Reported By : Madhuparna Das Courtesy news18

Sri Lanka’s new government is likely to discuss the projects under BRI with China and also talk about Beijing’s other commitments, including central highways. Additionally, there will also be talks around the lease of Hambantota Port, a proposed refinery, and other projects

The new government in Sri Lanka is likely to re-negotiate” China’s strategicBelt Road Initiative (BRI)projects in the 

island nation and recalibrate” its old commitments, foreign affairs minister Vijitha Herath told News 18 on Tuesday, signalling Colombo’s intent to maintain cordial diplomatic and financial ties while fostering relationships with Beijing as well as New Delhi.

Walking the tightrope between two Asian giants—India and China—the new government in Sri Lanka is now carefully crafting a balanced foreign policy. China is our friend, just like India is,” the minister said.

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Announcing that the delegation, including Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of Sri Lanka, and the foreign affairs minister himself, would be travelling to China in January, Herath told News 18 that the visit will focus on renegotiating key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, including the Hambantota Port deal, apart from other projects, as the new government now seeks to recalibrate its economic commitments with China amid debt pressures and geopolitical sensitivities.

Recalibrating BRI deals with China

Sri Lanka’s new government is likely to discuss the projects under BRI with China and also talk about Beijing’s other commitments, including central highways. Additionally, there will also be talks around the lease of Hambantota Port, a proposed refinery, and other projects.

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At this point, we can now confirm that during our visit to China, there are certain plans to renegotiate certain Belt and Road Initiative projects. We have a few proposals too, Herath told News 18. He was speaking on the sidelines of a reception programme organised by the India Foundation, a think tank that specialises in geopolitical relations.

Discussions will include plans for building a central highway and reviving earlier commitments, such as the construction of a convention hall in the Port City, which was previously agreed upon as a grant. We aim to move forward on these projects with renewed focus,” he added.Talking about the new government’s policy towards China, Herath said, We hope to build strong and cordial relationships not only with India but also with China, the USA, Russia, Cuba, and even North Korea. As an 

island nation, it is crucial and very vital for us to engage with all countries to rebuild our country and grow. Our first state visit was to India, and next month, the President, myself, and our delegation will visit China to further strengthen ties.”

Ties with India

However, he reiterated that the new government is working on strengthening ties with India further. It is also going to announce visa-free access for 39 countries to boost tourism and seeks to have the same for Sri Lankans while travelling to India. Indians currently do not need a visa to travel to Sri Lanka.

Citizens across religious divides in Sri Lanka are eager to travel to India for several purposes, which include pilgrimage, education, and healthcare, but many, especially from underprivileged sections, cannot afford air travel. A proposal to construct a road bridge fromDhanushkodiin Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar on Mannar Island , an island off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka. We need to study its feasibility,” he said.

Commenting on India’s security concerns over the foreign research vessels in Sri Lankan waters, Herath said, The current moratorium on research vessels ends in December. A special national committee has been appointed to review this and introduce a comprehensive national policy on the matter.”

Suhasini Haidar,Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu

Minister Vijitha Herath says rebuilding the economy is new government’s biggest priority as he calls for more tourism, visa concessions from India

After his trip to India, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will visit China next month, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said, while adding that the newly elected government wants win-win” ties with all countries.

A day after Mr. Dissanayake’s talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the President said that he would ensure that Sri Lankan territory is not used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability”, Mr. Herath reaffirmed the commitment. On Tuesday, Mr. Dissanayake travelled to Bodh Gaya to offer prayers, and returned to Colombo.

As a new government, we hope to have a good relationship with China also, as well as India. And also with other countries like U.S., Russia, Cuba and North Korea…,” Mr. Herath told an audience at an event organised by the India Foundation in Delhi.

 India, Sri Lanka decide to ramp up defence, energy, trade ties

After this first visit to India, our next visit is to China next month,” he said, indicating that the government would continue to seek support from both Delhi and Beijing, even as Mr. Dissanayake has clearly prioritised the Indian visit first.

On a visit to Jaffna last month, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong said that China welcomed” Mr. Dissanayake’s visit to India as it was a close neighbour” to Sri Lanka, adding that the visit by Mr. Dissanayake to Beijing would enhance [China-Lanka] traditional friendship, promote bilateral economic cooperation, and bring more benefits to our peoples”.

 Held fruitful discussions, says Sri Lankan President Dissanayake after meeting Jaishankar, NSA Doval

Responding to questions in Delhi, Mr. Herath said that Sri Lanka’s first priority was to shore up its economic situation, restructure its debt package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, as well as push for new tourism inflows.

Reviving tourism

Mr. Herath, who is also the Minister of Tourism, explained that after hitting a peak of 2.5 million tourists in 2018, the Sri Lankan tourism industry had been dealt three successive blows — the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019, Covid pandemic in 2020-21, and the economic crisis and debt default in 2022.

He announced that the Dissanayake government would soon issue a gazette notification making visas free of charge for nationals of 39 countries including India, and called for India to reciprocate the measure, and to increase tourism in both countries.

Foreign vessels

Responding to questions at the event, Mr. Herath gave no clear indication on whether Sri Lanka would continue to allow foreign research vessels, particularly Chinese ships, to berth at Lankan ports after a one-year moratorium on all such research expeditions expires on December 31.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister said instead that there was a need to build a national policy” on the issue, and that a committee had been set up to look into it. India has consistently objected to Chinese vessels on research visits to Lankan ports, as it says the ships have a dual purpose” to also collect sensitive, strategic data in the Indian Ocean, a charge Beijing has denied.

 Bottom trawling by Indian fishermen must stop: Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister

After the Modi-Dissanayake talks on Monday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that India had offered its own capacities and training to Sri Lanka to circumvent the need for other foreign vessels.

 It’s bilateral, says Centre on Tamil Nadu fishermen’s issues with Sri Lankan authorities

To a question from The Hindu after the event, Mr. Herath said that the  Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) government would consider” the situation of Sri Lankan refugees living in India. Many of the refugees fled violence in the 1980s, are ineligible for citizenship in India and are unsure of their future in Sri Lanka. He said that while there were procedures in place for their repatriation, not all of them wish to return to the island nation.

According to the India-based Organisation for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation, there are approximately 57,000 displaced persons living in 104 camps in Tamil Nadu, while about 34,000 others are settled in various cities in the State, outside the camps.

Courtesy independent (UK)

Anura Kumara Dissanayake pledges Colombo’s commitment to India’s security interests amid rising Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has assured Narendra Modi that Colombo will not allow its territory to be used in any way detrimental to India’s security interests.

The statement came during Mr Dissanayake’s first bilateral visit to New Delhi on Monday, amid growing concerns over China’s increasing influence in the Indian Ocean region.

I have given an assurance to the prime minister of India that we will not have our land… be used in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India in any way,” Mr Dissanayake said after talks with Mr Modi at Hyderabad House.

The two leaders emphasised their shared commitment to ensuring regional stability and the security of the Indian Ocean, with Mr Modi stating: We both agree that our security interests are interconnected. We have decided to soon finalise the defence cooperation agreement.”

The assurance follows diplomatic tensions sparked by recent visits of Chinese military ships to Sri Lanka and China’s development of the Hambantota port in the island nation.

A joint statement from the two countries reiterated the importance of trust and transparency in addressing mutual security concerns and underscored their commitment to countering threats in the region.

India pledged continued assistance to strengthen Sri Lanka’s maritime and defence capabilities.

Mr Modi expressed hope for swift implementation of collaborative measures, including enhanced defence cooperation and capacity building. Both sides agreed to work on a framework for supplying defence platforms, conducting joint exercises, and expanding maritime surveillance.

On the contentious issue of Chinese vessels docking in Sri Lankan ports, Mr Dissanayake reaffirmed his country’s policy of prioritising India’s security interests, a position described as a trusted and reliable partner” in the joint statement.

Energy cooperation was another focal point of the discussion. Both nations agreed to establish electricity grid connectivity and develop multi-product petroleum pipelines to deepen their energy partnership.

India will also support Sri Lanka in enhancing renewable energy capacity, with projects such as the solar power plant in Sampur.

Mr Modi highlighted the broader economic partnership, which will focus on investment-led growth and connectivity” to facilitate development and reduce Sri Lanka’s debt burden.

Mr Dissanayake and his party have in the past been seen as more ideologically aligned with China.

After his win, analysts predicted that could mean drawing more Chinese investment, which slowed after the Sri Lankan government was blamed for taking on too many Chinese loans that added to the country’s debt as its economy collapsed in 2022.

Chinese money quickly became a cautionary tale in the country, while the economic crisis allowed India to gain some sway as it stepped in with massive financial and material assistance to its neighbour.

Just after Mr Dissanayake was sworn in, Beijing said it wanted to work with the new government on boosting development and cooperation in building China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Under Mr Dissanayake, there’s a possibility of more Chinese money coming into Sri Lanka”, Happymon Jacob, founder of the New Delhi-based Council for Strategic and Defense Research, earlier told the Associated Press, adding that this could concern India. However, the newly elected president attempted to allay some of the fears, prior to his win.

As a neighboring country, we need to be concerned over India’s stability, national interests and national security when taking decisions”, Mr Dissanayake told the Associated Press in an interview a few weeks before the election.

Our main objective is the safety of the region and we will not allow any party to use our land, sea and air to create instability,” he added.

by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

Asoka Ranwala

I continue to be amazed by the parallels in politics in the country of my birth and the country of my residence. But before going in to the latest developments in the field of politics, let me make a clarification regarding a response to my opinion piece What is in a title?” (The Island, 13 December). My grateful thanks go to Philosophiae Doctor (Canterbrigensis) for the tutorial on degrees (A degree is not a title! The Island, 16 December) from which I learnt a lot, but may I humbly point out a wrong assumption. Though in the said piece it is stated The learned physician who identified a Ph.D. degree as a title (The Island, 13/12/24) was wrong. The cardiologist had missed the heart of the matter.” What I stated in my piece was that ‘when challenged, among others, by the much respected and vociferous former elections chief, though the entry in the official parliamentary website dropped ‘Dr’ title and there had been a dramatic rewrite of his profile in the much-used people’s encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, he is yet to respond.” Obviously, What is in a title?” referred to was ‘Dr’, a title, not to the degree PhD!

Much more has surfaced regarding the former speaker since the publication of my piece. He has tendered his resignation, belatedly, from the post of the Speaker which has been accepted by the President; although he had no choice considering the circumstances. The excuse given, as I guessed in my opinion piece, is that he was looking for the documents but could not find them; an excuse nobody bar himself would believe! To make matters worse, he states that there is a likelihood of his obtaining the relevant documentation from the research institute affiliated to Waseda University. Surely, in this era of electronic communication such a feat does not need a gestation period!

As a trade unionist, Ranwala was the president of the State Medical Faculties’ Parents Association and spearheaded the 2018 protests against an attempt by Dr Neville Fernando’s pioneer institute SAITEM (South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine) to award medical degrees locally. He claimed it was a ‘degree shop’ where a degree could be bought for money! The Sunday Times of 15 December has a photograph of him leading the protests and, more importantly, states that media reports, at the time, referred to him as ‘Prof. Ranwala! ‘Prof. Ranwala, who led the protests against private medical education in Sri Lanka now claims to have obtained a PhD from a private university in Japan! Is this not the height of hypocrisy? How come the JVP/NPP failed to detect these anomalies?

Another minister, who claimed to be a professor, turned out to be a person who had stagnated, for years, as a senior lecturer because he was not able obtain a PhD. He has said he will be submitting his thesis in three months! Perhaps, submission was delayed by all the planning and electioneering over the past few months and now that he has ample free time as a member of parliament, he can complete the thesis and be assured of acceptance as he is in the governing party!

Though some others have got ‘Dr’ titles removed hastily from the parliamentary website, the Minister of Justice has made a complaint to the CID, that parliamentary staff has wrongly called him ‘Dr’ in an attempt to discredit him. This action raises two questions. First, why did he take so long to note that mistake? Second, is it not more prudent to have an internal inquiry, led by the Secretary General of the parliament before contemplating police action.

True, the government is getting some results in some fields but it has lost the shine too soon, just like the Labour government did in the UK; which also came to power with a massive majority like the NPP. This becomes all the more significant as the NPP offered a change in political culture with honest, educated members of parliament but what has happened is just the opposite. It moved far too slowly over the speaker fiasco and the Speaker waited without any explanations, resigning only when he was left with no alternative. Attempts by NPP social media supporters to glorify the Speaker’s resignation as the actions of a transparent government are absurd.

As the saying goes, ‘coming colours no good!

Courtesy The Island

File photo of President AKD and Speaker Ranwala(Image courtesy Parliament of Sri Lanka)

‘To prove that degrees, per se, are worthless. Often, they are honorifics of true scientists or learned scholars or inspired teachers. Much more frequently they are false faces for overeducated jackasses.’ – Robert A. Heinlein 

It is the above quote that came to mind when witnessing the barrage of information coming out on the saga of the Sri Lankan parliamentary speaker Asoka Ranwala’s PhD qualification, or the lack of it. Of course, true to form, we have outdone ourselves – yet again. In Sri Lanka’s case, degrees are not only the false faces for overeducated jackasses”. Our people who often wear degrees like expensive jewellery are the worst of the uneducated louts, to put it mildly.  The fiasco surrounding former speaker Ranwala’s resignation has also brought to the fore one of the most serious ailments our society has been afflicted with for a very long time, i. e. false pretense for social recognition and/or profit, mostly by superimposing degrees or other perceived qualifications on one’s public persona.  This is not new, but the recent saga has invited a significant degree of prominence. This is not only due to Ranwala’s recently acquired status as the Speaker and the country’s third citizen but, more importantly, as a result of the moral high ground on which the NPP campaigned and was elected to Parliament with an unprecedented majority.

Soon after my undergraduate studies in the 1980s, I met a friend in Pettah who had studied history at the University of Colombo during my time, but was practising medicine in Tissamaharama.  Quackery is part of this same scheme and is better known though it is structurally part of the same cluster of scams. These scams involving non-existent degrees or inflated qualifications usually involve lying to the public. Quite simply, it is a matter of public dishonesty. But politicians and dubious characters affiliated with politics have been the worst culprits in this scam. Sajith Premadas’s bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics has been an unresolved bone of contention for a long time, and has resurfaced again now. Similarly, Namal Rajapaksa’s Attorney-at-Law qualification (not a degree) from the Sri Lanka Law College after sitting for the final exams in restricted conditions by himself (easily doable under the Rajapaksas) is another well-known case, which also has become part of the debate again.  Ironically, both are now asking the present government to cleanse itself of false degree holders! The demand would have been more believable if the Opposition began its war cry by cleansing itself of its most obvious culprits.

The late Eliyantha Lindsay White, heavily sponsored by the Rajapaksas, who claimed to be a doctor with miraculous healing powers, and Viranjith Thambugala’s alleged PhD and teaching at well-known institutions, including at NASA, are among more recent cases.  None of these people – from Premadasa to Thambugala – have ever uttered anything sensible that can vouch for their alleged advanced formal training.  Nevertheless, they have been allowed to remain untouched, beyond short-lived public outcries, because such fakery is not a crime, but an ethical issue. More importantly, they had enormous political protection. Besides, ethics are of no concern for such people. This, however, was not possible for Ranwala.  The question is why not, and what feeds this ailment in our country.

The short answer to what feeds this ailment” is, because of the long-standing importance given to education in our country, in the context of which advanced education and university affiliations are taken very seriously beyond simple professional matters.  What these nefarious people from universities and outside are doing is to make use of this broad-based public interest and institutionalized respect, for their own private social and political gain.  Up to now, it has been a safe game to play.

Information available suggests that Ranwala does not even have the bachelor’s degree from the University of Moratuwa, which he had initially claimed.  In his resignation letter, which itself is a fascinating document, he has claimed that he had not been able to collect the paperwork pertaining to his PhD from Waseda University, Tokyo, but he nevertheless has the degree.  But this is late 2024 and not the 15th century.  One does not need to send a delegation bearing gifts to the Vice Chancellor of this Japanese university to get the transcripts and authenticated degree certificates pertaining to any former candidate in any degree programme.  All that was needed in this case was for Ranwala to make that request himself or otherwise authorize someone else to do it and make the required payment.  The information would have come via email in a few days if not a few hours. There is no indication this was ever attempted. If that was done sooner — if the former Speaker’s claims are true — this fiasco would not have reached the heights it did. It also would have saved the government needless embarrassment.

But this also opens another more important question.  That is, why did the NPP wait for so long to get their man to relinquish his duties as Speaker, and that, too, with a somewhat non-committal resignation letter, with its spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa deliberately evading questions by journalists. Some of its Ministers, like Wasantha Samarasinghe and Deputy Minister Namal Karunarathna, went to the extent of issuing an unnecessary threat amidst much bravado that they have the numbers in place (which we the people had given them not too long ago) to defeat any no-confidence motion by the Opposition.  What this means is that the NPP was willing to compromise its own ethical standards for the protection of one person and his possible dishonesty. This was not merely a debate over a certificate.  More crucially, it is about lying in public to all of us and getting elected because some voters would have voted for him assuming him to be a learned man. I am sure it is this belief in the integrity and the perceived qualifications of its man that the JVP was moved to appoint Ranwala as the Speaker when there were many better qualified people in Parliament to hold that responsibility, but without such dubious baggage.

Ultimately, this is about the confidence in the man, others like him and by extension the government itself.  Not just this incident, but the lackluster way in which it was handled by the NPP and the way in which its JVP members at large justified Ranwala’s status publicly and vociferously have only done one thing: it has created a needless rupture in the moral high ground with which the NPP was ushered into power. All indications are, he was protected within the government until it was no longer possible (with an impending no-confidence motion and widespread bad press) because he was an important member of the JVP.  None of us are doubting the work he has done tirelessly for years for the betterment of the JVP in considerably difficult times and with risks to his life. But would the same position be adopted if the individual concerned was from another entity within the NPP?

It seems there are many more Ranwalas in Parliament now in the ranks of the NPP. Since the eruption of the Ranwala saga, their degree and professional claims on social media handles and platforms they control have disappeared, opening more questions about their integrity than any answers. These degree claims were also part of their campaign arsenal.

Again, the lead for this was provided by Ranwala himself by discontinuing his LikedIn page as soon as the fiasco emerged.

But to be clear, the incident has so far only dented the government’s moral high ground, and it has not been dismantled – yet.  But if the government is serious about maintaining this hard won moral high ground and the trust people had placed in them, then, it needs to clean shop right now.  People who have lied during their campaigns claiming for themselves degrees and qualifications they do not have, should be identified via a thorough disciplinary investigation and made to resign or be removed. But not only from their positions in the government but also as MPs. The same applies to Ranwala. After all, we did not vote for them to be Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Speaker, but to be MPs.  Needless to say, all this should also apply to similar dishonest people in Opposition if they have any interest at all in reinventing themselves within slightly higher moral standards.

There is no point in arguing as some in the JVP’s public and social media bandwagons have already begun that these are not crimes and others have done it before.  We know all this.  But we did not vote this government in for it to tread along the same dubious and treacherous path other worse culprits have tread before.  That moral high ground that the government once had, and which I think can still be retained, must clearly be retained if it is to do what it promised all of us. But it must be done with effort and sincerity and not with nonsense and bravado. And to do so, we must be shown the government is serious about corruption at all levels.  Public dishonesty is the worst form of corruption. This cannot be an excuse for any reason simply because some of the culprits might be their own. For us to be led by elected leaders, we have to have trust in their integrity.  If not, what would be the difference between this government and those who came before but were booted out decisively?

I hope the President was serious when he said recently in public that the government will deal with all people appropriately within its ranks if they have done anything wrong.  Public dishonesty is ethically wrong, Mr President; it is morally repugnant though it is not illegal. It cannot be an excused for leniency whatever the pressures within might be.

A former student told me recently I should not be too critical of the government as it is doing its best.  I damn well have the right and the responsibility to be exactly this: critical but with self-reflection.  I voted for the NPP and went public for the first time in my life asking people to do so, too, as we as a country needed serious change. But in that same address to the public, I also said that if the government deviated from its principles we supported, we also had the right to object, come to the streets and look for alternatives.  Hopefully, that future will not come.  Hopefully, another Gotabaya saga will not come, which fortunately is in the mind of the President, too, going by his many public statements since the parliamentary election victory. The only way to ensure that this government governs effectively and with dignity is to be honest in public, to be honest in private, to be honest in words, and to be honest in action. Personally, I still have considerable hope for this regime.  But it needs to call off its over-enthusiastic and unenlightened public bulldogs drunk with the power of victory and majoritarian euphoria and begin to grow up politically and morally and not be caught up in the corrupt politics of the past. They also need to realize, most of us did not blindly vote for the JVP but for the JVP-led NPP.  Erasure of this crucial fact would be a serious mistake from which neither the NPP nor the country would be able to recover.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා 2023 ජූලි 21 ඉන්දියාව සමග එකඟවූ එකඟතාවයේ දී එට්කා ගිවිසුම සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ක්‍රියාත්මක කර අවසන් කරන බව ප්‍රකාශකර තිබූ බවත්, මෙවර එකඟතා ප්‍රකාශයේ ද ඒ පිළිබඳව සඳහන්කර ඇති බවත් දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයේ මහ ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පවසයි.

එහෙත් අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඔහුගේ කතාවේ දී ඒ පිළිබඳව සඳහන් නොකළ බවද, 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කරන ලෙස ඉන්දියාවේ අගමැති නරේන්ද්‍ර මොදි ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබුනත් අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතාගේ කතාවේ දී ඒ සඳහා එකඟතාව පළවී නැති බවත් ඒ මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

මේ බලපෑම්වලට යටත් නොවී අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා කටයුතු කරනු ඇතැයි බලාාපාරොත්තු වන බවත් සඳහන් කරන වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා, ජනතා විරෝධය හමුවේ හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරු 8 දෙනෙකුටම 13 සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කිරීමට නොහැකි වූ බවත්, ජනතාව අනුර දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිවරයාට බලය ලබා දී ඇත්තේ හිටපු ජනපතිවරු 8 දෙනෙකු නොකළ දේ කිරීමට නොවන බවත් සඳහන් කරයි.

සවිස්තරාත්මක වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න… 

Courtesy Adaderana

The year-on-year GDP growth rate for the third quarter of 2024 has been reported as 5.5 percent of positive growth rate, the Department of Census and Statistics indicated.

Accordingly, the GDP for the third quarter of 2024 at constant price (2015) has increased up to Rs. 3,151,941 million from Rs. 2,987,544 million which recorded in the third quarter of 2023.

The year-on-year GDP growth rate for the third quarter of year 2024 has been reported as 5.5 percent of positive growth rate, while the Agricultural, Industrial and Services activities expanded by 3.0 percent, 10.8 percent and 2.6 percent respectively in the third quarter of 2024, according to the department.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

ඉන්දියාවේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දක්වා තෙල් නළයක් ඉදිකිරීමටත් ඉන්දියාව හා ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව විදුලි සම්ප්‍රේෂණ ජාලයන් මගින් සම්බන්ධ කිරීමටත්, දෙරට අතර වන එක්ටා ගිවිසුම ඉක්මනින් අවසන් කිරීමටත් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා සමන්ග සාකච්ඡා කළ බව ඉන්දීය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි මහතා පැවසූ බව ඉන්දීය මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා කර සිටී.

දෙරටේ රාජ්‍ය නායකයින් දෙපළගේ හමුවීමෙන් පසුව නවදිල්ලියේ ‘හයිද්‍රාබාද් හවුස්’හි පැවති ඒකාබද්ධ මාධ්‍ය හමුව අමතමින් ඉන්දීය අගමැතිවරයා මෙසේ පවසා ඇතැයි ඉන්දීය මාධ්‍ය පවසයි.

‘අපිට සතුටුයි ඔබා ජනාධිපති වූ පසුව ඔබගේ පළමු විදේශ සංචාරය සඳහා ඉන්දියාව තෝරා ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන්. ඔබගේ මෙම සංචාරය අපගේ සබඳතාවලට නව ජවයක් ඇති කරනවා. භෞතික ඩිජිටල් සහ බලශක්ති සම්බන්ධතාවය අපගේ හවුල්කාරීත්වයේ වැදගත් කුළුණු වනු ඇති. දෙරට අතර විදුලි බල ජාල සම්බන්ධතාවය සහ බහු නිෂ්පාදන පෙට්‍රෝලියම් නල මාර්ග ස්ථාපනය කිරීමේ කටයුතු ඉදිරියේදී ආරම්භ වේවි. සම්පූර්ණ සූර්ය බල ශක්ති ව්‍යාපෘතියට ජවයක් ලබාදෙනු ඇහ්ටි.ඒ වගේම ලංකාවේ බලාගාර වලට අප එල්.එන්.ජී. සපයනවා.

ද්විපාර්ශවික වෙළඳාම නංවාලීම සඳහා දෙපාර්ශ්වයම ’එක්ටා’ ගිවිසුම ඉක්මනින් අවසන් කිරීමට උත්සාහ කරනවා.අපේ දෙපාර්ශවයේම ආරක්ෂක අවශ්‍යතා එකිනෙකට සම්බන්ධ බවට අපි දෙදෙනාම සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම එකඟයි.දෙරටේ අරක්ෂික සහයෝගිතා ගිවිසුම කඩනමින් අවසන් කිරීමට අපි තීරණය කර තිබෙන්නේ ඒ නිසයි. ධීවරයන්ගේ ගැටලු ගැනත් අපි සාකච්ඡා කළා. මේ කාරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් මානුෂ්‍යයේ ප්‍රවේශයකින් ඉදිරියට යයුතු බවට අපි එකඟයි.ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය සහ සංහිඳියාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් අපි කතා කළා. දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිතුමා එතුමාගේ මතය ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මට පැවසූවා.ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය දෙමළ ජනතාවගේ අභිලාෂ ඉටු කරනු ඇතැයි අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා. ඒ වගේම ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සහ පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණ පැවැත්වීම සඳහා වන කැපවීම ඉටු කරනු ඇතැයි අපි විශ්වාස කරනවා.ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංවර්ධනය සඳහා වන ඔහුගේ ප්‍රයත්නයන්හිදී ඉන්දියාව විශ්වාසදායක හවුල්කරුවකු ලෙස පවතින බවට මම සහතික වෙනවා.’ලෙස  ඉන්දීය අගමැතිවරයා පැවසූ බව ඉන්දීය මාධ්‍ය පවසයි.

Madyawediya

Madyawediya

Monara

by Garvin Karunaratne

On many an occasion on my never ending irrigation inspections in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya long ago I had to cling onto trees and, creepers to avoid being blown off by the power of the wind.

I enclose what I once wrote hoping that our new Government of Anura Kumara Dissanayake will somehow read through.

Speaking from my sheer experience in handling development tasks-

Building up Coop Crayon at Morawaka in 1971, done in three months, developing it to enable Minister Illangaratne to declare that all imports of crayons should be stopped, and 

again in Bangladesh, establishing the Youth Self Employment Programme in nineteen months- a programme that being implemented by members of the Bangladesh Civil Service, trained  by me, has by now guided over three million youths to become self employed, I submit:

It will be easier to build a few hundred wind turbines and enable Sri Lanka to produce all its electricity.

I submit  my Paper for kind reading by our new Ministers and our saviour Anura Kumara Dissanayake.  Dear Excellency, It is a task that can be done within three years.

Wind Power to our rescue

Posted on February 3rd, 2020 in Lanka Web

By Garvin Karunaratne

I bequeath to my readers the Conclusion of my book: Wind Power for Sri Lanka’s Power Requirements.

It in unfortunate that our authorities in establishing wind turbines in Sri Lanka have so far ignored  the mountainous areas where there is ample wind power. 

My mind travels to a book by John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, where he confesses that as an expert he had written feasibility reports with fabricated statistics which when implemented by  the Government of Ecuador, became failures,  with  the loan as a debt to the country. Our country has been given the wrong advice. Go to Spain, to the USA the leading countries where wind power has been harnessed and they harness the wind on their mountains. It is only Sri Lanka that tries to catch the sea breeze.

In Sri Lanka we have failed to harness Wind Power which Mother Nature has bountifully provided to us.

Suffice it to state that Spain a country that was far behind in producing wind power has within two to three years spurted up the ladder to be the second country in the world. Travelling through the Pyrenees to Spain in my Motorhome I was surprised to see wind turbines perched all over even on makeshift angle iron posts, the type of things that I can myself make in a day(I am no engineer). Spain even sells power to France today.

On my last visit to venerate the Avukana Buddha, I spotted a canopy perched on very long concrete shafts constructed by the State Engineering Corporation. 

It is my humble request to our excellency the President of Sri Lanka to summon the engineers who built the concrete shafts to support the canopy, and request them to design and produce the posts that can carry the wind turbines. They can easily produce these. Then import the wind turbine mechanism and set them up in our hills. We will provide employment for a few thousands. We can invite a specialist of the caliber of  Paul Gipe, the mastermind of wind power in California. who actually constructed and guides the wind turbines in California today. This will provide all the power we need. I have no doubt about that. This task can be accomplished within a year at most. Considering the billions we spend to import coal and oil, we can easily make a saving.

That is the message in my book: Wind Power for Sri Lanka’s Power Requirements.

I enclose the Conclusion of my book in support for kind perusal.

10.Conclusion

I am pleased to submit the Papers I have so far written on Wind Power as a source of Energy, in a booklet in the sheer hope that someday this will be read by one of our leaders who will be convinced that Wind Power is the form of energy that Sri Lanka is blessed with in abundance and will get going all out.

In nostalgia, I can remember what did actually happen in Bangladesh in 1982, when I worked there as the Commonwealth Fund General Advisor on Youth Development to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower in Bangladesh., The Minister for Youth Abul Kasim  was arrested on the charge of harbouring a criminal in his residency. A day later, the Military took over the country in a coup de etat.  Immediately afterwards, the Military Government  in a high powered conference chaired by Hon Aminul Islam, the Minister for Labour and Manpower assessed the programmes of the Youth Ministry. That included imparting vocational training to 40,000 youths a year. The Minister  was not totally impressed with the work done. Suddenly realizing me as the only outsider, I was confronted:

”What is the contribution you can make for Bangladesh?”

 I replied: It would be ideal to have a self employment programme to enable the 40,000 youths that are being trained every year to be guided to become entrepreneurs. Most of them are in the ranks of the unemployed even after training, today. ”

 My reply created an uproar. The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest official in the land objected on the grounds that such a self employment creation programme can never be achieved. He added that the ILO had in the preceeding three years tried to establish a self employment programme in Tangail, Bangladesh and spent a massive amount of funds all in vain. I  argued with the Secretary to the Treasury for over two hours, quoting definite instances where I had successfully established self employment projects for youths in Sri lanka.  It was an intense battle between me and the Secretary with the Hon Minister intently listening.  Finally the Minister stopped our battle. He immediately approved my establishing a self employment pogramme.  The Secretary to the Treasury stumped with the words, that he will never be providing any funds for this wasteful task. I replied that I will find savings within approved training budgets which was approved by the Hon Minister.

I got cracking with the officials of the Youth Ministry and the Lecturers of the Vocational Training Institutes that provided the vocational training, providing them with a basic knowledge of national planning to identify  areas within the economy where there was a propensity to create employment opportunities and training them in economic endeavour-structuring projects for self employment on a small scale-even with a cow or a dozen chicks and developing the enterprise. My task was to establish the self employment programme and to train the staff to continue after my two year consultancy ended. To a man the officers responded and today this Youth Self Employment Programme has by February 2011 guided  over two millions to become self employed  and it is an ongoing  programme that trains and guides 160,00 youths a year to become self employed. Today, it is easily the premier programme of employment creation  the world has known.

This experience of mine itself indicates that though wind power for the task of creating power is at an infancy today, we can easily develop it.

Let me hope that the contents of these papers which prove beyond all doubt that Wind Power can offer all the energy that Sri Lanka needs will someday find a Minister Aminul Islam” who will authorize it. I am certain  that the administrators and engineers who will toil till it is a success can easily be found.

Firstly, the country will not depend on the supply of coal and oil for power plants and the country can save all the millions and billions  being spent today to import oil and coal.

Secondly it will provide employment for thousands in erecting the turbine towers, in establishing the wind turbines and in the manufacture of the turbine mechanism itself at the later stages. In my travels in France, Spain and Portugal I have seen workers making  the towers, blades, transporting them in long trucks, erecting the towers and maintaining them. That is no difficult task for our engineers and workers.

 One of my readers happened to be an engineer, Mr Kanaga. who was involved with establishing the five wind turbines at Hambantota, the first to be built in Sri lanka. What is most interesting in his comment which I have totally enclosed in this book, is that the  environmental lobby had decided that the turbines should only be erected on the coasts and not in the mountains where there is ample wind force.

It is sad that the environmentalists were silent when the entire Kotmale Valley was denuded of people and their activities all to create 200 MW of power. That could have been easily achieved with fifty wind turbines scattered within Kotmale itself and the inhabitants and the economy would have been spared extintion. The entirety of Kotmale is dead today.

Currently the Kitulgala Valley is being destroyed to build a dam to get some 38MW of power and the entire Kitulgala Valley for miles will face destruction. Why were the environmentalists silent when these two projects were approved and implemented? 

Kanaga, that engineer supports my recommendation that  we should use the wind in our mountain area to provide the energy we need.

To my mind it is a crime not to use the wind power available and to spend millions and billions to purchase oil and coal.

I am convinced that there is an Oil Lobby and a Coal Lobby well financed to prove that wind is not a dependable source.

Many opine that wind is undependable.  To them my answer is that the wind is an utterly dependable source of energy. Spain has gone all out to build wind turbines and even sells power to France.

Thanks are due to engineer Kanaga for his comments which are immensely valuable so that I have quoted them as an attachment to my paper.

A reader of my Papers, Susantha Wijeytileke has even commented that once at Madugoda he saw a cyclist being blown off the road by the power of the wind.

I must mention that I am not alone in advocating the siting of wind turbines in the mountainous areas of Sri Lanka.

In Windfair, on line  editorial journalist  Trevor Sievert  quotes Lakshman Guruswamy, Sri Lanka has the potential to generate 24,000 MW electricity from wind.” (http://w3.windfair.net/wind-energy/news/1q543-sri-lanka-high-wind-energy-potential) Professor Guruswamy further states that studies have shown that nearly 5000 square KM of windy areas are available for potential wind power generation in Sri  Lanka.” (Dated 12/04/2018.)

In  www.windpower.lk, it is stated that in wind power the potential for Sri Lanka  is 20,740MW”

Wind Power in Sri Lanka,a publication by The Asia Business Office (//www.asiabiomass.jp/English/topics/1601_04.html) states that the wind potential in Sri Lanka is 20,740 MW. In  its words there is strong potential for wind power in the North Western coastal regions of Northern Province, the highland areas of the Central Province, Sabaragamuwa and Uva.”

  In Sri Lanka Wind farm Analysis and Site Selection Assitance,  M. Young and R Vilhauer of The Global Energy Concept, Kirkland, Washington state:

Sri Lanka has considerable available land with wind resource potential sufficient for development. However, the  wind power capacity expansion is limited by the electricity transmission infrastructure. CEB estimates that the grid cannot accommodate additional wind capacity more than 7% of the peak load. The CEB estimates that  installing more than 20MW of wind capacity in any given region may adversely impact local grid instability and power quality.

This Study  states that the windy land   can provide 50,000 MW.”

It is important to note that it is not the lack of wind power that holds up the utilization of wind power to produce electricity. Instead it is the grid capacity. Tackling the grid capacity is another kettle of fish. This is an area that has to be addressed. I will not be surprised if our  experts who yet think that wind turbines should be built to harness the sea breeze and not the wind power in our mountains  will come up with another cock and bull story stating that a grid cannot be built.

In the construction of the wind turbines at the Senok Wind Farm in Puttlam, where four wind farms established have a capacity of 40MW, it was found that the existing port facilities in the main port of Colombo and the road network was found wanting for the import of the turbine towers and blades. Instead these had to be obtained through barges from India.  The maximum height of the turbine tower is 90 meters and each blade is 50 meters in length. I have seen long towers and blades being transported by road in France and Spain. This needs special transport. In the hilly areas in Sri lanka it will be more feasible to construct the towers and blades on site. These are areas that have to be addressed in any development. Where there is a will, there is also a way.

My thanks are also due to the Editor of the Sunday Observer.lk who in Let there be Light” (Sunday Observer:06/09/2009) commented that my suggestions are very valuable. Referring tro my suggestion that the wind power in the Central Highlands should be harnessed says, This is a timely and valid proposal and the authorities should take  appropriate action to locate wind turbines in  areas which will enable them to reach their maximum potential.”

I am also thankful for Noor Nizam for his Wind Energy Electricity generation is a reality” (Sri Lanka Guardian:27/08/2009)  In his words, Garvin should be commended for his boldness to take to task the lethargic and selfish bureaucrats on this issue of renewal energy development of electricity energy in Sri Lanka…. His message should be well taken  by others too handling  national planning and development strategies  to assist the little island of 21 million to come out of the rut of poverty, misery, the destruction of the civil war and the dependence on foreign powers.”  He adds in the affirmative, As Garvin Karunaratne  wishes Wind Energy Electricity Generation  will be a reality in Sri Lanka for the next generation”.  It is my fervent hope that this will be realized.

The last paper  states of how the new owner of the Hambantota Port has insisted on a massive payment as ground rent for the five wind turbines. The CEB has decided to dismantle the five wind turbines.  This is a sad epitaph for wind power use in Sri Lanka.

However the contents of this book convinces any sane thinking person that wind power can be harnessed. We have to learn from mistakes, not make the mistakes rule us. As a country we have to find ways and means of forging ahead,  heedless.

This study proves  beyond all doubt that there is ample wind capacity in Sri Lanka for self sufficiency in our power requirements through harnessing the wind.. There is no question about this. However, as in any field of development, be it agriculture or industry, there are problems that have to be surmounted.  As stated the national grid has to be developed to carry the power from areas where it is generated to the areas where the power is consumed. Perhaps there can be local grids to carry the power generated from  a local wind farm to a local district capital. For instance if wind farms are located in Dela on the Kirigalpotta hillock, a grid can carry the power to the town of Ratnapura.

Sri Lankan engineers have in ancient times done wonders. The gradient of the Jaya Ganga that carried the waters of the Kala Weva to the tanks in Talawa and Anuradhapura has been constructed at a gradient of six inches in a mile, a gradient that baffles the irrigation engineers of today.

I am dead certain that Sri Lanka can become self sufficient in all its power requirements not for its present stage but also for its future development through using wind power. The wind power in the Central and Sabaragamuwa Hills is vast. Methods and systems have to be found to harness this energy. However as long as we build wind turbines on the coastal areas and ignore the areas where there is real wind power and satisfy ourselves with studies of the difficulties and constraints,  our attempt will be like  that of a squirrel trying to empty the water in the ocean , carrying a bit of water on its tail,  endless.

THE  END

Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D. Michigan State University

Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success(Godages:2006), How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Kindle/Godages:2017)

ප්‍ර සමරසිංහ

ඝන ප්ලාස්ටික් ෆයිල් කවරයක් හමාරක් නොගන්න තරම් පරිසර සංවේදී නම්, අඩුගානේ ජනාධිපති තුමාගෙන්, අර තියෙනවා කීව කාඩ්බෝඩ් ෆයිල් වලින්, පරණ වුණාට කමක් නෑ ෆයිල් කවරයක් ඉල්ලගන්න. දැන් නම් එතුමා බොහෝ වෙලාවට ඒ ඔක්කොම වුනත් මදේ අහක් කරලා ඉල්ලන පරක්කුවට දෙන්නත් පුළුවන්.

දැන් ඒක ඇතුලට ඔය ජීවිත කාලෙදි ලැබිච්චි සහතික කරදහි අනුපිළිවෙලට දා ගන්න. 

ඕ ලෙවල් වි බාගේ සමත් අසමත් සහතික කරදහිය, 

ඒ ලෙවල් වි බාගේ සමත් අසමත් සහතික කරදහිය, 

ලෝකේ පිළිගත් විස්ස විජ්ජාලයකට ගියා නං, ඒ පාඨමාලාව හරියට සම්පුර්ණ කරල අවසන් මහ වි බාගේ සමත් වුනා නං, ප්‍රථම උපාධි සහතික කරදහියක් හම්බ වෙනවාම තමා, ඒ කරදහිය, 

ලෝකේ පිළිගත් විස්ස විජ්ජාලෙක ශාස්ත්‍රපති උපාධියක් (Master Degree) කරා නං, ඒ පාඨමාලාවත් හරියට සම්පුර්ණ කරලා නිබන්ධනයකුත් ලිව්වා නං ඒක එම ආයතනය පිලි ගන්නවා නම් ශාස්ත්‍රපති උපාධි සහතික කරදහියක් ලැබෙනවාම තමා, ඒ කරදහිය, 

ලෝකේ පිළිගත් විස්ස විජ්ජාලෙක දර්ශන ආචාර්ය උපාධියකට (PhD) පෙනී උන්නා නං, බොහෝ වෙලාවට පර්යේෂණ පත්‍රිකා 1-2ක්වත් ලෝකේ පිළිගත් ඒ විෂයානුබද්ධ සඟරාවක දෙකක (දෙස්/විදෙස්) පල කරන්න වෙනව ( සල්ලි අරගෙන පත්‍රිකා පල කරන අවර ගනයේ දෙස් විදෙස් සඟරා වලට අහු නොවීමට වග බලා ගන්න ඕන ), ඒ වගේම විශේෂිත විෂය කරුණක් ඔස්සේ නිබන්ධනය ලියල ඒ කරුණුවල නිරවද්‍යතාව තහවුරු කිරීමේ වාචික පරීක්ෂණයකට (Viva එකකට) විනිශ්චය මඩුල්ලක් ඉදිරියේ පෙනී සිටින්න වෙනවා. එය සාර්ථකව වුනාට පස්සේ දර්ශන ආචාර්ය උපාධි සහතික කරදහිය ලැබෙනවාම තමා, ඒ කරදහිය, 

ඔය අතරතුරේ ආසාවට දකින දකින නා නා විධ ඩිප්ලෝමා කරා නං ඒවටත් ලැබෙනවා සහතික කරදහි, ඒ කරදහි,

සහතික කරදහි 50ක් 60ක් කොහොමටත් එක ජීවිත කාලයකදි ලැබෙන්න විදියක් නෑ- ඒ නිසා පිළිවෙලට ඔය මුල් පිටපත් 5-6 ඔය ෆයිල් කවරේ අඩුක් කර ගත්තම, කව්රු හරි සහතික ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න කියල කිව්ව සුනංගුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න පුළුවන් බොහොම පහසුවෙන්.

ඒ සහතික ප්‍රින්ට් කරන්න කියල කල් ගන්න කාරණාවක් ඇත්තෙම නෑ, හේතුව මුල් පිටපත දෙනවම තමයි. මුල් පිටපත වෙනුවට ඒකෙ කොපියක් සහතික කරලා තියා ගත්තොත් තවත් ලේසියි. එහෙම බලාපුවම වැඩිම වුනොත් ඔය ෆයිල් කවරේ අස්සේ තියෙන්න පුළුවන් කරදහි 10ක් 12ක් විතරයි. 

කොච්චර අධ්‍යාපන සහතික කරදහි තිබුණත් වැඩක් නෑ පිළිවෙලක් රටාවක් නැත්නම්. අරහේ මෙහෙ දාල පිස්සාගේ පළාමල්ල වාගේ තියා ගත්තොත් කවදාවත් ඕව හොයනව බොරු. කොහොම හරි ඔය ඔක්කොම එකතැනක තියල කරුමෙට ගේ ගිනි ගත්තොත් හරි ඉරිසියාකාර හොරෙක් ඇවිත් ෆයිල් එකම අරං ගියොත් කියන බය සංකාව තියෙනව නං සහතික වල ෆොටෝ අරගෙන ඒවත් සත්‍ය පිටපත් කියල සහතික කරව ගෙන pdf එකක් වශයෙන් තියා ගන්නත් පුළුවන් කොම්පියුටරේක.

දැනුම ලබා ගන්නවට, ඒ දැනුමෙන් යම් ‘හරවත් දෙයක්’ ඉදිරිපත් කරනවට සහතික කරදහි ලැබෙනව, ඒවා පරෙස්සමෙන් තියා ගන්නත් හිතෙනවා කාපු කට්ට කොතරම්ද කියල තමන්ම දන්න හන්දා. හැබැයි, තමන්ගේ නම ඉස්සරහටත් නමේ පිටිපස්සටත් අක්ෂර එකතු කරන අරමුණෙන් බොරු කිරීම කවුරුවත් අනුමත කරන්නේ නෑ. කවුරු හරි රවටන අරමුණෙන්, කාව හරි බය කරන අරමුණෙන්, තමන්ගේ උද්ධච්චකම පෙන්වන්න, කවදාවත් අහු වෙන්නේ නෑ කියල  හිතාගෙන පතාගෙන  නම ඉස්සරහට/ පස්සට ලබා නොගත්ත අක්ෂර ලබා ගත්තා සේ එකතු කරන්න යෑම තරම් මෝඩ තකතීරු වැඩක් ඇත්තේ නෑ. 

රටවැස්සන්ට අවංකව සේවය කරන්නන්ට වුවමනා කරන්නේ සාමාන්‍ය බුද්ධියක්, හැකියාවක් හා කැපවීමක් පමණක් වන අතර, මේ කරදහිවත් අක්ෂරවත් අත්‍යවශ්‍ය අංග නොවන වග බොහෝ දෙනා පිලි ගන්නා කාරණාවක්. 

දේශීය ජාතිකත්වය නැවත නගා සිටවූ දිවංගත ආචාර්ය නලින් ද සිල්වා මහතාට දේශනාවන් සඳහා ආරාධනා කෙරූවන් ඔහුගේ නමට මුලින් ‘මහාචාර්ය’ ලෙස යෙදු අයුරුත් ඒ හැම අවස්ථාවකදීම තම දේශනාව කිරීමට මත්තෙන්, එතුමන් නොපැකිලව එම වරද නිවරද කල අයුරුත් සිහිපත් වේ. ”තමන් කැලණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයෙ මහාචාර්යවරයෙකු සේ සේවය කර විශ්‍රාම ගත් පසු, සම්මානිත මහාචාර්ය ලෙස ගෞරව ප්‍රධානයක් ලංකාවේ විශ්ව විද්යාලයකින් නොලද හෙයින් තමන් තව දුරටත් මහාචාර්ය නොවන වගත්, ඒ ලෙස හැඳින්වීම  වරදක්” බවත් ප්‍රකාශ කලේ ඉතාමත් ආදර්ශමත් ලෙසින්ය. මෙතුමන්ගේ මේ අනතිමානි ගුණයේ සහ ආදර්ශමත්බවේ  පිහිටීමට තරම් මුහුකුරා ගිය බුද්ධියක් ඇති ලක්වැසියන් බිහි වෙන්නේ කවදාදැයි හිතෙන වාර ගණන් විශේෂයෙන් මේ දිනවල බොහෝය. නැති දේවල් නැති ලෙසට ගත යුතුය, එය කිසිසේත්ම ලජ්ජාවට හෝ බියට කාරණයක් නොවන්නේය.

By Dr . Wasantha Sena Weliange Dr. Upali Peris Dr. Manoj Fernando Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge

Youtube Link ;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeS1RBhyp1E

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ඉල්ලා අස්වූ කතානායක අශෝක රන්වල මහතාගේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මතභේදාත්මක තත්ත්වයක් ඇතිවීම මත ජාතික ජන බලවේගය හා ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ප‍්‍රබලයන් අතර යම් මතගැටුම්කාරී ස්වභාවයක් ඇති වී තිබේ.

ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ප්‍රබල ක්‍රියාකාරිකයකු වන ආචාර්ය නිර්මාල් රංජිත් දේව සිරි මහතා සහ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ප්‍රබලයකු වන ජානක අධිකාරිය මහතා අතර සමාජ ජාලයන්හි මෙවන් එක් සංවාදය ඇති වී තිබේ.

ජානක අධිකාරි මහතා තම සමාජ ජාලයේ අශෝක රන්වල මහතාට පක්ෂපාතිව පළ කළ සටහනකට නිර්මාල් දේවසිරි මහතා සඳහන් කරන්නේ ජනතාවට පක්ෂයෙන් සත පහක වැඩක් නැති බවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව පක්ෂයේ බූදලයක් නොවන බවත්ය. 

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ඉන්දියාව හා ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව විදුලි සම්ප්‍රේෂණ ජාලයන් සම්බන්ධ කිරීමටත්, ඉන්දියාවේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දක්වා තෙල් නළයක් ඉදිකිරීමටත් දෙරට අතර වන එක්ටා ගිවිසුම ඉක්මනින් අවසන් කිරීමටත් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා සහග සාකච්චා කල බව ඉන්දීය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි මහතා පවසයි.

නවදිල්ලියේ ‘හයිද්‍රාබාද් හවුස්’ දෙරටේ රාජ්‍ය නායකයින් දෙපළගේ හමුවීමෙන් පසුව පැවති ඒකාබද්ධ මාධ්‍ය හමුව අමතමින් ඔහු මෙසේ කියා සිටියේය.

‘අපිට සතුටුයි ජනාධිපති වූ පසුව ඔබගේ පළමු විදේශ සංචාරය සඳහා ඉන්දියාව තෝරා ගැනීම ගැන. මෙම සංචාරය අපගේ සබඳතාවලට නව ජවයක්.

භෞතික ඩිජිටල් සහ බලශක්ති සම්බන්ධතාවය අපගේ හවුල්කාරීත්වයේ වැදගත් වැදගත් කුළුණු වනු ඇති.

දෙරට අතර විදුලි බල ජාල සම්බන්ධතාවය සහ බහු නිෂ්පාදන පෙට්‍රෝලියම් නල මාර්ග ස්ථාපනය කිරීමේ කටයුතු ආරම්භ වේවි. සම්පූර්ණ සූර්ය බල ශක්ති ව්‍යාපෘතියට ජවයක් ලබාදෙනවා.

ඒ වගේම ලංකාවේ බලාගාර වලට අප එල්.එන්.ජී. සපයනවා.

ද්විපාර්ශවික වෙළඳාම නංවාලීම සඳහා දෙපාර්ශ්වයම ’එක්ටා’ ඉක්මනින් අවසන් කිරීමට උත්සාහ කරනවා.

අපේ දෙපාර්ශවයේම ආරක්ෂක අවශ්‍යතා එකිනෙකට සම්බන්ධ බවට අපි දෙදෙනාම සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම එකඟයි.

දෙරටේ අරක්ෂික සහයෝගිතා ගිවිසුම කඩනමින් අවසන් කිරීමට අපි තීරණය කර තිබෙන්නේ ඒ නිසයි.

ධීවරයන්ගේ ගැටලු ගැනත් අපි සාකච්ඡා කළා. මේ කාරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් මානුෂ්‍යයේ ප්‍රවේශයකින් ඉදිරියට ආයිත් බවට අපි එකඟයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය සහ සංහිඳියාව ගැනත් අපි කතා කළා. දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිතුමා එතුමාගේ මතය ගැන මට කිවුවා.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය දෙමළ ජනතාවගේ අභිලාෂ ඉටු කරනු ඇතැයි අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා. ඒ වගේම ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සහ පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණ පැවැත්වීම සඳහා වන කැපවීම ඉටු කරනු ඇතැයි අපි විශ්වාස කරනවා.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංවර්ධනය සඳහා වන ඔහුගේ ප්‍රයත්නයන්හිදී ඉන්දියාව විශ්වාසදායක සහ විශ්වාසදායක හවුල්කරුවකු ලෙස පවතින බවට මම සහතික වෙනවා’

By Rezaul H Laskar Courtesy The Hindustan Times

The Indian assistance ranged from supply of LNG for power plants to grants for upgrading railways and a port and the launch of a new ferry service

New Delhi

India on Monday unveiled a slew of measures to boost development and physical and energy connectivity with Sri Lanka, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuring President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of continued support for Colombo’s economic stabilisation efforts.

The Indian assistance, ranging from supply of LNG for power plants to grants for upgrading railways and a port and the launch of a new ferry service, were announced following talks between Modi and Dissanayake, who is on his first foreign visit since becoming president in September.

The moves signalled continuity under India’s Neighbourhood First” policy for Sri Lanka, which has been one of the largest beneficiaries of New Delhi’s development cooperation programme. Besides being Sri Lanka’s largest trade partner, India also continues to be the country’s largest source of tourists and biggest source of investments.

We shall work towards establishing electricity grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines between both nations. The Sampur solar power project shall be accelerated. Additionally, LNG shall be supplied for Sri Lanka’s power plants,” Modi said at a joint media interaction, speaking in Hindi. He added both sides will also work towards finalising a trade deal.

Dissanayake thanked India for its support in stabilising the Sri Lankan economy through unparalleled and multi-pronged” assistance, including emergency financing and foreign exchange support worth $4 billion.

We faced an unprecedented economic crisis some two years ago and India supported us immensely to come out of that quagmire. It has also helped us immensely after that, especially in the debt restructuring process,” Dissanayake said.

A joint statement said the two sides will work together for the timely completion of ongoing India-backed projects, such as Phase III and IV of the Indian Housing Project, the Islands Hybrid Renewable Energy Project, and community development projects. Besides, they will identify new projects for development partnership in line with the priorities of the Sri Lankan government.

In the energy sector, the two sides will continue discussions on supply of LNG from India to Sri Lanka, establishment of a high-capacity power grid interconnection, and trilateral cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on building a multi-product pipeline from India to Sri Lanka for supply of affordable and reliable energy. Officials said this proposal envisages technical and economic support from the UAE in constructing the pipeline.

In the context of ongoing cooperation for developing the Trincomalee Tank Farms, Modi and Dissanayake decided to support the development of Trincomalee as a regional energy and industrial hub, the joint statement said.

In the field of connectivity, the two sides expressed satisfaction at the resumption of the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai and agreed to revive the passenger ferry service between Rameshwaram and Talaimannar. India will also provide a grant of $14.9 million for the signalling system of the Maho-Anuradhapura railway line.

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing that India remains involved in Sri Lanka’s financial stabilisation efforts following the economic crisis of 2022 through its engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in its role as co-chair of the Official Creditors’ Committee.

Our support has been timely, swift and, most importantly, unconditional, underlining our position as a responsible and friendly neighbour of Sri Lanka,” Misri said. As part of these efforts, India has converted repayments worth

$20.66 million for seven line of credit projects into a grant. India will also provide a grant of $61.5 million for rehabilitating Sri Lanka’s Kankesanthurai port, a project that was earlier to be done under a line of credit.

Modi also reaffirmed India’s continued support for Sri Lanka’s economic stabilisation efforts, Misri said. He assured President Dissanayake that India’s approach would be investment-based and grant-oriented to reduce the debt burden on Sri Lanka and to assist them in generating economic opportunities that are long-term and sustainable,” he said.

The two sides also signed a protocol amending the agreement for avoidance of double taxation to prevent fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for training 1,500 Sri Lankan civil servants over five years at India’s National Centre for Good Governance. India also announced a financial assistance scheme for 200 students from the University of Jaffna and Eastern University.

Courtesy Gulf Times

Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake inspects an honour guard during his ceremonial reception at India’s Presidential Palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

India plans to supply liquefied natural gas to Sri Lanka’s power plants and will work on connecting the power grids of the two countries as well as lay a petroleum pipeline between the neighbours, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday.
Modi was speaking at a joint press briefing with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in New Delhi.
Dissanayake is on his first official visit to Sri Lanka’s powerful neighbour after winning the presidency in September and securing a landslide parliamentary election victory last month.
Indian state-run firm Petronet LNG has signed a deal to supply liquefied natural gas to Sri Lankan engineering firm LTL Holdings’ power plants in Colombo for five years through its terminal in the southern Indian city of Kochi.
Both sides also discussed a plan to connect power grids and lay a multi-product petroleum pipeline between the two countries, a joint statement from the Indian external affairs ministry said.
The two countries also agreed to jointly develop offshore wind power potential in the Palk Straits, an area where India’s Adani Green Energy already has plans to invest $442mn in two wind power stations.
Sri Lanka is reviewing the wind power project along with a $553mn terminal project at the Colombo port also linked to Adani Ports. But it was unclear if the projects were discussed during the meeting between Modi and Dissanayake.
India extended more than $4bn in aid to Sri Lanka when the island nation’s economy plunged into a severe financial crisis in 2022 and entered into a preliminary debt restructuring agreement, along with other bilateral creditors Japan and China, in July.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has extended an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Sri Lanka, during the joint media briefing held in New Delhi this afternoon (16).

Meanwhile, he also stated that PM Modi had assured continued economic support for Sri Lanka.

During the meeting, the Sri Lankan leader assured that the island nation would not allow the country to be used in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India”. 

I have also given an assurance to the Prime Minister of India that we will not allow our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India. The cooperation with India will certainly flourish and I want to reassure our continued support for India,” Dissanayake said after the interaction.

PM Modi said: We completely agree that our security interests are interlinked. We have decided to finalise the Defence Cooperation Agreement soon.”

Cooperation on hydrography has also been agreed upon. We believe that the Colombo Security Conclave is an important platform for regional peace, security and development. Under this, cooperation will be enhanced on topics like maritime security, counter-terrorism, cyber-security, fight against smuggling and organised crime, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The people-to-people relations between India and Sri Lanka are linked to our civilisations,” he added.

Meanwhile, both the nations have signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs).

At a joint press conference, PM Modi also highlighted India’s robust support to Sri Lanka’s development.

India has so far provided 5 billion dollars in line of credit and grant assistance to Sri Lanka. We have cooperation in all 25 districts of Sri Lanka, and the selection of our projects is always based on the development priorities of the partner countries,” he said.

Highlighting new initiatives under India’s developmental cooperation with Sri Lanka, PM Modi said: From next year, monthly scholarships will be given to 200 students in the universities of Jaffna and Eastern Province. In the next five years, 1500 civil servants of Sri Lanka will be trained in India.”

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Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, former Ambassador to UAE and Israel, Solicitor in England and Wales, President Ambassador’s Forum UK/SL sarathdw28@gmail.com

Foreign Policy of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a compact and beautiful Island in the powerful Indian Ocean, maintaining friendly relations with the world with the motto on the foreign policy Friendly with all and angry with none, which is a very useful and productive policy to be a recognized and reputed member of the world family consisting of all nations bonded by the United Nations formed for the unity, security, and maintain friendly relations in managing international affairs. She is a senior member of the United Nations which is the recognized and legal institution to represent the world on the basis of the International Convention it is formed on accepted to all nations on the Globe. China and India, a are economic and political giant’s in Asia, as leaders in the world on many areas and aspects as against the western powers equally powerful in the UN and in world affairs.

Foreign policy bonds with India China and India

Bonds of Sri Lankan relations with India and China are historical, long and important on political economic, cultures, and foreign policy aspects. India named Sri Lanka as one of the Perls in the chain of Perls, and maintained relations with Sri Lanka in history of all ages inducing the Rama Ravana epic than some say goes back to 15000 years and some schools’ era of ‘’Gauthama Buddha’’ era when ‘’King Dharamasoka’’ of India spread Buddhism to Sri Lanka and world over. Friendship of King Asoka of India and King ‘’Devenampiyatiss’’ of Sri Lanka is a testimony of the foreign relations between the two uneven but friendly nations, that led to the new Buddhist culture to Sri Lanka powerful to date, Sri Lanka being the country with the longest history on Theravada Buddhism which is one of the largest religions spreading in Europe with no influence of compulsion. ‘’Fahian visite’’ Sri Lanka in 410 AD on a religious mission with the approval of the Governance and visit led to close relations on economic, trade and religion as a landmark of China Sri Lanka relations, As Arath Mahinda’s visit on 3^rd BCE which are of great significance update. Dispute the unpleasant happenings based on the Indo Sri Lanka Accord and the background on the 26-year war, Sri Lanka India elations continue with visits of state leaders indicating the continuity of the bods between the leader and the nation’s which is on the positive directions on religious, political and economic interactions that improves the friendly relations of two friendly nations. It is not merely the need but a mandatary requirement for Sri Lanka to maintain close relations and friendship when both great and giant nations are becoming most popular economically and politically powerful with mutual respect and benefit all three nations. China still fondly remembers the support given by Sri Lanka in 1950, when there was stiff resistance from the West on the admission of the China to the UN and India is expecting the help from Sri Lanka for a position in the Security Council for which she is amply suited. Yet the international political and economic situation is complicated and varies especially due to strategics situation of the geographical situation and also influence to Sri Lanka from other world powers for access to the India Oceal which is a perfume and a strategic aera. In the back drop and background of the current situation Sri Lankan President’s Visit to both India and China is of great significance and importance due to the clear and overwhelming power vested on AKD and the government who they are aware is with a clear mandate in making decisions. The consolation for President AKD is the victory in North and East over ethnic parties’ demand in separatism with tacit nod from India agitating for the full implementation of the controversial 13 th amendment to the Constitution, India may not be able to hold on. China has no demands except for friendly relations mainly based on ecumenic and cult ureal aspects expecting Sri Lanka to help them in the international arena with the competition with world powers and threat from small but economically sound ‘’Thaiwan’’ with certain political demands.

Foreign Policy and the Ministry expected to support and guide the president

Guide, support and advice is of paramount importance taking ‘’Madam Bandraneika’s’’ team and policies in 1960 for example as a successful era on foreign policy and a powerful foreign ministry in action, on positive directions. Today it is doubtful whether the Ministry of foreign affairs maintain some standards to assist the nation and the leader, and it is timey the President takes the assistance academics and experts in Sri Lanka and abroad willing to help the new changes that are being implemented I all other sectors. Media is duty bound to help the implementation of the foreign policy while formulation a Sri Lanka friendly foreign policy for the future generation.

Significance and importance of the visit to both China and India

No country or a citizen could live in isolation today as life of an individual and a nation is so interconnected and intervwoven   with the rest of the world via advance communications that will connect each other with a click of a button when is fast changing on the door step of the digital and AI age, where a slight mistake and wrong move would make a drastic difference locally or internationally and a leader of a nation walking on the rope will have to be extra cautious with a battery of proper advisors and a group in sailing the ship in the right direction, and we wish an hope President AKD has taken necessary precautions, research and with proper guidance and advice.

Book launch on foreign policy by Ambassador’s forum edited by author on Ceylon today 9-12-2022/ 13-3-2021-FT- foreign policy within and outside/ foreign Policy is it productive and effective? 16-8-Colombo Telegraph/ SL needs a unique foreign policy 3-12-24/ anther could be contacted on sarathdw28@gmail.com/

Swadeshiya Sevaya

A Commemorative Talk on Asoka Weeraratna (founder of the German Dharmaduta Society, Berlin Vihara in Germany and the Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya) later known as Ven. Mitirigala Dhammanisanthi Thero, on the occasion of his 106th Birth Anniversary (December 12, 1918)  by Dr Thilanka K.  Dahanayake ( grandson of former Prime Minister W. Dahanayake), currently lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sri Jayawardenapura. This Radio Program was moderated by Dr. Nalaka Jayasena

By Dr Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam.  254, Willetton Vahland Avenue 6155, Australia.

India plays far too many twenty over cricket matches and does not focus on Test Match cricket as Australia for example does. I realize that twenty over cricket is more popular in India at present than Test Match cricket but the people to blame for this is the Board of Control for cricket in India.

Test Match cricket is yet the pinnacle or the litmus test for cricket when it comes to technique, application, concentration and physical fitness or stamina in regard to the game of cricket. Limited over and especially twenty over cricket is not a true test of the game but just like Bollywood or Hollywood movies, which does not depict real life on the ground so to speak. It is based just on showmanship and who could hit the ball out the ground most times with sixes or hit the boundary line most with fours. Singles, two and three runs are considered boring.  This plus poor wicket preparations by grounds men in India have produced batsmen who are great with their hands rather than correct precise footwork or correct side on batting to the moving and bouncing deliveries. India therefore are good on turning wickets where their hands come into play a great deal and their onside play especially turning to leg or the flick off their legs are their strength as batsmen. Standing up and playing pace bowling from a side on position is certainly not the strength of Indian batsmen. They cannot even defend good deliveries just outside their off stump or even on their stumps correctly and adequately to keep the deliveries at bay. Kohli who is considered their premier batsman hangs his bat away from his body when a pace bowler delivers deliveries on a fourth stump line and is basically a sitting duck to nick off deliveries bowled on just short of a full length on a fourth stump line by a pace or medium pace bowler. Other Indian batsmen go with very hard hands or are front on rather than being side on when playing defensively or even aggressively both on the front and back foot.

In regard to bowling the pace bowlers of India get caught to the bounce of the wickets in Australia and South Africa where the wickets are true bounce wise and consistently bang the ball short, which makes a batsman who is good at the horizontal and vertical strokes to excel and score many runs without too much danger. Bumrah is a quality pace bowler and stands tall as the only performing Indian pace bowler in this current series of Test Matches against Australia played on Australian soil, but what India lacks is a quality swing bowler to back up to Bumrah. It is very unfortunate Sami is not plying as he is coming back from injury and maybe not match fit to play at Test Match cricket just yet. And in regard to the spinners please leave Ashwin alone with his experience to play in the reaming Test without playing him for just One Test and dropping him thereafter. This does not make any sense as Ashwin is head and shoulders ahead of Sundar and Jadeja in regard to his art of off spin bowling.        

So in conclusion, true bouncy wickets that has some movement for the bowler off the deck and good fundamental MCC cricket coaching bating wise and pace bowlers bowing on true wickets in India including focusing on playing Test Match cricket and playing it mostly overseas rather than in India will make India a quality team in the future.  The other aspect is to establish a living cricket academy like the one at Adelaide so that a cricketer can be moulded in a quality first class player after three years of graduation from the living cricket academy.