CPP stands for Checklist Personality Profile, which is a personality test used in the aviation industry to evaluate pilots.
The CPP assessment is designed to identify personality traits that are relevant to pilot performance and safety.
The CPP is used to assess the pilot’s personality traits such as emotional stability, adaptability, teamwork, leadership, decision-making, and stress tolerance.
The assessment is usually administered during the pilot selection process before an individual is hired as a pilot.
The CPP assessment includes a series of questions that ask the pilot to rate how well certain statements describe them.
The responses are then analyzed by trained professionals to evaluate the pilot’s personality traits.
The CPP assessment is considered an important tool for assessing pilot suitability because research has shown that certain personality traits are correlated with successful pilot performance.
The assessment can also help identify potential issues that could affect the pilot’s ability to perform their job safely.
Overall, the CPP assessment is an important component of the pilot selection process and can provide valuable insights into a candidate’s personality traits that are relevant to their job as a pilot.
The use of personality tests for taxi and public transport drivers is a complex issue that requires careful consideration.
On one hand, personality tests could potentially help identify drivers who are well-suited for the job and who are likely to perform well under stress, which could improve passenger safety.
On the other hand, there are concerns about the potential for discrimination, privacy concerns, and the accuracy of the tests.
If such tests are to be made mandatory for taxi and public transport drivers, it would be important to ensure that the tests are reliable, valid, and free from bias.
Additionally, it would be important to ensure that the tests are administered in a way that protects the privacy of the drivers and that any data collected is used only to evaluate their suitability for the job.
However, it is worth noting that personality tests alone may not be sufficient for ensuring passenger safety.
Other factors such as training, experience, and monitoring may also be important for ensuring that drivers can perform their jobs safely and effectively.
Ultimately, any decision about whether to make personality tests mandatory for taxi and public transport drivers would need to be made after careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks, as well as the ethical and legal implications.
Yes the signs are quite visible that Sri Lanka may not make it to the next Cricket World Cup which some analyst and more perceptive observers see possible after the latest loss against what could be termed a second string New Zealand team where the big names of Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva performed apathetically to add insult to injury after the Test Series loss.Very sad indeed!
So, are the Selectors and the Cricket Administration fiddling ( not necessarily the funds) while the team gradually burns and sinks into the mire of uncertainty and the onlookers gasp in anguish at the pitiful lot the Lankans appear to have turned out to be.This after so much past glory and the glitter of winning World Cups in two formats, an Asia Cup and brilliant performances at all levels of the game which was ongoing and a force to be reckoned with !!
It is not conjecture to believe there are players in the squad who could have made a difference and matched the Kiwis in skills and attitude but where were they when needed most or were the selectors on an ego trip with their somewhat lopsided choices that made the Lankans look like a bunch of novices out at sea in a rudderless boat going nowhere but to the bottom which figuratively at least seems to be the case as there are only a few lesser known teams in the rankings below Sri Lanka in the standings which is indeed a serious situation for the bigwigs to ponder upon which pondering alone will definitely not solve and has now become an alarming cause for concern if not set right post haste.
The Selectors and the entire Administrative Set up appears to be in need of a concerted flushing down the toilet – bookies, cronies, jingos and speculative gamblers where all bar a few faithful righteous who know their cricket, value the term integrity, national pride and what it takes to crank up the players to a higher performance level and are not really interested in the financial gains they may stand to incur while being part of the setup and this beyond a shadow of doubt is what is needed to set right the flailing ship or else it could be curtains for Sri Lanka Cricket as we know it.
In 1966, the Indian economist Dr. B.R. Shenoy suggested measures that would have prevented Sri Lanka’s precipitous economic slide in succeeding years.
Giving the keynote address at a symposium on Economic Dialogue – IMF and Beyond” here on March 30, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka’s economic problems would not have arisen if governments had implemented Indian economist B.R.Shenoy’s Report prepared at the request of the Ceylon government way back in 1966.
In the late 50s and mid-1960s, when Ceylon’s economy was experiencing an all-round slide due to the extreme left-wing policies of the time, the then Finance Minister J.R. Jayewardene, at the suggestion of newspaper magnate Esmond Wickremesinghe, secured the services of the leading Indian right-wing economist Dr. B.R. Shenoy to advice him on restructuring the island nation’s economy and nursing it back to the healthy condition it was in, prior to 1957.
Dr. Shenoy, who was familiar with Ceylon’s economy, having been a lecturer at the University College in Colombo in the 1940s, submitted a well-researched report in 1966 entitled:Economic Situation and Trends in Ceylon: A Programme of Reform.
But given the dominant voice of the Left in the politics of Ceylon at that time, Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, although a right winger, shelved Shenoy’s recommendations. Senanayake and his successors continued the policy of doling out subsidies and expanding and allowing the inefficient public sector to function in an uneconomic manner, even as these policies were proving to be dysfunctional. Continuance of this populist approach drove the country to wrack and ruin and a historic default in April 2022.
Resurrecting Shenoy’s report in 2015, W.A.Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, wrote in India’s Swarajya magazine that in the mid-60s, Ceylon’s foreign exchange reserves had plummeted from 13.4 months of imports in 1948 to 1.9 months of imports in 1966.
After 1956, the Ceylonese State kept committing its slender resources to expanding and maintaining inefficient state sector institutions and social welfare schemes. To service these, governments resorted to deficit financing.
The total public debt which had stood at 18% of GDP in 1948 had shot up to 66% by 1966. And since the government was running a sizeable budget deficit, the repayment of public debt, as well as payment of interest thereon, was done by resorting to further borrowing, thereby entrapping the country in a vicious debt trap,” Wijewardena wrote.
He drew attention to the increase in money supply above the growth in the real economy, leading to higher prices. The money-GDP ratio had gone up from 17% in 1950 to 29% in 1966. The government was forced to resort to price and foreign exchange controls.
Shenoy’s Report
In his report, Shenoy had noted that while the economy was growing at 2%, the population was growing at 2.7%. And while the majority of the population was finding it hard to make ends meet, the small Ceylonese elite was splurging. He warned of the consequences of this undemocratic trend. As Wijewardene pointed out, such glaring inequality led to the bloody Janatha Vimuthi Peramuna (JVP) insurgency in 1971.
Shenoy noted that heavy subsidies and price controls were masking the real cost of living. He pointed out that in the absence of adequate domestic savings, governments were resorting to bank financing to meet their capital expenditure. Savings had declined from 13.6% of GDP in 1959 to 10.7% in 1965. During the same period, Australia’s savings were at 29% and Canada’s at 24%.
Foreign aid went to the public sector which misused it. But the silver lining was tax revenue. Tax revenue was 24.6% of the national income at that time (in contrast to 12% in 2015). Tax revenue is dismal now.
Accrued income was spent on food subsidies, direct relief payments and social services in the health, education and a host of other sectors. These accounted for 45.7% of revenue collections. The bulk of the capital outlays in the budgets from 1960-61 to 1965-66 (74%) was for economic services and government enterprises”. The revenue part of the budget was larger than the capital part.
Deficit financing reached its peak in 1959-60. Budget deficits increased money supply by 26% in the 1960-65 period creating inflation.
Shenoy pointed that consumption expenditure of this sort was unrelated to production and had a debit effect on national savings.
He did not recommend increase in taxes because taxes in Ceylon were already high and any further increases would have been ruinous. According to Wijewadene, tax rates in Ceylon stood at 80% at the margin. That should be scaled down drastically in order to promote national savings, Shenoy recommended. Taxation destroys potential national savings into a bonfire of public consumption,” he pointed out. At any rate, higher taxation had not helped the Ceylon economy pick up.
De-nationalization
Shenoy strongly recommended de-nationalization of select State corporations. He urged the government to withdraw from businesses and production activities as these could be run by private entrepreneurs more economically.
Wijewardena noted that the Indian economist had suggested the listing of state corporations in the stock exchange so that they would be disciplined by the market, instead of by political authorities.” Listing in the stock exchange would also help them mobilize funds from the market for capital expenditure program, without relying on the government.”
This would have succeeded in the 1950s and 60s, because the Ceylon stock exchange was vibrant thanks to the plantation companies.
Shenoy urged the adoption of a freely floating exchange rate to address the persistent balance of payments difficulties in the wake of uncertainty about the receipt of donor funding. He also recommended the lifting of import and export restrictions and the liberalization of external trade.
It was pointed out that the strict exchange and import controls have generated a massive black market for foreign exchange on the one hand and a thriving smuggling business on the other. The reaction of the authorities was to impose more and more penalties on the culprits. Hence, there was a substantial disparity between the official exchange rate and black market rate; the result was the over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports so that saved foreign exchange could be lucratively sold in the black market.”
Changing Food Subsidy System
Shenoy recommended replacing the existing food subsidy by a cash subsidy in a phased manner. He said that aggregate consumer subsidies ate up an average of 11% of the GNP and 53% of budget revenues.
In a background of declining savings and capital decay, there can be no justification for continuing these subsidies at this ruinously high level,” he argued.
Shenoy suggested a change in the technique of giving subsidies. In place of selling rice at 25 cents per measure, it may be sold at actual cost i.e. the average cost per measure to the Government of imported rice (the landed cost of this rice is 50-56 cents per measure) and of rice purchased under the GPS scheme (the cost of this rice is Rs. 12 per bushel of paddy or Rs. 24 per bushel of rice) — plus a small margin to cover the administrative expenses of handling imports.”
At the same time, every rice ration cardholder may be paid, outright, in cash, the amount of the de facto payment which he now receives in the form of rice at below cost,” he said.
It is important for purposes of this scheme to separate the payment of the cash subsidy and the payments for rice by the ration card holders. The two transactions must be effected by two different agencies. The cash subsidy may be paid through, say, the Post Offices, while rice will continue to be sold through ration shops,” he added.
Shenoy was deeply influenced by his teacher Friedrich A. Hayek, who later advised Margaret Thatcher when she reformed the British economy in 1979.
Sri Lanka was literally one period ahead of Britain when it engaged Hayek’s disciple to do the same job 13 years earlier. The difference was that while Britain implemented most of Hayek’s recommendations, Ceylon ignored them,” Wijewardene rued.
P. K. Balachandran
P. K. Balachandran is a senior Indian journalist working in Sri Lanka for local and international media and has been writing on South Asian issues for the past 21 years.
The use of Indian rupee (INR) in Sri Lanka-India bilateral trade is facilitating traders from both countries to cut transaction costs by over 50 percent while enabling same day trade settlements.
Joining a panel discussion themed ‘Indian rupee denominated trade settlements between India and Sri Lanka and the impact to importers’ organized by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Bank of Ceylon Deputy General Manager – International Treasury and Investments, R.M.N. Jeewantha highlighted that traders from both countries are able to make over 50 percent saving in transaction costs by using INR.
The transaction charges are quite high when you are sending money through New York or U.S account. The banking charges alone comes to about US$ 30-35. If you conduct the transaction using INR, there won’t be any charges like that. So, it’s a very cost-effective method,” he said.
Further, he noted that Sri Lankan importers do not need to allocate margins for exchange rate fluctuations when trade is conducted in INR.
When you invoice Indian exporters in INR, they are not exposed to any exchange risk, because exporters in India, anyway, conduct their businesses in INR. So, there’s no need to put any margins for exchange rate appreciation or depreciation,” he added.
Further, he pointed out that same-day settlements have a distinct advantage in INR trade as earlier same-day trade settlements were not possible under the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism.
According to the Central Bank, around six Sri Lankan banks have opened Nostro accounts in India and 10 more banks are in the process of opening Nostro accounts to facilitate trade settlements in INR. With more banks coming onboard, Jeewantha noted that exporters and importers would get more competitive exchange rates moving forward.
As of February, he noted that BOC performed around 180 transactions in INR. In order to promote trade settlements in INR, he stressed that educating Indian exporters remains crucial.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan branch of State Bank of India (SBI) is currently in the process of enabling INR letters of credit for Sri Lankan importers.
Moving forward, State Bank of India (SBI) Country Heads, Ravindra Kumar Jha opined that both countries are set to benefit from conducting bilateral trade in INR as it would help to lessen fluctuations in exchange rate.
***One company registered in Lagos remains inactive according to the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission
***Directors of Petrichor Capital named defendants in $4.6 million US fraud case
*** Vitol group repeatedly blacklisted for supplying substandard fuel to Sri Lanka
The Daily Mirror conducted a research on the six companies who had submitted Expressions of Interest over the proposed new refinery in Hambantota, other than Sinopec, and found shocking revelations with one company also being listed as ‘inactive’. Following are the results from the research.
Grant & Shearer
Grant & Shearer Ltd of Nigeria has been listed as a commodity trading company, classified as a private company limited by shares. Incorporated in 1992, the company is currently listed with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission as inactive. The company’s last registered address in 2009 with the Commission, currently shows a slum area in Lagos, Nigeria when searched on Google Street view. Grant & Shearer’s business registration number has also been linked with another business entity named ABDUL RAZAK ENT which is also inactive.
Petrichor Capital Sdn Bhd
Petrichor Capital Sdn Bhd, registered in 2017 lists its principal place of business in Malaysia with an office in the United Kingdom. The company’s directors were named as defendants in a court case filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2021.
A leading importer of food service and safety equipment in the US alleged that the Petrichor defendants jointly engaged in a fraudulent scheme to defraud the US company over $4.6 million.
The agreement, according to court documents, was made during the height of COVID-19 pandemic when personal protective equipment (PPE) was in short supply. Petrichor defendants were involved in a deal where the company was allegedly paid to supply nitrile protective gloves but failed to deliver the procurement.
The Vitol Group
The Vitol Group is an energy and commodities company, also recognized as the world’s largest independent oil trader. Vitol offers crude oil and product trading, shipping, refining, terminals and investments services, with its largest offices based in Geneva, Houston, London and Singapore.
However, the Singapore-based Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, which has been awarded contracts for the import of diesel and petrol in Sri Lanka has been blacklisted several times.
The company was first blacklisted in 2009, for supplying a stock of High Sulphur Fuel Oil mixed with waste lubricants. Vitol later paid $ 150,000 to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in 2011. In 2012 Vitol was once again blacklisted on the endorsement of then Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha, following hundreds of complaints by motorists.
Most recently Vitol Group agreed to pay $95.7 million to resolve bribery charges with law enforcement authorities in the United States and Brazil in 2020. Vitol did not admit nor deny the charges of corruption-based fraud and attempted market manipulation, but agreed to the payout related to bribery and offering kickbacks to employees of certain state-owned entities in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico in exchange for preferential treatment and access to trades,” according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Other contenders
Harree Management Services (Pvt) Ltd is listed as an accounts management company, which is partnering with Abu Dhabi based Marka Invest. Marka Invest is a company which specializes in real estate development, although the company profile lists itself as a brokerage firm dealing in investment, general trading and oil products.
No business information exists on Matin Tejarat in several business registries. The company’s website indicates that it is a trade company primarily dealing with the imports of food, polymer, cosmetics, pharma and feed raw materials, based in Iran.
Dandeniya Engineering Sales and Service Syndicate, the only Sri Lankan company to submit an EOI, also does not have publicly listed information. (Kalani Kumarasinghe)
Sri Lanka yesterday held an investor presentation in order to explain the current macroeconomic situation and outlined the key pillars and objectives of the IMF program as well as the next steps with regard to the engagement with creditors.
Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe told the virtual presentation that Sri Lankan Government has embarked on an ambitious reform agenda, and we have successfully achieved all prior actions required to unlock the IMF financing.
They said As per the IMF program, we are fully committed to achieving fiscal consolidation and implementing fiscal structural reforms; restoring public debt sustainability; restoring price stability and rebuilding external buffers; safeguarding financial system stability; and reducing corruption vulnerabilities and further introducing growth-enhancing reforms
Global creditors and investors were told that Sri Lankan people are the Government’s priority, and as part of the IMF program, it aims to enhance the existing social safety nets to protect the most vulnerable.
As a result, Sri Lanka’s economy has already shown some encouraging stabilization signs, with year-on-year inflation slowing down and earnings from tourism rebounding to more standard levels.
It is said that eighty percent of our oil imports are consumed by motor vehicles.
Thus we have too many motor vehicles and the spares which we can make for them are many. It is time that Motor Car Dealers switch to making motor spares. My Paper tells it all.
Half a Million Jobs Lost?-Motor Trade. Is there a way out?
Posted on March 14th, 2021 in Lanka Web
By Garvin Karunaratne
500,000 jobs lost-Local Vehicle Industry(The Island 13/3/21) sends my mind to many instances in my experience that offer an immediate solution.
Near my home on Old Kesbewa Road Gangodawila Nugegoda there is a man making oil filters. He has been making those since the Sixties and selling them some where. In the UK and US where I have happened to have lived for years there are local makers of oil filters. It is very rare for a manufacturer’s oil filter to be obtained from as far as France for a Peugeot or Germany for a BMW. Instead there are local oil filters, silencers, radiators and many other car parts.
Media Release Sri Lanka’s High Commission in India
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda who is on an official visit to the State of Maharashtra met with the President of the Mumbai center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Shri Brajhari Das at the Society’s center in Juhu today 2032.03.30. The day also marks the Ram Navami, a Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of Lord Rama.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, otherwise known as the Hare Krishna movement, includes five hundred major centers, temples and rural communities, nearly one hundred affiliated vegetarian restaurants, thousands of local meeting groups, a wide variety of community projects, and millions of congregational members worldwide.
ISKCON, which belongs to the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradāya, a monotheistic tradition within the Vedic or Hindu culture, was founded by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda in New York City in 1966.
Sri Lanka’s Consul General in Mumbai Dr. Valsan Vethody also joined High Commissioner Moragoda in the meeting.
In keeping with his policy roadmap “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India”, High Commissioner Moragoda has been promoting dialogue with all major religions in India.
Happiness is a very subjective term when we talk of it at individual level but when it is about some country or some nation, it doesn’t remain subjective. Practically an uprising graph of success and achievements is the basic indicator of happiness and successful are only those who face the worst with undefeatable determination and a never-dying hope of good days. Recently the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network has published The World Happiness Report 2022. Finland has been ranked as the happiest country, Denmark has retained its second position followed by Iceland, Switzerland and Netherlands. India is at 136th number whereas Pakistan is at 121 on the happiness index. Unfortunately Afghanistan has been named as the unhappiest country.
As far as, we the people of Pakistan are concerned, no doubt we are among those successful ones who never bend down in front of hardships and trials. A bright ray of hope always circles around us and keeps us alive. We are always hopeful that someday in near future, things would be alright. No doubt, at present Pakistan is passing through the most drastic phase of its life. The hardships, this nation is facing have not been so severe in nature if they were not accompanied by insurgent terrorist’s activities. Though our security agencies are doing all their best to curb the menace of terrorism but the stormy ocean still seems adamant on giving us more tough time. In spite of all those hurdles and obstacles, hardships and hurdles, the most pleasant reality is that we have not lost hope of a sunny day after this troublesome weather. We have our own happiness and our own joys; the hope of happy days to come is no doubt the most beautiful of all these joys.
The month of March always adds a lot to the beauty of natural scenery in Pakistan as this is the month associated with the spring season. This is the month when everyone could feel the presence of a comparatively mild blowing breeze, eager to shower clouds, ice crystal hail stones, lush green trees and colorful flower beds; certainly it all makes the whole atmosphere enchanting and mesmerizing. Another salient feature of this month is 23rd March, the day when in 1940 the foundation stone of Pakistan was laid in Lahore by passing the Lahore Resolution. The Pakistan Armed Forces usually hold an elegant military parade in the Capital Islamabad to celebrate this great day but it is something very pinching that the anti-Pakistan elements always try to add some pain and some agony to the colorful and fragrant happiness associated with the month of March through their lily-livered activities. The killing of Brigadier Mustafa Kamal Barki on 21st March, 2023 is also one of such ‘chicken- hearted’ activities by the terrorists.
Brigadier Mustafa Kamal Barki was a high-ranking officer of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and was leading an encounter with the hard-core foreign-supported terrorists in South Waziristan’s Angoor Adda. This place is in Pakistan’s northwest region bordering Afghanistan. The martyred Brigadier Mustafa Kamal Barki’s vehicle was targeted by the terrorists in the dark of night. His driver also sacrificed his life during that incident. After the incident, Pakistan military media wing, the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said in an official statement that an intense exchange of fire took place between the two sides. Brigadier Barki and his team ‘put up a valiant resistance against the terrorists during the encounter and the officer sacrificed his life for the peace of the motherland’. His sacrifice is a proof of the firm resolve of the security and intelligence agencies of Pakistan to eliminate the menace of terrorism from every inch of the country.
It is a reality the worsening law and order situation in Pakistan’s neighbouring countries particularly in Afghanistan, directly gives a rise to the terrorist activities in Pakistan. We see that in 2022 compared to 2021, there was a 27% spike in terrorist attacks and now in 2023 this rise seems reaching above that range of 27%. A very shocking beginning of the new wave of terrorism in 2023 was noticed on 30th January when a mosque in Peshawar was targeted by a suicide bomber at around 1:30 p.m. The mosque was located inside a high-security compound that included the headquarters of the provincial police force and a counterterrorism department. At the time of the bombing, between 300 and 400 police officers were offering their prayers in the mosque. This terrorist activity killed more than 100 people and left more than 200 seriously injured. On 17th February, a group of armed men attacked the central police station in Karachi. Two policemen lost their lives and nine others were seriously injured in that attack. On 25th February, at least two policemen were killed in a remote-controlled blast in Baluchistan’s Khuzdar district. On 26th February, a blast at a crowded market in Baluchistan province killed at least four people and wounded 14. On 6th March, a suicide bomber in Baluchistan killed nine policemen. On 13th March, two more people were killed in another Khuzdar bombing; and now another son of Pakistan Brigadier Barki sacrificed his precious life for his motherland.
Astonishing is the fact that after every terrorist activity, the responsibility is allegedly claimed by some Islamist militant organization; all those who lose their lives in all such incidents are the Muslims and the majority of the targeted ones belong to the law-enforcement agencies. It is very ironical rather ridiculous that the so-called Muslim militants are killing the Muslims. This situation is giving birth to a feeling of fear and horror; the world around us calls this feeling ‘Islamophobia’. It is a day-light fact that we could never be a friend to whom we are frightened of. In this rapidly changing world, we need friends not foes. Internationally, intelligent and wise nations are trying their utmost to settle down their conflicts with their once rival nations in a cordial way. How can we develop friendly relationship with the world around us, in presence of ‘Islamophobia’ type of feeling? It means those behind the terrorist activities in Pakistan do not want Pakistan’s cordial friendly relationship with the world around. We would have to think whether the organizations involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan are really of the Muslim origin or in the name of terrorism, the Muslim organizations are being defamed. The answer to this question would lead us to a way to ever-green happiness.
A symposium on maritime security in the Bay of Bengal was convened, Colombo. Pathfinder Foundation organised the event with U. K. based Torchlight Group International (TAG) and the Royal United Services Institution (RUSI).
The symposium culminated in a 6-month pilot project involving three countries, namely Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, resulting in regional papers and perception surveys encompassing communities of all three countries. Pathfinder Foundation prepared the Sri Lanka Country Paper, which study was carried out by Foundation’s National Consultant, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Y.N. Jayarathna, supported by the Pathfinder Foundation team.
As a follow-up to the study, two symposiums were conducted. The first was held in Dhaka and the second in Colombo to share findings with a larger audience of specialists and practitioners. The Colombo symposium comprised several sessions. Chairman Pathfinder Foundation, Bernard Goonetilleke, made the Welcome Address with H.E. Sarah Hulton, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, delivered the Keynote Address.
The topic of session one was Organized Crime, which looked at the threat posed by transnational organized crime in the region, focusing on the issue of narcotics trafficking and other forms of maritime crime and the challenges faced explicitly by Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Speakers in this session were Rear Admiral (Retd.) Y.N. Jayarathna, who provided perspectives from Sri Lanka; Dr. Athaulla Rasheed, Department of Pacific Affairs, Australia National University sharing findings from the Maldives; Prof. Rashed Uz Zaman, Lead Researcher-BIMRAD from Bangladesh; Dr. David Brewster, Senior Research Fellow, National Security College, Australian National University providing a regional perspective and Dr. Anasua Basu Ray Choudhury and Ms. Sohini Bose from Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India sharing data and findings from the perception survey.
The focus of session two was illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing. Challenges presented for monitoring and tracking illegal activities across the region, which especially affect the Sri Lankan fishing industry, were a subject of discussion. Prof. M.J.S. Wijeyarathe, Chairman National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and Nur Ahmed, Research Officer (BIMRAD joined the panel of experts from Australia and India for this session.
Session three on Climate Change and Environmental Protection examined the region’s growing challenges due to climate change exacerbated by maritime disasters such as the X-Press Pearl, which UNEP described as the worst to have affected Sri Lanka. The social, environmental and economic effects of climate change and maritime disasters on the environment and maritime industry in Sri Lanka and the Maldives were discussed and deliberated by the panel, which consisted of Ms. Darshani Lahandapura, Former Chairman of Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), who provided an insightful presentation of the adverse effects of maritime disasters in the broader environment, whilst Rear Admiral (Retd.) Y.N. Jayarathna added findings from the study. Findings from Bangladesh, a regional view and perception survey data were added to the session.
The fourth and final session on Regional Cooperation – the Role for the Maldives- primarily focused on the future of regional maritime cooperation, the role of the Maldives and third-party actors beyond the region. Dr. Athaulla Rasheed shared findings from the Maldives Country Paper whilst Amb. Sumith Nakandala, former Secretary General of BIMSTEC and Senior Director of Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) provided expert comments from a regional perspective. The rest of the panellists added to the discussion.
In her closing remarks, Ms Veerle Nouwens, Senior Fellow, RUSI, reiterated the importance of a regional and extra-regional architecture to address maritime security threats in the Bay of Bengal, which has emerged as one of the key recommendations of this pilot project. She added that the report in its final form would be published and available online for interested parties to study.
Considering the recent public inquiries and the developments observed relating to cryptocurrencies, which are also commonly referred to as crypto”, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) wishes to reiterate to the public of the significant risks associated with using and investing in cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a type of virtual currency that is generated by private entities and not by a monetary authority of a country.
The term ‘cryptocurrency’ refers to a digital representation of value that is implemented using cryptography and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) or similar technology. It is observed that crypto-trading is widely promoted by certain entities as a profitable investment. However, recent complaints received by CBSL have shown that members of the public have incurred heavy losses on their crypto-investments and in certain instances have also been subject to financial scams conducted through crypto-related schemes.
CBSL has already highlighted, through Press Releases issued in 2018, 2021, and 2022, the significant financial, operational, legal and security related risks as well as customer protection concerns posed to users of cryptocurrency. These risks and concerns have already materialised with the recent failures of various global institutions engaged in cryptocurrency businesses, and the collapse and loss of value of some cryptocurrencies.
The public is reminded that cryptocurrencies are unregulated investment instruments which are not recognized as an asset-class in Sri Lanka. Further, cryptocurrencies are not considered as legal tender in Sri Lanka and have no regulatory safeguards relating to their usage in the country. As per the Directions No. 03 of 2021 under Foreign Exchange Act, No. 12 of 2017, Electronic Fund Transfer Cards (EFTCs) such as debit cards and credit cards are not permitted to be used for payments related to cryptocurrency transactions. Cryptocurrency operates through informal channels, and therefore, it does not contribute to the national economy and can also cause a loss of valuable foreign currency to the country.
The public is also warned of the growing number of financial scams operating with the promise of high returns based on crypto-investments. These scams include deceiving individuals and obtaining money from them with the promise of providing a high return by investing money in cryptocurrency, as well as deceiving individuals to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency projects. Such scams circumvent traditional regulatory and legal protection mechanisms, resulting in individuals losing their hard-earned money.
CBSL strongly advises the public to safeguard their hard-earned money and not to invest or engage in any cryptocurrency scheme offered through the Internet, other forms of media, or directly by any persons. The public is also notified that CBSL has not issued any licence or authorized any individual or business to operate schemes involving cryptocurrency, and has not authorized any Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) or any variant of it, cryptocurrency mining operations, cryptocurrency exchanges, deposit-taking or custody services related to cryptocurrency or any cryptocurrency investment advisory service.
CBSL also urges those who are engaged in promoting and facilitating the promotion of investing and trading in cryptocurrency to refrain from such activities, considering the wide range of risks associated with cryptocurrency and the resulting hardships to the public, including financial losses.
(Bloomberg) — A battle is shaping up between global bondholders and Sri Lankan authorities as the nation seeks to restructure its debt to gain access to more aid from the International Monetary Fund.
Overseas investors such as BlackRock Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co. are demanding that domestic debt holders share billions of dollars of losses as the government prepares to outline its plans on Thursday. But authorities haven’t committed either way, with officials mindful that piling losses on local banks may endanger financial stability.
The government will give more clarity by April, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena said at a forum in Colombo Thursday, when asked if local debt will be restructured.
I do expect some parts of the local debt will be included in the restructuring,” said Clifford Lau, Singapore-based portfolio manager at William Blair Investment Management, which owns the nation’s dollar and local bonds. However, the calibration of the domestic debt restructuring perimeter is a very delicate matter due to repercussions on the financial sector.”
The South Asian nation will have to balance local interests against the demands of global investors as it restructures $84 billion of debt to haul the economy out of the worst slump in decades. A speedy resolution will help Sri Lanka to avoid the fate that has befallen Zambia, which hasn’t been able to tap the global bond market after talks with its creditors stalled
Sri Lanka’s local currency debt stood at around $38 billion in 2022, while its external borrowings totaled $41 billion, according to the IMF, which gave the nation a $3 billion bailout last week.
IMF Review
The IMF’s four-year loan program is reviewed every six months. Funds will be disbursed based on Sri Lanka’s ability to meet targets that include wealth taxes and debt reductions.
Sri Lanka is seeking to strike a debt restructuring deal by the time the first review takes place, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the nation’s finance minister, said Thursday.
The nation’s dollar bonds have returned almost 19% this year to beat most of their emerging-market peers. Its notes due March 2030 have rebounded to about 36 cents on the dollar from a low of 22 cents in November amid optimism over their recovery value.
Barclays Plc expects some local debt to be restructured, and raised its recovery estimates for the nation’s dollar bonds last week to mid-40 cents on the dollar.
A small nominal haircut and credit enhancements like gross domestic product-warrants could improve recovery estimates closer to the mid-50s,” Avanti Save, a credit strategist at Barclays in Singapore, wrote in a note.
The IMF had outlined a scenario where Treasury bills can be switched to longer-term debt, while a select pool of local debt may be subject to maturity extension and a coupon cut.
A creditor group of the nation’s dollar bondholders, including BlackRock and Pimco, had written to the IMF expressing their willingness to engage in quick debt restructuring talks with the island nation.
It’s important to deal with this fast,” said Simon Hinrichsen, portfolio manager at Sampension Administrationsselskab AS in Hellerup, Denmark. Restructuring usually signal the trough in growth – balance sheets are repaired and investments start afterwards.”
• Instead of blaming each other lets come together to build a prosperous society for future generations
– The President said delivering the keynote address at the ‘Economic Dialogue- IMF & Beyond’
Sri Lanka has a final opportunity to progress and it is imperative for everyone to collaborate in creating a prosperous community for future generations, without resorting to finger-pointing, emphasized President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe made this statement during his keynote address at the ‘Economic Dialogue- IMF and Beyond’ panel discussion, which took place at the Colombo Galle Face Hotel this morning (30).
At the CEO Forum hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, President Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed that the Government should surpass the IMF program and concentrate on establishing a thriving community for upcoming generations, emphasizing the Government’s dedication to this goal.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe reflected on Sri Lanka’s past missed opportunities for development, specifically highlighting the failure to implement Mr. D.S. Senanayake’s proposals and the Shenoy Report of 1965. He further added that the country’s progress was hindered by the ethnic issue of 1978, which impeded the chance to rebuild the country’s foundation for development.
He said that the ethnic issue cannot be separated from the economic issue and if the country is to prosper, this issue must be resolved.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe highlighted Sri Lanka’s potential for a green economy and stressed the urgency for the country to embark on digitalization. He further emphasized that funding should be directed towards education, health, and social security for marginalized and underprivileged groups, rather than being spent on entities such as the Sri Lanka Petroleum Corporation, Sri Lankan Airlines, and the Ceylon Electricity Board, which have already drained a significant amount of the country’s resources.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of State for Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Minister of State for Investment Promotion Dilum Amunugama, Members of Parliament Eran Wickramaratne, M.A. Sumanthiran, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayake, President’s Senior Adviser on Climate Change Ruwan Wijayawardena, President’s Economic Adviser Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance Deshal De Mel, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. Mahinda Siriwardena, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, and others attended the event.
The Panel discussion was moderated by Attorney at law Mohamed Adamaly and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Vish Govindasamy, Chairman of Joint Apparel Association Forum Sri Lanka (JAAFSL) Sharad Amalean, BASL representative Attorney at law Harsha Fernando, Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) Chairman Ashique M.Ali , Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka (CIPM) Chairman Ken Vijayakumar, President of Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) Nuwan Gamage, The Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce(WCIC) Chairperson Anoji De Silva, President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) Sanjaya Bandara, The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors Chairman Faizal Salieh participated in the Panel as members representing Professional Bodies and Chambers.
Following is the keynote address delivered by President Ranil Wickremesinghe;
Honourable Minister, member of the Parliament, President of the Chartered Institute, distinguished guests and friends. Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya gave a good description of the economic problems we face today. Therefore, I will not cover that ground again.
Today, we are having the first discussion after the announcement of the IMF program. It’s being held in a hotel, which is a symbol of our first commercial economy; the plantation economy. The British are the ones who carried the transformation from a feudal economy to a commercial economy. The first ventures in coffee collapsed. And then came the big transformation of tea, rubber, coconut and the development of the other industries services and the Colombo port.
And this is a symbol of how people would come here and discuss issues of firstly the British and later on, the Sri Lankans. So that generation in 50 years created a new economy. Now, after independence, the task has come on us to continue that work. We have done so well that today our poverty line, people living below poverty has increased from 12.5 to 25% of the population.
There are people who skip one meal. There are 500,000 who have lost their jobs. Many small and medium enterprises are on the verge of collapse. What happened? Who’s responsible? All of us are responsible for the situation we are in today. We must remember that. Whether we are the politicians, whether we are the business community, whether we are the professionals, whether we are the trade unions, whether we are the civil society and more than others, whether we are the media or we are the Government administrators, we cannot run away from that responsibility.
We must all bear that. If you still continue pointing fingers at each other, we will not succeed. But what matters to us is not merely the IMF program, but also what comes beyond that. What we have to do now is to ensure that the next generation will live in a prosperous society.
That’s all that the Government is seeking to do. The start is difficult, as the minister explained, but nevertheless we have to go along. We cannot by any mean move away from it. Our task is not merely to stabilize the economy, but to ensure growth, to grow in this new global economy, and to go ahead. These are facts that we can’t get away from.
If we are to do this, we must remember that one of the biggest issues that held back our growth is the ethnic issue. We have to think as Sri Lankans. We cannot divorce that issue from the economic issues. There are two E’s as far as I can see. And we have to address both those issues. I am not dealing with that issue now.
This is not the time or the place. But nevertheless, we have to decide. We have to acknowledge. Secondly, how do we carry on our discussions at this crucial moment? We are a democratic country. Open debate is useful and it’s good that we have members representing Government and opposition, the business community and the professions. But we have to discuss and debate these issues and the discussion must take place in the halls of discussion from Parliament downwards, not in the streets. That type of agitation is no longer suitable for a country that goes on to development. But the decision is ours to take, not for the Government to enforce. We can only ensure law and order, but otherwise, where do we hold our discussions? That’s the second issue. So from here, we have to go forward.
I will not deal with the details of the IMF package. As you all are aware, in addition to what the honourable state minister said, there are also other important objectives. It will bring about a significant revenue base, fiscal adjustment based on progressive tax reforms to raise Sri Lanka’s revenue to GDP ratio. It is a progressive one so that we gradually reduce the tax burden on the poor, who has to bear the brunt of the VAT system.
Better public expenditure and debt management through essential institutional reforms and enhanced social safety net to cushion the poor. Restoring price stability and a market determined flexible exchange rate, and rebuilding our international reserves. Then, ensuring financial stability through a healthy banking system. Now, these are some of the key objectives of this IMF reform, in addition to what the minister has mentioned.
Therefore, what we are seeking is to stabilize the economy by 2026, and come back to virtually the same ratios we had in 2019. So we have seven years to come back to 2019. Is that enough?
That is the issue. Anyway, approval of this program will allow Sri Lanka to commence negotiations with private and official creditors on restructuring its debt, in line with the parameters set by the IMF debt sustainable assessment and also the commitments that I have made with my letter of March 14. We hope to conclude the discussions and arrive at a comprehensive restructuring agreement with the creditors.
By the time the first review under the EFF in six months takes place in order to keep its part a bargain with the creditors and fully benefit from the debt restructuring, Sri Lanka will need to implement the commitment under this four years economic program. So we still have to start the debt restructuring, especially the discussions with our private creditors.
From here, do we stop at this stage and do the debt restructuring and the four-year program? That is not enough. If you want to give a future to your children, if you want a future of the youth, then we have to go forward because Sri Lanka is today at the crossroads between seizing the opportunity for growth to fix our long-standing institutions and structural problems to become a prosperous society, or denying our problems, rejecting change and stagnating as a lower middle-income country.
Implementing this program is how we seize the opportunity for a more prosperous future. The dissatisfaction with all our systems, with the Government, with the opposition, with the conventional groups, resulted in last year March of young people marching on to Galle Face Green; The start of the Aragalaya. Unfortunately, it was taken over by violent extremists.
Then what have the young people done now? They are voting with their feet and leaving the country. So this is what we have to think, not to study the IMF program and decide whether we are going to support item one, we are not support item two, how are we going to stabilize the industry or, create growth and become a prosperous society?
So this is what is most important than IMF. In addition to stabilization, is the growth enhancing structural reforms. If we don’t do these structural reforms, you can write it out and next time is going to be a far more violent uprising. And we must boldly go ahead with these structural reforms which will unlock our growth potential, put on a high growth trajectory, that’s the only way out.
So we have to reduce the role of the Government in the economy to increase efficient resource allocation, competition and productivity. We must not look at the Government to bail everything out. We cannot look at the Government as the ultimate provider of solutions to issues that cannot be resolved by the market. Then further trade liberalization, including rationalizing remaining Para tariffs. The world global economy is going to be more competitive, we have to adjust to it.
The labour market reforms will enable more females to join the labour force. As our population age, it is necessary that more females join the labour force. Remove the impediments to private investment, including by modernizing the regulatory and doing business environment. Reduce electricity costs by improving the generation and the mix and distribution of power generation leading to an efficient electrical distribution network.
Addressing Climate Change, we have to go through this. There is no way out. If anyone has another system, let them get up and say so. And what I am aiming in the next two years is to lay the groundwork for a highly competitive social market economy. We have to be competitive. So we’d like to upgrade our FTA with India to Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement and join the RCEP, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
I don’t think we should hesitate. If Laos can join and Cambodia can join and Myanmar can join, why can’t we join? That’s the issue. That means we are going to compete. A quite high level of competition means an efficient Government structure. And why do I say to social market economy? But we need more money. We can talk our education system covering 90% of the students having 10,000 schools.
But what is the quality of education? We need money to make it one of the best education systems in South Asia or the best education in South Asia in the next decade. That is social progress. Secondly, the health system. We spend a lot of money on health, but do we get the benefit of every rupee we spend? We need to put more money into the social safety network, to the poor, to the vulnerable.
We have to help them. So that we have to get the bulk of our money in to it and not to support the Petroleum Corporation or the CEB or Sri Lankan. And we wasted too much of our resources on those occasions. So let us look at how we go ahead. Our potential for green economy at the moment is good, not only renewable energy, but green hydrogen, green ammonia and many other outputs resulting from this green energy, especially the biomass which we have not thought of and wave energy.
We should get into it immediately, like we got into the apparels as soon as the 1978 reform started. Start the digitalization. Start with the Western Province where 50% of the economy is and spread out to the other areas of high economic activity, then cover the rest of the country. We have to look at tourism one which will get us average of $500-1000 a night.
We can start off with the low hanging fruit, and another low hanging fruit is agriculture, where productivity is small. Let us modernize agriculture and fisheries. That’s the start of another low hanging fruit. As far as manufacturing and industries is concerned, let’s not get there step by step.
Then, Government money must go to establish the infrastructure for such industries and services. These are some that I can think of but you’ll can think of more. Sri Lanka becoming a regional logistic centre, the offshore potential for the offshore economy, all these are matters to be discussed. So we must take this chance. We can’t wait.
We’ve been missing out on all the opportunities for restructuring. When we became independent, Mr. D.S. Senanayake said let’s be independent, cultivate and let us aim to be self-sufficient in rice. When we saved that foreign exchange, we’ll be much better off.” He also called Sir John Kotelawala to start the hydroelectricity systems. Then the first round of reforms after that was not introduced by the UNP. The most significant one was Mr. Philip Gunawardena’s Paddy Land Act. It was not a communist measure; the Americans had carried out massive land reform pertaining to paddy land in Japan, in South Korea and Taiwan.
He just adapted that and it led to the, actually the growth of production in those countries. So he brought that in together with the Agrarian Services Department, and the Government had to establish the People’s Bank. It was shot down not by the opposition. It was shot down from within the Government. And you have this watered down act, which is there today.
So we missed the first chance of building upon what Mr. D.S. Senanayake had done. The second chance came again in 1965 with Mr. Dudly Senanayake’s report and the Shenoy report. The starting of industry, the Industrial Development Board, education reforms, increasing productivity and tourism. Some of these were implemented, but the Shenoy report was not implemented, and as a result, we lost the next opportunity.
If we had gone ahead with those reforms, it was similar to what Park Chung-hee brought in South Korea and Lee Kuan Yew brought into Singapore. The third round came in 1978. J.R. Jayawardena opened up the economy and went ahead, but we had to slow down because of the ethnic situation and the conflict that broke out in the country. Nevertheless, in 1989, the second stage was done by President Premadasa and when we pushed ahead, firstly to divest ourselves on some of those corporations which are doing quite well, like Kelani Tyres and as well as the push for investments both in the apparel sector as well as the tourist sector and a lot of other new industries which we started. But then that came to an end after 1994 as a next Government focused completely on resolving the ethnic issue at the expense of the economic development. It went on. So we missed that opportunity. Those who were behind us, got ahead of us.
Then came regaining Sri Lanka. We missed that. So how many more opportunities are we going to get? We haven’t got any, this is the last chance. Are we going to take it or not? That’s all that you to decide here. The details you can work out. We have a six month review, another six month review.
But what is in the IMF program, we have to go ahead with. But on what we are doing on the growth program, yes, we can discuss that further. And once the debate and the IMF program is over and the resolution is put to vote, thereafter we put out a sketch or a white paper on how the growth should take place, and I would like the National Council of Parliament to be engaged with the Government and for all of us to engage the rest of the sectors of society in determining what our future is going to be.
So all I request of you is to make up your mind that we are going to grow and this is the last chance and let’s press the accelerator to the floor. There is nothing else that we can do and I ask all of you to join the Government in this task we have undertaken. Thank you very much. And thank you for the Chartered Association for sponsoring this event.
Minister of State for Finance Mr. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, delivering the guest speech said:
We experienced a dual deficit for a period of time, which some took action to address. At times, this issue was overlooked as the gap between Government revenue and spending persisted, and non-interest Government spending continued to increase over time. This created a balance of payments issue, and large infrastructure developments were undertaken through loans that did not yield dollar earnings when needed. Additionally, the country faced unexpected challenges such as the Easter attack and COVID-19, which caused the country to shut down for days and led to the collapse of the tourism industry following the Easter attack.
The fertilizer policy caused a major conflict, but by 2022, the gross domestic product had reached 8.2. We resorted to taking out another loan to manage our debt stock. Rating companies consistently reminded us of our global standing. We allocated 20 percent, but we needed to find 12 percent, and we did not have the funds locally or internationally.
Our country experienced severe shortages of goods, resulting in long queues and public unrest. Our reserves reached negative values, and the Central Bank was forced to decide not to pay creditors. We turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with whom we have had 16 dealings. While we previously went to them as needed, we agreed to restructure debt with bilateral creditors. The public celebrated this victory, despite the many unique challenges we continue to face. Unfortunately, most previous agreements with the International Monetary Fund could not be maintained, and difficult decisions had to be made.
Currently, we face a new challenge where international organizations are scrutinizing us more than usual. Along with our regular duties, we must also control inflation. Our food inflation has risen to over 90 percent, causing great distress to the public. We cannot distribute or import goods to help alleviate this issue. One of the tough decisions we made was to raise bank interest rates, which was difficult for everyone. However, thanks to the extreme measures taken by the Central Bank, inflation is now returning to normal.
We need to increase our direct taxes to recover what we have lost. Despite our efforts, there is still a significant loss of income, either subtly taken from us or lost due to various reasons. We are currently engaged in a national exercise, and its success is crucial for us.
The Electricity Board previously functioned as a social welfare agency, so increasing electricity bills is an unpopular decision. Social security should be provided to those in need, but the selection process must be done carefully by responsible officers. Officials often avoid taking on this responsibility. Work-related issues can also arise despite our progress. It is necessary to make the Central Bank independent, and a bill to this effect has been introduced to Parliament. Additionally, a robust anti-corruption bill is also being proposed. To effectively address the needs of the people, loss-making public institutions must be restructured.
The Government’s move towards divesting from businesses is a positive step that must be done transparently. However, society may have a different perception, and it is important to explain the true situation to the people. These actions should be taken to help reduce the daily expenses of the common people. Chartered Accountants are highly skilled financial managers and possess great talents and responsibilities. Their commitment and support are crucial in building the country, as they generate income from the main institutions. It is essential to view these developments positively and in good faith.
The initial investment is expected to be $42.5 million.
India and Sri Lanka have agreed to jointly build in two stages a 135-megawatt solar power plant in the island nation’s eastern port district of Trincomalee to promote renewable energy.
Sri Lankan Cabinet has given approval for the project as the country aims to generate 70 per cent of its electricity requirement by 2030 from renewable energy sources.
“The National Thermal Power Corporation of India and the Ceylon Electricity Board have entered into an agreement to jointly implement a solar power project in two stages,” said a note from the Cabinet meeting held this week.
“As the first stage of this project, it is expected to implement a solar power project of 50 megawatts with a total estimated investment of $42.5 million and to construct a 220 kilowatts transmission line with 40-km length from Sampoor to Kappalthure spending $23.6 million. It is expected to complete this stage in two years from 2024 to 2025,” it said.
A solar power generation plant with an additional 85 megawatts is expected to be constructed under a total investment of $72 million at the second stage of this project, the note said.
The Indian government has expressed willingness to promote and strengthen cooperation in the renewable energy sector by operating and facilitating power generation projects utilising solar and wind power, including coastal wind and biomass, it said.
India will also provide continuous transmission of infrastructure in places where agreed mutually in Sri Lanka including the northern and eastern provinces in cooperation with private and state entrepreneurs in India and Sri Lanka, the note said.
A 2013 agreement with NTPC to build a thermal power plant in Sampur was later abandoned over objections to the environmental hazards of using coal for power generation.
‘I’m hopeful that this will have a positive impact on other cases in Diego Garcia.’
Two Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were transferred to Rwanda earlier this month after attempting suicide on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia were approved by UK authorities on Thursday to receive asylum in a third country.
Documents notifying the man and woman of the decision, which The New Humanitarian has reviewed, say they will not be returned to Sri Lanka, where they fear persecution by the government. A third country for resettlement has not yet been identified, however.
The two asylum seekers, Hamshika Krishnamoorthi, 22, and Ajith Sajithkumar, 22, were among the first 89 Tamil asylum seekers to arrive on Diego Garcia in October 2021. Their boat broke down near the island, and they were rescued by British forces.
The numbers of Sri Lankan asylum seekers swelled to nearly 200 in 2022, but many either accepted payments from the UK to return to Sri Lanka or voluntarily left by boat to seek asylum on the French island of Réunion.
Of the remaining 68 asylum seekers, many say they were tortured and sexually abused by Sri Lankan security forces for alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – a separatist group that fought for independence during a 26-year-civil war against the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government.
While more than 50 people have had their asylum claims assessed by UK officials on the island, most have been rejected. Their rejection letters include the line: A removal order will be issued for your return to Sri Lanka.”
I am very happy, but at the same time, worried about how much longer it will be,” Krishnamoorthi told The New Humanitarian via WhatsApp from the Rwanda Military Hospital in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
Ajith Sajithkumar, left, and Hamshika Krishnamoorthi at the Rwanda Military Hospital in Kigali in March.
Geeth Kulasegaram, a senior legal adviser at London-based Jein Solicitors who represents the two asylum seekers, said he is seeking a stay order from a judge in the UK to prevent his clients from being brought back to Diego Garcia.
He said the opinions of medical experts in Rwanda were instrumental in securing asylum for his clients.
We had already submitted strong medical evidence for both [clients], warning the BIOT [authorities] that they are suffering from serious mental health issues and [are] at high risk of suicide,” he told The New Humanitarian via WhatsApp. Initially, the BIOT did not appear to have considered them properly or [with] enough weight. However…the doctors in Rwanda also confirmed the same, which must have left the BIOT with no choice.”
I’m hopeful that this will have a positive impact on other cases in Diego Garcia,” he added.
The UK government came under criticism by rights groups and the UN this month over the passage of the Illegal Migration Bill”, which aims to curtail the rights of asylum seekers in order to deter them from crossing the English Channel in small boats. While the UK recorded a 20-year high of 45,000 asylum applications last year, critics of the new law have pointed out that this figure falls well below the average among European Union states.
Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), has had no permanent civilian population since the UK evicted the native Chagossian people in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for a joint British-American military base.
For the last 18 months, the group of asylum seekers have been confined to a fenced camp on the island, where many have said food and medical services are inadequate, and communications are routinely cut off.
Dozens of asylum seekers on the island have staged multiple hunger strikes demanding assurances that they will not be sent back to Sri Lanka.
Last September, BIOT commissioner Paul Candler told the asylum seekers that none would be admitted to the UK, and the territory’s law had been changed to allow those deemed unsafe to send back to Sri Lanka to instead be taken to a safe third country”.
Krishnamoorthi and Sajithkumar attempted suicide on 1 March by swallowing sharp metal objects after a visiting UK government official allegedly told them they would be sent back to Sri Lanka. Three more asylum seekers attempted suicide in similar ways on 13 March. All five were transferred to a military hospital in Rwanda for medical and psychiatric treatment.
The following week, five more attempted suicide, according to Krishnamoorthi.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did respond to questions about whether the remaining asylum seekers on Diego Garcia would be able to have their asylum applications reviewed by third-party experts.
Kulasegaram said he plans to ask the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to arrange the transfer of his clients to a third country. He does not know how long the process will take.
speculation is rife that three Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs Harsha De Silva, Eran Wickramaratne and Kabir Hadim are to join the government while Dr. De Silva told the media that party politics is not important at this point of time.
“Party politics is not important at this point of time. What is important now is to adopt the right ideology to build up the nation,” he said.
“What one could understand from the speculation about us is that there are able people in SJB who could build up the nation,” he said.
He reiterated that whoever wants to build up the nation needs a fresh mandate. (Yohan Perera)
China and Brazil have reportedly reached a deal to trade in their own currencies, ditching the US dollar as an intermediary, as part of the rising global use of the Chinese renminbi.
The deal will enable China and Brazil to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions directly, exchanging renminbi for reais and vice versa instead of going through the dollar, AFP reported on Wednesday, citing the Brazilian government.
“The expectation is that this will reduce costs… promote even greater bilateral trade and facilitate investment,” AFP quoted the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency as saying.
This followed what the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, said in February about it signing a memorandum of cooperation with its Brazilian counterpart on establishing renminbi clearing arrangements in Brazil.
The arrangements will boost the usage of renminbi for cross-border transactions between enterprises and financial institutions in the two countries and further facilitate bilateral trade and investment, the PBOC said. (China Daily)
The 51st commemoration ceremony for philanthropic politician and former minister Philip Gunawardena, was held yesterday (29), at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena received President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Philip Gunawardena Commemoration Ceremony and escorted him to the main hall.
At the commemoration event, keynote speeches were delivered by Uva Wellassa University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jayantha Lal Ratnasekara and Historian, Scholar, and International Film Award Winner Dr. Sinharaja Tammitta Delgoda.
During the event, a short film about the life of Mr. Philip Gunawardena was screened, and a song dedicated to him was released.
The Chancellor of the University of Colombo Venerable Murutthettuwe Ananda Thera, Ven. Alle Gunawamsa Thera, Ven. Bellanwila Raja Maha Viharadhipathi Ven. Dr. Bellanwila Dhammarathana Thera, religious priests, former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Ministers Nimal Siripala De Silva, Pavithra Devi Vanniarachchi, State Ministers Janaka Vakkambura, Geetha Kumarasinghe, D.B. Herath, Anupa Pascual, Members of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa, Dilan Perera, Vajira Abeywardena, Lakshman Kiriella, Duminda Dissanayake, Rauf Hakeem, S.M. Chandrasena, Kumara Welgama, Dallas Alahapperuma, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, Imtiaz Bakeer Marker, Ranjith Maddumabandara, Gevindu Kumaratunga, Yadamini Gunawardena, Ministers, Ambassadors, Governors and other guests attended the event.
Former DIG Nalaka Silva, who was arrested on charges of conspiring to assassinate former presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been reinstated.
Police department sources said that he has been appointed as the DIG in charge of Puttalam area.
DIG Nalaka Silva, who was in charge of the Terrorist Investigation Division at the time, was arrested in 2018 based on a complaint made by a person called Namal Kumara that there was a conspiracy to assassinate the two former presidents.
I have a long narrative to tell that I could not tell for 30 years. I know the sadness of being silenced for 30 years. Our society is not safe for disagreements. That was the society I was living in. The French philosopher Voltaire says even though I do not agree with your opinion, I will defend to the death your right to say it” This philosophy appealed to me because I was living in an extreme society & I now realize the essence of Voltaire’s quote. The person who has gone through harsh times values the good. When we formed the Jaffna Civil Society, we decided that we would agree to disagree. I lived in a society of disagreement, however, when I came to Colombo, I observed the same. I see a society unwilling to accept the opinion of others. This is a weak society. Whoever was holding power over us – whether in a totalitarian, autocratic, dictatorship society, those who ruled with guns, even those who were following democratic principles did the same. It is disappointing to live in such a society. If anyone doesn’t like what I am saying, I am prepared to listen to what is right, If anyone has a better argument than me & can convince me, I am ready to listen.
When I was a teenager, my hero was Prabakaran. I am not ashamed to say this. I thought he was my hero, because I had not seen a Sinhalese.When we were playing, LTTE used to come in cabs & put up screens & show us incidents – burning of the Jaffna library, July 83 riots, bombing refugee camp in Navali. After showing these incidents the LTTE tells us our enemy is the Sinhalese” because of Sinhalese we are struggling to survive” Sinhalese are evil animals” and calls us to join the struggle to fight the Sinhalese.
As I had not met a single Sinhalese, I thought what LTTE was saying was right.We were young, we did not know anything outside of our village, so we believed LTTE.
My mother was a teacher so I was fortunate to be able to read books about world revolutions. I read about what happened to Palestine, how PLO was formed, what was Hamas, what happened in Cuba, who was Che Guevera, who was Ho Chi Minh. While reading these books I came to realize that what was taking place in Sri Lanka was not a revolution. Che Guevera says that true revolution is non-violent but he too took up arms. We were told that LTTE & other Tamil groups were taking up arms against Sinhala” State oppression. We were always told that we had to fight against Sinhala Buddhist” mega racism.
I want to know how Sinhala & Buddhism came into their definition of racism”.
This thought has been drilled into our minds that even our children echo the sentiments.
Then we were told, this was an ethnic conflict. We asked ourselves this question. Is there a conflict between ethnicities. During the conflict, to escape harm, we ran towards the Sinhala areas. If two different ethnic groups were in conflict, why would we run towards the Sinhalese? We came to realize these issues” were created to fulfill other people’s interests. These had been nicely programmed into an industry. Ethnic conflict” was an industry to some & they utilized it to the fullest. They used the theme of ethnic conflict” to make money. All wars begin with lies. We were shown lies while a group made money from wars. They marketed the conflict. Then another team came with peace”. This was also marketed.
I was recently invited to speak at a good governance forum. I do not go prepared. When the question of ethnic conflict” was posed, I replied that I did not see any conflict between ethnicities (Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, Adiwasi, Africans or Chinese living in Sri Lanka) But all of us have issues. I told the forum that I have some specific problems to address. I am from Jaffna, I was born in Jaffna, I studied in Jaffna & I am still living in Jaffna.
There was a doctor who was a panelist at this forum who got upset with my opinion.The people who accused me of being impulsive in sentiment were now showing the same traits. Most times, we get excluded from forums by these educated” people claiming we are not educated, we don’t have qualifications, we don’t know English, we don’t know how to behave etc. This doctor questioned the organizing committee about who invited Arun Siddharth to the forum. The doctor writes to the organizing committee accusing me of being a member of AAVA sword gang, transporting ganja, indulging in extortions, having pending cases against me. This is the doctor who was going international claiming Sri Lanka had an ethnic conflict, I am also told that he gives briefings to the US State Dept once a week. This doctor is the one who regularly runs to the courts for constitutional changes. The organizers called me & told me not to take this personally. However, this was another case of injustice to me. I told the organizers that I wished to reply to the allegations. I replied to the doctor, that he may be having second hand information about me & requested a 10 minute meeting to sit & talk to the doctor to set the story straight. He did not reply & instead he said he was quitting the group. All the Sinhalese in the group supported me & claimed that I brought out the true story in Jaffna. The other Tamil lady in the group writes to me & says I declared an open war on high caste Tamils. In so saying, she admitted her high caste mentality. She was living over 20 years in the UK and has now come to represent the Tamils in Sri Lanka. This is how NGOs represent people.”
Arun next shows the 2024 UN Report on the Caste factor in North Sri Lanka.
The Govt has not responded to the report – either denied its contents or informed of investigating further. The Tamil politicians that campaign using UN reports about war crimes are also silent. There is a possibility that the UN may be trying to use the caste as a new marketing strategy.”
Arun shows the 1957 Prevention Social Disabilities Act.
Why should there be an Act if there is no caste problem. None of the provisions in the Act has been implemented but the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord & 13A has been enacted. This caste problem is over 2000 years old.
Let us imagine that 13A is given – will the woman who is denied water because of her caste, get water? Will any of the existing caste problems be solved.
Elilan’s wife claims, her husband surrendered with white flags & he is missing & she has filed a habeas corpus. I went with our files of missing but was told that the habeas corpus can only be filed against the State. Where is the justice for our missing.
The old lady in the video, has lost 4 sons to LTTE, 3 were tortured in LTTE torture chambers, the 4thson suffers kidney problems. The mother is without food. The father/husband committed suicide because he was unable to bear what happened to his children.
I am very emotional at this stage. I denounce armed conflict & solving problems by arms. I got scared during the aragalaya because violence was not a solution. But where are the solutions to our problems.
The TNA cannot provide any solution. The TNA are tiger nominated agents. LTTE was TNT – Tamil New Tigers in 1972 and became LTTE in 1976 after murdering Alfred Duraiappah. The 1976 Vaddukoddair Resolution resulted in giving low caste Tamils arms & we were put to death. We didn’t have land, education, money or understanding & because of this the elite Tamils pushed us to our death giving arms. Ponnambalam, Malaysian Chelvanayagam & the Colombo living Tamils took over the Political power. But will TNA solve the caste problems if 13A is given?
We are always the target. I cannot own a land because of my caste– my name denotes my caste. They have given themselves high caste names & we are identified with low caste names.
All of these conflicts are choreographed by India. During the Indo-Pak war, India did not want Pakistan to refuel in Sri Lanka. Similarly, India objects to Chinese ships docking in Sri Lanka, however, India violated Sri Lanka’s territory & dropped parippu – isn’t this a war crime, Indian soldiers fired and killed our people inside the Jaffna hospital, my relation also died with 80 other people.
Can India who committed these crimes present a solution?This is not a home-grown solution. Now they are trying to create a new problem as neo-colonialism agenda is going. India has introduced digital-classrooms and is teaching Hindi, but we should be learning Sinhala not Hindi. We are being separated from the Sinhalese, and are being taught Hindi – there is Shiv Sena, RSS, BJP all have branches in Jaffna. There is only an Indian embassy in Jaffna, why is only India being allowed an embassy. Who is controlling the decisions? What is happening to this country?
The main reason for all our problems – is the location of our country. If we were located somewhere else, we will not have this problem. This is the truth. We are being controlled not by our own but by outsiders.
The aragalaya supporters say that all had smart phones & used this to chase an elected President. What has happened is – the phone has been using the aragalaya supporters to do what was planned.This is how we are being monitored in Jaffna. When we pay for cable tv we see only Indian channels. Our people do not hear a word of Sinhalese or see any Sinhalese.
Arun shows a newspaper published in Jaffna, the editor he says is a close associate of Anton Balasingham.It was from him that Reuters, BBC got the details of Anton Balasinghams death. During the Rambukkana incident only 1 person died, but his column claims 4 persons were killed & 4 persons photos are also shown. This was false news. But 90% people will believe this news & no action has been taken against him.
Our problem has nothing to do with 13A – 13A is only being used to create an unnecessary problem. If India wants to solve problems – why don’t they first solve the problems in Nagalanda, Missoram or Kashmir?All round India, states are seeking self-determination, why doesn’t India give independence to these first?But India has constitutionally prevented separation in India but trying to separate Sri Lanka. India took over Sikkim in one day. Therefore, Indian foreign policy is very dangerous. Indian intelligence is very dangerous. They are the one’s who are controlling Sri Lanka’s North & East. We need to have our own external intelligence agency to handle these threats. If we do not address this external threat, there is likely to be another conflict using North & East.
We are sad that we have not been able to contribute to the development of Sri Lanka for over 40 years. There are a lot of Tamils in Jaffna, who feel they belong to this country & want to develop this country. We have no links to the Tamil leaders who claim to represent us. The world that our elders showed us, no longer exists.
I would like to ask Wigneswaran’s son who is married to a Sinhalese girl, what his opinion is.
I would like to ask Sumanthirans son who is married to a Sinhalese girl what is opinion is.
https://en.jaffnazone.com/news/5942
What will happen is these foreign educated children of the present politicians will return to Sri Lanka & try to rule over us & tell us how we should live.
We are not ready for any more political oppression/terrorism. There are still some groups who are secretly holding arms.
All the struggles are for power. If I am involved in an aragalaya and I am the theoretician and the originator of the agenda, I should be the one to benefit. If I am representing my people, I am representing by sacrificing my life and therefore I, Arun Siddharth wants to secure power and we are ready to talk with anyone/any party. If anyone can present facts & proof to our questions then we are ready to accept & engage in dialogue/discussion.
In late 1997, South Korea was hit by a severe financial crisis, which led to a sharp devaluation of its currency, the won, and a shortage of foreign exchange reserves.
To address this crisis, the South Korean government sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which agreed to provide a $57 billion bailout package in exchange for economic reforms and structural adjustments.
As part of the IMF bailout agreement, South Korea was required to repay its foreign exchange debt, which at the time was about $304 billion. To raise funds for this repayment, the South Korean government launched a national sacrificial movement in early 1998 to collect gold from citizens and companies.
Under the campaign, individuals and companies were encouraged to donate their gold items, such as jewellery and coins, to the government in exchange for certificates of appreciation. The government promised to use the collected gold to repay the foreign exchange debt owed to the IMF.
The campaign was widely supported by the South Korean public, with many people viewing it as a patriotic duty to help the country overcome its financial crisis. Over a six-month period, the campaign collected a total of 227 metric tons of gold, which was valued at about $2.4 billion at the time.
The success of the gold-collecting campaign played a significant role in helping South Korea overcome its financial crisis and repay its foreign exchange debt to the IMF. It also helped to restore confidence in the South Korean economy, which had been severely shaken by the crisis.
In conclusion, the gold-collecting campaign launched by South Korea in the late 1990s was a national sacrificial movement aimed at raising funds to repay the country’s foreign exchange debt.
The campaign was widely supported by the public and played a crucial role in helping South Korea overcome its financial crisis and restore economic stability.
In the gold-collecting campaign that took place in South Korea in the late 1990s, participants did not receive any monetary benefits for their donations. Instead, they received certificates of appreciation from the government as a token of gratitude for their contribution to the country’s economic recovery.
The certificates of appreciation issued to the participants were not tradable or transferable, and they did not have any cash value. However, they were considered a symbol of national pride and patriotism, and many participants were proud to receive them.
Despite not receiving any monetary benefits, participants in the gold-collecting campaign were motivated by a sense of duty to help their country in its time of need.
Many South Koreans saw the campaign as a way to demonstrate their commitment to the nation and contribute to its economic recovery.
In the end, the success of the campaign had benefits for all South Koreans, as it helped to stabilize the country’s economy and restore confidence in its financial system.
By repaying its foreign exchange debt to the International Monetary Fund, South Korea was able to avoid a more severe financial crisis and lay the foundation for long-term economic growth and stability.
Who are the sponsors of this new fad” being pushed down nations via corrupt Ministers or via funding media, academia, institutions etc? Many are wondering why so much of focus is being given to the LGBT movement & in particular transgenders & drag queens – in short fiddling with human sexuality. A bunch of billionaires who are behind the coloured revolutions, depopulation programs & regime change are busting a lot of money to roll out what appears to be another means to destroy humans.
George Soros Open Society Foundation, Peter Buffet (son of Warren Buffet) & Tom Gill with Arcus Foundation are at the forefront of this agenda according to David Icke & Jennifer Bilek.
Jon Stryker the grandson of Homer Stryker (Stryker Corporation) created Arcus Foundation for LGBT people donating more than $58.4m between 2007-2010.
Jon’s sister Ronda married William Johnston chairman of Greenleaf Trust a wealth management firm in which Jon was a board member. Ronda is Vice Chair of Spelman College, Georgia which received $2m from Arcus for queer studies program. Johnston & Ronda have been $30m to Spelman separately.
Rond is also trustee of Kalamazoo College which got $23m from Arcus in 2012.
Jon & Ronda’s other sister Pat works closely with gay megadonor Tim Gill (Gill Foundation)
Gill gave half a bill dollars to LGBT rights” groups.
Jon has also been donating millions to LGBT/transgender groups in Europe & Asia.
Arcus organizes conferences, leadership programs, research picking international leaders & offering rewards. The tamashas and fanfare naturally draws normal people into their fold.
It was in 2006 that the Yogyakarta Principles were launched to bring legal structures to ‘gender identity-ideology’. The UN was tapped via Michael O’Flaherty who was
In UN HR Committee since 2004. Arcus foundation was at the forefront of all of these global initiatives. Thus the pro-transgender initiatives have crawled into society via political activism.
ARCUS funds – Victory Institute, Centre for American Progress, ACLU, Transgender Law Centre, Trans Justice Funding Project, OutRight Action International, Human Rights Watch, GATE, Parliamentarians for Global Action, Council for Global Equality, UN, Amnesty International, GLSEN.
Thus it is clear how FUNDING” can do magic.
Now that they have penetrated the political framework, they are concentrating on public education – introducing perverse sex education programs on children in America & across the globe.
Arcus Foundation made Adrian Coman Director of International Human Rights Program – Coman was working for George Soros on transgender ideology upon children.
Arcus also funded NoVo Foundation founded by Peter Buffet in 2015 – advancing gender identity ideology by supporting faith organizations, sports, cultural associations, police department training & educational programs (see how they penetrate across spheres of society & use funds to launch their programs)
Arcus is also funding psychological organizations across US to further brainwash people’s minds.
Having witnessed the trauma that children in the US are being made to go through – the rest of the world must RESIST ANY SUCH PROGRAMS BEING INTRODUCED WHATEVER BRIBES” the politicians or officials take to launch them.
It is no surprise that the power of these wealthy donors have generated an increase in homosexuality & transgenders across continents with the power of their funding & programs strategically interlinked using powerful billionaire players & their contacts.
Thankfully there are some sensible medical practitioners around like Dr. Michael Laidlaw who warns of immense danger to children subject to gender change programs. There are also psychologists like Ray Blanchard who admits that a vast majority of gender dysphoric children revert to their biological gender if allowed to natural experience puberty.
Arcus Foundation & their associates in promoting transgender & LGBT movements are creating mentally ill, puberty blockers, & encouraging sex change surgeries that are costly & mentally & physically traumatic.
It is time people rise & raise their objections against this insidious plan which has nothing to do with any natural tendency but is part of a global agenda backed heavily by funds, tamashas, employment, awards and fringe benefits for those ready to plug into national systems.
Human biology should not be tampered with physically or mentally. People are born as girls or boys & they must grow up like girls or boys. There may be some who growing up show signs of imbalance – how they live is their choice that is their individual fundamental freedom, but there are no collective rights. Individual rights are guaranteed in every national constitution as everyone is by law to be treated equally.
What is taking place is that a group of people with money are throwing their money to create movements or influence existing movements to roll out an agenda that is turning people away from being their natural self & this is being done with a calculated set of objectives that include upsetting cultures, creating societal menaces, confused and traumatized humans – all avenues that these billionaires who are initiating the programs can tap into via their other networks to make more money out of sick or sickened individuals as a result of their programs. The rise in suicides and psychologically traumatized people who have been engulfed into this new trend as a ‘fad’ or fashion is on the rise & people must come forward to put a stop to it before Sri Lanka becomes culturally broken up like USA & now parts of Europe.
Money cannot erase or dilute the culture & heritage of a nation. Politicians should not be allowed to tamper with people’s lives by bringing BILLS that serve to erase the identity of people. A marriage is between a man & a woman who marry as husband & wife. Their union begets a child who is a girl or boy / a daughter or son & they identify their parents as mother & father. There should be no two men claiming to be mother or two women claiming to be fathers. These are all unnatural creations. Whoever wants to indulge in these new changes can create their own new names for it without tampering the existing names or trying to tarnish the meaning/definitions given to the names. The ironical aspect is the manner GAYS who get married” marry dressed as a groom & bride – copying the traditional attire, why don’t they create something else?
If the MP who tabled the Gay Bill in Sri Lanka, wishes to be gay, a drag queen, transgender or what not – that is his problem and he can do so – but he does not need to tamper with the lives of others & take them along his path.
Gun violence isn’t slowing down in America. So far this year, the US has seen at least 130 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in the US. The month of January this year had more mass shootings than in the previous five Januarys, dating back to 2018. The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
Gun violence is a contemporary global human rights issue. Anyone can be affected by firearm violence worldwide, but the rising trend of gun-related injuries in several states provides an alarming situation in the USA. The country is witnessing a surge in gun violence as the gun purchase rate has reached its highest level in 2020 and 2021. There have been more mass shootings than days so far in 2022; a trend that has continued each year since 2019. This year is likely to be the second-highest year for mass shootings in the United States on record, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive. Yet governmental bodies in the United States are ignoring the connection between gun violence and violation of human rights, resulting in more casualties each year.
So far in 2023, the Archive recorded 9,998 deaths related to gun violence. In 2022, the Gun Violence Archive recorded 647 mass shootings and 44,287 total deaths from gun violence. The United States is the only country in the world where there are more civilian guns than there are people, according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS), a Swiss research project. SAS reports that there are 120 guns for every 100 Americans.
While mass killings in the United States are usually perpetrated by men, uncertainty shook the American media on Monday, March 27, when it came to defining Audrey Hale. This 28-year-old was born female according to the police but defined himself using he/him pronouns on his LinkedIn page. Hale entered the Covenant School, a Presbyterian school located in the south of Nashville, Tennessee, on the morning of March 27. Equipped with an assault rifle, an automatic weapon and a handgun, the assailant killed three adults, including the principal, and three 9-year-old children, before police shot him dead.
A patrol responded quickly after being alerted by the school. The shooting took place on the second floor of the institution, which has about 200 children, from preschool to sixth grade. The schoolchildren were evacuated by bus and taken to a nearby church to meet their frightened parents.
According to Nashville Police Chief John Drake, the perpetrator was a graphic designer by training who “does identify as transgender.” But the authorities’ vagueness about this identity issue, and its possible importance in his criminal motives, has opened the door to speculation and political instrumentalization, to the detriment of the core issue: his weapons. Hale left a manifesto, written in the hours before his premeditated attack, and planned to commit a much larger carnage. He had a map of the school, showing the different access points. He also considered another target, but security at the school led him to abandon this plan. Two of his three weapons were legally acquired, according to investigators, who found no known criminal record.
Hale entered the building by shooting at a front door, then proceeded without encountering a security guard, which the school apparently did not have. According to the police, Hale, who lives in Nashville, attended the Covenant School on dates not yet specified. This may have fueled “resentment” against the school, said Drake. His car was found nearby.
On Monday, Joe Biden spoke with weariness in his voice before a speech on female entrepreneurship. “I’ve been to so many of these sites,” he said with a sigh, adding that the killings are “ripping the soul of this nation.” The American president once again questioned the inaction of Republicans in Congress, calling on them to adopt a ban on military-style weapons. They had been banned since 1993 before the legislation expired in 2004. Today, according to a startling Washington Post survey released Monday, nearly one in 20 adults – or about 16 million Americans – own at least one AR-15, the weapon used in 10 of the 17 bloodiest killings since 2012. “It’s a culture that’s killing us,” Shannon Watts, founder of the organization Moms Demand Action, told MSNBC.
Another school shooting has left children and adults dead, this time in Nashville. Shake your head and move on to the next headline, for this is America, where the routine nature of gun violence, including in places that are supposed to be havens for the young and vulnerable, has us trapped in an excruciating perpetual loop.
Monday at the Covenant School, a Christian academy serving preschoolers through sixth graders, a 28-year-old wielding two high-powered rifles and a handgun shot dead three children and three staff members. It is a curiosity in this case that the gunman was a gunwoman. Ninety-eight percent of mass shootings are perpetrated by males.
But it’s not the least bit surprising that this happened in a nation where guns are incredibly easy to come by, and in a state where one can carry just about any type of gun just about anywhere. Since 2018, American schoolchildren have suffered 157 shootings on school grounds that resulted in injuries or deaths. So far this year, the grim count is 13.
A child weeps while on the bus leaving The Covenant School following a mass shooting at the school in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023. (Nicole Hester/AP)
Every outburst of gunfire in a place where children are supposed to be nurtured and educated produces ripples of pain far beyond those wounded and murdered. The Washington Post estimates that nearly 300,000 students have experienced school gun violence since the Columbine massacre in 1999.
The nation will learn more about what motivated this killer — whether ideology or madness or anger or, likelier, some combination of the three. It will learn more about the actions of the police and other protectors; at first blush, they performed admirably. To adapt Leo Tolstoy’s observation on happy and unhappy families, every tragic incident is tragic in its own way.
But what links all tragic incidents here — the school shootings; the 129 mass shootings so far this year in the United States; the 40,000-plus gun deaths, mostly homicides and suicides, that are a deadly daily drumbeat — is ready access to firearms and ammunition and a culture that celebrates violence. Until those two overpowering variables change, nothing else will.
The USA must maximize the protection of human rights, creating the safest possible environment for most people, especially those considered to be at the greatest risk. If a state does not exercise adequate control over the possession and use of firearms in the face of persistent gun violence, this could amount to a breach of its obligations under international human rights law. It is yet to make a very progressive decision regarding stricter laws. So, the US should focus on its domestic condition while promoting the very same policy in its human rights and foreign policy.
Continuing his engagement with key officials of the Indian Government, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Milinda Moragoda met with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shri Shaktikanta Das today (29) at the Bank’s Headquarters in Mumbai. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner is on an official visit to the State of Maharashtra.
The meeting between the RBI Governor and the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka was held in a very cordial manner, and a range of issues pertaining to the bilateral economic cooperation was discussed. High Commissioner Moragoda thanked Governor Das for the support that India has been extending to Sri Lanka in the context of economic stabilization, particularly the currency swap arrangements and deferment of payments that materialized with the direct involvement of the Reserve Bank of India. He also thanked India for the leadership it took towards the realization of the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Sri Lanka.
The RBI Governor and the High Commissioner discussed economic recovery in Sri Lanka, and the pivotal role that India could play in it through greater integration of the economies in areas such as power, energy, ports, infrastructure, tourism, IT services,
etc. The ways and means to enhance bilateral trade, particularly through Indian Rupee trade expansion, as a key pillar of economic revival in Sri Lanka, were discussed as well.
High Commissioner Moragoda presented a copy of his policy roadmap the ” Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India 2021/2023″ to Governor Das. The High Commissioner was accompanied to the meeting by Sri Lanka’s Consul General in Mumbai Dr. Valsan Vethody.
A former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Shaktikanta Das has been serving as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India since December 2018. He was earlier a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and India’s Sherpa to the G20. During his career as an IAS officer, Das served in various capacities for the Indian Government, including as Economic Affairs Secretary, Revenue Secretary and Fertilizers Secretary. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, ADB, NDB and AIIB.
During the past couple of months, High Commissioner Moragoda met with several other key officials of the Government of India, including Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India Dr. Pramod Kumar Mishra, Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Chairman of the NITI Aayog Parameswaran Iyer and Director General of the National Centre for Good Governance Bharat Lal.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said that the period given to import electric vehicles to foreign workers depending on their remittances will be extended until August this year. He also said a mechanism will be prepared to give electric vehicle import licenses to other people who bring dollars to the country on a private basis.
While participating in an event organized by the Overland Automobile Institute, the Minister said that the period for issuing licenses to foreign workers depending on their remittances was limited from May to December 31 last year and that period will be extended to August.
The minister addressing the gathering said:
Everyone has forgotten where our country was by March last year. Just like there were fuel queues a year ago, there are may be queues today as well. Owners of fuel stations do not order fuel because they think that the prices will decrease. It is good to remember that there were fuel queues in the past. It is also good to remember that people have been in the dark in the past, for eight to ten hours without electricity. But now there are no power cuts. There are no fuel queues on the roads. There is no problem with medicine. By March, April and May last year, there was a situation where it was impossible to run the vehicle with a full tank of fuel. Many people left the country. This country had become an unlivable country without law and order. Large scale businessmen took their businesses to countries like Dubai. The exporters did not bring the money that the country deserved. The country fell into an abyss. It was then that we accepted the challenge to revive this country. We took responsibility. We came up with a program to bring dollars to the country. We took measures to bring benefits to migrant workers. Expatriate workers did not send dollars to the country because they had trust issues and because they can get enhanced currency rates by sending money through illegal methods such as Undiyal. To change that, we arranged to grant licenses for the import of electric vehicles to expatriate workers. When this proposal was brought, the cabinet fully supported it. A decision has not yet been taken in our country to import only electric vehicles. But as a government, we are determined to go for renewable energy and green energy sources. As a government, our policy is that it is better to import only electric vehicles.. It has been decided that all the vehicles bought for the state sector will be electric vehicles only in the future.
When permission was given to foreign workers to import electric vehicles as a pilot project, we met many people and got their opinions and submitted them to relevant officials. Although the Ministers, took forthright decisions without delay some officials who are stuck in their traditional thinking modes delayed implementing the process. There, the President and the cabinet gave approvals to move forward with this decision without delay. When foreign workers were given permission to import electric vehicles, some said that this was another political gimmick. This government does not endorse populist politics. That’s why taxes were increased in anticipation of giving concessions when possible to all citizens. Interest rates have decreased. Today, the fuel distribution is being diversified. By doing the right thing, we have got the ability to reciprocate the work done by expatriate workers. The opportunity to import vehicles for expatriate workers was limited from May 1st to December 31st last year. We are making relevant amendments so that those who have sent money legally to the country can import vehicles until the end of August this year. Cabinet approval will be obtained for that. Also, if there are people who bring dollars to the country privately, they will also be given permission to import electric vehicles.
