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News Archive for May 2022
Lanka government plans taxation overhaul‘The implementation of a strong fiscal consolidation plan is imperative through revenue enhancement as well as expenditure rationalisation measures. Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped government on Tuesday announced a taxation overhaul to boost revenue amid the country’s crippling economic crisis, hiking value added taxes and corporate income tax, and slashing the relief given to individual taxpayers. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office this month and plans to present an interim budget within weeks, said measures were necessary as the current state of government finances was unsustainable. “The implementation of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/05/22)
කොවිඩ් 19 අවසානය සහ ඩිජිටල් යටත්විජිතවාදය: උඩු යටිකුරු වූ ලොවක සයිබර් යුද ප්‍රතිමූර්තිය
මානව ඉතිහාසයේ වූ විශාලතම මුදල් හුවමාරුව සිදු වී ඇත්තේ කොවිඩ් 19 වසංගත කාලය අතරතුර මුහුණු ආවරණ සහ පෞද්ගලික ආරක්ෂණ උපාංග සමඟ මෙන් ම මෙම කාලවකවානුවේ දී සෙසු ලෝකය දරිද්‍රතාවට පත් ව ඇති බව ද පෙනී යයි. එබැවින්, ඔක්ස්ෆම් සංවිධානය (Oxfam) විසින් 'Inequality Kills' නමින් කොවිඩ් 19 වසංගතයේ ආර්ථික පිරිවැය සහ ගෝලීය බලපෑම් පිළිබඳ වාර්තාවක් පසුගිය මස ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ (IMF) වසන්ත සමුළුව (Spring meetings) පවත්වන කාලයේ දී නිකුත් කර ඇත. කෙසේ වුවත්, එහි වොෂිංටන් සම්මුතියට (Washington Consensu) සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල වෙත පුරෝකථනය කරන ලද කේන්ද්‍රයට හේතු වී ඇති වර්තමාන ජාත්‍යන්තර ස්වෛරී... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
අනෙක් සියල්ල කිරීමට පෙර අගමැතිවරයා විසින් දැන් වහාම කළ යුතුව ඇති කාර්‍යභාරයන් කීපයක්
අනෙක් සියල්ලටම පෙර රනිල් වික්‍රමසින්හ අගමැතිවරයා විසින් දැන් වහාම කළ යුතුව ඇත්තේ උද්ගතව ඇති අලුත්ම තත්වය යටතේ වියරු වැටුන රටේ ජනතාව පාර්ලිමේතුව, රජගෙදර සහ අරලියගහ මැදුරටද ගිනි තැබීමට පෙර වහාම නව දේශපාලන සන්ස්කෘතියකින් වැඩ ආරම්භ කොට ඒ සියළු ව්‍යශනයන්ගෙන් රට බේරාගැනීම යයි මම යෝජනා කරමි ඔහුගේ අතීත ක්‍රියාකාරකම් අනුව මෙවැනි අතිෂයින්ම අර්බුධ කාරි අවස්ථාවක එම අර්බුධයන්ට මුහුණ පාන ආකාරය ගැන එතරම් දැඩි බලාපොරොත්තුවක් තැබිය නොහැකි වුවද මේ අවස්ථාවේ මෙම අර්බුධයන් භාරගැනීමට මීට වඩා සුදුස්සෙක් වර්ථමාන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ නැති නිසා අපි වර්තමාන අභියෝගට ඔහු ගැළවුම්කාරයා වශයෙන් පිළිගනිමු.ඇතැම්විට කවුරුත් බලපොරොත්තු නොවන අයුරකින් ඔහු ඊට මුහුණ දීමටද... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Grow More Food
The Prime Minister is predicting a severe famine by August this year and has proposed an urgent food production drive. There have been many such drives previously which fizzled out quickly. This time it could be different. There will be real hunger and it will not be possible to import food stuff from abroad as the food shortage is global and the opposition is unlikely to sabotage such a drive. If the peak of the famine conditions is in August, we need to plant now. It is good to see that the Prime Minister’s warning has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Changes to the electoral system – should we continue with the current proportional representation system?
Suggestions and recommendations have been made by the Sri Lanka Bar Association to settle the current stalemate and to bring normalcy to Sri Lanka. The country is in an abyss and the biggest losers are the innocent people whose livelihood is dependent on a daily wage and often do not have savings to live through periods of unemployment, the students and our future generation The Proportional Representation system of electing Members of Parliament needs to be abolished. This system has devastated the social fabric of Sri Lanka and created politicians... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Khilafat: A Divine Promise
((Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermon delivered by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, on 27 May 2022, at ‘Masjid Mubarak’, Islamabad, Tilford, U.K. gave a discourse on Understanding the True Essence of Khilafat Day. Ahmadiyya Head (Khalifa) His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah strengthen his hands) after reciting Tashahhud, Ta‘awwuz and Surah al-Fatihah, said that today is the 27 May which is known as Khilafat Day in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Fulfilment of a Divine Promise His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Lankan President announces crash plan to meet food crisis
Colombo, May 30: The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa came out of his political shell on Monday, and using his Executive authority, announced a crash plan to meet the impending food crisis. He issued instructions to Agriculture Ministry officials to immediately launch a public-private partnership to ensure food security in the country. ADVERTISEMENT Last week, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had warned that Sri Lanka could face a severe food crisis in August which might last till early 2023. At a meeting with top officials at this... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
If you are selling loss making entities it should be parliament & not SriLankan Airlines" - NPP (Video)
Former Member of the Provincial Council of the National People's Power Samantha Vidyaratne says that it is not right for Air Lanka to make a loss and sell it as a solution. This was at a press conference held yesterday (29). Samantha Vidyaratne emphasizes that if all institutions are to be sold on the basis that they are loss-making entities, then the Electricity Board, the Petroleum Corporation, the National Water and Drainage Board and the Railway Department will also have to be sold. https://youtu.be/Y8Fhum-P9EE If... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Economic crisis: MR, ministers, CBSL Governor, Dr.PBJ ignored IMF warnings
It was disclosed before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) yesterday (25), the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served as the Finance Minister, had been briefed, in March-April 2020, on the impending financial crisis of unprecedented magnitude, but he had chosen to ignore the dire warning. The parliamentary watchdog was told how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned the then Governor of the Central Bank, Prof. W. D. Lakshman, and Treasury Secretary S. R. Attygalle, of Sri Lanka’s inability to procure loans unless the country undertook debt restructuring... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Attack on Opposition Leader at Galle Face goes uninvestigated
Police said yesterday that no complaint had been made about an incident where Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa was attacked at Galle Face, on 09 May, and therefore they had not been able to conduct an investigation. Neither Police Headquarters nor the Fort Police Station had received any complaint, Police Headquarters sources said, adding that investigations, however, were in progress into goon attacks on a group of anti-government protesters at the Galle Face Green, on 09 May, and the subsequent mob violence in many parts of the country. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Gnanasara Thera visits Saudi Arabia to discuss religious extremism in SL
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had reportedly extended its support to mitigate religious extremism in Sri Lanka during a special meeting they had with Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, who made a recent visit to Saudi on a special invitation, the Daily Mirror learns. Gnanasara Thera who presently heads the Presidential Task Force for ‘One Country, One Law’ had personally been invited on a two day visit to Saudi Arabia, to attend a top level discussion between the Saudi officials on eradicating religious extremism, about a week ago. The Thera,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Central Bank says open account suspension won’t cause huge shortages
Shrugging off concerns raised by various parties that the restrictions imposed on Open Account Payment Terms would lead to a large-scale shortage of essential food items, the Central Bank yesterday assured the public that it would ensure availability of foreign exchange through the banking system for the importation of essential goods, including food items. The Finance Ministry, upon the instructions of the Monetary Board, clamped down on imports that are paid through the Open Account Payment Terms or Consignment Account Terms, subject to conditions, effective from May 20, in a bid to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
Is returning 19a dual citizenship only to be applicable to Basil?
There is a raucous regarding the need to return to 19a simply to bring back the dual citizenship clause. Magnanimous as the request is, the aim is to only remove Basil Rajapakse from Parliament. There is stark silence on others who are dual citizen not only in Parliament but in Public Service as well as those functioning in State entities as Chairman’s and DGs. So let’s be first clear that we are all in agreement that the dual citizenship clause must be included but it has to be included not only to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/05/22)
The Blurb on release of Book containing Essays in Honour of Maithri Panagoda
Maithri Panagoda has led an exceptional life, worthy of being narrated as a story, from the perspective of Maithri himself and from the perspective of others providing fascinating biographical details of their encounters with Maithri at various stages of his remarkable life journey. Maithri's autobiographical sketch ' Along the Dusty Road' is a remarkable account of his life experiences from village boy in rural hinterland of Sri Lanka to partnership in a top drawer law firm in Sydney, Australia. It emulates to some extent the rags to riches storyline of Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
CAN RANIL PULL THROUGH THE PRESENT PANDEMONIUM?
Everyone doesn’t agree on Ranil Wickremasinghe’s appointment as Prime Minister. He was the only Member of Parliament (from the National List) when the whole group of UNP candidates lost their Parliamentary seats. It took nearly a year to fill the UNP National List vacancy. In the end, the UNP recommended Ranil Wickremesinghe’s name. Likewise, everyone blames the Opposition Leader for dilly-dallying over the issue by presenting numerous excuses, such as “the President should leave.” By the time he agreed to accept the Prime Minister’s position... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
Lankan PM proposes sweeping changes in Lanka’s governance system
Colombo, May 29: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday proposed sweeping changes in the country’s governance system in a television address to the nation. He proposed the re-adoption of the committee system of the 1930s and 40s to run ministries, with the chairmen of the committees becoming ministers. Wickremesinghe also proposed the abolition of the Executive Presidency and the adoption of the Westminster parliamentary system.ADVERTISEMENT He suggested a system whereby parliament would be able to effectively control public finance, an aspect of an MP’s work which stands... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
Lankan flights refuel at Kerala T’puram airport to trim fuel expenses
Long-haul flights from Sri Lanka, which is grappling with fuel shortage, have been making a pitstop at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala for refuelling, Indian media reported. The SriLankan Airlines' Airbus 330, heading to Melbourne in Australia from Colombo, landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Saturday for refuelling. An airbus, from Colombo to Frankfurt in Germany, had also recently made a stopover in Thiruvananthapuram to refuel. The flights from Sri Lanka chose to head to Thiruvananthapuram, which is the nearest international airport, after the economic crisis led to fuel... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
Additional funding from China will not complicate ties with India: Ranil
Says no issues as long as SL doesn’t do any harm to India’s national securityShares additional aid and loan from China quite substantialWill reach out to Beijing after IMF deal is sealed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed confidence that Sri Lanka’s relationship with India would not be impacted as it reaches out to China for further assistance to bail out the crisis-hit economy. Ranil Wickremesinghe Pic by Pradeep Pathirana In an interview with Financial Times this week, Wickremesinghe dismissed concerns that additional funding from China could complicate the ties... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
New committee system to strengthen Parliament’s financial powers – PM
https://youtu.be/85_otwJ5s4E Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says a new committee system will be introduced to strengthen the Parliament’s financial powers and a National Committee will be established to make the President and Prime Minister answerable to the Parliament. He stated this while delivering a special statement on the 21st Amendment to the Constitution and proposed political reforms The PM said that the country’s main issues today are not limited to the financial sector. He said that at the same time, in the political sphere there... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
Police arrest more suspects for illegally storing and selling fuel
Sri Lanka Police says that another 37 persons have been arrested for illegally storing fuel for the purpose of selling at a higher price. The suspects were arrested in 38 raids carried out within yesterday (28), police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said. A police spokesman said that 814 liters and 800 milliliters of petrol and 4,328 liters and 500 milliliters of diesel in total were seized from the suspects. He stated that about 450 vehicles had received fuel twice or more between 12.00 pm last night (28) and 2.00 pm... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
Sri Lanka to pay $34 per barrel(US) for Russian oil
Sri Lanka will pay $US72.6 million to buy a 90,000-tonne shipment of Russian oil docked at Colombo’s port for weeks, its energy minister says, as the island nation works to restart its only refinery and address a crippling energy crisis. That means Sri Lanka pays only $34 per barrel(US) when the market price is around $110 per barrel (based on 1 ton reg =23.75 barrels(US) Sri Lanka has struggled to pay for fuel, food and medicine imports due to a severe shortage of foreign currency. An unprecedented financial crisis has also forced the country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/05/22)
The unseen hands behind the Aragala, by no longer “ peaceful”
The Aragalaya is the work of youth brain washed by the JVP and supported and fed ( for 50 days now) by funds from Catholic Church, Vatican, Tiger Diaspora and Islamic state .They have no coherent plans or ideas of “what happens after Gota goes” . All of them , born after 1990, have no experience or knowledge of the havoc wreaked by the JVP on SL in 1971 & 1989. In the latter event life was brought to a stand still in all of SL or parts of it at the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Export Development and EDB
It was reported that the EDB Chairman Suresh de Mel insists boosting exports and celebrating exporters must be made a national priority, noting that it is the only sector generating a steady foreign exchange inflow to keep the economy afloat. He has stressed that we cannot grow as a country without exports. Any rational Sri Lankan will strongly endorse the Chairman’s opinion. The adverse balance of trade has been a perennial problem in the economy of the country. In many years imports have been double the value of exports and the gap was covered... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
ගෝල්පේස් අරගලය (2022) හා කෝල්බෲක් කොමිෂම (1832)
‘ලංකාවේ පොලිස් OIC ලා 184 දෙනාගෙන් 182 ක්ම පොහොට්ටු දේශපාලකයින් විසින් කරණ ලද පත්කිරීම්’- පොලිස්පති වික්‍රමරත්න ඔහුගේ ගැලවීමට දුන් උත්තරය හැඳින්වීම මෙය 2022 අප්‍රියෙල් 19 දා සිට ලියන මෙම ලිපි මාලාවේ හත්වන කොටසය. එම පෙර ලිපිවල මාතෘකාව වූයේ <ගෝල්පේස් වනාන්තරය, ගෝඨාභයගේ දෙවන යුද්ධය හා බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදා විසඳුම> යන්නය. මා ලියූ <වනාන්තර> අදහස මේ වනවිට තහවුරුවී ඇත. එය ජ්වීපි පෙරටුගාමි අන්තරේ අය සැඟවුන, තරුණ හා වයසක, කොළඹ කළු සුද්දන්ගේ කැළෑවකි. මහින්ද ඉවත්කර රනිල් අගමැති කිරීම ගෝඨාගේ <දෙවන යුද්ධයේ> ආරම්භයය. රනිල්, මියගිය මංගල සමරවීරගේ අවතාරයක්සේ පාවි නොයෑමට වගබලා ගැනීම ලේසි පාසු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Sri Lanka to pay $72.6m for 90,000-tonne Russian oil shipment, minister says
The 90,000-tonne consignment of Russian oil was ordered through Dubai-based Coral Energy, according to Sri Lankan Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera. Sri Lanka will pay $72.6 million to buy a 90,000-tonne shipment of Russian oil docked at Colombo's port for weeks, its energy minister said on Saturday, as the island nation works to restart its only refinery and address a crippling energy crisis. Sri Lanka has struggled to pay for fuel, food and medicine imports due to a severe shortage of foreign currency. An unprecedented financial crisis... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Stay, Gota, STAY!
Nobody knows how the signature battle cry of the suffering masses ‘GOTA GO HOME’ started or by whom. But by now it is everywhere including on the back of three-wheelers, which is the high altar of social comment in Sri Lanka. The other day I found one even on a ‘higher’ plane; on the small traditional budu-ge in a house in our village, just beneath the offered flowers, was the message, GOTA GO HOME! At first, the protests erupted spontaneously and independently throughout the country by the masses who had had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Sri Lankan crisis: State-owned insurance firm likely to incur losses in excess of LKR 1 billion
Sri Lanka's state-owned insurance firm may incur losses in excess of LKR 1 billion due to the violent clashes between anti- and pro-government protesters in the country earlier this month, New York-based ratings agency Fitch has said. On May 9, violence erupted in Sri Lanka after supporters of former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked peaceful anti-government protesters demanding his ouster over the country's worst economic crisis that led to acute shortages of staple food, fuel and power. The clashes killed at least 10 people, injured over 200 others, and the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
SL tells India: bridge financing needed till IMF programme worked out
The possibility of increasing and restructuring the India’s assistance in the form of credits for essential commodities and fuel, and balance of payment support was exploredIt was agreed that the established official-level mechanism for conducting the economic dialogue between the two countries should continue By Kelum Bandara Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda who met Indian Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday said that Sri Lanka needs bridge financing till the programme with the International Monetary Fund(IMF) is worked out. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
President assures fullest support for CBSL to function independently
This was conveyed at a meeting held with Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and Monetary Board member Sanjeeva Jayawardena, PC earlier today, President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a statement. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today assured the Central Bank’s governor and the Monetary Board his fullest and unqualified assurance of freedom to discharge their functions independently and without any extraneous constraints. At the meeting, the President also sought a briefing on the progress of the IMF programme, as well as on the economic recovery process. Accordingly, the CBSL governor gave... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Electricity tariffs proposed to be increased
The government is of the view that electricity tariffs need to be revised after nine long years, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara says. According to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the last tariff revision was made in 2014, when electricity tariffs were slashed by 25 percent. Addressing a special media briefing this evening (May 28), the lawmaker said the CEB has made regular requests in this regard. The Public Utilities Commission has also tabled several proposals pertaining to the matter, however, none of these requests and proposals have been given... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
U.S ambassador stresses need for political reforms desired by people
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung says she is hopeful the government, including the new Prime Minister, would be able to bring about political stability and overcome the current economic crisis. Her remarks came during a meeting with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Friday (May 27) at the Parliament Premises. The U.S. envoy also emphasized the need to carry out the political reforms desired by the people and to safeguard democracy in the country. Ambassador Chung further said that she hopes to enhance relations between the two countries through... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
මාරාන්තික රංගනයේ පිටපත කාගෙද?කුහක විචාරකයෝ සහ ගල් ගහන භූතයෝ..
.විමල්ගේ දේශපාලන භූමිකාව ශිෂ්‍යයෙකු ලෙස ලාංකීය ශිෂ්‍ය ව්‍යාපාරය තුලත්, 89 මහා ජනසංහාරයෙන් දිවිගලවා ගැනීමෙන් පසු මානව හිතවාදි පත්තර කාරයෙකුගේ සිට මරා පොළොවට සමතලා කොට මැච් එක ඉවරයැයි වහසිබස් දෙඩු ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ නැවත දේශපාලනයට රැගෙන ඒම සදහාත්,එය ජනතාව තුල මහජන ව්‍යාපාරයක් දක්වා ඔසවා තැබිම වෙනුවෙනුත් ඔහු කල සුවිශේෂී කැපකිරිම ලෙහෙසියෙන් මකා දැමිය නොහැක. එවිට නම් එය රංගනයක් යැයි කීමට කවිරුත් ඉදිරිපත් නොවුණි. තවලම්,සුදුනෙළුම් ආදී දවටනයන්ගෙ ඔතා කරළියට රැගෙන එමින් තිබු රට බෙදන යෝජනා සහිත පෑකේජය නොහොත් පෙඩ්රල් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම යෝජනා වලට එරෙහිවත් ,උතුර සහ නැගෙනහිර ඒකාබද්ධ කොට වෙනම ස්වයං පාලන කලාප දොළ පිදේනිය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Capitulating to IMF will cause massive unemployment, warns economist
“The World Bank and the IMF have taken over total control of the Pakistani economy and have established their stranglehold on it,” Dr Kaiser Bengali said.Share The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has one-point agenda in Pakistan, namely the privatisation of all the assets of the country which will cause large-scale unemployment. Economist and former adviser to the Sindh and Balochistan chief ministers Dr Kaiser Bengali stated this while speaking on Thursday evening at a consultation meeting, titled ‘The current economic scenario and its effects on the common man’,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s Parliament: 29 Member National List should not be given Ministerial Portfolios
The national list comprises 29 people nominated by political parties. They are not nominees of the People but the political party they are aligned to or have been named by. That they are included in a particular party automatically displays a tilt of bias towards that party. The rationale behind the insertion of 29 member national list was to bring people who had knowledge & skills into Parliament without them having to contest elections. Bringing knowledge & skills into Parliament does not mean they should be given Ministerial portfolios. This takes away the entire... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Sri Lanka's Independence - a by product of India's Freedom Struggles
The transition from a colony to political freedom was a peaceful one in Ceylon unlike in a large majority of Asian countries. Independence was attained by Ceylon relatively painlessly as a by product of India's Freedom Struggles that were assisted by Japan through its support to Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (INA). During the Second World War and thereafter freedom fighters all over Asia under the original leadership of Japan, fought under the banner ' Asia for Asians', while the opposing forces comprising the Western colonial countries such as Britain,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
21a cannot pass powers to a Rejected National List Caretaker PM
Democratic principles are being questioned following the scurry to pass the 21st amendment, drafted by a caretaker Justice Minister and aspiring to pass powers from a directly elected President to a caretaker Prime Minister rejected by voters & undemocratically returning to parliament as a National List MP. All norms and ethics of parliamentary democracy are being questioned. Sri Lanka’s Judiciary cannot allow such a precedence to take place. FACTS Sovereignty is inalienable & with the People – the People delegate their powers to the 3 pillars (Executive-President / Legislature-Parliament... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
වෙල් එක්ස්පිරියන්ස්ඩ් මෑන් ගෙන් සල්ලි
රනිල් 'මුදල් අගමැතිය'. ගිය පාර දුන්නේ පොඩි ගානක්ය. මෙදා පාර එක කුටුම්භයකට රුපියල් ලක්ෂය බැගින් දෙනවානම් මරුය. මිලියන් 20 ට ම ලක්ෂය ගානේ දුන්නත් ඕනා ට්රිලියන 2 ය. අච්චු ගසා බෙදුවාම හරිය. ක්‍රෙඩිට් උනත් ප්රශ්නයක් නැත. ජනතාව ප්රීති ප්රමෝධයට පත් වී තව දෙතුන් පාරක් මුදල් අගමැති ලෙස රඳවා ගන්නවාට සැකයක් නැත. ලෝකය පාලනය කරන්නට බිය නැතිවාක් මෙන් ම ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
High Commissioner of Sri Lanka and the Finance Minister of India evaluate the status of ongoing economic cooperation and discuss the way forward
Following his meeting in mid-April, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda again met with the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister of India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman to evaluate the status of ongoing cooperation and to discuss the way forward. High Commissioner Moragoda thanked Minister Sitharaman for the continuation of assistance that India is extending to Sri Lanka in the form of credits for essential commodities and fuel, and also for balance of payment support extended. He particularly appreciated her taking up the case of Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
Sri Lanka Debt 'unsustainable', Need Adequate Assurances On Reforms: IMF On Debt Reconstruction
The IMF-Sri Lanka discussions focused on fiscal sustainability, monetary policy, exchange rate regimes, financial sector stability and structural reforms. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assessed Sri Lanka's public debt as "unsustainable" and has said it requires "sufficient assurance" from that Sri Lanka will restore debt sustainability during the debt restructuring process, according to a media reort. "Since Sri Lanka’s public debt is assessed as unsustainable, approval by the Executive Board of an IMF-supported programme for the country would require adequate assurances that debt sustainability will be restored," said IMF, as per... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/05/22)
150 JVP members arrested MPs blame AKD, a murderer
A tense situation arose in Parliament yesterday when several SLPP MPs began to obstruct JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s speech during the debate on the recent violence in the country. Some Parliamentarians began calling Dissanayake a murderer and blaming him for the violence. In response, Dissanayake said that he was unafraid of such threats. He said that if there is any doubt that any JVP member is involved in the recent violence, they were not afraid of being investigated. MP Arundika Fernando said that the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
India, Japan to work together to assist Sri Lanka
India and Japan have agreed to work together on assisting crisis-hit Sri Lanka, the Japanese Government said, following a recent meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. Modi and Kishida met on May 24 on the sidelines of the Quad summit and held bilateral talks on “close cooperation” to promote efforts to realise a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, in addition to collaboration in spheres including defence, clean energy, and investment. Following the meeting, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the leaders “discussed the situation in Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
Lanka on the brink of economic collapse: Prez seeks international help to overcome crisis
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, addressing the 27th International conference on ‘Future of Asia’, yesterday, called upon the international community to help Sri Lanka overcome its economic crisis. Addressing the virtual summit, the President said that it was no secret that the last several months had been extremely difficult for Sri Lanka. “We are currently undergoing a severe economic crisis, which has profoundly impacted the lives of all Sri Lankans, resulting in social unrest. The virtual shutting down of the tourism industry and the sharp decline in inward remittances from expatriate workers due... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
Shashi Weerawansa files appeal challenging prison sentence
The attorneys representing the wife of MP Wimal Weerawansa have filed an appeal challenging the two-year prison sentence handed down to their client earlier today. The appeal was lodged before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, to be forwarded to the High Court. Taking up Weerawansa’s appeal, Colombo Additional Magistrate Harshana Kekunawala said it would be called for consideration on the 30th of May. Shashi Weerawansa was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment this morning after she was found guilty of producing forged documents to obtain a diplomatic passport. She was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
All-party reps unanimously decide to submit 21A in Cabinet
Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva says a unanimous decision was taken at the all-party meeting to present the draft 21st constitutional amendment to the Cabinet of Ministers on the 6ht of June. A meeting of political party leaders, chaired by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, was convened on Friday (May 27) to discuss the draft 21st amendment to the constitution. The party leaders had presented their observations regarding the draft amendment during the discussion. Taking to his official Twitter handle, PM Wickremesinghe said a final meeting was scheduled for next Friday (June... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
Energy crisis: Russia confirms SL request for assistance - under consideration
Russia has received an appeal from Sri Lanka for help in overcoming the energy crisis in the country and Russia is now considering the next steps to provide assistance, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday according to foreign media. Last Thursday, Sri Lankan Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told reporters that Colombo is counting on Moscow to help overcome the energy crisis and acute shortage of energy resources by receiving Russian oil supplies. "We can confirm that such appeals have indeed been received by the Government of the Russian Federation and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
Court issues order preventing protesters from entering key economic areas in Colombo
Court issues an order preventing protesters from entering several roads including York Street, Bank Street, Chatham Street and also preventing them from forcibly entering or damaging state or official buildings in Fort Police Division on Saturday 28 May. The court documents state that it has been informed or a planned protest on Saturday 28 at 2.00pm from the Kollupitiya junction to several key economic areas such as the World Trade Centre, Bank of Ceylon, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Presidential Secretariat, Ports Authority, Police Headquarters, Ministry of Finance, Presidents house and several other... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
මේ රටේ කුමන රජයක් බලයට පත්වුවද අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම එක්සත්, සව්භාග්‍යමත් ප්‍රබල ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජාතියක් ගොඩ නැගීම සඳහා එම රජය විසින් අවිවාදයෙන් පිළිගත යුතු ජාතික සම්මුති මාලාවක් පහත දක්වමි
"මේ රට සින්හල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයකි" යන මූලික සම්මුතිය ඇතුළු පහතසඳහන් ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති පිළිගෙන ඒවා ක්‍රියාත්මක කරණ බවට මහනුවර ශ්‍රී දළදා මාලිගාවේදී ත්‍රයිනිකායික නායක හිමිවරුන් ප්‍රමුඛ සන්ඝ සභාවක් ඉදිරියේදී දිවුරා පොරොන්දු නොවන කිසිවෙකුට මේ රටේ කිසිදාක පාලන බලය නොදිය යුතුය” 1 කොටස එක්සත්, සව්භාග්‍යමත් ප්‍රබල ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජාතියක් ගොඩ නැගීම සඳහා මේ රටේ සියළු දෙනාම ඒකමතිකව පිළිගත යුතු ජාතික සම්මුති මාලාවක් පහත දක්වම 1"මේ රට සින්හල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයකි 2.ශ්‍රි ලන්කාව ඒකචත්‍ර රාජ්‍යයකි ලෝක ඉතිහාශය ආරම්භවූ දා සිටම ඉන්දීය සාගරයේ පිහිටි සින්හලද්වීපය නම්වූ, වර්ගසැතපුම් 25,332 (65,610... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
Constitutional Reform: the wages of haste, sloth and expediency.
There are certain rules of thumb with regard to constitutional reform. First, such exercises should never be predicated on political expediency. In other words, one’s allegiance or otherwise to the immediate beneficiary, beneficiaries or political party/coalition should not be a factor in offering support or objecting, respectively. Secondly, one’s allegiance or otherwise to any person, political party or community losing out from proposed amendments should not be a factor either. Thirdly, it has to be understood that constitutional reform in the form of amendment or total overhaul is a very serious matter that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
Sri Lanka Tourism Chief Resigns Under Pressure, Then Warns of Industry Cartel
The Sri Lanka tourism chief’s resignation letter has enough warning signs for the country’s tourism industry. Now, if only someone is listening.-Peden Doma Bhutia Mired in its worst-ever economic crisis with debts totaling over $50 billion, Sri Lanka may have to wait for some time to fall back on tourism to lessen the blow. Kimarli Fernando, the Sri Lanka tourism chief, stepped down from her position on Tuesday following a resignation request from the newly-appointed tourism minister. But not before firing a strongly-worded resignation letter. Fernando, who had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/05/22)
ජපන් භාෂා ප්‍රවීණතාවය නොමැති 1000කට ජපානයේ රැකියා අවස්ථා කඩිනමින් ලබාදෙන්න - කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර ජපානයෙන් ඉල්ලයි
ජපන් භාෂ ප්‍රවීණතාවයක් නොමැති, පාසල් හැර ගිය ළමුන් දහසකට ඉදිරි මාස කිහිපය තුළ ජපානයේ රැකියා අවස්ථා ලබාදෙන ලෙසට කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා මෙරට ජපාන තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ භාරකාර ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ තානාපති නිලධාරී Katsuki Kotara මහතාගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කළේය.මෙරට සිටින ජපාන තානාපති භාරකාර ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ තානාපති නිලධාරී Katsuki Kotara ඇතුළු ජපානයේ ඉහළ රාජ්ය තාන්ත්‍රික නිලධාරීන් කණ්ඩායමක් කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා අද (26) උදෑසන හමුවූ අතර දෙරට අතර සම්බන්ධතා ශක්තිමත් කරගැනීම පිළිබදව මෙන්ම ජපානයේ වැඩි රැකියා අවස්ථාවන් තරුණ තරුණියන්ට ලබාදීමට ඇති හැකියාව ගැනත් අවධානය යොමු කළේය.මේ වන විට ජපානයේ වැඩි රැකියා අවස්ථාවන් ප්‍රමාණයක් විවෘතව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
ඉන්දීය සහනාධාර යටතේ ලබාදෙන අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය අඩු ආදායම්ලාභීන් වෙත ලබාදීම
ලේකම්,ස්වදේශ කටයුතු රාජ්ය අමාත්‍යාංශය,නිල මැඳුර,නාරාහේන්පිට,කොළඹ - 05.ලේකම්තුමනි,ඉන්දීය සහනාධාර යටතේ ලබාදෙන අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය අඩු ආදායම්ලාභීන් වෙත ලබාදීම.උක්ත උධෘතය යටතේ 2022/05/20 දින FC/09/03/05/India-Donation/Distri අංකය සහිත ආහාර කොමසාරිස්වරයා විසින් දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම්වරුන් වෙත යොමු කර ඇති ලිපිය හා බැඳේ.රටේ ආර්ථිකය බිඳවැටීමත් ආර්ථික අතින් බංකොලොත් වීමත් හේතුව මත ලාංකීය ජනතාව පත්ව ඇති ආර්ථික සහ ආහාර දුෂ්කරතා මඟහරවා ගැනීම සඳහා ඉන්දියානු රජය විසින් ලංකාව වෙත ලබා දී ඇති ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය බෙදාදීමේ වැඩ සටහන සම්බන්ධයෙන් අවධානය යොමු කරමු.වෙනත් රටවලට අත පා ලාංකීය ජනතාවට ජීවත්වීමට සිදුවීම පිළිබඳ බරපතල කණගාටුවක් පවතින අතර අපේ රට එවැනි තත්වයකට ඇද දැමීම පිළිබඳව රට පාලනය කළ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
‘China has always come to Sri Lanka’s aid in times of need’：envoy
Western ‘debt trap diplomacy’ narrative not the reality China Sri Lanka Photo:VCGEditor's note:China and Sri Lanka have long maintained a close relationship of mutual support and understanding, regardless of how the international situation changes. In recent years, the two countries have seen steady development in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, especially under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, since Sri Lanka fell into an economic crisis, some Western forces have been seeking to undercut China-Sri Lanka bilateral ties with the "debt trap" and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
The Lost World: Hidden Wonders of Ancient Ceylon
This article is based on our forefathers, excellent engineers and craftsmen, who possessed exceptional skills. How many of our present generation is conversant of the activities of Ceylon engineers in the bygone years who amazed the whole world. During the remarkable Parakramabahu reign, construction of the tallest buildings commenced. King Mahasen also did the peak constructions. The world’s first hospital was constructed during BC 367-437 during King Pandukabhaya’s reign. No wonder how foreigners became dumbstruck when these were built between the second and fourth centuries using metal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
SL Police App to monitor vehicles at fuel stations
Sri Lanka Police has developed an application to monitor vehicles at fuel stations, in an attempt to prevent cars from pumping more fuel than the quota issued. Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera revealed that the app was currently being tested in several fuel stations across the country, explaining that once the number plate details of consumers are entered, the data is shared real time with other users. The app will then notify if the same vehicle has pumped fuel on the same day from any other station, and the history of refueling... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
Committee to probe lapses by tri-forces during recent unrest
A committee has been appointed to look into any lapses by tri-forces during the unrest at Mirihana on the 31st of March and the nationwide tensions erupted on the 9th of May. The committee comprises Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Gunathilake and General R. M. Daya Ratnayake. https://youtu.be/32wGajky470... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
PM Ranil wants IMF program in place by mid-June
https://youtu.be/rq_MT39fZkQ Sri Lanka is looking to fast-track talks with the International Monetary Fund and agree on a loan by mid-June so that it can then approach other lenders for urgently needed funds. The bankrupt nation will slash its budget expenditure to “bare bones” and hopes to break even or post a primary surplus of 1% of gross domestic product by 2025, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an interview at his office in Colombo Wednesday. Even so, that would be smaller than the 2% surplus the IMF has sought, which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
Fourteen suspects in total under arrest over killing of MP Amarakeerthi
Fourteen suspects in total are currently under arrest in connection with the killing of MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his security officer earlier this month, Sri Lanka Police says. Two of them, reported to be drug addicts, were taken into custody yesterday (May 25). One of them is a 28-year-old from Nittambuwa, employed in the construction field. The other is a 27-year-old resident of Warakapola and an employee of a private company. The parliamentarian and a police sergeant attached to his security detail were killed in a mob attack amidst the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
Foreign Minister discusses Sri Lanka’s food security challenges with FAO, WFP reps
https://youtu.be/GwskvOIxiSw Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris met with Vimlendra Sharan, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative and Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, the Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) to Sri Lanka on Wednesday (May 25), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The focus of the discussion fell on further collaboration between the FAO, WFP and Sri Lanka to address the current challenges faced by Sri Lanka in relation to food security. The lawmaker conveyed the sincere appreciation of the government of Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
IMF Staff concludes virtual mission to SL & reaffirm commitment to support SL
IMF staff has concluded their virtual mission to SL & state “IMF staff will engage with the authorities to formulate concrete measures under an IMF-supported program to support a timely resolution of the crisis. We reaffirm our commitment to support Sri Lanka at this difficult time, in line with the IMF’s policies". IMF Press Release https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2022/05/26/pr22171-imf-staff-concludes-virtual-mission-to-sri-lanka">Click here for Press Release (FULL TEXT given below) Washington, DC: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Mr. Peter Breuer and Mr. Masahiro Nozaki conducted a virtual mission with the Sri Lankan authorities during... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
General Vikum Liyanage to be appointed as the New Commander of the Army
Major General Vikum Liyanage is to be appointed as the new Army Commander of Sri Lanka on June 01 after General Shavendra Silva relinquishes his post, Army media said. General Shavendra Silva will assume office on 1 June 2022 as new Chief of Defence Staff after relinquishing the office of the Commander of the Army on 31 May. General Shavendra Silva was serving as acting Chief of Defence Staff at the time he was appointed to this new office. Meanwhile, the incumbent Chief of Staff Major General Vikum Liyanage will be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/05/22)
ගෑස්!
ඊයෙත් නැහැ. අදත් නැහැ. හෙටත් නැහැ. අනිද්දා ගැන විශ්වාසයකුත් නැහැ. අවුරුද්දට කලින් එකදිගට සුමානයක්ම නැහැ. ලිට්‍රෝ ගෑස් ගැන මෙහෙම ලිව්වත් ලාෆ් ගෑස්වලට වෙච්ච දෙයක් හොයාගන්නත් නැහැ. පසුගිය දිනවල මෙරටට ලගාවුනු ගෑස් නැව්වලින් ගෑස් ගොඩබෑම අයහපත් කාළගුණය නිසා ප්‍රමාදවෙන බව ගෑස් සමාගමේ සභාපති පැවසූ නිසා වහාම ගැස් සමාගමේ ලොක්කන්ව කොප් කමිටුව ඉදිරියට ගෙන එන ලෙස උපදෙස් දුන්නේ රටේ පවත්නා ආර්ථික අර්බුධයෙන් ගොඩ ගැනීම සදහා ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ එකම තේරීම වූ වත්මන් දියසෙන් කුමාරයා රනිල්. රනිල්ව අගමැතිකමට පත් කලේ රට ගොඩගන්නද නැත්නම් රාජපක්ෂ පවුල ගොඩගන්නද කියන එක වෙනමම තලයක සාකච්චා කලයුතු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
Situation going from bad to worse for Sri Lanka as World Bank denies releasing fresh funds
According to reports, Sri Lanka inflation could surge to 40 per cent. FILE PHOTO: Police fire teargas and use water cannons to disperse the Sinhala extremist monks from Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) on November 19, 2018 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) By: Pramod Thomas THE World Bank said it is not planning to provide any new financing to cash-strapped Sri Lanka until an adequate economic policy framework has been put in place. In a statement, the multilateral development bank said it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
Ways To Meet The Impending Food Crisis In Sri Lanka – Analysis
Studies reveal that by re-orienting the country’s agricultural policies and adopting modern technologies, the worst can be averted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has sounded an extremely grim warning of a food crisis in the island beginning in August and stretching to March 2023. It will be aggravated by the fact that it could coincide with an expected global food crisis during this period.Advertisement But all is not lost. Studies reveal that by re-orienting the country’s agricultural policies and adopting modern technologies, the worst can be averted... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
Opportunity for public servants to apply for foreign employment?
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says there are many job vacancies in countries including Japan, Poland and Romania for skilled workers in various fields and pointed out the need to implement languages and vocational training programmes targeting those available opportunities. The President made these remarks at a discussion held at the President’s House, Colombo, today (25) to review the progress of the programme to direct the skilled workers to foreign employment markets. The President pointed out that in the face of the current economic setback, special attention should be paid to generating foreign exchange... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
SJB opposes transfer of parliamentary powers to the executive through govt’s 21A
Today the country is in bane with many crises, as a result of concentrating power around the Executive, says Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne. He said the proposed 21st Amendment to the Constitution by the government, which appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, gives the President the power to keep under his purview subjects of his choice and even the power to dissolve Parliament. “We are against the transfer of parliamentary power to the executive, which is independent of the executive and the judiciary,” said MP Wickramaratne. Addressing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
No new financing for Sri Lanka without macroeconomic policy framework - WB
The World Bank on Tuesday said it is not planning to provide any new financing to cash-strapped Sri Lanka until an adequate economic policy framework has been put in place. In a statement, the multilateral development bank said it was repurposing resources from previously approved projects to help the Sri Lankan government pay for some essential medicines, temporary cash transfers for poor and vulnerable households, and other support. https://youtu.be/vyWcap89uaE It said recent media reports had inaccurately stated that the World Bank planned to provide Sri Lanka with a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
නිවසට පහරදුන් පිරිස ගැන මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් හෙළිකරයි...
https://youtu.be/zsUrF4Cwwbo?list=RDCMUCCK3OZi788Ok44K97WAhLKQ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/05/22)
Constitutional Amendments: What the Public must demand from the Government
Electoral System must be changed before 2025 General Elections WHY: This is a key area that will clean up the Parliament from corrupt. A criteria to accept nominations, voting system changed to FIRST PAST THE POST system, seat allocation for province revisited & allocated as per population representation. This must include no dual citizen can be PM, or MP or even hold senior public positions even as consultants/advisors. Repeal 13th amendment together with PC system WHY: 13th amendment was introduced under duress by India via the Indo-Lanka Accord, it was not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Sri Lankan medicine shortage a death sentence for some
A shortage of medicine caused by an economic crisis in Sri Lanka could soon cause deaths, doctors said, as hospitals are forced to postpone life-saving procedures for their patients because they do not have the necessary drugs – Reuters In a news item titled as above, Reuters have bared what many in Sri Lanka know about and fear. (http://www.adaderana.lk/news/82630/sri-lankan-medicine-shortage-a-death-sentence-for-some-doctors-say) “It is very bad for cancer patients,” said Dr Roshan Amaratunga. “Sometimes, in the morning we plan for some surgeries (but) we may not be able to do on that particular day... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Partial de-militarization in the appointment of new Secretaries to Lankan Ministries
Colombo, May 24 (newsin.asia): Three military officers who were Secretaries to ministries in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government have been replaced in the reshuffle carried out by the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday. In the partial de-militarization, Adm.Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been replaced by Mrs.Aruni Wijewardena; Maj.Gen.Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Secretary Health has been replaced by S.J.S.Chandraguptha and Maj.Jagath Alwis has been replaced by S.Hettiarachchi. Both Adm.Colombage and Maj.Gen.Jagath Alwis had resigned earlier.ADVERTISEMENT Two army men, Maj.Gen. Kamal Gunaratne and Gen.Daya Ratnayake retain their... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
How the world's first all-organic farming nation has led to hunger, riots and economic ruin in Sri Lanka... The consequences have been nothing short of catastrophic, writes TOM LEONARD
From the ethically sourced produce shops of Islington to the chemical-free acres of the Prince of Wales's Highgrove farm, you could almost hear the cheering three years ago when Sri Lanka's future president pledged a revolution. It wouldn't be on the streets but in the fields — as Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed in his successful 2019 election campaign to transform the country into the world's first fully organic farming nation. Parroting the claims made for years by Prince Charles and fellow advocates of 'sustainable farming', the politician cited health... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Mahinda has not asked for a safe haven in Maldives - Nasheed
Former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed who is presently in Sri Lanka, said former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had not sought a safe haven in the Maldives and he had not met Rajapaksa during his current visit in the country. Speaking to Daily Mirror, Nasheed said reports stating that Mahinda had asked him for a safe haven for himself and his family members in the Maldoves, considering the present political climate in Sri Lanka, was false and he had not even met the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister. Nasheed said there... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Sri Lanka to seek additional $ 500 mn Indian loan for fuel
Motorists waiting to buy fuel from Lanka IOC fuel station in Colombo on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: AFP Govt. tells non-essential staff to work from home to save fuel; social media saw many accounts of families being unable to access emergency medical care due to the lack of fuel Sri Lanka has decided to seek fresh assistance of $500 million from India to augment its fuel imports, as the island reels under a crippling economic crisis manifesting in persisting shortages of essentials. For weeks now, citizens are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
How can the new PM overcome the Sri Lankan crisis
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the people of Sri Lanka that he will fulfil the promises he had made to them when he assumed office last week after the fall of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. In his first TV address after assuming office, Wickremesinghe listed the grave challenges ahead of him, but assured the people of his determination to meet them successfully. He also suggested the formation of a National Assembly comprising all parties, to arrive at solutions. There may be an example for him. He can overcome... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Exclusive-Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Says He Will Slash Expenditure in New Budget
COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday he will present an interim budget within six weeks, slashing infrastructure projects to re-route funds into a two-year relief programme for the crisis-hit island nation. Wickremesinghe, who took office two weeks ago, warned that inflation would rise as the government gets down to tackling the crisis, and that there could be more protests on the streets. He said he hoped any unrest would not get out of hand, adding that funds would be made available to help the most vulnerable... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
World Bank says no new financing for Sri Lanka without policy framework
WASHINGTON : The World Bank on Tuesday said it is not planning to provide any new financing to cash-strapped Sri Lanka until an adequate economic policy framework has been put in place. In a statement, the multilateral development bank said it was repurposing resources from previously approved projects to help the Sri Lankan government pay for some essential medicines, temporary cash transfers for poor and vulnerable households, and other support. It said recent media reports had inaccurately stated that the World Bank planned to provide Sri Lanka with a new bridge loan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Crisis-hit Sri Lanka Planning to Study on Oil Exploration in Mannar Basin: Minister
A natural gas field was reportedly discovered for the first time here in 2011, but the country has not yet capitalised on this treasure trove, which could potentially solve Sri Lanka's energy requirements, news portal Ada Derana has reported. he crisis-hit Sri Lankan government is planning to undertake a feasibility study on oil exploration in the Mannar Basin, a shallow bay part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean, which has about 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to meet the energy needs of the island nation for the next six... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
ඉන්ධන මිල සංශෝධනය සති දෙකකට හෝ මාසයකට වරක්...
https://youtu.be/OZbf2IVWz5Y... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
USAID pledges support for Sri Lanka to ride out crisis situation
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will closely work with other donors such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, G7 countries, and other stakeholders to support Sri Lanka during this extraordinarily difficult period, the agency’s administrator Samantha Power has assured Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. During a telephone conversation with PM Wickremesinghe, Samantha Power has discussed how the USAID is responding to the island nation’s political and economic crises. Administrator Power expressed her sympathy for the Sri Lankans who were killed or injured in the political unrest earlier... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Sri Lanka to receive USD 2 million from WHO
The World Health Organization (WhO) has assured its fullest support for Sri Lanka to come out of the ongoing medical crisis. The organization has also agreed to provide USD 2 million to the island nation as a part of the initial phase of this assistance program. This was conveyed by WHO Representative to Sri Lanka, Dr. Alaka Singh who called on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The meeting took place at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo earlier today (May 24). Dr. Singh has said she is confident that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/05/22)
Comparing the 19th amendment & 20th amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution
Anything done in haste is wasted and both 19th and 20th amendment as well as 18th amendment were clearly not done with country interest but with personal interest. This is undemocratic and unhealthy for a country & it is reason for so many confusions and contradictions and heated debates. These are all uncalled for and unnecessary. 21stamendment should not fall into this same category. The country is in an economic crisis, it soon led to a political crisis, we do not wish to enter a constitutional crisis as well. Therefore, Parliament & the President must... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Why 21a should not be passed – Ranil is only a caretaker PM
21a is re-attempting to transfer the powers of the President to the Prime Minister. Ranil is only a caretaker PM. The newly appointed cocktail cabinet are only care taker Ministers. They are not part of the Government elected in 2020 which still has the numbers though the PM of the Govt was forced to resign. A caretaker cabinet & PM should not be allowed to change the constitution with amendments. The President has to make this clear & stop wasting public funds and time on constitutional amendments. PM Ranil was brought to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
ප්රීති අපිට අපි ප්රීතිට.
ආරගලිස්ට්ලාට මාර්ගයේ එක පැත්තකට වී හෝ ගෝල්පීසයේ මුහුදු වෙරල මාඉමට වී සාමකාමිව විරෝධතා පවත්වන්නට අවසර දුන්නත්, මහජන පොදු දේපලවලට, ව්යාපාර ආයතනවලට අලාභ හානි කරමින්, බලහත්කාරකමෙන් ඒවායේ දීර්ඝ කාලීනව රැඳී සිටීම අවුරුදු දෙකකට නොඅඩු බරපතල වැඩ සහිත සිර දඬුවමකට සහ දඩයකට යටත් කල යුතුය. සෑම ප්රධාන මාර්ගයකම එක තීරුවක් පමණක් ආරගලිස්ට්ලා වෙනුවෙන් වෙන් කලාට වැරැද්දක් නැතත් ගමනාගමනයේ යෙදි සිටින ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Markers of a failing state
Colombo, May 23 (Ceylon Today): When Sri Lanka was teetering at the edge of a politico-economic abyss, some wondered if it was on the way to becoming a failed state. But mercifully, a political consensus emerged this week, and the new Ranil Wickremesinghe government is attending to the economic problem which lies at the root of the crisis. “Nation-states fail because they are convulsed by internal violence and can no longer deliver positive political goods to their inhabitants. Their governments lose legitimacy, and the very nature of the particular nation-state itself becomes... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Lankan cabinet discusses 21 st. Amendment to reduce President’s powers
Colombo, May 23: The Sri Lankan cabinet, which met here on Monday, discussed a draft 21 st. Amendment of the constitution meant to reduce the powers of the Executive President and increase the powers of the parliament on the pattern of the repealed 19 th.Amendment. The Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that the draft 21 st Amendment will be given to the leaders of the parties represented in parliament on May 27. Thereafter the cabinet will discuss the amendment and the observations of the party leaders on it.ADVERTISEMENT ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Media must stop fomenting tensions
Colombo, May 23 (Daily News): The entire country watched live what had happened on May 9th and thereafter here in Sri Lanka. Since the entire country watched and listened to the main incident and its aftermath, it will be worthwhile analyzing the incidents. In the past one and half years some private television channels have been provoking people using various hardships the people have been facing from time to time. Such provocation became intense in the past three months. Every morning, the majority of television presenters were making the people... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Sri Lanka will need structural reforms for debt sustainability
An IMF bailout would depend on the country fixing its economy. High school teacher S. Jeeva spent two days in the hot sun lining up for cooking gas in Sri Lanka’s capital. He’s been standing with thousands of others waiting for a delivery that so far hasn’t come. Many of his students have joined protests against the government at the waterfront along Colombo’s iconic Galle Face Green. Both are symbols of the economic and political crisis gripping the nation, the result of decades of corruption and financial mismanagement that pushed the country to default... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Sri Lanka picks Lazard, Clifford Chance as advisers for landmark debt restructuring: Report
COLOMBO/LONDON: Sri Lanka has hired heavyweight financial and legal advisers Lazard and Clifford Chance as it prepares for the difficult task of renegotiating its debts, a trio of sources told Reuters on Monday (May 23). The move is the latest development in Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 and comes after the country was officially declared in default for the first time ever last week after it halted debt payments. All three sources asked not to be named because the talks remain private. Spokespeople from Sri Lanka's... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
SAARC Chamber urges IMF for timely bail out package to Sri Lanka
President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik Sunday urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to work out timely bail out package to put defaulting Sri Lanka, a financially crumbled country, on track. Talking to a delegation of women entrepreneurs led by Noreen Asim Siyal-an emerging youtuber, he said that main source of its revenue was tourism and deadly pandemic badly hit their tourism sector because of absence of foreign tourists which led to this ugly situation coupled with lack of good governance besides rising inflation. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Inflation in crisis-hit Sri Lanka hits new record
+1View gallery A woman sits beside liquefied petroleum gas cylinders on a street in Colombo. Fuel is in short supply across Sri Lanka Sri Lanka's inflation hit a seventh consecutive record high in April as a petrol shortage worsened and food prices rose sharply, official data showed Monday. The National Consumer Price Index rose 33.8 percent year-on-year in April, more than six times the 5.5 percent inflation of a year earlier. Annual food inflation stood at 45.1 percent, according to the latest data released by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s controversial 21st Amendment to Constitution fails to come up for Cabinet approval
Sri Lanka's contentious 21st Amendment to the Constitution was denied Cabinet approval after the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) objected to it. In a major blow to Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the proposal for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to curb the unfettered powers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, scheduled to be referred to the Cabinet on Monday, was not presented before it. According to sources, the proposal was not presented in the Cabinet after parliamentarians of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) objected to it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Who Has Had the Last Laugh?
Ironic but true. At the end of Act II, Scene II (if that is what it is), the villain has turned hero, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, against whom the whole world seemed to have turned, has proved that he has Parliament on his side. The 119-68 headcount on the combined Opposition motion to suspend the Standing Orders, for the House to take up their ‘censure motion’ against the President showed the Government had more than the 113 required for an absolute majority in the 225-member House. This outcome also... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Terrorism Disguised as Peaceful Protests
There is a strong opinion in Sri Lanka that we need educated people in Parliament. The conclusion of many is that our politicians are not professional and that is the bane of the country. Heeding that call, a number of top professionals entered the political arena at the last 2020 General Elections. Among them were Ali Sabry, Dr Nalaka Godahewa, Dr Seetha Arambepola, Professor Channa Jayasumana and Yadamini Gunawardena. They were joined by other professionals as Dr Ramesh Pathirana, Udaya Gammanpila, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon and Kanaka Herath... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
MR had not decided to resign on 09 May, says Weerasekra
SLPP MP Rear Admiral (retd.) Sarath Weerasekera says Prime Minster Mahinda Rajapaksa had not decided to resign on 09 May 09 although the SLPP MPs had been asked to bring supporters to Temple Trees for a meeting.Weerasekera said so when The Island asked him why he had skipped the Temple Trees meeting.One-time Public Security Minister said that the then PM Rajapaksa had, during a conversation with him on 08 May had denied reports that the latter was planning to resign the following day. MP Namal Rajapaksa, however, had asked a group of MPs and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Proposals for 21st Amendment presented to Cabinet
Proposals for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution have been presented to the Cabinet of Ministers today (May 23). Accordingly, the Cabinet has decided to forward the draft proposals to the party leaders for their comments by Friday (27). The first meeting of the new Cabinet was held today under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that a full report with the relevant amendments will be submitted to the Cabinet after consulting the party leaders on the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Cabinet spokesman and co-spokesmen appointed
Minister of Mass Media, Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardene has been appointed as the new Cabinet Spokesperson. Meanwhile ministers Mahinda Amaraweera, Manusha Nanayakkara and Kanchana Wijesekara have been appointed as Co-Cabinet Spokespersons, the Govt. Information Department said. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
DIG in charge of CID transferred
The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has reportedly been transferred. It is reported that the Minister of Public Security has accepted the request for a transfer made by the DIG of the CID W. Thilakaratne. The request had been made around two weeks ago while he has been transferred to the VIP Security Division. Meanwhile it is also reported that the DIG in charge of Nuwara Eliya, Prasad Ranasinghe is to be appointed as new DIG of the Criminal Investigation Department... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Eight more ministers sworn in before President
The appointing of eight more Cabinet Ministers of the All-Party Government took place before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning (23). https://youtu.be/q_xWVdBHmj8 The new ministers were sworn in at the President’s House in Fort, the PMD reported. Mahinda Amaraweera has been sworn in as the Minister of Agriculture, Forest Resources and Wildlife while Roshan Ranasinghe has been appointed as Minister of Irrigation, Sports and Youth. Bandula Gunawardena has been sworn in as the Minister of Mass Media, Transport and Highways while MP Vidura Wickramanayake is appointed the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
To change the system – change the electoral system first
Everyone is parroting system change but everyone is reluctant to point out where to start the change. The present parliament is already elected. We cannot make changes to the present Parliament. But we can make sure the next Parliament makes the changes we want. What are the changes that we want. Re-allocating seats proportionately for each province by population (delimitation commission) – some provinces having undue number of seats enabling people with few thousands to enter Parliament. We are all in unison... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
19th amendment attempted to transfer powers of the President to the PM
It was clear that 19a was drafted taking into consideration the President in power & the hurriedly appointing Ranil Wickremasinghe who was Opposition Leader as PM without removing the sitting PM (D M Jayaratne) The legality of this remains unanswered. 18 FR petitions were filed in SC. There were amendments to amendments with little time for Counsels to study before making submissions. Though public had a week to study as per Article 121, they did not get access to the latest version. This was a FR violation of the people’s right. Article... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
මේ රටේ කුමන රජයක් බලයට පත්වුවද අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම එක්සත්, සව්භාග්‍යමත් ප්‍රබල ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජාතියක් ගොඩ නැගීම සඳහා එම රජය විසින් අවිවාදයෙන් පිළිගත යුතු ජාතික සම්මුති මාලාවක් පහත දක්වමි
"මේ රට සින්හල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයකි" යන මූලික සම්මුතිය ඇතුළු පහතසඳහන් ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති පිළිගෙන ඒවා ක්‍රියාත්මක කරණ බවට මහනුවර ශ්‍රී දළදා මාලිගාවේදී ත්‍රයිනිකායික නායක හිමිවරුන් ප්‍රමුඛ සන්ඝ සභාවක් ඉදිරියේදී දිවුරා පොරොන්දු නොවන කිසිවෙකුට මේ රටේ කිසිදාක පාලන බලය නොදිය යුතුය” 1 කොටස එක්සත්, සව්භාග්‍යමත් ප්‍රබල ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජාතියක් ගොඩ නැගීම සඳහා මේ රටේ සියළු දෙනාම ඒකමතිකව පිළිගත යුතු ජාතික සම්මුති මාලාවක් පහත දක්වම 1"මේ රට සින්හල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයකි 2.ශ්‍රි ලන්කාව ඒකචත්‍ර රාජ්‍යයකි ලෝක ඉතිහාශය ආරම්භවූ දා සිටම ඉන්දීය සාගරයේ පිහිටි සින්හලද්වීපය නම්වූ, වර්ගසැතපුම් 25,332 (65,610... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Can rejected Ranil transfer powers of the Executive President to himself?
This is the question everyone should be asking. To answer this we need to return to the regime change & coup that led to the January 2015 Presidential election of Maithripala Sirisena as President & the swearing in of Ranil as PM without removing the sitting PM D M Jayaratne. With this technicality unsolved, a bogus “national government” was created with the 19a that controversially attempted to transfer the powers of the executive president to a controversially seated prime minister. Parliamentary Elections were eventually held in August 2015 only after Parliament was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
Why Cambodia now lavishes praise on Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina?
The Cambodian media has published excellent article praising Bangladesh’s economic model. Cambodian media has lavished praise on Bangladesh and its economic success. At age 51, Bangladesh is going to be a South Asian economic miracle. Although Bangladesh is also a South Asian country , an immediate neighbour of Sri Lanka, it has surpassed Colombo in almost all socio-cultural and economic indicators. Being South Asian countries, the story of Bangladesh is totally different from Sri Lanka. Cambodia sees Sri Lanka as a friendly state. So, Cambodia wants a economic solvent Sri Lanka. Thus,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
බුදුන්ගේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ නාමයට හා බුදු දහමට අපකීර්තියක් සිදු කිරීම – උපුල් ශාන්ත සන්නස්ගලට අධිකරණයෙන් ඇප
බුදුන්ගේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ නාමයට හා බුදු දහමට අපකීර්තියක් සිදුවන ආකාරයේ පොතක් මුද්‍රණය කිරීම හා බෙදා හැරීම සිදු කළැයි කියන සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අධිකරණය හමුවේ පෙනී සිටි කන්දේ කපුගේ ශ්‍රීනාත් චතුරංග හා උපුල් ශාන්ත සන්නස්ගල යන අයට එක් අයකුට රුපියල් 50,000 බැගින් වූ ශරීර ඇපයක් මත මුදා හැරීමට කොළඹ ප්රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත් නන්දන අමරසිංහ මහතා ඊයේ (මැයි 20) නියෝග කළේ ය. මෙම සිද්ධියට අදාළව තවදුරට ත් විමර්ශන පවත්වා නීතිපති උපදෙස් ලබා ගැනීමෙන් අනතුරුව ඉදිරි දින අධිකරණයට වාර්තාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලෙසට ද මෙහිදී මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා අපරාධ බුද්ධි විශ්ලේෂණ හා නිවාරණ කොට්ඨාසය වෙත නියෝග කළේ ය.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/05/22)
In pics: Pettah Market amid economic crisis in Colombo
Colombo, May 21 (Xinhua): Pettah Market is one of Sri Lanka’s most important and busiest commodity hubs in Colombo, where one can find a wide variety of goods. Due to the economic crisis, business in Pettah Market is not as prosperous as before, but the wholesale food market, which is closely related to the lives of locals, is still very busy. Here are some scenes from Pettah as captured by Xinhua photographer Tang Lu: Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua Photo: Tang Lu Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Sri Lanka moves to rein in Gotabaya
21st Amendment to the Constitution to be referred to the cabinet for approval on Monday. Sri Lanka’s minister of justice has said that the 21st Amendment to the Constitution will be referred to the cabinet for approval on Monday, a media report said on Sunday, paving the way to curb the unfettered powers of embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The 21st Amendment is expected to annul 20A, which gave unfettered powers to President Gotabaya after abolishing the 19th Amendment that had made Parliament powerful over the President.Advertisement The amendment would... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Inside the collapse of the Rajapaksa dynasty in Sri Lanka
How two powerful brothers fell out and took their country down with them COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The mob was bashing on the gates of the Sri Lankan prime minister’s official residence, its size and fury swelling dangerously. For weeks, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 76-year-old prime minister, had been under pressure to resign as the economy imploded and protests erupted. The brother of the president, Gotabaya, and a patriarch of his own political dynasty, Mahinda was once hailed as appachchi, the beloved father of the people. Now... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Ship carrying Rs.2Bn relief materials from India reaches Colombo
An Indian ship carrying urgent relief supplies including rice, life-saving medicines and milk powder arrived in Colombo on Sunday and the consignment was handed over to the government, the Indian High Commission said. High Commissioner Gopal Baglay handed over a large consignment of humanitarian assistance worth more than SLR 2 billion from the people of India to Foreign Minister Prof. G.L Peiris. The consignment consists of 9,000 MT of rice, 50 MT of milk powder and more than 25 MT of drugs and other medical supplies. The consignment... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Fuel station owner’s residence set on fire
The residence of an owner of a filling station in the Ipalogama area in Anuradhapura has been set ablaze by a certain group of individuals. https://youtu.be/d_bnJDiyQvM The incident had occurred at around 9.40 p.m. last night (21) at the residence located in the Bogaha Akkare area in Ipalogama. The home owner’s wife and two children had also been at home at the time of the incident, however none of them had sustained any injuries. However, the house in question has almost completely been destroyed by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Sri Lanka like protests could erupt in other nations, warns IMF
“Governments need to subsidise the cost of food and energy for the poorest members of society and without the correct support, the protests seen in Sri Lanka could be repeated in other countries.” This is the observation of the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva. Kristalina Georgieva, while speaking to the BBC, said that such similar unrest before the Covid-19 pandemic, from France to Chile, was caused by “a sense of inequality growing” and decisions being made without the support of the people. “If we are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Sri Lanka; A nation in shame, begging for survival
Sri Lanka has defaulted on a foreign loan interest component for the first time in its history. It is a day of shame for a country that boasts of such a rich and ancient cultural heritage, and which has produced so many people of eminence in so many fields of expertise over the years. It is regrettable that the people of Sri Lanka had been remiss in their responsibilities and acumen not to have had accountability, credibility, and honesty as priorities in selecting their political leaders to govern the country on their behalf. It is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/05/22)
Uninterrupted electricity supply soon: Minister reveals plan
Colombo, May 21 (Newswire) – Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara says that the government has decided to supply fuel for electricity generation as a priority, to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply in the country. He said that with the Norachcholai power plant expected to be back in full operation by tomorrow after the repair work and along with the hydro power generation, government is contemplating to provide uninterrupted power supply to the entire country by early next week. “Initial plan was to give uninterrupted electricity by 1st of June but now... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
The Role of the Currency Board in Bulgaria's Stabilization
Bulgaria's latest stabilization program, which included the introduction of a currency board, marked the end of a period of economic turmoil and near-hyperinflation. What accounts for its success? After several failed stabilization attempts, Bulgaria introduced a currency board on July 1, 1997. Controversial and difficult to implement because of Bulgaria's serious structural problems, the currency board has been a crucial factor in the success of the country's latest stabilization program. Combining a traditional, rule-based exchange arrange-ment with legal and structural measures that addressed pressing banking sector and fiscal issues,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
What is a currency board?
A currency board combines three elements: a fixed exchange rate between a country's currency and an "anchor currency," automatic convertibility, and a long-term commitment to the system, often made explicit in the central bank law. The main reason for countries to consider a currency board is to demonstrate that they are pursuing an anti-inflationary policy.A currency board is credible only if a country's central bank holds sufficient official foreign exchange reserves to cover at least its entire monetary liabilities, thereby assuring financial markets and the public at large that every domestic-currency bill is backed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
Sri Lanka is in a death spiral – Economist
The Sri Lankan economy is in a “death spiral”, says world-renowned economist Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied economics, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He said in a Twitter message that this was the first time Sri Lanka had defaulted on a debt. Hanke pointed out that since 1 January 2022, the Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated by approximately 50% against the US dollar. He stressed that the Central Bank should be abolished and a Currency Board must be installed to save the Sri Lankan economy from this death... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
World Bank, ADB & AIIB announce joint plan to aid Sri Lanka
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have jointly decided to support Sri Lanka’s response to the ongoing economic crisis. The three institutions announced their decision in a statement issued after the first joint coordinated meeting held on the 19th of May. https://youtu.be/GFRAA6H8QUw “All three institutions are adopting a coordinated approach to sustain basic services and livelihoods and to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis on the people of Sri Lanka.” This includes access to essential items... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
China says ready to play positive role in easing Sri Lanka’s debt burden
China says it stands ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions and to continue to play a positive role in easing Sri Lanka’s debt burden. “China fully relates to the difficulties and challenges facing Sri Lanka and stands ready to play a constructive role in its steady economic and social development,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mr. Wang Wenbin said at a media briefing yesterday (May 20). He also stated that China is prepared to work with relevant counties and international financial institutions and to continue to play a positive... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
Police to begin crackdown on people hoarding fuel for resale
Sri Lanka Police has decided to begin island-wide raids from tomorrow (May 22) in search of people hoarding diesel or petrol for resale. Police spokesperson said such persons will be taken into custody.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
Global ‘wheat war’ is coming – media
West could be forced to ask Russia for grain in exchange for lifting sanctions © Getty Images / Thomas Barwick Wheat prices have surged to record highs over the past two months as major producers like Russia, Kazakhstan and India scrapped exports to protect their domestic markets. This has sparked fears of food insecurity and hunger around the world. According to experts who spoke to Russia’s Izvestia newspaper, since the beginning of the year the cost of wheat has risen in price by more than 60%. They say the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
An alternative to Privatization & making State Assets/Resources profitable in Sri Lanka
The current reality is: Sri Lanka has a financial problem Our expenses are higher than our revenuesLiving off loans & paying back with interest is not the solutionMismanagement, Waste & CorruptionPublic assets/resources not utilized to the benefit of the PeopleThe people too have got used to living beyond their means & drawn to lead a lifestyle that they cannot sustain Government is given only Temporary Public Trusteeship of the State The sovereignty of a Nation lies with the People & the People delegate their power to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/05/22)
Sri Lanka could face food shortage from August, warns prime minister
University students and police clash over resignation demands of Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. | Ishara S Kodikara / AFP Sri Lanka’s newly elected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday said that the crisis-hit island nation is likely to face a potential food shortage from August, NewsWire reported. The development came as Sri Lanka defaulted on its debts for the first time in its history as the government... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
'We are going to die:' Sri Lankan PM warns of food scarcity amid economic crisis
A boy stands next to empty cylinders as he waits in a queue to buy domestic gas at a distribution centre in Colombo on Friday. ReutersSri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis and vowed the government will buy enough fertiliser for the next planting season to boost productivity. A decision in April last year by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to ban all chemical fertilisers drastically cut yields and although the government has reversed the ban, no substantial... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Sri Lanka: Political Stability Restored, But Food And Law And Order Pose Challenges – Analysis
After nearly two months of uncertainty and turmoil, Sri Lankan parliamentarians have now reached a consensus on the political management of the country, with Ranil Wickremesinghe taking over as Prime Minister and attempting to form a multi-party government.Advertisement On Friday, nine new cabinet ministers from different parties were sworn in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The new ministers are: Nimal Siripala de Silva (Ports, Shipping and Aviation Services); Dr. Susil Premajayantha (Education); Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella (Health); Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe (Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms); Harin Fernando (Tourism and Lands); Dr.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL)optimistic about controlling runaway inflation
Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe yesterday (19) said there was some political and social stability in the country and it would help the CBSL achieve some success in its endeavours. Dr. Weerasinghe said so responding to a question posed by a journalist about the Governor’s earlier claim that he would resign from his post if political stability could not be restored within two weeks. “Now, we have a Prime Minister. We have a cabinet. The Parliament is in session. We... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Central Bank to crack down on foreign currency note holders
o bring down the threshold to US$ 10, 000 from US$ 15, 000Says move will enhance dollar liquidity in domestic forex marketSays evidence suggests people hoarding large amount of forex in note form in their homes and officesAs of now any individual can hold up to US$ 15,000 of foreign currency up to three monthsSays violation of proposed law could result in confiscation of all the foreign currency one holds The Central Bank will soon issue legislation declaring holding any type of foreign currency notes equivalent to the value of more than... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Some organized groups threatening to set fire to fuel trucks: Minister
Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that some organized groups are preventing fuel trucks to pass certain areas demanding they be unloaded at different fuel stations and threatening to set fire to them. The Minister said that If the organized groups continue to do so, they will have to suspend deliveries for the safety of the transport work force.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Nine more cabinet ministers sworn in
https://youtu.be/B8WdcsNuJJw Nine more Members of Parliament were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers this morning, the President’s Media Division says. They took oaths before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Colombo this morning. The newly-appointed ministers are as follows: 1. Nimal Siripala de Silva – Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation 2. Susil Premajayanth – Minister of Education 3. Keheliya Rambukwella – Minister of Health 4. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe – Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Sri Lanka welcomes G7 announcement in securing debt relief
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday welcomed the G7 announcement that they will assist the country in securing debt relief as it is grappling with its worst economic crisis. Sri Lanka is going through its worst financial crisis since it won independence in 1948. The country faces an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has led to an increase in prices and a shortage of vehicular fuel, cooking gas, food, and thermal fuel for electricity production. In this challenging time, the Group of Seven (G7) nations have announced... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Put a few politicians and senior public officials to prison & CHANGE will start
The problem does not lie in the constitution (only clauses that have been inserted in self-interest & not in national interest) or the laws but in its application & by those required to abide by the laws. Society starts to crack & governance starts to suffer when people manipulate the system, corrupt the system & betray the mandate given to them. Politicians and Senior Public Officials (judges/lawyers/Senior secretaries etc) are a key source for the decline in society. To clean the stables, action must be taken against them first. The legislative... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day – Questions for Canada
We have a situation. Sri Lanka ended 30 years of LTTE terrorism in 3 years on 18 May 2009 bringing to safety 294,000 Tamils among whom were close to 12,000 LTTE combatants in civilian clothing and 545 child soldiers. The civilians are now leading normal lives & LTTE combatants are rehabilitated & also getting on with their lives. Then there is an allegation that 40,000 to 200,000 have been killed, while there are commemorations titled “Mullaiwaikkal Memorials” with LTTE paraphernalia (emblems, logos, colours etc) & photos of dead LTTErs... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Masks of democracy and energy geopolitics: Is Full Spectrum Dominance the endgame?
South Asia's Arab Spring has arrived amid energy wars and slow tectonic shifts in power and wealth eastward to Asia and the Indian Ocean Region. This has been hastened by the new Cold War proxy-war in Ukraine, US-led sanctions on energy-rich Russia and a refugee crisis in Europe. Two regime change operations amid staged protests have transpired within a month in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan known for his courage on an off the cricket pitch was removed on April 9:. He accused Washington of orchestrating his ouster on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
සුපර්කැලි-ෆ්රැගිලිස්ටික්-එක්ස්පියලි-ඩෝසියස්
අපේ අගමැති අතිවිශිෂ්ටය සුපර්කැලි-ෆ්රැගිලිස්ටික්-එක්ස්පියලි-ඩෝසියස් ය supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - වැ ඩ ට එන්න එපා supercalifragilisticexpialidocious අගමැති කියයි; වැ ඩ ට එන්න එපා එනවා නම් ඇවිද ගෙන එන්න, බයිසිකලේ එන්න. ව්යායාමයට හොඳය, ඊටත් වාහන වල එන්න ඉන්ධන දෙන්න විදියක් නැත. දීමනා දීම නතර කර ඇත. වැටුප් අඩු කරන්න වෙන්නේය. මගේ වැටුප අඩු කර ගත්ත විදියට ඔහෙල ගෙත් පඩිය අඩු කරාන්න වෙන්නේය. අයි එම් එෆ් කියන විදියට ජොබ් ගණනකට කෙලවෙන්නේය.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Queen Elizabeth opens Elizabeth Line
Her Majesty The Queen has made a surprise appearance with her youngest son, the Earl of Wessex at London’s Paddington Station to mark the completion of the new railway ‘The Elizabeth Line’, named in honour of the Queen in her Platinum Jubilee year, ahead of its opening to passengers on Tuesday 24 May. During the Royal visit to see the newly built east-west Crossrail, the 96-year-old monarch officially unveiled a very simple plaque to celebrate the completion of the rail line. The plaque will be moved later to be permanently mounted on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Vesak celebrations at Das Buddhistische Haus ( Berlin Buddhist Vihara) in Germany
Vesak was celebrated at the Berlin Buddhist Vihara on Sunday May 15, 2022 in a fitting manner. The Vesak ceremony was conducted outdoors in bright weather conditions against the backdrop of a picturesque natural setting that is the hallmark of this Temple which is called ' Das Buddhistische Haus' (DBH) in German. It is the oldest Theravada Buddhist Temple in Continental Europe and was founded by the pioneering German Buddhist Dr. Paul Dahlke in 1924. Asoka Weeraratna, founder of the German Dharmaduta Society, led the first Buddhist Mission from Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda and India's National Security Advisor Shri Ajit Doval carry out a comprehensive review of the bilateral relationship
Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda met with the National Security Advisor of India Shri Ajit Kumar Doval, at the latter's office in New Delhi on 19 May 2022. During their discussion a comprehensive review of the status of the bilateral relationship was carried out and priority areas for future cooperation were deliberated on. The discussion particularly focused on the present economic crisis in Sri Lanka, and the High Commissioner thanked the National Security Advisor for the support that is extended by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
USLA Wellington Ranaviru Commemoration 19.5.22-USLA Spokesperson’s Message
USLA Wellington Ranaviru Commemoration 19.5.22 USLA Spokesperson’s Message Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen Thank you for once again offering me the privilege of being able to contribute to this USLA sponsored Ranaviru commemoration on this the 19th day of May 2022. Today we once again, remember the Ranaviru, our war heroes who sacrificed life and limb to liberate Sri Lanka from three decades of Tiger terror. It is because of their sacrifices that the Sri Lankan’s can enjoy the many freedoms that they enjoy today which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
ඉන්ධන හා විදුලිය නොමැති කමින් අඩුආදායම්ලාභීන් වෙත එකවර ගෙවන ලද දීමනාව ගෙවීම සඳහා සේවකයින් හට මතුව ඇති ගැටළුකාරීත්වය
ලේකම්,සමෘද්ධි සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශය,සෙත්සිරිපාය,ඉන්ධන හා විදුලිය නොමැති කමින් අඩු ආදායම්ලාභී පවුල් තොරතුරු CRM පද්ධතියට ඇතුලත් කිරීමේදී මතුව ඇති දුෂ්කරතා මත පොරාත්තු ලේඛණයේ සිටින අඩුආදායම්ලාභීන් වෙත එකවර ගෙවන ලද දීමනාව ගෙවීම සඳහා සේවකයින් හට මතුව ඇති ගැටළුකාරීත්වය පිළිබඳව.පවතින ආර්ථික අර්බුදය හේතුවෙන්, ජීවිත අඩාලවීම වෙනුවෙන් පවත්නා සුබ සාධක වැඩසටහන් වල හා පොරොත්තු ලේඛනවල සිටින ප‍්‍රතිලාභීන් හට මාස 03 ක කාල සීමාවකට එකවර ගෙවීමට තීරණය කරන ලද රු. 5000/ වු දීමනාව ඉන්ධන හා විදුලිය නොමැතිකම හේතුවෙන් නියමිත දිනට ගෙවීමට සේවකයින් හට නොහැකි තත්වයක් උදාවී ඇති බව කණගාටුවෙන් වුවද ඔබවෙත මෙයින් දන්වා සිටින්නෙමු.උක්ත කරුණට අදාලව සමෘද්ධි අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් විසින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Personalities and Systems
‘The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,’ one of the more literary essays written by Karl Marx famously, contains many quotable quotes which are of course frequently used in contexts that have little to do with the thrust of the man’s thinking. This, however, is apt for our times: ‘Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.’ Pierre Bourdieu, the French sociologist who concerned himself with the dynamics of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
IMF says Sri Lanka talks conclude May 24, monitoring developments closely
May 19 (Reuters) - An International Monetary Fund virtual mission to Sri Lanka is expected to conclude technical talks on a potential IMF loan program to the crisis-wracked South Asian country on May 24, Fund spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday. Rice, speaking to a virtual IMF briefing, said the IMF monitoring political and economic developments in Sri Lanka very closely. The debt burdened island country is experiencing its worst economic crisis since it won independence in 1948 as shortages of essential goods have triggered social unrest and has triggered social unrest. read more ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Ranil Wickremesinghe ropes in ex-Maldives President to ‘coordinate’ foreign aid for crisis-hit Sri Lanka
Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed agrees to ‘do everything to assist the people’ of the island nation Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed Maldivian Parliamentary Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed as the “coordinator” for securing foreign aid to Sri Lanka that is facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Mr. Wickremesinghe on May 19 held a closed-door meeting with his long-time friend Mr. Nasheed who is visiting Colombo, and discussed Sri Lanka’s dire economic situation, while exploring possible sources of relief. “During the discussions, the former President of Maldives... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s President Is Girding Himself for the Long Haul
Despite two months of anti-government protests, Gotabaya Rajapaksa doesn’t seem like a leader preparing to relinquish power. Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s party soundly defeated an urgent no-confidence vote against the government on Tuesday after rallying coalition support, but the leader still faces loud calls from the public to resign. Opposition leaders who moved to hold the vote after their constituents turned against the president could still bring the motion forward... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/05/22)
Reserve Bank of India approves India, Sri Lanka trade settlement in rupee outside ACU
Regulatory nod only for State Bank of India's term loan of $1 billion for island nation battling economic crisis. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved trade transactions between India and Sri Lanka to be settled in Indian rupee outside the Asian Clearing Mechanism. The approval is alongside a government-guaranteed $1 billion term loan from State Bank of India (SBI) to the Sri Lankan government for purchasing essential goods from India. India, On March 17, announced a term-loan facility for Sri Lanka as a part of its financial assistance to help the country to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
More pain in Lanka before any resolution to crisis
Sri Lankans protest demanding president Gotabaya Rajakasa resign and decrying the appointment of Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe in Colombo. AP Jorgelina do Rosario and Swati Bhat, Reuters Running out of petrol, medicines and foreign reserves, once-booming Sri Lanka is in a mess. And the measures needed to pull its economy out of the unparalleled crisis are likely to bring even more pain. The dire assessment by new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe this week of the island nation’s economic plight was a necessary first step, economists said. His proposed solution... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Fitch downgrades Sri Lanka's rating to 'restricted default'
Ratings agency Fitch on Thursday downgraded Sri Lanka's rating to 'RD' from 'C' after the grace period expired on coupon payments that were due on Apr 18 on two international sovereign bonds. "We have affirmed Sri Lanka's Long-Term Local-Currency IDR at 'CCC', as the government has continued to service local-currency debt and we assume this will continue," the ratings agency said in a statement.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Sri Lanka secures forex for fuel as protests continue
Most of the country's petrol stations running dry. Sri Lanka’s central bank has secured foreign exchange to pay for fuel and cooking gas shipments that will ease crippling shortages, its governor said on Thursday, but police fired tear gas and water canon to push back student protesters. Most of Sri Lanka’’’’s petrol stations have run dry as the island nation battles its most devastating economic crisis since independence in 1948. At some pumps in the commercial capital, Colombo, dozens of people stood in lines holding plastic jerry cans, as troops in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
G-7 backs debt relief efforts for Sri Lanka, draft communique shows.
KOENIGSWINTER, GERMANY (REUTERS) - The Group of Seven economic powers support efforts to provide debt relief for Sri Lanka, G-7 finance chiefs said on Thursday (May 19) in a draft communique from a meeting in Germany after the country defaulted on its sovereign debt. The once-booming island country has suspended debt payments as it grapples with its worst economic crisis since it won independence in 1948, facing shortages of essential goods that have triggered social unrest. G-7 countries said in their statement they were committed to finding long-term solutions for the Indian Ocean... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Sri Lanka limits foreign currency holdings amid crisis
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka will lower the maximum amount of foreign currency that individuals can possess to $10,000 from $15,000 and penalize anyone who holds it for more than three months, the central bank announced Thursday, as police fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands of students demanding the government step down for failing to solve the country’s economic crisis. The students from the Inter University Students’ Federation attempted to march to the presidential residence but were blocked by police in the commercial center of the capital,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Sri Lanka to repay debts after six months
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka will take at least six more months to start repaying its debts, the central bank said yesterday as the government shut schools because of fuel shortages. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said there will be no debt servicing until the country was able to restructure its USD51 billion external debt. “We hope to be able to reach an agreement with our creditors in about six months,” Weerasinghe said. “Our position is very clear. Until they come to (a) restructure (agreement), we will not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Sri Lanka is trying to sell its national airline, but who will buy it?
Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe wants to sell the national airline, saying the country's poorest people who've never flown shouldn't be saddled with its losses. Finding a buyer might not be easy. SriLankan Airlines, which prior to the pandemic flew to 126 destinations in more than 60 countries, lost 45 billion rupees (NZ$195 million) in the year through March 2021, Wickremesinghe said, less than a week into his job. Sri Lanka had bought back a stake in the carrier from Dubai's Emirates in 2010, betting on a resurgent travel industry... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Wimal asks for PSC probe into top officials’ complicity in violence
Colombo HC lawyers concerned over shocking developments National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, says a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) should be appointed to investigate the role played by IGP C.D. Wickremaratne and Public Security Ministry Secretary Maj. Gen. (retd.) Jagath Alwis in the recent SLPP hothead attack on those demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Cabinet of Ministers, including Mahinda Rajapaksa. Weerawansa yesterday (18) told The Island that Parliament should inquire into the unprovoked attack that triggered an extremely violent response by the public as well... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Fuel not sold at R.121 a liter to MPs, if they want fuel, must stand in the queue- CPC trade unions
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Trade Unions today denied reports which claimed that fuel was sold at a subsidized rate of Rs.121 per liter to MPs and VIPs and said if any MP needed to fill their vehicle tanks, they would have to stay in the queue. Trade Union officials told Daily Mirror that following the allegations on social media that fuel was sold at subsidized rates, they had inquired from the filling station closer to the Narahenpita police Transport Division, and checked the bills, to confirm that the claims were false. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
The Reserve Bank of India allows settlement of government-backed $1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka in rupee terms
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 19 said that the government of India-backed $1 billion term loan granted to Sri Lank through the State Bank of India (SBI) for financing purchase of essential goods can be settled in rupee terms, outside the purview of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) arrangement. This is in view of “difficulties experienced by exporters in receipt of export proceeds from Sri Lanka,” the central bank said in a statement. In March, the government had said that State Bank of India will provide $1... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Three social media admins including TV presenter arrested over recent unrest.
Three admins of social media platform including a 39-year-old TV presenter have been arrested by the CID for instigating and aiding and abetting recent violent activities through the social media. Police said the CID, police stations across the country and special police units are conducting investigations to identify social media groups and its admins over instigating violent activities following the incidents at Kollupitiya and Galle Face Green on May 9. They said the Computer Crimes Investigating Unit of the CID arrested three suspects including a female TV presenter from Colombo... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa did not arrive to Parliament by air, his office clarifies
Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's office, today rejected social media reports claiming that Rajapaksa was flown in for the parliamentary sessions on Wednesday, saying Rajapaksa traveled by road and not by chopper. Former Coordinating Secretary to Rajapaksa, Geethanath Cassilingam said Rajapaksa is in Colombo and arrived in Parliament by road and not by helicopter as claimed on social media. He will continue to attend parliamentary sittings with MP Namal Rajapaksa saying the former Prime Minister will address Parliament soon.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
China offers shipment of diesel , but no response from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is yet to respond to a Chinese offer of a shipment of diesel to tide over the present crisis of fuel shortage, Daily Mirror learns. According to an informed source, China has made the offer in terms of emergency assistance. However, Sri Lanka has not yet responded to it. The country is currently going through a fuel crisis. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced earlier that diesel stocks have been secured, but the country has been down to its last day of petrol. Power and Energy Minister... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
No privileges for new cabinet ministers - PM -
The Prime Minister says that the new cabinet ministers will not be paid their ministerial salaries.<br /><br />This was during the parliamentary session held today (19). Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has stated that some of the privileges of the Members of Parliament will also be curtailed. Earlier it was reported that the Prime Minister had decided to reduce the expenses of the Prime Minister's Office by 50% and return 16 vehicles used.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Mirihana unrest: Man arrested on suspicion of torching army bus
A 42-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of torching an army bus during the protest staged in front of the President’s residence in Pengiriwatte, Mirihana on the 31st of March. The arrest was made by the Criminal Investigation Department, in the area of Deraniyagala today (May 19). A protest was staged near the President’s residence in Mirihana on March 31, demanding immediate solutions to the various crises faced by the people of the country. A tense situation during the protest, which ended with clashes between protesters and police officers... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
CBSL governor to stay in post, says improvement observed in political stability
Sri Lanka’s central bank governor said on Thursday he will stay on as head of the bank given an improvement in political stability in the midst of an economic crisis, and he would not step down as he had earlier said he would. Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe also said the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had almost finalised plans to restructure the country’s debt and proposals would be submitted to the cabinet soon, possibly by Friday. Weerasinghe told reporters on May 11 that he would resign in two weeks in the absence... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Non-essential public workers asked not to report to work tomorrow
Public sector employees, except those in essential services, are not required to report to work tomorrow due to the prevailing fuel crisis, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in parliament this morning (May 19). Delivering a speech in the House, the Premier also urged the general public to limit non-essential travels tomorrow. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara who addressed the parliament, appealed to the general public not to stand in queues for petrol today, as supplies are unavailable. However, people are still waiting in queues despite being asked to stay away... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/05/22)
Practical approach to solving Sri Lanka’s crisis
A crisis is the best time to analyze what went wrong & what we can do to correct this. A constitution is just a piece of paper. Its applicability is what matters. Its applicability by the correct persons is equally important. The problem lies in the issue of definition of ‘correct persons’. Everyone has their own view of ‘correct person’ as per what is advantageous to them or their line of thinking. So where do we draw the line? Government Apparatus – The Legislature Headed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Warning of an unprecedented nemesis to Sri Lanka if the Kotmale Dam breaches by an LTTE attack
This is a letter I wrote to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the present President, in 2006 from Texas USA, when I was holidaying at my younger daughter Achala when he was the Defense Secretary in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government requesting him to take immediate safety measures against a possible LTTE attack on the Kotmale dam. (to which I never got a reply as usual). The Kotmale dam The Kotmale dam 87.m high (285 ft) and 600 m long, constructed across the Kotmale Oya a left bank tributary of Mahaweliganga. at 703 m msl... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
"රටම වවමු - එක්ව දිනමු !" ආහාර නිෂ්පාදන වැඩසටහන
මෙරට තුළ ඇති වී ඇති ආර්ථික අර්බුදය හමුවේ ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් ලෙස අප “ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාව” පිළිබඳව වෙනදාට වඩා වැඩි වශයෙන් කතා බහ කරන කාලයක් නිර්මාණය වී ඇත. එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ආහාර හා කෘෂිකර්ම සංවිධානයට (FAO) අනුව, “සියළුම මිනිසුන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ ආහාර අවශ්‍යතාවයන් සපුරාලීමට ප්‍රමාණවත් පරිදි සෑම අවස්ථාවකදීම, ආරක්ෂිත සහ පෝෂ්‍යදායී ආහාර, භෞතික, සමාජීය සහ ආර්ථිකමය වශයෙන් සුලබව පැවතීම” ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාවයයි. ඒ අනුව ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාව පිළිබඳ සංකල්පය මූලික ආහාර නිෂ්පාදනයෙන් ඔබ්බට ගිය ප්‍රමාණවත් ආහාර සැපයුමක් පැවතීම බව පැහැදිලිය. කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගතය තුළ තීව්‍ර වූ ආර්ථික හා සමාජීය තත්වයන් මෙන්ම මෑත කාලයේ මෙරට තුල ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන ලද... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Why Should South Asian Countries be thankful and grateful to India?
South Asian countries should be thankful and grateful to India for various reasons. India is a friend in need to all South Asian countries. Despite having some internal problems, India always tries to help others. Even, India set examples by assisting Pakistan at different times. However, since the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India's ban on wheat exports has reignited worldwide concerns about rising food prices that can exacerbate the problems of food-deficit countries especially neigbouring countries. The Indian high commission in Dhaka has clarified recently concerning India's 'ban' on wheat exports,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Doesn’t JVP want to win elections?
JVP is undoubtedly the best organized political party in Sri Lanka. It is also the richest party in Sri Lanka. Its base includes the youth & adults & disenchanted voters of other parties. Prior to every election, the JVP take pains to support the ground campaigning of other parties instead of its own. Is there a particular reason for this? Is their role limited to playing mischief maker in parliament or simply as a whistleblower while propping a new party to the throne of governance? Leaving aside the ground support & the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
ගෝල්පේස් වනාන්තරය, ගෝඨාභයගේ දෙවන යුද්ධය හා බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදා විසඳුම - (6 කොටස).
‘අපේ ප්රධාන ඉල්ලීම ජනාධිපතිතුමා ගෙදර යන එක. ජනාධිපතිතුමා ගෙදර යාමෙන් පස්සේ සම්පූර්ණ සිස්ටම් චේන්ජ් එකක් සඳහා ලස්සනට පැහැදිලිව මේකේ යෝජනාවලියක් ඉදිරිපත් වෙලා තියෙනවා’ - රතිදු සේනාරත්න හෙවත් රැට්ටා බැටරිය වැඩකරන්නේ ධන (+) හා රින (-) යන බල දෙකේ එකතුව නිසාය. මානව ශිෂ්ටාචාර ගොඩනැඟී තිබෙන්නේ එකිනෙකට ප්‍රතිවිරුද්ධ පරිසර දෙකක්-ගඟක්/කාන්තාරයක්, කන්ඳක්/තැනිතලාවක්, ශීත-උණුසුම් දේශගුණ කලාප දෙකක්- මුණ ගැසෙන තැන් (ecotones) වලය හැඳින්වීම මා දන්නා තරුණ යුවලක් යුරෝපයේ නගරයකදී බරපතල වාහන අනතුරකට ලක්විය. සමහරවිට ඔවුන් වාහනය තුල ලව් ටෝක් කරමින් චූන් එකේ යෑමද ඊට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Separating Bhikkus from Laypersons: Bhikku’s must enter only Bhikku universities
One of the biggest mistakes made post-1978 was to create a lay-focused education system for Bhikkus allowing them to enter universities/institutes with laypersons. This resulted in the decline in the importance given to pirivena education system as well as the Bhikkus. While this is not to discuss or debate on Bhikkus, it is to showcase that there is a difference in lay persons and a Bhikku & a Bhikku is expected to adjust behavior in line with the Buddha Sasana and its disciplinary codes. A Bhikku to journey towards Nibbana requires to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
18 May 2009 Sri Lanka defeats LTTE: If you can’t name the dead 40,000 there is no ‘genocide’
Sri Lanka’s conflict is defined a non-international armed conflict. LTTE was an armed non-state actor. 3 decades of armed militancy ended on 18 May 2009. The military offensive took place amidst a humanitarian rescue operation that saved 294,000 people. The victory was marred by allegations initiated by entities linked to the militants. The most important question is why would Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces sacrifice over 6261 soldiers to save 294,000 Tamils but kill 40,000-200,000 Tamils (people who have no names, no identification & there is no skeletons even to prove they were killed) Can... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
More pain in Sri Lanka before any resolution to crisis
By Jorgelina do Rosario and Swati Bhat (Reuters) -Running out of petrol, medicines and foreign reserves, once-booming Sri Lanka is in a mess. And the measures needed to pull its economy out of the unparalleled crisis are likely to bring even more pain.Advertisement 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider The dire assessment by new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe this week of the island nation’s economic plight was a necessary first step, economists said.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
JPMorgan backs Sri Lanka bonds on bets that crippling crisis to ease
LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. investment bank JPMorgan backed Sri Lanka's crisis-hit government bonds on Wednesday, saying recent political changes in the country should gradually improve its strains and help its talks with the International Monetary Fund. Adding an 'overweight' - effectively a buy recommendation - JPMorgan analysts said: "political stability should pave the way for bonds to move higher from near all-time lows". Sri Lanka is officially now in default as a so-called "grace period" to make some already-overdue bond interest payments expired on Wednesday. "We think this... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Sri Lanka to default on debt, no money for fuel: minister
Sri Lanka was expected to be placed into default by rating agencies on Wednesday after the non-payment of coupons on two of its sovereign bonds, while the energy minister said the country had run out of money to pay for fuel. An economic crisis unprecedented in the country's history since independence in 1948 has led to a critical shortage of foreign exchange, that saw it miss two coupon payments on sovereign bonds on April 18. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Sri Lanka violence: Burnt-out super cars and ransacked hotels are remains of fury
It's difficult to fathom the fury that people must have felt to not only set fire to it and smash it to pieces, but also loot everything they could get their hands on. Image:The remains of a Lamborghini and Hummer which were torched An hour's drive from Colombo, a luxury hotel wedding venue was utterly destroyed on the night violence swept across Sri Lanka. It's difficult to fathom the fury that people must have felt to not only set fire to it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
SJB thinking how they could marginalize me: Ranil
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa were engaged in an open dialogue in Parliament yesterday for the first time after the two split giving birth to the Samagi Jana Balawegiaya(SJB), Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who started the dialogue said in a lighter vein that the SJB was not involved in the recent violence where residences and business establishments of former Ministers and MPs were destroyed. “I don’t think the SJB was involved in the violence it does not have time for such things as they spent the whole 24... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Energy Minister says petrol unavailable for two days
Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara has requested the general public to refrain from waiting in queues to obtain petrol as supplies are unavailable today and tomorrow (May 19 and 20). Giving an update on the fuel stocks available in the country during today’s parliamentary session, the lawmaker pledged to resolve the issue this weekend. However, diesel will be supplied continuously as sufficient stocks are available, Minister Wijesekara said further. “Both Auto Diesel and Super Diesel were distributed to filling stations yesterday. We hope to provide an uninterrupted supply... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Ramesh Pathirana’s revelation in parliament regarding attack on protesters
The Inspector-General of Police and the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security had given directives not to use water cannons and tear gas at the ruling party supporters who were heading towards the GotaGoGama protest site at the Galle Face Green on the 9th of May, says MP Ramesh Pathirana. https://youtu.be/PtmsqFkqnJo The former minister, delivering a special statement in the parliament on the events that unfolded last week, stated that they had received instructions on the 8th of May to gather ruling party supporters to the Temple Trees for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
MPs Sanath Nishantha and Milan Jayatilleke remanded
https://youtu.be/QOR6c9Rdd-0 The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has ordered to remand SLPP MPs Sanath Nishantha and Milan Jayatilleke until May 25. The two parliamentarians, who were arrested in connection with the attack on the anti-government protest sites in Colombo on the 9th of May, were produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court earlier today. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had arrested MP Nishantha at the Flower Road in Colombo last evening while he was later brought to the CID office to record a statement. MP Jayathilake was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
"අද සිදුවෙන දේ ගැන සම්පූර්ණ චිත්‍රය දකින්න. ආර්ථික ආපදාව 'පූර්ණ මානව ආපදාවක්' බවට පත් කොට 'මේ රටේ බින්න බැසීමේ බාහිර බලවතුන්ගේ ප්ලෑන් එකේ' කොටස්කරුවෙකු වෙන්න එපා!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFxLSLh_QHg... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
‘අයිය-මල්ලිගෙ ප‍්‍රශ්ණ.. ෂේප් එකේ ඉන්න..’ ගෝල්ෆේස් ගැටුම වලකන්න ගිය දේශබන්දුට පොලිස්පති කියලා..
පසුගිය නම් වෙනිදා ගාලු මුවදොර විරෝධතාවයට පහරදීමට එමින් සිටි පිරිස වලක්වීම සඳහා ජනාධිපතිවරයා තමන්ට නියෝග ලබාදී තිබූ බව කොළඹ දිසාව භාර නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පති දේශබන්දු තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා සඳහන් කර තිබේ. https://youtu.be/hRGFkOUXloM ජනාධිපති වරයාගේ නියෝග ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට යාමේදී පොලිස්පතිවරයා සහ මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්වරයා එය නවත්වන්නැයි දුරකථන මාර්ගයෙන් ඔහුට දැනුම් දී ඇති බව ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ නායක පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව කියා සිටියේය. එමෙන්ම දිවයිනේ සියළු පොලිස් ස්ථානවලට ‘ෂේප් එකේ ඉන්න’ යයි දැනුම් දී තිබූ බවද මන්ත‍්‍රීවරයා තව දුරටත් පැවසීය. ගාළු මුවදොර සිදුවීම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Shouldn't Sri Lanka have defaulted on the settlement of the ISB of USD 500 million on 18th January 2022? Wouldn't that have saved the Forex for the import of essential items?
Defaulting debt is a very complicated and painful matter. It is not a casual or frivolous matter. It is well known that various people had suggested to the Sri Lankan authorities at various times to default on its external public debt. They gave various reasons as to why that should be done. Some opposition MPs also advised default, and in fact, found fault with the relevant officials and other authorities when it was not done. However, few persons realize that it is not possible to have selective defaults of particular... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 4 B4
Sri Lanka’s gem-bearing gravels, called illam, are some of the richest in the world. The gravels yield sapphire, ruby, cat’s-eye and other chrysoberyls, spinel, garnet, beryl, tourmaline, topaz, quartz, and many other gemstones. The island was blessed with geology that provided an ideal blend of chemistry, heat, pressure, time, weathering, for gem crystals to grow and be deposited in gravels. Gemstone mining in Sri Lanka is mostly from these deposits. The gravels at Elahara show evidence of having traveled over long distances. They are often eroded, which suggests that the various kinds of gemstones... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
How about thanking Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces for saving Tamil children from becoming Child Soldiers!
Bricks are easier to throw than Bouquets. Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces sadly have never got the accolades they deserve. They never will. Being grateful doesn’t fit into the scheme of things. Every time well-funded campaigns nit-pick on what they didn’t do ignoring all that they did. No national army in the world has successfully carried out a military cum humanitarian operation simultaneously. No national army has been able to eliminate the ground force of an internationally proscribed terrorist organization while saving close to 300,000 Tamils & accepting close to 12,000 LTTE combatants... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
පිච්චිය නැතත්...
පොඩි වලවල් හාරා, ඒවට සීරුවට ගස්ලබු ඇට දමා, උදේ හවස වතුර වත් කර, පොහොර වර්ග දමා හැදු එකම ගස්ලබු ගහක් අපේ ගෙවත්තේ එකල තිබ්බේ නැත. වත්ත පුරා තැනින් තැන තිබුනේ ගස්ලබු ගස්ය. පැලේ ලොකු වෙන කොටවත් ඒ වටේට සුද්ද කර කොළ රොඩු ටිකක් යහමින් එකතු කලේද යලටමහටය. කිසි සාත්තුවක් නැතුව ලොකු වුන ගස් වල ගෙඩි හැදුනේ අපට කාල හමාර කරන්නටත් බැරි තරමටය. හුඟක් ගස් වල හැදුනු ගස්ලබු ඉතාමත් මිහිරිය, සමහර ගස්ලබු ගස්වල ගෙඩි දියරහය, කටේ තියන්නට බැරිය. දියරහ ගෙඩි අපි නොකෑවාට ලේන්නු, කුරුල්ලෝ උන්ගේ මනදොල එයිනුත් මනාව සන්තර්පණය කර ගත්තේ අපෙන් අවසර නොලබාය.ඉඳුණු ගස්ලබු රසනහර පිනා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
How Can Sri Lankan PM Overcome the crisis by following Bangladesh’s ‘PM Sheikh Hasina Model’
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the people of Sri Lanka on Monday, that he will fulfil the promises he had made to them when he assumed office last Thursday after the fall of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. In his first TV address after assuming office, Wickremesinghe listed the grave challenges ahead of him, but assured the people of his determination to meet them successfully. He also suggested the formation of a National Assembly comprising all parties, to arrive at solutions. There may be an example for him. He can Overcome... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
2022/05/15 දින අසිරිමත් තෙමගුල සිහිපත් කරමින් වෙසක් පොහෝ දින බර්ලින් බෞද්ධ මහා විහාරස්ථානයේ සිදු කරන ලද ශීල භාවනා වැඩසටහන
2022/05/15 දින අසිරිමත් තෙමගුල සිහිපත් කරමින් වෙසක් පොහෝ දින බර්ලින් බෞද්ධ මහා විහාරස්ථානයේ සිදු කරන ලද ශීල භාවනා වැඩසටහන පිණ්ඩපාත චාරිකාව සහ දන්සල යන ආදිය විශාල ශ්‍රී ලාංකික පිරිසකගේ දායකත්වය ඇතිව සිදු කරන ලදි. එම පිංකම් හා සහභාගී වීමට ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් මෙන්ම ජර්මන් ජාතිකයන් තායි, බුරුම, බංග්ලාදේශ, චීන , ආජන්ටිනා ඇතුළුව විවිධ රටවල පිරිස් සහභාගී විය. https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1181625835930120&extid=WA-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&ref=sharing වෙසක් උත්සවය සදහා ඩෙන්මාර්කයේ කොපන්හේගන් බෞද්ධ මහා විහාරාධිපති ශාස්ත්‍රපති මාරතුගොඩ උපරතන ලොකු හාමුදුරුවන් වහන්සේ ඇතුළු මහා සංඝ රත්නය හතර නමක් සහභාගී වූ අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකා තානාපතිනී මනෝරි උනම්බුවෙ මහත්මිය ඇතුළු ගිහි පිංවතුන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Worldwide Devastation-The history of the British Empire’s violence.
British colonials with a pet cheetah in Secunderabad, India, 1906. (Hulton Archive / Getty Images) In 2005, Britain’s then–Labour chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown, chose the backdrop of Tanzania to make a dramatic statement about his nation’s unmatched record of imperial conquest and rule. “The time is long gone,” he said, “when Britain needs to apologize for its colonial history.” The choice of locale for such a proclamation was, to be charitable, curious. A braver stage would have been Kenya, to pick an African nation that had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/05/22)
Sri Lankan lawmakers fail in no-confidence motion bid
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said his country only has enough gasoline to last one more day, and is $74 billion short of funds to pay for essentials. Ruling party lawmakers in Sri Lanka blocked quicker debate of a no-confidence motion against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday, as the country's economic crisis intensified. Opposition members of parliament had called the vote on fast-tracking the motion after new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a speech on Monday that there was only about a day's worth of petroleum and diesel left in the country. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
MPs’ residences attacked from April 4: Minister
Claiming that attacks on MPs' residences were not restricted to May 9, Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said today MPs residences were being attacked from April 4. He told Parliament that some organised groups started attacking the residences of MPs after the incident where the President's private residence was surrounded by a group of protesters on April 3. https://youtu.be/3b3x9s4YYDY The Minister said his residence was first attacked on April 4. "Carlton House and Roshan Ranasinghe's house were first attacked on April 4 and 5. I reject... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
CID arrests MPs Sanath Nishantha and Milan Jayathilake
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested SLPP MPs Sanath Nishantha and Milan Jayathilake this evening, in connection with the attack on the anti-government protest sites in Colombo on the 9th of May. The Attorney General, on Monday (May 16), instructed the CID to arrest 22 suspects including MPs Johnston Fernando, Milan Jayathilake, Sanath Nishantha, Sanjeewa Edirimanna and Senior DIG in charge of Western Province Deshabandu Tennakoon, if sufficient evidence is available against them over the attack on anti-government protest sites in Colombo last week. If there is direct, circumstantial and technical evidence... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
Ceypetco requests public not to queue up for petrol tomorrow
The petrol supplies will be limited tomorrow (May 18), the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (Ceypetco) says. Hence, the general public is requested not to queue up for petrol tomorrow (May 18) unless essential. The petrol distribution process will resume on Thursday (May 19) as per usual, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation added.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
PM says existing parliamentary culture needs to be changed
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says it is high time the existing parliamentary culture underwent a change. Addressing today’s parliamentary session, the prime minister said the National Council should be established as the first step towards a change in the parliamentary culture. The ruling party today blocked the motion expressing displeasure against the President by defeating the proposal to suspend Parliament Standing Orders. Accordingly, the motion expressing displeasure against the President was not taken up for debate in the House as a matter of urgency. Delivering his speech, PM Wickremesinghe stressed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
Proposal to suspend Parliament Standing Orders defeated
The proposal to suspend Parliament Standing Orders to take up the debate on the motion expressing displeasure against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as a matter of urgency was defeated in the Parliament today (May 17). The proposal tabled by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran was rejected in the parliament by a majority vote of 51 votes. A total of 119 lawmakers had voted against the motion while 68 voted in favour. Thereby, the motion expressing displeasure against the President will not be taken up for debate in the House... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
MP Ajith Rajapakse elected new Deputy Speaker of Parliament
The nominee of ruling party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Ajith Rajapakse has been selected as the new Deputy Speaker of Parliament in a secret ballot that took place in the House today. He obtained 109 votes in total. He was voted in with a majority of 31 votes as MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s nominee, secured 78 votes. Following the commencement of parliamentary proceedings this morning, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced the two nominations to the House. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa had proposed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
HOW TO GET OUT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS IN SRI LANKA
It is reported that Sri Lanka has a gigantic economic crisis. The major reason is the mismanagement of the economy since 1978, and money printing without control began in the late 1980s and has been continued by later governments. There are reported cases in that the Rajapaksa family associated with investment projects and made money from them. Sri Lanka could easily come out of the economic crisis if the following actions be taken. I always mention these policy actions. All public investments in enterprises should be sold out and the proceeds... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/05/22)
Masks of democracy and energy geopolitics: Is Full Spectrum Dominance the endgame?
South Asia's Arab Spring has arrived amid energy wars and slow tectonic shifts in power and wealth eastward to Asia and the Indian Ocean Region. This has been hastened by the new Cold War proxy-war in Ukraine, US-led sanctions on energy-rich Russia and a refugee crisis in Europe. Two regime change operations amid staged protests have transpired within a month in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan known for his courage on an off the cricket pitch was removed on April 9:. He accused Washington of orchestrating his ouster on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
වර්තමාන සමාජය ගිනිබත් කරන පෘතුගීසි ආභාෂය.
අපේ රට ගිනිබත් කලේ වරක් දෙවරක් නොවේ. මේ රට, ඉතිහාසය තුලදී දස දහස්වාරයක් ගිනිබත් කොට විනාශ කල රටකි. ඒ රටට බටහිර ජාතීන්ගේ ගලා ඒම ආරම්භවුයේ 1505 වසරේදී වන අතර, 1518දී එවකට කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය පාලනය කල බුවනෙකබාහු රජතුමාගෙන්, ගෙරිහම් කඩක් එලා ගන්නට තරම් කුඩා භූමියක් ඉල්ලු පෘතුගීසින්, ඒ ගෙරිහම් කඩ එළිම ආරම්භ කල ස්ථානයට මිට මසකට පෙර කඩා වැදුන මෙරට "අරගලය" නම්වූ හමුදාව, ජනාධිපති ලේඛම් කාර්යාලයට ඇතුළුවන මුවදොර අවහිර කරමින් ආරම්භ කල අරගලය, මේ වෙනවිටත් අඛණ්ඩව ගලා යමින් පවතී. මෙය මෙරට මාධ්‍යට,හා නීතියට අනුව සාමකාමී නීති ගරුක අරගලයකි. මේ අර්ථකථනයට අනුව මෙරට ඕනෑම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 4 B3
Sri Lanka gems are celebrated worldwide for their high quality, their clarity, transparency and saturation. Some are with private collectors, others are in prestigious museums, a few were bought for necklaces for royalty. In Britain, a Sri Lanka gem was at the centre of the engagement ring worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, another gem adorns the British royal crown (the one that is put on the head). ROYALTY “The crown jewels of many monarchs gleam with extraordinary spinals, sapphires, and zircons mined from Sri Lanka streams”, said gemologist Peter Bancroft. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
ජූලි චං අන්ර චූන්
යකා පේන තරම් කළු නැතය කියූ බෝං-අගේන් අන්ර, ජූලි චං බැහැ දකින්නට ගියේය. පස්ස දොරෙන් ඇතුළු වී ඉස්සරහ දොරෙන් මතු විය. දැන් දැන් අවවාද අනුශාසනා ලැබෙන්නේ ඇමරිකන් එම්බසියෙන්ය. උතුරු කොරියාවෙන් කිම් ඉල සුං නොවේය. වෙනස මරුය. කියුබාව දෙස බලන්නට අන්ර ජූලි චංට කිව්වද දන්නෙත් නැත. කියුබාව පරෙස්සම් වෙන්න ඕන දැන් ය. අන්රගෙ ස්ලෙව්ස්ලා එක්ස්ට්ර්ම්ලි කේපබල්ය, දේපල වතු පිටි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 4 B2
Sri Lanka is best known for the following gemstones: Agate, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Cymophane, ‘Cats eye’, Garnet, Moonstone, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Topaz, Tourmaline and Zircon. Agate is a semi-precious gem occurring in a wide range of colors including brown, white, red, grey, pink, black, and yellow. Sri Lanka is known for blue-tinted agate. Amethyst is the purple variety of the mineral quartz. Colored by Iron, Amethyst occur in transparent pastel roses to deep purples. The finest amethyst color is strong reddish-purple to purple. The best varieties of amethyst can be found in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
"Gravitas Plus: Which countries could go the Sri Lanka way" on YouTube
Sri Lanka's debt crisis is a warning to the world. The World Bank says a global debt storm is coming. It could engulf 70 developing countries & make their economies fall like dominoes. What are the threats they face? How can they be averted? Palki Sharma explains. https://youtu.be/CdrLp0lKjHc... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 4 B1
Sri Lanka is one of the top gem bearing countries in the world. It has the highest density of gems in the world and is known the world over as a destination for over 75 varieties of precious and semi-precious gemstones. Sri Lanka is best known for the following gemstones: Agate, ,Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Cymophane(Cats eye), Garnet, Moonstone, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Topaz, Tourmaline and Zircon. Sri Lanka, is specially known for blue sapphire, yellow sapphire, ruby, Alexandrite , Cat's-eye and Garnet, experts added. The Sri Lankan origin of the gemstone is determined... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
NATIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED 21ST AND 22ND AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION SUBMITTED BY SJB / GROUP OF ELEVEN POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE PROPOSAL OF THE BAR ASSOCIATION TO ABOLISH THE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENCY
The SJB has proposed an amendment to the Constitution to abolish the Executive Presidential system without changing the current electoral system or repealing the 13th Amendment. The Bar Association proposal to abolish the Executive Presidential System is on similar lines. The Need to Change the Electoral System. The proportional representation system was introduced by the UNP to fulfil their political aspirations. Under the existing proportional representation system so introduced there is no space for honest and independent professionals and intellectuals to contest an election. Even though the popular demand is that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
ලෙඩ්ඩු හරවා යවන්න නීතියෙන් ඉඩක් නැති ලන්ඩන් දොස්තරලා
ලෙඩේ මොකක්ද ඔයා මොන පක්ෂෙද තමන්ගෙන් ප්‍රතිකාර ගන්නට ආ ප්‍රසන්න රණතුංග මන්ත්‍රිවරයාට දේශපාලන හේතූන් මත ප්‍රතිකාර නොකළ විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් වන මහාචාර්ය රනිල් ජයවර්ධන එක් පිරිසකට වීරයෙකි. තවත් පිරිසකට ද්‍රෝහියෙකි. ඒ අතරේ සැත්කමට භාජනය කර සිටි විමලවීර දිසානායක මන්ත්‍රිවරයාට රෝහලේදි සෞඛ්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල සේවකයකු දේශපාලනය සිහි කරමින් අපහසුතාවට පත් කර තිබුණි. ඉකුත් 9 වැනිදා ප්‍රහාරයක් හමුවේ තුවාල ලබා ප්‍රතිකාර ගන්නට ආ පිරිසකට ජාතික රෝහලේදී සෞඛ්‍ය සේවකයෝ පහර දී තිබුණි. සැබවින්ම දේශපාලන හේතුවක් නිසා වෛද්‍යවරුන්ට මෙසේ හැසිරීමට හැකිද. මේ ලංකාවට බටහිර වෛද්‍ය ක්‍රමය ගෙනා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
Holidays to Sri Lanka cancelled as FCDO travel advice changes
TUI has cancelled holidays to the destination until May 31 Holidays to Sri Lanka are being cancelled as the British government advises people not to travel there. TUI has cancelled all trips until May 31. The Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the country amid unrest there. Protests have been taking place across Sri Lanka against the backdrop of a growing economic crisis. There have been shortages of fuel, medicines and food and electricity is being rationed,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
Sri Lanka out of petrol as economic crisis deepens
The Indian Ocean Island nation faces its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Sri Lanka’s newly appointed prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, announced Monday that the country has run out of petrol stock. Reuters reports that Mr Wickremesinghe disclosed this in an address to the nation amid uncertainties over fuel and medicine shortages. “At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day. The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives,” Mr Wickremesinghe said. “We must prepare... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
The next couple of months will be the most difficult of our lives, PM informs the nation
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Monday said the next couple of months will be the most difficult ones in the lives of all citizens and the country must prepare to make some sacrifices and face the challenges of this period. https://youtu.be/gLLQSKpnplA In a special statement, Wickremesinghe said he had no desire to hide the truth and to lie to the public. Although these facts are unpleasant and terrifying, this is the true situation. For a short period, our future will be even more difficult than the tough times that we... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
230 arrested for recent violent incidents: Police seek public help to net more
Some 230 people have been arrested over various charges including violation of curfew, attacking public, causing damages to public and private properties since May 9. Police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said 68 out of them have been remanded. He said among the arrested, 71 were from the Western Province, 43 from Southern Province, 17 from Central Province, 36 from North Western Province, 47 from North Central, 13 from Sabaragamuwa and two from Uva Province. Meanwhile, Police today released pictures of several persons and seek public assistance to identify... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
Buses burnt, like in middle of terrorism: Gemunu
The buses that were provided to support the struggle by our association on May 9 were burnt as if they were destroyed during the height terrorist activities. Therefore, the police should take action to arrest those involved the incidents, Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (LPBOA) Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne said. https://youtu.be/V0kqt1SFmJw He told media that some 45 private buses were completely gutted during the carnage. "This was a willful attack launched by a section of the public. They have attacked and torched down private and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
Committee led by Ruwan to look into facilities at ’’GotaGoGama’’
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a committee led by former Minister Ruwan Wijewardene to look into the security, health and other needs of "GotaGoGama" at Galle Face. The committee includes officials from the Colombo Municipal Council, Urban Development Authority, Health Ministry, Police and Army.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
Prime Minister’s special statement
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s special statement addressing the nation commenced, a short while ago. He stated that last Thursday, he had accepted the Premiership of Sri Lanka. “I did not ask for that position. In the face of the crisis situation in the country, the President invited me to accept this position,” he said. https://youtu.be/-rS-dEa8U5Q At this moment, Sri Lanka’s economy is at a very dangerous position, the PM said. He said that although the last Budget (2022) had forecasted government revenue of Rs.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
SJB MPs decide to support new govt without accepting posts
The parliamentary group of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has unanimously decided to fully support all progressive steps taken by the new government and development activities through parliamentary processes, without accepting any posts. The party said in a statement that the decision was taken at a meeting of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s parliamentary group today (16). “As a responsible political party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya believes that at this moment it is essential to rescue the country from the crisis situation it is currently facing.” Accordingly, the parliamentary group of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
10-party alliance reach agreement on supporting new govt.
During a discussion with the Prime Minister, the 10 political parties that quit the former government have assured that they would contribute to the new government’s efforts through the National Council and the Parliament Oversight Committees proposed to be set up. Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader MP Udaya Gammanpila stated this while speaking to reporters following a meeting between the representatives of the 10-party alliance and the Prime Minister held at the PM’s Office this morning (16). Following the invitation of PM Wickremesinghe to form an all-party government, members of 10 independent... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/05/22)
අද පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සිටින සිළුම දේශපාලකයින් කළයුත්තේ සියළු දෙනාම එකතුවී කුහක පක්ශ දේශපානයෙන් මිදී රට හා ජාතිය ඉදිරියේ ඇති අර්බුධවලින් රට ජාතිය බේරාගැනීම මිස මැතිවරණයකට ගොස් වාදභේධ වපුරා තවත් රටේ ප්‍රස්න වැඩිකිරීම නොවේ.
අද මේ රට හා ජාතිය පත්ව ඇති අර්බුධයන්ගෙන් ගොඩගැනීමට ඇති හොඳම විසඳුම, පවතින මැතිසබයේ සියළුම පක්ශ, වසර 74 ක් තිස්සේ අනුගමනය කළ පටු කුහක දේශපාලන වාද භේද සියල්ල පසෙක තබා, සියලු දෙනාම එක්වී සර්වපාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලීන රජයක් පිහිටුවා කුඩා ඇමති මන්ඩලයක් මඟින් පළමුව ගිනිගෙන දැවෙන ජනතා ප්‍රස්න විසඳා ඒ ගින්න නිවී රට යථාතත්වයට පත්වූ පසු මැතිවරණයක් ගැන සිතීමයයි මම සිතමි. මන්ද, මේ අවස්ථාවේ මැතිසභය විසුරුවා මැතිවරණයකට යාම කිසිසේත්ම සුදුසු නොවන බැවිණි.රටේ පවතින ආර්ථික තත්වය අනුව ඒ සඳහා අවම වශයෙන් රුපියල් කෝටි 1500 පමණ හෝ සොයාගැනීම බරපතල ගැටළුවකි. දෙවනුව මැතිවරණයක් පවත්වා අවසන් කිරීමට මාස... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
අරගලේ තව මාස 34ක්....?
19 නැවත ගේන්න 21 ගේනකොට පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවීම වසර 4 1/2ක් කල් යනව කියන්නෙ අරගලේ තව මාස 34ක් තියෙනව කියන එකද? ඒ වගේම 19ය නැවත ගේන විට ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 85.2ත් ඉවත් වෙනව කියන එකද?(20වන සංශෝධනය යටතේ 70 ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව වසර 2 1/2 කින් පසු (2023.02.20) පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවන්න ජනාධිපතිට බලය ලැබේ.)පාර්ලිමේන්තු විසුරුවීම වසර 4 1/2ක් කල් යවමින් 2023.02.20 පසු පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවීම වළක්වා ගන්නවට මන්ත්‍රීවරු අකැමැති වීමට හේතුවක් නැත.පාර්ලිමේන්තුව 2023.02.20 න් පසු විසුරුවන්න වෙන එක වළක්වන විධිවිධානත් ඇතුලත් 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය 21 නමින් නැවත ගේනව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
විශ්ව සාහිත්‍යයේ පැතිකඩක් - වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග විසින් ලියන ලද විශ්ව සාහිත්‍යයේ පැතිකඩක් කෘතිය විශ්ව සාහිත්‍ය පිලිබඳව උනන්දු වන සිංහල පාඨකයන්ට අතිශයිම සුදුසු ග්‍රන්ථයකි. විශ්ව සාහිත්‍යයේ පැතිකඩක් කෘතිය හෝමර් , වර්ජිල් , ඩන්ටේ අලගියරි, ජෙෆ්‍ රි චෝසර්, සර්වන්ටෙස්, විලියම් ශේක්ස්පියර්, වෝල්ටෙයාර්, ඇලෙක්සැන්ඩර් පුෂ්කින්, ගෝගොල්, චාල්ස් ඩීකන්ස්, වික්ටර් හියුගෝ, ගුස්ටාව් ෆ්ලෝබර්ට් , වෝල්ටර් ස්කොට්, විලියම් වර්ඩ්ස්වත්, ෆියෝඩර් දොස්තයෙව්ස්කි, ලියෝ ටෝල්ස්ටෝයි , ඔස්කා වයිල්ඩ්, වර්ජීනියා වුල්ෆ්, හර්මන් මෙල්විල්, එඩ්ගාර් ඇලන් පෝ, ඩී.එච්. ලෝරන්ස්, ජෝසෆ් කොන්රාඩ්, මැක්සිම් ගෝර්කි, ෆ්‍රාන්ස් කෆ්කා, ඇල්බෙයා කැමූ, අර්නස්ට් හෙමිංවේ , බොරිස් පැස්ටර්නාක්, රබීඳ්‍රනාත් තාගෝර්, යසනූරි කවබත, ගේබ්‍රියල් ගාෂියා මාකේස්, චිනුවා අචෙබේ යනාදී ලෝක පූජිත... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Unlocking More Potential For Myanmar-Bangladesh ties
Myanmar is one of the closest neighbors of Bangladesh. Which is also known as Burma. Before the Second World War, many people from Bangladesh used to travel to Burma in search of livelihood. Since then, the people of this country have developed an economic and social relationship with Burma. Apart from India, Bangladesh shares a border with Myanmar. The 271 km long Bangladesh-Myanmar border is very important for Bangladesh due to geographical reasons. Bangladesh can use Myanmar by land for communication in Southeast Asian countries including China. Road connectivity is possible through Myanmar. Maybe... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Despite jibes and invectives, Wickremesinghe may survive and hopefully deliver
Colombo, May 15: Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has been subjected to jibes and invectives from political opponents, armchair pundits and the media, both mainstream and social. But political realties being what they are, the 73 year-old sixth time Prime Minister is more likely to survive in office than be hounded out of it. In fact, he is expected to get majority support in parliament, though his party, United National Party (UNP), has only one MP (that is himself). When his support base is tested in parliament on May 17,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Sri Lanka crisis: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe extends support to protesters demanding Prez Rajapaksa's resignation
The new Sri Lankan PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Saturday said that a committee has been appointed to look after the interests of the 'Gota Go Home' protesters who have been camping at Colombo's Galle Face Green since April 9. In an unusual move, Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has extended public support to the protesters, who have been camping at a popular beachfront here for over a month calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation for mishandling the country's worst economic crisis. The Prime Minister on Saturday said he had appointed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Sri Lanka's new PM extends support to protesters demanding President's resignation
Wickremesinghe appoints committee to look after interests of 'Gota Go Home' leaders camping at Colombo's Galle Face Green since April 9. In an unusual move, Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has extended public support to the protesters, who have been camping at a popular beachfront here for over a month calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation for mishandling the country's worst economic crisis. Appointment of a new prime minister in Sri Lanka has failed to appease anti-government protesters demanding the resignation of the president for the country’s disastrous... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
JVP admits it has been behind Galle Face protest
JVP General Secretary Tilva Silva yesterday (10) said that Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa shouldn’t have visited Galle Face during the SLPP goons attacks on protesters. Silva was commenting on protesters attacking the SJP leader and his colleagues as they walked towards the crowds. The JVP General Secretary said so addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte. “Everybody should be careful. People hate to see politicians travelling in luxury cars with security contingents. People detested the politicians’ attitude of trying to stay above them. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Maithri informs RW SLFP will support form new govt.
SLFP Leader Maithripala Sirisena has written to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today saying the SLFP will support forming a new government with Wickremesinghe, senior sources said. In the letter, Sirisena said party members had sought a meeting with Wickremesinghe and a time and date are now being worked out for the discussions. So far the SLPP and SLFP have pledged support to Wickremesinghe with political sources saying discussions were also ongoing with the 11 party alliance members and opposition political groups. (Jamila Husain)... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Four arrested over Amarakeerthi Athukorala’s death
Four suspects have been arrested on charges of the murder of MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his security officer during the recent unrest earlier this week. The arrests were made today (May 15). Two of the accused have been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations. The other two were produced before the Attanagalle Magistrate’s Court today.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
At least 230 under arrest over recent violent incidents
Sri Lanka Police says it has arrested a total of 230 suspects in connection with curfew violations, looting, assaults, public and private property damages and other offences following the unrest that broke out on the 9th of May. According to police spokesperson, 68 of the arrestees are currently in remand custody. In a statement, SSP Nihal Thalduwa said 71 suspects were arrested in the Western Province, 43 in the Southern Province, 17 in the Central Province, 36 in the North-western Province, 47 in the North-central Province, 13 in Sabaragamuwa Province, one in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/05/22)
Not going to IMF then & going to IMF now : Will Sri Lanka’s Problems be solved?
Since early 2020, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government appeared to implement a plan with several components for the external sector. These components included securing of multi-lateral and bi-lateral loans, monetization of selected assets, obtaining Central Bank SWAPs, promoting Hambantota Industrial & Pharmaceutical Zones, Colombo Port City and other FDIs, and increasing non-debt inflows, remittances and exports. That plan did not contemplate an IMF programme. That official government stance was well known and in place until the President announced that he was seeking an IMF programme on 15th March 2022. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
හරක් කිරි පිටි සහ ගබ්සා නිදහස
හරක් පිටි කිරි ප්රශ්නයක් වී ඇමෙරිකාව තරමක් සැලෙන්නට පටන් ගෙනය. මිචිගනයේ බේබි ෆොර්මියුලා සමාගමක නිශ්පාදන සිරුරට අහිතකර විස මුසු වීමක් අඳුනා ගැනීමෙන් සමාගම වසා දමා වෙළඳ පොලේ මේ දක්වා තිබු නිශ්පාදනද රිකෝල් කර ඇත. බේබි ෆොර්මියුලා නැති ළදරුවන් අඬන හඬ ඇහෙන්න පටන් ගෙනය. ගෝ බ්‍රන්ඩන් කියන හඬ වෙනස් අර්ථයකින් නොඇහෙනවා නොවේය. අවුරුදු 50 ක් පුරාවට තිබු ගබ්සා කර ගැනීමේ කාන්තාවන්ගේ සිරුරේ අයිතිය ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
NZ's Donation of NZ $ 500,000 To Sri Lanka Via UN World Food Program to " feed vulnerable children and assist struggling farmers".
To: Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs . NZ Parliament. Dear Minister, I am writing to say how pleased I was to read your tweet and that of NZ High Commissioner in Colombo, informing us of your decision to make the above donation to help Sri Lanka in it’s hour of need. It makes me immensely proud, as a New Zealander of Sri Lankan origin, that despite being a small nation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Vesak Message from the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka
Press Release The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka wishes our Buddhist brethren peace and contentment on the auspicious day of Buddha Jayanthi (Vesak) where millions around the world follow the teachings of the Buddha and commemorate the birth, attainment of enlightenment and the passing away of the Buddha. “Vesak”, on the Day of the Full Moon in the month of May, is the most sacred day to millions of Buddhists around the world. It was on the Day of Vesak two and a half millennia ago, in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
The BASL proposals: A review
Crises prompt proposals for management, recovery and future prosperity. Of the many we’ve seen, perhaps on account of public profile, the set of proposals submitted by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) is one which calls for serious consideration. Indeed, the BASL proposals have been approved by multiple political groups/individuals including the President and the main party in the Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB). What is offered here is a review.The BASL document is organised under three headings, background, objectives and proposals. Let us consider them in this order. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
ගෝල්පේස් වනාන්තරය, ගෝඨාභයගේ දෙවන යුද්ධය හා බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදා විසඳුම - (5 කොටස)
ඩබල් ගේම් මෙහි ඉහතින් ඇති රූප සටහනේ පිට රවුම තුල තිබෙන ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මෝහ යන ක්ලේශ තුන ලොව සෑම පංචස්කන්ධයකටම පොදුවේ අදාලය. පන්සිල් පද පහෙන් අවම වශයෙන්වත් බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ මෙම ක්ලේශ හැකිතාක් දුරට පාලනය කර ගැනීමය. මෙත්තා-කරුණා-මුදිතා-උපෙක්ඛා යන ගතිගුණ ප්‍රගුණ කර ගැනීම මෙන්ම, ලාභෝ-අලාභෝ, අයසෝ-යසෝච, නින්දා-ප්‍රශංසා, සුඛන්ච-දුක්ඛං යන අෂ්ට ලෝක ධර්මතා භාර ගැනීමද මෙම අධ්‍යාත්මික ගමනට ඇතුලත්වේ. කරණීය මෙත්ත සූත්‍රය යම් පෘතග්ජනයෙකුට ලඟාවිය හැකි එක් ඉහල තලයක් පෙන්වා දේ. කාලයත් සමඟ <අරගලය> ජේ.වී.පී හා පෙරටුගාමි අන්තරේ කැලයක් වීමට පෙර, ආරම්භයේදී එහි සිටි ගෝල්පේස් තරුණයින්ගෙන් කෙතරම් කොටසකට මෙම රූප... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Sri Lanka Outcome: America Returns To South Asia
Whatever the aspiration of the protesters in Sri Lanka, the chaos they created has caused the messiah to appear in the form of the IMF. For the IMF to be effective, it needed a government it could vibe with. That there could not have been a better choice for the job of Prime Minister than Ranil Wickremesinghe became clear as daylight the moment he was sworn in. “Ranil Wickremesinghe’s appointment and the quick formation of an inclusive government are first steps in addressing the crisis and promoting stability. We encourage meaningful progress at the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
The Phoenix rises again; For the sixth time
The phoenix is an immortal bird associated with Greek mythology (with analogs in many cultures) that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again -Wikipedia Sri Lanka’s political equivalent to the mythological Phoenix, Ranil Wickremasinghe, has risen again to become the Prime Minister of the country for the sixth time. The challenge before him on this occasion perhaps is the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Why Does Myanmar-Bangladesh Military’s Strategic Engagement Matter?
Myanmar military wants now strategic engagement with Bangladesh military for various reasons. Myanmar-Bangladesh must have mutual strategic engagement as they share common border. Myanmar-Bangladesh have some common problems which need to be resolved bilaterally as soon as possible. Myanmar, Bangladesh need defense diplomacy for cementing their ties with neighbourly spirit. Myanmar must understand that Bangladesh is a good neighbor for Myanmar. The neighbourly friendship needs to be bolstered through defense diplomacy. Defense diplomacy has long been regarded as an important component of international diplomacy and an effective tool for fostering bilateral and regional relations.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
SL denies Indian intel claims of ‘LTTE regrouping to launch attacks’
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence on Saturday denied reports of ex-LTTE cadre “regrouping to launch attacks” in Sri Lanka, as reported by The Hindu, citing sources in Indian intelligence. “The article is completely baseless. We have received no intelligence warning of such a security threat,” a Ministry spokesman said. The report, citing Indian intelligence reports, was picked up by Sri Lankan media and widely shared on social media. Sri Lankan political leaders, too, strongly reacted to the Indian security establishment’s claims. Tamil Progressive Alliance Leader and Opposition legislator from Colombo... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Will change policies of Rajapaksa govt - PM Ranil
https://youtu.be/ibhZg9U_qNU Sri Lanka’s new prime minister has told the BBC an economic crisis that has brought misery and unrest is “going to get worse before it gets better”. The country is facing fuel shortages and soaring food prices, with some Sri Lankans forced to skip meals. Anger over the government’s handling of the crisis has led to violent protests. Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed in an attempt to defuse the protests. It is the opposition MP’s sixth stint as prime minister. In his first interview... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
SLPP pledges support for a govt under PM Ranil
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has decided to support a government established under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The ruling party pledged their support during a meeting of its parliamentary group held under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning (May 14). ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Support of youths expected to find solutions to crisis - PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says the support of the country’s youths is expected when finding solutions to overcome the current crisis situation. He stated this, delivering a statement following bilateral talks with several ambassadors and high commissioners to Sri Lanka today (May 14). The prime minister met with the ambassadors of South Korea, France, Italy, Norway, EU delegation, Germany, Switzerland and high commissioners of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In his statement, PM Wickremesinghe said favourable responses were received from the foreign envoys during the discussion. “We... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Four new Cabinet ministers sworn in
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed four new Cabinet ministers today (May 14) to maintain the affairs of the Parliament and other functions of the country legitimately and stably until a full Cabinet is appointed. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the President’s House in Colombo this afternoon. According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), the following parliamentarians were sworn in before the President: Prof. G.L. Peiris – Minister of Foreign Affairs Dinesh Gunawardena – Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Prasanna Ranatunga... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Sri Lanka Violence: MP Was Lynched by Mob, Not Suicide, Reveals Forensic Report
The MP's death was due to multiple injuries, fractures and internal bleeding, but he had no gunshot wounds, the autopsy report said Sri Lankan government supporters and anti-government protesters clash outside president's office residence in Colombo in presence of police officers, Sri Lanka (Image: AP) A Sri Lankan lawmaker who shot dead an anti-government protester this week was later lynched by a mob, a forensic report showed Friday, contradicting a police report that he died by suicide. Amarakeerthi Athukorala opened fire on people blocking his car’s path in the town of Nittambuwa... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Lambor ගිණි ආණ්ඩු ක්‍රම සංදර්ශනය
සාම-ආරගලිස්ට්ලා වෙත ප්රචණ්ඩත්වය මුදා හැරියේ ආණ්ඩුවේ අයියලා නං වැඩේ වැරදිය. සාම-ආරගලිස්ට්ලා ඉන් ප්රකෝප වීම ඊටත් වැරදිය. ඒ මොකදැයි කියනවා නං මුල හිටං ම අධි-සාමකාමී කොටළුන් සේ පිටි කිරි ඉල්ලමින් බලා හිටියේ වෙලාව එනතුරාය. ගිනි තැබීම, දේපල විනාශය ජීවිත ඝාතන උන්ගේ ආණ්ඩු ක්‍රමය. ඔවුනට හැමදා හුරු පුරුදු වැඩය. අධිකරණයත් උන්ය. නීති හදන්නේ ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/05/22)
Intelligence agencies alert on regrouping of ex-LTTE cadres
Intelligence agencies have warned of erstwhile cadre of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) regrouping to launch attacks in Sri Lanka, as the country is embroiled in a deep economic and political crisis. As the island nation has declared emergency twice amid escalating violent protests, some sections of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, with multinational links, were trying to make their presence “felt” in the ongoing clashes between protesters and security forces, police... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Business leaders think Ranil should be supported
May 13, 2022 (LBO) – Business leaders in Sri Lanka say the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should be given a chance to resuscitate the economy. Wickremesinghe was appointed to replace Mahinda Rajapaksa, taking many political leaders by surprise and leaving them scrambling to respond. Much of the response from opposition parties was negative as they actively held media events aimed at undermining the legitimacy of Wickremesinghe’s appointment. The business community’s views appear to be significantly different. Not wanting be quoted due to political sensitivities, several leaders in the software, agricultural and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Sri Lanka: Is ‘Mr Clean’ eyeing the presidency?
The suit-clad prime minister, who is more comfortable in English than Sinhala and less popular with the majority lower middle-class population, could be the answer to Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis for now. Ranil Wickremesighe, the longest running leader for the oldest political party in Sri Lanka, was sworn in as prime minister for the sixth time on Thursday evening. His appointment comes three days after Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resigned as prime minister following island-wide riots, incited by Rajapaksa supporters. The 73-year-old was appointed amid... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
රනිල් අගමැති වෙන බව කලින්ම කිව්වා - ඊලඟට වෙන්න යන දේ ගැන ප්‍රභල හෙළිදරව්වක්- Has Kjanakka brought curse on Rajapaksa family
https://youtu.be/29x7M5BTsL4... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
'Be patient, I will bring things back' - new Sri Lanka president
Sri Lanka's new prime minister says an economic crisis that has brought misery and unrest is "going to get worse before it gets better". Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed Prime Minister, for the sixth time. Photo: AFP / ISHARA S. KODIKARA The country is facing fuel shortages and soaring food prices, with some Sri Lankans forced to skip meals. Anger over the government's handling of the crisis has led to violent protests. Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed in an attempt to defuse the protests. It is the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
New Lankan PM Wickremesinghe gets international backing
Colombo, May 13: Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has secured the support of key countries in the world such as India, the US, Japan and China. He is expected to get majority support in parliament also, though he is the lone representative of his party, the United National Party, in parliament. Wickremesinghe might not head a truly “national” government composed of all parties in parliament. But he might get the support enough MPs to have a majority, that is, at least 113 in the House of 225. ADVERTISEMENT ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Ranil pledges to withdraw shoot at sight order given to security forces
Newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had pledged to repeal the shoot at sight order given to security forces after the recent violence. Mr. Wickremesinghe made this pledge when foreign journalists questioned him about this procedure. Prime Minister’s office said such orders will be given to security forces only if riots resume. It was also reported that the new government will repeal the 20 amendment to the constitution and reduce President's powers. Meanwhile, UNP Assistant Leader Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told a press conference that no one... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Sri Lanka receives assurance of fertilizer supplies from India
Sri Lanka, which is facing the biggest economic crisis in its post-independence history, is aiming to boost its agriculture sector Sri Lanka has received assurance from Indian officials regarding supply of fertilizers that the island nation requires urgently. High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda met concerned officials on Friday where the issue was discussed. "High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda met with the Secretary to the Department of Fertilizers of India Shri Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi and thanked him for India's decision to supply 65,000 MT of urea required for the current... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Sri Lanka economy crisis to get worse before it gets better, PM says
Sri Lanka's new prime minister has told the BBC an economic crisis that has brought misery and unrest is "going to get worse before it gets better". The country is facing fuel shortages and soaring food prices, with some Sri Lankans forced to skip meals. Anger over the government's handling of the crisis has led to violent protests. Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed in an attempt to defuse the protests. It is the opposition MP's sixth stint as prime minister. Sri Lanka's... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Sri Lanka: New PM Wickremesinghe Gets International Backing
Majority support in parliament is also on the cards Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has secured the support of key countries in the world such as India, the US, Japan and China. He is expected to get majority support in parliament also, though he is the lone representative of his party, the United National Party, in parliament.Advertisement Wickremesinghe might not head a truly “national” government composed of all parties in parliament. But he might get the support enough MPs to have a majority, that is, at... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Lankan PM Wickremesinghe moots ‘aid consortium’ with foreign envoys
Vows to “deliver solutions” to the island’s deepening economic crisis Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has vowed to “deliver solutions” to the island’s deepening economic crisis, kicked off duties on Friday, discussing formation of a “foreign aid consortium” with Colomb-based envoys, his office said. His outreach came a day after he was sworn in Premier by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in the place of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned earlier this week following widespread protests. Indian envoy Gopal Baglay was among the first to meet... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
New Sri Lanka PM to steadfastly push forward BRI projects in the country
Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's new prime minister met with Qi Zhenhong, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka on Friday. Photo: Courtesy of Embassy of China to Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's new prime minister, said on Friday that his new government will continue to attach great importance to developing ties with China and will push forward Belt and Road projects in the country.During a meeting with Qi Zhenhong, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka on Friday, Wickremesinghe stressed that the new government will push forward the development of Colombo... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Politicians' Obligation to the Nation
As a country when Sri Lanka is in dire need of a debt restructure and economic recovery, the IMF in combination with The World Bank prepared a package on conditions set forth. While these conditions were laid so clearly of what is being required from Sri Lanka, the sabotaging acts committed collectively by short sighted rulers, all other political fractions, Trade Unions, religious fractions and the majority of the citizens have brought this Resplendent Land to its death bed. As the only viable option available to attempt a resurrection, Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Sri Lanka's New Prime Minister Wickremesinghe Thanks PM Modi, Says 'Want a Closer Relationship' With India
Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said he looks forward to closer ties with India during his term and thanked India for its economic assistance to the country as it tackles the worst economic crisis since independence. Wickremesinghe, 73, was sworn-in as Sri Lanka’s 26th prime minister on Thursday to stabilise the country’s debt-ridden economy and end the political turmoil. I want a closer relationship and I want to thank Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, Wickremesinghe said, referring to the Indian economic assistance to his country. His remarks came during a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Main Opposition Won’t Join New Government: Sri Lanka Latest
Ranil Wickremesinghe, left, is sworn in as Sri Lanka’s prime minister in front of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in Colombo, on May 13.Source: Sri Lankan President Media Division By Anusha Ondaatjie and Asantha SirimanneMay 13, 2022, 2:32 AM GMT+1Updated onMay 13, 2022, 10:03 AM GMT+1 Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will show his majority in parliament and protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should not be curbed, local media reported. However, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party has said it won’t join a so-called unity government and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Wind Power to our rescue
These days when we have to live with hours of power cuts, and when we are really short of dollars- scraping the barrel, my theory that wind power offers the solution to our power requirements comes to the forefront. I enclose a write up by eesrilanka wordpress.com/2019/04/13/playing with history: __________________________________________________________ C2. Buying Power from Multinationals Garvin Karunaratne recalls his experience of 18 years working in stations like Hambantota as well as in the hilly Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. He chides the authorities for erecting wind turbines... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
Why Myanmar Should Have ‘Friendship and Neighbourhood policy to Bangladesh’?
Bangladesh and Myanmar share a land boundary of 271 kilometers. Prior to their establishment as contemporary nation states, both countries had a long history of exchanging political, cultural, and economic concerns. They also share a common history of British colonialism. The relationship between these two countries is based on demography rather than geography. Since Bangladesh's 1971 independence from West Pakistan, the two countries have had "cordial" relations. One of the first countries to acknowledge Bangladesh was Myanmar. However, due to the Rohingya crisis and border disturbances, Bangladesh-Myanmar ties have turned tense at times. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
අරගලය ජවිපෙ ට යද්දී රට රනිල්ට යයි
මේ වෙලාවේ රටට ඕන රනිල් මං ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණවාදියෙක්. කොයි විදිහකින්වත් සිස්ටම් චේන්ජ් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී ඉන්න කෙනෙක් නෙමෙයි. කවුරු හරි එහෙම එකක් කරනවා නම් පැත්තකට වෙලා බලන් ඉන්නවා මිස විරුද්ධතාවයක් නෑ. අපි එක එක්කෙනා විශ්වාස කරන දේශපාලනය වෙනස්. රනිල් කියන්නෙ මගේ ප්‍රියතම දේශපාලකයා නෙමෙයි. රනිල්ට ජනතා දේශපාලනය තේරෙන්නෙ නැති ප්රශ්නයක් තියෙනවා සහ මං ඒක නිතර විවේචනය කරනවා. ඒත් රනිල් අපේ රටේ එක ශිෂ්ට දේශපාලන පරම්පරාවක අවසානතමයා කියන එකයි මගේ විශ්වාසය. ඒ වගේම අනිත් අයගේ සහාය ලැබුනොත් රට යම් ආර්ථිකමය ස්ථාවරත්වයකට ගේන්න රනිල්ට පුළුවන්. මොකද රනිල් දේශපාලනය කියල... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/05/22)
පුද්ගල චරිත මතුවේ, නිර්පාක්ෂික හැව ගැලැවේ, අරගලය ඉදිරියටම....
අදේශපාලනික අරගලකරුවන් සිටිය නොහැක. නිශ්චිත නොවුනත්, දේශපාලනික පක්ෂ සහ ඒවායේ අරමුණු සමග අනන්‍ය නොවුනත්, අරගලකරුවා දේශපාලනිකයි. අදේශපාලනික අරගලකරුවන් සිටිය නොහැකි නමුත් නිර්පාක්ෂික අරගලකරුවන් සිටිය හැක. නිර්පාක්ෂික අරගලකරුවන් අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම නිර්පාක්ෂික නොවූ අරගලකරුවන්ට වඩා උසස් වන්නේ ද පහත් වන්නේ ද නැත. එහෙත් යම් දේශපාලන සංවිධානයක් සමග අනන්‍ය වී ඇති අතරම තමුන් 'නිර්පාක්ෂික' යැයි කියන, 'නිර්පාක්ෂිකයෙකු' ලෙස හැසිරෙන අරගලකරුවන්ට වඩා සැබැවින්ම නිර්පාක්ෂික වූ අරගලකරුවන් සදාචාරාත්මක වේ. 'ගෝටාගෝහෝම්' ලෙස නම් කර ඇති අරගලය තුළ නිර්පාක්ෂික සහ නිර්පාක්ෂික නොවූ අරගලකරුවන් සිටිති. අරගලයට වත් සමස්ත අරගලකරුවන්ට වත් මෙය ප්රශ්නයක් වුයේ නැත. ඒ, ගෝටා පන්නා දැමීම හෝ/සහ ඒ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Pt 4 A
Sri Lanka possesses an abundance of minerals. The best known of these in Sri Lanka is our gemstones. Sri Lanka also has an abundance of good quality non-metallic mineral resources. They are mainly industrial minerals. These include Apatite, Calcite, Clay, Dolomite, Feldspar, Garnet sand, Graphite, Ilmenite, Kaolin, Mica, Quartz, Rutile, Silica Sand, and Zircon. Although the country has a large amount of valuable mineral resources, not all locations of these minerals have been identified. It is expensive to explore the mineral resources, to locate them and find out the size and depth of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s Demise: What has to be done immediately.
Sri lanka my beloved motherland has descended to chaos. The causes are many, mainly by the country closely following the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programme since it was imposed at the end of 1977 when President Jayawardena requested financial help and the ineptitude of our leaders. I have since leaving the Administrative Service devoted myself to study and my three books: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success(2006), How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(2017) and How the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Destroyed Sri Lanka(2022) tell it all. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
යල කන්නයේ පොහොර අවශ්‍යතාවය කඩිනමින් ඉන්දියාවෙන් සැපයෙන තීරණයක්
යල කන්නයේ පොහොර අවශ්‍යතාවය කඩිනමින් ඉන්දියාවෙන් සැපයෙන තීරණයක්ඉදිරි යල වගා කන්නයේ වී වගාව සඳහා අවශ්‍ය යූරියා සැපයීම පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා කර තීරණ ගැනීම සඳහා නවදිල්ලියේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ කොමසාරිස් මිලින්ද මොරගොඩ මහතා අද (12) ඉන්දියාවේ ජාතික පොහොර දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ ලේකම් රාෙජ්ෂ් කුමාර් චතුර්වේදි මහතා හමුවිය. මෙම කන්නයේ වී සඳහා යූරියා මෙටි්‍රක් ටොන් 65,000ක් අවශ්‍ය වනු ඇති අතර දෙරට අතර දැනට පවතින ඇ.ඩො. බිලියනයක ණය පහසුකම යටතේ වහාම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පොහොර සැපයීමට ඉන්දීය රජය තීරණය කර ඇත. එයට අදාල ඉදිරි සැපයුම් සම්බන්ධව මෙම හමුව සිදුවිය. ඉන්දියාවෙන් යූරියා අපනයනය තහනම් කර ඇති අතර... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Press release issued by the Academics’ Movement to Safeguard Agriculture (AMSA) Sri Lanka regarding the present crisis in the Agriculture Sector
The Academics’ Movement to Safeguard Agriculture (AMSA) in Sri Lanka expresses grave concern about the potential impact of the current national crisis on the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka. First, we vehemently condemn the brutal assault launched against the peaceful protesters in front of Galle Face and Temple Trees, and the detrimental chain reactions emanated from it. We are at a crucial stage of the Yala season of 2022 where crop establishment is severely constrained by shortages of fuel, fertilizer and other essential inputs. The current... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Lines of credit extended to Sri Lanka may go through rough patch: Exim Bank
Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), however, said there is no overdue payment from the Sri Lankan government as of now The lines of credit extended to the Sri Lankan government by India Exim Bank may go through a "rough patch" as the island nation faces the worst economic crisis, a senior bank official said on Thursday. Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), however, said there is no overdue payment from the Sri Lankan government as of now. Exim Bank, at the behest of the government of India, extends... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Time is running out to save Sri Lanka from total economic collapse
Oonce hailed as South Asia’s ‘success story’, the island nation has faced months of escalating violent unrest. Riot police fire tear gas during a clash with anti-government demonstrators in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, on 9 May | Dinuka Liyanawatte/ Reuters/ Alamy. All rights reserved Sri Lanka is in a state of chaos. Faced with the worst economic crisis of its 74 years of independence, the country has been roiled by days of violent unrest – leading the government to the brink of collapse. For months, nationwide protests have taken place... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
'You can't throw out a president': Namal Rajapaksa on Sri Lanka crisis
Speaking about the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka, MP Namal Rajapaksa said one cannot throw out a president as it will deepen the political instability. Since the start of the economic crisis, Opposition leaders have called for the removal of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office. Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said one cannot throw out a president as it will deepen political crisis. He also blamed the Opposition leaders for not taking responsibility of governing Sri Lanka during the country's worst economic crisis. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
MR felicitates Ranil
Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa extended his wishes to newly-appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. In a twitter post, he said "Congratulations to the newly-appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. I wish you all the best as you navigate in these troubled times,"... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Public requested to provide information on violent acts
The Ministry of Defence has requested the general public to inform the details of criminal activities by mobs or violent groups and incidents of damaging of public and private properties, looting and assaults from any parts of the island. The public can provide such information through the following contact numbers: Defence Ministry Hotline - 0767 392 977 and 0112 441 146 Ministry of Public Security - 118... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
President responds to Sajith’s letter on Premiership
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, responding to the letter directed by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has said the decision to appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister cannot be reversed at the moment. “You refused my prior invitations to accept the Premiership. Following discussions with political party leaders representing the parliament, I have appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe to the post of Prime Minister.” President Rajapaksa has informed the Opposition Leader to inform him if he desires to include any of his party members in the Cabinet.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Accepted premiership to deliver solutions, PM Ranil says
Newly-appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says he accepted the President’s invitation by choosing to deliver solutions over practicing petty politics. Speaking to the media following his swearing-in, PM Wickremesinghe stressed that the country’s economy needs to be rescued and the people are living with great difficulty.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as new Prime Minister
The Leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe took oath before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House this evening (May 12). https://youtu.be/2gjcyBBpf_Q Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath and Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe were also present on the occasion. Wickremesinghe has served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on five previous occasions. President Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe held a round of discussion on Wednesday evening (May 11) during which the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
Would Mahinda Rajapakse set fire to his own house? Digital Colonialism and the Covid Endgame: Cyber War Simulacra in an Upside-Down World Sri Lanka: Debt Crisis, Neocolonialism and Geopolitical Rivalry WAS DEAR MOTHER LANKA RAPED BY UNSCLUPROUS POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS OVER THE LAST MONTH? Elitist ‘Colombians’ Hogging the Maharaja-Circus at Galle Face and Parroting CIA-Scripted Slogans Stifle the Voices of Seven Million Voters Betrayed by Nandasena The Aragalists and the challenge of re-mapping Sri Lanka ලෙයට ලෙය වෙනුවට ආලය The 225 must go? Seriously? අද මේ රටේ පවතින දේශපාලන, සමාජ සහ ආර්ථික අර්බුධවලින් එය ගොඩගත හැකි හොඳම ක්‍රමය, මැතිසබයෙන් තෝරාගහ් සර්වපාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලීන රජයකි. විධායක ජනාධිපති ක්‍රමය අහෝසි කරන්න මම සුදානම් - ජනපති (වීඩියෝ) Political and social stability is required if not will have to leave - CBSL Governor (Video) නව අගමැති රනිල්..? හෙට දිවුරයි…? SJB විශාල පිරිසක් නව ආණ්ඩුවට.. අගමැති වෙන්න කොන්දේසි දැමූ සජිත්ට විපක්ෂ නායක පුටුවත් නැති වෙයි… Harin to sit independent and support new govt. නව අගමැති ලෙස "රනිල්" හෙට දිවුරුම් දෙයි New prime minister and cabinet will be appointed this week - President Tri-forces instructed to open fire when required to prevent violence President Rajapaksa and Ranil hold talks Curfew strictly enforced tonight; police permitted to open fire when necessary to prevent violence Police identify 59 social media groups used to gather people for violent acts Defence Secretary confirms former PM’s whereabouts To the members of the Bar Association Police probing destruction of politicos’ property WAS THAT CALL FROM JVP LAL KANTHA THE CALL TO ALL HIS SENIOR CADRES IN EVERY IMPORTANT CITY ASKING THEM TO LAUNCH PROTESTS IN THEIR LOCALITIES END UP IN BURNING RESIDENCES OF THE PM AND SLPP POLITICIANS. බොරදියේ මාළු බෑම! An Open Letter To Myanmar’s Policymakers From Bangladesh The Hospital Quandary Armed forces ordered to open fire on those looting or causing physical harm Gnana Akka’s house and shrine destroyed. Monday’s riots: Eight die, 88 vehicles and over 100 houses gutted India reiterates support for Sri Lanka’s democracy, stability and economic recovery Two arrested for attack on SDIG Deshabandu Tennakoon Director General of Civil Aviation denies allegations ‘We will not leave the country’ - Namal ISLAND police curfew declared indefinitely Sri Lanka asks, 'What now?' after PM exit and night of fiery chaos Top Sri Lankan policeman hospitalized after attack Military rescues Sri Lanka's Prime Minister in pre-dawn operation as violent clashes leave seven dead Letter to editor අද මේ රටේ පවතින දේශපාලන, සමාජ සහ ආර්ථික අර්බුධවලින් එය ගොඩගත හැකි හොඳම ක්‍රමය. Islandwide curfew extended till Wednesday The outburst of violence forced Lankan Prime Minister’s resignation Rajapaksas’ ancestral home torched National Endowment for Democracy (NED) While protestors burn down houses belong to government ministers US Ambassador condemns violence against peaceful protestors ALL ISLAND police curfew declared indefinitely Over 100 hospitalized amidst tensions at Galle Face MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala found dead amidst unrest in Nittambuwa Mahinda Rajapaksa resigns as Prime Minister Does the BASL proposals answer the economic crisis in Sri Lanka? Myanmar, Bangladesh must have mutual strategic Engagement How is Bangladesh’s transition from aid seeker to a donor country? President Calls Sajith to Form Govt PM hooted at by group of protestors in Anuradhapura Sajith sets conditions for supporting an all-party govt Breach of peace by protestors Godahewa says PM agreed to step down President to consider BASL’s proposals for restoring political, economic stability AIIB considering a grant of USD 100 million to Sri Lanka Express dissent peacefully - State of emergency to protect peace : Defense Ministry (Video) අටමස්ථානය වදින්න ගිය අගමැති - අගමැතිතුමනි ඔබගෙන් හෙට සුබ පණිවිඩයක් අපි බලාපොරෙත්තු වෙනවා Minster Prasanna Ranatunga refused treatment (Video) Situation in Sri Lanka – are we returning to Dutch-East-India Company rule? The British Govt. has a moral responsibility to help the save the Elephants of Sri Lanka. ගෝල්පේස් වනාන්තරය, ගෝඨාභයගේ දෙවන යුද්ධය හා බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදා විසඳුම - (4 කොටස) කඩුවෙල මහේස්ත්‍රාත් තුමියගේ නිල නිවසේ ආරක්ෂාව ඉවත් කිරීම සම්බන්ධව හදිසි නීතියෙන් සාමකාමී අරගලවලට බාධාවක් නෑ - විශේෂ අතිරේක බලයක් ආරක්ෂක අංශ වෙතට Sri Lanka government defends imposition of emergency ‘Legal action against misleading information about procurement of rice for Sri Lanka’ Protest outside Ranil’s house, Ranil says meet me at Sirikotha SJB to support BASL’s proposals to restore political and economic stability Prime Minister likely to resign on Monday? 20 වෙනුවට 21 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට Post of President Summary of Recommendations to Revive Sri Lankan Agriculture Recommendations to Revive Sri Lankan Agriculture Sri Lanka 'risks running out of food and fuel' and could descend into 'anarchy', former energy minister says IMF and the Sri Lanka bailout drama President declares state of emergency in Sri Lanka President requests PM to resign at cabinet meeting - sources Ranjith Siyambalapitiya to resign as Deputy Speaker again Mahinda Rajapaksa plotted with LTTE and defeated me in the elections - Ranil (Video) Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: Bangladesh proves itself as a donor country from donation seeker by providing medical assistance to Sri Lanka Rajapaksa govt emerges stronger after Opposition candidate loses Deputy Speaker election ආතල්ගමයි අනාගතයයි Tomorrow, tomorrow and so forth... Tribute to my Elder Brother A season of (il)legitimacies Bangladesh sends medical supplies worth US$ 2.32 million to Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Deputy Speaker’s re-election doesn’t bode well for no-confidence motion Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa-led govt emerges stronger after defeat of Opposition in dy speaker election Sabry tells Parliament some home truths IUSF protesters tear gassed near Parliament Sri Lanka tea exports lowest in 23 years Why didn’t HarinF tell the Cardinal about Easter Sunday attacks? Politicians fiddle while Sri Lanka burns ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ නායක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා 2022.05.03 වන දින අග්රාමාත්ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ මහතා වෙත එල්ල කරන ලද අසත්‍ය චෝදනා පිලිබඳව නීතිමය පියවර ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙනි Australian documentary contends corrupt transactions in Hambantota hospital project අනුර කුමාර එලියට දැම්මේ යහපාලන දුෂණ විරෝධී කමිටුවට ආ තොරතුරුයි. ‘MynaGoGama’ dismantled after court order Sri Lanka to replace ‘unrealistic’ budget, in talks to extend World Bank aid Lankan workers in essential services not to participate in May 6 strike ‘විශ්වාස භංගයෙන් ආණ්ඩුව පෙරලමු.. ඉන්පසු වගකීම ගන්න බෑ..’ සජිත් කියයි… Sri Lanka posts the lowest tea exports in 23 years Sri Lanka crisis will last at least two more years: govt The Genuine Article? Private sector demanded tax cut soon after govt. came to power: Ranil Sri Lanka’s foreign liquidity reserves critically low, govt planning new budget: Sabry Court order issued on the protesters near Temple Trees Dinesh refutes rumours on prime minister resigning USD selling rate hits Rs. 370 at several banks Aspen Medical Australia THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 3A THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 3B THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Part 3C Gota Gama Protests in Parliament Square in London -Why Not have placards Saying "Sri lanka Welcomes Tourists" මේ අවස්තාවේදී පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවා මැතිවරණයකට යාම කබලෙන් ලිපට වැටීමකි. අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලේ නව වෙබ් අඩවිය හා යූ ටියුබ් චැනලය අන්තර්ජාලයට එක්කරයි හෑෂ් ටැග් අරගලය Sri Lanka’s unexplored economic goldmine China holds out the olive branch to Sri Lanka after standoff Purchase fuel from Russia ! Namal Rajapaksa and Nimal Perera mint millions through fraud deals Maithri refutes obtaining CB Bond scam money Cabraal responds to corruption allegations levelled by Anura Sri Lanka to receive another grant of CNY 300 million from China Special cash allowance to low-income families hit by economic crisis Malwathu Mahanayake Thero decides not to meet any politicians China reiterates fullest support for Sri Lanka in securing IMF assistance Maximum retail prices announced on local rice varieties Basil on SLPP’s stance on prime minister position Nearly 15,000 knew of Easter Sunday attacks including HarinF & Diplomatic Missions Need of the Hour: Your Assistance to Deliver Essential Medical Equipment, Food, Fuel and Help Re-start the Agri-Food Supply Chain in Sri Lanka on or before 5pm, Thursday 6th Eid-Ul-Fitr 20 year National plan for Sri Lanka – No political Parties THE ECONOMY OF SRI LANKA Pt 2 A SHOCKING INSIGHT INTO THE FURTHER MISMANAGEMENT AND MISDIRECTION OF A BELEAGUERED ADMINISTRATION MISTER PRIME MINISTER, PLEASE DO NOT RESIGN !- NO COCK-TAIL GOVERNMENT NEEDED FOR SRI LANKA Warning bells for Fiji – Economic crisis in Sri Lanka ‘a lesson’ What S Jaishankar Said On Tamil Nadu Seeking Centre's Nod On Sri Lanka Aid Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa calls for ‘pro-people struggle' to mitigate economic crisis Sri Lanka Crisis: Inflation Rises To 29.8% In April Harin and Fonseka in verbal clash in SJB May Day Rally Energy Minister reveals new guidelines for fuel transportation Sri Lanka can use its potential, come back to stability: Israel envoy 21st amendment will not resolve Sri Lanka’s economic crisis - Ranil
Ask yourself, if you were Mahinda Rajapakse, with no intention of resigning as PM, would you unleash a mob to attack unarmed protestors, knowing the ultimate blame will fall on your shoulders? Presuming the answer is negative, think about what could have really happened. Without falling for pick & go versions, think of the events & make your intelligent conclusions. 9 April 2022 – Protestors create (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
The greatest transfer of wealth in human history took place during Covid-19 Lockdowns with Covid masks and Personal Protection Equipment. The rest of the world was impoverished.[i] As Sri Lanka caught in an International Sovereign Bond (ISB) debt trap defaults into the arms of Washington and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), questions arise at this time: Have two years of Covid-19 lockdown induced digitalization of economy, society and democracy, a.k.a. Digital Colonialism, advanced to a point that all sides are infiltrated and gamed in this strategically located Indian Ocean island nation perpetually... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/05/22)
World Bank, Washington DC.The multilateral Asian Development Bank and the World Bank owns 13% and 9% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, respectively. WASHINGTON DC, May 11 2022 (IPS) - Sri Lanka is in the throes of an unprecedented economic crisis. Faced with a shortage of foreign exchange and defaulting on its foreign debt repayment, the country is unable to pay for its food, fuel, medicine, and other basic necessities. Notwithstanding the austerities that would be entailed, a bail out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been accepted as the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
DID THE INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS COORDINATION OPERATE FROM ITALY OR SWEDEN? The statement made to the Press/Media today by the Secretary of Defense Kamal Gunaratne that Stern actions would be taken against all those involved in violent acts such as vandalism and arson after May 9 irrespective of party politics, reiterate the confidence and trust the peace loving and rural folks of Sri Lanka have in the Mahinda Rajapaksa/Gotabaya Rajapaksa/SLPP coalition leadership - the 6.9 million voters who elected... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
It was indeed pathetic to see broadcaster Watawala attempting to incite carousing revellers at the Maharaja-Circus on Galle Face Green to take the law into their hands, incapacitate the Legislature and make the ‘Green’, the Country’s Parliament while establishing on the esplanade an anarchical zone where State authority would not apply. Shades of Sierra Leone where scores of ‘Galle-Face -Greens’ have been established and ‘dime-a-dozen’ warlords, with bigoted notions of governance, rule their respective parochial patches, the hallmark of a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
It was expected and yet shocking. Expected, because that’s what history has taught us: those in power, having enjoyed all the luxuries that come with power, and especially through abuse of office, are lulled into believing that power is permanent, and therefore rudely shocked when they realise otherwise, seldom exit peacefully. They fight back, typically. They did. Here are some interesting facts to keep in mind. The attack on the agitators at Galle Face (the ‘aragalists’) was carried out not by the Police or the Army; those arms of the state... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
මසක කාලයක් ගෝල් ෆේස් හි ගොඩනැගු ගෝටාගෝගමෙහි දහස් ගණන් තරුණ තරුණියන් මෙන් ම නොයෙකුත් මතවාදී ධාරාවන් නියෝජනය කරන අන් අය එකට බැඳ තැබූ සුන්දර වරපටය ආදරයයි. එකට එක් වී වැපුරුවේ ආදරයයි. යෙදුනේ හෙට දින රට හදන ව්‍යායාමයක පෙරහුරුවකයි. අහිංසකත්වය, අවිහිංසාවාදය, නිර්මාණශීලිත්වය, එඩිතරකම, ඉවසීම, සාමුහිකත්වය යනාදියෙන් අරගල භූමිය සුවඳවත් විය. එවැනි අහිංසක, අවිහිංසාවාදී, නිර්මාණශීලී, එඩිතර අරගලයක් මතක ඉතිහාසයේ නැති තරම්ය. අපේ රටේ හෙට දවස පිලිබඳව සුභවාදීව හිතන්න අරගලකරුවන් සියලු දෙනාට බල කර සිටියා මෙන් ය.ඊයේ මැර ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරන ලද්දේ අරගලකරුවන්ට පමණක් නොව, ඒ සුභවාදී සිහිනයට මෙන් ම මේ ගොඩනැගෙමින් තිබුණු අපුර්වත්වය දෙස ආදරයෙන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
https://youtu.be/xniPFC-rNY4... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
(ත්‍රයි නිකායික මහානායක හිමිවරුන් ප්‍රමුඛ සමස්ථ භික්ෂු සමාජයට සහ දේශප්‍රේමි සියළු ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජනතාව වෙත විවුර්ථ සන්දේශයක්) ආචාර්ය සුදත් ගුණසේකර අග්රාමාත්ය සිරිමාවෝ බන්ඩාරනායක මැතිනියගේ හිටපු ස්ථිර ලේකම්, ශ්‍රී ලන්කා රාජ්ය පරිපාලන සේවා සන්ගමයේ සභාපති (1991-1994) සහ මහනුවර සින්හල බෞද්ධ ජෙෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියන්ගේ සන්විධානයේ සභාපතී 1985 සිට මේ දක්වා)) 8.5.2022. මහනුවර පූර්විකාව අද මේ රට හා ජාතිය පත්ව ඇති අර්භුධයන්ගෙන් ගොඩගැනීමට ඇති හොඳම විසඳුම *පවතින මැතිසබයේ සියළුම පක්ශ නියෝජනයවන සර්වපාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලීන රජයකි. (මන්ද මේ අවස්ථාවේ මැතිසභය විසුරුවා මැතිවරණයකට යාමෙන් රටේ ප්‍රස්න තවත් උග්‍රවන අතර... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
අද අපේ රට ඉතිහාසයේ බරපතලම අර්බුදයකට මුහුණ දී තිබෙන අවස්ථාවක්. මේ අවස්ථාවට එන්නට ප්‍රථම ආර්ථික අර්බුදය නිසා ජනතාව මුහුණ දෙමින් සිටි දුෂ්කරතා නිසා සමාජ, දේශපාලන අස්ථාවරත්වයක් නිර්මාණය වුණා. මේ පැවති ගැටලුවලට විසඳුම් හැටියට විවිධ පාර්ශ්වයන් ඉදිරිපත් කළ පොදු යෝජනාවක් වුයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නියෝජනය කරන බහුතරයක් පක්ෂ එකතුකරන නව ආණ්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවන ලෙස. පසුගිය කාලයේ මම මේ සඳහා විවිධ පක්ෂ සහ කණ්ඩායම්වල නායකයන් සමග සාකච්ඡා බොහොමයක් කළා. ඒ අදහස මමත් පිළිඅරගෙන මේ විසඳුමට අවශ්‍ය පසුබිම සකස් කරන්න අසීරු හා දැඩි තීන්දු කිහිපයක්ම අරගත්තා. පසුගිය කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය පත් කිරීමේ දී එවකට හිටි ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ ඇමතිවරු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
The Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says that the law and order situation in the country is not functioning properly which will not help in overcoming the economic crisis. The Governor of the Central Bank stated this while participating in a media briefing. https://youtu.be/PZnDP_0aHoE He points out that there is a dysfunctional situation in the country where there is no Prime Minister, no Finance Minister and only an Executive President who does not take any action in Parliament. The Governor further said that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
නව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා වශයෙන් හිටපු අගමැති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා පත්වනු ඇතැයි මාධ්‍ය කිහිපයක්ම වාර්තා කර ඇත. එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ සභාපති වජිර අබේවර්ධන මහතා පවසන්නේ රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා හෙට හෝ අනිද්දා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ලෙස දිවුරුම් දීමට නියමිත බවයි. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ බහුතර කැමැත්ත ලබා ගැනීමට රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතාට හැකියාව තිබෙන බවද ඔහු පැවසීය. ජනාදිපති ගෝටාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සහ රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා අද පස්වරුවේ හදිසි සාකච්ඡාව පැවැත්විය. තමන් අමාත්‍ය ධුරය ලබා ගතහොත් සහයෝගය ලබාදිය හැකි දැයි වික්රමසිංහ මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය ඇතුළු පක්ෂ කීපයකින්ම දුරකථනය මාර්ගයෙන් විමසා ඇත.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
නව ආණ්ඩුවක් පත් කළ පසු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්ෂයේ අසුන් ගැනීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායමක් තීරණය කර ඇත. එම තත්ත්වය මත විපක්ෂ නායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා දරන විපක්ෂ නායක ධුරය ද අහෝසි වී යාමට නියමිතව තිබේ. ඒ අනුව නව විපක්ෂ නායකයා කවුදැයි ඉදිරියේ සාකච්ඡා කර තීරණයක් ගැනීමට නියමිතව ඇත. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ අග්රාමාත්ය ධුරය භාරගෙන කටයුතු කරන්නැයි ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාගෙන් අවස්ථා කිහිපයකදීම ඉල්ලාසිටියද විවිධ කොන්දේසි ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් එය ඔහු මඟ හරිනු ලැබීය.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
SJB MP, Harin Fernando has informed party leader Sajith Premadasa that he will sit independently in Parliament as Premadasa had failed to give a possible solution to solve the ongoing crisis in the country. Fernando told Daily Mirror that the SJB members had held discussions throughout the day but no possible solutions had been reached to sort the ongoing issues, and Premadasa had refused the Premiership post till such time some conditions are not met. "I told Sajith this is not the time to put forward conditions.We should be thinking... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
නව අගමැතිවරයා ලෙස එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ නායක රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා පත් කිරීමට නියමිතව බව නෙත් නිවුස් වෙත වාර්තා වනවා. රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතාට සහය දැක්වීම සඳහා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නියෝජනය කරනු ලබන සිංහල, දමිල සහ මුස්ලිම් මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් රැසක් ඉදිරිපත්වී ඇති බව සඳහන්. අග්රාමාත්ය ධුරය භාර ගන්නා ලෙසට ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා දේශපාලන පක්ෂ කිහිපයකම නායකයින් වෙත ඉල්ලීම් සිදුකළ ද රටේ පවතින ආර්ථික තත්ත්වය මත ඔවුන් එම අභියෝගය භාර ගැනීමට ඉදිරිපත් නොවූ බවයි දේශපාලන ආරංචි මාර්ග සඳහන් කර සිටින්නේ. හිටපු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් අතර ඔවුන් සමග පැවති සාකච්ජාවේදී රටේ ජනතාව පත්ව ඇති... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, condemning the initial actions that led to the unruly incidents on the 9th of May, says he has directed the Inspector-General of Police to conduct an impartial inquiry in this regard. Delivering a special statement to the nation today (May 11), he said the armed forces and the police have been ordered to take stern legal action against people engaging in unruly behaviour. President Rajapaksa noted that he would take steps to appoint a new Cabinet of Ministers and a Prime Minister this week, who can command a majority... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
The tri-forces are instructed to use necessary force to prevent vehicles checking by unlawful gangs or violent groups, incidents of damaging public or private property, looting and assault, the Ministry of Defence says. They are also directed to also open fire when required, the ministry noted in a statement.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has held talks with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe this evening (May 12). During the talks, the former Prime Minister has requested the President not to obstruct the protesters at the Galle Face Green. According to the UNP Media Unit, MP Wickremesinghe and President Rajapaksa have discussed the ongoing crisis situation and the economic turmoil in the country.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
All police stations have been instructed to exercise maximum force to prevent vehicle searches by unruly mobs or violent groups and incidents of damaging public or private property, looting and assault, Sri Lanka Police says. Police officers are also directed to open fire when necessary to prevent such incidents, the police media division said in a statement. It also noted that members of the public are not allowed to loiter on roads while the curfew order is in effect. An island-wide curfew was declared in Sri Lanka at 7.00 p.m.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
Sri Lanka Police says 59 social media groups used to gather people for violent incidents since May 09 have been identified and that investigations are underway to initiate legal action against the admins of these groups. Issuing a release, the Police Spokesman’s Office said that various social media networks and social media groups have been used to summon violent groups to carry out attacks on individuals, houses, vehicles and other properties amidst the tense situations on May 09 and after. Fifty-nine (59) such social media groups and their admins have already been... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is currently at the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dockyard in Trincomalee due to security reasons, according to Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne. He stated that as soon as the situation returns to normalcy, the former Premier will be relocated to a place of his choice. He said it is their responsibility to protect the lives of every citizen, from the leader to the former leader. He said they decided that the former Prime Minister continuing to remain at the previous location would a security concern and that therefore... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
Suggestions and recommendations have been made to settle the current stalemate and to bring normalcy to Sri Lanka. The country is in an abyss and the biggest losers are the innocent people whose livelihood is dependant on a daily wage and often do not have savings to live through periods of unemployment, the students and our future generation The Proportional Representation system of electing Members of Parliament needs to be abolished. This system has devastated the social fabric of Sri Lanka and created politicians who are at the mercy of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/05/22)
The Police have commenced investigations in connection with the damage to a number of homes and other properties owned by former Ministers, incumbent Government MPs, and Local Government (LG) members, following attacks that also led to acts of arson by protestors on Monday (9) and yesterday (10). The attacks followed in the wake of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Government supporters attacking peaceful protestors at the protest sites in “MainaGoGama” in Kollupitiya and “GotaGoGama” in Galle Face on Monday. Speaking to The Morning, Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of Police Ajith... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
People like Chathura Seneratne, the president/secretary and the former president/secretary of the IUSF and JVP Lal Kantha should be arrested immediately. What the opponents of Mahinda Rajapaksa's political victory since 2005 and followed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2015 could not achieve with all their conspiracies initiated by the Western powers and the connivance of the JVP with the involvement of the "Yahapalana gang" has now (nearly) been achieved under the disguise of a "peoples protest". What the JVP did in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
ඉන්දීය භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය නියෝජනය කරන තමිල්නාඩුවේ උපත ලද සුබ්‍රමනියම් ස්වාමි දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදයට තදින්ම විරුද්ධවූ අයෙකි. අපේ රට දෙමළ කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදය හා සටන් කරද්දී ඉන්දීය පාර්ලිමෙන්තුව තුල හා ඉන් පිටත අපේ රට වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි එකම ඉන්දීය මහජන නියෝජිතයාවූයේ සුබ්‍රමනියම් ස්වාමි පමණයි. ඇතැම් අවස්ථාවන්හීදී කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදයේ ඉලක්කයක් බවට පත්වූ අවස්ථාද නැත්තේ නොවේ. නමුත් එදා අපේ රට වෙනුවෙන් සිටි එකම ඉන්දීය මහජන නියෝජිතයා, අද පීල්ල මාරු කර ඇති සැටියක් පෙනේ. ඊයේ ඇතිවූ කලහකාරී සිද්ධීන් පාදක කරගෙන එය ඉන්දීය විරෝධයක් දක්වා වර්ධනය වේයැයි උපකල්පනය කරමින් ඉන්දියාවේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පතා ලංකාවට ඉන්දීය හමුදා එවිය යුතු බවට ඔහු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Dear respected Policymakers of Myanmar, We, Bangladeshi citizens want a friendly relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar with neighbourly spirit. Because you are ours immediate neighbours Thus, you should strengthen the bilateral ties with Bangladesh by resolving bilateral problems such as Rohingya crisis. Myanmar and Bangladesh should bolster their ties with neighbourly spirit for various reasons. Currently the strained Myanmar-Bangladesh relations need to be smoothened. January 13, 2022, marked the 50 years of bilateral ties between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Myanmar recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign state on January 13, 1972. But there... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Private organisations work more efficiently than Government ones do. The Russian Friendship Teaching Hospital in Malabe could be seen as a typical example, (before and after the Government took over). One can still, have a private consultation (from the 4thfloor) at a price. Could this impasse be due to the lackadaisical approach of the staff working on Government concerns? The writer recently accompanied a patient to a semi-Government hospital in Kotte for an operation on 21 March. The surgeon was exceptionally kind and arranged everything possible for the patient.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
The armed forces have been ordered to open fire on any person involved in looting public property or causing physical harm to others, the Ministry of Defence says. In a video statement, Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne urged the general public to refrain from such conduct. He urged the country’s youth to continue their struggle in a peaceful manner without causing any harm to any individuals and without damaging to setting fire to any properties, be it public or private. The Defence Secretary said that a large number of incidents regarding... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
The residence and shrine of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's personal shaman, Gnana Akka, were destroyed by the protesters' attack in Anuradhapura last night. https://youtu.be/XBQwP02rzFo... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Police said violence throughout the island on Monday has resulted in eight deaths and number of arson attacks on houses and properties. They said eight men including a Parliamentarian, a Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, a Sub Inspector of Police and a Police Seargent had died during the riots and violent activities that took place island wide on Monday. More than 230 have been injured in those incidents. Police said 47 vehicles and 38 houses came under arson attack, while 41 vehicles and 65 houses had been severely damaged. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
As a close neighbour, India has reiterated its support for the democracy, stability and economic recovery of Sri Lanka. The official spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs has conveyed this in response to media queries on the recent developments on the island nation, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said. “As a close neighbour of Sri Lanka, with historical ties, India is fully supportive of its (Sri Lanka’s) democracy, stability and economic recovery.” The spokesperson also recalled that India, in keeping with its Neighbourhood First policy, has extended this... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Sri Lanka Police says that two suspects have been arrested in connection with the assault on Senior DIG in charge of Western Province, Deshabandu Tennakoon. The suspects have been arrested by Kollupitiya Police, a short while ago. Earlier today, it was reported that Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon has been injured in an attack carried out by a group of persons. According to reports, the high-ranking police officer had been assaulted by a group at Perahera Mawatha near the Beira Lake in Colombo. The angry mob had also attacked... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) Capt. Themiya Abeywickrama has rejected the ‘false rumours’ being circulated on social media accusing him of certain allegations. “During this current crisis, false rumours are been circulated on social media accusing me of certain false allegations,” he said in a statement. The DG of Civil Aviation stated that as a private citizen and in his official capacity he sincerely denies the “baseless and false allegations” currently circulating in social media claiming that he is linked with the illegal transport... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa -- who resigned as prime minister after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters and sparked a day of violence -- will not flee the country, his son MP Namal Rajapaksa told AFP on Tuesday. He said the Rajapaksa family had no plans to leave Sri Lanka despite weeks of protests demanding they relinquish power. “There are a lot of rumours that we are going to leave. We will not leave the country,” he said, describing the surge of national anger against his family as a “bad patch”. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Police Media Spokesman SP Nihal Thalduwa stated that an ALL ISLAND police curfew has been imposed indefinitely with immediate effect.<br /><br />The police spokesman said in a statement that strict action would be taken against those who damage public property, mobilizing public assembly and committing acts of violence during the curfew.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Opposition debates future as protesters insist President Rajapaksa must go too COLOMBO -- An eerie calm descended on Sri Lanka's capital on Tuesday, the day after the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, with citizens harboring more questions than answers about what the future holds. But while Colombo was relatively quiet after a night of violent clashes and burnings across the country -- which killed at least seven, injured more than 200 and left properties owned by the Rajapaksa family and other politicians in smoldering ruins -- fresh trouble... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
A top Sri Lankan policeman was attacked by a mob and hospitalized on Tuesday, AFP reported citing the police. Local media reported that Deshabandu Tennakoon, a senior inspector in charge of Western Province, was assaulted in Colombo.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
A Sri Lankan man protects his eyes from tear gas as he passes the site of anti-government protests in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 9. (CNN)Sri Lanka's outgoing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was rescued in a pre-dawn military operation Tuesday, hours after his resignation, as violent clashes between pro and anti-government protesters left several dead and 217 injured.The military were called to the Prime Minister's 'Temple Trees' compound after protesters tried to breach his private residence twice overnight, a senior security source told CNN.The attackers managed to "enter... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/05/22)
Dear Sri Lankan’s You have been suffering for 1,000’s of years and managed to triumph all alone, with only your passion for the Motherland coupled with your bravery, resilience and loyalty to ensure that Serendib survives. Yes I do believe in the right to protest but if your prize is the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, then the crowds can cheer as he falls upon his sword.....however tread carefully. As President he raised his loving arms into the air, reaching to the universe with these empathic and genuine words: ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
(ත්‍රයි නිකායික මහානායක හිමිවරුන් ප්‍රමුඛ සමස්ථ භික්ෂු සමාජයට සහ දේශප්‍රේමි සියළු ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජනතාව වෙත විවුර්ථ සන්දේශයක්) ආචාර්ය සුදත් ගුණසේකර අග්රාමාත්ය සිරිමාවෝ බන්ඩාරනායක මැතිනියගේ හිටපු ස්ථිර ලේකම්, ශ්‍රී ලන්කා රාජ්ය පරිපාලන සේවා සන්ගමයේ සභාපති (1991-1994) සහ මහනුවර සින්හල බෞද්ධ ජෙෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියන්ගේ සන්විධානයේ සභාපතී 1985 සිට මේ දක්වා)) 8.5.2022. මහනුවර පූර්විකාව අද මේ රට හා ජාතිය පත්ව ඇති අර්භුධයන්ගෙන් ගොඩගැනීමට ඇති හොඳම විසඳුම *පවතින මැතිසබයෙන් නියෝජනයවන සර්වපාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලීන රජයකි. (මන්ද මේ අවස්ථාවේ මැතිසභය විසුරුවා මැතිවරණයකට යාමෙන් රටේ ප්‍රස්න තවත් උග්‍රවන අතර රටේ පවතින... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
Colombo, May 9 (newsin.asia) – The police curfew imposed until 7 am tomorrow has been extended to 7 am the next day (11).... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
Colombo, May 9: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned on Monday following violence indulged in by his followers against protestors demanding the exit of the Rajapaksa clan from the government. With the resignation of the Prime Minister, the cabinet of ministers automatically stands dissolved. This should pave the way for the formation of a National Government which has been on the anvil for weeks now but held up by a lack of consensus among the political parties represented in parliament.ADVERTISEMENT Mahinda Rajapaksa is yet to issue a statement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
Colombo, May 9 (Ceylon Today/newsin.asia): “Medamulana Walawwa’, the ancestral home of the Rajapaksa family, was set ablaze by protesters a short while ago (09). Earlier, protesters were seen setting fire to the D.A. Rajapaksa memorial in Medamulana, Hambantota. In Colombo, three vehicles parked inside the Prime Minister’s official residence Temple Trees were torched by anti-government protesters. In the evening, the police had to fire in the air to disperse a crowd outside the Temple Trees. Meanwhile, the curfew imposed on Monday had been extended up to 7 am on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
Inside America's Meddling Machine: NED, the US-Funded Org Interfering in Elections Across the Globe. As you notice on TV, when all politicians of the main political parties who visited the protest groups are booed and hooted and threatened except a certain pseudo Marxist group, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) comes to ones mind - see video how NED funds regime change groups. In this Grayzone special, Max Blumenthal attends a Capitol Hill gathering of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and explores the group's destabilizing global campaign to meddle in other... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung has condemned the situation today (09) by posting a message on her Twitter account. The message says "We condemn the violence against peaceful protestors today, and call on the government to conduct a full investigation, including the arrest prosecution of anyone who incited violence. Our sympathies are with those injured today and we urge calm and restraint across the island. Meanwhile, the so called peaceful protestors are accused of perpetration of following violences against the parliamtarians reported in the local news papers.
Police Media Spokesman SP Nihal Thalduwa stated that an ALL ISLAND police curfew has been imposed indefinitely with immediate effect.<br /><br />The police spokesman said in a statement that strict action would be taken against those who damage public property, mobilizing public assembly and committing acts of violence during the curfew.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
At least 141 people have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital following the violent situation that erupted near Temple Trees and spread out to the Galle Face Green protest site and other parts of the country. An unruly group of SLPP supporters today (May 09) attacked the GotaGoGama anti-government protest site set up at the Galle Face Green. They caused havoc, assaulting the peaceful protesters at the site while destroying their tents and other properties in the area. The SLPP supporters had staged a demonstration near the Temple Trees... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
Polonnaruwa District MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his personal security officer are reported dead amidst the unrest in Nittambuwa today. A shooting incident was reported in the area this evening, following which a total of six injured people were rushed to the Wathupitiwala Base Hospital. Hospital sources confirmed that three of them have sustained gunshot wounds. A 27-year-old who was in critical condition later succumbed to injuries. According to reports, the parliamentarian and his assistant had opened fire at the protesters and critically injured two people blocking his vehicle. He was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has stepped down from his position, amidst the ongoing protests against the government across the country. He has tendered his letter of resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a short while ago, the PM’s Office confirmed. https://youtu.be/pNKmsQT-Hzg Rajapaksa’s resignation comes amid ongoing anti-government protests across the island over the worst economic crisis in the country since its independence. Earlier today, police imposed a nationwide curfew and Army troops were deployed in Colombo as supporters of the ruling party attacked anti-government demonstrators... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/05/22)
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has presented a list of proposals claiming they will ‘restore political & economic stability’ in the country. While these are a set of ‘aspired’ goals, there is no pressing necessity to be implementing any one of the proposals unless they provide immediate solutions, which are the call of the hour. The Executive Presidency is not the failure of the crisis but the blame can be pinned on the sitting Executive President if BASL presents points on where the sitting President has failed. If... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
Myanmar-Bangladesh must have mutual strategic engagement as they share common border. Myanmar-Bangladesh have some common problems which need to be resolved bilaterally as soon as possible. Myanmar, Bangladesh need defense diplomacy for cementing their ties with neighbourly spirit. Myanmar must understand that Bangladesh is a good neighbor for Myanmar. The neighbourly friendship needs to be bolstered through defense diplomacy. Defense diplomacy has long been regarded as an important component of international diplomacy and an effective tool for fostering bilateral and regional relations. Military training cooperation is an important part of military... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
The transition from an aid seeker to a donor country is a matter of great pride for the people of Bangladesh. Now, Bangladesh has achieved the status of being a donor country. It is the combined efforts of all Bangladeshi people and leadership who have made it possible to achieve this milestone. Bangladesh’s medical and monetary help to Sri Lanka will increase its picture and status. As soon as upon a time, Bangladesh was a ‘bottomless pit’ and a donation seeker within the worldwide area. Now it’s a donor and lending nation. It... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asked the Prime Minister-led Cabinet to resign and pave the way to form a national programme to stabilise the country ending the current crises, Mass Media Minister,Dr. Nalaka Godahewa told the media yesterday. He also said, the Prime Minister’s decision to resign would either be made today or in the coming few days. “Once the Prime Minister resigns the Cabinet stands automatically dissolved. The President requested us to resign to end this political stalemate,” he added. Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa has phoned Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was in for a surprise when he was hooted at by a group of protestors during a visit to Anuradhapura today morning. The protestors who had gathered close to the Temple since morning, hooted at the Prime Minister when his motorcade was leaving the premises. https://youtu.be/In3pwQ7MM9Y The protestors had called on the Prime Minister and his family to step down and even went to the extent of asking if the Prime Minister was wearing his clothes. The protestors were prevented from going close... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
https://youtu.be/58QB20ZDQsA Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says the decision on supporting the establishment of an all-party government will be based on the response of the President after his audience with the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL). He made these remarks following a meeting with the BASL members this morning (April 08). Speaking further, Premadasa stressed that executive presidency and the 21st constitutional amendment must be revoked in order for the country to move forward. “The main reason for the ongoing crisis is the dictatorial executive presidency,” he added.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
The following vialations of peace reported by the Sri Lankan press today 8th May 2022 Protest blocks traffic at Slave Island Junction (adaderan) A protest is obstructing vehicular movement at the Slave Island Junction in Colombo. As per reports, the demonstration is staged by a group of people demanding domestic gas. https://youtu.be/GiaISIbEgZc Part of High Level Road blocked by protesters reopened for traffic (adaderana) https://youtu.be/8jLTXODWUfc The part of High Level Road which was blocked by protesters in Nawinna area has been reopened for vehicular movement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Nalaka Godahewa says Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the meeting of Cabinet of Ministers, agreed to step down from his position. He stated this during ‘Mokada Wune’ programme on TV Derana on Sunday (May 08). Speaking further, Dr. Godahewa pointed out that the President and the Prime Minister are of the same opinion that the country should be saved. On Saturday (May 07), political sources revealed that PM Rajapaksa has decided to resign from his post during a special Cabinet meeting held at the President’s House on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has told the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) that he would take into account acting constitutionally with regard to the proposals put forward by the BASL. This was conveyed during a discussion held between the President and BASL member earlier today (May 08). The management committee of the BASL called on President Rajapaksa at the President’s House this morning, at the association’s secretariat at their request to discuss the proposals of the BASL to restore political and economic stability in the country. The committee also met... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has stated that it is considering the granting of USD 100 million to Sri Lanka in principle, the Ministry of Finance says. This was mentioned by the AIIB President Mr. Jin Liqun during a virtual meeting between the senior management of AIIB and Finance Minister Ali Sabry yesterday. Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Dr. Palitha Kohona and Secretary to the Treasury Mr. Mahinda Siriwardena along with Finance Ministry officials also took part in the meeting. A discussion was held on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
Protests were organized in various areas against the state of emergency. The State of Emergency was declared in the country effective from midnight on May 06 Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense has issued a statement clarifying matters regarding the state of emergency. https://youtu.be/RIN4SYMwY54 The Ministry of Defence has urged the general public to act as responsible citizens with utmost intelligence and patience during this difficult period to maintain law and order in the country stating that the government respects the democratic right of the people of Sri Lanka to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
https://youtu.be/Ngm2rTElVD0... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
circulating on social media recently stated that a doctor at a private hospital in Colombo had refused to treat Minister Prasanna Ranatunga who had come to him for treatment. Several parties expressed their views regarding the refusal of a doctor to attend to the Minister. https://youtu.be/EtwJG3qaLkY The Sri Lanka Medical Association says this should not be a precedent at all. A news item circulating on social media recently stated that a doctor at a private hospital in Colombo had refused to treat Minister Prasanna Ranatunga... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
On one side of the spectrum protests are calling for the stepping down of entire Parliament, amidst this are a bevy of piggy-bank protestors while the more important question should be where do we go from where we are now – an economic & political crisis. Is there light at the end of the tunnel. What led to the protests? No Gas – No Petrol – No Milk Powder – Power cuts & rising cost of living were the triggers that built the mental framework to garner support... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/05/22)
The British decimated the elephants and their habitats to plant cash crops and made resounding profits at the expense of the local Kandyan Sinhalese and the wild animals. The wild animals especially the Elephants who were well protected by the Sinhalese Rulers in their natural habitat in the hill country of Ceylon, were hunted down as game by Professional hunters like Samuel Baker, and the British Settlers. More than 10, 000 wild elephants were killed and their natural habitat destroyed by the British. Today the dwindling elephant population in shrinking reserves invade... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
ගෝල්පේස් අරගලකරුවන්ගෙන් පැහැදිලි කරගත යුතුවූ කාරණා/ගැටළු කීපයක් මෙම ලිපි පෙලේදී මුල සිටම මතුවිය. 1. මෙම <අරගලය> 2019 දී තාප්පවල චිත්‍ර ඇන්ඳ හා පුරන් කුඹුරු වගාවට ගිය ගම් වල සිංහල බෞද්ධ 69 ලක්ෂයට අයත් තරුණයින්ගේම අහිංසක අදහසක්ද? 2. එසේ නැත්නම් එය, රාසමාණික්කම් කොල්ලා විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී ඉල්ලා සිටි පරිදි, කොළඹ ජනතාව විසින් හයිජැක්කල, රට කැඩීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයේ සැඟවුණු ඇමක්ද? 3. යම් පොදු කටයුත්තකදී ඊට නායකයෙක් නැතිවීමත්, බොහෝ නායකයින් සිටීමත් යන දෙකම අයෝග්‍ය බව බුදුහාමුදුරුවන් විසින්ද සඳහන් කර ඇත. මෙම අරගලයේ නායකයෙක් හෝ නායක මණ්ඩලයක් සිටිනවාද? මෙහි ඇති වදගත්කම නම් සංවිධානයක ක්‍රියාවලට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
උක්ත කරුණ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අධිකරණ සේවා සංවිධානය විසින් කර ඇති සන්නිවේදනය හා මේ පිළිබඳව යුක්තිය උදෙසා නීතිඥයෝ සංවිධානයේ නීතිඥවරුන් විසින් ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ අවධානය අද දින (2022.05.07) යොමු කිරීමෙන් පසු ඒ ගැන වහාම ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ ගරු අග්රාමාත්ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා කඩුවෙල මහේස්ත්‍රාත් තුමියගේ ආරක්ෂාව මෙන්ම රට පුරා සියළු අධිකරණ වල විනිශ්චයකාරතුමන්ලාගේ ආරක්ෂාව වහාම තර කරන ලෙස පොලිස්පතිවරයාට උපදෙස් ලබාදී ඇත. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
https://youtu.be/eGpNmV5QqLw... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
Govt faces criticism from Oppn parties and foreign envoys Sri Lankans block an intersection demanding cooking gas cylinders in Colombo | PTI The Sri Lankan government on Saturday defended imposing a state of emergency, saying it was required to tackle the unprecedented economic crisis plaguing the country, even as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa faced flak from the Opposition and foreign envoys for his decision which gives security forces power to crack down on peaceful protests. In a special Cabinet meeting on Friday, the embattled president declared the state... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
40,000 tonnes of rice and other essential commodities to be shipped to Sri Lanka, says Sakkarapani Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R. Sakkarapani on Saturday warned of legal action against those who disseminate misleading information on social media about the initiatives to ship essential commodities such as rice to Sri Lanka. According to a press release, the State government will ship 40,000 tonnes of rice and other essential commodities to Sri lanka. Fifty-one rice mills have been identified for packing and supplying the rice in 10 kg bags. Good quality... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
A protest broke out, outside UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's house in 5th Lane in Colombo this morning, with protestors calling on the former prime minister to 'Go Home' and 'Stay Home'. The protestors gathered outside after a statement made by TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam in Parliament this week, saying that Ranil was seen persuading opposition MPs to vote for SLFP's Ranjith Siyambalapitiya in the Deputy Speaker election. The protestors gathered outside Ranil's house and carried out a peaceful protest calling on Ranil to allegedly stop his 'deals'. Security... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s main opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) says it has decided to extend support to the proposals brought forward by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka to restore political and economic stability in Sri Lanka, which includes the abolishment of the Executive Presidency. The party said in a statement that it would support a national program based on a series of proposals put forward by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka to resolve the serious national crisis in the country. The statement said that the SJB considers the program proposed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to resign from his post during the special cabinet meeting held yesterday (06), according to political sources. The source claimed that the resignation of the Prime Minister is scheduled to take place next Monday. A special cabinet meeting chaired by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was held at the President’s House yesterday. The President had pointed out that in the face of the economic and political crisis that has arisen in the country and the continuous strong opposition from the people, a serious problem has arisen... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
පෞද්ගලික මන්ත්‍රී යෝජනා ලෙස ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති 21 වන සහ 22 වැනි ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත් ඇතුළත් ගැසට් අතිරේකයක් නිකුත් කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ සමගි ජන බලවේගයේ මහලේකම් මන්ත්‍රී රංජිත් මද්දුම බණ්ඩාර සහ ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ ආචාර්ය විජයදාස රාජපක්ෂ යන අය විසින්. මෙම පනත් ප්‍රකාශය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම පිණිසයි නිකුත් කර ඇත්තේ. ඒ අනුව 20 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කරමින්, 21 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සිදු කිරීම අරමුණු කරගනිමින් 05 (02) යටතේ 'අ' කොටසේ මෙසේ සඳහන් කර තිබෙනවා. 4 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදයේ ''ජනතාව විසි තෝරා පත්කරගනු ලබන ජනරජයේ ජනාධිපති විසින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/05/22)
It was a pleasure to see Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka defending the post of President against the popular will of the party of which he is the Chairman. His argument was based on the significance of the post in national security on which his expertise cannot be questioned. The demand for the abolition of the President has come mainly from parties, which miserably failed in the attempt to capture the post. The present cry of Gotago appears to be more againster the holder than on the post of the President. The presidential system (PS)... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
The Academics’ Movement to Safeguard Agriculture in Sri Lanka (AMSA-Sri Lanka) proposes thefollowing short-, medium- and long-term measures to address immediate and medium- to longtermthreats faced by Sri Lankan Agriculture.Immediate threat:An imminent threat of widespread crop failure in the next two seasons leading to widespreadfood shortage requiring food imports using a colossal sum of foreign exchange.Immediate solutions: Allocate limited stocks of fertilizer and pesticides to selected crops on a priority basis givingtop priority to paddy, tea and maizeProvide 50% of the recommended nitrogen fertilizer for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
The Academics’ Movement to Safeguard Agriculture in Sri Lanka (AMSA-Sri Lanka) proposes thefollowing short-, medium- and long-term measures to address immediate and medium- to longtermthreats faced by Sri Lankan Agriculture.Immediate Threat:There is an imminent threat of widespread crop failure in the current (2022) Yala season becauseof the shortage of agrochemicals (inorganic fertilizer and synthetic pesticides). A failure of theYala rice crop could lead to a shortage of seed paddy for the next (2022/23) Maha season, thuscreating the possibility of a substantial food shortage in 2023. Food imports... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
Udaya Gammanpila has issued the warning after being sacked for criticising government policy that has taken the country to the brink of bankruptcy. Sri Lanka could run out of fuel and food in the next month, according to the former energy minister. Udaya Gammanpila was sacked earlier this year for criticising government policy that has taken the country to the brink of bankruptcy. The former energy minister told Sky News the economic crisis in his country is reaching a tipping point that could lead to the collapse... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
How many more International Monetary Fund programmes will Lanka need to put itself through to reach that manna of economic stabilisation? This is not the first time that Sri Lanka has come out of a battle with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is sufficiently battle-scarred over the years since the sixties. As one study in Financial Times reported, “…. Since 1965 Sri Lanka has been a ‘repetitive client’ of the IMF. The country has entered into 16 economic stabilisation programmes during 1965–2000. Macroeconomic management of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
A state of emergency will be declared by the President with effect from midnight today (May 06), the President’s Media Division said. The PMD states that the state of emergency will be declared in accordance with the powers vested in the President by the Constitution to safeguard the well-being of the country and to maintain the essential supplies and services to the people. The president invoked the tough laws after trade unions staged a nationwide strike Friday demanding his resignation over a worsening economic crisis. The move comes in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with the backing of several Cabinet Ministers, has requested Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign from his position, during the special Cabinet meeting today (06), sources told Ada Derana. It is reported that several cabinet ministers had backed the request made by the President. However, it is also reported that certain cabinet ministers have not responded positively to the request made for the Prime Minister to resign. President Rajapaksa had called for a special meeting of the Cabinet Ministers this evening (06) to discuss the current situation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, who was re-elected as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament yesterday, says he has decided to once again resign from the position. It is reported that he is expected to officially tender his resignation to the President shortly. The SLPP parliamentarian was re-elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament yesterday (May 05) in a secret ballot held in Parliament. Nimal Siripala de Silva of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) had recommended the name of Kegalle District MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya for the post while MP Lakshman Kiriella of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that he has never had deals with the Rajapaksa family. MP Wickremasinghe said that Mahinda Rajapaksa had plotted with LTTE leader Prabaharan to defeat him in the elections. The former Prime Minister made these comments in Parliament today (06) in response to the allegations made by MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam against Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (05). https://youtu.be/H-wzFkyKiyY... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/05/22)
Bangladesh’s medical and financial assistance to Sri Lanka increases its image and prestige. Once upon a time, Bangladesh was a ‘bottomless pit’ and a donation seeker in the international arena. Now it is a donor and lending country. It shows all-South Asian countries how to revive from ashes. Bangladesh establishes an example in South Asia how to ensure economic growth amidst various socio-political aspects. Debt-ridden Bangladesh a few years ago is now a country of unprecedented success in debt relief. The world today looks at Bangladesh in amazement. Bangladesh proves itself... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was re-elected to the position from which he had resignedBy PTI Updated: May 05, 2022 14:21 IST(File) Mahinda Rajapaksa, on left, and Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Bhanu Prakash Chandra In a major victory for Sri Lanka's embattled Rajapaksa clan, the government backed nominee on Thursday won the secret vote for the position of Deputy Speaker, demonstrating the ruling SLPP coalition's ability to prove their parliamentary majority despite raging public protests demanding their resignation for mishandling the country's worst economic crisis. MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was re-elected to the position from which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
ආතල්ගමේ ප්රධාන අපේක්ෂාව වුනේ රටේ සියලුම හොරු එළවා රට පාරිශුද්ධ කිරීම. මේ අපේක්ෂාව මහ ඉහලින් සම්පුර්ණ වෙන්නේ 1977 න් පස්සේ රට හූර ගෙන කාපු හොරු රංචුවට අයත්, මේ දක්වා පැවති ආණ්ඩුවල මැති ඇමතිවරුන්ගේ ඉඳන් පරිපාලන සේවයේ නියතු නිලධාරින් සහ වෛද්‍යවරු,නීතිඥවරු, ඉංජිනේරුවරු, බැංකුකරුවෝ, ගුරුවරු, මාධ්‍යකරුවෝ, පූජකවරු කුදලා ගෙන ඇවිත්, කොළඹ ආතල්භුමියේ දි ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ පව් සමා කරවගෙන, හුරකාපු වස්තු ෆයිල් පෙන්නලා, ඒ වස්තු වලින් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් නැවත මහ බැංකුවට බැර කර ගත්තට පස්සෙ. මෙතැන් පටන් සිරිලංකාද්වීපයම හොරුන් ගෙන් තොර ලෝකයක් වෙලා මුරකාවල් නැති, වැටකොටු බැමි නැති අපේම අපේම නවාතැනක් වෙනවා. නිර්පාක්ෂික, නිර්ලෝභි, නිර්මල හා විනිවිද බව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
Even in uncertain times, especially times of political turmoil marked by continuous and widespread agitation as well as unmistakable confusion regarding governance and indeed governability, there is clarity on certain matters. It is clear, for example, that for all the political brouhaha of parliamentary intrigue and agitational grandstanding, what brought the citizen out and pushed the politician against the wall, is an economic crisis. There’s a lot of debate about root causes including mismanagement, erroneous policy and hanky-panky, not to mention of course the elephant in the room: in a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
My elder brother, M. R. Fernando, passed away on 5 May 1995. On his 27th death anniversary, I write this to him tribute because at the time of his death I was living in London. Everyone called him MR. He missed his university entrance as our father suffered from Typhoid fever. Later ‘MR’ joined the Technical College at St. Sebastian Hill, Maradana, and qualified B.Sc. (Hons) London in Civil Engineering. After he qualified he worked as a lecturer at the same Technical College. We, three brothers hailed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
Politics is about claims and counter-claims. It is about profit-seeking through exaggeration and pooh-poohing. It is also about wild extrapolation of conclusions wrought in echo-chambers. It is as much about deception as it is about self-deception. Perhaps an example would illustrate the point.Way back in 2010, a few weeks before the presidential election, a diehard UNP supporter said, ‘this time Mahinda is finished, you wait and see!’ I asked, ‘on what basis do you say this?’ ‘Everyone is saying it,’ was the emphatic response. I asked, ‘All these people who told you that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
Dhaka, May 5 (newsin.asia): The Government of Bangladesh donated much needed medical supplies to the people of Sri Lanka at the request of the Sri Lankan Government at a simple ceremony held at the State Guest House Padma in Dhaka on May 5. The urgent medical supplies provided are of a total value of BDT 200 million equivalent to USD 2.32 million. The donation of medical assistance was handed over to Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Dhaka Prof. Sudharshan Seneviratne by the Bangladesh Government, in the presence of Foreign Minister Dr A.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
Colombo, May 4 (ECONOMYNEXT): The near two thirds’ vote in favour of Sri Lanka’s government-backed deputy speaker candidate on Thursday (05) revealed the likelihood of the government easily defeating a proposed no confidence motion against it, opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam said. In an impassioned speech following the vote, Rasamanickam said that only 65 MPs were with the people of Sri Lanka who have been demanding the resignation of the government, while 148 MPs continue to stand for the ruling Rajapaksa family. Sri Lanka’s parliament re-elected MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
This demonstrated the ruling SLPP coalition's ability to prove their parliamentary majority despite raging public protests demanding their resignation for mishandling the country's worst economic crisis Colombo: In a major victory for Sri Lanka's embattled Rajapaksa clan, the government backed nominee on Thursday won the secret vote for the position of Deputy Speaker, demonstrating the ruling SLPP coalition's ability to prove their parliamentary majority despite raging public protests demanding their resignation for mishandling the country's worst economic crisis. MP Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was re-elected to the position from which he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
Finance Minister Ali Sabry yesterday told Parliament that continuous budget deficits had led to accumulation of public debt, which was now unsustainable. “In this process, I do not rule out the element of corruption, and therefore we need to emphasise the institutional factors, such as an independent judiciary, a credible Central Bank, and a strong public service. At present, the Sri Lankan economy is in an extremely challenging situation, and this has triggered social turbulence and political instability. This may lead to catastrophic consequences if the fundamental issues are not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
The Police fired tear gas on students of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) who were protesting near Parliament entrance this evening. https://youtu.be/mY8NIbPFe0c... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
AFP: Crisis-struck Sri Lanka’s vital tea exports have dropped to their lowest level in 23 years, official figures showed yesterday, hit by a fertiliser ban and the war in Ukraine.Tea is the island nation’s biggest export commodity, bringing in about US $ 1.3 billion annually before the current economic downturn, the worst since independence in 1948. But a bungled ban on fertiliser imports last year -- introduced in a doomed effort to save foreign currency and avoid a debt default -- hit growers hard, with production falling 18 percent on-year for the period... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/05/22)
According to the former SIS head Nilantha Jayawardena at least 15,000 people knew of an impending attack on Easter Sunday – to this list of 15,000 people included entire Parliament & even diplomatic missions. All of them are now trying to palm of their guilty conscience by accusing others. Amongst the MPs – the then Minister HarinF who is a staunch Catholic had also been told by his ailing father not to attend Easter Sunday mass. The question is even if Minister HarinF chose not to inform the Catholics of Sri Lanka, why... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
“Those who desire to treat politics and morals separately will never understand anything of either. The practice of politics not only can, but must be reconciled with the imperatives of honesty - Jean-Jacques Rousseau It is often said that politicians have the morals of alley cats. Some say asking a politician whether he or she is honest is like asking a prostitute whether she is a virgin. While it is unethical and unfair to label all politicians as lacking in morals, ethics and non-corrupt behavior, recent allegations made by the JVP, reportedly along with some supporting documents,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
ශ්‍රී ලංකා පදනම් ආයතනයේ දී 2022.05.03 දින පවත්වන්නට යෙදුනු මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවේ දී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට අයත් ඉඩම් ලෙසට යම් ඔප්පු අංක සහ ඉඩම්වල නම් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ නායක පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා විසින් අසත්‍ය හා ජනතාව නොමගයවනසුළු ප්‍රකාශ කරමින් අග්රාමාත්ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට අපහාස වන අයුරින් වැරදි තොරතුරු ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම නිසා ඔහුට සිදුවූ අපහාසය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතාට එරෙහිව ඉදිරි නීති කටයුතු සිදුකිරීම සඳහා ස්වකීය නීතීඥවරුන් වෙත උපදෙස් ලබාදී ඇත. එකී මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශයේ දී සිදුකරන ලද අසත්‍ය ප්‍රකාශ දැඩි පිළිකුලෙන් යුක්තව හෙළා දකිමු.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
Australia Broadcasting Corporation’s leading investigative journalism and current affairs programme, Four Corners, recently released a documentary suggesting a major corruption case pertaining to the multi-million dollar hospital project in Hambantota The video reveals how Aspen Medical profited from the pandemic and got itself embroiled in an international criminal investigation into corruption and money launderingAspen Medical’s contracts were worth USD 500 million more than any other providers. Aspen received funds and paid those funds back out to contractors in return to a 4% handling feeAspen Medical has said that it had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
යහපාලන සමයේදී අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ පවත්වාගෙන ගිය බවට චෝදනා එල්ලවූ දුෂණ විරෝධී කමිටුව වෙත සිවිල් සංවිධාන සහ මහජනතාව විසින් ලබා දුන් තොරතුරු ජවිපෙ නායක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක අද (3) දින වීරයෙකු මෙන් මාධ්‍ය වෙත ලබා දුන් බවට පාරිභෝගික අයිතිවාසිකම් සුරැකීමේ ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරය පවසනවා. තම සංවිධානයද ඇතුළුව සිවිල් සංවිධාන රැසක් අල්ලස් හෝ දුෂණ වැළක්වීමේ කොමිෂන් සභාව වෙත පැමිණිලි රැසක් ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇතත් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ කිසිදු අවස්ථාවක ඒ පිළිබඳව විමසීමක් කර නොමැති බවයි පාරිභෝගික අයිතිවාසිකම් සුරැකීමේ ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයේ සභාපති රංජිත් විතානගේ මහතා සඳහන් කර සිටින්නේ. ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ නායකයා විසින් ඒක පාර්ශවීයව කරුණු ඉදිරිපත්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
Police remove their vehicles, protestors remove their constructionsPeaceful non-inconveniencing protests still permitted Following an order issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court and a heated debate between Police and protestors outside Temple Trees in Kollupitiya, vehicles parked on the pavement in the area and the constructions of the protest zone generally referred to as “MynaGoGama” were removed yesterday evening (4). The heated debate took place when the Police produced a court order to the protestors and instructed them to dismantle the constructions. The protestors argued with the Police and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
May 5 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka plans to replace its current “unrealistic” budget and is in talks with the World Bank to extend its support by $300 million to $700 million, the country’s finance minister said on Wednesday. The island nation, hit hard by COVID-19 and short of revenue after steep tax cuts by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government, is critically short of foreign exchange and has sought an emergency bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Rampant inflation and shortages of imported food, fuel and medicines have led to weeks of protests that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
Colombo, May 4 (newsin.asia): Representative of trade unions in a number of essential services have said that they will not support the strike which is expected to be launched on the 6th of May. The strike will cause inconvenience to the general public and will only help achieve narrow political gains, they said. They would take all necessary steps to provide their services uninterrupted, the unions added. The Trade Union representatives expressed these views during a meeting held with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Colombo Fort on Tuesday. They told the ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
සමගි ජන බලවේගය විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති විශ්වාසභංගය සඳහා සහාය ලබා දෙන්නේ විශ්වාස භංගයෙන් අනතුරුව රටේ වගකීම භාර ගැනීමට සූදානම් නම් පමණක් බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී පූජ්‍ය අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියෝ සඳහන් කරති. විශ්වාසභංගයකින් ආණ්ඩුවක් පරාජය කල යුත්තේ ආණ්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවා එම වගකීම ගෙන ආණ්ඩුව කරගෙන යා හැකි නම් පමණක් බවත් එසේ නැතුව රට අරාජික කිරීමට සහාය දිය නොහැකි බවත් උන්වහන්සේ පැවසූහ. විශ්වාසභංගයක් ඉදිරිපත් කර ආණ්ඩු ගෙදර යෑමටත් කලින් ආණ්ඩුව ගෙදර යැවීමෙන් පසු සිදුකරන ඉදිරි වැඩ පිළිවෙළක් තිබිය යුතු බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. එසේ නොමැතිව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
FERTILIZER BAN: Asia Siyaka Commodities blamed the drop on the agrochemical ban, a government push to transform the country’s farms into 100 percent organic Sri Lanka’s tea exports have dropped to their lowest level in 23 years, official figures showed yesterday, hit by a fertilizer ban and Russia’s war against Ukraine. Tea is the country’s biggest export commodity, bringing in about US$1.3 billion annually before the current economic downturn, the worst since independence in 1948. However, a ban on fertilizer imports last year — introduced in a doomed effort to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
Buddhist monks protest outside the president's office in Colombo on Wednesday Sri Lanka will have to endure its unprecedented economic hardships for at least two more years, the country's finance minister said Wednesday while warning of an imminent cash crunch. Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and pharmaceuticals have brought widespread suffering across the South Asian island nation. Public anger has sparked sustained protests demanding the government resign over its mismanagement of the economic crisis, Sri Lanka's worst since independence in 1948. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
You can’t believe everything you read on the internet – especially these days, with so many false claims and misleading stories. Some governments have even taken to blocking social media to prevent ‘rumours’ spreading. In fact, no less than 32 countries in Asia restrict social media platforms in some way. China, Iran, North Korea, and Turkmenistan go one step further and enforce full bans across popular social media platforms. China, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea also have full bans on Virtual Private Networks (VPN), which allow users to get round... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
It was the private sector that demanded a tax cut soon after the present government came into power, Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament today. "No politicaian in the government wanted a tax cut, as it was the private sector that wanted it," he said. The former Premier also found fault with the govenment officials and requested the minister of finance to work on his own and make his own statements in the House. "I also propose that all financial advisory committees as it is the Parliament which has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
Minister of Finance Ali Sabry, delivering a special statement in parliament today (May 05), revealed that Sri Lanka’s foreign liquidity reserves, which amounted to USD 7.6 billion by the end of 2019, have dropped to a critically low level below USD 50 million. https://youtu.be/6lQd63ktm0w Speaking further, the lawmaker said the reserves declined to USD 5.7 billion by the end of 2020, as a result of gross inflows of USD 5.8 billion and outflows of USD 7.8 billion, including foreign currency debt service payments of USD 6.0 billion. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
The Fort Magistrate’s Court has issued a court order for the removal of all the structures, vehicle and belonging of protesters near Temple Trees in Kollupitiya, that cause obstructions to the pedestrians using the pavement and inconveniences the public. https://youtu.be/MNXrsFS1k4g However, the court order further says that it does not impede the protests carried out in a peaceful manner, Ada Derana reporter said. Fort Magistrate Manjula Ratnayake had issued the directive today after considering a request made by the police seeking an order to remove the protesters as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, addressing the rumours circulated on the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said the reports are baseless. He made these remarks speaking to the media following the meeting of the parliamentary group of the ruling party today (May 04). When asked about the rumours stating that the prime minister is expected to step down from his position after delivering a special statement in the parliament, Minister Gunawardena said no such decision has been taken. The parliamentarian, however, stated that the prime minister intends to deliver a statement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
UPDATE: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has announced the official exchange rates of the US Dollar. Accordingly, the selling rate of the USD is listed as Rs. 350.05 and the buying rate is Rs. 362.99, according to the central bank. Several licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka today (May 04) announced their selling rate as Rs. 370 per US Dollar. The selling rate of US dollar per Sri Lankan Rupee according to the daily exchange rates of several licensed commercial banks is as follows: ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
In one of the video reports, the person by the name of Nimal Perera does not want to answer the interviewer's question about the mysterious British-Virgin Islands-domiciled company called Sabre Vision Holdings and walks away giving the impression to the viewer that there is something fishy going on. However, in 2016, this same person (when the UNP was in power and determined to jail the Rajapakse's) confessed to collecting money for Namal Rajapaksa and his confession led to Namal Rajapaksa bieng arrestd (see page 7). However this allegation was not proved in a court of law... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
United Nations held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I) in 1956.The second Conference (UNCLOS II) was held in 1960. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) was convened in 1973 and went on till. 1982. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) prepared in 1982, came into force in 1994. This Convention let to the creation of three institutions dealing with the Law of the Sea. First, The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
The ocean resources of Sri Lanka are in the process of expanding due to the relatively new UN Law of the Sea, announced the media. The Territorial and Continuous areas will add a sea area 8 times our land area. Sri Lanka will thereafter acquire 200 nautical miles as an Exclusive Economic Zone, (EEZ) when its claim is considered. This would extend to about 350 kilometers or more from the shore. This would increase our sea area to more than 27 times the landmass we have. The total area will resemble a fan around the island.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/05/22)
India, Sri Lanka and Maldives are located in the same area of the Indian Ocean. Therefore it was necessary to decide on the territorial boundaries of the sea between these three countries. Maritime boundary agreements between India and Sri Lanka were signed in 1974 and 1976 . This was necessary to avoid conflict, in the waters particularly in Palk Strait. The first agreement was regarding the maritime boundary in waters between Adam's Bridge and the Palk Strait, and came into force on July 8, 1974. This demarcated the waters from Adam's Bridge to Palk... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
Several of my Kiwi patients and medical colleagues have asked me repeatedly why Sri Lankans are washing their dirty linen in public and driving off potential tourists and investors from going to Sri Lanka, when this is precisely what Sei Lanka needs now.! On a personal note the latest Gota Go Gama in Parliamentary Square in Westminister London,i s precisely where the Tigers were camped for over 12 months after their defeat on 19/5/09 with one of them infamously going... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
ප්‍රථම්යෙන්ම එවැනි යෝජනා කරන අයගේ මොලේ තියෙන්නේ කොහේදැයි වහාම පරීක්ශා කළයුතුය. මන්ද දැනට රටතුල පවතින ආර්ථික,දේශපාලනික සහ සමාජ අසහනය අනුව විපක්ශ නායකයා සහ අනුර දිසානයක ඇතුලු ඇතැම් අය කියන පරිදි මැතිවරරණයකට යාමට මේ අවස්ථාව කිසිසේත්ම සුදුසු නොවන බැවිනි.. මන්ද පළමුවෙන්ම පාර්ලිමේත්ව විසුරුවා මැතිවරණයකට යාමෙන් අද රටේ පවතින දේශපාලන,ආර්ථික හා සමාජ අර්බුධ තවත් උග්‍ර වෙනවා මිස ඒවාට කිසිසේත්ම විසදුම් නොළැබෙන නිසාය. දෙවනුව මැතිවරණයක් පවත්වා අවසාන කිරීම සඳහා අවම වශයෙන් මාස 5 ක් වත් ගතවීම, රටතුල පවතින අර්බුධකාරි තතවය නිසා සාධාරන මැතිවරණයක් පැවැත්වීමේ දුස්කරතා, මැතිවරණයකට වැයවන රුපියල් කෝටි 1500 පමණ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලේ නව වෙබ් අඩවිය සහ යූ ටියුබ් චැනලය අන්තර්ජාලයට එක්කිරීම අග්රාමාත්ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ සුරතින් අද (03) පෙරවරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී සිදු විය. දේශීය සහ විදේශීය වශයෙන් මෙරට සංස්කෘතිය පිළිබඳව ප්‍රචාරයක් ලබා දීම හා සංචාරක ආකර්ෂණය වැඩි කිරීම මෙහි අරමුණයි. ccf.gov.lk වෙබ් ලිපිනය ඔස්සේ මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලේ නව වෙබ් අඩවිය වෙත පිවිසිය හැකි අතර "අපේ උරුමය" (Our heritage) නමින් නව යූ ටියුබ් චැනලයට පිවිසිය හැකිය. මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදල ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංස්කෘතික උරුමය කළමනාකරණය කරන ප්රධාන ආයතනයක් වන අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්රධාන පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්ථාන ආරක්ෂා කිරීම හා සංරක්ෂණ කිරීම, පර්යේෂණ සිදු කිරීම, බිතු සිතුවම් සහ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
නීත්‍යානුකූලව ඡන්දයකින් පත්වූ ආන්ඩුවක් හෑෂ් ටැග් වලින් ගෙදර යැවිය හැකිද? පසුගිය 2019 වකවානුවේ දී පැවැත්වූ මැතිවරණ නීත්‍යානුකූල නොවූයේනම් අද ඇතිවන තත්වය මීට වඩා හාත්පසින්ම වෙනස් ස්වරූපයක් ගනී. එසේ වූවානම් නම් තීරණාත්මක බලවේගය වන්නේ හෑෂ් ටැග් නොව මහජනතාවගේ අරගලයයි. ඊනියා නිර්පාක්ෂික අරගලයේ (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
Colombo, March 28 (Sunday Observer): The pulse of a nation beats through its traditional knowledge. This holds true for ancient civilisations such as Sri Lanka. For nations such as ours to wipe out that which is indigenous and create a socio-economic path for its people on totally alien lines can only spell disaster. This is the post-colonial economic reality that we are witnessing today. A frog does not feel it when it is in a pan of water atop a fire rising in temperature that is slowly bringing the pan to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
Colombo, May 3: China, which had expressed displeasure over Sri Lanka’s approaching the IMF for a bailout without consulting it first, and had warned that its relations with Sri Lanka would depend on the conditions set by the IMF, has now revised its stand. Beijing has realized that it cannot turn a blind eye to Sri Lanka’s plight and should join the rest of the world in helping it pull its economy out of the woods.ADVERTISEMENT The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong said told Lankan Finance Minister Ali... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
Peoples’ Responsibility Center, a civil organization staged a protest near the Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka calling for the Sri Lankan government to purchase fuel from Russia. Pix by Kithsiri de Mel ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
The JVP revealed that former Minister Namal Rajapaksa has received money from two Companies - ‘NR Projects’, a Netherlands company and ‘Aspen Medical’, an Australian Company through Nimal Perera connected to the construction of the Nuwara Eliya and Hambantota Hospitals. Convenor of the Voice Against Corruption Wasantha Samarasinghe said this fraud came to light during the investigations into a complaint they lodged over the Krrish Deal. He said according to the B report of the case over the Krrish Deal, Namal Rajapaksa had admitted that he had received Rs. 60... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
Former President Maithripala Sirisena today strongly rejected the allegation made by Wasantha Samarasinghe, the convener of the Voice Against Corruption, that a portion of the money allegedly stolen from the Central Bank bond fraud had been given to former President Maithripala Sirisena and his family members. In a media release, the former President’s private secretary Sameera de Silva stated that “Blaming innocent people without any basis for political gain was not a moral political act and that all possible action would be taken in the future regarding this malicious statement.” ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
Former Governor of Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, in response to the allegations levelled by JVP Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has said the payments made to Pakistani American political donor Imaad Zuberi have been made on official written instructions of the government, and not on “the wishes of a single person.” Earlier today, at a media briefing convened to expose past corrupt deals of Sri Lankan politicians, MP Dissanayake alleged that Cabraal had wired USD 6.5 million in total to Zuberi in 2014 to rehabilitate Sri Lanka’s image in the United States. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
The government of China has decided to provide another grant of Chinese Yuan (CNY) 300 million to Sri Lanka to help in the supply of medicine, food, fuel and other essentials, the Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement issued today. The grant comes after a telephone conversation held between Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in late April. During the earlier phone conversation, Premier Li told PM Rajapaksa, “China feels for Sri Lanka for the difficulties and challenges you face, and we want to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
The go-ahead of the Cabinet of Ministers has been given to provide a special cash allowance for a period of three months to identified low-income families affected by the ongoing economic crisis. Relevant proposal was tabled by the Minister of Finance and Minister of Samurdhi. As the low-income families entitled to Samurdhi, Elderly, Kidney and Disability allowances have been severely affected by the current economic crisis in the country, the government has identified the need for immediate relief to those families and their families on the waiting list. Contingent Emergency... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/05/22)
The Mahanayaka Thero of the Malwatta chapter of Siam Nikaya, Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero has decided not to allow any politicians to meet with him. The decision has been taken by the Mahanayaka Thero as no responsible persons have still responded to the proposals by the Chief Incumbents of the three Buddhist Chapters, on resolving the current issues of the country. https://youtu.be/Im-ohj0spF8 The Mahanayake Theras of the three chapters recently submitted a letter to the President, the Prime Minister and the political party leaders, which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
he Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong today (May 02) reiterated China’s fullest support for Sri Lanka in securing the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to overcome the ongoing financial crisis. https://youtu.be/Dnj41JSfmJo Mr. Zhenhong made these remarks during a meeting with Minister of Finance Ali Sabry. As a major shareholder of the IMF, China is willing to play an active role in encouraging the IMF to positively consider Sri Lanka’s difficulties and reach proper agreement as soon as possible, Mr. Zhenhong added... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has announced maximum retail prices for three local varieties of rice. However, the new maximum retail prices are not applied to rice stocks released to the market at concessionary prices by the Paddy Marketing Board, a special gazette notification published by CAA Chairman Shantha Dissanayake noted. According to the communiqué, the directive comes into effect from today (May 02). New maximum retail prices imposed on three local rice varieties are as follows: White/Red Nadu (steamed/boiled) – Rs. 220 per kilogramWhite/Read Samba (steamed/boiled) – Rs. 230... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa may decide to step down from his position in consideration of the request made by the chief prelates of the three chapters, MP Basil Rajapaksa has reportedly commented during a meeting held with the independent parliamentarians. However, if this happens and a committee of party leaders calls for nominations for the position of prime minister, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) will not nominate anyone else except Mahinda Rajapaksa’s name, he has said further. Speaking further, MP Basil Rajapaksa explained that the SLPP would not nominate anyone else’s name... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
In October 2020 the former head of State Intelligence Service Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that nearly 15,000 people were aware of the Easter Sunday attacks 10 days BEFORE THE ATTACKS (11 April 2019) & this included diplomatic missions & Parliament. What a shocking number. Does this include the Church hierarchy as well? It certainly did include Catholic Minister of the then ruling government HarinF. What is the legal position for anyone knowing about an impending crime & not doing anything about it while making noise now to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
Aubowan , This is the hour of need for Sri Lanka! As those that have left Sri Lanka for better lives in Canada, we need to first accept that as Canadians or ex-patriots we can do more! Your 5 minute effort for this task will go a very long way!Canada has helped many countries and we also can request their help via your Federal Minister on or before 5pm, Thursday 6th May 2022. Please use the available Canadian political instrument to request help to Sri Lanka at this time as follow-up... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
Eid-Ul-Fitr I extend my congratulations to the Muslim community in Sri Lanka who are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr with Muslims all over the world. During the most important month of the Muslim calendar, it is a great task for all of you to take a spiritual step away from worldly life in order to understand life. Your goal is to achieve an ideal life by focusing only on the good deeds during the fasting month of Ramadan. Therefore, it is commendable that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/05/22)
In 44 years of the executive constitution, Sri Lanka has seen nothing but political debacles. It is when we reach a stage of chaos that inspires us to think of ways to change and adopt new systems with the consent of the people. Therefore, people’s consensus is important. Nothing should be decided by foreign governments, foreign funded local NGOs – only the people of Sri Lanka. Let us consider a 20 year development plan. Political Parties We have a multi-party system in Sri Lanka. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Officials look back fondly on the economic policy followed immediately after independence. R.K.H.M. Fernando, formerly a Director in the Treasury, said that at Independence the Soulbury constitution provided for an Appropriation Act as well as the Financial Regulations, which provided an adequate controlling framework with proper check and balances. All the monies collected by the government went to a single Consolidated Fund.. The top administrators in the Ministries, were the Permanent Secretaries appointed by the Governor General. The government ‘s policy was carried out by the public servants, led by the Permanent Secretary. These... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
As the crisis in Sri Lanka deepens with no viable resolution in sight and the nation and all concerned, clamors on probably very justifiably that the present Administration needs to be removed post haste the following shocking revelation has emerged. It portrays the rank disregard by the legislators in charge of Administrating the country to prioritize the outstanding needs of an imperiled country by the very same people who are accused of having initiated it through mismanagement and corruption as the hue and cry continues and this is a clear cut example... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
The political inexperience of President Gotabaya had been exposed, providing a platform for anti-Sri lankans to attack him in a ruthless manner. President Gotabaya appear to be vulnerable and far too flexible in the jungle of politics in Sri Lanka. The media is having a field day with the President. To politically eliminate the President Gotabaya, the protestors need to eliminate Mahinda Rajapakse from the equation in the first place. This movement well supported by Diaspora and international financers, are eagerly waiting to re-coup the draw backs... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Economist Dr Neelesh Gounder. Picture: RAMA The current economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka should be a lesson for Fiji of what bad finance management could do to an economy, says USP economist Dr Neelesh Gounder. His comments come in the wake of international media reports that Sri Lanka has officially requested the IMF to bail it out of its worst economic crisis in 70 years. Dr Gounder said the Sri Lankan crisis had been in the making for some time. “Years of mismanagement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Tamil Nadu: A resolution piloted by Chief Minister MK Stalin was unanimously passed by the house, including the opposition AIADMK and the BJP. New Delhi: After Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution seeking permission to supply rice and essential medicines as aid to Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said that Tamil Nadu Government's assistance can supplement what is being provided by the Govt of India and informed that Sri Lanka prefers inclusive distribution. This comes as the resolution piloted by Chief Minister MK Stalin was unanimously passed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets across Sri Lanka since April 9 Protesters take part in an anti-government demonstration near the president’s office in Colombo on April 30, 2022, demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation over the country’s crippling economic crisis. | Photo Credit: AFP Sri Lanka's beleaguered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday urged all political parties to set aside their differences and appealed to the protesting citizens to join hands to steer a "pro-people struggle", amidst growing demands for his government's immediate resignation over its failure to tackle the country’s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Sri Lanka’s overall inflation surged to nearly 30% in April from 18.7% in March as the country faces its worst economic crisis. Debt-ridden Sri Lanka’s overall inflation surged to nearly 30 per cent in April from 18.7 per cent recorded in March, according to the official figures, as the island nation grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades. Sri Lanka is in the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
SJB MPs Harin Fernando and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka were seen engaged in a verbal clash at the SJB May Day Rally held in Colombo today. Parliamentarian Fonseka, who was seated in the front row, was seen calling MP Fernando closer to him and both were seen enaged in a verbal clash. Parliamentarian Manusha Nanayakkara intervened and brought the situation under control by shifting Fernando from the place.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Minister of Power and Energy Kanchan Wijesekera today announced that several new guidelines have been implemented for the transportation of fuel in the country. In a twitter message, the minister said that a decision has been taken to increase the capacity of fuel transportation via train to rural depots from 40% to 100%. Meanwhile it has also been decided to expedite the license issuing process for fuel distribution and reduce the duration of the process from one month to one week. https://youtu.be/XdlveWAl5Wg He also said a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Calling the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka “unfortunate”, Israel’s envoy to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan Naor Gilon said that the country can use its potential in tourism and agriculture to come back to stability. “Very unfortunate. I visited Sri Lanka to present my credentials just a couple of months ago. It’s a beautiful country with huge potential. Very sad to see there is an economic and political collapse there,” Gilon told ANI. Gilon was additionally appointed the Ambassador of Israel to Sri Lanka in early February, apart from his pre-existing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that bringing forth the 21st Amendment to the Constitution alone cannot resolve the economic crisis in the country. Addressing a May Day event held today, the leader of the United National Party (UNP) stated that today the country is facing an unprecedented economic and political crisis. “Our economy has completely collapsed. The working class has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, and hundreds of thousands of more jobs could be lost,” he said. https://youtu.be/jzVjhQBq-UA He said that Sri Lanka is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/05/22)
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