Umpire Decision Review System in Cricket Watch “DRS, Snicko, Hot Spot, Hawkeye, Umpire’s call and Player Referral’ explained in a YouTube presentation
Watch “DRS, Snicko, Hot Spot, Hawkeye, Umpire’s call explained and Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna identified as the world’s first person to conceive and publish internationally (in 1997) the concept of ‘ Player Referral” which is the true underlying basis of the Umpire Decision Review System ( UDRS or DRS).
A controversy has erupted following Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa’s remarks at the opening ceremony of the children’s bone marrow transplant unit at Maharagama Apeksha Hospital. The unit, the first of its kind in a government hospital, was built with donations from the Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya, amounting to Rs. 176 million, and with labor contributions from the Air Force.
Minister Jayatissa’s comments have drawn strong criticism, with many parties questioning the health system’s ability to effectively manage public donations amidst ongoing crises in the sector. Critics argue that health authorities should be held accountable for the management of such contributions, especially in light of the current challenges faced by the healthcare system.
The opening ceremony on January 2nd has sparked a significant opposition to the Minister’s statements, further fueling the controversy surrounding the event.
The Government has updated its terror advice to Brits heading to Sri Lanka, warning terrorist groups ‘are likely’ to carry out attacks
The Foreign Office has warned Brits travelling to Sri Lanka that a terror attack is likely
UK holidaymakers are being warned of a potential terror threat in Sri Lanka. The Foreign Office has stated that terrorist groups ‘are likely’ to target the popular tourist hotspots. British travellers could be at risk in areas such as beaches, bars and restaurants. Those travelling to Sri Lanka are advised to avoid crowded public places and remain vigilant of their surroundings.
On November 14, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) issued an update on terrorism in Sri Lanka, stating: “There is a high threat of terrorist attack globally affecting UK interests and British nationals, including from groups and individuals who view the UK and British nationals as targets.”
They further advised: “Stay aware of your surroundings at all times. UK Counter Terrorism Policing has information and advice on staying safe abroad and what to do in the event of a terrorist attack.”
They also added: “Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Sri Lanka. Find out how to reduce your risk from terrorism while abroad. Avoid crowded public places. Stay aware of your surroundings at all times, keep up to date with local media reports and follow the advice of local authorities.”
The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice to certain destinations owing to the increased global tensions resulting from the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine. According to the FCDO: “The current conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has led to heightened tensions around the world.
They warned that terror groups like Al-Qaida and Daesh are urging their followers to launch attacks in the wake of the strife, stating: “Terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida and Daesh, have called on their supporters to carry out terrorist attacks in response to the conflict. The conflict could also motivate individuals to carry out attacks.”
They further cautioned travellers that deliberate or haphazard attacks may target communities and interests linked to Jewish, Muslim, Israeli, or allied nations, explaining: “Terrorist attacks could target Jewish or Muslim communities, or the interests of Israel and its allies. Attacks could also be indiscriminate and occur without warning.”
Reflecting on past atrocities, the Foreign Office said that over 250 lives were lost in a series of devastating terrorist actions on Easter Sunday in 2019. The attacks targeted three churches and three hotels across Sri Lanka, hitting Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa, with eight British nationals among the casualties.
It takes nine months to complete the drug procurement process, thus there is no immediate solution to address various glitches in the system. In order to address the importance of tackling the root causes of the issue and introducing a comprehensive plan to address it, we have to study the problem, identify the factors that sustain it, and present a clear plan for its resolution. If the public sees that we are genuinely working on solutions and we communicate a plan, they will support it,” Deputy Minister of Health Dr Hansaka Wijemuni
The Sri Lanka Medical Association says that the countries total pharmaceutical expenditure covering both state and private sectors in 2022 was estimated at LKR 163 billion per annum, and about LKR 58 billion for the state sector and LKR 105 billion for private sector (https://slma.lk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/newsletter_APRIL_
2023_PROOF_compressed.pdf). However, despite this, drug shortages and out of stock situations persist depriving patients of a fundamental human right.
Drug shortages and being out of stock of drugs is commonly understood as a supply issue. However, even if the supply side was perfect and worked efficiently and effectively, it will only supply the items and quantities of drugs that were demanded. If demand computation was inaccurate, what is supplied will be inaccurate as the supply side is only geared to supply what is demanded. Quantifying demand is a complex issue as many factors have direct and indirect linkages to the demand for drugs. However, it is critical to be as accurate as possible with the quantification of demand for drugs. If this is not done, the result is not only shortages of some drugs but also an excess stock of some others. Often, there is significant wastage of funds provided for drug procurement as these excess stocks expire before use and large amounts of money which could have been used to procure drugs that are in short supply, is wasted. In some countries this waste is estimated to be more than 30% of the drug budget.
It is not uncommon for health authorities in many developing countries to address the symptoms or effects of several causes that create issues such as drug shortages, overlooking the causes. Such a reaction is understandable especially where acute shortages of essential drugs are concerned and where emergency procurement of such drugs could be a necessity. However, it is also not uncommon to create drug shortages by design, and resort to emergency procurement as such a practice presents opportunities to deviate from standard government procurement procedures and buy drugs at exorbitant prices. Such procurement obviously benefits those responsible for creating shortages.
Drug procurement is only one component of a medical supply system. There are several other directly and indirectly linked components in the supply chain. Quality assurance, inventory management, store keeping and stock management, transportation, morbidity data analysis, clinical assessments and drug prescriptions, monitoring unforeseen disease outbreaks and seasonal morbidity patterns are some of these. The entire system operates as a chain of activities, each interlinked, and inter dependent. Consequently, if one activity in the chain is inefficient, ineffective and sub optimal, it effects the performance of the next activity that follows. Consequently, the entire chain malfunctions.
Although there is no starting point in a chain, in a medical supply chain, forecasting demand for drugs could be considered the starting point, as the end objective of the exercise is to supply what has been forecast as demand. As stated earlier, it is logical therefore that the success of a medical supply system rests largely, although not exclusively, on accurate demand estimations that have relevancy to patient needs as determined by medical practitioners.
An efficient and effective information system is vital in a medical supply chain as such a system could provide information needed for decision making within the key components of the chain. It is imperative of course for the Information to be accurate as inaccurate information will lead to incorrect decisions.
In terms of decision making, particularly regarding which drugs to procure and how much of such drugs should be procured, different methods could be adopted based on accurate information on usable hand stock availability (without counting expired, quality not assured or damaged stock), morbidity forecasts and priorities, availability of funding etc.
The WHO essential drugs classification, rules such as the Pareto rule where the number of drugs costing a major component of the budget (as a general rule, 80 percent of a drug budget goes for 20% of drugs although this rule can have variations), rationalization of the formulary which can reduce the number of similar drugs being imported or manufactured to treat similar diseases identified in a Pharmacology Classifications of Drugs (Drug Classifications). Classification means grouping medications by similarities. For example, it is based on medical value of drugs and the risk of inappropriate or misuse.
In Sri Lanka such a classification was at the center of drug policies formulated by an expert committee led by late Professor Senaka Bibile in 1972 during the government led by Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike. These policies led to the formation of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of which Professor Bibile was the first Chairman.
These policies witnessed the drastic reduction in number of drugs in the national formulary and systematic rationalization of prescribing habits.
The requirement, for the first time, to import and distribute drugs by their generic names rather than their brand names, was another major revolutionary step taken by Professor Bibile and the expert committee and this saw the ability for an increased number of overseas manufacturers noted for their excellence in manufacturing generic drugs, to take part if worldwide tenders invited by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation and offer considerable reductions in price of drugs.
While many developing countries and the WHO adopted these policies, Sri Lanka subsequently veered away from them after the election of the new government in 1977 which introduced an open economic policy resulting in deviation from the Bibile policies. Although many Presidents and Prime Ministers who succeeded Mrs Bandaranaike have all vowed to reintroduce the Senaka Bibile policies, none have delivered on their promises.
As stated in the Wikipedia, the Sri Lanka experience became a model for the rest of the world. The policy was supported by the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies with enormous benefit to Third World countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Secretariat examined the Sri Lankan experience, concluding that an analysis of the Sri Lankan model could give other developing countries an insight into ways of formulating, developing and implementing integrated national pharmaceutical policies. With Bibile’s assistance, it published “Case Studies in the Transfer of Technology: Pharmaceutical Policies in Sri Lanka”. This document has proved to be a very valuable guideline for developing countries intending to initiate pharmaceutical reforms. Translated into other languages, it may be found with health planners of almost every Third World country”.
While it may not be possible or even feasible now to wind back to the entirety of the policies of 1972, from a broader perspective, the key policy of rationalization of the National Formulary and how it applies to the public sector and the private sector needs to be considered. While this policy seems to operate to some extent for the public health sector, it does not seem to apply for the private sector which is responsible for a significant component of drug imports to the country. Rationalization of drug imports for the private sector and reduction in the number of similar drugs under pharmacological groupings is something that needs to be considered by the NPP government if they are keen on re visiting the Senaka Bibile policies.
The Deputy Ministers statement that In order to address the importance of tackling the root causes of the issue and introducing a comprehensive plan to address it, we have to study the problem, identify the factors that sustain it, and present a clear plan for its resolution”, is clearly what is needed to develop a plan of action with immediate and short term solutions, and medium to long term solutions.
Drug shortages in the country have made headlines for a long time. Emergency procurement has happened on numerous occasions. Even Ministers of Health reportedly visited one or two countries to undertake such emergency procurement! Clearly, the root causes have neither been investigated nor addressed even if some causes had been identified.
So, as the Deputy Minister has stated, the problem must be studied, meaning, an assessment has to be carried out of the medical supply chain to identify the root causes that result in drug shortages. It is understood that a recent study has been done by the health department with technical assistance and funding by WHO/ADB.
This could be used and its findings and recommendations considered by the Minister and Deputy Minister for the health department to develop a plan of action to avoid/minimise drug shortages and drug out of stock situations. As stated earlier in this article, the direct and indirect links within the supply chain which impacts on the accuracy of demand quantification needs to be clearly understood and attended to in developing a plan of action.
When one refers to drug shortages, these relate to shortages in public hospitals which are supplied by the state while private hospitals do their own procurement or are supplied by private pharmacies and other importers. It is interesting to note that many private pharmacies operate outside public hospitals which often are out of stock of some key drugs.
It is very common for public hospital patients to be given prescriptions by government medical practitioners to buy such drugs from private pharmacies. Besides doing this for drugs that are out of stock, it is possible that it is done for drugs which are not stocked in public hospitals as they are outside the formulary of the health department but prescribed by doctors as a drug of choice for some health conditions. In this regard, the role played by private sector marketing personnel in promoting particular drugs that are outside the national formulary should not be underestimated. While the State owned and run pharmacy outlets, the Osu Sala’s, as well as Osu Sala franchises operate in the market, the retail market is dominated by the privately owned and run pharmacies who can source many drugs that are outside the national formulary.
Fixing the drug shortage and being out of stock of drugs is a complex issue as its causes lie in several areas. However, shortages arise from the inability to supply the demand that has been worked out and quantified. In saying this, other key factors such as the criticality of quality assured drugs being imported and released to the public, and maintenance of quality throughout the supply chain including in storage locations is vital as use of drugs that are substandard has far reaching effects on patients and the supply chain.
As stated in the abstract of a paper titled Substandard drugs: a potential crisis for public health byAtholl Johnston and David W Holt (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4137817/# :~:text =Substandard %20medicines%20are%20widespread%20and,or%20additional%20illness%20in%20individuals), poor-quality medicines present a serious public health problem, particularly in emerging economies and developing countries, and may have a significant impact on the national clinical and economic burden. Attention has largely focused on the increasing availability of deliberately falsified drugs, but substandard medicines are also reaching patients because of poor manufacturing and quality-control practices in the production of genuine drugs (either branded or generic). Substandard medicines are widespread and represent a threat to health because they can inadvertently lead to healthcare failures, such as antibiotic resistance and the spread of disease within a community, as well as death or additional illness in individuals. This article reviews the different aspects of substandard drug formulation that can occur (for example, pharmacological variability between drug batches or between generic and originator drugs, incorrect drug quantity and presence of impurities). The possible means of addressing substandard manufacturing practices are also discussed. A concerted effort is required on the part of governments, drug manufacturers, charities and healthcare providers to ensure that only drugs of acceptable quality reach the patient”
In a nutshell, this summarises the quality issue pertaining to drugs, and the impact on the health of patients, but also on the supply chain, specifically on the demand that had had been forecast and how it could change due to effects arising from consuming substandard quality drugs, and also the inability to use drugs that are determined as substandard, and eventually, the impact on what is being supplied. Predesigned and planned introduction of sub-standard quality drugs is an inhuman and unjust practice and as the above abstract points out, it is unfortunately not an uncommon phenomenon. The increasing availability of deliberately falsified drugs, and substandard medicines reaching patients because of poor manufacturing and quality-control practices is something that needs to be arrested by authorities.
As outlined in this article, many factors contribute to the inaccuracies in demand forecasting which then leads to drugs being out of stock, drug shortages, excess stock of some drugs and wastage that follows due to expiry prior to use. To avoid or minimise this, the focus has to be on the accuracy of demand forecasting and ways and means of achieving this goal. It is no doubt a complex exercise, but unless it is done, the medical supply chain will continue to be dysfunctional and drug shortages will continue to make headlines.
In the decades since the formal end of colonialism, nations across the Global South have proudly waved the banner of independence, self-reliance, decolonization, and now—deglobalization. The rhetoric of national empowerment, however, generally masks the perpetuation of colonial-era economic structures and cultural impositions.
Local elites are replacing foreign powers as the primary beneficiaries and arbiters of national identity.” Ironical, because many of these elites have profited from the earlier decades of globalization, having formed international connections and amassed wealth through global networks. Their calls for economic nationalism and cultural authenticity often serve as a smokescreen for maintaining their privileged positions simultaneously within both local and global power structures. This effectively perpetuates and reinforces systems of inequality and suppression of local populations, all under the guise of decolonization.
Congo: Crushing Poverty amid Resource Wealth
The Democratic Republic of Congo presents perhaps the starkest example of this phenomenon. Despite its vast mineral wealth – it’s crucial for modern technology– the country remains one of the poorest in the world. The push for Congolisation” of the mining industry has largely resulted in opaque deals between politically connected individuals and multinational corporations, Few benefits trickle down to the Congolese people.
Congo’s situation epitomizes several key issues:
The exploitation of natural resources under the guise of national development
The concentration of wealth among a new class of elites, rather than broad-based development
Continued partnerships with multinational corporations, despite claims of increased local control
The ongoing marginalization of the most disadvantaged communities, particularly in mining regions
Bolivia: Economic Nationalism leads to Political Elites
Even in Bolivia, where an indigenous-led government under Evo Morales explicitly championed decolonization, the reality has fallen short of the rhetoric. The nationalization of key industries was hailed as a victory for sovereignty, but it appears to have primarily benefited a new class of indigenous and mestizo political elites. Export-oriented, elite-profiting extraction continues to be prioritized over the interests of local communities.
Bolivia’s experience highlights:
The use of nationalist rhetoric to justify policies that primarily benefit a select few
The challenges of balancing national development with the rights and interests of indigenous populations
The complexities of resource nationalism in a globalized economy
India: Contradictory Narratives and Appropriations
India, often hailed as the world’s largest democracy, provides a particularly complex example of the challenges of decolonization. The country’s Make in India” campaign, launched in 2014, was ostensibly aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and creating jobs. In reality, it has disproportionately benefited a few large old-economy” conglomerates.
Beyond economic policies, India’s decolonization narrative is fraught with contradictions:
The New Education Policy (NEP), introduced in 2020, claims to promote a more holistic and culturally rooted approach to learning. However, critics argue that it reinforces existing inequalities and promotes a particular ideological vision of Indian culture and history.
The push for Hindi as a national language, despite India’s rich linguistic diversity, and the proposed Uniform Civil Code, while presented as a step towards national unity and gender equality, risks overriding the diversity that reflect India’s multicultural heritage.
The overhaul of India’s criminal procedure codes introduces new draconian measures which clearly limit civil liberties and bypass due process—a recurring theme going back to Pre-Independence India.
The takeover of forests in central and eastern India and the Andaman Islands, ostensibly for development and national security, threatens the millennia-old livelihoods and cultures of indigenous populations.
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Bottom of Form
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
True decolonization means embracing plurality and equity
Tying these diverse cases together is a common pattern—of local elites leveraging the rhetoric of decolonization and national development to consolidate their own power and wealth, often at the expense of broader societal interests. The challenge, then, is to move beyond surface-level changes and performative nationalism towards genuine structural reforms. This requires not just replacing foreign control with local faces, but reimagining economic systems that prioritize broad-based development and true community empowerment.
We must hold our leaders accountable – in Kinshasa, La Paz, Abuja, or New Delhi — and demand more than just the appearance of change. For genuine decolonization and equitable development, we must insist on policies that respect diversity, protect the rights of marginalized communities, and ensure that the benefits of development are shared equitably among all citizens—no matter in which country..
Dev Chandrasekhar advises decision-makers on Big Picture narratives and strategy
Sharma has weaknesses that he has developed, which are not playing within the V and not going forward or back precisely when playing his defensive strokes both on the front and back foot. Also he is not very fit physically and tactically is making mistakes when captaining the Indian national cricket team. He therefore is holding a position for an up and coming player for example Gill who was dropped to give place for Sharma should have played and hopefully learnt from his mistakes from the previous Test Match, which Gill played. So the time has come for Sharma to retire as his reflexes are not the same as five or ten years ago.
Kohli has always had a weakness in regard to bowlers targeting a fourth stump line to him. This has been significantly increased with lack of form and age. He also does not believe in playing in regard to the V and takes many deliveries from off stump and plays them on the onside. This is fine when in good form, but when things are tough he should be going to the basics and knowing where his off stump is, which he seems to not know at present especially and keeps making the same mistake by playing at deliveries, which he should be leaving alone. Again the time has come for him to retire from Test Match Cricket and allow a young player with promise and form to take his place. It is very important that a quality player such as Kohli to realize and know when to retire. This is paramount in my view.
Khawaja also should retire from Test Match cricket as his relaxes are not the same as it was in the past as he is 38 years of age, and he does not move forward or back precisely when playing defensively in particular. He plays from the crease so to speak, which has caused his downfall on many occasions in this current Test Match series against India. Khawaja also opens up when playing defensively on the back foot. These weaknesses have not been addressed by Khawaja or the batting coach of the Australian team to date. So much so that Khawaja has become a liability, as he also does not rotate strike regularly and he is not a very good runner between wickets historically, including presently. In conclusion, as Sydney was his first State where he played his First Test Match against England, I believe it will be fitting for him to call it a day in Sydney in the final Test Match against India starting tomorrow.
Khawaja was given the opportunity to graduate at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide where he lived the game of cricket for three years, but yet he came out with significant weakness, such as his stance which is too front on, his grip on the bat is U grip rather than a V grip which traditionalist opts. He does not have a top hand grip so his drives through the off side do not have great timing like having a traditional V grip. He is more a front on player rather than a side on traditional player, so if there is any movement off the deck and in the air he is a candidate to get caught behind the wickets. He is more of an onside player rather than traditional left handers who poses great cover drives for example Gower or Hussey who had great cover drives.
Sharma and Kohli were brought up in lower turning wickets and they did not graduate like Khawaja from the Cricket Academy. Both Sharma and Kohli have great hands and are good at turning the balls or deliveries to leg, but have weakness as indicated above as they did not graduate from a living academy such as Khawaja had the privilege in Adelaide.
Utilities have been suspended for non-payment of bills, yet another consequence of the economic crisis that has gripped Sri Lanka for three years. To cope with the situation, demand for solar panels has also increased, but the authorities have been forced to issue a warning to prevent fraud by unauthorised companies.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – More than half a million families in Sri Lanka have been forced into darkness after 505,949 consumers were suspended for non-payment of bills, reported by Sanjeeva Dhammika, secretary of the Electricity Consumers’ Association (ECA).
Citing data from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) during a press conference in the capital, Colombo, the secretary emphasised the need for government measures to help consumers, who are struggling to cope with the high cost of living.
Apart from private households, power supplies were also disrupted in the first half of 2024 at 8,579 factories, 2,090 places of worship, 353 state properties and over 1.1 million other places.
By 2023, the CEB and the Lanka Electricity Company Limited (LECO) had suspended 965,566 and 98,834 supplies respectively, affecting more than 1.06 million out of seven million users.
Sri Lanka is trying to recover from the worst economic crisis since its independence, and many citizens, such as Kapurubanda Jayasekera, 72, Ranmenika Appuhamy, 68, and Hector Wijepala, 65, residents of Malabe, are in desperate situations.
‘We are forced to spend nights at relatives’ houses because the electricity has been disconnected due to unpaid bills of between five thousand and ten thousand rupees (equivalent to EUR 16 and 32) accumulated over two or three months. We had to borrow at high rates to pay the bills. We are unable to buy essential food and medicine and may have to sell the few possessions we have, such as a table and chairs,’ they told AsiaNews.
In Grandpass, a suburb of Colombo, Jeyalakshmi Selvarajah, 55, and Arul Gnanaprgasam, 53, find themselves in a similarly difficult situation: ‘It is completely unreasonable to charge three thousand rupees to restore the electricity supply, when it used to cost only 200 rupees. We are surviving on just two meals a day and have pawned jewellery and sold furniture to meet the expenses. How can we afford such high figures without a fixed income?’
Dhammika argues that consumers should benefit from a 58% share of the profits generated by the CEB. Meanwhile, rising electricity costs have stimulated interest in sustainable energy solutions, in particular the installation of solar panels on roofs. The programme has gained considerable popularity, especially as of 2022, due to its low maintenance costs.
However, the Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) was forced to issue a warning to property owners and institutions to check the legitimacy of service providers before installing solar panels. A warning issued in response to an increase in complaints of fraud by unlicensed companies.
According to the SLSEA, only suppliers registered with the body can carry out installations that comply with technical and regulatory standards. ‘Imports or installations outside of registered suppliers are not permitted.
Users can consult the official list on our website to ensure the regularity of installations,’ SLSEA sources said. This list has been made available to help consumers make informed choices and ensure compliance with safety standards.
General Shavendra Silva inspects a farewell parade in his honour at ‘Home of Gajaba’ at Saliyapura, Anuradhapura, on Dec 29, 2024, on the eve of his retirement. He was the first Gajaba Regiment officer to serve as Commander of the Army (August 2019 to May 2022) as well as the first Gajaba officer to ascend to the post of Chief of Defence Staff (January 2020 to December 2024) (pic courtesy CDS Office)
Responds to GR on the eve of his retirement Pays glowing tribute to Wijaya Wimalaratne
Outgoing Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Shavendra Silva has finally responded to the former Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s high profile accusations with regard to his failure to suppress the violent Aragalaya protest campaign (March 31, 2022, to July 14, 2022) that forced the elected President out of office in July 2022.
The former General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the celebrated 58 Division (formerly Task Force 1) declared that he was not bent on betraying the state nor being a cat’s paw of a foreign power nor served the interests of a foreign mission in Colombo.
The Gajaba Regiment veteran said so in a farewell message issued on the eve of his retirement on Dec. 31, 2024.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his memoirs ‘Conspiracy to oust me from presidency’, launched in early March, 2024, questioned the conduct of the then Commander of the Army General Silva who also served as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Accusations were made against the US and India by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa in ’09: The Hidden Story’ with regard to the overthrowing of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Commenting on the threat on the then Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa’s life at the height of Aragalaya, General Silva reminded critics that he deployed the Air Mobile Brigade to rescue the Fifth Executive President who had been trapped inside Temple Trees by marauding mobs laying siege to it.
In an obvious reference to the violence and counter-violence that had gripped Bangladesh last year, General Silva stoutly defended his decision not to use force to crush the civil protest campaign. Had that happened, the country would have been turned into a hell, General Silva declared, emphasising that in his capacity as the Army Commander, troops were directed to use minimum force.
General Silva alleged that those who wielded political power, at that time, had failed to comprehend his strategy. The hero of many a battle found fault with the then government for removing him from the post of Army Commander on May 31, 2022, and appointing him as the CDS, with effect from June 01, 2024, seven months before his scheduled retirement.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promoted Maj. Gen. Vikum Liyanage to the rank of Lt. Gen. and appointed him the Army Commander.
General Silva stressed that at the time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee the country, he was away on official business as the CDS.
Declaring that his 41-year military career couldn’t be challenged by anyone under any circumstances, General Silva paid a glowing tribute to the late General Wijaya Wimalaratne, the founding father of one of the foremost fighting regiments for facilitating his career. Recalling that he joined the Army at a time the deaths of soldiers was routine, the brave frontline officer found fault with the disorganised and illogical security policy of the then government.
General Silva proudly recalled that he was the first officer to be taken to the Gajaba Regiment as a Second Lieutenant.
Referring to major ground offensives conducted in the Northern theatre leading to the Eelam War IV, General Silva said that Yal Devi operation conducted in late 1993 was the only one he didn’t participate. Yal Devi, launched from Elephant Pass, resulted in considerable losses to the Army, in terms of both men and material, and was called off by the then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Cecil Waidyaratne.
Making reference to his role in leading the Air Mobile Brigade in saving what he called the Muhamalai national front of which ¾ had been brought under enemy control, General Silva declared that he was the only officer holding the rank of Second Lieutenant or the equivalent rank in other forces to receive gallantry medals Weera Wickrema, Rana Wikrama and Ranashura simultaneously.
Shavendra Silva was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 2007, the year the then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka opened another front in the Vanni theatre.
General Silva said that he was tasked to spearhead Task Force 1 (TF 1)after its original commander Brigadier Chagi Gallage fell sick. The outgoing CDS briefly mentioned the major victories achieved by TF 1 later named 58 Division on both the Vanni west and east before the Division reached Vellamullivaikkal.
The former Army Chief said that if the great role played by his Division in the eradication of the LTTE couldn’t be properly recorded, it would be a tragedy of immense proportions. The CDS stressed that his Division, having launched offensive operations on the Mannar front in late 2007 fought its way to Vellamullivaikkal – a distance of about 200 kms overcoming fierce resistance.
General Silva talked proudly of his tenure at the UN as Sri Lanka’s No 02 there with the focus on his role in paving the way for the deployment of an SLAF squadron, consisting of six helicopters in the Central African Republic, and setting up of a military hospital in South Sudan.
President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Shavendra the Army Commander on August 19, 2019, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made him Acting CDS with effect from 01 Jan., 2020.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between India and Sri Lanka for rehabilitation of the Karainagar Boatyard in Northern Province of Sri Lanka with grant assistance from the Government of India to the tune of LKR 290 million.
The MoU was signed and exchanged by High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and the then High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Kshenuka Dhireni Senewiratne on December 16, 2024.
Issuing a statement, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said the project envisages rehabilitation of Karainagar Boatyard of the Cey-Nor Foundation Ltd, incorporated under the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and operating under the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources.
The project will cover civil works and procurement including installation of plant, machinery, equipment, material, services etc. Once fully operational, the rehabilitated boatyard will augment livelihood opportunities of local fishermen, create more job opportunities in the area including through small establishments around the boatyard, and help enhance the supply of quality fisheries products, the statement added.
With a development cooperation portfolio with Sri Lanka of over USD 5 billion, India’s people-centric development assistance initiatives in virtually all major sectors are making a tangible difference to the daily lives of the people of Sri Lanka across all the 25 districts of the country, the Indian High Commission noted.
Notable past projects in the Northern Province include construction and renovation of over 41000 houses; a state-of-the-art Cultural Centre at Jaffna as a reconciliation project; removal of wrecks and dredging at Kankensanthurai Port; construction and repairs at numerous schools and hospitals across Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Vavuniya; restoration of Thiruketeeswaram Temple; distribution of significant quantities of assistance to the agricultural community, as well as fishing community including boats, nets, outboard motors, freezers, etc; among numerous others, the statement highlighted.
Veteran Sri Lankan politician and former Member of Parliament J. R. P. Suriyapperuma has passed away.
He was aged 96 at the time of passing.
Suriyapperuma has previously served as the chief organiser of the the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) for the Dedigama electorate in the Kegalle District.
Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said the highest-ever allocation of funds for the health sector will be made in this year’s budget proposal.
Dr. Jayatissa revealed this today (02), while speaking at the inauguration of the first and only bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cell transplant unit in a government hospital, established at the Apeksha Cancer Hospital in Maharagama.
This was made possible through the financial support of the Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya and the dedicated labor contribution of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
The Ministry of Health is usually a place where any government will provide funds if asked. More funds are allocated from the Treasury every year to the Health Ministry than even the ‘Kataragama Deviyo’. But this year, the highest amount of funds ever allocated for the Ministry of Health in history will be set aside in the budget”, the Minister noted.
The Minister highlighted the ongoing support the Ministry receives, both locally and internationally, to further strengthen the health sector, stating, The Ministry of Health is backed not only by local tycoons but also by foreign and international institutions at times. What we aim to do is systematically and strategically deploy all these provisions,” he explained.
Furthermore, Dr. Jayatissa emphasized that the development initiatives would no longer be driven by political considerations.
From now on, we cannot cater to anyone’s sentimental desires based on political expediency. We are implementing these developments as part of a national plan that spans the next 20 years,” he affirmed.
While acknowledging that many NPP Members of Parliament may have aspirations to upgrade their local hospitals, the Minister stressed the importance of aligning those ambitions with national priorities.
The first and only Bone Marrow and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) Unit in a government hospital in Sri Lanka for children with cancer was inaugurated at the Apeksha Cancer Hospital in Maharagama today (Jan. 02).
This interesting and valid article was crowned with colour photographs of you with theIndian President and the Highest Representatives of the US and China, in Sri Lanka.
Embedded in the article she states “....While the old guard disappointed the nation bythe selfish governance, how far a new & inexperienced Parliament can handle the hawks & eagles both locally and internationally has to be a cause for concern.” I endorse that statement to beabsolutely correct.
I mentioned my concern to you in my letter of December 10, 2024, in which I said: “I also want you to be aware of the Greeks who will come to you bringing Gifts. Be careful as you are precious tothe people at home and abroad….” Greeks especially wearing silk turbans.
I notice that the first photo crowning that article is of you with India’s President shaking hands.The rightful thing to do but I cringed. This is the President of the same India who trained the Tamil Tigers In 32 military camps and sent them back to destabilize Sri Lanka in jackboots, khaki fatigues and cradling Kalashnikovs like babies in their arms, and with garlands of live bullets around their necks as if doing their Haro-hara Kavadi dance entering a sacred Kovil.
But then all that happened in the 1970s, and 80s. Perhaps the brotherly love of good neighbours have reformed themselves to be loving, caring and spoon-feeding Love to their younger Brother.
But I am going to take this opportunity to inform you of part of my compendium that your “research staff” (NOT of the Ministry ofForeign Affairs) could brief you after reading about the Once-upon-a-Time India’s brotherly love on its southern “Tear drop” neighbour..
These are letters authored by me to expose the flip side of India’s involvement in the Tamil Eelam War, which was a necessary evil, to inform of my TRUTH to Sri Lanka-Watching Canadians who had been brainwashed by the Canadian-separatist Tamils and their sympathizing bloc-vote soliciting, Canadian Liberal, Conservative and NDP parliamentarians, and newspapers to provide the flip side of the TRUTH of the Eelam War. And the meddling India’s involvement which Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Ottawa shied away to talk of , due to Diplomatic neighbourly niceties … ” no you don’t ruffle India’s’ Lord Vishnu’s-peacock feathers which has atangible connection with the divine.”
Here are 20 from over hundreds of them.
1. Separatist terrorists rend peaceful isle of Sri Lanka by Asoka Wereasinghe, THE WINDSOR STAR, Monday, September 10, 1984′
2. Meddling In Sri Lanka by Asoka Weeeasinghe THE GLOBE & MAIL, Toronto.8 September, 1984
3. Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Strife – India’ Role by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, December 14, 1984
4. Neighbourly Relations by Asoka Weerasinghe,THE GLOBE & MAIL, Monday, January 28,1985
5. Tamil Tigers by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Friday 15, 1985
6, Sounds familiar by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE GLOBE & MAIL, Friday , July19, 1985
7. Tamil Problem is also India’s by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE GAZETTE, Montreal ,Monday July 22, 1985
8, Sri Lanka’s fears by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN,Thursday, August 8, 1985
9. It takes two to feud by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE GLOBE & MAIL, Wednesday, March 26, 1986
10. Sri Lankan woes by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN , Monday, May12, 1986
11. Sri Lanka horror by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Friday, May 23, 1986
12. Sri lanka blood by Asoka Weerasinghe,THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Thursday, May 29,1986
13. Lankan strife by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Friday, June 27,1986
14, Tamils blamed by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Thursday , July 3, 1986
15. Maintain friendship with Sri Lanka by Asoka Weerasinghe , THE EVENING TELEGRAM , Newfoundland,.
Thursday, October 16, 1986
16. Indian move by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Tuesday, December 2, 1986
17. Tamil bases by Asoka Weerasinghe,THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Friday, December 19, 1986
18. Tamils return home by Asoka Weerasinghe,THE GLOBE & MAIL, Monday, March 9, 1987
19. Lankan record by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Friday, March 13, 1987
20. Lankan murders by Asoka Weerasinghe, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Frid, May1, 1987
Dear President Anura Kumara’
May the New Year bring you warmth, love, light, wisdom, health, and strengthto guide you along your visionary path to positive and successful destinations.
I hope my 1970s and 80s compendium will make you understand the Once-upon-a-timeneighbour,India, who tried to destabilize your wonderful sovereign nation.,Sri Lanka, who was under stress for 30 long bloody years, in which your armed forces won the Eelam War on 18 May 2009. They gave back 20 million of your people their Right-to-Life which had been hijacked for 30 years by the Tamil Tiger terrorists..
The most decorated military officer of the Sri Lanka army has retired from all military posts after 41 years of service to the nation. These years saw most violence in the island nation. He was also one of only two four-star Generals of the army. He commanded not only the 58th Offensive Division of the army during the Humanitarian Operation (2006-2009) but also simultaneously commanded the Commando Regiment. A tremendous achievement. He made the most contribution to the 2009 military victory over Tamil terrorism, thanks to which close to 4,000 Sri Lankans of all ethnic groups get to live every passing year.
The youngest ever Brigadier to command an army Brigade in Sri Lanka won the hearts of the Sri Lankans since 2007 during the Humanitarian Operation. His tiger-like eyes captivated them; his achievements won praise from defense commentators and the public. His delicate military maneuvers around sensitive areas during the war showed his incomparable military skills and restraint that must come with great power and professionalism.
His services to the nation didn’t end with the war. In 2010 he was appointed to the UN Office in New York which did a great service to the nation in dispelling false allegations against the military. In 2019 under his leadership Sri Lanka successfully overcame the COVID-19 pandemic despite multiple blunders and delays by politicians.
General Shavendra Silva is known in military circles as an upright professional who always upheld the rule of law. This won him praise from many sections. His role in the 2022 people’s uprising is commendable. He was the army commander until May 31, 2022. He was then promoted to the Chief of Defense Staff role which is a ceremonial role. The power transfer from elected president to an appointed president in July 2022 happened after this event. Sadly, politically motivated people blame the General for not using violence, bloodshed and war crimes against unarmed civilians in order to protect a political clan which the people rejected in total by then. Firstly, Shavendra was not the army commander then and secondly no order was given by the Commander of Tri-Forces (the president) or the defense minister (the president once again) to shoot unarmed civilians. Shavendra and the then army commander acted well within the orders (or lack of orders) as they should.
As it happens always in Sri Lanka, politics sours everything. Achievements of General Shavendra Silva in this context only amplifies them. As he wrote in his parting letter, Shavendra has every right to indescribable bliss he feels at each sunrise. It comes with the knowledge that his action and the action of the military continue to save 11 lives each day; lives that would have been lost untimely in the north and the south, both military and civilian, had the war continued.
Shavendra leaves big shoes to fill. Sri Lanka may not find a comparable replacement for decades to come. We wish General Shavendra Silva the very best and thank him for his selfless service to the nation.
Theater enthusiasts in the newly independent states of South Asia were finding it difficult, if not impossible, to move away from the proscenium arch” theatre introduced by the western rulers. There were two types of theatre going on, traditional and modern, rural and urban. The main challenge faced by them in the 20th century was how to combine these two into a single theatre style.
India’s Theatre of Roots” was trying from 1960s to develop a modern dramaturgy based on the indigenous tradition. The first successful effort, Hayavadana by Girish Karnad, a Kannada language play with music, dance and drama based on Yakshagana appeared only in 1972. Sarachchandra’s Maname appeared long before this, in 1956.
Sarachchandra in Sri Lanka was the first dramatist who was able to find a successful solution to this post colonial issue, said K.N.O. Dharmadasa. Sarachchandra was the first to overcome this obstacle. [1] In Maname we saw traditional theatre fully transformed into a modern work of art.
No other folk theatrical form in the region had been fully transformed into a modern work of art before Maname in 1956. Therefore Maname was of momentous significance in the annals of South Asian theatre, said Dharmadasa . The birth of Maname is of world significance, he added.
The explosive new direction Sarachchandra gave to the Sinhala theatre with his experimental work in Maname was a high point not only in Sarachchandra’s creative career[2] but also in the history of modern Asian theatre. But it is doubtful whether the importance of this achievement has been understood by Sri Lanka dramatists, even today, observed Michael Fernando(2018).[3]
In the 1940s an attempt was made in the Colombo University by Prof. E.F.C. Ludowyke to introduce European theatre to the local audience. Ludowyke got down a theatre director from Europe, Jubal, to direct one of these plays. Several European works were translated and staged with great skill by Sinhala actors. Sarachchandra was part of this group. He translated and directed plays by Moliere and Chekov.‘
Sarachchandra soon realized that an authentic Sinhala theatre could not be developed in this manner, reported Dharmadasa. European plays were unable to bring to our audiences an artistic experience which could penetrate deep into their minds, Sarachchandra said. A national theatre could not be developed on comedies alone, either.
Sri Lanka needed a serious theatre that could satisfy an audience with good taste. a truly indigenous theatre must address deep aspects of the human condition, and provide a soul stirring experience penetrating deep down into the very bone marrow, said Sarachchandra.
By 1952 Sarachchandra decided that the modern dialogue play in Sri Lanka had come to a dead endsaid Michael Fernando. Sarachchandra started to look for a traditional dramaturgy through which serious problems could be discussed on stage.He did a thorough study of the indigenous theatre in Sri Lanka and wrote it up in The Sinhalese Folk Play, (1953). He attended performances of thovil, kankariya, gammadu, sokari, kolam and nadagam.
My view (Kamalika Pieris) is that many aspects of our traditional culture are theatrical anyway, whether we realize it or not. The rituals are pure theatre, that is if you can stay awake to watch and if you do not get bored halfway. The demons, in their masks, are expected to make a dramatic impact, that is part of the cure .They cannot just sit with the mask on. There is plenty of dialogue in our folk theatre and it is left to the speakers to make it interesting.
There is performance elsewhere too. In the paddy field, the ‘hoo’ is meant to be heard miles away. Kavi are usually sung out loud, full throated. The kavi maduwa of the Udarata king was a performance. Udarata and Ruhunu dance are martial and dramatic, not slow, graceful and anemic. Ruhunu dance is in my view very aggressive, probably very difficult too.
The drummers do not simply make a noise, they project. Look at their foot movements and the toss of the head when they drum in formation. Raban playing is joyous and vigorous, not solemn and boring. In my view, Sri Lanka is ideal for experimenting with traditional forms to make new theatre. Sarachchandra was in the correct place at the right time.
In 1954 Sarachchandra had an opportunity to travel to the USA via India and Japan to observe theatre. He did not find any serious theatre in India, but was attracted by the Noh and Kabuki traditions of Japan. Sarachchandra would surely have known of Noh and Kabuki long before he visited Japan. The performances he saw could not have been a surprise. I think ( Kamalika Pieris) that the performances he attended showed him something he did not expect. That traditional Japanese theatre was popular with the contemporary Japanese audience. They found it very palatable. If that was so in Japan, why not in Sri Lanka.
For his first try at a modern-cum-traditional play, Sarachchandra decided on the nadagama tradition. Sarachchandra had seen nadagama at first hand, he knew the form intimately and was comfortable with it. [4] He opted for the Sindu nadagama style for his play and for the story he selected Chulla Dhanuddara Jataka with its complex theme. He added a chorus and used very refined language.
A Note” written by Sarachchandra was handed to the audience on the first night, November 3, at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. In this A Note to the Production” , Sarachchandra stated ” the aim of this experiment is both to explore potentialities a traditional form may possess in the search for an indigenous tradition in drama as well as to bring to light another type of play which may be enjoyed on its own merits.”
Maname had never been a sindu nadagama before. Sarachchandra’s Maname was therefore an original creation. It was a modern work presented to a modern audience by a modern dramatist, said Sarath Amunugama. It was considered an outstanding work. It had depth. It had a complex theme which could be analyzed in various ways. It had appeal. Sarachchandra’s poetic language and music still enthrall his audiences, said Ranjini Obeyesekere, in 2014.
Sarachchandra was able to find a new dramaturgy based on the folk tradition of Sri Lanka with the production of his play Maname” in 1956, said Michael Fernando. With this production he introduced to Sri Lanka a dramaturgy that could overcome the limitations of the Western naturalistic theatre and the moral values which were prevalent in the contemporary Sri Lanka society. He further developed this dramaturgy in his later play Sinhabahu.
Fernando said that Sarachchandra was able to invent a dramaturgy that can be compared with the epic theatre introduced by Brecht. He was able to identify the epic elements that were inherent in Asian theatre.
When one compares him with other great 20th century experimental dramatists of the world it is clear that very few had the linguistic, intellectual and creative skills he possessed. He was philosopher, academic, researcher, novelist, short story writer, literary/theatre/social critic, and last but not least, a great poet, Michael said.
Sarachchandra was conversant with Western and Eastern languages such as English, Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhala. (I wish to add that he would also have studied Latin and Greek in school.) His Ph.D from University of London was not in literature, it was in philosophy. His thesis was on”‘ Buddhist Psychology of Perception”
The importance of Sarachchandra is that he was able to find solutions to all or many of these challenges faced by contemporary world theatre in the context of Sri Lankan theatre. In this sense Sarachchandra can be considered as one of the most effective experimental dramatists anywhere in the world, said Michael Fernando.
But he is not well known in the world. The main reason for this is that he wrote and directed plays in the Sinhala language, which is used only in Sri Lanka . This writer( Michael Fernando) also has some doubts about whether Sarachchandra himself was aware of his importance as one of the greatest experimental dramatists of the 20th century, said Michael Fernando. ( Continued)
Sri Lanka does not possess an abundance of physical resources for large-scale industrial development but is blessed with ample human resources. It is on this comparative advantage that the country has to develop its economy. Education is the driving force with which the optimal benefit could be derived from this rare advantage and is the key to developing competitiveness and excellence. High-performing countries in the Far East considered relevant education as the foundation of economic development and social advancement. They focused on developing human capital in science and technology and vocational skills as they are pivotal to economic development.
It is most encouraging that on the 27th December at the Bandaranaike memorial International Conference Hall, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya had stated: For a country, a nation, or a society to develop, it requires individuals with diverse skills. Our government is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind in the education system. Youth must acquire skills that are directly relevant to achieving full employment, and we must foster a workforce with entrepreneurial capabilities. This approach will help bridge the skills gap between the labor market and the youth community.”
This is a significant departure from the traditional educational policies practised in the country since its independence. It is a radical measure after Kannangara Reforms of 1947. of aligning the educational system with the needs of the market. The 1944 the Kannangara education reform was a landmark event in education policy in the country. It was radical and futuristic. Other than ‘free education from preschool to University ‘ Kannangara Committee proposed:
Establishing three types of schools – Secondary, Senior, and Practical Schools,
Introducing Vernacular medium of instruction at Primary level and bilingual or English,
Medium schools for Junior Secondary level and English schools for Senior Secondary and higher education.
The Committee believed that although the educational system should be closely related to the present needs and conditions it has also to be planned with due regard to all possible lines which future development is likely to take. The development of education must not only keep pace with a country’s advance but should definitely contribute to accelerating the pace of the advance.”
But in the implementation and subsequent years the need for education policy to be attuned to future needs was ignored. The concept of Practical Schools was not pursued seriously. It was limited to Farm Schools and Technical colleges. Even one of the prominent members of the Committee Sir Ivor Jennings had doubts about the country needing a large number ie. 15 % of Schools leavers every year with commercial and technical qualifications. He did not see any evidence that the Island is likely to be able to absorb even half that number.
The result was that the SL school education system became ‘tutories’ preparing students for examinations based on the British system. The Universities too concentrated on general education producing a large number of unemployable graduates. The existing plicy makers and practioners in education did not deviate from their comfort zone of general educaion and only made improvements of the syllabuses in the school curiculums.
An attempt to introduce an element of practical education in the form of the NCGE for School leavers during the government of Mrs. Bandaranayake was scrapped by the next government falling back on the SSC. While SL deliberately ignored technical education with independence India established in 1950 five Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the main States of the country. These IITs were modeled on the best examples of higher technical education from Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They have been the cutting edge of technology development in India and are highly recognized internationally. Many of the CEOs of leading high-tech firms like Google, Infosys and IBM are alumni of the Indian IIts.
In many countries vocational and technical education are combined as Tve. That gives vocational education better acceptance. Even in Sri Lanka it would be better if Technical Education is brought under the Prime Minister in combination with the present portfolio of Vocational Education. It will remove the bias against vocational education as handwork (Athweda).
An education policy not aligned with technology and industrial policies of the country would be irrelevant, unimportant and an expensive luxury. It creates more problems of unemployment, dissatisfaction and social disharmony than positive outcomes. It is not surprising that there is no coherence among these policies as Sri Lanka does not have an Industrial Policy or a Technology Policy. An integrated policy package of these three vital policies is the pressing need of SL at this moment.
The fast-paced evolution of technology necessitates a workforce that can adapt to new tools, platforms, and methodologies. Integrating education with technology ensures that students and workers are equipped with relevant skills such as Digital literacy,Programming and data analytics and Problem-solving using AI and machine learning, Industrial policies aligned with technological advancements can drive the adoption of these skills in industries, fostering a seamless transition from education to employment.The synergy of education and technology nurtures innovation which is the driving force of development In just a few decades, South Korea has 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 necessary for economic expansion. /Users/sugath/Desktop/h https:/www.researchgate.net/publication/284831895
China,Republc of Taiwan is an Island smaller than Sri Lanka with a similar population. Before the 1980s it was a predominantly agricultural economy. Today it is a high-tech powerhouse 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 schools 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.
It is fervently urged that the proposed visit of the President to China be made use of to canvas for the establishment of a Chinese Technical University in Sri Lanka. Establishing a Chinese tech university or collaborations with existing institutions can provide advanced technical education and skill development opportunities for Sri Lankan students in fields such as AI, robotics, cybersecurity, and telecommunications.
China is a global leader in several tech sectors. A tech university can facilitate the transfer of cutting-edge technologies, helping Sri Lanka modernize its industries. Such a university could act as an innovation hub fostering startups and entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. Such umniversity couldbe located in the PortCity.
At the moment at least 60 elephants are stranded in Oya Madu area including in the NLDB farm.
These elephants are the subjects of a drive from Thalawa, Galgamuwa, Thambuththegama areas. To please the villagers in those areas, the authorities chased them out of those areas.
They consist of mainly female elephants that live in herds with calves.
They are so precious. We must protect them at every cost.
The Wildlife officials state that they are repatriating ‘problematic’ elephants’ to Wilpattu National Park (elephants who roam the villages of Anuradhapura and Kurunegala).
Some say through instinct these elephants followed the ancient Elephant Corridors and reached Oya Madu.
Obviously, the farmers in Oya Madu are now protesting.
The elephants now seem settled in Oya Madu. Rather than harassing them further, they must be allowed to remain in the farm (this 2000-acre farm is a recent establishment, prior to that it was thick jungle).
Wilpattu is tiny now (again due to deforestation), how can it hold a very large number of new elephants?
Trying to plant most of the Anuradhapura and Kurunegala elephants in Wilpattu is not a bright idea.
The authorities seem to confine the elephants only to the established National Parks like Yala, Wilpattu, Uda Walawe, Wasgamuwa etc? If that is the case, it will mark the end of the Sri Lankan elephant.
Usually an elephant walks scores of kms a day.
Elephants are very intelligent creatures. The wildlife officials must know that the elephants will never travel a route that they want them to travel.
Relocating wild elephants to new jungles faraway is a humongous task. This exercise causes enormous stress to the elephants. As a result they could become injured/sick/violent. The babies could get very traumatized.
Of course, it is an herculean task for the ground level staff. Their lives are in distinct danger.
Why did the Department of Wildlife Conservation embark on such a difficult/impossible project? Who advise them?
Empirical evidence shows that elephants who are forcibly planted in new environments will always return to their previous environments.
We all know the story of the majestic Tusker Panamure. In 1959, the authorities tried to chase away hundreds of wild elephants in Embilipitiya, Rakwana areas to Uda Walawe National Park. It was a very traumatic experience for the wild elephants. In that exercise, ‘Panamure’, the lead elephant showed real leadership and bravery.
It seems the wildlife officials have not learnt a lesson?
Because they destroy crops and cause other damage, everyone blames the elephants and other wild animals. Many now want these animals (thankfully not the wild elephants) slaughtered.
This shows our lack of fresh thinking and compassion.
We do not seem to have other solutions than the easy method available– slaughter.
It is the humans that encroach into jungle land, not vice versa.
Today there is very little genuine jungle area left for the wild elephants and other animals to roam. It could be around 12% of the country’s total land mass (in 1948, it was 49%).
The Agriculture Minister in the Parliament stated that farmers can do whatever they like to resolve the wildlife menace in their own compounds. Effectively, he was sanctioning the killing of these precious animals.
It is very easy to obtain an air rifle now.
Some Youtubers are demanding that monkeys should be killed en mass immediately.
What is happening to this Buddhist country? Like the writer, there are many in this country that not only refrain from killing animals, they do not even eat animal flesh. That is the Buddhist practice we have in this country.
According to Buddhism (and some other religions), all beings have a right to life.
Will killing the wild animals permanently solve this problem? Definitely No.
It is a very cruel way of trying to solve a complex problem.
These creatures have been here much before us.
There are some foreigners living here (and some locals too) who love the taste of wild animal meat – monkey, wild boar, peacock, porcupine, rabbit etc. Since we are so cash trapped, are we trying to create a new bush meat market?
Real human – elephant conflict arose as a result of the Accelerated Mahaveli Program of 1978. After 1994, the conflict grew rapidly. True governments spent large amounts of money to solve the problem, but most of these projects were failures.
This current Oya Madu operation is an extremely expensive exercise.
Again, it seems the new rulers too do not have a sustainable solution to the problem. They try to make things upside down. Oya Madu is an example.
Trying to meddle with the natural environment is a foolish thing. The Accelerated Mahaveli Program effectively ‘killed’ the Mahaveli river. Due to the build up dams (numerous) and the diversion itself, Mahaveli has lost water. One could visibly see this in Polgolla, Thennekumbura, Kundasale areas. The large, shark-like fish (some capable of growing to over 8 feet in length) are no more. They have become extinct.
The last thing the authorities must do is to effect experiments with the nature. This includes the wildlife.
Again, farmers constantly encroach into jungle areas. They are so greedy for land. As a result, when the elephants arrive in farmers’ lands, they blame them. This is the case in regards to other wild animals too.
Politicians – no matter which party they belong to pay a blind eye to this because it is the people who vote for them, not wild animals.
In the human – elephant conflict the governments have always taken the farmers’ side. They show a clear bias for them. This is not how developed western nations behave.
Farmers who encroach jungle land, those who commit illegal deforestation and indiscriminate killing of wild animals must be brought before justice. Unfortunately, this is not happening well.
Instead, we try to take revenge from wild animals. There is so much animosity against wild animals these days.
The stolen jungle lands by farmers must be reverted to jungle. They amount to thousands of acres.
Rather than decreasing, the governments must try to increase the country’s forest cover.
Erecting strong electric fences is one solution. Farmers who try to electrocute elephants using high voltage lines must be prosecuted and given long jail sentences.
In Himachal Pradesh sterilization of wild monkeys has been a success.
Of course these methods are expensive and time consuming (for vote grabbing, our governments want to show quick results).
Sterilization is a good method for Sri Lanka.
India will never sanction the slaughter of its wildlife.
The government wants more tourists to visit Sri Lanka; the tourists want to see wild elephants and other wildlife. At the same time, the government indirectly promotes the harassment and slaughter of wild animals.
Donald Trump was elected the President, has some experience at McDonalds!
But Elon Musk is acting like the Chief Cook & the Bottle Washer! Above the President. He Fears Not!
The Richest SuperMan is Not Frightened of MAGA!
Elon with his Powerful MEGA Dollar Punch, Donald Trump although President, must watch both his Trumpet Step & the Dongle Lips!
In the meantime, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in a press conference Wednesday reminded markets, Who’s Boss!! ——ME!:
Then the LBGTQ Lost their skirts & pants!
Do you agree with Donald Trump announcement that there in the USA, will be Two Genders, recognised as only Male & Female?
Is there Any Need For Russia – Ukraine War Now?
In Simple Terms, Russia Started the Illegal Land-Grab and Now Wants to End the War! No Winner!
Outside USA, guns galore with both war-weary Russia & Ukraine feeling the artillery should belong to yesterday, both acting like two orchestras without the Conductor!
The main issue is that Ukraine is now Redundant as a key country for NATO. The two Gems Finland & Sweden joined the NATO giving the best trained professional fighting forces with state-of.the-art weaponry and funding.
The Battle of the MAGA & MEGA!
MAGA Warriors now have to listen to MEGA Rich led by Elon Musk playing his Trumpet whilst kicking the drums concurrently!
Elon Musk ‘melts down’ after underestimating wrath of MAGA trolls.
No Person is Safe in USA!
Triple The Security Detail!
Main Agenda for Battle in 2025!
Nett Worth – Immigration – Civil War with GOP – MAGA-verse over H-1B Visa’s.
Trump Team is based on their Nett Worth!’
No Money? No Honey! OK?
Immigration?
Most Americans are Immigrant!
Should All be Kicked Out including Donald Trump?
Civil War with GOP?
Trump Wants War.! Divide & Rule!
MAGA-verse over H-1B Visa’s.
MAGA is History.
Trump Style – As the sun rises, so do new decisions!
I wish You All the
Greatest in Peace, Health & Prosperity
for You & Your Family
during 2025 & Beyond”
Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say! The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.
Police in America need a great deal of reform, a project that translates to freeing them from the racist nature of U.S. culture while tying them more firmly to the culture of civil and human rights. Not easy, but certainly a worthwhile task compared to maintaining the present situation. Here is another perspective: what would happen if all the police in the country just disappeared or were defunded”? Almost certainly the result would be a breakdown of order. Actually, according to the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, this would be an absolutely worse case scenario, because just about anything is better than anarchy, which he likens to a war of all against all. Putting a deeper analysis of Hobbes aside, I am going to assume that most readers would agree with him—though perhaps not with his soft spot for dictatorial substitutes (see his seminal work, Leviathan).
Ok. Let’s now transfer that second perspective—anarchy in one society—to the international order. Actually, we are close to this very situation. What rules and regulations that exist to, supposedly, put limits on the behavior of states have been eroding for at least the last fifty years. Indeed, the U.S., acting out in places as disparate as Vietnam and Iraq has shown how great powers” can thumb their virtual noses at the legal foundations of civilization. Just as an aside, the U.S. is also the Dorian Grey of great powers.” This is because while behaving barbarically, the United States claims to represent the very model of enlightened behavior. Other great powers” such as Russia and China have played their own roles in this plague of barbarism, but the U.S. displays the most hypocrisy.
This being the case, is it any surprise that it is Washington’s primary client state—namely Israel—that is now pulling down the whole fragile structure of international law and order—and doing so with the steadfast help of America and other Western states?
Irony
There is much irony here, for the nature of Israeli behavior that is presently threatening international law reflects anarchistic Nazi behavior in the 1930s and 1940s. We remember Nazi Germany for two main reasons: (1) The waging of war not in self-defense but for the sake of territorial expansion. The Nazis justified this aggression mainly with the concept of Lebensraum”, the acquisition of territory for colonization by an expanding, racially superior, German population. And what of the native populations of these conquered areas? (2) The answer to this question constitutes the second reason we remember the Nazis. These populations were slaughtered—partially through the massive aerial bombardment and executions of civilians within occupied territories. Unique, as of yet, to the Nazis was the institution of the mechanized mass murder in concentration camps. Of course, the main, but not only, victims of these camps were Europe’s Jews.
So how does today’s behavior of Israel, backed by its patron the United States, remind us of the Nazi disruption of international order? (1) Israel has evolved—driven by the very logic of Zionist ideology—to proclaim itself a state of Jewish supremacy. As described by B’Tselem, Israel’s own human rights organization, Israel seeks Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” Today, we call this apartheid which international law and convention has designated a crime against humanity.” (2) Since its inception, Israel has coveted all the land of Biblical Israel, i.e. Gaza, the West Bank and other parcels of territory, as divinely designated lebensraum” for the Jewish people. Presently, the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip is being done in preparation for Israeli colonization. (3) That ethnic cleansing is perpetuated primarily by massive bombardment from the air and artillery barrages that reenact both the Nazi tactic of blitzkrieg and the U.S. tactic of shock and awe.” (4) While there has not been a literal replication of the Nazi concentration camps, Israel did transform the Gaza Strip into the world’s biggest open air prison.” And then, following the October 7, 2023 Palestinian act of resistance, they transformed the Strip one more time into a simulation of the last days of the Warsaw Ghetto—also destroyed (in 1943) by the Nazis for an act of resistance. (5) Finally, please note that all of the above are acts of the Israeli state and its Zionist supporters, and not of the Jewish people as a whole. The effort by Israel to identify all Jews with both its ideology and its crimes is the equivalent to the Nazis going to war in the name of all Germans. Neither claim is true.
On a Knife’s Edge”
There are plenty of authoritative statements as to the consequences of Israeli actions on international law and order. For instance, the 20 November 2024 comments of Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. Albanese said, The failure of the world’s states to stop Israel’s ‘colonial erasure’ of the Palestinian people is putting international justice on the edge. We might lose what we have, what we have built .… International law is on a knife’s edge.” On 3 December 2024, Ramzy Baroud, a well respected American-Palestinian journalist and writer, observed that until the recent behavior of Israel made clear that state’s true nature, the West had accepted the entire Israeli political discourse [that] situated [the Zionist state] within western priorities and supposed values: civilization, democracy, enlightenment, human rights and the like.” As a consequence the international legal system has historically failed to hold Israel … accountable to international law.” This includes the utter failure of the international community to stop the grisly genocide in the [Gaza] Strip.” UN Secretary General Guterres has concluded that the catastrophe in Gaza is nothing less than a complete collapse of our shared humanity.”
Baroud did note that belatedly, it turned out that the international system has a pulse, after all, though faint, but is enough to rekindle hope that legal and moral accountability are still possible.” He was speaking here of the judgments rendered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC). The former laid down the high probability that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza—a conclusion supported by evidence brought to the court by South Africa and others, as well as by almost every reputable human rights organization on the planet. The ICC citing this evidence, has issued arrest warrants for the responsible Israeli leaders. Thousands of their soldiers are also under investigation. It will be a long time before any of these folks enjoys a vacation abroad (except perhaps to the U.S. or Hungary) without risking arrest.
Nonetheless, no state is militarily seeking to stop Israel’s ongoing slaughter. If the Israelis rein in their hubris and stay home, their leaders and soldiers may never be brought to justice. The Israelis are betting that time will erase their sins. As David Ben Gurion said (yes, he really did say this), the old [Palestinians] will die and the young will forget.” It is a silly assumption. Just ask young Jews worldwide if they have forgotten the Holocaust. The U.S. government may be hoping for the same pseudo remedy.
Corrosive Blowback
There is another consequence to be considered, particularly as regards Israel’s patron, the United States. As we know, again quoting Ramzy Baroud, the U.S. itself is an unrepentant violator of human rights” and that is perhaps why the American government finds it easy to maintain a strong position in defense of Israel, shaming the ICC for the warrants.” You will remember the observation that this position entails an enormous level of hypocrisy. It turns out that such hypocrisy can be domestically corrosive.
There is such a thing as the Leahy Law, named after former Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy. Passed in 1997, it prohibits the U.S. Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.” This law restricts both the State Department and the Department of Defense. Thus, Washington’s material support of Israel while its military simultaneously carries out genocide in Gaza, violates federal law. And, they are doing this under orders of an imperial presidency.
There are corrosive consequences of this obvious hypocrisy and flagrant official disregard of U.S. law. Now, federal and local governments seem perfectly willing to abrogate the Constitution on the urging of Christian fundamentalists and Zionist ideologues. As a consequence the Constitutional rights of free speech and assembly are being selectively suppressed. Authorities are shutting down the non-violent protests and arresting young idealists (mostly students), faculty, and many others dedicated to civil and human rights, as well as those who are personally impacted by Israel’s slaughter: Palestinian Americans and American Jews who are horrified at what the Israelis are doing in the name of their religion. And, just as shamefully, university administrators have sold out their educational principles for the donors’ modern equivalent of thirty pieces of silver. More generally, it would seem there is a steady move worldwide to the authoritarian right, including in the United States. This movement tends to align with Israel and the Zionists and therefore, the corrosive effects are likely to get worse before it gets better.
Conclusion
Let’s give the final word to an Israeli journalist, one of the very few who sees and understands what the Zionist state” has really wrought: Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz (23 December 2024).
Levy notes that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration/death camp at Auschwitz, situated in today’s Poland. He then informs us that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will not be attending because there is an ICC warrant for his arrest for perpetrating war crimes. Levy contextualizes this ironic situation as follows: The distance between Auschwitz and Gaza, with a stopover in The Hague [where the ICC holds court], is still enormous, but it can no longer be argued that the comparison is preposterous …. [In fact] one realizes that this distance is shrinking by the day …. And when ethnic cleansing is carried out in northern Gaza, followed by clear signs of genocide throughout the Strip, the memory of the Holocaust is already roaring.”
Levy’s conclusion is that this is a result of a decision Israeli leaders made long ago. With the defeat of the Nazis and the liberation of death camps such as Auschwitz, the Jews were given a choice between two legacies: Never again, the Jews will never face a similar danger, or – Never again, no one in the world will ever face a similar danger. Israel clearly chose the former option, with a fatal addition: After Auschwitz, Jews are permitted to do anything.” And they have done so by a Zionist inspired 75 years of harassment and persecution of the Palestinian people. As a consequence, Israel is now a pariah state,” its Prime Minister is a war criminal, and one realizes that the distance” that divides the practices of the Nazis from those of Netanyahu’s Israel is shrinking by the day.”
Levy’s observations can stand as an epitaph for the illusions of Zionist Israel and its American patrons. It may also introduce us into another historical era of barbarism such as the 1930s and 1940s and thus be an epitaph for international law and order and human rights as well.
Lawrence Davidson is a retired professor of history at West Chester University in West Chester, PA.
MR’s camp to challenge in SC citing security being distinct from privileges
States no objection to reduction of privileges including vehicles/pension
The Government should first distinguish between privileges and security for former Presidents and avoid making decisions solely based on financial factors, said the Spokesperson for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, attorney Manoj Gamage.
Recently, the National People’s Power Government revised former Presidents’ security arrangements by reducing the number of Police officers in their security details and withdrawing the assigned military personnel.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Gamage said that they would challenge the Government’s decisions regarding Rajapaksa’s security arrangements in the Supreme Court (SC) within a week, adding that the necessary legal consultations have already been completed.
The privileges and security of former Presidents are two different things. There is no issue in reducing privileges such as vehicles and the pension. But, security is not a privilege – it is about someone’s life. How can security be reduced? Some countries spend billions and trillions to protect certain individuals. Security decisions should always be based on threat levels, not financial considerations,” he said.
He also said that they would present all evidence to the SC to prove that Rajapaksa’s security is at risk when legal proceedings pertaining to the matter commence. Noting that it is the Government’s responsibility to provide security for former Presidents, even if they refuse it, he said: Rajapaksa is the President who ended the civil war. Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga survived a suicide bomb attack and lost an eye. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe could also argue his role as a leader who made decisions during the war. When incumbent President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retires, he too should have adequate security. We all know that even individuals involved in organised crime or the drug trade are given security while in remand custody. So, how can anyone deny security to former Presidents?”
Speaking in the Parliament recently, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said that the Government had decided to withdraw all tri-forces personnel assigned to former Presidents’ security, and this decision was put into effect early last week. Consequently, only the specified numbers of police officers remain in their security details. Henceforth, security arrangements for former Presidents are to be adjusted based on biannual threat assessments, with the Government aiming to save around Rs. 1,200 million annually by making these changes. Furthermore, henceforth, Special Task Force security will only be provided to the sitting President and Prime Minister.
Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad revealed ongoing efforts to establish a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia and implement 10 signed agreements across various sectors to foster mutual growth.
Such efforts also aim to launch collaborations in projects aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, with hopes of boosting bilateral trade and investments in technology and agriculture.
The diplomat highlighted that the inaugural session of the joint committee between the two countries, held in 2023, identified 63 areas of cooperation spanning 20 sectors, including the economy, science, defense, technology, culture, youth, and sports.
He noted that Saudi Arabia has been a long-standing development partner for Sri Lanka. Over the years, the Saudi Fund for Development has extended $438 million (1.5 billion SAR) in concessional loans, financing 15 development projects in the country.
Among these projects are the Colombo Water Supply and Sewerage Project (1981), Kinniya Bridge—the longest in Sri Lanka, the Neurotrauma Unit at Colombo National Hospital, the Kalu Ganga Development Project, the Medical Faculty at Sabaragamuwa University, the Wayamba University Township, and the Peradeniya-Badulla-Chenkaladi Road.
Ajwad stated that Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia have so far signed 10 bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in addition to other agreements under consideration. These cover aviation services, customs duties, workforce, economy, trade, investment, technology, culture, skills verification, youth and sports, political consultations, avoidance of double taxation, and foreign direct investment.
With the implementation of Vision 2030, Ajwad emphasized that bilateral relations are entering a new phase, particularly in 2024 as the two countries celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties. He noted that collaboration opportunities include the Colombo Port City Special Economic Zone, tourism and hospitality, agriculture and food security, renewable energy, and information and communications technology (ICT).
The official further mentioned that Saudi Arabia is Sri Lanka’s 24th largest export market and 11th largest source of imports, with plans to expand economic cooperation in trade and investment. In 2023, Sri Lanka exported goods worth $99.9 million to Saudi Arabia, while imports from the Kingdom amounted to $288.84 million.
Key Sri Lankan exports include tea, rubber products, fruits and vegetables, frozen fish, coconut products, and cloves. Imports from Saudi Arabia primarily consist of petroleum oils, liquefied petroleum gases, fertilizers, chemicals, and plastic products.
Ajwad also highlighted potential value-added exports to Saudi Arabia, such as spices, tea, kithul products, coconut-based goods, fresh produce, processed foods, organic agricultural products, and seafood. Sri Lanka’s industrial exports to Saudi Arabia include rubber products, gemstones, jewelry, apparel, ceramics, and porcelain.
He noted that Sri Lankan companies have also invested in Saudi Arabia, including Sierra Construction, which operates in the electromechanical sector.
The ambassador said that Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim, discussed creating an economic roadmap during his recent visit to Sri Lanka, which covers trade, investment, energy, tourism, cultural exchange, digital transformation, and employment opportunities.
In the second half of 2024, Sri Lankan companies participated in major international exhibitions in Saudi Arabia, including the Riyadh Travel Fair 2024, Saudi Food Expo 2024, Saudi Agriculture Exhibition 2024, the Saudi Workforce Exhibition, and the Saudi International Handicrafts Exhibition (Banan).
Ajwad emphasized that bilateral relations have seen significant growth since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1974. Sri Lanka opened its first embassy in Jeddah in 1983, which was later relocated to Riyadh in 1985. Saudi Arabia established its first resident embassy in Colombo in 1996 and appointed its first ambassador in 2001.
Since the 1980s, many Sri Lankans have traveled to Saudi Arabia for work. Today, an estimated 200,000 Sri Lankans reside in the Kingdom. At the same time, Sri Lanka has become a preferred travel destination for Saudi tourists.
The diplomat stressed that the two countries have maintained strong ties at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. They cooperate in organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and various United Nations bodies.
In 2024, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations—a significant milestone reflecting the depth of their friendship and strategic partnership. The economic ties between the two nations trace back centuries to trade in goods such as pearls, gemstones, sandalwood, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, coconuts, and ivory.
On the first working day of the New Year, the government launched its Clean Sri Lanka programme, aimed at ‘rebuilding a fractured nation’ as described President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. An 18-member Task Force was appointed by the President himself in order to plan and implement the programme. The appointment of this Task Force and its objectives were made official via an Extraordinary Gazette Number 2415/59 dated 19 December 2024.
In his New Year message, President Dissanayake mentions that some of the government’s primary developmental goals include eradicating rural poverty, implementing the Clean Sri Lanka” initiative, and building a digital economy. The ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative, launched alongside the New Year, aims to uplift society to greater heights through social, environmental, and ethical revival. This is particularly true for a country that is striving to become a cleaner city, despite having slogans reflecting similar messages. For instance, even though the Colombo Municipal Council carries the tagline ‘Keep the city clean’ little progress has been made to resolve the solid waste management crisis within the Western Province. As a solution to this crisis, the Kerawalapitiya waste-to-energy project was subsequently initiated in 2021. The plant has a capacity to incinerate 600-800 tonnes of waste every day and provides 10 MW of electricity to the national grid.
But this power plant is built on the borders of the Muthurajawela wetland. Despite the government’s efforts to strive for a cleaner Sri Lanka, certain practical challenges and discrepancies need to be cleared. Even though Colombo has been acknowledged as a RAMSAR wetland city, the city is inundated with floods even during the slightest rain. Even though the Muthurajawela wetland is known to be the ‘Lungs of Colombo’, this protected expanse of land has been heavily encroached by private companies to a point where the entire wetland is now under threat of becoming a mega industrial park. On the other hand, more wetlands are being filled with solid waste to construct commercial projects and all these efforts seem to be short-sighted decisions to resolve the solid waste management crisis. Waste, on the other hand is a lucrative business and it is a known fact that somebody allegedly had a vested agenda to make a buck out of the waste containers that came all the way from UK in 2019.
While wetlands in Colombo and suburbs continue to be encroached, while the government is trying to resolve the solid waste management crisis, while more trees that once punctuated the roads in Colombo continue to be felled, one certainly may wonder as to why they need to care about the environment anymore. In addition, environmentalists and conservationists were heavily criticised over the past few months for advocating against certain short-sighted decisions taken by the government. Such behaviours by the political leadership had occurred in the past as well. During former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure, various ad hoc decisions were taken as means of protecting the environment but they proved to be futile. One of them was the ban on single-use plastics and sachet packets. Despite being a significant move to protect the environment, there had been poor monitoring and law enforcement on the part of the authorities.
The government needs to be appreciated for its effort to launch a programme of this nature to inculcate moral social behaviour among the masses. Recently, the CMC announced that there had been a surge in garbage disposed within the Colombo municipality during the festive season. Almost every nook and corner of Colombo has been littered and one could barely find at least one clean street. But keeping the environment clean goes beyond throwing garbage to a respective dustbin. It requires discipline and moral upbringing.
Even though people have been advised to throw garbage to respective bins, it is only in a rare occasion that one would take the effort to go looking for a dustbin to throw away the waste, not forgetting university students and dedicated groups who continue to conduct ‘shramadana’ campaigns to keep the environment clean.
If the President aims to rebuild a fractured nation through the Clean Sri Lanka programme, then it has to go beyond a programme to fulfil a campaign promise and ensure that all citizens are given a sense of responsibility to keep the environment clean as entitled by Article 28(f) of the Sri Lankan Constitution.
In the run-up to its election victories at the presidential and parliamentary elections, the JVP/NPP combine promised to bring down the cost of living. Today, while a majority of ordinary workers earn between Rs. 40,000/- to Rs. 60,000/- per month, the cost of providing a family of four, three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), costs over Rs. 100,000/- per month!
To make matters worse, bad weather intervened and over 300,000 acres of paddy and vegetable cultivation during the last season were destroyed.
Unsurprisingly, there is a shortage of both rice and vegetables in the market. In an earlier era government used to maintain buffer stocks of paddy to meet sudden drops in production and or unexpected disasters.
However, with the advent of the open economy introduced by late president J.R. Jayawardene, paddy harvests were increased and stored in go downs of paddy millers. State banks bankrolled their operations. As time went on, a few millers cornered the purchase, milling and storage of paddy.
At the same time state involvement in purchase and storing of the grain decreased. These millers are now manipulating the market. They have created artificial shortages via limiting supplies. In turn it has resulted in the rising cost of rice. The adverse weather conditions also resulted in driving up the cost of vegetables. Adding fuel to fire, the price of coconuts -a vital ingredient in preparation of food in the country- has also skyrocketed. The price of eggs -also locally produced- rose dramatically as have prices of chicken, fish and beef. In an attempt to bring down the cost of living, government held discussions with the millers demanding that they increase stocks of rice to the market. It also held discussions with poultry farmers and imposed a floor price for the sale of eggs. Neither measure has worked. The controlled price on sale of eggs remains a dead letter. The paddy millers too have not acquiesced to the government’s demand to release adequate stocks into the market. Government also imposed a controlled price on the sale of canned fish and eggs, in an effort to make them affordable to the poorer sections of the community.
Bringing the down the cost of living is increasingly important given that nearly a quarter of our people are living below the poverty line, according to studies carried out by the World Bank. It is in this light we have to view the government’s decision to impose a price control mechanism on particular products deemed essential to the public. But, can or will this strategy work? Past governments have tried this strategy. In the 1970s the coalition government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike brought in strict price control measures to resolve a similar economic crisis. The measure failed.
President Gotabaya also attempted to control prices using this tried and failed method during the economic crisis which hit the country during his presidency in response to the economic problems of the day.
The strategy backfired spectacularly and Gotabaya was soon forced to flee the country.
Rather than bringing stability, the controls led to shortfalls, creation of a supply-demand imbalance and led to the birth of a thriving black-market.
The lessons of the 1970s and of President Gotabaya’s era reveal, clear warnings against any temptation to rely on artificial price caps as a tool for economic management. Price controls undermine the functioning of markets, disrupt supply chains, and discourage domestic production, all of which exacerbate rather than alleviate economic challenges.
For example, when a government caps the price of a particular article, the consumer is happy. But the primary producer gains nothing. Sometimes, as in the recent case of the ill-judged cap on the price of eggs in our country, producers stood to lose. They threatened to close down their farms.
Although price controls aim to cap prices, it is like trying to control a river flowing downhill. Market forces find a way to allocate what remains of the goods for sale by ratcheting up prices through the outlet of black markets. We can only hope our new government, voted into power by all sections of the electorate irrespective of race, class and religion, will read the handwriting on the wall and not repeat the mistakes of past governments who tried to take short cuts to solve economic problems.
President Dissanayake with Premier Modi during his Dec. 15-17 State visit to India
Senior lecturer in economics and head of the IT Department at the University of Colombo, Professor Priyanga Dunusinghe, recently declared that the new National People’s Power (NPP) administration had neither a clear economic policy nor a tangible action plan to address the plethora of serious issues facing the nation.
Prof. Dunusinghe warned of dire consequences unless the government took meaningful measures to overcome the challenges.
Appearing on Derana, the outspoken academic claimed that the investors and the public were in the dark as to the overall government economic policy. Asserting that the NPP government now primarily addressed the day-to-day issues, Prof. Dunusinghe alleged that economic reforms required to stabilize, consolidate and strengthen the economy weren’t being implemented. Therefore, the government seemed to be already late in that regard.
Obviously Prof. Dunusinghe summed up the situation on the economic front quite accurately. The academic seemed to have contradicted former President and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who had both publicly and privately applauded President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s economic policy recently. It could be a case of him wanting to appease NPP as he, too, has many a skeleton in his cupboard, like the bond scams or the precipitating of the ongoing debt crisis by borrowing as much as USD 12 billion from the international bond market, at high interest, without having achieved anything tangible to show with such high borrowings, all during the Yahapalana rule or misrule.
Readers should always remember Mahinda Rajapaksa and his team fought a debilitating war to a finish against the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit, the LTTE, and defeated it against the predictions of all types of pundits, while at the same time kept the economy humming and completed some impressive infrastructure projects, like building a brand new international harbour and an airport, among so many other achievements. Need we say more?
No doubt there were some utter mistakes that can be directly attributed to some of his close relatives he had around him, but Mahinda never betrayed the country. For that matter, who is infallible in this world? The bottom line reveals only one thing that is, he was the best leader to pull the country out of the rut we were in at the time.
President Dissanayake also holds the Finance portfolio, in addition to Defence. In terms of the Economic Transformation Bill, approved by Parliament on July 25, 2024, without a vote, the NPP government has no option but to adhere to the Act. Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando is the Deputy Finance Minister.
The agreement with the IMF, negotiated by Wickremesinghe and accepted by Dissanayake, in his capacity as the President, is the basis for the controversial Act. In spite of attacking the Economic Transformation Bill, the then Opposition conveniently refrained from seeking a vote on the Bill.
Prof. Dunusinghe has been always forthright in his criticism of questionable economic matters, regardless of who wielded the political power. The government should take such criticism seriously as the overall situation remained volatile though the parliamentary Opposition seems wholly inadequate and indifferent to the challenges ahead.
The pathetic and shoddy handling of severe shortage of rice in the open market badly exposed the government. What really surprised the hapless public is the NPP’s thinking the ‘Rice Mafia’ can be reined in by the issuance of gazettes. The NPP basically repeated President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s strategy by declaring price controls on essential commodities, like rice, by issuing gazettes. The NPP placed Nadu, Samba and Keeri Samba at Rs 230, Rs 240 and Rs 260 respectively a couple of weeks ago, following talks with rice millers, but it didn’t make any difference.
During the debate over the failed bid to control the private sector running the show, as it pleases, it was revealed that one of the biggest rice dealers in the country and identified as one of those who had been accused of earning unconscionable profits at the expense of the suffering people is on the National List of the SJB though he didn’t get an opportunity to enter Parliament this time. How did he end up in the SJB National List?
The NPP appeared to be making the often repeated mistake committed by previous governments in believing in the strength of their parliamentary group. In the face of public anger caused by wrong decisions, very often even such monolithic parliamentary groups crumble under pressure. The NPP wouldn’t be an exception unless it quickly realized and addressed the shortcomings.
Real challenge outside Parliament
The situation in Parliament is deceiving. It may give the NPP a somewhat false sense of security. Having handsomely won the presidential election in Sept, 2024 by polling 5.7 mn votes, though he couldn’t obtain 50% plus 1 vote, Anura Kumara Dissanayake consolidated the NPP’s position with a staggering 2/3 majority at the parliamentary election in Nov, 2024.
The NPP increased its tally to 6.8 mn votes from 5.7 mn polled at the presidential. Both the executive and the legislature are in the NPP’s hands. The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has been reduced to just 40 seats against the NPP’s 159 and down to just 1.9 mn votes at the parliamentary election. The SJB performance is nothing but pathetic.
The dismal results at the national elections had made the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) that obtained a staggering 145 seats at the 2020 general election irrelevant with their tally reduced to just three seats in the current Parliament.
But, the NPP cannot be lulled into a false sense of security, under any circumstances, as the real challenge is not the Opposition but the promises made by the party to the masses for a system change in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections. That is the undeniable truth. Having come to power as an all-knowing lot, the NPP leadership will have to answer for developments, come what may.
The recent declaration that those earning a monthly salary up to Rs. 150,000 would be exempted from the PAYE (Pay As You Earn) tax to please professionals and at the same time announced the increasing of the withholding tax on fixed deposit interest to 10 percent from 5 percent, thereby hitting those living on already depleted interest incomes below the belt, underscored the crisis the country is in.
President Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, told Parliament on Dec. 18 that this was done in line with a fresh agreement reached with the IMF. In other words, in spite of the change of government and their severe criticism of Wickremesinghe’s policies, the NPP is also on the same track.
The bottom line is that Sri Lanka’s economic direction is firmly in the hands of the IMF and whatever the NPP leaders uttered to the contrary from election platforms to impress the public in the run up to national elections, the government will have to toe the IMF line when it presents a formal Budget in February for the next financial year.
An interim Budget/vote on account covering the first four months of 2025 was approved in Parliament on Dec. 06, 2024 without a vote, at the end of a two-day debate.
Deputy Finance Minister Fernando told Parliament that the delay in debt restructuring, over the last two years, had cost the country an additional USD 1.7 billion in accumulated interest.
Fernando is on record as having said: We are hoping to complete the restructure of the bilateral debt and international sovereign bonds by December 31.”
The interim Budget would cover the cost of debt servicing and the government expenditure for the first four months of next year. The NPP government has assured the international community that it would continue to honour the international commitments on debt restructuring commenced by the predecessor Wickremesinghe’s government.
Ground realities
During the presidential election campaign followed by the general election, the NPP talked as if it could address issues that plagued Sri Lanka over the past decades. However, over three months after the presidential election, the public now realize that the NPP had no magic wand in its hand and some issues can never be settled.
Of course, some of those who exercised their franchise in support of the NPP at the two national elections are deeply worried and disappointed. But, the fact remains that those who exercised political power had been appropriately dealt with by the electorate and they wouldn’t be in a position to regain public confidence within a short period. That is the reality those who represent the SJB and NDF (National Democratic Front) had to contend with.
It would be pertinent to mention that two of the oldest political parties in the country, namely the UNP and the SLFP, are not even represented in the current Parliament. The UNP and SLFP leaderships are baffled, but that wouldn’t make things easy for the NPP, regardless of its numerical unconquerable position in Parliament. So did the previous Gotabaya Rajapaksa government that was ousted by violent street protests, most probably staged managed from abroad.
Let me briefly discuss the huge challenge faced by Sri Lanka in dealing with large scale poaching carried out relentlessly by the Tamil Nadu fishing fleet in addition to them destroying fish stocks here by bottom trawling. The joint statement issued following talks between President Dissanayake and Indian Premier Narendra Modi quiet clearly indicated that New Delhi wants Sri Lanka to turn a blind eye to the ongoing rape of fishery resources belonging to the people here.
President Dissanayake raised the massive destruction caused by bottom trawling practised by the Tamil Nadu fishing fleet but the joint statement and the comments made by the Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on this issue at a special briefing indicated in no uncertain terms that India wouldn’t under any circumstances take necessary measures to prevent Tamil Nadu fishing fleet crossing Indo-Lanka maritime boundary.
India seemed to be hell-bent on allowing destructive fishing practices in Sri Lankan waters though it doesn’t allow the same in their territory.
India often emphasises the responsibility on the part of all concerned to deal with poachers in a humanitarian manner. The joint statement went a step further. Referring to the talks, Premier Modi had with President Dissanayake on Dec 16, 2024, the joint statement declared the two leaders ‘underscored the need to take measures to avoid any aggressive behaviour or violence. Would it be fair to pressure Sri Lanka, now beholden to New Delhi for swift economic assistance provided during 2022 and 2023 crisis period, to allow poaching?
How could there be a mutually acceptable solution to the poaching issue when the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary is being violated almost on a daily basis? Although the joint statement referred to the matter at hand as fisheries issues it is nothing but poaching sanctioned by the centre in India.
The joint statement, however, gave the game away when it asserted that the issue should be dealt with taking into consideration, what it called, the special relationship between India and Sri Lanka.
Hats off to President Dissanayake for taking up two related issues at a joint media briefing addressed by him and Premier Modi. A statement issued by the Presidential Media Division (PMD) quoted the NPP and JVP leader as having said that he requested Premier Modi to take measures to stop bottom trawling that caused irreparable ecological damage and also curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). President Dissanayake also reminded them that bottom trawling is banned in both countries. The President took up the position, therefore tangible action should be taken to stop bottom trawling.
But Indian Foreign Secretary’s response to Sachin Vadoliya of UNI query on President Dissanayake’s request pertaining to bottom trawling and IUU fishing revealed that New Delhi had no intention of addressing the issues at hand. The Foreign Secretary conveniently interpreted President Dissanayake’s comments as meaning the Sri Lankan leader calling for the problem to be solved by both countries together.
The supreme irony is that India exploited the situation to its advantage. The ongoing bid to formalize poaching by the Tamil Nadu fishing fleet under the pretext of some bilateral agreement cannot be condoned under any circumstances.
While declaring New Delhi’s immediate readiness to finalize what Premier Modi called a Security Cooperation Agreement, Sri Lanka is being asked to allow rape of its fish resource. The Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the largest Tamil political party that represented the Northern and Eastern regions remained unsure of its stand on the fisheries issue.
The ITAK must take a clear stand on this problem. But, the NPP, having secured the highest number of seats in the Northern and Eastern regions at the expense of the ITAK at the recently concluded general election, needs to represent the interests of the Tamil fishing community here.
Resumption of debt repayment
The primary challenge faced by President Dissanayake is nothing but preparing the economy over the next four years to restart paying the massive foreign debt owed by the country in 2028. The government’s capacity to meet this particular challenge should be examined taking into consideration Prof. Dunusinghe’s criticism of the NPP’s economic plans.
Sri Lanka, in April 2022, made a unilateral statement on stopping debt repayment. Regardless of promises made during the presidential and parliamentary poll campaigns, the NPP is slow in taking tangible measures to revive the sick economy. The absence of long queues at fuel and gas stations doesn’t mean Sri Lanka is out of the woods yet.
Unfortunately, the Opposition is waiting for problems created by previous administrations to overwhelm the NPP. Having declared that the NPP administration couldn’t last for not more than a couple of months, the Opposition realized that their only salvation is the NPP causing its own downfall.
Perhaps, the NPP should reveal its stand on accusations that the failure on the part of the Parliament to amend the Foreign Exchange Act No 12 of 2017 that allowed unscrupulous people to park billions of US dollars overseas.
Various politicians have given different figures in this regard. Then MP Gevindu Cumaratunga estimated the total amount parked abroad owing the lacuna in the Act at USD 36 billion. His colleagues Wimal Weerawansa and Vasudeva Nanayakkara, too, agreed with the figure declared by Cumaratunga.
Former Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, estimated the amount of funds parked overseas to be over USD 50 billion. Interestingly, he was among those who voted for repealing the old Act that ensured that exporters brought back export proceeds within a stipulated time period.
The Yahapalana administration repealed the time-tested Exchange Control Act of 1954 at the behest of the then Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe who refrained from voting for it.
The NPP never addressed this issue during campaigning. The NPP also owes the country an explanation as to why the price of a litre of 92 Octane couldn’t be further reduced as during the campaign the then Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera was repeatedly accused of taking kickbacks at the expense of consumers.
So far, a litre of Octane 92 has been reduced to Rs 309 from 311 by the NPP. The government has also earned the wrath of the public for putting off the stipulated electricity price revision at a time much of the electricity is generated by hydro power stations at low cost.
The government seems caught in a vortex of problems-ranging from never ending problems faced by the farmers to Indian and US pressure to extend the moratorium on foreign research vessels visiting Sri Lankan ports. The moratorium declared by Wickremesinghe for a period of one year 2024 ended yesterday (Dec 31, 2024). Would it be extended, to allow Chinese vessels to resume visits or would some committee be appointed to take time to appease India, while Sri Lanka sought to reach some sort of understanding with China.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake wants the new year to be a turning point for the country [BBC]
Stunning election wins by a new left-leaning president and his party have changed Sri Lanka’s political landscape – but the cash-strapped island’s new rulers are quickly realising that campaign promises are easier to make than to keep.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s remarkable victory in the presidential election in September was swiftly followed by a landslide for his National People’s Power (NPP) alliance in parliamentary elections.
As a new year starts, he and his supporters want this to be a turning point for the country, which is trying to recover from devastating economic crisis and years of misrule.
However, they have limited room for manoeuvre to make good on pledges to voters, whose expectations from the new government are high.
Since the financial meltdown of 2022, economic recovery has been fragile and Sri Lanka is far from out of the woods.
The NPP won 159 seats in the 225-member assembly in November – an unprecedented two-thirds majority – giving Dissanayake a sweeping mandate to push through major economic and constitutional reforms.
However, even as the results were coming in, the new president had to gear up for a meeting with a visiting delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with which the outgoing government had negotiated a $2.9bn (£2.31bn) bailout package. The IMF deal became controversial as it led to severe austerity measures, tax rises and cuts in energy subsidies – hitting common people hard.
During the campaign Dissanayake and his alliance promised that they would re-negotiate parts of the IMF agreement.
But in his address to the new parliament, he performed a U-turn. The economy is in such a state that it cannot take the slightest shock… There’s no room to make mistakes,” Dissanayake said.
This is not the time to discuss if the terms [of the IMF loan] are good or bad, if the agreement is favourable to us or not… The process had taken about two years, and we cannot start all over again.”
An uprising, driven by economic frustrations, toppled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 [BBC]The voters’ overwhelming verdict for the NPP is seen as the culmination of a people’s uprising triggered by the economic crisis. The uprising toppled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the summer of 2022, when Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency and struggled to import food and fuel.The country had earlier declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt of about $46bn. India, China and Japan are among those who have loaned billions of dollars.The recent election results also reflected people’s anger towards established political parties – of former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe and others – for failing to handle the economic meltdown.One of the priorities for Dissanayake will be to give some economic relief to the people due to excessive taxation and the cost-of-living crisis. Debt management is another big challenge,” veteran political analyst Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda told the BBC.So far the massive political changes don’t seem to have had any impact on people like Niluka Dilrukshi, a mother-of-four who lives in a suburb of the capital Colombo. Her husband is a daily-wage labourer and the family still find it hard to get by.The BBC spoke to her about the soaring cost of living in January 2022, months before mass protests erupted. At that time, she said her family was eating only two meals a day, instead of three, and they were giving only vegetables and rice to their children due to the high cost of fish and meat.We are still struggling to make ends meet and nothing has changed. The price of rice, which is the staple food, has increased further. We are not getting any relief from the government,” Mrs Dilrukshi said.People like her want the new government to take immediate steps to bring down the cost of essentials. Sri Lanka is an import-dependent nation, and it needs foreign currency to bring in items like food and medicine.For now, Colombo is able to hold on to its currency reserves as it has suspended its debt repayments.The real struggle, experts point out, will start probably in the next three or four years when it starts repaying its debt.People’s perception of President Dissanayake and his new government could change if there’s no visible change in their standard of living in the next two or three years.People have given him a huge mandate. The IMF should respect that by allowing him to give some relief to the people through social welfare programmes,” says Prof Uyangoda.Sri Lankans want the new government to bring down the cost of essentials [BBC]Dissanayake must also contend with India and China, which are jostling for influence in Sri Lanka, where both have invested heavily in recent years.Both India and China will try to bring Colombo under their sphere of influence. I think the new government’s foreign policy will be very pragmatic without aligning with anyone,” says Prof Uyangoda.In a careful diplomatic manoeuvre, Dissanayake chose Delhi as his first official overseas destination in mid-December. During the visit, India promised to supply liquefied natural gas for Sri Lankan power plants and work on connecting the power grids of the two countries in the long run.China’s increasing foothold in Sri Lanka, especially calls by Chinese research” vessels to the island’s ports – so close to India’s southern tip – has triggered concern in Delhi.I have 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,” Dissanayake said after talks with Narendra Modi. Delhi will no doubt be pleased with the assurance, but Dissanayake will find out what Beijing expects when he visits China in mid-January.[BBC]
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මැතිවරණයේදී පරාජය වන බව දැන සිටියා වුවද ජාතික මතයට සුළු පිරිසක් හෝ එක්කර තබාගැනීම සඳහා උත්සාහ දැරුවේ යළිත් ආණ්ඩුව අර්බුදයට යද්දී බලවේගයක් ලෙස එම සුළු පිරිස හෝ එක්කර තබාගැනීමේ අරමුණින් බව පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමයේ නායක, හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා පවසයි.
Sri Lankans want the new government to bring down the cost of essentials [BBC]Dissanayake must also contend with India and China, which are jostling for influence in Sri Lanka, where both have invested heavily in recent years.Both India and China will try to bring Colombo under their sphere of influence. I think the new government’s foreign policy will be very pragmatic without aligning with anyone,” says Prof Uyangoda.In a careful diplomatic manoeuvre, Dissanayake chose Delhi as his first official overseas destination in mid-December. During the visit, India promised to supply liquefied natural gas for Sri Lankan power plants and work on connecting the power grids of the two countries in the long run.China’s increasing foothold in Sri Lanka, especially calls by Chinese research” vessels to the island’s ports – so close to India’s southern tip – has triggered concern in Delhi.I have 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,” Dissanayake said after talks with Narendra Modi. Delhi will no doubt be pleased with the assurance, but Dissanayake will find out what Beijing expects when he visits China in mid-January.[BBC]