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News Archive for Sep 2022 Senaka Weeraratna The Great Fire of Lisbon of 1755 shattered the myth of a loving God and set Europe on the path to modern Atheism. Voltaire's book Candide espoused public disillusionment with 'God' and it led to later-day books like ' God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. At the end of the Second World War in 1945 with misery and hardship staring down on Europeans, there began another disillusionment in Europe - on the validity of traditional belief systems and religions rooted in Abrahamic monotheistic thought. Europeans led by Germans began to look East toward Asia for an eternal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22) Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe has proposed the establishment of an International University on Climate Change in Sri Lanka in order to enable students from any country in the world to engage in educational activities. https://youtu.be/JNj1JjZwSmE He made this remark during his meeting with the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masatsugu Asakawa at the ADB Headquarters in Manila, this morning (Sep 30). President Wickremesinghe, who expressed his gratitude to the President of the Asian Development Bank for the emergency assistance provided to Sri Lanka in the past, discussed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Headline inflation of Sri Lanka, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index has increased to 69.8% in September 2022 from 64.3% in August 2022. https://youtu.be/rffGGd5nQEU According to the Department of Census and Statistics, this increase in Y-o-Y inflation was driven by the monthly increases of both Food and Non-Food categories. Accordingly, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 94.9% in September from 93.7% in August, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 57.6% in September from 50.2% in August.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Red Cross Society of China has decided to provide more food packs to the neediest families living in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. https://youtu.be/G6YSMvxgq28 The donation worth USD 150,000 is made through the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, the Embassy of China in Colombo said in a statement. In May & July, the Chinese organization gifted dry rations to nearly 10,000 families in Homagama and Nuwara-Eliya.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga DSc When goons attacked “Aragalaya” at GFG one woman activist, an actress I think, shouted at her comrades “Polu bima damanda. Passata yanda, bithiyata hettu wenakan yanda” (Drop your sticks. Retreat back up to the wall). That depicts the peacefull face of the “Aragalaya”. On another day when a crowd surrounded the Navy base in Trincomalee where the former Prime Minister was hiding from the crowds a woman in the forefront was shouting “Kapapiyaw, pethi gahapiyaw” (Cut them to pieces). That is the violent face of the “Aragalaya”. At the begining the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Sugath Kulatunga Sri Lanka tends to decline the advice of local professionals but accept unreservedly opinions and recommendations of particularly organizations like the World Bank and IMF. But there are instances when even credible and convincing opinions from them have been ignored by our obdurate policy makers. The IBRD report in 1951 had made a few cogent observations, on product diversification and skills development which if we had followed, the country would not be in the present dismal plight and would have progressed to a developed country status. Instead, we concentrated exclusively on paddy cultivation where even after... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS Weeramunda made the perceptive observation that JVP has made use of the laxities and weaknesses of the university system to get a foothold in the university. JVP’s methods were founded on the principle of making the most out of laxities and weaknesses of the university system, he said. The weaknesses of the university systems are well known. The Vice Chancellor is appointed by the President and can be removed by him. He is therefore vulnerable. JVP has exploited this. Some VCs have taken a strong stand on ragging. Vice Chancellor, University of Ruhuna forcibly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Malinda Seneviratne One of the most thorny problems for self-styled liberals in Sri Lanka is that they use the liberal label as though it’s some kind of impenetrable shield, hiding behind which they take on specific enemies in accordance with preferred outcomes. Scratch them and you find some grotesque creatures. You would find colonial remnants, elitists who anything said or written in any language other than English has to be inferior, religious zealots rabidly anti-Buddhist, ardent lovers of much discredited neoliberal economic policies and echoers of Washington-speak who swear by Reuters, BBC, AP... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya Every time a serious crime is reported in the country, the subsequent revelation that there is a politician or someone close to him or her is involved is a common thing to hear these days. Interestingly, it is only one political party that participates in such incidents, which is worth noting. One incident was a group of robbers trying to snatch a hefty sum of money being brought to be deposited in a bank by a businessman, and the other was a group of hooligans savagely beating some students attending... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Malinda Seneviratne Sri Lanka is a resilient nation. That’s almost a given. A constant. All talk of peace, human rights, democracy, good governance, reparations and other such goodies emanating from Washington, London and other empiric capitals are disingenuous and laughable. Constant. Meddling, self-righteous and downright obnoxious North American and European diplomats: well, almost par for the course, with the US and UK specimens ensuring an above average score on such attributes. Sessions of the UNHRC. The USA and others in the global thugs club bad-mouthing Sri Lanka while Russia and China lauding the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
උපුටාගැණීම මව්බිම කොවිඩ් වසංගතය මෙන් ම යුක්රේන යුද්ධය හේතුවෙන් නිර්මාණය කරන ලද ගෝලීය ආර්ථික අස්ථාවරත්වයේ අහිතකර ප්රතිවිපාක වන ආහාර, ඉන්ධන සහ පොහොර මිල අධික ලෙස ඉහළ නැගීම දරාගත නොහැකි තත්ත්වයක් නිර්මාණය කළ බව ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ පෙන්වා දෙයි. ගෝලීය දේශපාලන ප්රවණතා එම ආර්ථික අර්බුදය තවදුරටත් උග්ර කර ඇති බව ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා පැවසීය. ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ පිලිපීනයේ, මැනිලා නුවර ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකු මූලස්ථානයේදී අද (සැප්. 29) පෙරවරුවේ පැවැත්වුණු ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකු අධිපතිවරුන්ගේ 55 වන වාර්ෂික රැස්වීමේ ප්රධාන සැසිය අමතමිනි. එහි මුලසුන ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ විසින් හොඹවනු ලැබීය. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 29 (newsin.asia): Addressing the 55th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank’s Board of Governors in the Philippines on Thursday, the Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that apart from domestic factors, geopolitical developments have also contributed to the economic crisis being faced by Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe noted that as this global rivalry intensifies into a new cold war by 2050, the inability of the major countries to give leadership to the mitigation of the global climate change crisis will become more apparent. “As they say in many of our... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror ● Govt. to brief Supreme Court over Highsecurity Zones ● Investigations have revealed that some groups had aimed to take over Parliament to prevent MPS from voting for a new President The police have launched extensive investigations over the involvement of some politicians who had encouraged some ‘protester’ groups to overthrow the government by forcefully occupying Parliament and preventing a vote to elect a new President following the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July. Highly placed sources told Daily Mirror that these politicians had even brokered... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s government appears increasingly upbeat about its chances of receiving International Monetary Fund (IMF) board approval for a USD 2.9 billion bailout by December, but the multilateral lender has cautioned that the time frame remains uncertain, and much depends on discussions with the heavily indebted country’s creditors. https://youtu.be/qOUpWAJ69to Peter Breuer, senior mission chief for Sri Lanka, and Masahiro Nozaki, mission chief for Sri Lanka, in written comments to Nikkei Asia, said, “It is difficult to predict the timeline, as the process of debt relief discussions takes time. All parties... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana A Gazette Extraordinary has been published specifying the regulations pertaining to the Colombo Port City Economic Commission. The regulations, issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization & National Policies, are made under Section 71(1) read with Section 27(1), 41(3)(f), 41)9) of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, No. 11 of 2021. The second reading of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill was passed in the parliament with majority votes in May 2021. Subsequently, Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena placed his signature on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Senior BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy on Thursday met former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo, becoming the first foreign visitor to call on the ousted Sri Lankan president, following his return to Sri Lanka after leaving the country amidst unprecedented protests against his government. Swamy, a close friend of the Rajapaksa family who is in Sri Lanka to attend a conference of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University on national security, also met with former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday evening and attended the Navratri pooja at his residence, sources said on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana apan is prepared to “do its part” over Sri Lanka’s debt issue, but other creditors, such as China and India, should also be involved in efforts to resolve it, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Thursday. Suzuki made the remarks after meeting with Ranil Wickremesinghe, president of Sri Lanka, which has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a $2.9 billion loan as the Asian nation needs to restructure its massive debt. Suzuki said he urged Sri Lanka during Thursday’s meeting to provide the necessary information, make its own efforts... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana https://youtu.be/c1-KktHFlb0 Addressing the 55th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors in the Philippines, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said amidst major economic stress, Sri Lanka is undertaking an unprecedented fiscal effort as part of the government’s commitment to restoring the country’s debt sustainability. Therefore, he expressed hope and expectation that Sri Lanka’s creditors, and all stakeholders, will support Sri Lanka in these efforts to restore the country’s debt sustainability and help put the country back on the path of inclusive and sustainable economic growth. President Wickremesinghe presided over... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/22)
By Sena Thoradeniya 1. CALL FOR SYSTEM CHANGE When President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa came into power calling for a “System Change” we looked at him positively, that he was promising something his predecessors had failed to deliver. In his pre-Corvid encounters with the villagers in remote areas (“Gama Samaga Pilisandarak”) he expressed powerfully in front of hapless village-level officials the need for a system change. In his flying squad type surprise visits to places like RMV Office etc., system change was the official mantra he recited to get things done. Later on, we came into the conclusion... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS JVP has cleverly used the disorientation felt by the rural, low income, district quota student when he comes into a university, to gain power in the university. These district quota undergrads have many problems. They have difficulty in understanding certain technical modules, and are hampered by a lack of English. Their z-scores are low, and they are selected for subjects which are low in the academic ranking. The university authorities do not take any interest in this group. They do not guide them. JVP steps in through IUSF and fills this gap. The IUSF... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island ” Norway will never forget how LTTE influenced the worst ever act of terrorism on its soil. Far right Norwegian Andres Breivik, 32, responsible for the July 22, 2011 massacre of 77 persons, mostly teenagers in two successive attacks in Norway was inspired by the LTTE. A few hours before, Breivik went on the rampage, he made reference to the LTTE’s eviction of the Muslim community from the Northern Province in Oct/Nov 1990, in his so-called manifesto released online. The following are the references (1) Pro-Sri Lanka (supports the deportation of all Muslims from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Kithsiri Senadeera I have the highest regard for our Sri Lanka's cricket captain Dasun Shanaka not only because he lead a young team to win the T20 Asia Cup under extremely difficult conditions, but the statement he made at the post-match press conference after winning the Asia Cup. Dasun Shanaka said "Not only Cricket, but other sports should also be on top. But the media always speak only about cricket. It is a big thing if we talk about other games and bring them up," We all should admire his selflessness statement. Instead of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Mirror Colombo, September 28: Reporting on the meeting between the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, last Friday on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly session in New York, the Chinese embassy in Colombo said that the two sides had “agreed to speed up the negotiation process and strive for an early conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), thereby boosting the confidence in and stabilizing the expectations for their economic and trade cooperation.” Significantly, from the Sri Lankan side, there was no press release on the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 28 (Counterpoint): Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Tokyo on Tuesday, that Sri Lanka would give priority to reviving the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) of 2018. The SLSFTA, which was signed when Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister, became operational on May 1, 2018, but only to be disregarded by the end of the year following a recommendation of a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) that it should be re-negotiated. While the promise of revival of the moribund pact may please the Singaporean... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said he is hopeful that French investors would enter into new areas of investment such as fishery, agriculture, information technology (IT), renewable energy, electronics and tourism sectors. He said this at a function to bid farewell to the outgoing French Ambassador Eric Lavertu at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo on Tuesday (27). "Sri Lanka has vast potential in information technology, tourism and agriculture and France will undertake more projects once the global economic situation get over the current difficult phase. He said that fisheries development... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror In parallel with the International Day for Universal Access to Information which falls today, a new unit “Counter Disinformation Unit” was launched by the President Media division. This program was initiated under the guidance of President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake at the President’s Office in Colombo. With the aim of countering disinformation and to solve public problems immediately a new webpage “Response” was also launched by the President Media Division this evening (28th). (pmd.gov.lk/counter-disinformation -unit) President’s attention has been constantly drawn to the public problems which appear in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court today issued a warrant for the arrest of Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka thera of Alan Mathiniyaramaya Temple in Polhengoda for not appearing in Court over a private plaint filed against him for allegedly using loudspeakers in a manner of causing nuisance. When case came up before Colombo Additional Magistrate, Dhammaloka thera was not present in Court. Further magisterial inquiry put off for October 31. On December 6, 2016 the Court had issued a conditional order preventing Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka thera from using loudspeakers in a manner of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror August merchandise exports income tops US$ 1.2bnApparel & textile exports up 15% to US$ 565mnJan-Aug. cumulative exports up 12% to US$ 8.85bnCumulative apparel & textile up 19% to US$ 4.08bn Sri Lanka recorded its highest merchandise export income so far for this year in the month of August amid increased export earnings from textile & apparel exports, the data released by the Export Development Board showed.August became the fourth consecutive month to report over one billion dollars of export income as the month saw a merchandise export income of US$ 1.21 billion,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Although Sri Lanka tourism had to face some unprecedented challenges over the past couple of years, the industry is now back on track for recovery, said the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA). Giving a positive message on World Tourism Day, the state agency highlighted that over the past couple of months, the number of tourist arrivals has increased, showing progress from the situation the industry was previously in. “Over the years provincial economies and rural communities have greatly benefited whilst contributing towards the tourism model of the country,” said SLTDA... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The inaugural meeting of the National Council is scheduled to be held tomorrow (Sep. 29) under the patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. The meeting will commence at 10.30 a.m. in parliament. On Sep. 23, the Speaker announced to the parliament the list of Members of Parliament who have been nominated for the National Council which was established as per the proposal of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The National Council consists of members representing parliament from the respective political parties. https://youtu.be/kp2tDDcvclY... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News President Ranil Wickremesinghe held bilateral talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The discussions are taking place in Tokyo, Japan. President Ranil Wickremesinghe also called on His Majesty Emperor Naruhito at Imperial Palace in Tokyo. President Wickremesinghe left the island last morning (Sep. 26) on an official visit to Japan and the Philippines. During his two-day official visit to Japan, the President is expected to participate in the funeral ceremony of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/22)
BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS The administration of Sri Lanka has encountered a gigantic task of uniting the people of the country after the ARAGALAYA, the challenge seems to be an arduous task. People in the country are divided based on various ideologies and policy matters of the government. It is natural, that people have a variety of characteristics, but divisions in Sri Lanka have unrecognized strings behind the divisions that may be unknown to many. Human beings naturally have differences, they are subject to control by many organizations to a greater extent with different purposes which attempt to achieve... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS Since the administration of King Vijaya, the application of values did not work in society because the behaviour of King Vijaya showed that he had no values and was not concerned about practising values in society. King Vijaya was a lawbreaker and was deported from his country as he was behaving harmful way to peace-loving people and leaders of the ARAGALAYA were ideal models of Vijaya who destroyed peace-loving inhabitants who were called the HELA community. Religions attempted to educate religions-related values that aimed to get respect from the laity. The authoritative administration... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Sugath Kulatunga, Derana TV Channel must be congratulated on the new program they have introduced under the title ‘Rebuild Sri Lanka’ and brilliantly conducted by the dynamic Chatura de Alwis. I hope other channels also follow this example and devote more time on development issues rather than wasting time on never ending cheap TV drama and on longer and cheaper and violent Tamil films. The recent discussion was with a distinguished panel consisting of Chairman EDB, Chairman Tea Board and a very knowledgeable representative from the apparel sector. The discussion was well focused on different aspects... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya It is not a secret that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has never made any profits. The public must always chip in by paying more taxes to cover their expenses by pumping money from the government coffers. Another generator at the Norochchole plant has been shut down, and social media is rife with news that a 10-hour power cut is on the cards. If that is true, the CEB income will be further reduced by more than 40%, and how do the authorities plan to bridge the gap?... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Courtesy CNA MANILA/TOKYO: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is ready to provide further financial support to Sri Lanka, a top official of the regional lender said on Tuesday (Sep 27), as the Indian Ocean nation battles its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades. The remarks came after an ADB pact this month for an emergency loan of U$200 million to ensure access to food and protect livelihoods after months of shortages of key essential items which sparked protests that forced out the president. "As a key long-term partner, the ADB stands ready to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
By Feizal Samath Courtesy TTG Asia Sri Lanka is planning to offer a 49 per cent ownership and management stake in its loss-making national carrier to cut losses and transform the airline to a profitable venture. The move would signal a return to foreign management and partnership after a 10-year contract with Emirates ended in March 2008 without any extension. The Dubai carrier had a 43 per cent stake (at an investment of US$70 million) and full management control of the airline. SriLankan Airlines does not own any aircraft – its entire fleet of 23... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Steve Forbes Forbes Staff Courtesy Forbes For decades, the International Monetary Fund has been the scourge of countries that get into economic trouble, yet its authority has never been seriously challenged. Today, this is especially dangerous. The deadly combination of inflation and food shortages is putting numerous nations on the brink of disaster. A few, most notably Sri Lanka, are already in chaos. All too many countries are particularly vulnerable because they loaded themselves with debt during the easy-money years following the 2008-09 financial crisis, when interest rates were virtually nonexistent. Now, with the cost of money... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Expression of opinions on social media by public officers without following the Establishment Code shall constitute an offence leading to disciplinary action, the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration says. This was conveyed in a circular titled “Expression of opinions on social media by public officers” published today (Sep. 27). In the communique, Mr. M.P.K. Mayadunne also noted that carrying out an activity that should not be carried out by an officer who is not entitled to the exercise of political rights as per Section 1, Chapter XXXII, Volume I of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe held discussions with Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi this morning in Tokyo. During the meeting, Foreign Minister Hayashi welcomed Sri Lanka’s progress with the IMF and expressed his country’s willingness to take a leading role in Sri Lanka’s creditor talks, the PMD reported. President Wickremesinghe expressed regret over the breakdown of relations between Japan and Sri Lanka following the cancellation of several investment projects by the former Government. The President stressed that he was keen to restart those projects, the statement said. The President also indicated that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/09/22)
Courtesy orinoco tribune The IMF released a report today on the Bolivian economy in which it recommends adopting drastic neoliberal measures, including; reducing workers’ salaries, cutting public investments, and ending currency controls. These policies have turned Bolivia from one of the poorest countries in the region into it’s fastest-growing economy. The report takes aim at the government’s spending on development, saying, “The government must restrict spending, including eliminating the end of year wage bonus for workers, they must restrict the growth of wages for public sector workers, and limit the growth of public investment and subsidies.”... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Shenali Waduge ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Dilrook Kannangara Many nations including Sri Lanka face a hunger problem. Instead of looking for easy ways out, blaming this and that and finding faults with everything suggested, nothing much happens in Sri Lanka. Various types of beans grow in all parts of the island. Beans can be grown in a small garden. Almost all households in rural areas can grow beans and other legumes. They are easy to cook, high in protein, carbohydrates and vitamins and currently have few pests. Unlike readily edible crops, beans do not attract thieves. Legumes extract nitrogen from the air... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Manusha Media විදේශ ගත ශ්රමිකයින් සදහා වන විශ්රාම වැටුප් යෝජනා ක්රමය ආරම්භ කළේ විදේශ ගත ශ්රමිකයින්ට අපගේ ප්රතිඋපකාරය පළ කිරීමටයි - අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මනුසවි විශ්රාම වැටුප් යෝජනා ක්රමය අරඹමින් කියයිමනුෂ්යත්වයේ නාමයෙන්, දශක ගණනාවක විගමනික ශ්රමිකයන්ගේ අපේක්ෂාව යථාර්ථයක් කරමින්, ‘මනුසවි‘ සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ දායක විශ්රාම වැටුප් යෝජනා ක්රමය ආරම්භ කිරීමට හැකි වූ බවත්, ඉදිරියේ දී මෙරට සෑම කම්කරුවකු ම සුරක්ෂිත කරන සාමාජ ආරක්ෂණ ජාලයක් නිර්මාණය කරන බවත්, කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා පැවැසීය. ඒ කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාරගේ සංකල්පයකට අනුව විදේශ රැකියාවේ නිරතවූවන්ගේ විශ්රාමික දිවිය සවිමත් කිරීම සඳහා හඳුන්වා දෙන “මනුසවි” සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ දායක... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Chandre Dharmawardana I have gone thorough the following U-tube video and I am sad to see this kind of unsubstantiated claims misleading the public. This is just one of many. [ටවුම මැද්දේ වගා කරන, ගල් පොළොවේ කුඹුරු කරන, ගොවි රජාගේ විශ්වකර්ම වැඩ https://youtu.be/VjOTnWlbTbE I urge the Sri Lankan scientific community to not to ignore this sort of thing says "this stuff is rubbish and so we don't need to comment on the obvious", or that there are too many of these and we don't have time for it. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Today, 8 state-of-the-art CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) Screening Vehicles (mobile labs) worth LKR 660 million donated by China entered commissioning in 8 CKDu affected areas, i.e. Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Ampara, Kurunagala, Matale, Badulla. SriLankan people especially in the rural area are suffering in relation to CKD, known as the "silent killer";, as patients live with the disease for years before showing symptoms. Early screening and detection will spare the patients with limited healthcare access from pain says the Chinese Embassy. The 8 Screening Vehicles is part of joint effort to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe says that discussion on restructuring Sri Lanka’s bilateral debt has already commenced with India and China at a lower level and that he is visiting Japan to discuss their role it the process. He stated that talks with China would go to a higher level probably after the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The President stated this during an exclusive interview with StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale. Responding to a question regarding the progress made thus far with regard to resolving the economic crisis,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka is to purchase crude oil from Iran on a government to government deal, a Minister said today. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told Daily Mirror over the phone that he had a cordial discussion with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Minister said crude oil purchase is one of the key areas discussed,” he said. “We discussed a range of bilateral issues aimed at strengthening the cordial bilateral relationship,” he said. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lankan officials promote ad-hoc bilateral creditor platforms to expedite process Bilateral assurances expected around mid-November Private creditor assurance could come by way of ‘good faith’ engagement by officials ISB holders form two groups representing international and local bondholders to assess restructuring Any fund disbursements from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to crisis-hit Sri Lanka could be at least 3-4 months away from now as financing assurances from the country’s bilateral creditors remain a key sticking point for the IMF executive board to green light its bail-out programme, a presentation made to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/22)
Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya. It is obvious that there is some behind-the-scenes work involved in the recent coal tender revocation. Calling for a new tender allows opportunists to gain an unfair advantage and deceptive gains once more. How to avoid such an incident occurring in the future is as paramount as securing the next consignment before the country falls again into total darkness. Failing to fulfil the contractual obligations is a good reason not to release the deposited tender fee by the party who got it awarded. The other steps... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
සුදත් ගුණසේකර මහනුවර 25.9.2022. මේ සඳහා මැතිවරණ කොමිසම ප්රකාශය කරණුයේ නොවැ 11 දාට පසුව බවද දැනට පවතින ආසන සන්ක්යාව අඩුකිරීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තු කාරක සභාවේ නිර්දෙශ සහ සන්සෝධන මෙතෙක්ලැබි නොමැති බැවින් මේ වරද පසුගිගිය, එනම් 2018 පැවැති මැතිවරණයේ දී තොරාගත් නොයෝජිතයින් සන්ක්යාවම තෝරාගන්නා බවද මැතිවරණ කොමිසන් සභාවේ සභාපති පවසා ඇතැයි නො 25 ඉරිදා අරුණ පුවත් පතේ සඳහන් වෙයි.අද රටේ පවතින ආර්ථික තත්වය යටතේ මෙම ආසන සන්ක්යාව අඩුකරණ මෙන් යෝජනා ඉදිරිපතව ඇති බැවින් එම නව සන්ක්යාව වහාම මැතිවරණ කොමිසම වෙත දන්වනමෙන් අපි ඉල්ලා සිටිමු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
A Guide for Practitioners Courtesy Worldbank Group 5.1 Introductory RemarksEfforts toward asset confiscation are of little value if, at the end of the day, no asset is available for confiscation. Stolen assets may be hidden or moved out of reach in a short period, while investigation and confiscation proceedings may take years, often giving the target ample time to move or dissipate assets. Therefore, it is critical that measures be taken to secure the assets that may become subject to a confiscation judgment. These measures, referred to as “provisional measures,” include the seizure and restraint of assets and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
By Dr Tilak S. Fernando Recently, Chanaka Senanayake (we are only one nation-one country, one law and one nationality & one language organisation) interviewed the Sri Lankan media. He said Sri Lanka owes International Monitory Organisations a sum of US $55 billion in loans. However, out of that US$55, a sum of US$30 billion had been defrauded out of the country. He is on record by saying that 'he is not bothered by whom did the fleecing took place, but there is a process to get that money back to the Sri Lanka treasury.' It is known as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 25 (newsin.asia): Foreign Minister Ali Sabry enunciated Sri Lanka’s vision in his address to the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 24. Pitching strongly for multilateralism, Sabry said that now is indeed a watershed moment for the international community: a moment of great challenge and opportunity. And then he went on to say that the complex and interconnected crises that we face cannot be resolved by nations acting on their own. It is an opportunity to demonstrate global solidarity, diplomacy and collective efforts, leveraging the ideas... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America On September 23, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Wang Yi expressed, China and Sri Lanka are each other's strategic cooperative partner. The two countries have always shared weal and woe and sincerely helped each other. This year, which marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka and the 70th anniversary of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana China and Sri Lanka have agreed to speed up the negotiation process and strive for an early conclusion of a free trade agreement, thereby boosting the confidence in and stabilizing the expectations for their economic and trade cooperation, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said. https://youtu.be/FlifmPCv6Gk Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Ali Sabry on Friday on the sidelines of the ongoing 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. As strategic cooperative partners, Wang said,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News A new consignment of medicine worth 12.5 million RMB (650 million LKR) donated by China under its 500 million RMB emergency humanitarian assistance has departed Chengdu, China and is scheduled to arrive at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport on Friday (23rd) evening via a charter flight of Sichuan Airlines. With a total volume of 60.04 cubic meters and weight of 14.62 metric tons, the consignment consists of:1) 100,800 PF.Syrs of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Alpha Injection 4000IU<br />2) 270,000 doses of Rabies Vaccine for Human Use (Vero Cell) Freeze-dried3) 4,500 bottles... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Sri Lanka expects the International Monetary Fund board to approve a $2.9 billion loan by year-end, officials from the country's central bank told investors during a virtual presentation on Friday, sources participating in the event said.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The police have arrested at least 84 individuals today following the protest organized by the Socialist Youth Union this evening Sep. 24). According to the police, two Buddhist monks and four females are also among the arrestees. The national organizer of the union, Eranga Gunasekara has also been arrested by the police. Earlier this evening, the police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse the protesters at Dean’s Road in Maradana. The protest march commenced at the Lipton Roundabout and proceeded towards the Maradana area through... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
Lanka Lead News “අරගලයට නව ජවයක් – තරුණ බලය යළි කොළඹට” යන තේමාව යටතේ සමාජවාදී තරුණ සංගමය අද (24) කොළඹදී සංවිධානය කර තිබූ විරෝධතාව අතරතුර කලහකාරී ලෙස හැසිරුණු විරෝධතාකරුවන් 84 දෙනෙක් පොලිස් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබේ. කොළඹ පුරහල අසලින් ගමන් ආරම්භ කළ පාගමන කොළඹ කොටුව දක්වා ගමන් කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර තිබූවද විරෝධතාකරුවන් ඩීන්ස් පාර ඔස්සේ මරදාන දෙසට ගමන් කිරීමට උත්සාහ කිරීමේදී පොලීසිය විසින් සෞඛ්ය අමාත්යංශය ඉදිරිපිටදී කදුළු ගෑස් සහ අධි පීඩන ජල ප්රහිර එල්ල කරමින් පාගමන විසුරුවා හැරීමට පියවර ගත්තේය. විරෝධතාවය අතරවාරයේ තුවාල ලැබූ විරෝධතාකරුවන් 7 දෙනෙකු ප්රතිකාර සඳහා කොළඹ ජාතික රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කර ඇති... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
By Shahid Mehmood Courtesy The Island HE resumption of the IMF package, that was badly needed to avert an external payments crisis, has reignited passions. As most countrymen wrestle with the question of whether or not the Fund is a tool of neocolonialism to keep countries like Pakistan sedated and subservient, what is lost in the debate is why we always wind up at its door. Let’s take a peek. Energy is the relevant sector to get this conversation going as it constitutes the largest portion of our import bill. Economic growth and economic mobility depend... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island Sugar tax scam: National Audit Office estimates Rs 16.7 bn revenue loss State Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has asked for a report from the Inland revenue Department on the income tax returns of sugar importers who have allegedly benefited from an unprecedented reduction of duty on a kilo of sugar on 13 Oct., 2020. The gazette pertaining to the duty reduction (Special Commodity Levy) from Rs 50 per kilo to 25 cents was issued by the Finance Ministry during the tenure of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry on the sidelines of the general debate of the UNGA 77 in New York on September 23. Wang Yi said that China and Sri Lanka established the relations of strategic partnership of cooperation, and the two countries have always shared weal and woe and treated each other with all sincerity. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Aeroflot, Russia’s state-owned airline, has decided to resume flights from Moscow to Sri Lanka with effect from October 09, 2022. “Starting from October, Aeroflot will resume regular flights to Colombo, Bangkok, and Goa. Flights will be operated on Airbus A330 aircraft,” the airlines said in a statement. From October 09, the airline will resume Colombo flights, which will initially operate twice a week. From October 30, Aeroflot will re-launch seven weekly flights to Bangkok, and from November 02, the airline will operate up to three weekly services to Goa. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka will be calling for an immediate tender on Tuesday (Sep. 27) to procure coal for the Lakvijaya power plant in Norochcholai after the coal tender that was awarded on August 25 was cancelled, says General Manager of Lanka Coal Company, Namal Hewage. On Sep. 23, Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera announced that the selected supplier has pulled out after communicating the inability to perform the tender, while citing concerns about the impact on legal cases filed and payment guarantee risk. Accordingly, the Lanka Coal Company will publish a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS Undergrads appeared on talk shows to protest against the ragging given to them. They describe the rag in detail and say how they felt .They show a deep sense of betrayal. This was not what they expected when they came eagerly to university. We did not come to university to experience this sort of thing, they complained. They are disappointed and angry. They feel betrayed by both the seniors and the university administration . They do not see the political angle .They do not speak of the JVP. There is no one to stand... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya Colonial subjugation is no secret to many in the Indian subcontinent, and Sri Lanka is no different. Talking about how much they have presumably looted from us is of no use now, after seven decades of independence. There are many numbers circulating on many social media platforms suggesting the wealth taken away from us runs into billions of dollars. How those numbers have been computed has no significance, but I have yet to see any credible number of the absolute value of the things the masters left behind... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Dilrook Kannangara The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was introduced in 1979 for very good reasons. Acts of terrorism was on the rise including the bombing of the Air Ceylon passenger plane by Tamil terrorists in 1978, attacks on banks and killing of politicians and police officers in the north. As visible around the world, terrorism has worsened since then, not reduced. Under these circumstances, repealing PTA is inviting far worse trouble than Sri Lanka has seen so far. Time to time politicians love to overuse the PTA which has to be curtailed by legal and political means.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Lanka Lead News ඉඳුරාගාරේ හිමියෝ ජාතික එකඟතාවයකින් යුතුව විසඳුම් ඉදිරිපත් නොකර අර්බුදය උත්සන්න වීමට ඉඩ හැරීම මගින් ශ්රී ලංකාව ආපදා අධිරාජ්යවාදයේ ගොදුරක් බවට පත් කිරීමේ වරද පිළිබඳව පක්ෂනායකයන්ට ලිඛිතව කරුණු දැක්වීමට කටයුතු කර ඇති බව වාර්තාවේ. උන්වහන්සේ සියලුම පක්ෂ නායකයින් වෙත අදාල ලිපිය යවමින් ජාතික මහජන සභාව විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද හැට එක් වැදෑරුම් සමාජ ගිවිසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අවධානය යොමු කරන ලෙසත් යම් හෙයකින් පක්ෂ නායකයින් එම යෝජනාවලිය පිළිගන්නේ නම් එම යෝජනාවලිය ක්රියාත්මක කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුවට බල කිරීමේ ක්රියාවලිය සඳහා උන්වහන්සේලාගේ දායකත්වය ලබාදීමට සූදානම් බව ද දන්වා සිටිති. උන්වහන්සේ පක්ෂ නායකයන්වෙත යැවූ සම්පූර්ණ ලිපිය. ජාතික එකඟතාවයකින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
සුදත් ගුණසේකර මහනුවර ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ සූදුව වහාම නතහර කර කැබිනට් ඇමතිවරුන් 15 ක් පමණක් පත්කොට අදාල විෂයන් පිලිබඳ පූර්ණ වගකීම ඔවුන්ට පැවරියයුතුයි, එසේකොට සතියෙන් දෙකෙන් අසාර්ථක ඇමතිවරුන් ඉවත් කොට අලුතෙන් අය පත්කලයුතුය.රජයේ වැඩවලට මාධ්යයෙන් පිලිතුරු දියයුත්තේ කැබිනට් අමාත්යවරුන් පමණකි. ඊනියාරාජ්ය ඇමතිවරුන් වහාම ඉවත් කොට ඇමතිකමක් නොමැතිව ජනාතාවට සේවය කිරීමට බැරි අය වහාම ගෙදර යවා මේ දේශපාලන බරින් රට නිදහස් කළයුතුය. 1 තන්ත්රිමලේ පාසැල්වල ලමයින් රෑටත් උදේටත් කාලා නෑ 2 ගම්පහ පැත්තේ ළමයි දවාලට කන්නේ පොල්මඳ 3 ලන්කාවේ මුළු ජනගහනයෙන් 1/3 ආහාර අහේනියෙන් පෙලෙනවා (ලෝක සෞක්ය සන්විධානය) 5 ළමා මඳපෝෂනය ඉහලට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Sept 23 (Reuters) – Crisis-hit Sri Lanka will begin on Friday the tricky task of debt renegotiation with a raft of private and bilateral creditors, including China, India and Japan, to restructure and repay nearly $30 billion that it owes. WHY THE NEED TO RESTRUCTURE DEBT? Years of economic mismanagement and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed foreign exchange reserves to record lows in the worst economic crisis in more than seven decades. Sri Lanka clinched a staff-level deal in September for a $2.9-billion bailout package from the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today The youngest Sri Lankan medallist in the history of the Commonwealth Games, Nethmi Hansika (18 years old) brought honour to her motherland, Sri Lanka. Nethmi managed in Birmingham, UK, at the 22nd Commonwealth Games in August 2022 to defeat her opponent, Australian Irene Symeonidis, to win the historic bronze medal for women. It was a 57 kg ‘Freestyle Wrestling’ event at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham. She chose to contest against the Australian competitor, forgetting her coach’s advice on her own to fight the competitor,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
උපුටාගැණීම ලංකාදීප (යොහාන් භාසුර) විහාරස්ථානයක් මාසයකදී විදුලි ඒකක 8,500 ක් පාවිච්චි කිරීම නිසා රුපියල් ලක්ෂ පහමාරක විදුලි බිලක් ලැබී ඇති බවත් මෙවැනි ආකාරයට දැවැන්ත විදුලි පරිභෝජනයක් කරන ආගමික ස්ථාන පිළිබඳව රජය මැදිහත්විය යුතු බවත් මහජන උපයෝගිතා කොමිසමේ සභාපති ජනක රත්නායක මහතා පැවසීය. එම විහාරස්ථානයේ පසුගිය මස විදුලි බිල රුපියල් 80,000 ක් යැයි එම විහාරස්ථානයෙන් පැමිණිල්ලක් යොමුකර ඇති බව කී රත්නායක මහතා කොළඹ 7 පිහිටි කාමර 35 කින් යුත් සිය හෝටලයේ මාසික විදුලි පරිභෝජනය ඒකක 7,500 ක් පමණක් බව ද සඳහන් කළේය. මෙවැනි විශාල පරිභෝජනයක් ඇති ස්ථානවලට ලක්ෂ 5 කට වඩා වැඩි බිලක් ලැබීම වැලැක්විය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස් අගනුවර ආසන්න ප්රධාන පෙළේ විහාරස්ථානයක වායු සමීකරණ යන්ත්ර 10-15 අතර ප්රමාණයක් සවිකර ඇති බව වාර්තා වෙයි. මේ බව හෙළි වී ඇත්තේ මෑතකදී රජය විසින් ආගමික මධ්යස්ථාන සඳහා විදුලි බිල නැංවීමත් සමග එම පන්සලට සුර්ය බල පද්ධතියක් සවි කිරීම සඳහා ආයතනයක් ගිය අවස්ථාවේදීය. ස්ථාන පරීක්ෂාව සඳහා පැමිණි නිලධාරියා දැනුම් දී ඇත්තේ වායුසමීකරණ යන්ත්ර වලින් තොරව සෙසු විදුලි උපකරණ ක්රියාත්මක කරවීම සඳහා නම් පද්ධතිය ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සාමාන්ය මිලකට කළ හැකිව ඇති බවයි. වායු සමීකරණ යන්ත්ර ක්රියාත්මක කරන්නේ නම් ඉතා විශාල මුදලක් වැය වනු ඇති බවත් ඔවුන් පෙන්වා දී තිබේ.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed his gratitude to the Venerable Maha Sangha for their contribution to conserving electricity at religious shrines and the precedent it sets for society. The President said this in a special letter today (23) addressed to the Maha Nayaka Theras’ of the Malwathu, Asgiri, Amarapuraand Ramanya Chapters about the difficulties faced by religious institutions due to the electricity tariff revision. In his letter, the President said that the electricity crisis has arisen as a direct result of the country’s snowballing economic crisis over the last few years, and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena today (Sep 23) announced to the parliament the list of MPs who have been nominated for the "National Council", which was established as per the proposal of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The National Council consists of members representing parliament from the respective political parties. The Speaker of Parliament will serve as the chairman. The National Council will consist of the Prime Minister, Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Government Whip, the Chief Opposition Whip and not more than thirty-five (35) Members of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News The statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe while participating in the vote of condolence on the demise of HM Queen Elizabeth II, moved in the Parliament today (23) Amongst all the letters of congratulations I received on becoming the president, the one that was sent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was special. It would have been one of the last letters of congratulations, if not her last letter of congratulations. https://youtu.be/lnPRELk12SU Her Majesty has been very frail after the death of her husband. His Highness Prince... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Gazette has been issued today declaring several areas as high security zones High Security Zones include Parliament, Supreme, High court & Magistrate Court- Colombo, AG Dept, Presidential Secretariat, President's House, Navy, Air Force & Police HQs, Ministry of Defence, SL Army Hq- Akuregoda, PM Office, Temple Trees, Official Residencies of Defence Sec & Commanders of Tri Forces... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
By Sena Thoradeniya 1. DIDN’T GR HEAR THE GALLE FACE PROTESTERS “SING”? When the protesters were occupying the Galle Face Green and protesting at some other sites what were our intelligence personnel and Defense Ministry panjandrums doing was anyone’s guess. Did not the deposed President hear the slogans chanted by the protesters, see placards, banners and other visuals exhibited by the protesters? As a decorated old soldier turned into an IT expert, was he not exposed to what were posted in social media platforms? Did not his advisors and intelligence officers brief him about the imminent... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/22)
Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake As the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF), team boarded a return flight to Washington DC after a week in Colombo, the Paris Club (PC), stepped in though a revolving door at the strategic Indian Ocean island’s Bandaranaike International Airport in the first week of September. The signing of a ‘Staff Level Agreement’ with the deeply unpopular ‘Ranil Rajapakse’ regime accused of Economic Crimes was announced before the IMF team’s departure. However, the contents of the agreement like the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Analysis Report on Sri Lanka remain shrouded in mystery except for news of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS It is important to understand exactly what the JVP is looking for among the freshers arriving in university .They are not looking for intelligence or knowledge or beauty. They are looking for young persons with a propensity to strong, unwavering physical violence and cruelty. JVP is a movement that believes in prachandathvaya. The university is its recruiting ground. The rural student coming into the university from backward districts on district quota was ideal for this purpose. He was naturally violence prone. If someone opposes him, that person is attacked physically, noted Weeramunda. The type... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
සුදත් ගුණසේකර මහනුවර. 22,9,2022 1 තන්ත්රිමලේ පාසැල්වල ලමයින් රෑටත් උදේටත් කාලා නෑ 2 ගම්පහ පැත්තේ ළමයි දවාලට කන්නේ පොල්මඳ 3 ලන්කාවේ මුළු ජනගහනයෙන් 1/3 ආහාර අහේනියෙන් පෙලෙනවා (ලෝක සෞක්ය සන්විධානය) 5 ළමා මඳපෝෂනය ඉහලට 6 පාසැල්වල ලමයි බුදු කුටියේ බුද්ධ පූජාවත් කාලා. 7 රජයේ සේවකයින්ට වැටුප් ගෙවන්ටත් සල්ලි නෑ.අච්චුගහනටත් බෑ (ප්රවාහන ඇමැති බන්ඩුල ගුනවර්ධන) 8 රටේ උද්ධමනය 70% 9 තෙල් නැව් 5ක් සල්ලි නැතුව මුහුදේ හිරවෙලා 10 මාසප්තා රට හැර ලක්ෂ ගනන් පිට රට රැකියාවලට යනවා 11 හම්බන්ටොට 80% මන්දපෝෂ්නයෙන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya Taking one’s own life and or assisting another person to end his or her life has never been endorsed by the Buddha.If that is the clear teaching, how can someone dressed in robes and claiming to be a monk openly threatens the authorities with immolation if the electricity tariff for places of worship is not reduced?It is clearly stated in the basic code of monastic discipline that the punishment for such an act is ex-communication for life.Hence, there is no ambiguity in the teaching and why the concerned authorities are still silent and not taking... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
By Raj Moorthy Courtesy The Sunday times Audience. There are many debates these days as to why Sri Lanka must or must not reach out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance in overcoming the current debilitating economic crisis. Looking at four things about today’s economic situation that is historically unprecedented for Sri Lanka — the country’s reserves have fallen to one-and-a-half month of imports, a record breaking low since the creation of the Central Bank; credit ratings are low and Sri Lanka has lost access to international financial markets; debt to GDP... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Geethanjana Kudaligamage අපගේ රටට සිදුව ඇති නස්පැත්තිය වන්නේ අපගේ දිළිඳු කම නොව, අප ජීවත්වන වත්මන් ලෝකය පිළිබඳව අපට ඇති අනවබෝධයයි. එනම්, අද ලෝකයේ සිදුවන්නේ කුමක්ද, ජාත්යන්තර මුල්ය ආයතන වල කාර්ය භාරය කුමක්ද වැනි කරුණු පිළිබඳව අප සතු අනවබෝධයයි, නොදැනීමයි. මෙම හේතුව නිසා අප එකම වරද සිය දහස්වර කරන්නෙමු. අප විසින් ඇසිය යුතුම ප්රශ්නය කිසිදු දේශපාලකයෙක් හෝ නිලධාරියෙක් විසින් අසන බවක් නොපෙනේ. අපගේ ආර්ථික විශේෂඥයෝ සිතන්නේ ලේමින්ග්ස් නමැති සතුන් සිතන ආකාරයටය. (මේ ලෙමින් නමැති සතා කෙතරම් මුග්ධද යත්, ඌ ඉදිරියේ සිටින උගේ සගයා ප්රපාතයකින් පහලට පැන්නොත් ඌද පැන දිවි නසා ගනී. P.B ජයසුන්දර වැනි අතිශය දුෂිත... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Manusha Media මැලේසියානු රැකියා 10,000 ක් මෙරට ශ්රමිකයින්ට විවෘත කිරීම සදහා වන ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කිරීම සදහා මැලේසියානු මානව සම්පත් අමාත්ය Datuk Seri M. Saravanan මහතා, මැලේසියානු කම්කරු කටයුතු අධ්යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් ප්රමුඛ රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රික දූත පිරිස ඔක්තෝබර් මසදී ශ්රී ලංකාවට පැමිණීමට නියමිත අතර එහි දී රැකියා දහදහසට අදාළ වන ක්ෂේත්රයන්, ගිවිසුම් කාල සීමා, වැටුප් ඇතුළු සියලු කොන්දේසි තීරණය කිරීමට නියමිතව ඇත. මෙම රැකියා අවස්ථා මෙරට ශ්රමිකයින්ට ලබාදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කිරීම පිළිබද කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා සහ මෙරට සිටින මැලේසියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් Dato' Tan Yang Thai මහතා අද දින (22) දිනයේදී කම්කරු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Media Release Sri Lanka High Commission in India As part of the regular and ongoing dialogue between them, 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 today (22 September 2022) Their discussion centered on a comprehensive review of the status of the relations between India and Sri Lanka. Priority areas for future cooperation were also discussed. Deputy National Security Advisor of India Ambassador Vikram Misri and the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in New Delhi Niluka Kadurugamuwa also participated in the meeting.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Courtesy Business Standard Amid the worst-ever economic crisis since the country gained independence in 1948, Sri Lanka's inflation rate jumped to 70.2 per cent in August, official data revealed on Thursday.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to leave for Japan on September 26 to attend the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead on 8 July, aged 67, at a campaign rally for his political party. According to sources during the visit to Japan, the President is scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and high-ranking representatives of the Japanese government. After his visit to Japan, the President is scheduled to go to Manila, Philippines where he is going to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed the Speaker of Parliament that the Cabinet of Ministers & the Opposition would be briefed on the staff-level agreement reached International Monetary Fund (IMF) soon. Conveying the President’s clarification, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena stated, “The President has informed me that even the Cabinet has not been briefed about these discussions. Though they say that it has been agreed with the officials, it has to be approved by the board of the IMF.” https://youtu.be/oaetCyXeNe0 However, before that, the President needs to have discussions with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana “Americares”, one of the world’s leading non-profit organizations focused on health and development, has donated urgently needed medical supplies for the people of Sri Lanka worth more than USD 773,000 (an estimated LKR 279,476,100.28). https://youtu.be/c9-_bXHO7P0 The donation was made consequent to the request made by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington D.C., and under the purview of Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe. The donation includes prenatal and lactation vitamins, chronic disease medications, intravascular catheters, syringes, and gloves that are urgently required from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health, according... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News President's Media Division releasing a statement says that the reported incident of a student consuming coconut kernel for lunch due to poverty, was found to be unfounded. ;However, a special prog is initiated on the directives of the President to assist any child/family facing such a situation. For assistance call hotline 0114354647. The President's Office has focussed its attention to the news in the national newspapers and social media about an incident in which a student had consumed coconut kernel for lunch due to poverty. Accordingly, the Minuwangoda Regional Director Vajira Ranaraja... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News In the past few days, there have been reports of students fainting during school morning meetings in various parts of the island. These incidents were reported in schools in Vilachchiya, Thanthirimale and Minuwangoda. This was also discussed in the parliamentary session today (22), and the members of the opposition parties asked the Minister of Education about these reports. https://youtu.be/JNLEMFjl2D0 However, in response to the question, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that no information has been received about such an incident in the school mentioned. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS Unlike other political parties, the JVP has actively intruded into the university as a disruptive force. It has obstructed university education in several ways. It has hampered undergraduate studies, and made promising students leave university by torturing and sexually harassing them. UGC survey on ragging (2018) observed that one of the consequences of the university ragging is the “promotion of an unhealthy campus environment, distancing staff from students, discouraging individual initiative, silencing students. JVP has tried to prevent freshers from obtaining the benefits of university education .Freshers were made to avoid computer... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya. Politics should not be used to advance religions and vice versa.Similarly, avoid using sports to advance religions.It will lead to both the nation's and sport's demise.In fact, it should make illegal to make any religious gestures on a playing field. Sri Lanka Cricket should take a very serious look at the incident involving one of their current players and take prompt action. If any code of conduct is involved, then deal with it to bring him back to his senses. Not that you shouldn't have faith in paranormal forces! ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka’s current taxation system is only focused on taxing income and consumption. How about wealth? Sri Lanka has a horrible disparity between the top 1% and the bottom 50%. The top 1% (about 200,000 people) owns 32% of the wealth while the bottom 50% (over 11 million people) owns just 3.7% of the wealth. This is an unsustainable situation for a country in a deep debt trap and multiple economic crises. If all income taxes and consumption taxes are removed, everyone will have more money to buy essentials, build up savings and invest... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella says that the news reports being circulated claiming that the ‘Thriposha’ distributed among newborn babies and mothers contain the carcinogen called Aflatoxin is completely false. https://youtu.be/UEYKRctAHOA Speaking in parliament today (21) the Health Minister said there is no Aflatoxin in Thriposha and that legal action will be taken against the health official who made that statement. “I asked about that story yesterday evening. I say it in this Parliament with responsibility that it is a blatant lie,” Rambukwella said. The minister said... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Malaysia’s Cabinet has agreed to recruit 10,000 workers from Sri Lanka after taking into account the state of the country which has been hit by an economic crisis, says Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan. In a statement on Wednesday (Sept 21), the Malaysian Human Resources Minister said the Sri Lankan government had submitted an official application to supply manpower involving a quota of 10,000 workers. https://youtu.be/_dDV3WiCrSM The Cabinet, at its meeting last Sept 14, agreed to hire foreign workers to help Sri Lanka which is facing its worst... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge Dravida Nadu was a Christian Missionary movement & Tamil Eelam is possibly too. How India got wrangled to train & arm LTTE in a project initially rooted by the Church is a puzzle and something for India to think about. However, while LTTE remains banned by Watching the pomp and pageantry & honoring of traditions and customs for the Queens funeral saddened me because while our people are happy to praise the British history & its customs, they frown down on our own. This is primarily the fault... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS Any insurgency has to have a base for the recruitment of cadres, training and indoctrination observed analysts. JVP decided to use the universities of Sri Lanka for this purpose. The university was ideal for this purpose. It was a loosely organized enclave. The university is a good recruiting ground for the JVP, observed critics. First year students were the most vulnerable. By 1978, JVP had established itself in the universities as the strongest group among the students. JVP has pushed out all the other political parties and is able to dominate in student matters, ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Manusha Media “Minister Manusha Nanayakkara hands over the vehicle import permit to the first recipient’s nominee” The nominated representative of the first recipient of the newly introduced programme to allow Sri Lankan migrant workers to import an electric vehicle after remitting money through official channels received the relevant vehicle import permit from Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara today. Daham Perera the authorized representative of the Sri Lankan migrant worker who imported the vehicle received the vehicle import permit from Minister Nanayakkara. The minister on the occasion noted that the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
Kamal Uddin Mazumder Dhaka Bangladesh As the Indo-Pacific region represents the world’s economic and strategic center of gravity, the Indian Ocean today is becoming the centerpiece of all geo-strategic play. So, Cooperation in the region is crucial to implementing the international community’s global agenda, including achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Major powers like the US have enhanced and deepened their strategic engagement and leadership roles with countries in the region. The Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar, or IPAMS, is a U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) initiated conference that is aimed at facilitating and enhancing interactions among the armies of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
ALI SUKHANVER ‘Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act’ commonly known as CAATSA is considered the most fatal weapon which is used against the countries not in good books of America. Just a few months back, it was in the news that the US authorities were considering imposing sanctions on India because of its trade ties with Russia. It was all being done as a part of US’ isolation strategy during the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine those days. Situation became more serious when India stood in the line of those 35 countries which abstained themselves from voting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/22)
by Arundathie Abeysinghe Courtesy AsiaNews Discussions are underway between central banks to allow Russian credit cards to operate in Sri Lanka. Last year almost 17,000 Russian tourists visited the island. The country is in economic recovery and also hopes to obtain a loan to buy fuel. Colombo (AsiaNews) - Sri Lankan authorities are considering joining the Russian Mir payment system: discussions are currently underway between the country's central bank and that of Moscow. Launched in 2017, Mir is a payment and money transfer channel operated by the Russian National Payment Card System. According to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
By Hu Weijia Courtesy Global Times Illustration: Chen Xia/Global TimesWith a total of $968 million in loans in four months of 2022, India "has emerged as Sri Lanka's largest bilateral lender, overtaking China in the process," India's ANI news agency reported on Monday, citing Daily Financial Times. Sri Lanka has borrowed not only from China but despite this, Chinese loans have been specifically targeted by anti-China forces. Critics have accused China of what they call a "debt trap," saying that the so-called "debt trap diplomacy" has "become a cause of Sri Lanka's economic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
By Ben Cost Courtesy New York Post A farmer tragically died of a fatal infection caused by swallowing a fish bone.B.M.Munasinghe via IJSCR MORE ON:FREAK ACCIDENTS Horrifying video shows woman cheat death as NYC crane falls on car I fell 5 feet and broke my foot on my wedding day — my groom kept partying Experts warn against the OneChipChallenge allegedly sending kids to the hospital Trapeze flyer crashes to the ground when she misses husband’s hand: video ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22) උපුටාගැණීම මව්බිම සමෘද්ධිමත් ජාතියක් වීමට එකට එක්ව බංකොලොත්භාවයට එරෙහිව සටන් කළ යුතු බව ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ අවධාරණය කර තිබේ. ඒ, බ්රිතාන්යයේ ශ්රී ලාංකික ඩයස්පෝරාව සමග ඊයේ (සැප්. 19) පැවති හමුවකදී ය. එමෙන් ම, ඩයස්පෝරා කාර්යාල ව්යාපෘතිය ඇතුළු ශ්රී ලංකාවේ නිර්මාණය වී ඇති නව ආයෝජන අවස්ථා සඳහා එක්වන ලෙස ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඔවුන්ට ආරාධනා කර ඇත. බ්රිතාන්ය ශ්රී ලංකා මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය විසින් සංවිධාන කර තිබූ මෙම හමුවට බ්රිතාන්යයේ වෙසෙන ශ්රී ලාංකික ව්යාපාරිකයන්, ආයෝජකයන් සහ වෘත්තිකයින් රැසක් එක්ව සිට තිබේ. මෙහිදී ජනාධිපතිවරයා බ්රිතාන්ය නව රජුගේ නායකත්වයෙන් පොදු රාජ්ය මණ්ඩලයීය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror It was only some important people who had accompanied President Ranil Wickremesinghe on his recent tour to Britain to attend the funeral of British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II, a spokesperson from the President’s office confirmed today. According to the spokesperson, only President Wickremesinghe, Ms. Wickremesinghe, a special aide, three security personnel and the Director International Affairs attached to the President’s office were in the tour party. “The Director International Affairs had to join in the tour to organize media coverage in Britain,” she said. She was responding to comments made... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Following controversy over grounded aircraft by its government, Aeroflot has announced that it will resume services to Sri Lanka. It is understood that from October, the Moscow-Colombo route will be reinstated, on conditions being promised by the Sri Lankan government that none of its planes will be grounded or arrested. On top of this, Sri Lankan media have reported that another carrier is due to operate this route as well, which comes as no surprise given how lucrative the Russian market still is at present. For example, the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana In a letter to the President, the Chief Prelates of the three Buddhist Chapters today request for a methodical and concessionary electricity tariff policy for places of religious worship. The Mahanayake Theros, informing about the severe difficulty faced by religious places of worship due to the new electricity tariff revision, state that it is regrettable that the concessional electricity tariff system that was given to religious places until now has been cancelled. https://youtu.be/cLGAHAROXN8 The letter further pointed out that an extremely difficult situation has arisen due to the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana India said on Tuesday it had begun talks with Sri Lanka on restructuring its debt and promised to support the crisis-hit neighbour mainly through long-term investments after providing nearly $4 billion of financial aid. Sri Lanka, a tourism-dependent South Asian country of 22 million, is struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, which has led to shortages of essentials and the ouster of a president. The country earlier this month reached a preliminary deal with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of about $2.9 billion contingent on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/22)
Garvin Karunaratne, former Government Agent, Matara, 19/9/2022 The present Government has already embarked on a programme of privatization, despite the fact that it has no mandate from the people. In the Presidential Election where over sixty percent of people voted and elected Gotabhaya as the President, as well as in the General Election where the Podujana Permuna was elected the premise was that State Assets would not be privatized. , Our former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa is an avowed personality on this issue. The Privatization of State Assets is not approved by him. Thus... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS The university “rag” was carried out by the senior students who are instructed by the Student Unions, who in turn are led by the Inter University Federation of Students (IUFS) which is controlled by the JVP. The leaders were elusive, observed critics. The seniors who rag are invariably connected to the Students’ Union confirmed academics. Everything is done by the Students Union, said Vice Chancellor of Ruhuna, Prof Amarasena speaking in 2019. JVP first concentrates on getting control of the Student Union in a university. Before 1977, there were... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Prof. Hudson McLean God Save the King - which King?Senaka Weeraratna LankaWeb – God Save the King – which King? The Real Sinhala King of Sri Lanka Parakramabahu the Great Parākramabāhu I (Sinhala: මහා පරාක්රමබාහු, c. 1123–1186), or Parakramabahu the Great, was the king of Polonnaruwa from 1153 to 1186. Last King of Sri Lanka was from India & Spoke Tamil. Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1780 - January 30, 1832) was the last king of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the last... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22) Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel former Ambassador to UAE and Israel President Ambassador’s Forum Memory and Imagination Israel - a friend of Sri Lanka - leader on innovations agriculture and a world Power though a tiny nuclear nation Sri Lanka is a friend of the State of Israel maintaining friendly relations since the birth of Israel in 1948 after having suffered over 4000 years and struggle over 2000 years to each the Promised Land with blood sweat and hard work of the Jews ill-treated persecuted and gone through difficulties... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Manusha Media ඊශ්රායල් රැකියා සදහා පිටත්ව යාමේදී කිසියම් පිරිසක් මුදල් එකතු කරන්නේ නම් ඔවුන්ට විරුද්ධව නීතිමය පියවර ගන්නා බවත්, මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් එල්ලවන චෝදනා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජාත්යන්තරයේ සහාය ලබාගෙන පරීක්ෂණයක් පවත්වා තරාතිරම නොබලා දඩුවම් ලබාදෙන බවත්, කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා පැවසුවේය.මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් චෝදනා එල්ල කරමින් නොසිට අදාල සාක්ෂි සමග පැමිණිලි ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලෙසද අමාත්යවරයා ඉල්ලා සිටියේය. මෙම චෝදනා සම්බන්ධයෙන් අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හමුවේ පැමිණිල්ලක් ගොනු කර ඇති බවද ඔහු සදහන් කළේය.ඊශ්රායලයේ සාත්තු සේවක රැකියා සදහා පිටත්ව යාමට අපේක්ෂිත ශ්රමිකයින් සදහා ගුවන් ටිකට්පත් බෙදාදීමේ අවස්ථාවට එක්වෙමින් අමාත්යවරයා මේ බව පැවසුවේය.මෙහි දී මාධ්ය ඇමැතූ ඇමැතිවරයා මෙසේ ද පැවැසීය.‘පෙර... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Senaka Weeraratna Sri Lanka has a strong case for demanding and obtaining reparations from all three Western colonial powers i.e., the Portuguese, Dutch, and the British. We were victims under Colonial Rule. This is indisputable. This is the Message that the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission must convey to the World instead of appearing shamelessly to join hands, as was done under the Yahapalanaya Govt. (2015 - 2019), with Western countries at UNHRC and in turn co - drafting Resolutions against our own Soldiers who sacrificed their precious lives to free this country from Terrorism. We... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS UGC conducted a study titled ‘Ragging, Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Sri Lankan University System’ in 2018. The study was done in eight universities. Nearly 15000 students were interviewed and 1551 staff responses were obtained. The study had certain limitations, such as a short time given for the questionnaires, small number of interviews but yielded valuable data. The UGC reported that more than half of the sample (51.1%) were subjected to verbal harassments, about 34.3 % of students were subjected to psychological violence, about 23.8% to physical... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 19: In 1796, the British took over Ceylon from the Dutch after a brief military operation launched from Madras. The change in regime put the White Dutch and people of mixed Dutch-Ceylonese blood (called Dutch Burghers) in a quandary. They wondered what their position would be under the new dispensation. But in five decades, resistance was replaced by total identification, with English becoming the Dutch Burghers’ mother tongue and with little or no downgrading of their social position. The questions for which they were groping... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The seven Sri Lankans in Ukraine who were allegedly captured and tortured by Russian soldiers in the Kharkiv region are not medical students, State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya confirmed. Earlier today (Sep. 19), a journalist from Kyiv and Kharkiv region’s police disclosed appalling details about the torture the seven victims had to endure while in captivity of the Russian soldiers. Addressing the media, State Minister Balasuriya explained that the group of Sri Lankans in question were in an attempt to travel to Europe illegally. He also explained that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge Sri Lanka has landed in trouble due to bad advice and silly policy decisions. We already have a Lessons Learned & Reconciliation Commission. We have had 3 successive UNHRC Resolutions. We have faced an UNHRC investigation. So far, while we have been accused of killing 40,000 upto 200,000 Tamils, no names, no dead bodies, no skeletons, no mass graves have been found. So where does that leave ‘genocide’ charges? However, those insisting on TRUTH should be ready to face the TRUTH & the truth must start with how Tamil militancy emerged. Therefore,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka’s governance cost doubled since the introduction of provincial councils in 1988. A new layer was introduced to governance which was never needed. A white elephant. Instead of one minister of education, health, etc. now we have 10 of them; 9 from provincial councils. Corruption, waste, etc. also doubled. Tax collection had to be increased to maintain provincial councils. All right-thinking people know they are white elephants but none has the courage to call for their removal. India introduced provincial councils using gunboat diplomacy. But Sri Lanka keeps feeding the provincial council system.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Manusha Media කම්කරු අමාත්යාංශය යටතේ ඇති සියලුම ආයතනවල සේවාවන් ලබාදීමට මෙන්ම දේශීය රැකියා හා ජාත්යන්තර රැකියා සපයන ආයතන එකට එක් කරමින් ග්ලෝකල් ෆෙයා 2022 ගාල්ල සමනළ ක්රීඩාංගනයේදී පවත්වන බවත්, කම්කරු ගැටලු සහ සුබසාධනය සේ ම විදේශ රැකියා සම්බන්ධ සියලු තොරතුරු සහ අවස්ථාවන් පිළිබද පූර්ණ අවබෝධයක් මෙහිදී ලබා ගත හැකි බවත්, කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර පැවැසීය.එසේ ම විගමනික ශ්රමිකයන් සදහා වන විශ්රාම වැටුප් ක්රමවේදය, වාහන අවසර පත්රය ඇතුළු සියලු කරුණු විමසා දැනගත හැකි බව ද අමාත්යවරයා මෙහි දී පැවැසීය.එහි දී වැඩි දුරටත් මාධ්ය ඇමැතූ ඇමැතිවරයා මෙසේ ද පැවැසීය.රටේ සියලුම කම්කරුවන්ගේ වගකීම් දරන්නේ කම්කරු අමාත්යාංශයයි. මුළු රටේම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
Senaka Weeraratna The German Dharmaduta Society will mark its 70th Anniversary (1952-2022) commencing with a talk on ‘Buddhism in Germany’ by Ven. Pandit Thalpawila Kusalagnana Thero on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, from 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., at the Siri Vajirarama Temple in Bambalapitiya. The talk will be relayed on the Zoom platform and YouTube. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86921521509?pwd=ZThGWE53clJ6SWxsVEN6SHBEcEljdz09 Meeting ID: 869 2152 1509 Passcode: 419619 Youtube link https://youtu.be/pxPGrpIOxD8 Ven. Kusalagnana is a Buddhist Scholar with several academic qualifications. He has an M.A.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS Britain had two types of universities in the 1940s, the elite Oxbridge and the non-elite Redbrick. The elite universities, Oxford, and Cambridge catered primarily to the aristocracy and rich upper class pupils who, after university went back to their estates or to high powered careers in the public service. A limited number of middle and working class pupils also studied in these universities, usually on scholarships. They went on to become teachers and principals of schools. Redbrick Universities were established in the major industrial towns of the north of England. They catered to bright... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror he Sri Lankan authorities continue negotiations with Russia on the provision of a loan to buy Russian fuel, Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena said. "We can manage that crisis because previous months we were facing the crisis, but now we slowly recover from economic crisis and foreign exchange crisis. We wish to get some big support from Russia. The discussion is going very well," Gunawardena said on Saturday in an interview with Sputnik. The minister added that former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appealed to Russian President Vladimir... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror The arrest of the Russian Aeroflot plane in Sri Lanka was a terrible mistake, the authorities promise that this will not happen again, Minister of Transport and Highways and Minister of Mass Media Bandula Gunawardena said on Saturday in an interview with Sputnik. "That was a big mistake, we apologize for that," Gunawardena said, commenting on the arrest of an Aeroflot plane in Sri Lanka on June 2. The minister assured that the incident was completely resolved. "President, Prime Minister and government in Sri Lanka give guarantee that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana September 17, 2022 07:28 pm Three institutions that were under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies have been brought under the Ministry of Investment Promotion, through an Amended Gazette Extraordinary. Accordingly, the Board of Investment (BOI), the Export Development Board (EDB) and the Port City Commission which were under the Ministry of Finance have been placed under the Ministry of Investment Promotion. The relevant gazette notification has been issued on Friday (16) by President Ranil Wickramasinghe, who is the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Acting Registrar of Pesticides, Mr. Lasantha Ratnaweera, says that the news published in two Sunday newspapers claiming that poisonous rice was imported to Sri Lanka, is completely false and baseless. He said that no such research as claimed in the news article has been conducted by the Office of the Registrar of Pesticides since January this year. Mr. Ratnaweera said that the relevant newspapers have prepared the news using a report related to a research conducted in 2017, but even so, the contents are also flawed. The Acting Registrar of Pesticides... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Sugath Kulatunga “Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh- This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;” Merchant of Venice -Shakespeare. India came to support Sri Lanka in our moment of utter despair ravaged by a unprecedented economic and social crisis when no other nation responded to our plight, for which SL will be ever grateful to India. But it is unfortunate that India has come out with a statement at the current sessions of the UNHRC inimical to SL which is obviously to please a domestic constituency. The Indian delegate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara 17.9.2022. Your serious attention is drawn to the following revelation by Dilrook Kannangara and thereafter my protest notes, that follows. I also wish that this issue be taken up immediately, by all Sinhala MPP in Parliament irrespective of their political alignments. No Sinhala MP who cannot do that should also immediately resign his or her seat in Parliament and go home Copied for attention of Mr Sarath Weerasekara and Minister Vidura Wickramananayka. WFP Creates Selective Hunger in Sri Lanka Posted on September 16th, 2022 Dilrook... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/22)
Senaka Weeraratna I wish the British were as kind to the Kings of other countries that they conquered in South Asia as they are to their current Monarch today. We lost our King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last King of the Kingdom of Kandy in Ceylon because the British captured him and exiled him to India, thereby bringing to an end a long line of mainly Sinhala Kings and Queens that had lasted for about 2, 400 years. The British Empire did the same thing in India. They captured the last King of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Ruwan M Jayatunge I am a poor wayfaring soldier I fought in many battles I am wounded and tired Wasted and have no hope I killed many people I saw death and dying I saw burning villages Weeping widows and children I saw dark clouds over me I was not sure of my fate I was an instrument I had to follow orders All I knew was to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka has an estimated 6.3 million individuals suffering hunger. World Food Program (WFP) distributes money to a selected crowd, mostly based on ethnicity. The north, east and Nuwara Eliya districts are the biggest recipients of WFP’s food aid. However, these areas have only a small population of hungry people. Other areas have a far larger population of needly people. This is a racist policy aimed at starving needy people while feeding a selected ethnic community. WFP is not distributing food items. Instead, it gives 15,000 rupees to selected families. Total food supply does... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 16: Addressing the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry stated that, notwithstanding severe constraints and challenges in the current economic situation, Sri Lanka remains firmly committed to pursuing tangible progress in the protection of human rights and reconciliation through independent domestic institutions. The Minister addressed the Council at the Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka following the presentation of the report by the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, on Monday 12 September,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island The National Freedom Front (NFF) has urged the government and the Opposition to resist a move by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to haul up the war winning Sri Lankan military before foreign judges.NFF leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa also raised the issue of India reiterating its demand for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, forced upon the country by Delhi in 1987 and now its full implementation at the ongoing 51 regular session of the UNHRC. Weerawansa questioned the legitimacy in a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Former Chairman of the Elections Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya said that he opposed the campaign slogan that called to reject all 225 politicians. "Everybody knows how I supported the Aragalaya and I even held a placard on my own. But they attacked houses of politicians on May 9 and they even came to attack my house," Deshapriya said. "Therefore the youth should learn how to do an aragalaya first," he added. https://youtu.be/Sm5LVnnla9s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court today issued notices directing former President Maithripala Sirisena to appear in court on October 14 over a private plaint relating to Easter Sunday attack. Magistrate Thilina Gamage further decided to name former President Maithripala Sirisena as a suspect of the private plaint. https://youtu.be/tJg-dI1viHs Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando and Jesuraj Ganeshan, a victim of Easter Sunday attack had filed a private plaint urging to take legal action against former President under section 298 of Penal Code for causing deathby negligence. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Colombo Lotus Tower, which was officially declared open to the public last afternoon, has reportedly earned an income exceeding one million rupees through ticket sales within yesterday (Sep 15). The Chief Executive Officer of Colombo Lotus Tower Pvt. Ltd., Major General (Rtd) Prasad Samarasinghe pointed out that the first day’s income was close to Rs. 1.5 million. https://youtu.be/NYTukVSoX_c Meanwhile, a total of 2, 612 persons had visited the Lotus Tower within yesterday (Sep 15) while this includes 21 foreigners, he added. The members of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Building on the USAID Administrator Samantha Powers’s recent visit, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung announced today that the United States, through USAID, will provide an additional estimated $65 million (more than 23 billion Sri Lankan rupees) in assistance to Sri Lanka over a five-year period. The assistance falls under the Development Objectives Assistance Agreement (DOAG) signed by Mr. Gabriel Grau, Mission Director for USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives and Mr. Mahinda Siriwardena, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies. https://youtu.be/-eClwqd0gPo This funding is in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said that steps will be taken to establish a separate budget office in Parliament to monitor the financial affairs by directly obtaining accurate information related to the government’s financial control including income and expenditure. The Secretary General said this at a special public service program jointly organized by the Parliament’s Communications Department and the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) under the sponsorship of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in line with the International Day of Democracy on September 15. A group of young social activists... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Government of Japan has decided to extend additional Emergency Grant Aid of USD 3.5 million for Sri Lanka in response to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation. This Emergency Grant Aid will allow implementing humanitarian assistance activities delivering food worth USD 2 million through the World Food Programme (WFP), food, nutrition, health, sanitation worth USD 1 million through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and nutrition worth USD 0.5 million through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the people of Sri Lanka affected by the deteriorating humanitarian... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Courtesi Hiru News The song titled Manike is the official Hindi remix of the viral song Manike Maga Hithe by Sri Lankan singer Yohani the Bollywood film. https://youtu.be/_B6T8O15Ohk The song has crossed 3 million views within 6 hours of being uploaded to YouTube. The makers of Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra's film 'Thank God' have released its first song. The song titled Manike is the official Hindi remix of the viral song Manike Maga Hithe by Sri Lankan singer Yohani Diloka. In the over-three-minute... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge The US has been delivering democracy, liberating people, fighting for freedoms, carrying out coloured revolutions & regime change for centuries. What if, back home they have been ignoring their own problems. We have watched American envoys at UN promote self-determination, separate homeland & rights of people – what if black Americans decide to take America’s own advice & demanded self-determination on account of the discriminations they suffer. How would America react if 47million Black Americans sought internal self-determination in US? What if Black Americans also ran “Genocide” campaigns on the lines of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත් ලිට්රෝ සමාගම ගෑස් මිල දී ගැනීමේ දී, OQ සමාගමෙන් ගෑස් මිල දී ගන්නේ රුපියල් 105.40කට බවත්, සියෑම් ගෑස් සමාගමින් ගෑස් මිල දී ගන්නේ නම් ඒ සඳහා රුපියල් 112ක මිලක් එම සමාගමට ගෙවිය යුතුව තිබුණු බවත් එබැවින් වඩා වාසිදායක තේරීම ලෙස OQ සමාගමේ ගෑස් මිල දී ගත් බවත් ලිට්රෝ සභාපති මුදිත පීරිස් පවසනවා. https://youtu.be/dFS_sT3gtNc ඔහු ඒ බව කියා සිටියේ, ගෑස් මිල දී ගැනීමේ දී OQ සමාගමට වඩා සියෑම් සමාගමේ ගෑස් මිල දී ගත්තේ නම් වඩා ලාභදායක යැයි පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී චරිත හේරත් විසින් කරන ලද ප්රකාශයකට පිළිතුරු වශයෙන්. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/22)
I went to India to help myself visualize a people whose cultural history I had been studying for The Story of Civilization. I did not expect to be attracted by the Hindus, or that I should be swept into a passionate interest in Indian politics. I merely hoped to add a little to my material, to look with my own eyes upon certain works of art and then to return to my historical studies.... -Full Story- (https:/dharmadispatch.in/ - 16/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS The university rag carried out by the JVP contained a strong element of sexual harassment, sadism and torture.The ragging was described as ‘inhuman’. There was cruel, inhumane ragging amounting to torture and verging on sadism, said commentators. The university ragging has a sadistic streak, they added. There was gratification of sadistic tendencies. It was reported that plastic tubes were inserted into the rectums of four students. These ragging activities of the JVP are now in the public domain. Angry, indignant undergrads have gone on television to report the matter. The information given in this... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
KAMALIKA PIERIS In Sri Lanka, sexual harassment is a criminal offence under Section 345 of the Penal Code. Ragging is a non-bailable offense leading to a prison term. Torture chambers are clearly criminal and have no place in a university. However, the university authorities and the police have been reluctant to squash such serious criminal activity inside the universities. Students who have been ragged are scared to complain as they find that neither the University authorities nor the police wish to listen to them. But there was one exception. Ruhuna university undergrad Darsha Udayanga made a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
Sarath Wijesinghe, President's Counsel. Through the years Sri Lanka has being a strong prime source of trainable, reliable and loyal and above all cost effective supply of manpower to number of countries and industries majority finding employment in the Middle East sector and other regions for both skilled and unskilled. The liberalization of trading with an open economic principles led by the government encouraged youths of this country to learn and develop more industrial skills with use of modern technology and training methods. The sector has supported to step up the standards in numerous ways to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today I received this information on the metamorphosis of ‘Colombo cinemas’ sent by a friend based in London. It was a text by a historian, Asiff Hussein. Hussein gives a historical account going back to the ‘tent’ days when the ‘silent’ English movies were shown. He deals with the history of the Colombo cinema, its evolution, and the development of cinema halls in Colombo, Sri Lanka. According to Asiff Hussein, an Englishman named Warwick Major was the first person to show silent English films in a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 15: In his address to the first batch of graduates of Sri Lanka’s National Defense College here on Wednesday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe made significant points: Firstly, Sri Lanka has unfortunately become a “punching bag” because of Hambantota port although that port is only one of the 17 Chinese ports in this region and is only a commercial port. Secondly, he assured New Delhi that Sri Lanka will not compromise on India’s security interests and will always work together with it to ensure the security of the region. Fuss Over Hambantota ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
lanka C news හිටපු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ සුරතලා විදුලිබල මන්ඩලයේ කෝටි ගණන් විනාශ කළ බව සුර්ය බල ඉදිකිරීම් සංගමය චෝදනා කරයි. එහි සභාපති වෛද්ය සම්පත් ශ්යාම් පතිරාජ මහතා මේ බව කියා සිටියේ අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්චාවකට එක්වෙමිනි. https://youtu.be/hSIDCWRM7hk අදානි සමූහයේ ගිවිසුමට සුනිත්ය බලශක්ති අධිකාරියේ නිලධාරීන් අකමැති නිසා ගෙදර එවූ බවත් පැවසූ ඔහු සූර්ය බලශක්ති ව්යාපෘති වලට වැඩියෙන්ම අකුරු අකමැති වන්නේ විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයේ ඉංජිනේරුවන් බවද කියා සිටියේය. සූර්ය පැනල සවි කරගෙන සිටින සාමාන්ය ජනතාවට මුදල් නොගෙවුවද ඩීසල් බලාගාර වල මුදල් නියම දිනයටම ගෙවන බවත් පැවසූ ඔහු පාඩු පෙන්වමින් විදුලි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Former minister Wimal Weerawansa said that most stupid politicians think that the Geneva Human Rights Council is the place that serves justice to human rights issues. "This is another tool by US’s imperialist forces. They try to trap those who evade their mechanisms. Since Sri Lanka defeated separatism they are adding pressure on us," Weerawansa said. https://youtu.be/EcurNPCANPI... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana China and other big creditors have a responsibility to prevent the debt problems facing emerging market and low-income countries from exploding, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. Georgieva, speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Global Development, said 25% of emerging market and 60% of low-income countries were in or near debt distress. https://youtu.be/crHGFj2qlY0 “My message to the large creditors, to China, the private sectors is that the larger your share is, the bigger your responsibility,” she said. “It is in your interest... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News India does not plan to provide fresh financial support to Sri Lanka on top of the nearly $4 billion it has extended this year, two sources told Reuters, as the island's battered economy starts to stabilise after a preliminary loan agreement with the IMF. India has been the biggest provider of aid this year to its southern neighbour, which is fighting its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades and struggling to pay for imports, although the situation now is less severe than it was between May and July. "We... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge Given that UN-US-India & other nations including the Church are asking for Truth & Accountability, are they prepared to own up to some hard truths? The citizens of Sri Lanka all know these facts. No country that had anything to do with LTTE or helped LTTE can be allowed to determine Sri Lanka’s post-conflict development. These countries & other bodies helped terror not peace. They were indirectly responsible for enabling LTTE to prevail for 3 decades. UN did not prevent LTTE terror or prevent Tamil men, women & children become combatants for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
By Sena Thoradeniya 1. A Repetition of History In an article published in an English daily on June 9, I brought to the attention of local and international supporters, sympathisers and theorists of Galle Face Protesters an impending catastrophe that would have sent shock waves through their nerves. Instead of making a detailed description of the approaching events I just pointed out the imminent “Warning Shadows”. Old timers may remember the 1971 insurrection launched by the unemployed, disgruntled, petti-bourgeois rural and urban youth and destruction of property and mass killings seventeen years later, during... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Sugath Kulatunga She was a pawn of Ban Ki Moon who was the main conspirator against Sri Lanka. Moon misinterpreted a routine statement made jointly with the President of SL and went along to appoint an illegal Panel which made a report based on hearsay and unchallenged evidence which are hidden for 20 years. Darusman report is an illegal report based on uncontested evidence. At the time of the appointment of the expert panel Moon said that their report was for his information but presented it to the UNHRC. Ban Ki Moon had no... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D. https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/10/14/english-with-a-smile-a-reply-to-dayan-jayatilleke/ The short essay by Edward Theophilus (Perera), “The decision to educate in the English medium (Lankaweb, Sept 12, 2022), took my mind back to a long essay that I wrote in 2001 titled, “Gurulugomi to the Rescue: The re-enthronement of the English Language” (The Island, April 13, 2001). It was reprinted on Lankaweb in May 14, 2014, as “C.A. Chandraprema in 2001.” These days when a system change or change of systems is the life and death topic in the country, a system change to English medium looks like an appropriate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
by A. Abdul Aziz – Chairman, Press & Media Desk, AMJSL Prayers Offered for Her Majesty’s Extraordinary Life of Service The members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Her Majesty The Queen. We mourn her loss and stand united with the nation, and the rest of the world, in paying our respects to her. We feel her loss, and as is our tradition, we will stand in prayer that may God Almighty reward Her Majesty abundantly for all her good works. Her Majesty... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday confirmed that it is moving toward expanding emergency financing for countries hit by surging food prices and shortages triggered by the war in Ukraine, with some 20 to 30 countries seen most in need. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the fund's executive board members were "very positive" about the proposed "food shock window" when they met informally on Monday, and she hoped they would approve it to allow a swift disbursal of funds. The plan, first reported by Reuters on Monday, would allow... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Hiru News https://youtu.be/DPgEGTHTzA4... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News President and Australian High Commissioner in Preliminary discussions on renewable energy investments in SL A preliminary round of discussions was held between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Australian High Commissioner Paul Stephens to explore the opportunities for investment in the renewable energy sector in Sri Lanka. The discussion was held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (14) with the participation of a group of Australian investors. President Wickremesinghe has given priority to encouraging new investments in the renewable energy sector as a solution to the current electricity crisis and to ensure uninterrupted power supply... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News The petition filed by British national, Kayleigh Fraser dismissed by the Supreme Court, with a penalty of Rs 100,000 as court charges.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Hiru News The Chinese Embassy in Colombo has clarified reports circulating on social media pertaining to the entry tickets of the Lotus Tower in Colombo. An image of a ticket claiming to be that of the Lotus Tower has been circulated on social media with information on exemptions for Parliamentarians and Chinese Nationals. Clarifying the issue, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said that the ticket being circulated on social media currently is fake. The Embassy further shared an image of the original ticket of the Lotus Tower that will be issued to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge It’s now 13 years since LTTE was defeated. Let’s cut to the chase & put on the table the reason why Sri Lanka is still grappling to close the witch hunt taking place smearing the good name of the Nation & its Armed Forces. The fault lies entirely with the Foreign Policy advisors, legal teams, AG’s Dept of the successive Govts since 2009. From Foreign Minister downwards the advice was ‘don’t upset the UN’ ‘the foreign envoys don’t want Sri Lanka to ask these questions’ ‘our aid may get cut if we... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
By Garvin Karunaratne In presenting the budget of 1978, the Finance Minister, Ronnie de Mel wrote: “ We cannot go round the world begging for Aid like international beggars for ever. We must get out of this vicious circle of no growth, stagnation and mounting international and external debt.” Then, in 1978, Sri Lanka had a foreign debt of only $ 750 million and that was on projects where at the end there would be an income that would be more than what was borrowed. Sri Lanka never begged before President Jayawardena and Ronnie... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Dr, Sudath Gunasekara, Secretary to Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayaka and President Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association (1991-1994) Mr. President please stop appointing politicians as Chairmen of District Development Coordinating committees by resorting to political gimmick and don’t bury the District Administration of this Island, once considered the hall mark of governance in the whole British Empire. District administration in this country is already killed or at least paralyzed by the Indian political intruder, Provincial Councils, since 1987. On the top of that disaster present practice of appointing raw politicians of the governing party as Chairmen... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
By Dr Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Daily News-Tuesday, September 13, 202 The world is keeping an eye on the worsening political, economic and widespread suffering of Sri Lankans. Citizens of this country hope to find answers to overcome the high Cost of Living and to have adequate fuel and medical supplies to bring the situation under control. People, once again, experience difficulty with the ‘QR system’ to obtain fuel from petrol stations. It is no surprise to hear from the public that all 225 Parliamentarians should go home, and the Parliament should have young and energetic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Manusha Media The Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment has introduced three telephone numbers for obtaining information, including a hotline number to refer problems related to obtaining electric vehicle import permits under the recently introduced initiative of allowing Sri Lankan migrant workers remitting money through formal channels to import an electric vehicle. Accordingly, the necessary information can be obtained by making a phone call to Mr. Pradabodha Kaggoda Arachchi on the hotline number 0773 039 034 or 0112 368 175 or to the Senior Assistant Secretary (Control) of the Ministry on 0112 582 447. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror A new location which is in line with the developing world will be provided for the youth to get on with their protest activities, Presidential advisor Sagala Ratnayake said today. He said a location adjacent to the Floating Market in Pettah will be given to Aragalya shortly. “This centre will have facilities for art exhibitions, literature festivals, IT technology and a facility for conferring,” Mr. Ratnayake said. He said this will also help to get a commercial value for the abilities and talents of the youth. Those youth... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s exit from office will be more fearsome than former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s, former MP and Samagi Wanitha Balawegaya Head Hirunika Premachnadra said today. “Ranil's exit will happen soon and it will be more fearsome than that of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He will be removed instantly and may end up in prison,” Ms. Premachandra told a press conference. “Another aragalaya is on the way as people will begin rising again. Houses of main businessmen will be burnt by the helpless people and all the wealth owned by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment has introduced three telephone numbers for obtaining information, including a hotline number to refer problems related to obtaining electric vehicle import permits under the recently introduced initiative of allowing Sri Lankan migrant workers remitting money through formal channels to import an electric vehicle. Accordingly, the necessary information can be obtained by making a phone call to Mr. Pradabodha Kaggoda Arachchi on the hotline number 0773 039 034 or 0112 368 175 or to the Senior Assistant Secretary (Control) of the Ministry on 0112 582 447. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong has held a discussion with Asian Development Bank’s South Asian Department Director General Kenichi Yokoyama and its Sri Lanka Mission Director Chen Chen today (Sep. 13). According to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, they have had exchanged views on Sri Lanka’s current economic situation and the revitalization plans. https://youtu.be/y3ECDcTBBTQ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Multi-Sector Combined Mechanism for Empowering Rural Economic Revitalization Centres to ensure food security and Nutrition No citizen should starve due to lack of food 07 committees for food safety Prioritizer eradication of malnutrition Fertilizer at reasonable prices for farmers Continuity of agricultural inputs to make the season successful Plans to meet food needs locally by 2025 The multi-sector mechanism to empower rural economic revitalization centres to ensure food security and nutrition was initiated under the patronage of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News The Financial advisory group Lazard hired by Sri Lanka has started talks with India, China and Japan on restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt, Minister Ramesh Pathirana the Cabinet spokesperson said today, as the country seeks an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. Lazard was hired by Sri Lanka in May, along with international lawyers Clifford Chance, to guide the government through the process of restructuring its debt. https://youtu.be/ZXEa8mOwP3E Earlier this month, the IMF said it had reached a preliminary agreement with Sri Lanka for a loan of about $2.9... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/22)
Courtesy The Hindustan Times India said the Sri Lankan crisis has “demonstrated the limitations of debt-driven economy and the impact it has on the standard of living”. India on Monday expressed concern at the “lack of measurable progress” by the Sri Lankan government on its commitments regarding a political solution to the ethnic issue involving the island nation’s Tamil minority. While outlining India’s position at an interactive dialogue on the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ latest report on Sri Lanka, India’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Indra Mani... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
Courtesy The Telegraph (India) Current Sri Lankan crisis has demonstrated limitations of a debt-driven economy and impact it has on standard of living, says Indra Mani Pandey. India on Monday expressed concern at the UN Human Rights Council about Sri Lanka’s lack of progress in evolving a political solution to its ethnic problem. This is being perceived as a reprimand for Colombo for allowing the Chinese “spy” vessel to dock at Hambantota Port last month despite New Delhi raising security concerns about its presence so close to the Indian coast. Presenting India’s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
By Devana Senanayake, a journalist from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Courtesy Coreign Policy This year’s protests have revitalized the country’s socialists. But can they capitalize on that momentum electorally? SEPTEMBER 12, 2022, 2:40 PM The mass protests in Sri Lanka that led to the removal of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the appointment of a new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, in July have now stalled. As Wickremesinghe cracks down on dissent, and demonstrators figure out where to go from here, many critics and experts have overlooked the role the country’s left has played in the protest movement.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror Power and Energy minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that if the temples do not pay their electricity bills, it will result in disconnection. While responding to the statement made by the former parliamentarian and Leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya, Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera, the minister said that if the prelate falls into the same category as being a politician, the non payment of Electricity bills will be treated as default and result in disconnection. While expressing disagreement, Ven. Sobhitha said he was unable to pay the electricity bill which he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Permanent Representative of China to the UN Office at Geneva, Ambassador Chen Xu, openly spoke for Sri Lanka and opposed external interference during the Interactive Dialogue on the island nation at the 51st Session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. Ambassador Chen stressed that China appreciates Sri Lanka’s continued efforts in enhancing and protecting its human rights, especially in reconciliation, reconstruction and counter-terrorism. “As a traditional friendly neighbor of Sri Lanka, China firmly supports Sri Lanka in safeguarding national sovereignty and independence, maintaining social stability and realizing economic recovery.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS I read a news report in Daily Mirror that the education in Sri Lanka from next year would be in the English medium. It is a good decision and it would support reducing social differences in the country. As we have seen for a long-time education in the English medium is an essential policy decision while teaching Sinhala should be a major concentrated subject in schools. The total student population from Grade one to Grade 12 is smaller and teaching English language and literature would be the strategy to broadly understand the use of language... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
Sugath Kulatunga It was refeshing to see our Parliament debating for two days on a critical problem of child malnutrition facing the country, without wasting time on splitting hairs on political issues. It is sad that the debate was triggered not on a finding of the government but on a statement made by the UNICEF based on a report made in 2018 on acute malnutrition and protein deficiency in children of our country. the UNICEF had described a desperate situation of this problem and made an urgent appeal for donations. The media sensationalized the comments without revealing the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
by Neville Ladduwahetty Courtesy The Island According to a media report the Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has set up a “committee to evaluate renewable energy project proposals…with the aim of identifying the obstacles to the quick implementation of renewable projects and providing solutions for them” (Daily News, August 27, 2022). “This step has been taken at a meeting, which was led by the Minister with the Ceylon Electricity Board and Sustainable Energy Authority officials to review progress of renewable energy projects… Under this the Committee will evaluate the proposals received on a 100-Megawatt solar... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D. The map above shows 4 ideas: A. the division of the island as seven major river basins instead of the 1832 Colebrooke-based artificial nine provinces (1. Yalpanam 2. Rajarata 3. Dambadeni 4. Mahaveli 5. Deegavapi 6. Kelani 7. Ruhunu). B. red line demarcates the mythical Tamil homeland (Eelam) boundary. C. broken red lines in and around the no. 4 basin marks the Malayanadu estate Tamil settlements. D. black lines indicate the proposed electric railway line connecting Trincomalee and Colombo. Note: ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/22)
Manusha Media Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara said that the foreign exchange sent by expatriate workers to Sri Lanka has increased by 16.4 percent in August compared to July this year, and the number of workers who have registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to leave for foreign jobs this year has exceeded 200,000. According to the minister, the amount of foreign labour remittances which was US$ 279 million in July has increased by USD 46 million to USD 325 million by the month of August. The minister... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Dilrook Kannangara Having read an interesting article by Garvin Karunaratne prompted me to write this to bring to attention real issues of today that were disregarded in it. In short, if a separate state or states are declared in the northern and eastern provinces, they will be rich and developed countries in a generation thanks to the sheer investment potential of their sponsors abroad! Agriculture is Not the Engine of Growth Today The article focused only on agricultural produce. However, agriculture is not the engine of modern economic growth which is based on industry,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින එංගලන්තයෙන් දුටුගැමුණු කෙනෙක් ඇවිත්….සිංහල බල මණ්ඩලය ආරම්භ කරලා කොළඹ සිටඅනුරාධපුරය හරහා නුවරට රථ පෙළපාලියක් ගියා…ලෝකය පුරා රටවල කොටි සාමාජිකයන් යුද පුහුණුව ලබන බවප්රථම වරට මෙරටට දැනුම් දුන්නේ මමයි… අදටත් ඒ හඬ ගාම්භීරය. සිංහල ජන දුක හමුවේ දැනුදු ඒ හදවත කම්පනයට පත් වේ. හිරු නොබසින අධිරාජ්යයේ සැපවත් ජීවිතයක් ගත කිරීමට අවස්ථාව තිබියදී, ඔහු මෙරට හුදෙකලා ජීවිතයක් ගත කරනුයේ දුක්විඳින සිංහල ජනතාවට සරණක් වීමටය. හේ අන් කිසිවෙක් නොව ඉතිහාසයේ ප්රථම වරට එංගලන්තයේ ‘සිංහල සංවිධානය’ සහ මෙරට ‘සිංහල බල මණ්ඩලය’ ගොඩනැගූ ගාමිණී කීර්තිචන්ද්ර ය. අද ඔහු වියපත්ය. වයස අවුරුදු අසූපහකි. එහෙත් ඔහු සමාජයට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Courtesy Morning Star CHINESE loans to countries facing financial ruin in recent years, including Sri Lanka, Argentina and Pakistan, mean that Beijing is increasingly seen as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund, an analysis published in the Financial Times has found. China’s Belt and Road Initiative had already led to it eclipsing the World Bank as the biggest funder of public works in other countries, but the emergency loans threaten to further undermine Western financial dominance of the global South because China does not attach the usual conditions applied by the IMF, such as cuts to public... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Courtesy The Island ECONOMYNEXT –Sri Lanka’s central bank chief has informed the speaker of parliament that he has no objections to presenting the country’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) though doing so is a decision up to the minister of finance.Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed parliament Friday September 09 morning that Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe had communicated this to him in a discussion the two had held on the matter. “He said he has no objections about presenting it, and he is prepared to present the report anytime, but it is a decision... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he is focusing on an export oriented, very competitive market economy for Sri Lanka as the country has the opportunity of supplying South Asia, Southeast and east Asia. “Our focus is on competitiveness and export markets. That’s what we are working on looking at the industry for technology and modernizing agriculture. If you look at the region by 2050 from Saudi to Indonesia there will be an addition of 500 million mouths to feed at high income level.” He said this during the meeting with the visiting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka beat Singapore to win the Asian Netball Championship and also qualify for the 2023 World Cup. Sri Lanka defeated Singapore 63 – 53 at the finals on Sunday (11) to become six-time Asian Netball Champions. Singapore were forced to settle for second at the Asian Netball Championship for a second straight edition after falling to Sri Lanka. In a rematch of the 2018 final, three-time winners Singapore looked set to end their eight-year trophy drought as they came out firing from the start. But defending champions... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka produced a dominant performance to defeat Pakistan by 23 runs in the 2022 Asia Cup final on Sunday. Bhanuka Rajapaksa (71*) and Wanindu Hasaranga (3/27) were the stars of the night for Sri Lanka as they lifted a sixth continental title in Dubai. Being invited to bat, the Sri Lankans posted a strong score of 170/6 in 20 overs and Pakistan, despite a strong 71-run partnership for the third wicket, gave the momentum away in the final few overs as they were bowled out on 147 in a massive batting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/22)
Robin Rapidly Increasing Serum 25(OH)D Boosts the Immune System against Infections-"Sepsis and COVID-19" Dear Vitamin D Researchers, Medical Professionals and/or Advocates: Question: Why should doctors or the public notice vitamin D researchers if immunologists are unaware of 25-hydroxyvitamin D's importance to the immune system? I can only do a fraction of what I would like to regarding highlighting the best research and bringing it to the attention of others who need to read it, including every immunologist I know of. https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/ Much of this material is covered by the following article, which I will... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, Sept 9 (NewsWire) – Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando has held discussions with the President of the Qatar Football Association Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani on building an International Football Stadium in Sri Lanka. Minister Fernando said the meeting with the Qatar Football Association President focused on promoting sports tourism. A fruitful discussion had been held regarding helping Sri Lanka, especially with sports tourism, he revealed, in a message on Twitter. The Minister further said the matter of providing a plot of land to build an international... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
Lanka Lead News ඉන්දියාවේ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපති මිලින්ද මොරගොඩ මහතා විසින් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථිකය ඉන්දියාවේ ආර්ථිකය සමඟ ඒකාබද්ධ කල යුතු බවට ඉල්ලීමක් ඉදිරිපත් කළ බව ද daily mirror පුවත්පත වාර්තා කරයි. ඒ පිළිබඳව අදහස් දක්වන දේශපාලන විචාරකයන් සඳහන් කරන්නේ ඉංදියාවේ උපායමාර්ගික උවමනාව මිලින්ද මොරගොඩ කටින් එලියට දැමීම ඉන්දියානු ඔත්තු සේවා සමත් වී ඇති බව ය. ඔවුන්ට අනුව ශ්රී ලංකාව මුහුණදෙන ආර්ථික අර්බුදය යොදා යොදාගනිමින් මූල්ය ඒකාබද්ධ කරණය හෙවත් ඉන්දියානු රුපියල ලංකාවේ භාවිතා කිරීම, රේගු, සහ බදු ඒකාබද්ධ කරන මෙන් ම බලශක්ති, නාවික, ගුවන් සේවා ඒකාබද්ධ කරණය කිරීම මගින් ශ්රී ලංකාව අර්ධ යටත් විජිතයක් බවට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
By Saman Indrajith Courtesy The Island It was up to the Minister of Finance Ranil Wickremesinghe to decide whether to present the government’s agreement with the IMF to Parliament, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said yesterday.Earlier, Chief Opposition Whip, Lakshman Kiriella, said that at the next business of the committee meeting, he was planning to ask for a debate on the agreement the government had entered into with the IMF. “We need a copy of the agreement. This will help the debate. These reforms need the support of the Opposition, and the people, to be successful. You... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror A major tea export company in Sri Lanka has been evading taxes worth US dollars 300 million every year, a government MP told Parliament yesterday. MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage who made this disclosure in Parliament added that none of the companies who run supermarket chains does not pay a single cent as taxes. "There is also a popular clothing store which has 48 outlets islandwide that also does not pay a single cent and a major apparel company which earns Rs 700 million annually but evades paying taxes. Coming... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The President’s Media Division (PMD) says the facilities provided to state ministers have been brought under the management of public expenditure. Accordingly, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasized that all authorities should make every effort to utilize public funds spent by the government in a frugal and efficient manner, taking into account the severe economic difficulties that the government has to face in the current economic and social climate of the country. https://youtu.be/NaqQxHUB7H4 The Secretary to the President, Saman Ekanayake has given instructions to all secretaries of the ministries... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has held a discussion with the officials of Lanka Coal Company and the supplier who was awarded the coal term tender. The coal procurement for the Lakvijaya Power Station in Norochcholai was taken up for discussion at this meeting. Due to various misleading statements that were circulated on the procurement process, the supplier has decided to suspend performing the contract awarded to them until legal clearances were given, Minister Wijesekera said further. At the meeting, it was decided to take legal action against... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News USAID Administrator Samantha Power announces an additional USD 40 million to Sri Lanka to help farmers purchase fertilizer and other vital agricultural inputs https://youtu.be/8sSly91slW4... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/22)
By Garvin Karunaratne, formerly of the SLAS The Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka happen to be interlocked into the rest of Sri Lanka economically and cannot sustain itself if separated. This fact is well illustrated in the working of government departments that deal with development. My life in the Administrative Service began in the Marketing Department in 1955. It was called the Department for the Development of Agricultural Marketing. It dealt with the marketing of agricultural produce and in the Fifties when I joined as an Assistant Commissioner, the Department implemented the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Sugath Kulatunga Many parties try to read a systems change factor which was not there into Gota Go home cry. Aragalaya focused only on the single objective to send Gota home. The core of the Aragalaya consisted of an urban and semi urban subculture of long haired persons of unconventional appearance who reject conventional values. They were more the Ranil’s Bracelet wearing and jean clad generation of veteran youth. The fact that the battle cry was the anglicized Gota Go Home was zeroed on this subculture rather than the youth in general. It may have been more effective... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Courtesy The Telegrapgh (India) 'We will form a new political alliance under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa' Sri Lanka's politically under siege Rajapaksa family would return to dominate once again by forming a new alliance, Namal Rajapaksa, the son of the former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, said on Friday. "We will form a new political alliance under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa," he told a political gathering of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in the southwestern province of the crisis-hit country. The SLPP has been at the receiving... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The government of Sri Lanka today (Sep 09) signed an agreement for financial assistance of USD 203 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific (JFPR) to implement the Food Security and Livelihood Recovery Emergency Assistance Project. https://youtu.be/4Wm7vx_JBxE In a press release, the Department of External Resources said, Sri Lanka is planning to borrow USD 200 million from the ADB to finance the implementation of the said project which is expected to ensure access to food and protect the livelihoods... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe has advised officials to revise the circulars immediately if it impedes the implementation of development projects, the President’s Media Division (PMD) says. The President chaired a discussion at the President’s Office today (09) to examine the progress of several development projects in the country based on Indian investment cooperation, and advised the officials at this meeting. https://youtu.be/5fiAoh0Qhfw Deputy High Commissioner, Vinod K. Jacob also attended the meeting. The President instructed the ministry secretaries and government officials to take steps to resolve the obstacles that have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily News Govt reached only an understanding with IMF Leader of the House Susil Premajayantha yesterday said in Parliament that the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff had only reached an understanding and not signed an agreement. He was responding to a question by NPP and JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake under Standing Order 27(2). Raising the question MP Dissanayake asked the government to table the IMF staff level agreement in Parliament since the public should be aware about the agreement signed with the IMF. “The Sri Lankan economy has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily News Chief Government Whip and Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said yesterday that newly appointed State Ministers will enjoy no privileges and therefore, they will not be a burden to the country. Earlier only 20 Ministers were appointed and it became more difficult to maintain lots of institutions coming under Ministries with that scale. For example, I have been assigned 35 institutions under my Ministry and it’s hard for me to work and supervise those institutions alone. But now we can assign new State Ministers to oversee those institutions.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily News Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena engaged in religious observances at the sacred Katharagama Kiri Vehera. In the year the 66th anniversary of the political and social revolution ushered in by the historic victory of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) Government in 1956 is commemorated, some of the alliance partners have disintegrated and some new parties of fragmented groups have emerged. In this sad state of affairs where the main party of the MEP alliance, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is fragmented into groups and scattered all over the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/22)
Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Mhanuwara 8th Sept. 2022. After all a cabinet by perception is a small cupboard or a small private room and necessarily one cannot call a container a cabinet. Therefore usually, a Cabinet of Ministries has to be small What is more is you can’t have another set of independent ministers from the Cabinet Minsters called State Ministers as we have in this country. Usually, cabinet ministers are listed in a scientific manner to cover the entire field of governance putting the inter-related functions together to achieve the best coordination and to avoid inter-ministerial... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/22)
Senaka Weeraratna https://youtu.be/0lFsKPt6PrM Watch "PM Modi unveils statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate" on The narrative on WW2 is being rewritten in India. The unveiling of a huge sculptured statue of the Liberator of India, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, is a water shed moment for not only India but for all of Asia that were subject to occupation by the Western powers. Subash Chandra Bose was an ally of both Adolf Hitler and Hideki Tojo. Hitler provided the Submarine... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/22)
JOHN STOSSEL Courtesy reason Green activists have some good points. But the pursuit of a chemical-free world hurts vulnerable people the most. (Stossel TV) Starvation. Poverty. People struggling to buy medicine and fuel. Disaster happened after one government fell under the influence of the world's environmental extremists. Many "experts" say pure nature is best. United Nations officials now tell politicians that the climate "crisis" demands countries make all sorts of sacrifices, like cutting nitrogen waste. Much of that waste comes from synthetic fertilizer, so activists... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/22)
Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D Housing is a basic human right and it has strong links with economic, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Housing is essential for human survival with dignity. The housing allows people to have privacy, family life, assembly, and association. An adequate shelter is a base for human relationships, the free development of the individual, and the playing of an active role in the social and cultural life of the community (Springer, 2000). The human right to housing has been universally identified by the United Nations (UN). Article 25 of the Universal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/22)
සුදත් ගුණසේකර මහනුවර. 7.9.2022 මා මේ සටහන තැබීමට අදහස් කලේ අද හෙටම ඔබ යළිත් රාජ්ය ඇමතිවරුන් පත් කිරීමට යන බව අද පුවත්පත්වලද පලවූ නිසාය.මා මිට පෙරද ඔබගේ ලේකම් වරයාගේ විද්යුත් තැපෑලට, මීට විරෝධය ප්රකාශකොටමේ ගැන සවිස්තරාත්මක් ලිපියක් එවා ඇත ජනාධිපති තුමනි, දැනට සිටින 30 ක යෝධ ඇමති මණ්ඩලයද. අද රටේ පවතින ආර්ථික තත්වය යටතේ ඉතා වැඩි බැවින් එය ද 17 කට අඩුකළ යුතුයයි ජනතාව තරයේ කියා සිටියදී තවත් රාජ්ය ඇමති නමින් ඇමතීන් 30-40 පත් කිර්රිමෙන් ඔබ ජනතාවගේ දැඩි අප්රසාදයට පත්වනු නොඅනුමානය. පොදුපෙරමුනේ මෙන්ම සෙසු පක්ෂවල සිටින කිසිදිනෙක නොසන්සිදෙන ඇමති දොළදුකින් දිවා රෑ පෙලෙන අය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The United States Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, has informed that the U.S., as a creditor nation, will participate in restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt. A press release issued by the President’s Media Division (PMD) read that the critical need for the full cooperation of all official creditors in debt negotiations and restructuring through timely participation and equal burden sharing have been outlined. https://youtu.be/TH39E82yItI The US Treasury, welcoming President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal for a coordination platform for Sri Lanka’s official bilateral creditors, has urged engagement in this regard.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana A circular has been published granting five-year no-pay leave for public officers to be spent in or out of the country, without affecting their seniority and pension. The communiqué was issued by the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Provincial Councils. On June 13, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval amend existing provisions to allow government employees to take no-pay leave for employment or other productive work abroad or to work in the private sector in the country. Later on June 23, a seven-member committee was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Minister Kanchana Wijesekera in a twitter message says today he officially requested the Chairman of the Public Finance Committee MP Harsha de Silva to conduct an inquiry on the procurement of Coal since false allegations leveled against the awarded tender has created questions on transparency pricing.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/22)
BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS When we read the information in print and web media staying from outside Sri Lanka, it appears Sri Lanka is a chaotic country without law and order. The information is mixed with social media which is associated with manipulation than truth. Many Sri Lankans living in the country state that the actual status in the country is quite different from the picture shown on social media. Why this chaotic picture whether it is the true situation or a manipulated status by the media is a hard task for people to judge. Inflation and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
Bodhisattva Thailand is home to the second largest Buddhist population of more than 63 million, only after China which has the largest Buddhist population in the world. The country is dotted with more than 41000 Buddhist temples and monasteries which house around 350,000 monks. Buddhism has shaped every aspect of the social and cultural life of the people for more than 1500 years. People around the world benefited from the different living Buddhist traditions of Thailand, including the ascetic Forest Tradition. For Centuries Thailand has successfully preserved a strong tradition of early Buddhism. But how did Buddhism... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
Chandre Dharmawardana. It is not India, China or the IMF that has truly come to the help of Sri Lanka in a sustainable manner, by going beyond one-shot gestures or doing minor charitable acts. Everyone is ready to praise the IMF or the central bank or other institutions for their role in solving the forex crisis. Commentators are ready to give credit to the Aragalaya for getting rid of a group of politicians who had got corrupted over years of being in power. The opposition to Basil Rajapaksa was initially mounted by Weerawansa, Vasedeva, et al.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
Geethanjana ශ්රී ලංකාවේ බොහෝ අය යුක්රේනයට රුසියානු හමුදා යැවීම නිසා හටගෙන ඇති අර්බුදය දේශපාලනික වශයෙන් අපට එතරම් අදාළ නැතැයි සිතති. නමුත් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ රජය විසින් පවත්නා තත්වය හරිහැටි වටහා නොගතහොත්, එමෙන්ම, උදාවී ඇති නව බල සමතුලිතතා new power equilibriums නිවැරදි ලෙස තක්සේරුකොට ගෙන සුදුසු ආකාරයට වෙනස් නොවුවහොත්, මා සිතන්නේ එම ප්රශ්නය නිසා ශ්රී ලංකාවට බරපතල භූ දේශපාලනික ගැටළු රාශියකට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුවිය හැකි බවය. එය සිදුවන්නේ කෙසේද? යුක්රේන ප්රශ්නය ශ්රී ලංකාවට බලපෑමට හේතුවන සාධක රාශියක් තිබිය හැක. ඉන් කිහිපයක් පහත දැක්වේ. *යුක්රේන අර්බුදය හමුවේ ඉන්දියානු විදේශ ප්රතිපත්තියේ තීරණාත්මක වෙනසක් සිදුවී ඇති නිසා ඇමරිකාව හා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත් https://youtu.be/Q80_mh-3u7o... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත් ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය ශක්තිමත් කිරීම සඳහා ව්යවස්ථාවේ සිදුකළ යුතු වෙනස්කිරීම් සිදුකරන බව ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ පවසනවා. https://youtu.be/VqTi9iyyrb4 ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ බව ප්රකාශ කළේ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ 76 වන සංවත්සරයට සමගාමීව කොළඹ සුගතදාස ගෘහස්ථ ක්රීඩාංගණයේ අද පැවති උත්සවයට එක්වෙමින්. එක්ව ගොඩනැගෙමු තේමාව යටතේ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ 76 වන සංවත්සරය සමරනු ලබන්නේ වසර 28 කට පසුව පක්ෂයෙන් ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු පත්වීමෙන් පසුව වීම විශේෂත්වයක්. එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු යටතේ අවසන් වරට පක්ෂ සංවත්සරයක් පවත්වනු ලැබුවේ 1993 වසරේදියි. එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ අද පැවති සංවත්සරයට ආරාධිතයෙකු ලෙස අග්රාමාත්ය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice says that while adhering to the proposed revisions in the determination by the Supreme Court, they will proceed to enact the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution avoiding a referendum.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene announcing the Supreme Court determination on the 22nd Amendment stated that certain clauses of the Bill are inconsistent with the Constitution and should be revised or could be passed with a special majority and a referendum.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge An interesting aspect of the recent protests in Sri Lanka was the open participation of some members of the legal fraternity chanting slogans and even protesting against corruptions. People can bewail corruption because they are in no position to take action other than protest, can this be said of lawyers? People who wish to hold anyone accountable for corruption, has to go to a lawyer to file a case. People are unable to do so because they do not have the funds to meet the legal fees lawyers ask of them. Filing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/22)
පාඨකයෙක් අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනි ජූලි චුන්ග් මැතිණිය සෝවියට දේශයේ හිටපු ජනාධිපති මිඛායිල් ගොර්බොචොව් ගේ දිවි සැරිය නිම කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය ට්විටර් ගිණුමේ සටහනක් තබමින් , මිඛායිල් ගොර්බොචොව් යනු කොමියුනිස්ට්වරුන්ට ධනවාදය නම් පාඩම උගන්වා සෝවියට සංගමය උඩු යටිකුරු හරවා නිර්මාපකයාගේ පාරාදීසය බවට පත් කළේය. උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පළත් වෙනම රාජ්යයක් බවට පත් කර ගැනීමට අවශ්යය වන්නේ නම් ශ්රී ලංකාවටද ගොර්බොචොව් කෙනෙකු අවශ්යයයි.” පවසා ඇති බව සමාජ ජාලා තුළ සැරිසරණය වන පණිවිඩයකින් කියවේ. කෙසේ වුවද මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනිය සටහනක් තබමින් පවසන්නේ තමන්ගේ නමින් වන ව්යාජ සමාජ ජාලා ගිණුම් වලින් තමා පැවසුවේයැයි පවසමින් විවිධ ව්යාජ පණිවිඩ සමාජ ජාලා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/22)
INVESTINGCompany NewsNews Wire 14h ago Fitch Warns of High Risk Sri Lanka May Default on Local Bonds Ronojoy Mazumdar and Asantha Sirimanne, Bloomberg News A worker with an empty two-wheeled cart makes his way to a wholesale market to find jobs in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe this month called on lawmakers and citizens to support his administration’s reform measures to help pull the nation out of its economic tailspin and negotiate a bailout program from the International Monetary Fund. , Bloomberg... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/22)
Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry says Sri Lanka ‘needs all partners’ for its economic recovery Ahead of the UN Human Rights Chief’s latest report on Sri Lanka, and a likely resolution at the coming session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan government reiterated that it would not accept any external mechanism on war-time accountability. Addressing a media conference in Colombo on Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry said Sri Lanka “needs all partners” for its economic recovery, days after the government formalised an... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/22)
By Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun Sri Lanka is experiencing a humanitarian crisis, including food and energy shortages. It seeks Japan’s help to get it out of China’s debt trap. President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean on the brink of economic crisis, expressed his desire to ask Japan for help to lift the nation from its deep debt problems through debt restructuring talks and other measures. The biggest factor in the crisis has been the personalization of politics by the former president’s family, supported by Chinese funds. Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/22)
By CHANDRE DHARMAWARDANA Courtesy The Island chandre.dharma yahoo.ca Although there is much talk of “system change”, it is hard to find specifics of the new systems that are to be created. In the early seventies, Mahinda Wijesekera, the father of the present Minister for Power, was a student leader of the Vidyodaya University. As a key figure of the JVP, he told me that they are fighting for a “system change”. My critique of their plans got reported by Viranga (Nihal Ratnayake) in the Daily News. The campus faced student strikes with the demand that I withdraw... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/09/22)
Shenali D Waduge The Island published an excellent article by attorney Dharshan Weerasekera titled “Legal implications of Aragalaya protests” which was a stark contrast to the position taken by some BASL attorneys including its President. The article brings to the forefront a clash of perceptions. While some regard protestors storming the Presidents House/Secretariat, Temple Trees & PM’s Office & illegally occupying them as a triumph of democracy, many others see the long term repercussions & an affront to the rule of law by law of mobs. Unfortunately many in the legal fraternity including its President have chosen... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/22)
රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් දකුණ හා මධ්ය පළාත් හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාර පශ්චාත් කෝවිඩ් සමයේ අ.පො.ස. (උ.පෙ.) විභාගයෙන් ඉහළම ප්රගතිය ලබා ඇත්තේ ඌව පළාත යි. අ.පො.ස. (සා.පෙ.) විභාගයෙන් ඉහළම ජයග්රහණ වාර්තා කරන දකුණු පළාත 2020 උ.පෙ. ප්රතිඑල අනුව සිව්වන ස්ථානයේ පසු වූ නමුත්, මෙවර අට වන ස්ථානය ට පසු බැස ඇත. රටේ අධ්යාපන කේන්ද්රස්ථාන ලෙස සැලකෙන මධ්යම, බස්නාහිර සහ දකුණ වෙනුවට ඌව, නැගෙනහිර, වයඹ හා උතුර 2021 ප්රතිඑල අනුව ඉදිරියට පැමිණ තිබේ. ඌව උඩටම මෙවර උ.පෙ. විභාගයට ඌවේ දරුවන් 18,213 දෙනෙකු පෙනී සිටි අතර එයින් 11,862 ක් (65%) ක් විශ්වවිද්යාල ප්රවේශය සඳහා සුදුසුකම් ලබා ඇත. සිසුන් 577... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/22)
By Sena Thoradeniya This is the second part of the article, “Group Formation and Culture of Galle Face Protesters” posted on August 23.2022. A. Culture of GF Protesters - An Overview In the second part of this essay we discuss an area hitherto untouched by any writer, Culture of Galle Face Protesters (GFP). Since we have identified more than twenty facets of the culture represented by the protesters, at least some rudimentary description of each aspect is necessary resulting in making this essay a little longer. There were several limitations. Transliteration and translation into... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Geethanjana නිදහස් ශ්රී ලංකාව සැමදාම හිටගත්තේ ඉතිහාසයේ වැරදි පැත්තේය. මීට උදාහරණ සියගණනක් ඉදිරිපත් කල හැකි වුවත්, එක් සුවිශේෂ උදාහරණයක් ගෙන එනු කැමැත්තෙමි. එනම් සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක මැතිනියගේ පස් අවුරුදු සංවර්ධන සැලසුම් වලට රට තුල ඇතිවූ ප්රබල විරෝධය සහ 1977 ඇයව පරාජය කරමින් බටහිර ලිබරල් වාදය පිලිබඳ අන්ධ විශ්වාසයකින් පෙළුණු JR ජයවර්ධනට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ හයෙන් පහක බලයක් සහිත රජයක් පිහිටුවීමට බලය දීමය. ලෝකයේ සියලුම දියුණු රවල් සිය දියුණුව ලඟා කරගෙන තිබෙන්නේ ආරක්ෂනවාදී අර්ථික ප්රතිපත්ති තුලිනි. ( Noam Chomsky නොම් චොම්ස්කි) නමුත් සිරිමාවෝගේ ආර්ථික ප්රතිපත්තිය හා එහි අරමුණු ලාංකිකයිනට වටහා ගැනීමට තරම් බුද්ධියක් එදා නොතිබිණි. එදා ඔවුන් ඉතිහාසයේ වරදිපැත්තේ සිටගත්තේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Chandre Dharmawardana The Aragala Naayakayas (leaders) were going to attack the parliament. Parliament is where the power of the people is entrenched. Try attacking the parliament in any country. That is regarded at an uprising against the state and equal to terrorism in every country without exception. Rosenberg is a German-Polsih Marxist acttivist who is often quoted with veneration by leftist political "scientists". She too led such an attack on the German Parliament, and was arrested and shot by the then leftist government of Germany. That leftist government had in fact been led by one of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
By Dharshan Weerasekera Attorney-at-Law The protests that started in mid-March and culminated in the storming of the President’s House and Presidential Secretariat on July 9 leading to the subsequent resignation of the president, have been praised by many commentators as a triumph of democracy and a resounding affirmation of the rights of the people. However, there is another perspective that one must consider at least for the sake of argument, namely, that the events in question demonstrate the supplanting of the rule of law in our country by the rule of the mob. There is very... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත් https://youtu.be/Rh3J3nCGY-0 "ජනපති දුටු මිත්රත්වය - එන අයට පාර්ලිමේන්තු කැන්ටිමෙන් තේ දෙන්න ද ? අරගලයේදී පාර්ලිමේන්තුව අත්පත් කර ගැනීමට දැරූ උත්සාහය නීතියේ ආධිපත්ය සහ ව්යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමක් බව ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ පවසනවා. 156 වන පොලිස් දින සැමරුමට කොළඹදී අද එක්වෙමින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ බව කියා සිටියා. රටේ මූලික නීතිය වන ව්යවස්ථාවට අනූව කටයුතු නොකරණ පුද්ගලයින්ට එරෙහිව ක්රියා කළ යුතු බව ද ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා සඳහන් කළා. 1866 වර්ෂයේ සැප්තැම්බර් මස 03 වන දින ඇරඹුණු පොලීසිය මහජන ජීවිත හා දේපල ආරක්ෂා කරමින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, September 2: On Thursday, September 1, Sri Lanka succeeded in arriving at a staff-level agreement with the IMF for an Extended Fund Facility of US$ 2.9 billion spread over a four-year period. This facility was given following the submission of a credible plan for a thorough reform of the ruined economy by the Ranil Wickremesinghe government. But, as the IMF team made it clear, the actual realization of the loan will be tied to the willingness of Sri Lanka’s external creditors to take haircuts and restructure the terms of repayment in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Lanka Lead News අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනි ජූලි චුන්ග් මැතිණිය සෝවියට දේශයේ හිටපු ජනාධිපති මිඛායිල් ගොර්බොචොව් ගේ දිවි සැරිය නිම කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය ට්විටර් ගිණුමේ සටහනක් තබමින් ,“මිඛායිල් ගොර්බොචොව් යනු කොමියුනිස්ට්වරුන්ට ධනවාදය නම් පාඩම උගන්වා සෝවියට සංගමය උඩු යටිකුරු හරවා නිර්මාපකයාගේ පාරාදීසය බවට පත් කළේය. උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පළත් වෙනම රාජ්යයක් බවට පත් කර ගැනීමට අවශ්යය වන්නේ නම් ශ්රී ලංකාවටද ගොර්බොචොව් කෙනෙකු අවශ්යයයි.” පවසා ඇති බව සමාජ ජාලා තුළ සැරිසරණය වන පණිවිඩයකින් කියවේ. කෙසේ වුවද මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනිය සටහනක් තබමින් පවසන්නේ තමන්ගේ නමින් වන ව්යාජ සමාජ ජාලා ගිණුම් වලින් තමා පැවසුවේයැයි පවසමින් විවිධ ව්යාජ පණිවිඩ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Lanka Lead News මහ බැංකු අධිපති ආචාර්ය නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරුන්ට රට ගොඩ නැගීමට කළ යුතු දේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ටියුෂන් පන්තියක් පැවැත්වූ බැවින් දැන් රටේ අර්බූදය විසඳෙනු ඇතිද යන්න පිළිබඳව ලංකා ලීඩ් වෙබ් අඩවිය ජාතික සංවිධාන වල මතය විමසන ලදී. එහිදී ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුවේ මාධ්යය ප්රකාශක වෛද්යය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා අදහස් දක්වමින්, ” මීට පෙර පී බී ජයසුන්දරගෙන් උපදෙස් අරගෙන තමා රට අද මේ අර්බූදය දක්වා රැගෙන ආවේ. නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ අහසින් කඩා වැටුණු සුර දූතයෙක් නෙවෙයි.ඔහු මීට පෙර මහ බැංකුවේ නියෝජ්යය අධිපති ලෙස වසර 10ක් කටයුතු කළ අයෙක්. අභ්යන්තර තීන්දු ගැනීමේදී මහ බැංකු අධිපතිට සමාන බලයක්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana China says it stands ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development. The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian stated this in response to a question raised by a journalist during a regular press conference on Friday (Sep 02). When asked for China’s views, as a creditor nation of Sri Lanka, with regard to Japan’s request for all countries that lent money to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Myanmar has handed over 1,000 tons of rice to Sri Lanka at a port in the commercial city of Yangon, the state-run Myanmar News Agency reported on Saturday. Speaking at the handover ceremony on Friday, Union Minister for Commerce U Aung Naing Oo said that the donation is a token of sympathy for Myanmar’s government and people for the people of Sri Lanka. He expressed at the ceremony the hope for strengthening friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Sri Lankan Ambassador to Myanmar J.M. Bandara expressed gratitude to the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Hiru https://youtu.be/0gt0IjAn49w... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Paris Club is ready to start debt relief process for Sri Lanka and coordinate with non-Paris Club official bilateral creditors to provide financing assurances.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Four (04) Covid-19 related deaths have been confirmed for 02 September... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News A loaf of bread (450g) will be sold at Rs. 300 citing the increase in Wheat Flour prices according to the All Ceylon Bakery Owners Association... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian at the regular pess conference on September 2, 2022 responsed to a query of Reuters. Reuters: During a news conference on Friday, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki urged all countries that lent money to Sri Lanka, including China, to discuss the country's debt restructuring. These were remarks made after Sri Lanka reached a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. As a creditor nation, does China have any comment? Zhao Lijian: China has paid close attention to the difficulties and challenges faced by Sri Lanka and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/09/22)
BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS WANIGASEKERA Social, religious and political issues have been associated with the Catholic Church, which arrived in Sri Lanka with the invasion of the Portuguese in 1505, and the church had several conflicts with the government. Historical information related to the Christian churches in Sri Lanka evidence that the church always attempted to not involve in political issues except for the nationalization of catholic schools. It was a remarkable situation and people agreed with the church’s stand. However, the ARAGALAYA has brought a negative stand for the church and Rev.Balangoda Kassapa publicly expressed that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Garvin Karunaratne, Phd Michigan State University I would request our leaders- the President, the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank to please consider approving the implementation of a new programme to create employment and also create the production of all items that we imported. It could be on the lines of the Divisional Development Councils Programme(DDCP) of the Sirimavo days, amended as follows. The DDCP only aimed at creating very small industries and small scale agricultural projects. This was expanded in Matara by me to include medium sized industries, a mecanized boatyard making seagoing fishing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Professor Dr. Nishan C. Wijesinha (Sarasota) I can recall back to when Mr. Wickremesinghe was made the Minister of Education on 14 February 1980; where Mr. Wickremesinghe promised educational reforms. We were then studying for our A/L’s at STC Mount; and all of us with the O/L batch sent a communique requesting that O/L curriculum be made to 6 subjects, allowing students to take part in extra-curricular activities, and the A/L to 3 subjects. In our communique we requested that O/L substitute subjects for the following be offered for students, as everyone is not of equal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Lanka Lead News විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් ගෙනඑන ලබන ව්යවස්ථා මගෝඩියට මේ රටේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරු ගොදුරු නොවිය යුතු බවත් එසේ වුවහොත් මෙරටේ ජනතාව මන්ත්රීවරුන්ගේ කාර්යභාරය භෞතික වශයෙන් අවසන් කිරීමට කටයුතු කරනු ඇති බවත් වෛද්ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා සදහන් කළේය. ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සිදුවූ ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධන මගෝඩි පිළිබඳව සහ විශේෂයෙන්ම විජයදාස රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයා ලෙස සිදු කළ දේ පිළිබඳව විග්රහයක් සහිත ග්රන්ථයක් අද දින( 01) නිදහස් චතුරස්රයේ පුස්තකාල සහ සේවා මණ්ඩල ශ්රවනාගාරයේදී එළි දැක්වීමට එක් වෙමින් ඒ මහතා මෙසේ සදහන් කළේය. https://youtu.be/B5hk8Ti1OY8 එසේම අධ්යාත්මය සිදගෙන ජීවත් වුවත් ඉන් පළක් නොමැති බව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Beleaguered former Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to the island a short while ago (Sep 02), Ada Derana correspondent says. Rajapaksa fled the country after months-long mass public demonstrations demanding his immediate resignation gained momentum in July after protesters stormed the President’s House in Colombo and several other state buildings in the capital. He reached the Maldives late on July 12, with his wife Ioma Rajapaksa and two security officers in a military plane. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) later confirmed that it provided a military plane for Rajapaksa’s departure upon... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Developing Countries Trading Scheme will offer Sri Lanka the opportunity to benefit from duty- free schees for a range of goods exported to UK according to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated this while sending a congratulatory message to the President. The UK Government announced the launch of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) effective from early next year, replacing its Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) scheme. DCTS applies to 65 countries including Sri Lanka, offering lower tariffs and simpler rules... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News 02 September 2022: Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong releasing a statement titled "Onus on Debt Negotiations after Sri Lanka's IMF Staff Agreement" comments on the IMF agreement and the current context in Sri Lanka. The Text of the Statement is as follows; The IMF staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka on a USD2.9 billion programme, confirmed on 1 September, appears to signal a sharp change in policy settings in order to achieve macroeconomic stability, including through large fiscal adjustment, greater exchange-rate flexibility and more central bank autonomy, says Fitch Ratings. This should facilitate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Courtesy Hiru News Chinese embassy states that they have been always encouraging the IMF and other international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in Sri Lanka. As a traditional friendly neighbor of Sri Lanka and a major shareholder of the International Monetary Fund, China has been always encouraging the IMF and other international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka's response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development. As to the bilateral financial cooperation, shortly after the Sri Lankan government... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/22)
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J G1 Canada 1 September 2022 Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN This is in response to Les Bovell on "Many fear wrongly being called racist",who is Black and immigrated here in 1969, believes that he was treated well in Canada as a "black" immigrant. "Lucky You. Congratulations", I say to him. I am a coloured Asian who immigrated on an invitation by the National Museums Corporation in October 1970, doesn't feel I was that lucky as he was, and he should be considered to be one of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Manusha Media විදේශ ගත ශ්රමිකයින්ට ගුවන්තොටුපොලේදී ගෞරවනීය පිළිගැනීමක් ලබාදෙමින්, විදේශ ගත ශ්රමිකයින් සදහාම වෙන්වූ විශේෂ පිවිසුම් ද්වාරය, HOPE GATE නමින් වරාය, නාවික හා ගුවන් සේවා අමාත්ය නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා මහතා සහ කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා අතින් අද (01) උදෑසන විවෘත විය.ඒ අනුව කටුනායක ගුවන්තොටුපොලෙන් විදේශ රටකට පිටත්ව යන ශ්රමිකයාට මෙන්ම විදේශ රැකියාවක නිරතව සිට මෙරටට පැමිණෙන ශ්රමිකයින් සදහා මෙම නව පිවිසුම් ද්වාරය විවෘත වේ. ඒ අනුව ගුවන්තොටුපොලේදී විදේශ ගත ශ්රමිකයාට අවශ්ය සියලුම පහසුකම් ලබාදීමට නියමිත අතර, ඒ සදහා සහාය ලබාදීමට විශේෂ සත්කාරක සේවා සැපයීමේ කණ්ඩායමක්ද යොදවා තිබේ.HOPE GATE හරහා ඉදිරියේදී විදේශ ගත ශ්රමිකයින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස් ගාලුමුවදොර මූලික කරගෙන ඇති වූ අරගලයේ බුද්ධාගම තැනක් නොතිබූ බවත් කතෝලික ආගමට ඊට වඩා තැනක් තිබූ බවත් බලංගොඩ කස්සප හිමියෝ සඳහන් කරති. එම අරගලයට සම්බන්ධ වූ පළමු භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේ තමන් බව ද පැවසූ උන්වහන්සේ කතෝලික පියතුමන්ලාට එක විදිහට සලකමින් භික්ෂූන්ට වෙන විදිහකට සලකන බවත් කියා සිටිති. https://youtu.be/s7XckCwD4J4 කතෝලික පල්ලිය විසින් අරගලයට ආධාර කළ බවත් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ හා පෙරටුගාමී සමාජවාදී පක්ෂය අරගලයට රිංගා එය විනාශ කර දැමූ බවත් උන්වහන්සේ පැවසූහ. අද වන විට ජනතාවට අරගලයේ එපා වී ඇති බවත් මොන පක්ෂ කිව්වත් මිනිහෙක්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror IMF yesterday confirmed that a wealth tax is part of the agreement entered with the Sri Lankan authorities. There was much speculation that the interim budget presented in Parliament this week by President Ranil Wickremesinghe would contain wealth tax as a revenue proposal. But it only contained a proposal to increase the VAT rate to 15 percent from 12 percent. IMF mission chief for Sri Lanka Masahiro Nozaki pointed out that Sri Lanka’s tax collection is inadequate and the country has a very low tax to GDP ratio. He said there is a clear need... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror As a traditional friendly neighbour of Sri Lanka and a major shareholder of the International Monetary Fund, China has always been encouraging the IMF and other international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka's response to current difficulties and efforts to ease the debt burden and realize sustainable development, the Chinese embassy said in a statement. The statement said as to the bilateral financial cooperation, shortly after the Sri Lankan government announced to suspend international debt payments in April 2022, Chinese financial institutions reached out to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s 2023 Budget needs to be consistent with the economic reforms program and macroeconomic framework under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, says Peter Breuer, Chief of the Debt Capital Markets Division, Monetary and Capital Market Department. IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities announced this morning that they have reached a staff-level agreement to support the island nation’s economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about USD 2.9 billion. Mr. Breuer told reporters that the staff-level agreement is a signal of the commitment by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that the government was able to reach a staff level agreement this morning to obtain an extended fund facility of USD 2.9 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that will operate for a period of four years. Speaking in Parliament today (01), the Prime Minister also mentioned that after obtaining the approval of the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board, the official bilateral level discussion will be followed. https://youtu.be/3N6tLCwGC2U Various weaknesses and wrong policy decisions ultimately led to debt default and pushed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says that huge tax cuts in 2019 and extensive money printing to settle debts triggered the worst economic crisis in the history of the country. He also stated that the government of Sri Lanka and the Central Bank had already defaulted even before the debt standstill was announced. https://youtu.be/C5wr6eaCL_A He said the country has USD 7.6 billion in reserves, but when he took over as the central bank governor in April 2022 usable reserves had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
Courtesy Adaderana India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that they have attached three immovable properties worth INR 337 million belonging to Sri Lankan nationals, linked to the banned LTTE in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case. The official said that a bungalow on the ECR and two agricultural lands in Thiruvannamalai district, owned by Gunasekaran alias Perama Kumar, and his son Dileep alias Thileep were attached. Kumar was reportedly charged over the bomb attack targeting former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The Enforcement Directorate initiated money laundering probes... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/22)
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