Shenali D Waduge
Was US using Ukraine for a bigger goal than to draw Russia into a proxy war? Did US use the Ukraine war to destabilize & weaken EU? Shouldn't EU leaders & Europeans wake up to this unpalatable reality. While many Europeans are asking why America does not fight its own wars & why European leaders are choosing to fight America's war at the expense of their own, no one appears to be providing the answers. US did the same to Europe during the War on Terror and Arab Spring. How many non-Europeans... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Dr Arpita Hazarika Gauhati University, Assam, India
After almost three years, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to Delhi again on a state visit on September 5. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit is very significant in India-Bangladesh bilateral relations. The Modi government also wants to give special importance to this visit. Because in the changing geo-political situation, New Delhi considers Dhaka as its most 'trusted friend'. On September 6, the two Prime Ministers will have a private meeting and a delegation level meeting. Sheikh Hasina will address major business meetings like the Indian Chamber of Commerce the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS
An unprecedented number of first year undergraduates have complained that they were abused mentally, physically and sexually in the fresher rag, said Daily Mirror in 2018. We have received detailed accounts from students subjected to ragging. Freshers are humiliated, abused, threatened and physically attacked. However, none were ready to reveal their ordeal, even behind closed doors, fearing retribution. That included those who had graduated, reported Daily Mirror Freshers hate the early stages of the university life due to ragging, continued Daily Mirror. The parents of a fresher, a hosteller had been very apprehensive over... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS
The majority of the freshers are scared and submit as commanded by the seniors without complaint. Many are afraid to stand against it. Our precursor batch complained about the rag, and this simply prolonged the rag, said an undergrad. My friends and I formed a group and planned to escape the evening rag, which was after lectures. But, many declined to join us and said that they would rather face the rag and that they were scared to escape, said a respondent. These freshers were scared to attend lectures without the ‘Vaatha Card' issued... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, August 31 (PMD): Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday (August 31) through the Attorney General that he will not place his signature for the execution of the death penalty. Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle, who appeared for the Attorney General, stated this when several fundamental rights petitions filed calling for the annulment of the decision taken by former President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019 to execute four defendants sentenced to death on drug charges, were called. The petition was called before a three-member Supreme Court bench consisting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, August 31 (PMD): Adding a new experience for the people of Sri Lanka, the operations of the tallest self-supported structure in South Asia, the Lotus Tower, is planning to commence operations from the 15th of September. With the commencement of operations of the Lotus Tower, which was built at a cost of nearly US$113 million, the Colombo Lotus Tower Pvt Ltd intends to offer the Sri Lankan public a novel experience. A Chinese company granted US$ 88.65 million and the rest has been borne by the Sri Lankan government. The loan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy MailOnLine
Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's inflation hit an eleventh consecutive monthly record in August, official data showed on Wednesday, rising to 64.3 percent as the International Monetary Fund extended bailout talks by one more day. The benchmark year-on-year Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) in August was more than eight times higher than the 7.6 percent recorded in October 2021. Since then it has set a new record high every month. According to the department of census and statistics, food inflation in August was even higher, hitting 93.7 percent. Inflation in August was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Malinda Seneviratne Courtesy Courtesy The Daily Mirror
When it comes to fire hoses and falsehoods, the USA would be tough to beat. Chung and Biden ought to know. US Ambassador Julie Chung was spot on. A few days ago, she pointed out, correctly, that ‘fake news - and fake tweets - are a real problem.’ She urged one and all, ‘don’t be misled.’ This particular tweet, apparently, was a response of sorts to ‘fake tweets mimicking [her] account’ which ‘have been spreading on social media’. Indeed, I have seen some ‘Julie Chung tweets’ which, at... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a preliminary agreement on an emergency loan to the crisis-hit country and a formal announcement will be made on Thursday, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. https://youtu.be/PgNFcvseCHY The island nation, struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, had sought up to $3 billion from the IMF. Spokespersons for the IMF and the Sri Lankan government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Staff-level agreements are typically subject to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment has issued a circular allowing migrant workers to import an electric vehicle with the intention of promoting migrant worker remittance. The Cabinet of Ministers green-lighted the proposal tabled by Minister of Labour & Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara earlier this month. Through this move, a license is issued to local migrant workers who import an electric vehicle equivalent to 50% or less of remittance transmitted through legal channels. If a migrant worker has transferred more than USD 3,000 will be allowed to import an... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court ordered today (Aug 31) to further remand two suspects who allegedly entered the Temple Trees and stole two televisions and a bag containing a camera, until September 14. The case filed against the suspects for forcibly entering the Temple Trees, stealing its properties and being a member of an unlawful demonstration was called before Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage today. Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) informed the court that the investigations regarding the suspects who are remanded in custody, have not yet been completed, and therefore requested to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $200 million emergency assistance loan for Sri Lanka, with funds repurposed from other ongoing ADB projects, to improve food security and protect the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children. “Food insecurity has severely affected the people of Sri Lanka amid the current economic difficulties. This assistance will expand direct financial support for the poor and vulnerable, boost livelihood development activities and agricultural production, and enhance social protection systems,” said ADB Senior Education Specialist for South Asia, Asako Maruyama. “This fulfills the government’s request... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
By Raj Gonsalkorale
One needs to question whether strengthening of Sinhala Buddhist hegemony has been a consequence of other religious denominations veering more towards orthodoxy and fundamentalism or whether it has been the other way about. There is confusion as to where the Egg is and where the Chicken is. During a meeting in Anuradhapura recently, President Wickremasinghe, deliberately, or inadvertently and/or innocently touched on a core issue that is at the heart of the dissatisfaction people have with the political system and what it has produced over the years. He mentioned that the original spring... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
RANJITH SOYSA
We wish to refer to Sri Lanka government’s decision to de-list some of the banned designated persons, groups and entities which were proscribed under paragraph 4 (2) of the United Nations Regulations no 1 of 2012. The main reason for the proscription was their direct assistance and funding of the Liberation Tamil Tiger Organization a k a Tamil Tigers , a terrorist organization. The recent decision to de-list said to be after a detailed study of 577 individuals and 18 organizationswhich were blacklisted in the year 2021 for financing terrorism. The people... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
by Senaka Weeraratna Attorney-at-Law
29th August 2022 The Buddhist Revival was one of the great landmarks in the history of Sri Lanka during the 19th and 20th centuries. It was followed by a Buddhist Renaissance in the Post-Independence period when the state machinery was regained by the downtrodden people after nearly 500 years of Euro-Christian colonial rule. Ananda College established in 1886 played a pivotal role in the Buddhist Revival. It was the hub of Buddhist resistance to the spread of missionary education, denationalization of Buddhist children, and Christian conversion. This school produced outstanding students and outstanding... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Mawbima
බන්ධනාගාර ආයතනවල සපයන ආහාර ප්රමිතියෙන් තොර බවට හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක කළ ප්රකාශය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ප්රතික්ෂේප කරන බව බන්ධනාගාර මාධ්ය ප්රකාශක, බන්ධනාගාර කොමසාරිස් (පාලන) චන්දන ඒකනායක පවසයි. අද (අගෝ. 30) පැවති මාධ්ය හමුවකදී ඔහු මේ බව පැවසීය. ඔහු ප්රකාශ කළේ, පණුවන් සිටින මාළු හෝ දහඩිය, සෙම්, සොටු සමග ආහාර පිසීම කිසිදු අවස්ථාවක සිදු නොවන බව ය. වසරකට බන්ධනාගාරවලට සිරකරුවන් ලක්ෂ ගණනක් පැමිණ යන බව ත් මේ දක්වා එවැනි ගැටලුවක් පැන නැගී නොමැති බව ත් ඔහු පැවසීය. එවැනි ගැටලුවක් තිබුණහොත් රැඳවියන් ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් බන්ධනාගාර අධිකාරිවරයාට, ප්රධාන ජෙලර්වරයාට හෝ බලධාරීන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
Delivering the Interim Budget Speech for 2022 in Parliament today (30), President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that the government’s aim is to create a surplus in the primary budget by the year 2025. “Our effort is to stabilize the economic growth rate. Our aspiration is to establish a solid economic foundation by the year 2026,” he said, in his final remarks during the speech. https://youtu.be/Oqmveo_1YZk He said as at end 2021, Sri Lanka’s public debt is about 110 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “Our target is to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says that Sri Lanka has made “good progress” in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are aimed at clinching a bailout package. “I can announce that we have made good progress in the negotiations with the IMF. Hopefully, we will be able to reach the first milestone, a staff-level agreement with the IMF soon,” the central bank chief told reporters in Colombo. “Once we reach that agreement with the IMF, it means that we have a credible program in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another three Covid-19 related deaths for yesterday (August 30), the Department of Government Information reported. The victims include one male and two females, all in the age group of 60 years and above. Meanwhile 74 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed within today (30), increasing the total number of infections reported in the country to 669,893.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The government has decided to establish a “State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit” with the aim of facilitating the restructuring of government-owned business entities. Presenting the Interim Budget 2022 in the parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe further proposed to allocate Rs. 200 million to implement this proposal. He mentioned that the decision was taken as some of the state-owned enterprises have been making losses on a continuous basis due to issues of structural nature existed for some time. As these losses cannot be met endlessly by the General Treasury, attention is paid to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his interim budget speech, said an independent National Debt Management Agency (NDMA) would be established in the country. Speaking further, he said the government debt management-related activities are carried out by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, External Resources Department, National Budget Department and the Treasury Operations Department at present. As it is important to pay special attention to the management of public debt, an independent NDMA will be set up under the General Treasury in lieu of the current arrangement in this respect, the President added.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Hiru News
The government has decided to suspend the purchase of vehicles powered by fossil fuels for the state sector, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said delivering the interim budget speech in the parliament today. As per this policy, only electric-powered vehicles will be purchased for the use of the public sector in the future. Meanwhile, the private sector will also be encouraged to use electric vehicles, the President said further. In purchasing vehicles for the public sector, suitable categories of vehicles are decided on the basis of the efficiency and prices of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/08/22)
Courtesy Reuters.com
COLOMBO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's president is set to slash expenditure when he presents an interim budget on Tuesday to see the crisis-ridden country through the rest of the year, amid discussions with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout package. The tourism-dependent nation of 22 million is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, with foreign exchange reserves crashing, public finances in a mess and the costs of basic goods rocketing. Having become president after his predecessor was ousted in a popular uprising in July, Ranil Wickremesinghe... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Dr. Palitha Kohona said Sri Lanka is an ideal spot for solar energy development and also wind energy development and China can be a big help as we transition to clean energy. “We would be able to address a huge part of our energy crisis by relying on renewable energy,” he said, according to the Chinese media. The 2022 World Conference on Clean Energy Equipment is underway in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. More than 18 hundred guests from 17 countries and regions are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Geethanjana
සිංහල භාෂාවේ පිරිහීම සිදුවන්නේ ප්රගතියේ නාමයෙන්ද? ඇත්තටම එහෙම වෙන්නේ ඒ නිසාද? සිංහල හරියට කතා කරගත නොහැකි රාජ්ය නායකයින් පත් කර ගන්නා රටේ දේශීය ජනයාගේ භාෂාව පිරිහීම අහඹු සිදුවීමක් නොවේ. සිංහල භාෂාව යනු නුදුරු අනාගතයේදී ලෝකයේ අතුරුදහන් වන භාෂාවන් අතරින් එකක් බව මානව විද්යාඥයින් මෙන්ම අදාල ජාත්යන්තර සංවිධාන විසින් හඳුනාගෙන ඇත. එය එසේ වීම යහපත් බව සිහලයා විසින්ම තීරණය කොට ඇත. එය එසේනම් ඒ පිළිබඳව අපට කල හැකි දෙයක්ද නොමැත. මම අහම්බෙන්, ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම වැරදීමකින් ක්ලික් වීම නිසා අද පැරණි ගීතයක් ඇසුවෙමි. මට එක වරම සිතුනේ එම ගීතය ලියවුනු කාලයේ ලංකාව වෙනස්ම රටක් බවය.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ
‘චීනය පසුගියදා ප්රතිපත්තිමය තීරණයක් ගෙන තිබෙනවා, අප්රිකානු රටවල් 17කට ලබාදී ඇති පොලී රහිත ණය කපා හැරීමට. නමුත් ශ්රී ලංකා රජය පොලී සහිතව ලබා ගත් ණය ප්රතිව්යුහගත කරන ලෙස වත්මන් පාලනය කර ඇති ඉල්ලීමට චීනය කිසිදු ප්රතිචාරයක් දක්වා නැහැ. එමගින් පෙනෙන්නේ රාජ්යතාන්ත්රික වශයෙන් මතුව ඇති ගැටලුවයි’ යයි පෙන්වා දෙන ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ දේශපාලන මණ්ඩල සභික, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී ගාමිණී වලේබොඩ මහතා, තවදුරටත් එම තත්ත්වය වර්ධනය වීමට ඉඩ නොදී නොබැඳි පිළිවෙත අනුගමනය කිරීමේ ප්රවේශයකට යන ලෙස වත්මන් පාලනයට බල කරන බව පැවසීය. ඒ මහතා මෙසේ පැවසුවේ පිටකෝට්ටේ පිහිටි ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ ප්රධාන කාර්යාලයේදී පැවැති මාධ්ය හමුවකට එක්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy pv magazine
The Sri Lankan authorities are seeking a developer to build a 100 MW solar project on a build-own-operate basis, in addition to a new 132 kV transmission line. The facility will sell power to the Ceylon Electricity Board under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka’s largest electricity supplier, has launched a tender for the development and construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in Siyambalanduwa, Uva province. The selected developer will build the project on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, in addition to installing a new 132 kV transmission line. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy Peoples Gazette
The interested countries are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, U.S., China, India, Russia, Britain, Malaysia, Norway, and the Philippines. At least 24 foreign companies are interested in the petroleum business in Sri Lanka, a government official said on Monday. The companies are from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, the United States, China, India, Russia, Britain, Malaysia, Norway, and the Philippines. Kanchana Wijesekera, Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy, said his ministry “has appointed a committee to evaluate the expressions of interest (EOIs) submitted by the foreign firms”,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
The US will support Sri Lanka through International Monetary Fund (IMF), if Sri Lanka could reach an agreement with the IMF, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung said. She said in a twitter post that the US will redouble its endeavours to support Sri Lanka through ongoing efforts such as financing for SMEs, fertilizer and seeds for farmers, education exchange and training to strengthen public financial management. In her tweet she also mentioned that she spoke with the US-SL Business Council on ways US and Sri Lanka businesses can... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Whilst highlighting that some international forces might want to keep Sri Lanka as a weak state, UNP MP Vajira Abeywardene said an all-party government is essential to defeat these agendas. Speaking during a UNP meeting in Galle, MP Abeywardene said all parties should get together to defeat the desires of some international forces. These desires he said could be harmful to Sri Lanka. “All parties should get together to defeat the efforts of some international forces to harm Sri Lanka," he said. “It is also essential... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Prof. Prema-chandra Athukorala says China’s position on SL’s debt could drag negotiations for at least six monthsCites Zambia as example where debt restructuring negotiations took about 7 months to conclude as a result of China’s initial hesitancy in debt restructuring After reaching staff-level agreement, debt restructuring advisors will approach creditors to obtain financial assurances from them to secure IMF facility However, former CB Governor Dr. Coomaraswamy and current Governor Dr. Weerasinghe hopeful of fund disbursement by end of this year After reaching a staff-level agreement, the full approval for the envisaged International Monetary Fund... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva says that proposals are to be called for from desiring investors to invest in 49% shares and administration of SriLankan Catering and also 49% shares and administration in SrLankan Airlines’ Ground Handling. https://youtu.be/0EyArQJBOGI The minister stated this at a press conference held today at the ministry regarding the restructuring of SriLankan Airlines, the country’s national carrier. He stated that currently the SriLankan Catering is making profits to a certain extent and that therefore they have decided to sell 49% stake and administration... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed 05 coronavirus related deaths for yesterday (28), the Department of Government Information reported today (29). The new Covid-19 deaths include two males and three females while one of the patients is between the ages 30-59 years. The rest are aged 60 years and above. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/08/22)
Shenali D Waduge
China has a history of over 3500 years. India’s history dates back to the Indus Valley civilization. India was given its name by the British in 1947. Asia’s population is 4.5billion of which 2.7billion are Chinese or Indian. Both China and India are key players in Asia. Asian continent can be strengthened by the unity of India & China. Unity means power and power means the ability to meet challenges & threats. This is why divide & rule colonial policies were rolled out to divide invaded nations & people. It was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)
Dr Sudath Gunasekara
The news is given below “It will happen as per a request by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) which is the main party that backs President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The SLPP MPs who served as state ministers in the previous government met the president recently to discuss the appointment of state ministers of the new government. The SLPP has asked for the appointment of 40 of them. However, the president is keen to appoint only 30. According to informed sources, the appointment of state ministers will take place... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)
Sugath Kulatunga
The Government has already met a few of the anticipated conditionalities of the IMF. Rupee has been devalued, subsidies reduced in essential services like electricity and water and cost reflective pricing has been imposed and interest rates increased. The next thing the IMF would insist is privatization of SOEs. We now hear the baying of the wolf pack of of many politicians and economic pundits urging the government to get on the job and privatize State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to make them efficient and profitable and ease the burden of losses to the state. Majority of them think that a wave... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS
The IUSF starts its process of controlling the freshers, long before they arrive in the University. IUSF made use of the one year gap between A Level and University to gain control over the future first year undergrad. IUSF does the work, but there is a political party behind this which provides the money, said analysts. Once the intake into University was decided and the successful applicants are informed, the IUSF contacted those students over the phone and through social media. IUSF clearly has contacts in the administration, who are prepared to release this... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
(Note: Editor
ft.lk - This essay is an explanation regarding Victor Ivan’s guest column. If you are unable to print it in your newspaper, kindly forward it to him.) Who wants a ‘state religion’? The Buddhists wish—and quite rightly—that in this country where they form 70 percent of the population, Buddhism should be recognized as the predominant religion of the people. In the rest of the world, Ceylon is regarded as essentially a Buddhist country, and they want this claim established here as well…They will not be content to remain in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)
Lines and Beyond
!. JVP එකට විෂන් එකක් නෑ- 2. සිස්ටම් චේන්ජ් ඉල්ලන අය අවශ්ය සිස්ටම් එක කුමක්දැයි ඉදිරිපත් කල යුතුය- රසික ජයකොඩි Source: Lines and Beyond August 26, 2022 https://youtu.be/YrfjG53l6xA... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)
Media Release High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi
Speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena unveiled a portrait of Sir D.B. Jayatilaka, Sri Lanka's first representative to India, today (28) at the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the establishment of modern Indo-Lanka relations. This year marks the 80th anniversary of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) sending Sir D.B. Jayatilaka as its first Representative to India in 1942. Unveiling the portrait of Sir D.B. Jayatilaka at the Chancery Building comes as one of a series... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/08/22)