බන්ධ කරන්න.

අද ඒ අමාරු තත්ත්වයෙන් රට නිදහස් කරගෙන ආර්ථිකය යළි ස්ථාවර තත්ත්වයකට පරිවර්තනය කරගන්න පුළුවන් වීම නිසා මේ අවුරුද්දේ  විශාල මුදල් ප්‍රමාණයක් ග්‍රාමීය දියුණුවට යෙදවීමට 2024 අයවැය ලේඛනයෙන් මුදල් ප්‍රතිපාදන ලබා දී තිබෙනවා. විමධ්‍යගත අරමුදලට අනුව පළාත් සභා අරමුදල් සහ ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා වූ මුදල් අලුතින්  ආර්ථිකයට එන්නත් කරනවා.

අලුත් බඳවා ගැනීමේ යම් යම් සීමාවල් තුළ ඇතැම් බඳවා ගැනීම් වලට ඉඩකඩ ඇහිරී තිබුණත් වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ, සෞඛ්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ සහ විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් වල බඳවා ගැනීම් වැඩි කරන්න පියවර ගෙන තිබෙනවා. හෙද ක්ෂේත්‍රයට,  විශ්ව විද්‍යාල උපාධියක් කරා ගමන් කළ හැකි සුවිශේෂ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රවේශයක් සකස්කර අනුමත කර තීරණයක් ගෙන තිබෙනවා. ඒ තුළින් හෙද ක්ෂේත්‍රය තවත් පුළුල් කළ හැකි ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් සඳහා ගමන් කරවීමට අපේක්ෂා කරනවා. ඉදිරි වැඩ පිළිවෙලක් ඇතිව එලෙස ගමන් කරන මොහොතකදී නියාගමට පොදු සෞඛ්‍ය සේවය ඉටු කර ගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාවලිය වඩාත් පහසු කර ගැනීමට අද සිට අවස්ථාව හිමිවෙනවා.

සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමතිතුමා දකිනවිට රිචඩ් පතිරණ අමාත්‍යවරයාත්, ඉසුරු දොඩංගොඩ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා දකිනවිට  අමරසිරි දොඩංගොඩ ඇමතිවරයාත් සිහිපත් වෙනවා. අපි එකම දවසේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පත්වුණේ. අවුරුදු හතළිහකට කලින් එකම දවසේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඇවිල්ලා අපි සහයෝගයෙන් කටයුතු කළා. පොදුජන ව්‍යාපාරයට ශක්තිය දෙන්න දායක වුණා. ඒ දෙපළගේ ආදරණීය දරුවන් ජාතික සංවර්ධන සංවාදයට හවුල් වීම අගය කරනවා. වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් අභියෝගයට ලක්වෙලා තිබෙන ක්ෂේත්‍රයක්. සෞඛ්‍ය අංශයට ඒවායෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන හැකි අවස්ථාවන් තිබෙනවා. කරාපිටිය මහ රෝහල වගේ විශේෂ සේවාවන් රාශියක් මෙම රෝහලින් ලබාදීමට හැකිවන සේ නව දැනුම හා තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ දියුණුව රෝහල තුළ ඇතිකරන්න අවශ්‍යයි. එය සාර්ථක කර ගැනීමට හැමදෙනාගේම සහයෝගය ලැබෙනු ඇතැයි විශ්වාස කරනවා. නිරෝගිමත් ලංකාවක් ගොඩනැගීමේ අභිප්‍රාය සඳහා නිරන්තරයෙන් කැපවෙන වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ සියලු අංශ සහයෝගය ඒ වෙනුවෙන් රජයටත් මේ ක්‍රියාදාමයටත් එක්කර ගැනීමේ ඕනෑකම සඳහා අපි වැඩ කරනවා.  

රට ගොඩනැගෙන්නේ සහයෝගයෙන් සහ එකමුතුවෙන්. රට ගොඩනැගුනොත් එහි ප්‍රතිඵලය ඔබටයි ඔබගේ දරුවන්ටයි.

සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රමේෂ් පතිරණ, දකුණු පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර ආචාර්ය විලී.ගමගේ, ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික් සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටු  සභාපති සම්පත් අතුකෝරළ, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ඉසුරු දොඩංගොඩ, යදාමිණි ගුණවර්ධන, ඇතුළු හිටපු  මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය පාලිත මහීපාල, දකුණු පළාත් ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් නීතීඥ සුමිත් අලහකෝන්,  ඇතුළු පිරිස සහ මහජනතාව මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූහ.අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය    

BY ADELINE LEONG courtesy The Rakyatpost

 

Researchers found a 1,200-year-old Buddhist stupa including two Buddha stucco statues in good condition in Malaysia’s Bujang Valley.

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If you thought everything in Bujang Valley was destroyed, you were right until now. In August 2023, a team of 11 researchers discovered a 1,200-year-old Buddhist stupa at Bukit Choras in Malaysia’s Bujang Valley in northwest Kedah.

The discovery of the stupa is exciting as it’s the best preserved in the country and experts say it could hold the key to Malaysia’s multicultural past, especially Ancient Kedah’s history.

Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, the chief researcher of the team from the University of Science Malaysia’s Global Archaeology Research Centre (CGAR) in Penang, said the site is an anomaly because it stands all by itself.

After archaeologists cleared vegetation on top of Bukit Choras, they discovered a Buddhist stupa. Image: Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw

According to Al Jazeera, the stupa is isolated on the northern side of Mount Jerai unlike the 184 archaeological sites discovered in the Bujang Valley.

Nasha said the stupa measured about nine metres long and the most important discovery was two stucco statues of Buddha in good condition that have not been found in the area before.

According to Nasha, stucco was thought to be only found in Java and Sumatra in Indonesia, and India, at the time.

The two Buddha statues feature an inscription in Pallava, the language of the Pallava Dynasty that ruled in South India between the 3rd and 8th century CE.

The statues also have architectural features resembling the other artefacts from the Srivijaya kingdom that prospered between the 7th and 11th centuries CE, in an area from southern Thailand, through the Malay peninsula and into Java.

Currently, the statues are being studied and restored at CGAR in Penang.

Nasha said the function of Bukit Choras is not clear but it might have been a military garrison or coastal trade outpost. He shared that preliminary findings showed there are plenty of similarities with other sites found in Java and Sumatra, Indonesia.

The team plans to work at the site throughout the first half of 2024 to unearth its secrets.

Asyaari Muhamad, a senior archaeologist and the director of the Institute of the Malay World & Civilisation at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said it was important for researchers to collaborate and reach a better understanding of the origins of civilisations in and beyond the Malay peninsula.

Any statements about new or previous findings need to be carefully examined so that […] a theory, discovery, and the results of a study do not become an issue and controversial in nature.

Asyaari Muhamad, a senior archaeologist and the director of the Institute of the Malay World & Civilisation at UKM

How did Nasha and the team discover the stupa?

Nasha said a British officer first reported about Bukit Choras in 1850 while looking for treasure. It was briefly studied by another British scholar, HG Quaritch Wales, in 1937.

Wales undertook minor excavations and found a squarish Buddhist stupa. He took note of the measurements but never provided any illustration or plate for the site.

In 1984, fifty years later, the then-director of the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum returned to Bukit Choras to do some site cleaning and documentation. Other than that, the site remained largely undisturbed.

Nasha realised no one had done a proper investigation since then. He managed to scrounge up funding to survey the site in 2017.

They used electronic waves to physically detect what was hidden underground and found big structures below.

In 2022, Nasha received more funding from Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education to conduct proper excavations.

Nasha and his team were stunned to discover the well-preserved site compared to the other sites in the Bujang Valley that have deteriorated due to erosion, human activities, and accidental destruction.

Can you take a look at it?

The Department of National Heritage said the site has the potential to be a tourist attraction and it’s being preserved under Act 645 of the National Heritage Act 2005 at the moment.

Since the other sites have been damaged, it’s not a surprise if the authorities want to preserve and protect the latest site the best they can with the help of the public.

The department reminds the public to immediately report any findings that have significant historical and heritage impact to them or the relevant authorities.

What was the Ancient Kedah Kingdom” like?

The Bujang Valley sites showed that an ancient civilisation once thrived here. Referred to as the Ancient Kedah Kingdom, it prospered between the 2nd and the 14th century CE.

The kingdom predated the arrival of Islam in the region and stretches across the northwestern coast of the Malay peninsula and into Thailand.

Ancient Kedah grew on rich international trade and the production of iron and glass beads. Multiethnic and multireligious residents and foreign traders lived together.

Nasha shared that findings in the area suggested that traders from China, India, and the Middle East came to the area for centuries to do business. They often spent long spells in Kedah when the harsh monsoon seasons made sailing home impossible.

Archaeological discoveries showed that Ancient Kedah went into a decline when climate transformed the large maritime bay and accessible riverways leading to the iron smelting site of Sungai Batu into mangrove and tidal swamps that were impassable to ships.

READ MORE: Did You Know That The Oldest Civilization In Southeast Asia Is In Sungai Batu, Kedah?

By P.K.Balachandran/Counterpoint Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, March 19: It was no surprise that Vladimir Putin won the Russian Presidential election last Sunday. With no one of any standing to challenge him, he bagged 88% of the vote, a record till date. The nationwide turnout was 74.22%, surpassing the 2018 level of 67.5%.

Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov finished second with just under 4%, newcomer Vladislav Davankov was third, and ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky fourth.

However, in some places, the followers of the anti-Putin leader Alexei Navalny (who died in suspicious circumstances in an Arctic prison in February) protested.

As expected, the Western press dubbed the election as a massive fraud, given Putin’s reputation as an iron-fisted ruler. But what is not taken into account is that the Russians have never tasted democracy as the West knows it. They transitioned from Tsarist absolutism to communist dictatorship, and then to Putinesque authoritarianism. Perhaps democracy had a brief look-in after the breakup of the USSR.

In Russia in the ruler is judged by other yardsticks. If Lenin ended Tsarist rule and established a modern State, Stalin made it an industrial and military power that could defeat Hitler’s army. His successors made the USSR a space and nuclear power to match the US, but failed to build the economy to match the West in a globalized world.  

The West succeeded in dismembering the USSR, but Putin came and salvaged Russia. And to defeat the West’s plan to use Ukraine as a bridgehead to intimidate Russia and destroy Russia, Putin initiated military action against Ukraine in February 2022. The West imposed punishing sanctions on Russia and poured billions of dollars into Ukraine to enable it to drive out the Russians. But success has eluded it so far.

The war is now in the third year with no end in sight. But while the going has been bad for Ukraine, Russia has been able to circumvent the sanctions, keep its economy humming, and build international links principally with China. And thanks to burgeoning defence production, the Russian economy grew by 3%.

Though sections of Russians society dislike the war and many have fled the country, the bulk of the population has remained in the country, with most of them ardently supporting the war fired by the proverbial Russian nationalism.         

Putin told supporters in a victory speech in Moscow that he would prioritise Russia’s special military operation” in Ukraine. We have many tasks ahead. But when we are consolidated – no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us – nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future,” Putin declared.

Supporters chanted Putin, Putin, Putin” when he appeared on stage and Russia, Russia, Russia” after he had delivered his acceptance speech, Reuters reported.

Putin portrays the war as part of a centuries-old battle with a declining West that he says humiliated Russia after the Cold War by encroaching on Moscow’s sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

A new survey of Russians highlights a sentiment towards Putin’s leadership. Most Russians see the war in Ukraine as defence against threats from NATO and the West and report little personal effect from the conflict.

A recent poll of the Russian public conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago finds little material improvement in the quality of life for many Russians since the war, but also not a significant deterioration in overall economic conditions despite international sanctions.

Overall, Russians have a favourable view of Putin’s job performance. While 67% approve of how Putin is handling foreign policy, fewer, 58% approve of his management of domestic affairs. But the Russian public on the whole views their country’s actions in Ukraine as a justified response to an outside threat.

Attitudes among Russians about their nation and its place on the global stage are palpably strong. 94% have at least a moderate level of pride in their Russian identity. 62% believe Russia is unjustly treated by the world.

A notable concern for many Russians is the perceived encroachment of Western values on traditional Russian beliefs. 64% see the conflict in Ukraine as a civilizational struggle between Russia and the West.

However, 74% agree with the importance of having an opposition in the nation’s political system. But only 42% feel an immediate need for an opposition.

The above mentioned survey was funded and conducted by the University of Chicago. The poll was conducted in Russian between November 13 and November 21, 2023, with Russian mobile numbers throughout Russia, including Crimea.

The most reputable public opinion data available in Russia are from the Levada Centre, a non-governmental research organisation conducting regular surveys since 1988.

Levada surveys on from 17 to 21 February found that the majority of respondents (52%) felt negatively towards Ukraine. Most (60%) blamed the US and NATO for the escalation of tensions in Eastern Ukraine, while only 4% blamed Russia.

Levada polls suggest that the net public approval of Putin had surged by about 13 percentage points since December 2023, a rally-round-the-flag effect, with almost three-quarters (71%) expressing approval of his leadership by February 2024.

These were not isolated results; even stronger sentiments were recorded in the pre-war poll conducted on 7-15 February for CNN in Russia by a British agency, Savanta ComRes, where half (50%) agreed that it would be right for Moscow to use military force to prevent Kyiv from joining NATO”.

Two thirds of Russians (64%) in the poll said that Russians and Ukrainians are ‘one people’, a position taught in the Soviet era and a view that Vladimir Putin has been pushing, compared to just 28% of Ukrainians.

In their survey of 25-27 February, VCIOM reported strong support for the special military operation” in Ukraine, with two thirds (68%) in favour, around one quarter (22%) against, and only 10% unable to provide an answer.

The Washington Post also reported that a poll conducted a week into the assault by a consortium of researchers again confirmed that the majority of Russians (58%) approved of the invasion while only a quarter (23%) opposed it.

Western commentators point out that Russians are not exposed to as much information as Westeners, even Ukrainians, are. The main of source of information is domestic television, which gives only pro-Russian or pro-government content. It is also believed in the West, that the Russians indulge in self-censorship, which is common in countries with authoritarian regimes.

Special correspondent Pravda.Ru Daria Aslamova met in India with the President of the BRICS International Forum, Ms. Purnima Anand.

Photo: Pravda.Ru by Daria Aslamova

Why are you participating as an international observer in the election campaign in Russia, including in the new Russian territories?

“Elections in Russia are very important for the whole world, because the Russian Federation is creating a new model of democratic values. In the European model, the new Russian territories are unrecognized, but it is Russia that saves the people in those regions. Russia also defends democratic values that are not recognized by the EU and the U.S., because the West exists in a post-World War II system.

Now the world is moving towards a new model that is developing in Russia, including in four of its new regions. These are very positive changes, because people themselves choose a country where they can preserve:

• sovereignty
• Traditions
• Culture
• History.

In this way, the people come first, not the authorities, and I hope that in the future it is the people who will become the levers of power.

Western leaders call Russia a dictatorship. What would you say to them?

“If some peoples or countries do not fit into the system of the West, it opposes such countries, and their interests are rejected. Russia has its own geographical and cultural features, its own traditions, which are unusual for Europe. The West is wrong to refuse to recognize other countries as democracies. Other states have the right to pursue their own interests, and this is one of the reasons why President Putin succeeds every time. People gather around such leaders.

I have visited many regions and cities of Russia and saw that people there are happy. They have jobs, they have a good education, they can communicate their needs to the authorities, and the municipalities respond to these requests. People have their own values, they hold regional events, historical festivals, cultural programmes dedicated, for example, to Afanasy Nikitin.

You were an election observer in the new Russian territories in Donbass. What are your impressions?

“I received an invitation to go to Donbass when international observers were actively discussing the crisis in Ukraine. When we had the opportunity to become observers at referendums in four new regions, I decided to take advantage of this chance. I was the only observer from India.

The journey was not easy, as we had to cover many kilometers by car. Once we stayed in a very nice and nice hotel, where we had dinner. When we left the hotel and drove to another place, our hotel was hit by a bomb. The façade of the building was destroyed. We were able to feel what it is like for people to live in such difficult conditions.

I can only admire the people of these four regions. Most of the young men serve in the army, and their women live without husbands and sons. They’re in danger all the time.

Where exactly did you work as an election observer?

“We visited several polling stations, mostly schools. The polling stations were decorated with balloons, people danced – it was a celebration of democracy and faith in the Russian Federation.

We arrived at one of the polling stations when it was already closing. A man with a young son came, voted, and gave his ballot to the child to put the form in the ballot box. After the vote, we asked the man why he had done so. He said very good words:

“I believe in the Russian Federation, I believe in the next generation. We don’t know if we will survive today, but we are giving our children the opportunity to preserve democracy here.”

In addition, I was in the Kherson region and in the Crimea. Observers from the European Union came with us: from France and Germany. They were independent media representatives, not official EU observers.

As far as I know, you were also the organizer of an international group of non-European observers in political elections.

“I had such an opportunity in March 2018, when the presidential elections were held in Russia. Even then, the West did not want Putin to become president again. The Russian government invited EU observers to the elections, but they refused. At that time, your government invited independent observers from India, Africa and other regions of the world.

This was my first experience of working as a political observer in the Russian Federation. Then we got our own observation group. We believe that the European Union has no right to interfere in the elections. We visited a number of small countries in Africa, such as Congo and Madagascar. There, we have developed our own parallel system of international election observation.

EU observers were also present. But now the European Union is not the only authority that can send its international observers to all countries of the world. There are parallel organizations: the African Union, our own groups, as well as EU groups. It’s more honest.

Are you going to go to Russia in the near future to act as an independent observer?

Yes, I will work there as a member of a civic organization that was recently founded by presidential decree. Representatives of about 50 countries were invited to the elections: from Brazil, South Africa, many African countries and the CIS. I would like to visit four new regions of Russia once again to see what changes are taking place there and how people perceive the transition to a new democracy.

It seems to me that if Western officials listened to you, they would consider you a victim of Russian propaganda.

“They’re actually listening to us. They criticize us, and this means that we are not an empty space for them. They are aware of the emergence of new blocks. This is very important for the development of democracy.

— Which region of Russia are you going to visit?

“I hope I’ll go to Crimea. I visited him three times. Once I went there for elections, then I visited Crimea on the way to the Kherson region, and then I visited an economic forum there. I have been observing the electoral process since 2014.

Crimea is indeed a very important region. It represents a new model of development. After World War II, the Yalta Palace hosted a meeting of three world leaders: Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill. They gathered there to develop a new model of democracy and civilization as a whole.

Today, however, government officials in the EU are convinced that any decision they make is final. They don’t think about Africa, Asia, the CIS. But everyone should be heard.

Today, the BRICS bloc has become much more important than before. The BRICS countries have a huge geographical territory and a large population. Today, countries that did not get a seat in the UN are joining the BRICS. This is another parallel system in which we are working to achieve a balance in politics and economics.

Does this mean that BRICS is a new model of democracy in the world?

“Yes, that’s right. The BRICS model is based on human-centered development. The previous model focused only on governments that control the people. The BRICS countries argue that equality and sovereignty are important first and foremost. We need to succeed in this direction for the sake of the future. We all have different models of civilization – different traditions, languages, currency, religion, laws. It’s very difficult to put everything in one basket.

But we have one goal – this is development focused on supporting people. Everyone should have their own rights, and our main rule is not to exploit people for the sake of money, the construction of infrastructure. Everyone should be a partner and a stakeholder in the development process. I believe that the BRICS economy will take care of this. We raise this issue every time we participate in BRICS conferences and seminars.

BRICS is a successful political platform, but it has economic problems. The bloc does not have a single currency, hence the difficulties with making payments. How can this problem be solved?

“If you want to make a difference, you have to see the light and move towards it. You are right when you say that the BRICS are more successful politically. Its economic development is the next stage.

BRICS is already active in the economic sphere. After the coronavirus pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis, we began to work on new trade rules. We try to make payments in local currencies. In the past, all countries had to exchange their money for dollars before paying off another country, and this led to additional costs. Today, the seller and buyer countries can skip the dollar part of this process, thanks to the BRICS economic model.

The BRICS economy is developing, and other countries are seeing it. If they don’t have a chance to join the World Trade Organization, they want to join the BRICS, because here they will have space for new technologies, innovation clusters, trade and development.

You were in Crimea at the 2014 referendum. Do you remember the feelings of the people when they voted to join Russia?

— Yes, people were very happy. They have come to this after overcoming many adversities and hardships. When the referendum finally took place, people rejoiced that they had achieved a better future for their children, safety, security and peaceful development.

I was there when President Putin inaugurated the Crimean Bridge, the “Bridge of Prosperity.” It was a historic moment and a major economic breakthrough for Crimea and all of Russia. The life of Crimeans has improved dramatically since 2014, but it must be remembered that the other four regions are still being shelled.

Do you think there will be another Yalta conference after the hot phase of the Ukrainian conflict has passed? Will there be a new agreement between Russia and the West?

“Of course. A peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine will be signed, and it will be a historic moment for Russia, because oppression will be ended and the peace mission will end.

Why does Russia occupy such an important place in your life? Why did you decide to become an international observer in Russia?

Russia has as long a history as India. After India gained independence, Russia has always provided great support to it, in all circumstances: in times of conflicts, wars, economic problems. Russia has also made a great contribution to India’s defense.

Today, we feel that everything the Russian Federation is doing is right, because your country has always been on the side of universal values. This has been the case throughout the history of the world, during the Second World War, and it continues to be so today.

The West has imposed a huge number of sanctions on Russia, only because it still believes in its monopoly on everything. Today, the Russian Federation is a strong country that can resist it. That is why so many countries support Moscow. This is not only political, but also economic support. Russia has new friends in the East, including China and India.
Читайте больше на https://www.pravda.ru/world/1975335-gospozha-anand/

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

මහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිසමේ හිටපු සභාපති ජනක රත්නායක මහතා විසින් අල්ලස් හෝ දුෂණ කොමිසමේ නිලධාරීන් වෙත අල්ලස් ලබා දුන් බවට චෝදනා චෝදනාවක් එල්ල වෙයි.

ජනක රත්නායක මහතාගේ හිටපු පුද්ගලික සහකාරවරිය යයි කියන ගයාත‍්‍රි බිම්බා නැමැත්තිය විසින් අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවකදී මේ බව හෙලිකර ඇත.

සත්‍ය වසන් කරමින් අපරාධකරුවන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා අල්ලස කොමිසමේ නිලධාරීන් ට මෙසේ අල්ලස් ලබා දුන් බවට ඇය චෝදනා එල්ල කරයි.

තමන්ද ජනක රත්නායක මහතාගේ බලපෑම මත අල්ලස් කොමිසමට ව්‍යාජ සාක්ෂි ලබා දුන් බවත් ඒ සඳහා පැපැවැති බිය දුරු කිරීමට සාක්ෂි ලබාදීමට පෙර එහි නිලධාරියකු ජනක රත්නායක මහතාගේ කාර්යාලයට පැමිණ ඒ සඳහා පුහුණුවක් ලබා දුන් බවද ඇය විසින්ම එහිදී හෙළිකරයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් අදාළ සාකච්ඡාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනක රත්නායක මහතා කොළඹ අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට පැමිණිල්ලක් කරමින් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කඩිනම් නීතිමය පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසයි.

‘අපේ ලිංගික දර්ශන පෙන්නලා තමන් බැක්මේල් කරන්න උත්සාහ කලා’ යයිද ඇය එහිදී බරපතළ චෝදනාවක් ලෙස කර ඇත.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

ක්‍රි.ව 2-3 තරම් ඉතිහාසයට දිවයන වව්නියාවේ වඩුනාගල ඓතිහාසික සිද්ධස්ථානය බෞද්ධ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක ස්ථානයක් බවත්, මෙම ස්ථානයේ ශිව පූජා පවැත්වීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අධිකරණය විසින් නියෝගයක්ද ලබාදී ඇත්තේ සවස 6.00 දක්වා පමණක් පූජා පැවැත්විය හැකි ලෙස පමණක් බවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පවසයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව පැවසුවේ මෙම ස්ථානයේ ශිව පූජා පැවැත්වීමට ගිය පුද්ගලයන් කිහිපදෙනෙකු අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා ලදැයි කියන සිද්ධියක් පදනම් කරගෙන අද දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරු පිරිසක් පාර්ලිමේන්තු සභා ගර්භය මැදට පැමිණ උද්ඝෝෂණයක නිරත වීම පාදක කර ගිනිමිනි.

දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරු පිරිසක් මේ උත්සාහ දරන්නේ මෙම කාරණය දඩමීමාකර ගනිමින් අනවශ්‍ය ආගමික ගැටුමක් නිර්මාණය කරමින් ළඟ එන මැතිවරණයේ දී ජාතිවාදී, ආගම්වාදී ලෙස ඡන්ද ගොඩ වැඩිකරගැනීමට බවද ඒ මහතා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දෙන ලදී.

වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න…https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWimalWeerawansa.sl%2Fvideos%2F1094619175122964%2F&show_text=false&width=476&t=0

2024-03-19

By AJITH SIRIWARDANA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Parliament, March 19 (Daily Mirror)- The Central Bank has no powers to increase the salaries of its employees without the approval of Parliament in terms of the Constitution and the move to increase their salaries is wrong, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said today.

He told Parliament that Parliament has powers over Public Finance in terms of the Constitution and that the Central Bank cannot increase the salaries of its employees without Parliamentary approval.

The Minister said the claim by the Central Bank that it has the independence to take decisions in terms of the new Central Bank Act is wrong as any Act must come under the Constitution.

“The Central Bank was granted independence under the new Central Bank Act to ensure that it functions free of political intervention. We expected that the Central Bank would function according to the requirements of the country. Unfortunately, the Central Bank acted to increase its employees’ salaries as the first action,” he said, while explaining his position during the cross talk over the Central Bank employees’ salary increase.

Opposition MP Mohammed Muzammil said no action has been taken regarding the salary increase despite the matter being raised in Parliament for several days.

State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said the government will take a decision on the Central Bank salary increase after the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) submits its report to Parliament.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said the government must not wait for the report of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) and said that the government must take a decision to withdraw the salary hike.

“The Central Bank is not under the COPF, it is under the government,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The buying rate of the US Dollar has dropped below the Rs. 300 mark for the first time since July 05, 2023. 

According to the official exchange rates announced today by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the buying rate of the USD is Rs. 299.29 and the selling rate is Rs. 308.90.

Meanwhile the indicative rate is listed as Rs. 304.63.