Nava Thakuria

As India’s billion plus populace are watching an initiative under ‘one nation, one election’ policy by the Union  government in New Delhi proposing to go for simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies and local government bodies across the country with an aim to reduce the electoral expenditure, the recent by-polls narrated a different story. The  special elections, conducted for 48 legislative assembly constituencies in 14 States (along with two Parliamentary constituencies in Kerala and Maharashtra) divulged an important fact that no less than 41 assembly seats needed  the by-polls as those were vacated by the respective legislators after they were elected to the lower house of Indian Parliament.

One may wonder how all these members of State legislative assemblies turned Parliamentarians became so essential for the concerned political parties to achieve electoral successes in the last general elections  that embraced over 968 million electorates. Was it not possible for the party leaderships to pick up fresh candidates with a higher percentage of winnability (and allowing the MLAs to complete their terms) for the Parliamentary polls? Should it have been a wise practice for them to help the millions of direct & indirect taxpayers in saving a huge volume of electoral expenditure to fill the space created by those newly elected members of  18th Lok Sabha !

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), except seven assembly constituencies (two each in Rajasthan  and Sikkim, one each in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh) all other seats became vacant as their representatives shifted their working space to New Delhi after Parliamentary electoral successes. Rajasthan reported the death of two MLAs in  Salumber and Ramgarh seats, where another legislator passed away in Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath constituency. Disqualification of a legislator necessitated the by-polls in Sishamau (Uttar Pradesh). In Sikkim, by-polls became necessary as its government chief  Prem Singh Tamang vacated one seat to continue with Rhenock constituency. Amazingly, Namchi-Singhithang seat was deserted by CM’s wife Krishna Kumari Rai (reasons best known to her only) soon after taking the oath. Finally Vijaypur (Madhya Pradesh) legislator changed his party affiliation ensuring an obligatory resignation.

Out of nine assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, which went to by-polls recently, eight seats were vacated by the legislators to become MPs. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Akhilesh Yadav marched to Lok Sabha leaving Karhal seat vacant. Another SP leader Ziaur Rehman left the Kundarki seat after successful LS elections. Katehari seat was deserted by  SP leader Lalji Verma and  Chandan Chauhan (RLD) left Meerapur seat.  Similarly,  Ghaziabad seat was abandoned by Atul Garg (Bharatiya Janata Party) whereas Vinod Kumar Bind left  Majhawan seat. BJP legislator Anoop Pradhan Balmiki vacated Khair and Praveen Patel (BJP) left the Phulpur seat.

In Rajasthan, five assembly seats were abandoned by sitting legislators to fight LS elections successfully and thus compelled  the ECI to conduct by-polls. Jhunjhunu assembly seat was vacated by Brijendra Singh Ola (Indian National Congress) after LS polls. Another Congress legislator Harish Chandra Meena  vacated the Deoli-Uniara seat  and  Murari Lal Meena left the Dausa seat. RLP chief Hanuman Beniwal left Khinwsar seat and  Raj Kumar Roat (BAP) vacated Chorasi.

By-polls in all six constituencies of  West Bengal, where the assembly elections are due within two years, became necessary as the respective legislators successfully participated in the 2024 national elections. Trinamool Congress representative Jagdish Chandra Basunia vacated Sitai seat and  Manoj Tigga (BJP) left Madarihat seat. Partha Bhowmick (TMC) vacated the Naihati seat and another TMC legislator Sk Nurul Islam abandoned Haroa seat. June Maliah (TMC) left Medinipur seat and another party man Arup Chakraborty vacated the Taldangra seat. Punjab also witnessed four sitting MLAs joining the Lok Sabha. Gidderbaha seat was vacated by Congress legislator  Raja Warring and another Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa abandoned the Dera Baba Nanak seat. Raj Kumar Chabbewal (AAP) left Chabbewal  and another AAP leader Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer vacated the Barnala seat. 

Similarly, Bihar that is awaiting assembly elections by next year  embraced by-polls to fill up four assembly seats as the legislators shifted their working space to New Delhi.  Sudama Prasad (CPI-ML-L) vacated Tarari  seat  and  Sudhakar Singh (Rashtriya Janata Dal) left  Ramgarh seat. Similarly, Imamganj seat was abandoned by Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM-Secular) and Belganj seat was vacated by RJD’s Surendra Prasad Yadav.

Three assembly seats in Karnataka were also vacated by sitting MLAs inviting the by-polls. Basavaraj Bommai (BJP) left Shiggaon seat, whereas E Tukaram (INC) vacated Sandur seat. Channapatna seat was relinquished by HD Kumaraswamy (JD-S). Two seats in Kerala fell vacant as both the legislators participated fruitfully in LS polls. Congress leader Shafi Parambil vacated Palakkad seat and K Radhakrishnan (CPM) left  Chelakkara seat. In Madhya Pradesh, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (BJP) vacated Budhni seat. Raipur City South assembly constituency of Chhattisgarh was vacated by Brijmohan Agrawal (BJP).  Vav assembly seat of  Gujarat was left by Geniben Nagaji Thakor (INC).

Five  seats of Assam, where  assembly elections are due in 2026, along with one assembly constituency of Meghalaya also went for by-polls as all the legislators were elected to Lok Sabha. Samaguri seat was vacated by Congress legislator Rakibul Hussain, whereas BJP’s Parimal Suklabaidya left Dholai seat. Another BJP legislator  Ranjit Dutta abandoned the Behali seat and Sidli  seat was vacated by Jayanta Basumatary (United Peoples’ Party-Liberal). Asom Gana Parishad legislator Phani Bhusan Choudhury vacated the Bongaigaon seat. Meghalaya’s Gambegre assembly constituency was deserted by Congress leader Saleng A Sangma.

Should not these statistics indicate clearly that the recent by-polls could have been limited to less than seven assembly constituencies if the political parties (irrespective of their ideologies or position in the governments) behaved little responsively? When will the electorates of India come above their loyalty, affiliation or inclination  to any political party and raise voices for a colossal electoral reform in the largest democracy on Earth ?

CHAPA නිදහස්

La 2de Guerre Mondiale

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., a bright flash set the sky over Hiroshima ablaze. A gigantic column of smoke rises above the city. The first nuclear bomb in history has just been dropped on the largest metropolis in western Japan. This new documentary shows this tragedy from the inside using photos taken that day.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 29: Based on information received from the Sri Lanka Navy regarding probable narcotics smuggling by Sri Lankan flagged fishing vessels in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy responded swiftly through a coordinated operation to localise and intercept the boats.

Extensive surveillance was undertaken by Indian Naval Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft and Remotely Piloted Aircraft, based on inputs from the Information Fusion Centre (Indian Ocean Region), Gurugram, and an Indian Naval ship was deployed to augment efforts.

Two boats were identified based on continuous inputs from the Sri Lankan Navy and aerial surveillance by IN aircraft. Subsequently, in a closely coordinated operation between the ship and the aerial assets, both boats were boarded by ship’s boarding team on 24 and 25 Nov 24, leading to the seizure of approximately 500 kg of narcotics (Crystal Meth). One more IN ship was also tasked to augment the force level for conduct of anti-narcotics operations. The two boats, along with crew and seized narcotics have been handed over to Sri Lankan Navy ship at sea for further legal action.

The operation symbolizes the combined resolve of both navies to jointly address regional maritime challenges and ensure safety and security in the Indian Ocean Region. The government of India has also provided a Dornier Maritime aircraft of Indian Navy to Sri Lanka to enhance island nation’s capability in maritime surveillance. It reaffirms India as the preferred security partner in the region and is also a testament to the benefits of closer bonds between the two countries and navies for the peoples of India and Sri Lanka. 

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ඇතැම් ‘පාර්ශව’ ආර්ථික තත්ත්වයෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරන අවස්ථාවක ශ්‍රී ලංකාව බාහිර බලපෑම්වලට හිස නොනැමිය යුතු බවත් ස්වාධීන විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් පවත්වාගෙන යා යුතු බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ චීන තානාපති Qi Zhenhong කොළඹදී මාධ්‍යවේදීන් අමතමින් පැවසීය.

චීනයේ ස්ථාවරය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ ඇති අනාගත සබඳතා පිළිබඳ ඔහු කියා සිටියේ මෙරට ආර්ථික තත්ත්වයෙන් ගොඩ ඒමට වෙනත් රටවල සහාය අවශ්‍ය බව ඇතැම් රටවල් පෙන්වා දී ඇති බවයි. ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ජනතාව තමන් ගැන විශ්වාසයෙන් සිටිය යුතු අතර චීනය වැනි මිත්‍රශීලී හවුල්කරුවන් සමඟ සබඳතා ශක්තිමත් කර ගැනීම දෙස බැලිය යුතු බැවින් මෙම ප්‍රකාශය වැරදි බවත් Qi පැවසීය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් චීනයට පුද්ගලික න්‍යාය පත්‍රයක් නොමැත. චීනය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා දෙන සහය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ස්වාධීන රාජ්‍යයක් බවට පත් කිරීමට සහ විදේශ බලපෑම්වලට ඔරොත්තු දීමට උපකාරී වනු ඇතැයි අපි තරයේ විශ්වාස කරමු. ආසන්න මැතිවරණ නව රජයේ ජයග්‍රහණයත් සමඟ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නව පරිච්ඡේදයක් විවෘත කර ඇති අතර චීනය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අනාගතය පිළිබඳව විශ්වාසය තබා ඇත,”

ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුහුදු සීමාවට චීන පර්යේෂණ යාත්‍රාවක් ඇතුළු කිරීම සඳහා චීනය කළ ඉල්ලීම හිටපු රජය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීමත් සමඟ චීනය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අතර සබඳතා පළුදු වූ බව යළිත් අවධාරණය කළ Qi, ශක්තිමත් සබඳතා තිබියදීත්, හිටපු ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය එවැනි ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම කණගාටුවට කරුණක් බව සඳහන් කළේය.

එම පර්යේෂණ යාත්‍රා මාලදිවයින සිය මුහුදේදී පිළිගත් නමුත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව එය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීමත් සමඟ පුදුමයට හා කලකිරීමට පත් වූ බව ඔහු පැවසීය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සුදු අලි” ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා චීනය ආයෝජනය කර ඇති බවට ඇතැම් ‘පාර්ශ්වයන්’ දිගින් දිගටම ප්‍රකාශ කළත්, චීන ජාතිකයන් ආයෝජනය කළ සෑම ව්‍යාපෘතියක්ම පසුගිය ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයන් කළ ඉල්ලීම මත සිදුවූවක් බව චීන තැනිපතිවරයා පැවසීය.

නෙළුම් කුළුණ උදාහරණයක් ලෙස ගෙනහැර දක්වමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ එය පෞද්ගලික සමාගමකට බදු දීමෙන් පසු ලාභ ලැබීමට පටන් ගෙන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සංකේතයක් බවට පත්ව ඇති බවයි.

හම්බන්තොට වරාය සහ කොළඹ වරාය පිළිබඳව අදහස් දක්වමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ මෙම වරාය දෙකම ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයට විශාල ආදායමක් උපයා දෙන බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයේ ඉල්ලීම පරිදි ව්‍යාපෘති ඉදිකරන විට එය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නේ කෙසේදැයි රට දැනගත යුතු බවත්ය.

සමහර හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරු මේ සමහර ව්‍යාපෘති හඳුන්වන්නේ ‘සුදු අලි ව්‍යාපෘති’ ලෙසයි. නමුත් මේ චෝදනා පදනම් විරහිතයි. චීනය විසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉල්ලීම මත මෙම ව්‍යාපෘති ගොඩනැගූ අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පැත්තෙන් මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිවල දුර්වල ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය නිසා එය ප්‍රයෝජනයට නොගැනීමට හේතු විය,”

චීනයේ ණය උගුල පිළිබඳ චෝදනා සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දක්වමින් Qi කියා සිටියේ චීනයම සංවර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතින රටක් ලෙස ප්‍රකාශ කරන ණය උගුලක් වැනි දෙයක් නොමැති නමුත් තවමත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ණය සහ ආයෝජන ලබා දී ඇති බවයි. දෙරට අතර පවතින දැඩි මිත්‍රත්වය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉල්ලීම මත මෙය සිදු කරන ලදී.

ණය දෙන විට ණයහිමියාට දොස් නොකිය යුතුය. ඒ වෙනුවට, දොස් පැවරිය යුත්තේ ණය නිවැරදි ආකාරයෙන් භාවිතා කිරීමට නොදන්නා තැනැත්තා ය. ”

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ සාකච්ඡා වට හතක් පැවැත්වුවද දෙරට අතර නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම (FTA) පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා තවමත් ඇනහිට ඇති බව Qi වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය. නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කළහොත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව චීන වෙළෙඳපොළ ආධිපත්‍යය දරන බවට ද මෙම කණ්ඩායම්වලින් චෝදනා එල්ල වන බව ඔහු පැවසීය. Qi පැවසුවේ එවැනි චෝදනා අසත්‍ය සහ නොමඟ යවන සුළු බවයි.

FTA අත්සන් කර ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ශ්වයට චීනය ප්‍රයෝජන ගන්නා බව හැඟෙන්නේ නම්, වසරකට පසුව ඔවුන්ට ගිවිසුම සකස් කළ හැකි බව මට සහතික විය හැකිය. චීනය සමඟ නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුමකින් ප්‍රතිලාභ ලබන තවත් බොහෝ රටවල් තිබේ. ඇයි අපි ලංකාවෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන ගන්නේ?”

ආර්ථික තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳව අදහස් දක්වමින් Qi ප්‍රකාශ කළේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය පැරණි ණය පියවා නොගෙන සිටින්නේ නම්, රට ගන්නා ඕනෑම නව ණයක් බරක් බවට පත්වන ආකාරයටම ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය ණය හිමියන් සමඟ එකඟතාවකට පැමිණිය යුතු බවයි. සමහර ණය දෙන්නන් ද එය තම වාසියට යොදා ගනිමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් වැඩි පොලියක් ලබා ගන්නා බව ඔහු පැවසීය.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

උතුරේ හමුදා කඳවුරු ඉවත් කිරීම සහ මහවිරු සැමරුම් හේතුවෙන් උද්ගතවී ඇති ගැටලු සම්බන්ධයෙන් රජය නිහඩ පිළිවෙතක් අනුගමනය කරන බවට රණවිරුවන් චෝදනා කරයි.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරුණු දැක්වීමට ජනාධිපති කාර්යාලයට පැමැණි රණවිරුවකු විසින් සඳහන් කරන්නේ රටේ සාමය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයා කැපවිය යුතු බවයි.

අදාළ වීඩියෝව පහළින්…

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

බෙදුම්වාදී කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදයට සහාය දෙන පාර්ශ්ව විසින් නැවත බෙදුමිවාදී ත්‍රස්තවාදය ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමට කටයුතු කරමින් සිටින බවත්, අන්තවාදී ක්‍රියා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ආණ්ඩුවේ ලිහිල් ප්‍රතිපත්තියට විරෝධය දක්වන බවත් සඳහන් කරමින් රණවිරුවකු විසින් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා වෙත ලිපියක් යොමුකර තිබේ.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් රාජාසන කතාවේ දී අන්තවාදය, ජාතිවාදය හිස එසවීමට නොදෙන බව පැවසූව ද බෙදුම්වාදීන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් එවැනි ස්ථාවරයක් නොදැරීම පිළිබඳව ත්‍රස්තවාදයට එරෙහි යුද්ධයේ දී කැපකිරීම් කළ වීරෝධාර රණවිරුවන්ට ගැටලුවක් වී ඇති බවත් එම ලිපියෙන් පෙන්වා දී තිබේ.

පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ නවක මන්ත්‍රීවරයකු විසින් ත්‍රස්ත නායක ප්‍රභාකරන් දෙවියකු ලෙස හුවාදක්වන ප්‍රකාශ සිදුකිරීම ද තරයේ හෙළාදකින බවත් එම ලිපියෙන් දන්වා තිබේ.

අදාළ ලිපිය පහළින්…

https://lankaleader.com/runningimages/candidate/lankaleader/media/image/1732896190.pdf

2024-11-29

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, November 29 (Daily Mirror)- Floods caused by deep depression that created havoc in many parts of the country started receding today but some areas including the Northern Province are still facing risk, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said.

As per the DMC, floods in almost all 24 districts have begun to recede. However, risks still remain in Manampitiya in the Polonnaruwa District, Peradeniya in Kandy, Horowpothana, Thanthirimale and Moragawewa areas. Landslide warnings were still effective in Badulla, Kandy, Colombo, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura Districts.

Water levels of major rivers including Deduru Oya, Mahaweli Ganga, Yan Oya, Nilwala and Kelani were receding. Water levels of Lakshapana, Polpitiya, Canyon and Victoria were also going down according to DMC.

The death toll from the adverse weather conditions has risen to 14 as of this evening.

Further, Some 441,373 persons belonging to 132,071 families in 24 districts have been affected by today. Some 38,594 persons were still in temporary shelters provided by the DMC. Some 115,628 persons belonging to 45,415 families who have been displaced are residing with their relatives. Most of the people have been affected and displaced due to heavy rain while people in Kandy, Nuwara- Eliya, Kegalle due to cutting failures. People in other areas have been displaced and affected by the rains that had come down in torrents which brought on floods.

Courtesy Adaderana

The overall rate of inflation, as measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) on Year-on-Year basis, has decreased to -2.1% in November 2024, compared to -0.8% in October 2024, according to the latest data released by the Department of Census and Statistics.

The CCPI for all items for the month of November 2024 was 189.4 and it records a decrease of 0.5 index points or 0.25 percentage compared to the month of October 2024 for which the index was 189.9. This represents a decrease in expenditure value by Rs 427.75 in the ”Market Basket”.

The overall rate of inflation as measured by the CCPI on Y-on-Y basis is -2.1% in November 2024 and Y-on-Y inflation calculated for the month of October 2024 was -0.8%. 

The Y-on-Y inflation of Food Group decreased to 0.6% in November 2024 from 1,0% in October 2024 and the Y-on-Y inflation of Non Food Group decreased to -3.3% in November 2024 from -1.6% in October 2024.

For the month of November 2024, on Y-on-Y basis, contribution to inflation by food commodities was 0.19%.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says Sri Lanka’s economy is now in a much more stable position and that the present political stability is an important factor for long-term, sustainable economic development. 

We lost both economic stability as well as political stability during last several years. We think about from that situation now. Obviously we are in a much more stable position in both fronts,” he said, speaking during the 59th Annual General Meeting of The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL).

The central bank chief said that firstly now the country has a political stability with the new president, new government and that a long period of political stability is one important necessary factor for any economic long-term, steady, sustainable economic development. 

Now we have reached that. I think that’s good thing.” Dr. Weerasinghe stressed that the new government is committed to positioning Sri Lanka as a top sustainable tourism destination in the world. 

The government recognizes tourism as a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s economic revival. It is not only a critical short-term solution to our financial challenges but also a driver of long-term sustainable growth.” 

We are fully committed to positioning Sri Lanka as a top sustainable tourism destination, ensuring the industry becomes one of our leading foreign exchange earners,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Department of Meteorology has announced that the impact of the deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal on the country’s weather system is expected to diminish starting today.

Over the past few days, adverse weather conditions have claimed the lives of 15 individuals, with a total of 463,569 people reported to be affected.

The landslide warnings previously issued remain in effect; however, the ‘Red evacuation’: landslide early warnings that were issued in three phases have been lifted.

In a related development, the Department of Meteorology has forecasted that the deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm within the next few hours and is expected to progress toward the Tamil Nadu coast in India.

Courtesy AdaDerana

The Secretary-General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera stated that there will be no changes to the privileges granted to the Members of the Parliament.

Speaking to the media, she revealed that 94 MPs have already submitted requests to obtain official residences from the Madiwela Housing Complex.

The Secretary-General of Parliament explained that 25-30 houses previously returned by the former MPs are currently being renovated to provide official residences to new MPs.

Accordingly, those official residences will be later allocated to the new MPs based on the priority.

Out of a total of 108 official residences, 80 are designated for the parliamentarians of the ruling party, while 28 are reserved for the opposition members.

Kushani Rohanadeera further said that the MPs whose homes are located more than 40 kilometers away from the Parliament complex can make requests for official residences at the Madiwela Housing Complex.

Meanwhile, the first parliamentary week of the tenth Parliament’s first session is set to begin on December 03.

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

At Annual Meetings in Washington last month International Monetary Fund head, Kristalina Georgieva claimed Sri Lanka as a debt restructuring ‘success’ story.[i]  Left unsaid by the IMF’s Managing Director was that Sri Lanka’s debt had apparently ballooned from $26 billion to a purported whopping $100 billion during two years of reforms’ under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF)![ii]

A month later the island’s newly elected Cabinet led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka signed off on an official bond exchange” with International Sovereign bondholders under the EFF agreement, having done a U-turn on election pledges to re-negotiate agreements with the IMF and bondholders that were widely perceived to be detrimental to the county.

Euphemistically called ‘the invitation’ printed on paper with a gold embossed letter head, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and National Development announced the launch of the bond exchange’ of outstanding international Sovereign bonds totaling approximately USD 12.55 billion as of 25 November 2024.” The bond exchange was clearly designed to bailout predatory International Sovereign Bondholders (ISB), the largest being BlackRock, in lieu of odious debt cancellation and significant haircuts sought by citizens, trade unions and 182 international economists calling for Debt Justice. [iii]

In a nutshell the bond exchange would ensure that the county would soon exit the Sovereign Default staged in 2022, in order to borrow once again from the same predatory ISB lenders, ironically, in order to pay them back under terms and conditions to be specified later, including opaque Macro-economy linked vanilla, blue, green and strawberry bonds, flavoured and sweetened to mask the odious debt restructure operation (DSA). This would of course deepen the geostrategic island’s Eurobond debt trap and extend the IMF’s bailout business. After all, ISBs were primarily responsible for Sri Lanka’s odious debt pileup in collusion with corrupt politicians that led to the geostrategic county staging a first ever Sovereign Default in the wake of two years of Covid-19 lockdowns.

Had the President done a volte-face on his promise to renegotiate IMF and ISB agreements and the fight against corruption in order to restore economic sovereignty eroded by ISB-IMF mission and mandate creep into Domestic Debt Restructure? Had President Dissanayake betrayed the people’s mandate and hopes vested in him– less than a month after his party swept to power, and if so why? Were there other debts to be paid to external actors that helped a dizzying ascent to power?

The ‘bond exchange’ agreements were signed without review by the newly appointed Cabinet despite the National People Power (NPP) party’s massive two-thirds Parliamentary majority received just two weeks earlier in a General Election. The NPP  came to power on a promise to restore economic sovereignty and fight corruption. The President had earlier reversed the privatization of the Ceylon Electricity Board and Sri Lankan Airlines that the IMF had long promoted.

Fragility and Resilience: Dual Narratives or Economic Gaslighting?

While the visiting IMF team leader Peter Breuer praised Sri Lanka’s resilience” and economic turnaround last week in Colombo, President Dissanayaka claimed that the county’s economy was too ‘fragile’ to risk displeasing the bondholders and IMF and hence the agreement must be signed immediately.

Moreover, the bond exchange agreements had been negotiated with ad hoc groups of ISBs, and the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) of the colonial Club de Paris and London Club over the past two years, by the previous Ranil Rajapakse government with a gravy train of international advisors and Economic Hitmen including Lazard and Clifford Chance with known conflicts of interest given links to ISBs! ‘

Economic hit men’, wrote John Perkins in his best-selling book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man’, are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars” in the name of Development assistance.

Hence too, the rush to’ launch the bond exchange’ sans review by the newly appointed cabinet pledged to fight corruption, despite the agreement being negotiated by the previous Ranil Rajapakse regime, accused of corruption and successive bond scams at the Central Bank. After all, a responsible new government in normal circumstances would review such agreements –especially those with long term implications for the economic security of the country.

Of course, the US Ambassador Julie Chung had done her fair share to confuse matters by spreading fear psychosis in October as the tourist season began. Chung warned that terror attacks were due in the debt-trapped county, prompting fears that tourists would stay away. This would damage the tourism-dependent economy and render the ‘resilient’ island’s economy ‘fragile’.

IMF’s Timing: Economic Hitmen and Gaslighting the Public

This explosion of debt numbers was largely due to ISB and IMF mission and mandate creep into local rupee denominate domestic debt enabling the conflation and inflation of external dollar denominated debt numbers. DDO also enabled plunder of the Employment Provident (EPF) retirement funds of working people to pay off predatory bond holders as part of the new bond exchange” operation that would last for over a decade.

Despite IMF claims to fight corruption, the new NPP government was given little time to review the bond exchange agreements drafted by the previous regime implicated in bond scams. Indeed, the IMF team led by Peter Breuer arrived in Colombo from Washington even before the new cabinet of Ministers elected to fight corruption and mismanagement was sworn on November 18!

The IMF team’s visit seemed perfectly timed to bamboozle the new Cabinet of Ministers into signing the ISB Bond Exchange agreement negotiated by a previous Ranil Rajapakse regime accused of high financial crimes and bond scams, without review. Not surprisingly the new bond exchange agreement as several economists have pointed out would extends and arguably deepens the debt setting up the country for a new default.

This raises the question: was there bi-partisan collusion between the former and newly elected governments for a brand new bond exchange scam -brokered by the IMF as part of a debt restructure agreement (DSA)?

What is increasingly apparent is that the IMF’s Debt Restructuring Agreement (DSA) and EFF agreements rather than reduce debt traps, are designed to deepen and extend them. The EFF is aptly named! This may partially explain why Sri Lanka is on its 17^th IMF program and Argentina on its 23^rd at this time. Moreover, there are 55 other countries across Africa, Asia and South America in similar post-Covid-19 ISB deb traps and the IMF’s neocolonial bailout business at this time.

Often DSA seem to enable and precipitate successive defaults, also given the IMF’s principle of ‘compatibility of treatment’ of creditors regardless of whether they charge predatory interest. This has been challenged by multi-lateral and bi-lateral lenders. So too, the practice of lending into arrears” which appears designed to enable a victim of loan sharks to once again borrow from the same loan sharks whose identities are undisclosed—in order to pay them back. This despite the IMF claiming to fight corruption and seek good governance.

In Sri Lanka’s case the IMF’ ‘Lending into arrears’ appears to have enabled predatory lenders whose identities are secret (including the Hamilton Reserve Bank presumably) to enter into bad faith negotiations with debt trapped counties with opaque macro-linked bonds, even as the county is forced to borrow from the same predatory ISBs.

Double Standards on Corruption: Bad faith and Moral Hazard

While the IMF talks up the need for governments to engage in ‘good faith’ negotiations with lenders there appears to be no concomitant requirement that predatory lenders whose names are kept secret to also negotiate in good faith.

Many of the predatory ISB lenders, BlackRock being a good example have assets that exceed the wealth of many debt trapped nations.

Moreover, under the new bond exchange agreements, the EPF pension funds of working citizens would be plundered to pay down predatory ISB which raises the question of Moral Hazard. As pointed out in an open letter signed by 182 international economists calling for debt justice for Sri Lanka; lenders who made big profits charging predatory interest rates citing risk, should not be enabled to make bigger profits when risk matures.[iv] This is particularly true of countries subject to incessant exogenous economic shocks – such as terror attacks, Covid-19 lockdowns and hybrid maritime warfare.

However, instead of debt cancellation and significant haircuts sought by national experts campaigning for debt justice, the ‘bond exchange’ agreement has been foisted on the people of Sri Lanka with the Washington Twins claim that since Sri Lanka is a Middle Income Country (MIC), it was ineligible for debt cancellation and substantial haircuts.

Rather, the IMF and ISB claim that since the purportedly ‘bankrupt’ country is actually an MIC, it must pay off the bond holders either by plundering banks and risking an economic meltdown or by plundering the Employees Provident Fund EPF!

This is of course a false choice, riven with moral hazard, bad faith and logical contradiction. Such false choice arguments often distract from the economic gas lighting, Lawfare, and pumping and dumping of countries subject to staged default, and into the waiting arms of the lender of last resort. As they say: ‘the devil is in the detail”

TO BE CONTINUED

[i] https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/10/25/sp102524-annual-meetings-plenary

[ii] https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2024/10/25/sri-lanka-met-with-bondholders-aims-to-exit-default-as-soon-as-possible-central-bank-governor-says/

[iii] https://debtjustice.org.uk/press-release/ghosh-piketty-and-varoufakis-among-182-experts-calling-for-sri-lanka-debt-cancellation

[iv] https://debtjustice.org.uk/press-release/ghosh-piketty-and-varoufakis-among-182-experts-calling-for-sri-lanka-debt-cancellation

By Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara

In view of the new leash of life Sri Lanka has just got with the election of a President of Sri Lanka avowed to bring about poverty alleviation, I beg to make some suggestions based on my real experience.

On my recent travel to Snowdonia in Wales, I happened to visit the Corris Industrial Unit. What was most interesting was a Mini Distillery using many ingredients, including an array of spices, turning out special alcoholic drinks

I kept wondering what I could have done if I had known this mini Distillery equipment when I was the Government Agent at Matara, in 1971, when we were charged with creating employment for our youth. Those were the days of the Divisional Development Councils Programme for which Dr N.M.Perera, the Minister for Finance had high hopes of developing employment for the youth. Then I as the Government Agent at Matara had the power to decide. However though living in oblivion now I portray my ideas hoping for the best for my Motherland. I hope someone in authority will pick up my idea and my Motherland will benefit.

Once I was traveling in North India and I was charged with the task of buying some perfumes from Sugandhika in Lucknow. From Lucknow we were due to proceed to Sravasti on pilgrimage and I told our driver to take us to Sugandhika. It was a small sales outlet selling a special variety of perfumes, doted on by Indian damsel living in the UK. What was most interesting was that the perfumes were all made in India itself. After buying some perfumes, I approached the staff and requested that I may be allowed to see their distillery- where the flowers will be distilled into perfumes. Out came an answer that defied me. Theirs was a mini distillery, portable which was taken to the places where flowers were available and at that time the flowers were not in bloom. India has developed its perfume making industries on a grand scale.

At Corris in Machynlleth, in Wales, I saw the two mini Distillery machines functioning in one large room. Of course they were not making perfumes which would have required more space. But that distillation equipment could have been utilized to make perfumes. It is called the DYFI Distillery, led by Pete Cameron (dyfidistillery.com- telephone 01654761551.)

I quote from a Report I wrote for the Chief Minister of the Central Province, Hon Mr P.C.Imbulana back in 1993, A Programme for Self Employment Creation & Poverty Alleviation in the Central Province of Sri Lanka”

A Perfume making Industry can only be established in the Central Province as this is the ideal climate area for planting flowers. In my stay of an year at Nuwara Eliya I got a good income from flowers that grew wild in my garden. After an identification of small scale machinery and a study of its feasibility the plans drawn for local production can also include flowers to be processed into perfumes. This can be established immediately with the flowers offered at Dalada Maligawa”( From How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative programs of Success, (Godages). My Report was accepted by the Chief Minister who immediately commenced implementing it at two Divisional Secretary areas, but the Programme was shelved with the United National Party losing the General Election. It is sad that development gets hijacked with political changes. Development initiatives should get full priority and never shelved due to political changes.

My find of the machinery for a small scale distillery at Corris in Wales is significant and holds a great deal of hope to establish a perfume industry in Sri Lanka. If I had known of this machinery when I was the Government Agent at Matara I would have commenced a perfume making industry based on the flowers offered at the Matara Bodhi . I could have found employment for easily twenty youths. The plan is extremely feasible and I would urge the Government to take immediate steps to get going with establishing perfume industries. in Kandy, with the flowers offered at the Dalada Maligawa (can easily find employment for fifty or more), at Anuradhapura with flowers offered at Sri Maba Bodhiya and Ruwanveliueya-( this can find employment for thirty or more).

Once the perfumes are made the second step will be to encourage people to plant flowers and for a collection arrangement to be made.

On my world wide travel since leaving the Administrative Service in 1973 I have trailed behind lorry loads of sugar cane and manioc in India and Thailand, lorry loads of flowers in Southern France. Flowers are collected and transported to perfume making factories. France has developed a massive perfume making industry.

It beats me why we cannot establish a perfume making industry with the flowers offered at various temples. It was just the other day that a Pichha mal ceremony was done at the Sri Maha Bodhiya at Anuradhapura.

Often one hears that people are caught trying to take away Sandlewood and Walapatta from Sri Lanka.

It needs to be emphatically stated that a perfume making industry cannot be established in a piecemeal manner, with a stray perfume making unit being established. There is an essential infrastructure necessary. Firstly the Government must seriously take steps to curtail the import of perfumes by charging a high tax on all imports but this has to be done after good quality perfumes are made locally. If Sugandhika can establish a perfume industry in Lucknow without a permanent distillery, working on a make shift temporary factory and develop a worldwide trade we can easily achieve it at two places, in Kandy and Anuradhapura because flowers are available in plenty.

Secondly the Government must establish a unit to attend to research and guide the factories that make perfumes in the Districts. My mind travels back to my days when I served in Kegalla in 1968 and 1969 and Matara in 1971 and 1973. The Government Agent was held in charge of the Powerlooms in the area and if I remember right there were five Powerlooms in each District and this offered employment to hundreds of youths, This was possible because the Small Industries Department had a Research and Helping Unit at Velona, at Moratuwa to provide the necessary expertise to the Powerlooms all over the island. With one master stroke, the IMF dictate of making us follow the Structural Adjustment Programme in 1977 abolished all public sector effort at employment creation. And with that one decision out went Velona and our Powerlooms. And sad to say with that a country that was self sufficient with fabric and textile manufacture became a country that imported all textiles. No one, then realized that the IMF was playing the sinister role of making all our Third World Countries indebted so that the countries to which we are indebted can call the shots and dictate to us.

Making perfumes is a far easier industry than the Crayon Factory that we established in Deniyaya in 1971. We did not know how to make crayons, but the craze in me to establish a manufacturing industry from scratch made me direct the Planning staff to conduct experiments. This commenced initially in my Residency and when we required sophisticated equipment we took over the science laboratory at Rahula College from around six P.M. to mid night when our scientists, the Planning Officer in the katcheri, Vetus Fernando, aided by the science teachers at Rahula, did a myriad of experiments for close upon three months till we finalized the art of making crayons. It was easily comparable in quality to Crayola Crayons. The only difference was that each crayon was handmade, like most industries in China. The Minister of Industries Mr Subasinghe was surprised when I showed him a crayon, and readily agreed to preside over the sales commencing ceremony. Mr T.B.Illangaratne the Minister for Trade too was mesmerized by its quality and authorized an allocation of foreign exchange to enable the industry to import essential colouring. He gave that allocation from the funds earmarked for the import of crayons. He had the capacity to understand that our making crayons meant that we can immediately reduce imports- saving valuable foreign exchange. It was a great industry run by the Morawaka Cooperatives under the leadership of Sumanapala Dahanayake, the Member of Parliament who was also the President of the Cooperative Union. This Crayon Industry became the flagship industry of the Divisional Development Councils Programme and the crayons were sold islandwide till 1977, the day when the IMF took control of our country and dictated us to abolish national planning, stop all public sector run industries, abolish the infrastructure already established for development, allow all imports and allow the free use of foreign exchange and dictated us to live on loans, which has paved the path for our country to become indebted. Making the Third World countries indebted was the method by which the Third World countries were subjugated. This is the sad story unfolded in my book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka.

The history of establishing the Crayon Industry has been highlighted to show the difficulty of establishing an industry. The other day I was searching to buy a step ladder at Nawala and found that we make only a small percentage of step ladders. The rest is imported from Thailand and China. A country that cannot make its own step ladders can never establish its own perfume industry. At times I think I am wasting my time writing these ideas of mine.

If we could have successfully established the Crayon Industry I do not see how we can go wrong with establishing a perfume making industry.

We only need some foreign exchange to pay for the mini distillery equipment, which can easily be recouped from the sales that will be generated within the very first year.

Leaving development in the hands of the Private Sector, the recommendation of the IMF, means that we will never develop our industries. The Private Sector aim is to make a fast buck like venturing on establishing Supermarkets. It is the public sector that has to take on the difficult task of establishing import substitution type of industries. Let this fact be engrained into the thinking of our leaders. It is my finding that the aim of the IMF is not the development of our countries. Instead, their task is to restructure our economies to contribute to the economies of the developed countries. It is our Third World economies that run the Developed Economies by sending our foreign exchange to them in various forms like imports, funds for university education- many Universities in the UK depend on the funds charged from foreign students. Most of our experts do not have the capacity to understand how the IMF ruined our economies.

Let me hope that the ideas in this paper will be read by our President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and others who have the authority to do something to build up our lost industries and create employment alleviating poverty.

.

Garvin Karunaratne

Former Government Agent, Matara District

24 th November 2024,

garvin_karunaratne@hotmail.com

Dilrook Kannangara

LTTE commemorations once again highlighted the undeniable fact that all its organizers and essentially all Tamil Eelmists are Sri Lankan born. While Cyclone Fengal disrupted the planned large LTTE commemoration since 2009 the organizers have said they will hold it on another day. Indian born Tamils around the world are not keen in LTTE commemorations or Tamil Eelam. Similarly, Diaspora Tamils born outside Sri Lanka are also not excited by LTTE commemoration and Tamil Eelam though a few of the underaged ones are compelled by their Sri Lankan-born parents to participate in these events.

Why?

The main reason is Tamil Eelam is a Sri Lanka-born (home-grown) concept dating back to 1922 (inaugurated by a Sri Lankan national hero) and almost all major Tamil political parties in the island since then have supported it. The other reason is all LTTE leaders were Sri Lankans and born in Sri Lanka. Only a few cadres were sourced from South India for a limited period of time. Most of them didn’t even knew what they were fighting for. The third reason is caste related. Tamil Nadu Tamils consider themselves to be of higher caste than Sri Lanka’s Tamils. This is rooted in Dutch and British colonial times when Tamils transported to the island were from lower rungs of the Tamil Nadu and Kerala societies.

November 2024 parliamentary election did turn tables on Tamil political parties in two districts – Jaffna and Vanni. Batticaloa and other districts that produced Tamil Eelamist politicians continued as before. No change. Only moderate Tamils elected from national parties suffered in other districts. Not Tamil Eelamists. The reasons for the change in Jaffna and Vanni districts are temporary. One swallow doesn’t make a summer!

By the next parliamentary election, if not earlier, Tamil sectarian political parties will reclaim what they lost in the two districts. It will happen regardless of what the NPP government does or doesn’t do. TNA lost its leaders in quick succession which weakened the coalition. Its remaining leader was seen too keen to extend his support to SJB and NPP which diluted Tamil support to him. The economic crisis also temporarily suppressed nationalist politics in the Tamil community.

Thinking or hoping that these are permanent shifts is naïve. Such thinking and hoping can be equated to the hope that sprung in people’s hearts following various peace processes in the past. Yes; they did achieve limited peace and cooperation for some time but none lasted. A trend that has been established since 1924 when elections were first introduced in the island (only for the English proficient) and later in 1931 when everyone over 21 could vote, has not changed. What has happened is a temporary respite due to a few transient and trivial issues. The established trend will takeover within a few months or years.

Fueled by naïve hope and inexperience, actions have been taken to compromise national security. These will come to haunt the regime and future regimes.

However, this does not mean the old habits and suspicions must continue. No; on the contrary, people must change and government response to the change should be positive. The catch is the nature of the shift – is it genuine and foundational or is it just temporary and opportunistic. Unless the NPP can keep delivering what it promised before the election (can’t imagine how they can) and keeps promising more deliverables in the future (can’t imagine how people can be glued to false hope for long), hope will fade away exposing the hard facts underneath which rarely change. And it is not the fault of anyone or a political party. It is the ingrained fate of the island nation. Take it from history, one swallow doesn’t make a summer!

Chanaka Bandarage

In Europe, politicians including Prime Ministers cycle to work. In Japan, pretty much everyone (rich, poor) cycles. In Netherlands, bicycle is the main and most important mode of transport. In Sri Lanka, cyclists are shamed. Here, cycling is considered a symbol of poverty,

We still foolishly regard that bicycle is the poor man’s vehicle. Everyone dreams of travelling in a car – even short distances.

When we own a Maruti or a Wagon R; we are not satisfied. We strive for a Benz or a BMW. This materialistic mentality is not good, it will not take us anywhere. We should get rid of it.

The new government, which is for the first time intellectual; should take steps to condition the citizens’ mentality. Teaching right things for the Children is very important. From small age, they must be taught to think intelligently, logically, rationally and fairly.

Cycling offers fresh air. It is a hobby/sport. It is extremely good for health. It protects us from serious illnesses like stroke, heart attack, dementia, cancers, depression, diabetes, obesity and arthritis.

In our big cities (Colombo, Kandy), due to high road traffic volumes and reckless driving, cycling is no longer safe. Up to 1990 or so, it was very safe to cycle in Colombo.

We now have  a transport system that pits cyclists against cars and pedestrians. Basically, in our big city roads It is now extremely difficult to cycle. Vehicles like big buses, cars, motorcycles feel that they have the complete right of way. Pedestrians have taken the full control of the sidewalks.

The new government must encourage people to take up cycling. Prior to the recent elections, they mounted the idea that ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ bicycles will be made available. The government must initiate programs to get rid of the social stigma that associates with cycling.

We should no longer consider the bicycle as the poor man’s vehicle.

It is important to establish proper infrastructure for cycling such as bike lanes/safe routes.

Outside of big cities, cycling is possible even now. Many inhabitants of Jaffna and Batticaloa, especially women, do cycling. They are the fortunate ones.

This writer states that cycling is a fantastic way to discover Sri Lanka – a small island. Once the infrastructure is fairly  improved/in place, foreign tourists must be encouraged to cycle, everywhere.

In Australia, Malaysia, cycling is allowed even on highways (motorways).

It must be made compulsory to wear a helmet for cycling. They definitely save lives and prevent injuries.

Chanaka Bandarage

For most areas, monkeys are a relatively new problem.  In the last 30 years, lots of deforestation  happened. Some forests like Suriyawewa, Lunugamwehara are now extinct. Even the Sinharaja forest is under serious threat.

The degradation and fragmentation of the animal habitats is very real.

Owing to building walking tracks in Bellanwila, Pillawa areas the monkeys who were in those woodlands migrated to thick urban settlements in Boralesgamuwa, Piliyandala etc. Due to bad garbage dumping in these areas, monkeys have easy access to food. They play havoc in these areas.

Monkeys cause enormous crop losses. This amount to many millions of rupees a year.

The NPP government has decided to fix this problem. This is good.

Thanks to the ‘erratic, rapid developments’ by the recent past governments other wildlife like wild boar, peacock and porcupines are now considered vermin.  These innocent creatures can be seen in plenty in urban environments. They get killed on a daily basis. Some people eat their flesh.

Crows are a major problem in Colombo. They carry garbage everywhere. They leave messy droppings that are extremely unhealthy and an eyesore. Crows will not allow to keep the city clean. Singapore has zero crows.

Killing of these animals is the easy way out. Should we do that?

Today, anyone can buy an air rifle. As a result, lots of wildlife culling take place. This was not the case before. Some farmers resort to poisoning monkeys, porcupines, peacocks (and even elephants).

If an alpha monkey male in a troupe, who manages the entire clan is killed, that will be end of the whole group. All will die within a few months.

Do we want to wipe off our monkeys? They have been here much before us.

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country – we cannot allow the culling of monkeys or any other innocent wildlife. Even the crows must be spared.

We can find humane methods to reduce their numbers.

In Himachal Pradesh, India, monkey numbers are reduced by giving them oral contraceptives.

Sterilization of them is another solution. In the last 20 years, more than 2 lakhs of monkeys have been sterilized in Himachal Pradesh.

Some of our municipal councils have the experience of sterilizing stray dogs. That expertise will be useful in sterilizing monkeys (and other vermin).

Sterilization is effective but it will take 5 -10 years to show real results.  Would the governments be happy to wait that long? Usually government like to show quick results – for vote grabbing.

Community Watch programs is a good method of minimising the monkey and other wild animal menace.

We must not forget that these innocent creatures were forced to wander in to our settlements because we encroached their habitats. Now we demand that they be culled! Let’s hope that the government will have compassion.

Courtesy Sputnik

Serial production of the Oreshnik system has begun, the Russian president announced.

Last week, the Russian leader revealed the successful testing of the new Oreshnik hypersonic missile system. Today, at the request of colleagues, he shared further details.

“Serial production of the Oreshnik has started, but ultimately, we will choose the means of destruction depending on the nature of the selected targets and the threats posed to the Russian Federation,” Putin said at a session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Security Council.

He also revealed new specs from the missile:

The missile’s warhead reaches a temperature of 4,000 degrees Celsius, making it highly destructive.

Anything in the blast zone is broken down into elementary particles, essentially turning it into dust.

The Oreshnik can target even well-protected, deeply buried structures, making it effective against fortified sites.

While not a weapon of mass destruction, its power is still capable of causing massive destruction without a nuclear charge.

The missile is designed for extremely precise strikes, ensuring high-value targets are hit with deadly accuracy.

Military

How Fast Can Oreshnik Missile Hit US Bases Across the World?

26 November, 17:54 GMT

Putin explained to CSTO members that Russia was forced to conduct tests of the Oreshnik missile in response to long-range missile strikes on the Bryansk and Kursk regions.

“Of course, in response to the ongoing long-range missile strikes on Russian territory, as has already been stated, we will respond, including by possibly continuing the Oreshnik tests in combat conditions,” Putin said at the session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Security Council.

He added that Russia now has several ready-to-use Oreshnik missiles.

In the case of a mass launch of Oreshnik missiles in a single strike, their power would be comparable to that of nuclear weapons, he added.

“According to military and technical specialists, in the case of a mass group launch of these missiles, that is, several Oreshniks launched in a cluster in one strike, the power of that strike would be comparable to the use of nuclear weapons,” Putin said, adding: “Everything in the epicenter of the explosion is broken down into fractions, elementary particles, and essentially turns into dust.”

However, Putin clarified that the Oreshnik is not a weapon of mass destruction, but a highly precise weapon that does not carry a nuclear payload.

Courtesy BNN Bloomberg

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Moody’s Ratings is reviewing Sri Lanka’s sovereign credit rating for an upgrade, as the nation is set to complete its debt restructuring of its dollar bonds.

The rating agency assigned the new dollar notes Sri Lanka is offering to swap for old debt a (P) Caa1 rating, according to a statement. The dollar bond maturing in 2030 rose to the highest since June 2021 on Thursday after the credit update. 

The debt swap reduces the default risk on new and future issuances,” Moody’s analysts Anushka Shah and Gene Fang said. The government’s debt restructuring and reforms are reducing external vulnerability and liquidity risk, while raising prospects for long-term fiscal and debt sustainability, they added.

The agency is the first among major peers to assign a credit rating to the notes, whose payouts are linked to economic growth. The governance linked-bond, the step-up and past-due interest (PDI) bonds are also rated as Caa1, meaning that they carry very high credit risk.

The ‘P’ assignation means the rating is provisional, as the debt restructuring is still under way. The tender offer expires Dec. 12, with the results to be announced four days later. 

Read: Sri Lanka Kicks Off $12.6 Billion Distressed Debt Exchange

The review comes on the heels of Sri Lanka launching a bond exchange offer to complete its dollar-denominated debt restructuring. The country’s new leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has reiterated support to the International Monetary Fund program objectives, ensuring policy continuity after the closely watched elections. 

If the government delivers on IMF targets and raises more revenue, brings debt under control and manages the macro prudently,” an upgrade is possible, said Philip Fielding, co-head of emerging market debt at MacKay Shields. 

The country’s bonds, which have returned nearly 30% to investors this year, rallied on Thursday, posting the biggest gains among emerging-market peers. The nation’s 2025 dollar note rose 1 cent on the dollar, for the best performance on the Bloomberg EM Sovereign Total Return Index. Five other securities figured in the top 10.

–With assistance from Srinivasan Sivabalan.

(Updates with analyst comment in seventh paragraph)

Courtesy NDTV

Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC) is one of the largest sovereign funds and manages assets close to $100 billion.

The Tanzanian government has reaffirmed its commitment to its agreements with Adani Ports.

New Delhi: 

Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC), one of the largest sovereign funds that manages assets close to $100 billion, has reaffirmed its support to the Adani Group, saying its outlook on investments in the group remains unchanged despite the US indictment.

“Our partnership with the Adani Group reflects our confidence in their contributions to the green energy and sustainability sectors,” IHC, one of Adani group’s key foreign investors, said in a statement.

“As with all our investments, our team continues to evaluate relevant information and developments. At this time, our outlook on these investments remains unchanged.” IHC had, in April 2022, invested about $500 million each in the renewables arm Adani Green Energy and power company Adani Transmission and a further $1 billion in the group’s flagship Adani Enterprises. Later, it sold its 1.26 per cent stake in AGEL and 1.41 per cent in ATL, now called Adani Energy Solutions Ltd, but hiked its stake in Adani Enterprises Ltd to over 5 per cent.

The IHC statement comes soon after Adani group emphasised that its chairman and his aides have not been charged under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act but faced three other charges, including securities and wire fraud, that are punishable with monetary fines.

The US Department of Justice’s (US DoJ) indictment filed in a New York Court last week does not mention Gautam Adani, founder chairman of the ports-to-energy conglomerate, his nephew Sagar or Vneet Jaain in any count related to conspiracy to violate the FCPA, AGEL had said in a filing to the stock exchange.

The three, who are executives at AGEL, have only been charged with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud, the company said. In general, the penalties for such charges are less severe than bribery.

The Adani Group last week termed all allegations baseless and said it would seek legal recourse to defend itself.

Meanwhile, other international partners have also expressed their continued support. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority has expressed its ongoing confidence in its partnership with Adani, as the Indian group plays a vital role in expanding the country’s port infrastructure.

With a $1 billion investment in the Colombo terminal, the project is poised to be the largest foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka’s port sector.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Admiral Sirimewan Ranasinghe (Retd) has reportedly stated that there are no discussions regarding the project’s cancellation. The project will be operational in the next couple of months.

Also, the Tanzanian government has reaffirmed its commitment to its agreements with Adani Ports, as it feels that there are no concerns regarding the ongoing projects and that all contracts fully comply with Tanzanian law.

In May 2024, Tanzania and Adani Ports finalised a 30-year concession agreement to operate Container Terminal 2 at Dar es Salaam port.

Additionally, Adani Ports acquired a 95 per cent stake in Tanzania International Container Terminal Services, a state-owned entity, for $95 million.

Sugath Kulatunga

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has made an univocal statement that  Vocational education should be a respected choice, offering a clear pathway from school to higher education while contributing directly to the economy.” It is most encouraging to note that the government is considering ‘’ vocational education to be no longer be viewed as a secondary option but as a prestigious pathway to a bright future and economic growth.” This is an enlightened view taken on vocatinal education after over 75 years since Kannangara Educational Reforms of 1947 which recommended Practical Education”. Kannangara Report recommended practical schools, and had a separate Chapter on Technical and Vocational education (TVE) which would comprise not only professional education but also University and technological education.  During the inerim period the approach was mainly to incorporate technical education into the School Curriculum.

What the country needs is a complete overhaul of the education system like how the East Asian Tigers did with their education systems. Countries like South Korea and Taiwan revamped their education systems around1980 to meet the demands of their economies. We have not even taken notice of the advances in Education policy in our neighbor Tamil Nadu. Education was the key driver of their development.

Countries in the Far East adopted that path 30 years earlier. Education was the driving force with which these countries developed competitiveness and excellence. These high performing countries in the Far East considered education reform as the foundation of economic development and social advancement. They focused on developing human capital in science and technology and vocational skills as pivotal to economic development. Taiwan and South Korea were both agricultural economies like SL in the early 1980, with low per capita earnings. Taiwan is an Island smaller than SLwith a similar population. Before 1980s it was a predominantly an agricultural economy. Today Taiwan isa  high- tech powerhouses leading the world in a number of high tech industries. It has a per capita income of 36, 000 dollars. At the beginning of the 1980s, Taiwan increased the ratio for senior vocational schools and general high school to 7:3. By 2012 there were 155 senior vocational schools, 14 junior colleges, and 77 universities/colleges of science & technology, totaling 246. It is the education system that has sustained the significant development of this small nation making The revanue of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), the world’s largest chipmaker in 2023 was was $70.599 Billion.

In just a few decades, South Korea transformed itself from an underdeveloped nation to an industrialized country exporting high-technology products (Domjahn 2013, p. 16). Much of this development has been attributed to improvements in the country’s education system. Various South Korean and international scholars (Ellinger and Beckham 1997; Han 1994; Kim 2000) have credited the nation’s economic success to an efficient education system that provides the quality workforce.”Education is a primary driver of South Korea’s long-term development strategy and a high priority for policy makers. There is strong alignment among South Korea’s growth strategy, labor market needs, and education policies. Every 5 years, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology updates and improves the national curriculum, taking into account changes in the economic and national conditions (Severin and Capota 2011”.

The importance given to education in Korean society is an effective way of achieving a workforce that is prepared for the twenty first century knowledge society. Education is part of South Korea’s long-term vision of preparing its population for future labor markets and closing the gaps in access to quality education. For this reason, for decades, h Korea has included technology in education”. (South Korean Soc Sci J (2014) 41:135–151 DOI 10.1007/s40483-014-00190   

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284831895

In both these countries Education policies are aligned with market needs and also geared to future needs. They go to the extent of identifying emerging technologies and adopt policies and systems to meet the human capital needs to serve those technologies.

China adopted a Law on Science and Technology in 1993 with a view to promoting science and technology, assigning priority to the development of science and technology and bringing the role of science and technology as the primary productive force into full play in socialist modernization drive .     

What is called for in SL is a complete overhaul of the education system to meet the needs of the 4^th industrial revolution. It has to go far beyond changing the curriculum in the school syllabus or multiplying Suhuru classrooms but increase the ratio of TVE intake at senior school level and establish institutions of TVE without delay. We need not wait for the generosity of India to bring an Indian Institute of Technology to the country.

In SL in 2024, 427,000 students sat for the Advance Level Examination out of which 45000 may be admitted to the State Universities. It is likely that around 20,000 join private Universities or go to foreign universities. Assuming that another 40,000 join existing technical and vocational training institutes there is still a student population of around 320,000 without the prerequisites to enter the job market. This predicament is boung to repeat every year.  In addition, a few batches of graduates whose qualifications do not match the demands of the market join the educated unemployed multitude. There is a dire need to expand TV Training to cater to at least 350,000 youth and make them fit the needs of the market. In Taiwan by 1980 they had 276 vocational and technological institutes. Tamil Nadu has 475 ITIs spread across the state providing vocational training. We should have at least one TVE institute in every district. In all these countries policie on education, indudtries and technology are intelinked. In SL there is no policy on any of them.

In addition to the TVE system followed by the Far Eastern countries Sri Lanka should learn from the Dual System of TVE in Germany. It is widely recognized as one of the most effective systems for developing skilled labor. The Dual system  combines theoretical education at vocational schools with practical, hands-on training in companies. This ensures the availability of well-trained personnel in a wide range of skills to various industries.

The task for the Prime Minister is enormous. The clientele is over 300.000 in a year and is increasing but the ifrastrucure is lacking. The country cannot afford to wait fpr new infrastructure for training of massive clientele. Meanwhile ther is idle space in exosting institutions and space available during weekends and holidays. The task must be tacled before it overcome the establishment.

Speech by Christos Marsellos, Delphi Initiative, Defend Democracy Press, Author, Greece, at the European Conference on 2 November 2024

The dual need: new geopolitical balance, new social pact

There can be no doubt: we are experiencing an acceleration of history. This could lead to the catastrophic prospect of a world war, potentially involving nuclear weapons. In times like these, the first question is always: Was all of this inevitable? The answer is a resounding no.

The war in Ukraine would not have occurred without NATO’s successive waves of expansion. While some argue that the freedom of peoples to choose their alliances is paramount, we must counter this with the principle – professed by Europe itself – that such choices should not come at the expense of others‘ security. Russia warned against NATO’s expansion into Georgia and Ukraine, yet these warnings were consistently ignored; a new European security pact was never discussed. At the same time, the United States kept unilaterally withdrawing from several treaties concerning medium-range missiles and nuclear arms.

Moreover, in a divided country like Ukraine, NATO membership necessitated forced unification and the suppression of the voices of the Russian and pro-Russian population, which is far from a small minority. The violence that erupted after the events of 2014, marked by atrocities against Russian-speaking citizens – atrocities largely overlooked by Europe – has resulted in a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. Especially in Crimea and the Donbas, the principle of self-determination was at stake, albeit in a manner that contradicts Europe’s claims. Those who dismiss the legitimacy of the referendums in these regions overlook the fact that Russians and pro-Russians constitute a vast majority.

Russia might have used these regions as leverage to influence Ukraine’s direction, a move justified by the realities on the ground. In contrast, the push for forced unification requires a greater degree of manipulation, creating an artificial narrative that disregards local realities. One cannot claim that the inhabitants of Eastern Ukraine are Ukrainians while simultaneously denying them the right to shape their country’s future.

The Western camp seemed to believe that Russia would either not respond or would be overwhelmed by sanctions, which led them to discourage any thoughts of peace early in the conflict. As a result, Ukraine is now suffering from this Western hubris, which risks escalating to catastrophic levels through the deployment of ground troops or deep strikes into Russia. The line between bluffing and losing control is perilously thin, and this could ultimately lead to nuclear holocaust.

In the Middle East, October 7 has become a date etched in our memories, marking the beginning of a bloody Israeli operation that has already claimed tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives. We hear that Israel has the right to defend itself, and while that is true, such defense should not come at the expense of civilians, who are suffering unprecedented losses. By simply stating this, we are often accused of legitimizing the atrocities committed against Israeli civilians on October 7. Of course we cannot legitimize them. But it is not as if we were the judges. We are in fact responsible for them, because without our apathy, the despair of the Palestinians would not have led them to commit these atrocities. If they are not excused by what they have suffered for decades, Israel’s bloody vengeance is not to be excused either. By its disproportion it is an absolute disgrace.

I come from a country that, on a much smaller scale, has experienced similar phenomena. During the Second World War, there were numerous instances where the Nazis, in retaliation for the loss of one or two soldiers, exterminated the entire male population of a village or a significant number of individuals in cities. Do I harbor resentment towards Germans for this? I do not; there is no such thing as collective guilt.

Some Israelis might argue that there is no comparison, asserting that they are merely defending themselves and that anti-Zionism is a guise for anti-Semitism. I challenge that notion. I do not harbor negative feelings toward Jews as a collective, because, once again, there is no such thing as collective guilt. However, we must further nuance this discussion. The issue is not about Zionism per se, but rather about a policy that no human being can condone. Many Jews worldwide reject the actions of the current Israeli government, viewing them as madness that perpetuates violence for generations. Are they to be labeled as anti-Semites?

The truth is that there is no way out of this situation without negotiation and justice for both sides involved. Conversely, we face a dire outcome for everyone, especially if those seeking to provoke a broader conflict – driven by their desire for a final confrontation with Iran – are allowed to prevail. One might even question whether Israel could survive such cataclysmic waves for long. It is not Israel’s enemies but its friends who should advocate for pressure on its government to end this cycle of horror.

Now, we are concerned that these wars may escalate into total war; but we are also worried about their impact on our civil societies. Can we ensure that these conflicts will not result in social unrest, driven by suppressed living standards and intensified class struggles that could lead, either spontaneously or through manipulation, to scapegoating of the immigrant population?

We must keep in mind that, to use an old Aristotelian distinction, what is first from our perspective is not necessarily what is first in the nature of things. We observe the pressure on our economies from geopolitical tensions, yet in reality, it is the state of our economies that fuels these tensions. We are not merely spending money that could be better used elsewhere; we are making money. Or, to put it more bluntly, some in the western camp make money, and some others who do not, do not have the courage to simply tell the truth.

Geopolitical tensions arise from an imbalance in global economic realities, where the influence of Western economies is gradually diminishing. This is compounded by an unacknowledged need to maintain, by force, the exorbitant privilege of the dollar as an international currency, along with the broader global fiat money system that enables Western nations to live beyond their means.

It’s not only that Europe lacks the strength to negotiate effectively and contain opposing parties in various conflicts; the EU itself seems to prefer following the hubris of certain Western factions that seek to impose their will, rather than acknowledging that it would not hold the upper hand in negotiations – neither through force nor through justice.

This creates a vicious cycle: as internal tensions rise, our governments may increasingly turn to external enemies to deflect blame for their own shortcomings. This is the primary reason why, without a new social contract, the situation appears hopeless; yet we are far from even establishing the groundwork for it.

We should not expect states and their mechanisms – much less the empires currently at odds – to consider justice; by their very nature, they are driven by the pursuit of power. Only ordinary citizens can demand that their governments focus on justice. To advocate for justice, citizens must understand the true state of affairs. Justice is achieved through truth, especially of the kind often suppressed by mainstream media, which serve an insidiously imposed consensus. Truth is not always comfortable, and justice – both internationally and within our societies – will not be attained without sacrifices.

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Courtesy Defend Democracy

India has rejected the $300 billion global climate finance deal adopted at the COP29 Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, expressing disappointment over the lack of commitment from developed nations.

Nov 24, 2024

Indian representative Chandni Raina criticized the agreement, calling it insufficient to address the scale of challenges faced by developing countries. Supported by nations like Nigeria, Malawi, and Bolivia, India argued that the deal falls far short of the $1.3 trillion demanded by the Global South, undermining the principles of equity and shared responsibility. Developing nations remain frustrated by the reluctance of wealthier countries to meet their climate obligations.

India Rejects COP29 Climate Finance Deal, Calls It “An Optical Illusion”

Hiru News

Sarath Wijesinghe (President’s Counsel – SL Solicitor in England and Wales, President Ambassador’s Forum in UK/SL)

Digitalisation – the world trend today

Digitalisation is the world trend today  with the next step to Artificial Intelligence world has just begun on the door steps of the age of Artificial Intelligence in action worldwide in many sectors and areas. Digitalisation is the mode of compression of data  and images to different productive modes including  artificial Intelligence which is the conversation of human brain to machinal way artificially and scientifically by scientists which is still not successful as expected. Data has become a money spinner and area the world is in need for all wonderful innovations and developments, which is the base for digitalisation  and artificial intelligence. President AKD has discussed many aspects in details at he throne speech and subsequently on the future of the country giving special emphasise to digitalisation that the new government say  would implement the programme on digitalisation and steps have already been taken immediately by appointing a world renowned expert on the subject as his advisor Dr Hans Wijesuriya who has given up his lucrative international carrier to serve the nation on the area he is expert on. He has already started working on the project and his advice has been of immense help to the currently ongoing ID and other projects active and successful.

Digitalization is an expensive process

This is an expensive process but once done it will ease combating bribery, inefficiency, corruption, lethargy of the public sector and the country will be orderly if at least the public sector is streamlined before other sectors in due course. Fortunately we have ample educated IT literate human resources in the work force to be utilized in the new innovative team on digitalisation which is as expensive President AKD has determined to implement, and it is a good sign may learned, and reputed professionals have chosen to arrive motherland with no remuneration or a reasonable low pay for existence. Wealthy nations have commenced the transformation to digitalize operation successfully Denmark as a pioneer followed by 17 EU nations and UK too quite successfully mainly on e-governance, and selected sectors such as health, technology, business, education, which are crucial for the development.

NHS system and Uber in the forefront

NHS system in UK supposed to be one of the best systems offered to the citizen free, is partly digitalized operating on mega servers, for every citizen to have access to NHS through GP’S who has access to records anywhere in the country that includes all hospitals, an amazing successful system in deed. Uber is another example of digitalization and operation on Artificial Intelligence where unmanned cars are successfully in operation and Uber network world over including Sri Lanka fast spreading and diversifying into many areas such as retail business, new sale platforms, using the modern technology in the worldwide operation of the business. But once put to practice it will make the e-governance fast,clear, less complicated, and with a system with less paperwork like the system in UK NHS and other governing programmes are 90% digitalized leaving the state sector and  the  citizen happy, satisfied and contended.

It is not an easy process to implement

Implementation of digitisation is a difficult, complicated and cumbersome process that involves lot of hard work incur expenditure and expert experience and knowledge successful tested and implemented many parts of the world, we can learn and follow from. EU practised the process is these best to learn in addition to UK and many other. EU has been in practice over two decades resulting efficiency, clarity, development, improvements on taxation, and interstate affairs based  on development and mostly on good governance, it is easy and appropriate for a country like Sri Lanka to learn and follow up, as cost of implementation of other sectors would be expensive and would result on high spending. It seems in Sri Lanka this is partly implemented in areas on issuance of passports, ID’s, and in the examination process but not in the government sector where implementations in the process slowly and steady accelerated after Hans have initiated his services. Digital ID is a pioneer project connected to the issuance of passports and few other areas that will bring immediate results on combat of crime, underworld, internal crime and network of drug mafia connected to money  laundering,are some immediate burning issues to the governance thriving inefficient and ineffective public service that needs rejuvenation andd immediate reforms that has become the main issue to maintain law and order and rule of law which are main prerequisites for good governance even IMF is demands maintain law and order as a prerequisite to assist Sri Lanka in the muddle on economic downturn also may be due to bribery corruption inefficiency and indifference of the government servants. Countries with digitalised forms of developed systems  on governance, and other areas have proved to be successful in organized public service, less crime rate, development in all areas such as econimic and discipline, quick response to the public and international business and relations that it works and may be a panacea if implemented in Sri Lanka tough difficult to find funds immediately.

Advisable to start with e-Governance and tourism

We are backward on governing the state which seems to the cause for many issues and downward trends on development, agriculture, industry, tourism ect that will be given new life is the system on these areas are digitalized with teh help of the educate and professional community within and outside Sri Lanka as a service. Digitalization could be started with the disciplined security forces and the government sector of 1.5 million which is unbearable and unproductive to make them productive and happy to work like any state employees in the west who are eager and willing to serve the  citizen happily,readily and efficiently. 2018 has been the peak year and now tourism in sorrowing faster and our target should be to increase the GDP earnings form 12% to higher in par with teh rest of teh world where tourism has become the easiest, ad fastest growing industry. Our compact Island is if not the best one of the best beautiful Islands on the globe, ideally suited and tailor made for tourists and tourism situated on the traditional silk route in the powerful Indian Ocean to be branded as the brand name BEAUTIFAL SRI LANKA similar to incredible indie, with ideal different climatic condition within hours and present whether  round the year with  an excellent network of roads connected to highways, will be presented to the world faster and clearer digitalization as a vehicle as the best tourist destination on the globe. Sarath28dw@gmail.com Please browse internet for the other articles by the author on tourism

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Nov 27 (NewsWire) – The deep depression that has developed in the Bay of Bengal is expected to convert into a cyclone by today but will have only a minimum effect on Sri Lanka, Department of Meteorology said yesterday.

The general public was however asked to be vigilant on impeding extreme weather conditions

Director General Department of Meteorology Athula Karunanayake told Daily Mirror that the deep depression which is prevailing now will turn into a cyclone but will have only a minimum effect on Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will not be affected as the deep depression will only turn in to a cyclone only when it moves further away from Sri Lanka,” Karunanayake said.

The Deep Depressions is now located 170 km South East of Batticaloa and is expected to move northwards. It is moving towards India,” he added.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

සමගි ජන බලවේගය පක්ෂයේ රත්නපුර දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී හේෂා විතානගේ මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට විශේෂ යෝජනාවක් ගෙන විත් ඇත.

එම යෝජනාව ගෙන ආවේ මාලිමාව නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් පිළිබඳ සහ ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති පිළිබඳ ව පැහැදීමෙන් බවත් හෙතෙම පවසයි.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් සතු වරප්‍රසාද රැසක් කප්පාදු කරන ලෙස ඔහු ඉන් යෝජනා කර ඇත.

මේ වන විටත් එම යෝජනාව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට භාරදී ඇති බවත් එය දසවෙනි පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පළමු මන්ත්‍රී යෝජනාව ලෙස විවාදයට ගනු ඇති බවත් හෙතෙම තව දුරටත් කියයි.

අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්චාවකදී ඔහු මෙම අදහස් පල කර තිබේ.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

ප්‍රභූ දේශපාලනය අවසන් කිරීමට මෙවර මහ මැතිවරණයේ දී ජනතාව මතවාදී ලෙස පෙළගැසී ඇති බවත්, 1977 පසු බිහිවූ පාදඩ ප්‍රභූන් පිරිසක් අත රටේ පාලනය පැවතීම මත රට ඉතා විනාශකාරී තැනකට ගමන් කළ බවත් දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයේ මහ ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පවසයි.

පාදඩ ප්‍රභූන්ට ඡන්දය ලබාදුන් ජනතාවම මෙවර මැතිවරණයේ දී ඔවුන්ට ඡන්දය ලබාදීමෙන් වැළකී සිටි බවත්, එය එක්තරා විරෝධාකල්පයක් ලෙසද සැලකිය හැකි බවත් ඒ මහතා පවසයි.

රූපවාහිනී නාලිකාවක සංවාදයකට එක්වෙමින් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පවසන්නේ මැතිවරණයේ දී ප්‍රකාශිත වූ ජනවරම නිවැරදිව කියවා ගැනීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බවත්, ආණ්ඩුව විසින් මෙය වැරදියට කියවාගත හොත් ඊට ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වන ආකාරය ද වැරදී යා හැකි බවත් ය.

තමන්ට හමුවූයේ දෙකොන පත්තු වූ විලක්කුවක් බව එවකට රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපතිවරයා පැවසූ බවත්, අනුර දිසානායක මහතාට හමුවී ඇත්තේ දෙකොන පමණක් නොව මැදත් පත්තු වූ විලක්කුවක් බවත් වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

සවිස්තරාත්මක වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න…

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

පුනරුදය යනු යටත් විජිතකරණ නෂ්ඨාවශේෂ වලින් ගැලවීම බවත්, ඓතිහාසික වශයෙන් පැමිණි සංස්කෘතිකාංගවල ගෙල සිඳලීම පුනරුදය නොවන බවත් ජානිපෙ නායක, හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පවසයි.

හිරු රූපවාහිනියේ ‘සලකුණ’ දේශපාලන සංවාදයට එක්වෙමින් ඒ මහතා පවසන්නේ වාමාංශික දේශපාලනයේ පතාක යෝදයකු බඳු පුද්ගලයකු වූ වෙනිසියුලාවේ හිටපු ජනපති හියුගෝ චාවේස් මහතා මියයාමෙන් පසු ඔහුගේ දේහය තැන්පත් කර තිබූ පෙට්ටියේ පිටුපසින් කුරුසය ගසාතිබුනේ ඔහු වාමාංශික නායකයකු වුවද එරට සංස්කෘතිකාංග ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කර දැමීමක් සිදුනොකළ නිසා බවයි.

ආර්ථික පුනරුදය යනු ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ වැල්පාලම දිගේ දිගටම දරුවා රැගෙන යාමදැයි ප්‍රශ්න කරන ඒ මහතා, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ලබාදුන් රිලේ බැට්න් එක වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුව විසින් දිගටම රැගෙන යන්නේ නම් පුනරුදයේ නිර්මාතෘ රනිල් විය යුතු බවද සඳහන් කරයි.

විදේශ විනිමය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අද පවතින පනත මගින් විදේශ විනිමය හොයන ඕනෑම ධනවතෙකුට ධනය ඕනෑම ප්‍රමාණයක් පිටරට තැබීමට හැකි බවද, කළින් පැවතුන විදේශ විනිමය පනත නැවත ගෙන ආ යුතු බවද ඒ මහතා මෙහිදී සඳහන් කරයි.

එමෙන්ම වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුව නියෝජනය කරන්නේ වාම ලිබරල්වාදය බවද විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා මෙහිදී පැහැදිලි කරයි.