BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

The senior Mission Chief of the International Monetary Fund has stressed that Sri Lanka needs to achieve inclusive growth and stability. The concept of inclusive situation is a vital aspect of Sri Lanka as the culture of the country has not promoted the concept of inclusive conditions for various concerns of development such as education, health and many other areas. Inclusive condition is widely used by Europe concerning  various matters such as education, health and other services. (Inclusive growth is economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all. )

The culture and practices of Sri Lanka don’t give priority to the inclusive concept, which associates with values in society. Religious developments in Sri Lanka are concerned with the concept of values, which is a limited quality of human life that should be promoted to achieve equity in growth. Left politicians were talking about creating an equal society and religious preaching excluded the promotion of values activating in society despite preaching that has not been practically achieved instead of sending ideas to air. 

The International Monetary Fund has focused on and directed the inclusive growth concept to policymakers in Sri Lanka and the economic stability in the country could not be achieved disregarding inclusive growth which means the areas were neglected by policymakers such as disabled people, poor people without support, people under the poverty line cannot disregard but they must include to development activities. If the policymakers of Sri Lanka consider inclusive growth it would be the best achievement.  

Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya

Genetically modified (GM) foods, also known as genetically engineered (GE) foods, are foods produced from organisms that have had their genetic material (DNA) altered in a way that does not occur naturally through mating or natural recombination. This genetic modification is achieved by introducing new or altered genes into the organism’s DNA using various techniques, including biolistics, electroporation, and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

The purpose of genetically modifying foods is to enhance their nutritional value, improve their resistance to pests and diseases, and increase their tolerance to environmental stress. For example, some GM crops have been engineered to produce higher yields, be more resistant to herbicides or insects, or have a longer shelf life.

The safety of genetically modified foods has been a topic of debate and controversy. Some people are concerned that genetic modifications could have unknown health effects, or that they could have unintended ecological consequences if the modified organisms were to escape into the environment. However, the consensus among scientific organizations such as the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association is that GM foods are safe for human consumption and that they have the potential to provide significant benefits to both agriculture and public health.

Genetically modified (GM) foods have the potential to provide several benefits, including:

1.    Increased crop yields: GM crops are often engineered to be more resistant to pests, diseases, and environmental stress, which can lead to higher crop yields.

2.    Reduced use of pesticides: GM crops can be engineered to produce their pesticides, which can reduce the need for farmers to apply chemical pesticides.

3.    Enhanced nutritional value: GM crops can be engineered to contain higher levels of essential nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, which can help improve the nutritional content of food.

4.    Improved food safety: GM crops can be engineered to be more resistant to pathogens and toxins, which can reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses.

5.    Reduced food waste: GM crops can be engineered to have a longer shelf life, which can help reduce food waste and improve access to fresh produce in areas with limited refrigeration.

6.    Environmental benefits: Some GM crops are engineered to require fewer resources, such as water and fertilizer, which can help reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.

Overall, GM foods have the potential to improve food security, reduce poverty, and enhance public health, particularly in developing countries where access to nutritious food is limited.

The long-term effects of consuming genetically modified (GM) foods are still being studied, and there is some uncertainty about their potential risks.

Some potential concerns include:

1.    Allergies: Genetic modifications could introduce new proteins into food that may cause allergic reactions in some people.

2.    Antibiotic resistance: Some GM crops are engineered to be resistant to antibiotics, which could contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

3.    Environmental impact: There is a risk that GM crops could escape into the environment and potentially disrupt ecosystems or harm non-target species.

4.    Gene transfer: There is a possibility that genetic material from GM foods could be transferred to other organisms, either through cross-breeding or other means, with unknown consequences.

5.    Unknown long-term effects: Since GM foods are a relatively new technology, there is still much to learn about their long-term effects on human health and the environment.

It is important to note, however, that the vast majority of scientific research conducted to date suggests that GM foods are safe for human consumption and do not pose significant risks to the environment.

The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and other scientific organizations have stated that GM foods are safe for human consumption and that they have the potential to provide significant benefits to agriculture and public health.

Nonetheless, it is critical to continue studying and monitoring the long-term effects of GM foods, as well as ensuring that they are developed and regulated responsibly and transparently.

Sasanka De Silva

Pannipitiya.

Prime Minister’s Media 

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that  the role played by our Venerable Nayaka  Theras is most significant at a time when the  whole world is searching for Buddhism. He stated this when he visited the Chief Incumbent of Vidyalankara Parivena and Director  Venarable Valamitiyawe Gnanarathana Thera who was appreciated and awarded the position of Chief Sanghanayaka of Colombo and Chilaw Divisions with the honorary title of Dharmakirthi Sri Tripitaka Vagiswaracharya.

The Prime Minister at the occasion said,

“Awarding such an honorary title for our Nayaka Thera is a milestone in the history of Buddha sasana. We are taking steps to provide all necessary support for the services you render to the society.

I wish that you will have the strength and courage to carry on those duties for the further development of Vidyalankara Pirivena and for the Buddha Sasana.

At a time when the whole world is looking for Buddhism, the role played by our  Nayaka Thera in guiding those endeavours is significant.

Our farmers have been very successful in this Maha season’s harvest. The next few years should be devoted to building an agricultural economy.”

Venarable Valimitiyawe Gnanarathana Thera said;

“Vidyalankara Pirivena is not a strange place for you. When you study Vidyalankara history, you can better understand Mr. Philip Gunawardena’s relationship with this Pirivena and the respect he had for the former Nayaka Theras.

The whole world now accepts Sri Lanka as the center of Theravada Buddhism.

It is a time when many intelligent people are exploring the essence of Buddhism.

However, I wish to point out that there is no proper place to search for Buddhism yet. We submitted a proposal to build a museum containing investigative information on Buddhism and its philosophy.

Theravada Buddhism is written in Pali.  It should be translated into English and published as books.

The current economic crisis can be coped by appreciating  local things.

Tourists have started arriving by now. I think the government will work to further improve the tourism sector.

The government’s effort on building an agricultural economy is to be commended.” Nayaka Thera concluded.

State Minister Sisira Jayakodi and Yadamini Gunawardena MP also joined this event.

Prime Minister’s Media 

BY NABEEL SHAIKH Courtesy Simply Flying

The country’s transport minister said that he would not arrest any Russian aircraft.

Sri Lankan transport minister Bandula Gunawardana pledged not to arrest any Russian-flagged aircraft as part of talks for a new agreement between the two countries. The announcement comes nine months after an incident involving the grounding of an Aeroflot aircraft. Let’s take a closer look at the incident and see what the agreement entails.

The Aeroflot incident

An Aeroflot Airbus A330-300 was grounded by air traffic control at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) in June of last year due to a commercial dispute which later turned out to be a court order demanding the immediate seizure of the aircraft. The incident took place rather abruptly after passengers had already boarded. Everyone onboard the aircraft was asked to disembark and were put up in hotels.

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The reason for the court order ultimately ended up being a request for an injunction by the Irish owner of the aircraft following the termination of its lease in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The government of Russia retaliated by summoning the Sri Lankan ambassador to Moscow and suspending flights to the South Asian country for four months. Aeroflot has since resumed service to Sri Lanka.

The practice of suspending lease agreements is one that became increasingly common during the early days of the war in Ukraine as foreign lessors terminated contracts with Russian airlines. Airbus and Boeing even went so far as to cut off manufacturing and maintenance for Russian operators. As a result, such carriers were forced to cannibalize older aircraft for spare parts to conduct routine service and maintenance.

Russian tourists constitute a significant proportion of travelers to Sri Lanka, with almost 92,000 visitors in 2022. Russia also recently overtook India and the United Kingdom to become the top source market for tourists in Sri Lanka.

Other airlines offering service between Sri Lanka and Russia include Azul Airlines and Red Wings Airlines. It is worth noting that between the two carriers, only Azul Air flies to Colombo; Red Wings, on the other hand, flies to Hambantota​​​​​​.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• It is only first step of a long journey, way too early to celebrate
• Our core problem is the twin deficit problem
•  I personally believe it will take a little bit longer than four years for the country to get to growth

Leading economist Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, who is also chair of LIRNEasia, spells out the way forward for the country in the aftermath of the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Excerpts of the interview:

Q   Sri Lanka celebrates the arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But, there is a long way to go since debt restructuring has to be done, and the reform agenda implemented. Isn’t it too early to celebrate?

It is the first step. It is way too early to celebrate. It is a time for sober reflection and to understand that this is the first step of a long journey.  There are many other countries which have taken such loans. Zambia, for example, got the (IMF) board approval. But, they have not got debt restructuring done. We have also set very ambitious targets. In the latest IMF news conference, somebody asked Peter Breuer about the most difficult of these. He said the target for a positive primary balance is very, very ambitious.  The primary balance is that we must bring in more money every year to the government than we spend, excluding all loans and interests.  We have not done this in 75 years, except for 4-5 years. We have set ourselves this target. But, there are many difficult things in order to achieve this. If we fail to do that, we will fall. That is that the IMF benchmark will not be met. The next tranche will not be given. People will say this country cannot get its act together. 

Q   In your assessment, how long and challenging is the journey?

This is a four-year programme. I personally believe it will take a little bit longer than four years for the country to get to growth. Our objective must not to go back to where we were in 2019.  Our objective must be to get on the growth path.  Let’s be optimistic! I would say five or six years to really get on the path. If you look at the projections of growth, they are not very high. There are many, many difficult things to be done. For example, the property tax.  It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to calculate. We don’t have an active property market in this country. But, we are going to tax it. I am thankful that they have been realistic about it and said they will do it in 2025.  Between now and 2025, we have to do a lot of work to achieve those objectives.  

Q   We hear some voices in political circles critical of the IMF arrangement. They sometimes say no country has emerged from their crises after deals with the IMF. But, India and Thailand are good examples to prove otherwise. How do you look at the issue in that context?

I think Prof. Premachandra Athukorale said it best. He said Asian countries that go to the IMF generally don’t go again. But, African countries go to the IMF repeatedly. While we are physically located in Asia, we have been behaving like an African country.  I liken it to people taking antibiotics. If you take antibiotics, you have to complete the dose. If you stop it half way through, it has no effect. Furthermore, it actually harms you.  We are a people that has not taken the full dose all this time. This time, we have a rigorous dose. It is not a simple matter. Because of that, we have to be very, very diligent and committed as a country to achieve that. Otherwise we will slip back.

Q   In the context of political uncertainty hanging around,how optimistic are you?

Let me put it this way! I am somebody who chose to come back to Sri Lanka from a tenured job in the United States. Number one, I have to be optimistic. Secondly, we put up a discussion document back in February 2022 and in June 2022, called a common minimum programme. We said two things. An all-party approach is necessary to get through this crisis. Secondly, we said, for two years, it could be good if we don’t have elections. I even said let’s get the provincial council elections out of the way, and proceed with the all-party arrangement.  There were disagreements. Mr. Karu Jayasuriya who I was working with on all these matters said two years was too much. He said one year. Those are debatable matters. But, we really have to work together to achieve this. Now we have not achieved that objective.  The first step would have been like a wartime Cabinet. I used the analogy of Winston Churchill. Churchill was the prime minister. His deputy prime minister was from his opposition – the Labour Party during World War II.  We did not get that.  Then, we had the other idea, Plan B. Whether it is possible for the opposition MPs not to join the government formally but work with the government through the committee system in Parliament. Mr. Jayasuriya had put in place something called sectoral oversight committees when he was Speaker.  They have been revived. We were hoping that the oversight committees would play an active role. We came close. Again, everybody knows it did not quite work as we envisaged.   

We are now in the plan C. I believe honestly that there are people in the opposition who are cooperative.  I believe the government is also open to some suggestions.  They could be more conciliatory. In a way, they are less conciliatory now than when the process started. I am sorry about that. What we would like to do is to have at least an effective Plan C. 

Q   Sri Lanka still has to get out of the way without depending on loans. What is your view?

We have to depend on loans. I am going to say something contrary.  We have to get out of this crisis. Still, we have to get loans. I just have an objection to wrongly taken loans. 

Q   Yet, our debt burden is high as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Isn’t it?

I am interested in role of ideas and the impact of those ideas on the world. I went back to December, 2006 or January, 2007. We had a development dialogue. I had quoted in some of my writings Dr. Sarath Amunugama, then Deputy Minister of Finance. He said, We have new partners. We don’t want these condionalities’. In 2007, the taking of International Sovereign Bonds (ISB) started. In 2007, large-scale borrowings from China started. ISBs don’t require anything – feasibility study or anything.  Chinese also don’t require a lot of technical conditions to be satisfied. No conditionalities. That is where we started.  The article I wrote at that time was called ‘Chinese conditionalities’.  We are not getting these conditionalities. If you work with the World Bank, you have to get environmental clearance, feasibility studies etc.  With the Japanese, it is even more complicated and time consuming. Using the example of the Katunayake expressway, I showed what the original estimate and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) upper limit estimates were, and what we spent by taking a loan from China. That is the cost of Chinese conditionality. We are spending way more. We have to be very careful about those kinds of loans.  My favourite example is the Lotus Tower. There was no business case for it. But, we built it on loans.  We have to take necessary loans, not these kinds of loans. 

Q   Sri Lanka needs to boost its foreign reserves, though. What is the strategy you propose?

Very clearly, we have to increase exports. I have this diagram. We have all these imports – super diesel, Octane 92, wheat, grain, cellular phone and so on.  These boxes are scaled to show how much we are spending. I showed this to people. Generally speaking, there is nothing here that can be cut. So we have to export in order to be able to bring in these essential imports. Here, we have exports (Refers to another diagram).  You can see we have not diversified.  

We have to diversify. There is no question about that.  We have to diversify not only what we export but also the markets. We have to diversify to Asia. Today, we are selling to the United States and Europe.  We have to reduce that reliance and sell more to Asia.  How do we do it? The answer comes in three parts. 

In the short term, the Export Development Board (EDB) has got a national export strategy.  If you want, do a quick update of that.  But, they have committees already in place to implement the national export strategy. The government does not export. The government provides goods and services to people here.  The private sector is the one that engages in export. Because the private sector exports, we have to listen to them. In each of these areas, I would bring people to a series of meetings to discuss. That can quickly identify and remove the barriers that are being experienced. Secondly, we have to look at people who like to export to Asia and other places. We have to identify the barriers they face and remove them.  Trade negotiations going on at the moment are a good vehicle for doing it.  We always look at trade agreements in terms of how do we protect our markets from foreigners. We have the second question.  You want to export. What are the problems these trade agreements can help you with? Then, we go to our trading partners – India, China and Thailand – and ask them to address these issues.  That would be the medium term solution. In both cases, we are dealing with industrialists who have some international exposure and experience in exporting. Now, there are longer term opportunities.

 
I am told we generated US $ 1.7 billion from software and business process outsourcing sector. That is higher than what we expected. I personally believe the BPO industry is a sunset industry. We really don’t have a long time to go with that industry.  Software industry is a stronger sector where we have the potential. We have to really think about machine learning and related areas – call it Artificial Intelligence.  We have to have this conversation to identify the barriers that prevent us from becoming an AI-intensive country. 
We complain about our young people leaving. If we plan things properly, we can attract them back. 

Q   What are the lessons which we can learn from Thailand and India which went for successful arrangements with the IMF?

I had the benefit of listening to the Thai Central Bank governor from that time.  The Thai crisis took a very different form, originating as it did in a crash in the banking sector. The Indian case is similar to ours.  Our core problem is the twin deficit problem. We have been running fiscal deficits for most of the past 75 years.  Our exports are anemic. Everybody who looks at the goods exports will say that is the problem. I am a person who looks at the service sector. Service sector is my area of expertise.  

We have to get rid of the barriers holding back the export of goods and services. Government has announced that para tariffs will be phased out.  We have to make the necessary structural reforms. If we do what is necessary to eliminate the twin deficits, we will not have to go back to the IMF. Like India and many other countries, we can get ourselves on a growth path and create a country our people will want to come back to. 

By Neville Ladduwahetty Courtesy The Island

During his address to the Economic Dialogue – IMF and Beyond”, the President declared that Sri Lanka is at a crossroad and it was the nation’s last chance to forge ahead or fail (Daily FT, 31, 2023). Now that Sri Lanka has committed itself to the terms and conditions stipulated by the IMF to get out of its debt crisis, Sri Lanka has no option but to live by the commitments made.

The stated reason for canvasing the assistance of the IMF was to seek relief from the debt crisis. If this was the one and only compelling reason, why did the government not explore other options? For instances, several commentators have drawn attention to the existence of US $ 40 to 50 billion outside Sri Lanka belonging to exporters and importers. No attempt was made by the government to approach them and work out a deal, even to pay part of the annual installments of the debt payment in a manner that would have met their concerns as well as the interests of the country. Despite such recommendations being made and promoted by interested parties the Government stayed mute. Nor was any attempt made by the government to revise the Exchange Control Act to deter the provisions of the Act being abused. The fact that such strategies were not explored must mean that the IMF option had more to do than only addressing the debt crisis.

One such possibility is the importance of structural reforms needed for the long term. Without such external intervention, no government could, on its own, secure political support for tax increases; a fact that is evident from the protests, despite it being part of IMF conditions. Therefore, the deal with the IMF is expected to impact the short term in respect of the debt, and the long term with the introduction of structural reforms.

BEYOND the IMF DEAL

Now that Sri Lanka finds itself at a crossroads, the issue for the Sri Lankan nation is to decide which road should it take. The issue is whether it should be decided by the President as has been done in the past, or is there a way for the People to decide which road to take? The President has said, What I am aiming for in the next two years is to lay the ground work for highly competitive social market economy. We have to be competitive … emphasizing the opportunities in multiple sectors including agriculture, manufacturing and services…”. With all due respect to the President, even if what he wants is right for the nation at this moment in time, it remains that this is what this particular President wants for the Sri Lankan nation.

Since independence Sri Lanka has lived with what previous Presidents and other leaders wanted, and taken the good with the bad, the net effect of their visions being what the nation is facing today; a record that Sri Lanka cannot be proud of. On the other hand, if the notion is that the People of Sri Lanka do not have what it takes to decide which road to take, and therefore have to live by what is handed down from top, is flawed. The irony is that it is the same unsophisticated people who in the final analysis decide on whether to change the very character of the nation embodied in Article 83 of the Constitution through the will of the People expressed in referenda.

Whoever decides which road Sri Lanka should take, it has to operate and function within the contextual framework of global developments. The two overriding global developments are 1) the economic uncertainties that the world is witnessing daily have caused deep insecurities among Peoples that today have taken the form of political unrest to the point of threatening the security of nations and its Peoples, and (2) bilateral trade among major nations being undertaken in their currency of choice without any regard to recognised currencies that had dominated global trade for decades. For instance, Sri Lanka and India are trading in Indian rupees and India is buying oil from Russia in Indian rupees. China and Brazil have decided to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions directly exchanging renminbi for Riyals, and vice versa.

It is in such a beleaguered and uncertain landscape that Sri Lanka has to decide which road to take. If it chose to engage in competitive market economies, as suggested by the President, what would be the consequences? Competitive economies relating to manufacturing would involve importing raw materials which would be victims of global economies and currency fluctuations. On the other hand, competitive economies based on local inputs as with agriculture would be in a better position to be unaffected by global developments. This would be the case with the service sector as well. Therefore, Sri Lanka should focus on areas of economic activity that would be independent of external inputs. Adopting such an approach would mean that the government gives the highest priority to encourage the public by giving every possible opportunity for the development of an agriculture-based economy in order to reduce agricultural imports and encourage every form of organically based exports for Sri Lanka to develop a competitive export driven economy.

AGRICULTURE-BASED COMPETITIVE ECONOMY

A report in The Daily Mirror of March 30 refers to the successes achieved by farmers in the Ampara District. The report states, Ampara farmers cultivated using eco-friendly methods for three main seasons and achieved a successful harvest. According to the Department of Agriculture, farmers were able to achieve a yield of 5800 kg per hectare from the 4,880 hectares cultivated in the Ampara district using biofertilisers. This is an increase of 27.8% compared to the average yield of 4,540 kg per hectare using chemical fertilisers in Ampara over the past five years …. In addition, several agricultural lands have achieved remarkable outcomes from organic farming, and are even exporting their products. For instance, the Dankotuwa Lunuwila Farmers Organization in the North-West Province is successfully managing over 110 acres of paddy fields with the cooperation of more than 100 farmers. They harvest the paddy from these fields, process it into rice, and export it. Each farmer in the project was able to achieve a yield of 110 bushels per acre from 8 acres of organic farming”.

If one District-Ampara, can conclusively demonstrate that export quality paddy could be grown, the government should publicise the news and give national recognition to those engaged in the endeavour. Furthermore, the government should give all the encouragement needed for the achievements at Ampara to be repeated in the remaining 24 Districts. This would boost the incomes of the farming communities and become an impetus for others engaged in paddy production to follow suit. Starting with paddy the entire gamut of activities associated with agriculture such as paddy, fruits, vegetables, flowers, ornamental foliage, fertiliser, packaging and storage should be undertaken in each of the Districts using local materials at every stage of the manufacturing chain, for which the government should introduce incentives and inducements.

The byproducts of such a national venture would be to boost rural incomes and guarantee food security, and both of them would contribute to insulate Sri Lanka from global developments in other countries. Since nearly a third of Sri Lanka’s population is engaged in Agriculture in one way or another, a concerted impetus given to agriculture would mean a balanced income distribution. Given the choice, this is the road the people should opt for.

CONCLUSION

The President has declared the Sri Lanka is at a crossroads. His proposal for the next two years is to lay the groundwork for a highly competitive social market economy” in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Of the three sectors, what is advocated herein is to opt for agriculture as the road of choice not only because it assures food security but also because Agriculture is primarily based on local inputs, Sri Lanka would be in a better position to insulate itself from the uncertainties and instabilities affecting most countries. Furthermore, since nearly a third of Sri Lanka’s population is associated with agriculture incomes generated would help to minimise income disparities.

When giving agriculture the primacy of place, the government should give all the encouragement needed by way of incentives for People to develop new Agricultural products for export. In this regard, the lesson to be learnt from the farmers of the Ampara District is to grow paddy for export using indigenous technologies. The government must take the opportunity to give these farmers the national recognition they deserve and be humble enough to introduce such technologies in the other 24 Districts.

Agriculture is much more than just a way of livelihood. It is a way of life that lives by cherished civilisational values that made pre-colonial Sri Lanka a nation that was respected and one that the People were proud of. The keystone of pre-colonial civilisational values was self-reliance and pride in striving to achieve cherished goals. That spirit was deliberately undermined throughout the colonial period so much so that even chilies, onions and products used in indigenous medicine are today imported. Notwithstanding that past, those who have stayed engaged with Agriculture should be recognized and honoured by the nation because they protected and nurtured the civilisational values integral to their heritage, despite the distractions heaped on them. Therefore, the opportunity presented should be seized upon to rekindle and revive the spirit of the civilisational values that the Sri Lankan nation was once identified with. This then should be the new beginning, and the road for Sri Lanka to take.

by C. A. Chandraprema

In comparison to the provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Bill to confer on Magistrates the discretionary power to place terrorist suspects in custody, the provision for judicial review in the amendment to the PTA passed last year appears to be a much more practicable alternative because it is the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court that has been accorded the power to review detention orders. Judges of the higher judiciary live in the Capital, in much more secure environments than the local Magistrates and it is easier to provide extra security to members of the higher judiciary and to insulate them from any threats coming from terrorists.

The government has gazetted an Anti-Terrorism Bill to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, and it is to be presented to Parliament in the coming several weeks.  This is an altered version of the 2018 Counter Terrorism Bill of the yahapalana government. The government should give serious thought to the implications of some of the changes proposed in this Bill. During the most important operational period of the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act, issuing detention orders on terrorist suspects was the preserve of the Executive branch. It was only in 2022 that judicial review of detention orders issued under the PTA was allowed. However, under the provisions of the proposed Anti-terrorism Bill, the judiciary becomes an integral part of the counter-terrorism mechanism in the country.

Under Section 28 of the Bill, a suspect under arrest has to be produced before the nearest Magistrate within 48 hours. If by that time, a Detention Order has been issued, the Magistrate is obliged to make an order to give effect to that Detention Order. (Detention orders are issued by a Deputy Inspector General of Police and may initially be issued for a period not exceeding three months.) If a Detention Order has not been issued, the Magistrate has the discretion to decide whether the suspect is to be remanded or granted bail. If a detention order is to be extended beyond three months, the Magistrate is once again given the discretion to decide either way. If he decides not to extend the detention order, he will have to consider whether there are grounds to continue to hold the suspect in remand. If he decides there are no such grounds, the suspect can be released on bail.

By vesting Magistrates with such powers over terrorism suspects, the Anti-Terrorism Bill seeks to place the local Magistrates right at the forefront of the fight against terrorism. ‘Judicial supervision’ sounds nice, but is it feasible?  We have experienced outbreaks of terrorism in the form of the attempts at seizing state power in 1971 and 1987-89, the protracted campaign of separatist terrorism in the North and East between 1970-2009, and in the run-up to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings by a Kattankudy-based terrorist group.

We have to consider the situation that would inevitably have arisen at that time if the local Magistrates had been vested with the exclusive power to remand/detain or release terrorist suspects. Terrorists have no interest in an independent judiciary. Their only aim is to force everyone to toe their line. We have all heard of the way the Kattankudy terrorists summoned even the powerful politicians of the area and imposed various conditions on them. In such circumstances, one cannot prevent Magistrates who hold complete authority over remanding/detaining or granting bail to terrorist suspects from becoming prime targets of the terrorists.

In 1987-89, the JVP killed the Grama Niladharis at every opportunity that presented itself on the accusation that the latter were representatives of the government. One can well imagine the situation that would have arisen at the time if it had been the local Magistrate who was vested with the sole discretion to either remand/detain or release the JVP suspects. Nobody seems to have given much thought to such practical issues. Members of the executive branch such as military and police units barricade themselves behind walls of sandbags and checkpoints when they operate in terrorist-infested areas. But the Magistrates cannot do that. They have to hear cases in open court and to go about in the community attending to various duties.

Vulnerable civilian officials such as Magistrates are hardly in a position to play a frontline role in combating terrorism. Someone may argue that Magistrates routinely remand even murder suspects, drug dealers and other dangerous criminals, therefore adding terrorists to the list will not be a problem. However, dangerous criminals are more often than not, presented before a magistrate for non-bailable offences and the Magistrate has little discretion, if any, in deciding whether to remand/detain the suspect, and criminals know this. In such circumstances, remanding a suspect does not turn the Magistrate into a target.

If, however, the Magistrates are vested with exclusive discretionary power to decide on either remanding/detaining or granting bail to all criminal suspects brought before them, then the criminals too will begin to zero in on the local Magistrates. Like the Magistrates, the police also live in the community they serve, but unlike the Magistrate, all policemen are armed, and work with armed colleagues.

They live in barracks or secured compounds and given the spirit de corps within the service, an attack on one member will bring down on the criminals the wrath of the entire service, and therefore the police are not a soft target for organized criminal gangs or terrorists to take on. Under the 1979 PTA, the power to detain terrorism suspects was vested in members of the Executive who carried arms and could resist force. One has to seriously consider how practical it would be to vest that power in an exposed, vulnerable civilian judicial official.

In comparison to the provisions in the Anti-Terrorism Bill to confer on Magistrates the discretionary power to place terrorist suspects in custody, the provision for judicial review in the amendment to the PTA passed last year appears to be a much more practicable alternative because it is the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court that has been accorded the power to review detention orders. Judges of the higher judiciary live in the Capital, in much more secure environments than the local Magistrates and it is easier to provide extra security to members of the higher judiciary and to insulate them from any threats coming from terrorists.

Fast-tracked release for terrorism suspects

Under Section 71 of the anti-Terrorism Bill, the Attorney General may suspend and defer the institution of criminal proceedings against a suspect for a period not exceeding twenty years if death or grievous hurt has not been caused to any person; or the security of the State and the people of Sri Lanka has not been seriously compromised or affected by the conduct of that suspect. In return, the suspect is expected to fulfill one or more of a set of conditions including the expression of remorse for his deeds, provision of reparations to victims, participation in a rehabilitation programme, public undertaking not to commit crimes in the future, engaging in community service, etc. Under Section 77, at any time before the judgment is given by the High Court, if the charges in the indictment do not relate to causing death or grievous bodily injury to any person; or endangering the security of the State and the people of Sri Lanka; or causing serious harm to property, the Attorney General may, withdraw the indictment against the accused on the basis of the same conditions mentioned above.

These provisions give rise to two questions. Firstly, if death or grievous hurt has not been caused to any person, and the security of the State and the people of Sri Lanka has not been seriously compromised or affected, and property has not been damaged, why should a given suspect be indicted before the High Court, at all? Secondly, even to file charges against a suspect, there has to be sufficient evidence to show that the person concerned has caused death or grievous hurt to some person or that he has endangered the security of the state or caused damage to property.

The difficulties encountered in gathering enough evidence to secure a conviction under the normal law of the land with regard to terrorism related offences is well known. Very often there are no witnesses, or laboratory evidence that can link a suspect to a particular terrorist attack is not available. Even if weapons and explosives are found on the suspect, charges can be filed only for the possession of the same and very often investigators are left with a lot of unproven allegations.

The reason why even the most dangerous LTTE terrorists held under the PTA were released from time to time was because in many cases sufficient evidence could not be found to secure a conviction or even to file charges. Thus, in most cases, terrorism suspects will become eligible for release without prosecution under Sections 71 and 77 of the Anti-Terrorism Bill. Under the provisions of the proposed new legislation, terrorism suspects can be detained only for one year. After filing charges, the period given to conclude cases against a terrorism suspect is also one year. If the case is not concluded within this period, the suspect has to be granted bail except in exceptional circumstances where the High Court can order that he be kept in remand for a further period not exceeding three months at a time.

In circumstances, where there is an ongoing terrorist issue in the country, provisions such as these will become a serious problem. Today, we are able to release even the most dangerous LTTE cadres because the LTTE was eliminated many years ago and these terrorists no longer have a terrorist movement to return to. But had the LTTE still been active in Sri Lanka, releasing even long-term PTA detainees would not have been feasible.

When it comes to terrorists, only the very naïve will believe any talk of expressing remorse and undertaking to refrain from committing offences in the future. Dissimulation is the very stock in trade of the terrorist. Given what we have experienced over the past several decades, the last thing that anybody in this country should be doing is to give out the signal that terrorists will be given special privileges not available to ordinary criminals. However, that is exactly what the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill does by creating special pathways to enable terrorism suspects to obtain early release without prosecution.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Transport and Highways Ministry will seek foreign investments to reconstruct the British-era rail track from Nanu-Oya to Ragala via Nuwara-Eliya, a Minister said.

The 31-kilometre narrow-gauge rail track was constructed during the British time. However, it had been dismantled later by the British rulers, apparently due to lack of commercial viability.

Minister Bandula Gunawardana told Daily Mirror that the government would call for an Expression of Interest from prospective foreign investors to reconstruct this line under the BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) model.

He said the sixth highest altitude railway station of the world is located on this line in Kandapola.

There is a lot of potential for tourism development,” he said. (Kelum Bandara)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A card system will be introduced this year to enable passengers to obtain tickets for Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses instead of using money, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

Accordingly, a new technical solution will be introduced for passengers to obtain bus tickets using a QR code.

Minister Gunawardena said this while participating in the distribution of new buses to SLTB depots in the districts of Nuwara Eliya and Kandy through the loan assistance scheme of the Indian Government.

The ceremony was held at the grounds near the Gregory’s Lake in Nuwara Eliya yesterday (9).

26 new buses were distributed to seven SLTB depots in Nuwara Eliya yesterday. 

“The aim is to use the new buses to run on the plantation and rural roads, thereby strengthening the public transport service on the internal roads of the rural and plantation areas, thus providing regular transport facilities to the people,” the Minister said. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) has further appreciated against the US Dollar (USD) today, according to the Central Bank.

Accordingly, today’s buying rate of USD is Rs. 311.63 while the selling rate is Rs. 327.72.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The government has decided to allow the entry of three foreign companies to sell fuel below the prices set by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for the benefit of the government as well as the people, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.

“We still face the main problem of making fuel available all the time. We need USD 450 million per month to import fuel.

“We still have to issue fuel with a certain level of control due to lack of foreign exchange,” he said.

While giving permission for the incoming companies to sell fuel at prices lower than the CPC prices, it will provide the people with the profits from the competition created by getting rid of the existing monopoly.

Any company can provide fuel at a lower cost and increase their sales. That benefit will go to the people.

Instead of the billions of dollars in losses by selling fuel, the government would be able to gain a fixed tax or income from those companies.

Therefore, the restructuring of public institutions is a good sign for the government as well as the people in the country,” Siyambalapitiya added. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe directed officials to develop a formal plan aimed at maximizing the contribution of the Nuwara Eliya District, a major tourist city, to the Sri Lankan Government’s program to establish a stable economy within a four-year timeframe.

During a discussion held at the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat this morning (10), the President instructed officials to work on a formal plan to maximize the contribution of the Nuwara Eliya District, the President’s Media Division reported.

The discussion also included the unveiling of the Nuwara Eliya New Town Development Plan and the Nuwara Eliya Tourism Plan, which were attended by political authority and government officials from the Nuwara Eliya District.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who spoke at the occasion, highlighted that despite the belief of many that the country’s economy could not be rebuilt, the agreement reached by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Government, provides an opportunity for fresh hope on the country’s economy.

The President emphasized the importance of developing the Nuwara Eliya District as a striking city that can attract tourists throughout the year, targeting both local and foreign tourists.

The President stressed the importance of preparing the development plans while considering the needs of tourists. He explained that the plans should prioritize creating a pleasant environment for tourists to relax, rather than focusing on constructing large buildings.

He also pointed out that the absence of a formal system for rainwater drainage in Nuwara Eliya City is a longstanding issue, and he urged officials to implement an urgent program to address this problem. Additionally, he directed special attention to solving the problem of drinking water in the area.

Mr. Wickremesinghe further explained that buildings in the Nuwara Eliya City should be done according to a proper plan, rather than constructing buildings haphazardly. He emphasized that the city has suffered due to the construction of large buildings and that officials should consider whether to turn it into a bustling metropolis like New York or maintain its identity as Nuwara Eliya.

The President highlighted the likelihood of an increase in tourist arrivals to Nuwara Eliya with the completion of the Central Expressway and stressed the importance of developing facilities in accordance with a proper plan.

He also emphasized that no party or investor should be allowed to damage the resources of the Nuwara Eliya District, and that all development should be environmentally friendly and well-planned.

Furthermore, Mr. Wickremesinghe called for government officials and political authorities to work in a well-coordinated manner in these matters. He encouraged everyone to think beyond the traditional framework and align themselves with the new program needed by the country.

Following the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed his intention to meet with all the secretaries of ministries, chairpersons of authorities and commissions, as well as heads of departments in order to obtain their contribution to realize the targeted 2025 development plan.

During the discussion, there was a widespread focus on developing the Nuwara Eliya District through sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

There was a detailed conversation regarding the development activities to be carried out in the city under the Nuwara Eliya City Development Plan, as well as the development of Nanu Oya as a sub-city.

Plans were also made to develop Nuwara Eliya as a green city by preserving forest conservation areas, and five suburbs were earmarked for development with Nuwara Eliya as the central hub. Additionally, the establishment of a university in Nuwara Eliya and the construction of a Ramayana Center were also discussed during the meeting.

The President issued instructions to modernize the Nanu-Oya Railway Station and establish a high-quality economic centre nearby. The aim is to enable farmers to pack their vegetables and transport them safely and conveniently to Colombo.

The development of the racecourse and the lake, improvement of parking facilities, and speedy implementation of a formal water management program in Nuwara Eliya were given special attention during the discussions.

In addition, a program to increase the income of local residents and improve their lives was discussed at length.

The event was attended by Minister Jeevan Thondaman, Nuwara Eliya District Members of Parliament S.B. Dissanayake, C.B. Ratnayake, V.S. Radhakrishnan and M. Rameswaran, President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Nuwara Eliya District Secretary Nandana Galabada, and other government officials.

–PMD

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry convened a briefing on current developments in Sri Lanka for the Colombo-based diplomatic corps on Monday (10 April). 

Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayaka and Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane were associated with the briefing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Opening the meeting, the Minister thanked the international community for the support extended to Sri Lanka towards economic recovery and briefed on progress made in this regard. He also requested countries to review their travel advisories to reflect the stability in the country which would further encourage tourist influx.

The Minister also highlighted initiatives taken by the government for reconciliation including the convening of the All-Party Conference by the President in December 2022 and January 2023 and the appointment of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Reconciliation chaired by the President. 

He also briefed on the government’s position on the 13th Amendment and the proposed counter-terrorism legislation. He provided an update on ongoing efforts to set up a Truth and Reconciliation mechanism, and thanked the Government of South Africa for facilitating a working visit in March to study the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka briefed on developments related to the government’s structural reform process in the context of IMF, World Bank and ADB programmes, and highlighted the measures taken, inter alia, towards debt sustainability, fiscal oversight, social protection for the vulnerable segments, good governance and addressing corruption.

Foreign Secretary Wijewardane outlined Sri Lanka’s continued engagement with the UN mechanisms including Sri Lanka’s recent participation in the 4th Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the 6th Periodic Review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). 

She added that Sri Lanka also submitted its 9th Periodic Report to the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in April 2022 and has started the consultation process among relevant stakeholders.

The Foreign Secretary also highlighted the government’s initiatives to proactively engage with Sri Lankans overseas including through the recently established Office for Overseas Sri Lankans Affairs.

Following the briefing members of the diplomatic corps engaged in a discussion on several pertinent issues, including investment promotion, reconciliation, good governance, and anti-corruption. They also thanked Minister Sabry for providing regular briefings to the diplomatic corps on relevant developments in Sri Lanka, the statement said.

Courtesy Hiru News

Former Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said that foreign creditors would want to get the debt restructuring exercise over with as quickly as possible.

He noted that it wouldn’t be in the interests of foreign creditors to put the local banking sector into crisis.

He added that macroeconomic indicators had improved in excess of the projections made by the IMF and other multilateral institutions.

When asked about the potential delaying of processes due to demands of further domestic debt restructuring Dr. Coomaraswamy said, his understanding is that most of the creditors want to get this done quickly.

He went on to explain that there must be equitable treatment amongst debtor groups.

Dr. Coomaraswamy was speaking at a recent NDB Securities Rupee Round Table discussion.

On the extent of a voluntary domestic debt restructuring, Dr. Coomaraswamy noted that the impact on the financial system could not exceed the cost of funds deposit-taking institutions will face in the period ahead.

Shenali D Waduge

This is taking place at 2 levels – targeting adults & the Sangha through various denationalization programs in order to take them away from defending/protecting/preserving National Culture/Heritage & then using education as a platform to ensure the formative years of a child are brainwashed via textbooks & other initiatives so they too distance themselves from defending their Nation & its heritage. A nation of citizens uninterested in defending the Nation is the recipe for all hawks & vultures to descend & dictate to Sri Lanka as per their whims & fancies.

SPHERE OF EDUCATION: 

• Tapping academia to influence textbooks with false facts/history– diluting the place of Buddhism & Sinhalese or plugging some erroneous historical versions. This is often backed by foreign funding that prevents action against such endeavors as influence is exerted from politician & Ministry level. Thus, from syllabus the children’s minds get slowly brainwashed into accepting historical lies & myths as part of a larger insidious objective to displace Buddhism, dislocate Sinhala nationalism & denationalize children which is backed by funding. Coopted to spread the false narrative are teachers / tuition teachers/ Principals / academics / Ministry officials/politicians (entire apparatus handling education) – they are induced by foreign scholarships, green card, invitations etc.
• With the syllabus prepared, the teachers / tuition teachers are coopted to embrace these new versions – numerous incentives are given to them to do so
• Schools invite guests who are also aligned to these new thinking & that re-enforces the main objective. A ready-packaged group are prepared to justify the new insidious programs backed by funds & rolled out innocently to the children.
• Parents are also coopted to accept by numerous inducements often centered around giving place to the children of those who accept the new versions” – invariably parents & child are unknowingly drawn to accepting new versions being rolled out.
• The media is coopted to showcase panel discussions / advertisements / via music / teen idols & other idols to accept these new versions. Children are made to embrace bizarre dress, hair patterns, presenting these as modern & fashionable” those that don’t, are looked down & subject to peer pressure & bullying. There is no one to show them the ills & vices of what they are walking into. Media reality shows turns children into sex symbols & eventually they are enticed to experiment with their sexuality far before they are physically & mentally prepared to do so – this results in the child completely overwhelmed by the new experience & losing his/her childhood & being made to follow what would naturally fall into place when they are of the right age. This new trend is taking the best years of the child, away from the child. Parents are unable to see this danger as they are caught in the web of keeping up with the Jones’s and not wanting to go against the tide. Ultimately, both parent & child have no friends when their lives are ruined & all those that encouraged them to take the wrong path rejects them & abandons them. This is the ugly reality. How many of the modern teen parties have ended up creating drug users & children engaged in drinking/smoking & sex when that period of their life can be enjoyed after they have finished their teen years? Children have no wise counsel to turn to, so that they can understand that they just need a bit of patience & the world is open to them & with that patience comes their will & mental powers to maturely handle any ills.
• There are movies funded to embarrass Sinhala Buddhists & Buddhist theros & these directors are showered with awards giving a message that all those who are ready to tarnish Sinhala Buddhists will be handsomely rewarded. There are people dressed as theros engaged in vices which are relayed via social media to embarrass Buddhists. There are theros who are roped into vices & then this is exposed. We saw media attention intentionally relaying men dressed in robes behaving in unruly manner – to international defame Buddhists.
• Funding new cultures/values – funding is also given to programs that divert children away from traditional cultures/values.

Why is there a gap between teacher & child? 

Today, teaching has been turned into a job. People become teachers not by choice & many are not put through teacher training to be taught the art of teaching & there are very few natural teachers. Therefore, that love of teaching a subject is lacking in teachers & when that happens they are not empathetic to students who cannot understand what is being taught. They don’t want to go out of their way to help the slow learners. Education must first understand that no child is the same. Every child is unique in their own way. No teacher & no school syllabus can bring all children on par with each other. This is a fundamental fact.

How can we bridge this?

Recruitment of teachers must be disciplined – with criteria that ensures naturally talented teachers are recruited first. Teacher training is a must.

Education Ministry/Academics cannot be allowed to fall prey to funding bodies that give funds on condition to implement changes to education system that attempts to destroy Sri Lanka’s culture & heritage by importing all kinds of bizarre modern education texts” like the present funding backing sexual education which sets to promote homosexuality & transgenders among young children, ultimate aim is to be creating a confused generation of youth. Academics are not paid to incorporate their personal opinions into text books.

The situation is confounded when religious heads & temples have also fallen victim to the above paid propaganda & are equally involved in spreading distortions in line with what those sponsors want. Thus unknowingly or even knowingly they are part of the problem. Surely, in embracing the robe & following the teachings of the Dhamma the senior clergy should be mature enough to realize that what they are aligning with is against Theravada Buddhism. If they claim to believe in anything else, they are welcome to remove their robes & carry on with any new faith that appeals to them, however they are committing a great karmic misadventure by pretending to be Theravadi Buddhists & running Theravadi Buddhism down & in so doing disillusioning Theravadi laymen, unless they have been coopted to do so by external parties (knowingly or unknowingly).

The Maha Sangha needs to also look inwardly & bring internal reforms to its teacher-student relations & nurture young theros not to become teachers or public servants but along other areas of dhamma that are needed in a world of confused and psychologically imbalanced people. The funding that is taking young & old theros to an extreme & warped form of Buddhism is aimed at slowly destroying Theravada Buddhism & the Sangha, key pillars that guard the Theravada Buddha Dhamma & the ethos of Sri Lanka. Where destabilizing agents fail to destroy with guns they are doing so using our own people even tapping theros to do so. This must be identified & stopped.

There are new Buddhist organizations, meditation practices, rituals emerging, all these are well-funded & well-planned. Where have you heard of people of different faiths teaching Dhamma to our theros – this highlights to what low ebbs we have stooped to.

A clean up of the Sangha is needed & that has to be done looking at their own future & realizing that by following bizarre non-Buddhist rituals, practices & even teachings, they are only digging the grave to their own karma & doing great wrong to the teachings of Buddha. This must be immediately addressed without delay & the Nikaya heads should not fall prey to funds that are coming via visits of diplomats, local traitors bringing goody bags or other inducements.

What we should see is that numerous initiatives afoot are to break the pillars that hold the Buddhist ethos of Sri Lanka together. The recent comment by a foreign diplomat (ardent follower of a non-Buddhist religion) questioning why Sri Lanka should be called a Buddhist nation. What all these questions clearly aims is to displace Sri Lanka’s Buddhist ethos. Everyone seems to be having a problem with Sri Lanka being called a Buddhist nation, if it was called Christian/Catholic or Muslim – they would have no problem! Such is the duplicity & hypocrisy displayed by even diplomats!

Everyone’s goal is to make Sinhala Buddhists live, any other way than as Sinhala Buddhists.

Going forward we must identify areas in the education system that the place of Buddhism is subtly being removed/replaced.

The Maha Sangha & in particular the Nikaya heads must immediate address the shortcomings within & take action against the theros who are bringing disrepute to Theravadi Buddhism. Some discipline has to be instilled. It is when there is lack of discipline & when there are shortcomings within that the enemy finds it easy to penetrate. We must secure our fences to defend/protect & preserve that which we are historically dutybound to do. This is our defence against all the incursions & hostilities that come our way.

Shenali D Waduge

ශාසනාභිමනි, දිරිය-වනිතා, දේශ-ශක්ති 

Dilrook Kannangara

Sadly the nation has been pushed to a corner without many options. Who did it is a bygone debate now as time is running out. Sri Lanka needs a surviving mechanism. Without it the island nation will totally capitulate to the New Great Game. Those who dream about utopian options that does not exist in real life indirectly (or directly) support Sri Lanka’s total national capitulation. Banging one’s head on a boulder doesn’t break the boulder; it rightfully smashes the head that is unable to think.

A survival mechanism of some lizards and even humans is the amputation of a limb to escape a life-threatening situation. It is a very hard choice for a human but common. Soldiers with Anti Personnel Mine (APM) injuries are operated in the battlefield itself without sedation. It is both a heart-wrenching and a horror sight. But if that is not done the soldier perishes. Sri Lanka for instance saved 13,000 lives this way. If not for this gruesome and unfortunate amputation, military deaths would have increased by close to 50%.

Of the two choices Sri Lanka before between defaulting on bond loans and repaying them after a restructure, the second option was chosen. That means Sri Lanka must repay these loans with interest. With a continuing trade deficit, there is no way Sri Lanka can earn these additional dollars to repay loans. This leaves with just one option – to sell state assets to foreign investors for dollars. If that is not done, Sri Lanka will not have any foreign trade partners as it would have lost credibility in credit matters and no supplier would be willing to lose their money by exporting to Sri Lanka. The island nation will be unable to buy essentials from fuel, medicine, spare parts, vehicles, manufacturing essentials, fertilizer, etc.

Exporting more housemaids is not the solution as it comes with its own strings. The countries that employ them will extend difficult demands for Sri Lanka to meet. They sure know Sri Lanka’s desperation for foreign currency.

On the other hand if Sri Lanka uses its painstakingly rebuilt reserves to repay loans, the nation will again fall into another 2022.

Either way it will put severe pressure on almost all industries in the island. The military is heavily dependent on import of weapons, consumables, spare parts, fuel, etc. essential to maintain national security. These are not cheap. Sacrifices will have to be made and this will jeopardize national security.

With an economic crisis to deal with, the military will be seen as an area to cut expenses when people’s very own survival is at stake. Such a move will aggravate the situation.

What is even more worrying is since 2009 Sri Lanka did not invest in military hardware as it should. There are no fighter jets or attack helicopters left that can perform combat missions. Transporters and simple aerial stunt aircraft (as in the 1970s) are around. MBTs, IFVs and AMPs are very old and require largescale replacement. Ammunition stocks are the same not to forget the losses due to fires at stores. Sri Lanka requires large investments in drone warfare which is cheap for the attacker but expensive for the defender. There are no dollars for any of this.

All these mean one thing. An easy foreign takeover of the island nation after instigating an internal armed struggle. People’s will to fight is at near zero now as their main priority is survival.

Even the men in the military will not be willing to commit to a difficult war given food shortages and weapons shortages. Dollars will be easily used to bribe some of them to go against Sri Lanka. Fortunately this type of ‘’friendly fire” incidents were uncommon in the last war but unfortunately economic desperation will make them very common in future.

To make matters worse, despite Sri Lanka’s economy shrinking rapidly for the consecutive fourth year running, almost all other nations are massively expanding their economies. This makes Sri Lanka’s comparative defence position even weaker.

In order to avoid national capitulation, Sri Lanka must take the bitter pill soon.

Vultures are sensing Sri Lanka’s weakness and in all certainty are already planning an assault firstly by instigating a local armed struggle and secondly invading the island under the guise of right to protect. It has happened in other countries. The mighty Soviet Union and once prosperous Yugoslavia collapsed mainly due to prolonged economic crises. Vietnam, Iraq, Poland, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Korea in the 1940s, Georgia, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, East Timor (Indonesia), Yemen, Lebanon, etc. are other examples of economic crises leading to invasion. The world order is the survival of the military or economic fittest. The rest are absorbed by the strong.

Not making a choice is equal to choosing national collapse as it is the default option.

Sasanka De Silva, Pannipitiya

Giving” can be defined as providing something to someone else without expecting anything in return. It is a selfless act that can be done in many forms, including donating money, volunteering time, or simply offering a kind word or gesture. Giving has numerous benefits, both for the recipient and the giver.

One of the primary benefits of giving is the sense of happiness and fulfilment that it can bring. When we give to others, it can boost our mood and increase our overall sense of well-being. Research has shown that people who engage in acts of kindness, such as giving, have lower levels of stress and anxiety and higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction.

Another benefit of giving is that it can strengthen social connections and relationships. When we give to others, it can create a sense of reciprocity and gratitude, which can improve our bonds with others. This can lead to increased social support and a greater sense of community.

Giving can also have positive effects on our physical health. Studies have shown that people who engage in acts of kindness and giving have lower levels of inflammation, which is associated with a range of health problems, including heart disease and cancer. Additionally, giving can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of depression.

Finally, giving can have a positive impact on the world around us. When we give to others, it can create a ripple effect of kindness and generosity that can spread throughout our communities and beyond. This can help to create a more compassionate and connected world, where people are more likely to help each other and work together to solve problems.

Attaching the concept of accumulating merit” to the act of giving can change the way people perceive and approach the act of giving. In many spiritual and religious traditions, the idea of accumulating merit is often linked to giving and other acts of kindness. The concept of merit is typically based on the belief that one’s actions have consequences that can influence one’s future, both in this life and the next.

In this context, giving is seen as a way to accumulate positive karma or merit, which can lead to positive outcomes in the future. This can be a powerful motivator for people to engage in acts of giving, as they see it as a way to improve their circumstances as well as those of others.

However, attaching the concept of accumulating merit to the act of giving can also have some potential drawbacks. For example, it can lead to a transactional approach to giving, where people give primarily with the expectation of receiving something in return. This can diminish the selfless nature of giving and reduce its impact on both the giver and the recipient.

Additionally, the emphasis on accumulating merit can also lead to a narrow focus on specific forms of giving, such as giving to religious organizations or specific individuals. This can limit the potential impact of giving and exclude other forms of generosity that may be equally valuable.

Overall, while the concept of accumulating merit can be a powerful motivator for giving, it is important to approach giving with an open and selfless mindset. By focusing on the benefits of giving for both us and others, we can create a more positive and impactful approach to generosity.

In conclusion, giving is a powerful act that can bring a range of benefits to both the giver and the recipient. Whether we donate money, volunteer our time, or simply offer a kind word or gesture, we have the power to make a positive impact on the world around us with merits attached or not.

So, let’s all strive to give a little more and make the world a better place.

දීම” යනු ප්‍රතිලාභයක් බලාපොරොත්තු නොවී වෙනත් අයෙකුට යමක් ලබාදීමේ ක්‍රියාව ලෙස අර්ථ දැක්විය හැක. එය මුදල් පරිත්‍යාග කිරීම, ස්වේච්ඡාවෙන් කාලය ලබා දීම හෝ කාරුණික වචනයක් හෝ අභිනය පිරිනැමීම ඇතුළු බොහෝ ආකාරවලින් කළ හැකි පරාර්ථකාමී ක්‍රියාවකි. දීමෙන් ලැබෙන ප්‍රතිලාභ ලබන්නාට මෙන්ම දෙන්නාටද බොහෝය.

දීමෙන් ලැබෙන ප්‍රධාන ප්‍රතිලාභවලින් එකක් නම් එයින් ගෙන දිය හැකි සතුට හා තෘප්තියේ හැඟීමයි. අපි අන් අයට දෙන විට, එය අපගේ මනෝභාවය ඉහළ නැංවිය හැකි අතර අපගේ සමස්ත යහපැවැත්ම පිළිබඳ හැඟීම වැඩි කරයි. දන් දීම වැනි කාරුණික ක්‍රියාවන්හි නියැළෙන පුද්ගලයින්ට මානසික ආතතිය හා කාංසාව අඩු මට්ටමක පවතින අතර සතුට හා ජීවිත තෘප්තිය ඉහළ මට්ටමක පවතින බව පර්යේෂණ මගින් පෙන්වා දී ඇත.

දීමේ තවත් වාසියක් වන්නේ සමාජ සම්බන්ධතා සහ සබඳතා ශක්තිමත් කර ගැනීමට හැකි වීමයි. අපි අන් අයට දෙන විට, අන් අය සමඟ අපගේ බැඳීම් ශක්තිමත් කළ හැකි අන්‍යෝන්‍ය සහ කෘතඥතාවයේ හැඟීමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය. මෙය සමාජ සහයෝගය වැඩි කිරීමට සහ ප්‍රජාව පිළිබඳ වැඩි හැඟීමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය.

දීමෙන් අපගේ ශාරීරික සෞඛ්‍යයට ද ධනාත්මක බලපෑමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය. අධ්‍යයනවලින් හෙළි වී ඇත්තේ කරුණාවන්ත ක්‍රියාවන්හි නියැළෙන පුද්ගලයින්ට හෘද රෝග සහ පිළිකා ඇතුළු සෞඛ්‍ය ගැටලු රාශියකට සම්බන්ධ වන දැවිල්ල අඩු මට්ටමක පවතින බවයි. ඊට අමතරව, දීමෙන් රුධිර පීඩනය අඩු කළ හැකි අතර මානසික අවපීඩන අවදානම අඩු කරයි.

අවසාන වශයෙන්, දීමෙන් අප අවට ලෝකය කෙරෙහි ධනාත්මක බලපෑමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය. අපි අන් අයට දෙන විට, එය අපගේ ප්‍රජාවන් පුරා සහ ඉන් ඔබ්බට පැතිර යා හැකි කරුණාවේ සහ ත්‍යාගශීලීත්වයේ රැළි බලපෑමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය. මෙය වඩාත් දයානුකම්පිත සහ සම්බන්ධිත ලෝකයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට උපකාරී වන අතර, මිනිසුන් එකිනෙකාට උපකාර කිරීමට සහ ගැටළු විසඳීමට එකට වැඩ කිරීමට වැඩි ඉඩක් ඇත.

දන් දීමේ ක්‍රියාවට කුසල රැස්කිරීම” යන සංකල්පය ඈඳාගැනීමෙන් මිනිසුන් දන් දීමේ ක්‍රියාව දකින ආකාරය සහ ප්‍රවේශය වෙනස් කළ හැකිය. බොහෝ අධ්‍යාත්මික සහ ආගමික සම්ප්‍රදායන් තුළ, කුසල් රැස් කිරීමේ අදහස බොහෝ විට දීම සහ වෙනත් කරුණාවන්ත ක්‍රියාවන් සමඟ සම්බන්ධ වේ. කුසල් පිළිබඳ සංකල්පය සාමාන්‍යයෙන් පදනම් වී ඇත්තේ කෙනෙකුගේ ක්‍රියාවන්ට මෙලොව හා මතු ජීවිතයේ දී කෙනෙකුගේ අනාගතයට බලපෑම් කළ හැකි ප්‍රතිවිපාක ඇති බව විශ්වාස කිරීම මත ය.

මෙම සන්දර්භය තුළ, දීම ධනාත්මක කර්මය හෝ කුසල් රැස් කිරීමේ මාර්ගයක් ලෙස සලකනු ලැබේ, එය අනාගතයේ දී ධනාත්මක ප්රතිඵල ඇති කළ හැකිය. මිනිසුන්ට දීමේ ක්‍රියාවන්හි නියැලීමට මෙය ප්‍රබල පෙළඹවීමක් විය හැකිය, මන්ද එය ඔවුන්ගේ මෙන්ම අන් අයගේ තත්වයන් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ මාර්ගයක් ලෙස ඔවුන් දකින බැවිනි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, කුසල් රැස්කිරීමේ සංකල්පය දීමේ ක්‍රියාවට සම්බන්ධ කිරීමෙන් ද යම් යම් අඩුපාඩු ඇති විය හැකිය. නිදසුනක් වශයෙන්, එය දීම සඳහා ගනුදෙනු ප්‍රවේශයකට තුඩු දිය හැකිය, එහිදී මිනිසුන් මූලික වශයෙන් යමක් ලබා ගැනීමේ අපේක්ෂාවෙන් ලබා දෙයි. මෙමගින් පරිත්‍යාගයේ පරාර්ථකාමී ස්වභාවය අඩු කර දෙන්නාට සහ ලබන්නාට එහි බලපෑම අඩු කළ හැකිය.

මීට අමතරව, පිං රැස් කිරීම අවධාරණය කිරීම ආගමික සංවිධානවලට හෝ විශේෂිත පුද්ගලයන්ට දීම වැනි නිශ්චිත ආකාරයේ දීමනා කෙරෙහි පටු අවධානයක් යොමු කිරීමට ද හේතු විය හැක. මෙය දීමේ විභව බලපෑම සීමා කළ හැකි අතර සමානව වටිනා විය හැකි වෙනත් ත්‍යාගශීලීත්වය බැහැර කළ හැකිය.

සමස්තයක් වශයෙන්, කුසල් රැස් කිරීමේ සංකල්පය දන්දීම සඳහා ප්‍රබල පෙළඹවීමක් විය හැකි අතර, විවෘත හා පරාර්ථකාමී මනසකින් දීම සඳහා ප්‍රවේශ වීම වැදගත් වේ. අප සහ අන් අය සඳහා දීමේ ප්‍රතිලාභ කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කිරීමෙන්, අපට ත්‍යාගශීලීත්වය සඳහා වඩාත් ධනාත්මක සහ බලපෑමෙන් යුත් ප්‍රවේශයක් නිර්මාණය කළ හැකිය.

අවසාන වශයෙන්, දීම යනු දෙන්නාට සහ ලබන්නාට ප්‍රතිලාභ රාශියක් ගෙන දිය හැකි ප්‍රබල ක්‍රියාවකි. අපි මුදල් පරිත්‍යාග කළත්, අපගේ කාලය ස්වේච්ඡාවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කළත්, හෝ කාරුණික වචනයක් හෝ අභිනය ඉදිරිපත් කළත්, කුසල් සමඟින් හෝ නොකළත් අප අවට ලෝකය කෙරෙහි ධනාත්මක බලපෑමක් කිරීමට අපට බලය ඇත.

ඉතින්, අපි හැමෝම තව ටිකක් දීලා ලෝකය හොඳ තැනක් කරන්න උත්සාහ කරමු.

Sasanka De Silva,

Pannipitiya.

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් (ප්‍රජා කටයුතු) දකුණ හා මධ්‍යම පළාත් හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාරවර

ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය අතර වොෂින්ටන් නුවර දී ඉහළ මට්ටමේ රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රික සාකච්ඡා ඇරඹීමට පැය  48 ක් තිබිය දී, ජවිපෙ නායක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහ බැංකු අධිපති නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ ට බර අවි ප්‍රහාරයක් එල්ල කරන්නේ කෙසේ හෝ ‘  වැඩසටහන කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට තමන් සුදානම්බව පෙන්වීමට බව හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාර රජිත් කිර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් පවසයි.

විපක්ෂය, ආණ්ඩුවට දේශපාලනික ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කිරීම සාමාන්‍ය දෙයකි. නමුත්, ලෝකයම බලාගෙන සිටින ලංකාවේ අනාගතය තීරණය කරන රැස්වීමකට වාඩිවන සාකච්ඡාකරුවන්ට කුමන්ත්‍රණ චෝදනා ඉල්ල කිරීම අවස්ථවාදී දේශපාලන ව්‍යවහාරයකි. 

සඳුදා (අප්‍රේල් 10) දින වොෂින්ටන් හි දී ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල සමඟ ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය ඉහළම මට්ටමේ නිල සාකච්ඡා ආරම්භ කිරීමට නියමිතය.   මුදල් අමාත්‍යවරයා, මහ බැංකු අධිපතිවරයා, මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශ හා මහ බැංකු නිලධාරීන් මේ වන විට ඇමරිකාව බලා ගොස් ඇත. නිල සාකච්ඡා ඇරඹීමට පැය කිහිපයකට පෙර ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල හා එම සාකච්ඡාවට සහභාගිවන නිලධාරීන් (මුදල් ඇමති හා මහ බැංකු අධිපති) ට දේශපාලන වේදිකාවක දි ජවිපෙ කුමන්ත්‍රණ චෝදනා එල්ල කිරීම පුදුම සහගතය.

නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ සහ ජවිපෙ අතර සුනිල් හඳුන්නෙත්ති හරහා හොඳ සම්බන්ධයක් අවබෝධයක් තිබුණි. මහ බැංකුවේ අධිපති ධූරය බාරගන්නට පෙරත්, ඉන් පසුව මාස ගණනාවක් යන තුරුත් එය එළෙසම පැවතුති. ආණ්ඩුවත් මහ බැංකුවත් ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදලේ ආධාර ගිවිසුම අනුව මෙරටට මුදල් ලැබිමත් සමඟ එම තත්වය වෙනස්වී ඇත. දැන් ජවිපෙ ට, නන්දලාල් පෙනේනට බැරිය. 

රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා හෝ ඔහුගේ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට විරුද්ධවීම දේශපාලනික ය.  නමුත්, ආර්ථිකය ගොඩ දමමින්, කළමනාකරණය කරමින් කටයුතු කරන රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ට දේශපාලනික බර අවි ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කිරීම පැහැදිලිවම කෙසේ හෝ නැවත රටේ මුල්‍ය අරාජිකත්වයක් ඇති කිරීමේ අරමුණින් සිදු කරන්නකි.

විශේෂයෙන්ම, එම සාකච්ඡාවට ලංකා රජය නියෝජනය කරන කණ්ඩායමට දේශපාලන වේදිකාවක චෝදනා කිරීම තුලින් ජවිපෙ පැහැදිලි පණිවුඩයක් වොෂින්ටනයට ලබාදී ඇත. ඒ ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදලේ වැඩසටහනක පිළිබඳ තෘප්තියක් නැති බව හා අවශ්‍ය නම් එය කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට තමන් පසුබට නොවන බවය.

දැන් අයි.එම්.එෆ්. විරෝධය කර ගසා දෙන යන්නේ විමල් – ගම්මන්පිල කණ්ඩායම, ගෙවිඳු කුමාරතුංග කණ්ඩායම සහ ජවිපෙ පමණී.  ආරම්භයේ සිටම විපක්ෂයේ විමල් ඇතුළු කණ්ඩායමට ලෝක බැංකුව, මුල්‍ය අරමුදල, ඇමරිකාව දුටුවිට කුමන්ත්‍රණ පෙනෙන්නේය.  දැන් කාලයකට පසුව නැවත ජවිපෙට මුදල් ඇමති හා මහ බැංකු අධිපති පෙනෙන්නේ කුමන්ත්‍රණකරුවන් ලෙසිනි.

රටේම බලාපොරොත්තුව හෙට ඇරඹෙන ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගතකරණය ඇතුළු විෂයන් 12 කින් සාකච්ඡා සාර්ථක වීමය.  දුෂණ විරෝධී පනත ඇතුළු නව අණ පනත් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජාත්‍යන්තර විශ්වාසය දිනාගැනීම ය. 

ජවිපෙ සිදු කරන්නේ එම සාකච්ඡාවට නායකත්වය ලබාදෙන නියෝජිතයින් ඉලක්ක කර පහරදීම ය.

මෙය ජනපතිට, ආණ්ඩුවට දේශපාලනිකව පහරදීමට වඩා අතිශයින් නරක හා විනාශකාරී පූර්වාදර්ශයකි.

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් (ප්‍රජා කටයුතු) දකුණ හා මධ්‍යම පළාත් හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාරවර

Manusha Media

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ඉහළ ආදායම් ලබාගත හැකි වැඩි රැකියා සංඛ්‍යාවක් ලබාගැනීමටත්, ජපාන රැකියා ඉලක්ක කරගත් පුහුණු මධ්‍යස්ථාන ආරම්භ කිරීමටත් අවශ්‍ය කටයුතු සම්බන්ධයෙන් අවධානය යොමුකරමින් ජපානයේ නිල සංචාරයක නිතරවන කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා, ජපානයේ ඉහළ පෙලේ රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රිකයින් හා රැකියා සදහා බදවා ගනු ලබන ආයතනවල ප්‍රධානීන් හමුවී ද්වි පාර්ශවික එකගතාවයන්ට පැමිණ තිබේ.

සාත්තු සේවක අංශයෙන් දැනට ලැබෙන රැකියා ප්‍රමාණය ඉහළ නංවා ගැනීමටත් මේ වන විට ලාංකිකයින්ට විවෘත වී නොමැති ගොඩනැගිලි නඩත්තු කිරීමේ හා පිරිසිදු කිරීමේ රැකියා අවස්ථා විවෘත කරගැනීමටත්  ජපානයේ සෞඛ්‍ය, කම්කරු සහ සුබසාධන අමාත්‍ය Katsunobu Kato මහතා සමග මනුෂ නානායක්කාර අමාත්‍යවරයා සාකච්ඡා කළේය.

ඒ අනුව සාත්තු සේවක අංශයේ ශ්‍රමිකයින් බදවා ගැනීම සදහා වන විභාග පවත්වන දින ගණන හා මධ්‍යස්ථාන ගණන ඉහළ නැංවීමෙන් වැඩි ශ්‍රමිකයින් පිරිසකට ජපාන රැකියා අවස්ථා ප්‍රමාණයක් විවෘත කරගැනීමට හැකියාව ලැබෙන බවට අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා පෙන්වා දුන් අතර ජපානයේ සෞඛ්‍ය, කම්කරු සහ සුබසාධන අමාත්‍යවරයාගෙන් ඒ සදහා යහපත් ප්‍රතිචාරයක් හිමිව තිබේ. ඒ අනුව වැඩි රැකියා අපේක්ෂිතයින් පිරිසකට එම විභාගවලට පෙනී සිටීමට අවස්ථාව ලබාදීමට එකගවී තිබේ.

ගොඩනැගිලි නඩත්තු කිරීමේ හා පිරිසිදු කිරීමේ රැකියා ක්ෂේත්‍රය ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් ලංකාවේ පුහුණු මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් සහ සුදුසුකම් පරීක්ෂා කරනු ලබන මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ආරම්භ කිරීම සදහාත් මෙහිදී අමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙදෙනා එකගතාවයකට පැමිණි තිබෙන අතර ඒ සදහා වන මාර්ගෝපදේශයන් කඩිනමින් ලංකාවට ලබාදීමටත් එකගවී තිබේ.

ජපානයේ ඔටෝ මොබිල් ක්ෂේත්‍රෙය් රැකියා ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් පුහුණු මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ආරම්භ කිරීම සදහා ඇති කරගත් එකගතාවය සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන ඉදිරි ක්‍රියාකාරී සැලසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මනුෂ නානායක්කාර අමාත්‍යවරයා සහ ජපානයේ කැබිනට් කාර්යාලයේ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය Satoshi Fujimaru මහතා අතර සාකච්ඡාවක් පැවැත්විය. ඔටෝ මොබිල් ක්ෂේත්‍රෙය් රැකියා ඉලක්ක කරගත් පුහුණු මධ්‍යස්ථානය ආරම්භ කිරීම සදහා වන තාක්ෂණික කරුණු එහිදී සාකච්ඡා කළ අතර  කඩිනමින් පුහුණු මධ්‍යස්ථානය ආරම්භ කිරීම සදහා වන ඉදිරි පියවර ගැනීමටද Satoshi Fujimaru මහතා අමාත්‍යවරයා වෙත සහතික වී ඇත.

ජපානය හා ලංකාව අතර වන ද්වි පාර්ශවික සම්බන්ධතා ශක්තිමත් කිරීමටත්, විශේෂයෙන්ම කම්කරු ක්ෂේත්‍රෙය් වන සම්බන්ධතාවයන් ශක්තිමත් කරගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙනුත් ජපන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මිත්‍රත්ව සංසදයේ සභාපති Yoshitaka Shindo මහතා අතර විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවක් පවත්වා තිබේ. ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ලංකාව මුහුණදී ඇති අර්බුදකාරී අවස්ථාවේදී ජපානය ලබාදෙන සහාය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමාත්‍යවරයා සිය කෘතඥතාවය පළ කර සිටි අතර මේ අවස්ථාවේදී ශ්‍රී ලාංකික පුහුණු ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ජපානයේ වැඩි රැකියා අවස්ථා ප්‍රමාණයක් ලබාගැනීමට සහාය ලබාදෙන ලෙසද ඉල්ලා සිටියේය. ජපානයේ වැඩිහිටි ජනගහනය ඉහළ යාමත් සමග ඇතිවී තිබෙන තත්වයන් පිළිබද දෙපාර්ශවය අතර දීර්ඝ ලෙස අදහස් හුවමාරු කරගත් අතර එහිදී ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ශ්‍රමිකයින්ගේ දායකත්වය ජපාන ශ්‍රම බලකායට ලබාදිය හැකි ආකාරය ගැනද අදහස් හුවමාරු කරගත්තේය. විදේශ ගත ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ජපානයේ රැකියා සදහා පැමිණීම වඩාත් පහසු කරන ආකාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡා කරනු ලැබූ අතර ඒ සදහා ජපාන රජය පාර්ශවයෙන් ගනු ලබන පියවර සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජපන් – ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මිත්‍රත්ව සංසදයේ සභාපතිවරයා අමාත්‍යවරයාට කරුණු පැහැදිළි කළේය. ජපානයේ රැකියාවක් කිරීමේදී ජපන් භාෂාව, ජපන් සංස්කෘතිය සහ හර පද්ධතීන් පිළිබදව පැහැදිළි අවභෝධයක් ලබාගැනීමේ වැදගත්කම සම්බන්ධයෙන්ද ඔහු කරුණු පැහැදිලි කළේය.

ජපානයට විදේශ ගත ශ්‍රමිකයින් බදවා ගනු ලබන ප්‍රධාන පෙලේ ආයතනයක් වන Global Workforce ආයතනයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී Morihiro Tada මහතා හමුවූ මනුෂ නානායක්කාර අමාත්‍යවයරයා පුහුණු ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ජපානයේ වැඩි රැකියා අවස්ථා ප්‍රමාණයක් ලබාදෙන ලෙසට ඉල්ලීමක් කළේය. ඒ සදහා වන අවභෝධතා ගිවිසුමකට එළඹීමටද දෙපාර්ශවය එකගතාවයකට පැමිණ තිබේ.

පුහුණු ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ජපානයේ රැකියා අවස්ථා ලබාදීම සදහා කනමි හෝල්ඩිංස් සමාගමේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී Takanobu Osak, ජාත්‍යන්තර බදවා ගැනීම් අංශයේ ප්‍රධානී Hirokimi Kagei, ඇතුළු නියෝජිතයින් කණ්ඩායමක් සහ මනුෂ නානායක්කාර අමාත්‍යවරයා අතර සාකච්ඡාවක්ද පවත්වා ඇත.

මෙම සාකච්ඡා සදහා කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ උපදේශක ශාන් යහම්පත් මහතා සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ නීතීඥ සමින්ද ජයසේකර මහතාද එක්ව සිටියහ.

Senaka Weeraratna

The Vatican has publicly apologized for helping European colonizers in the past. But does the apology mean anything? Palki Sharma tells you more

Don Juan Dharmapala and the Portuguese Inquisition in Ceylon

The Website ‘ Wings of Time – Footsteps through History of Sri Lanka’ provides a series of web links giving fascinating accounts and insights into the Portuguese Inquisition in Sri Lanka following the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa (1560-1812).

It was Francis Xavier, the infamous catholic missionary who demanded the setting up of the Goa Inquisition, a religious tribunal for suppression of heresy and punishment of heretics. The Inquisition was set up in 1560. It committed crimes against humanity and was notorious for using brutal torture and lasted till 1812 and this was supposedly the golden age where the power of life and death of ordinary people was held by a Christian priest. If people were unable to pass the ‘act of faith’ (autos – da – Fe), they were stretched on the rack or burnt on the stake in a barbaric manner.
For centuries Goa was considered the Rome of the Orient. It was the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the Orient. The tomb of Francis Xavier, who died in 1552, lies in the Igreja do Bom Jesus in the old City of Goa ( Velha Goa).
The authenticity of the corpse of Francis Xavier has been challenged by the Buddhists of Sri Lanka who claim with substantial evidence that it is actually the corpse of the highly venerated Sinhala Buddhist monk Ven. Thotagamuwe Rahula.

http://www.sriexpress.com/articles/item/982-sri-lanka-must-demand-the-return-of-the-remains-of-ven-thotagamuwe-sri-rahula-from-goa-if-the-dna-tests-prove-positive.html

The Portuguese Inquisition in Goa became one of the most severe and cruel in the Portuguese conquered territories. Alfredo De Mello, who was born and educated in British India and Portugal, reveals many dramatic facts about the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa.

http://www.dightonrock.com/inquisition_goa.htm

Jerónimo de Azevedo (1540 – Lisbon, 1625) was a Portuguese fidalgo, Governor of Portuguese Ceylon and Viceroy ofPortuguese India.He was a key figure in the late 16th-century Portuguese takeover of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). According to author and historian A. R. Disney, the touchstone of Portuguese ambitions in Sri Lanka by the end of the 16th century was the bequest by King Don Juan Dharmapala of Kotte in 1580 of his entire realm to the king of Portugal.

Dharmapala was a Christian convert and his bequest was unacceptable to the Sinhala Buddhist inhabitants and to the rulers of the neighbouring Kingdoms of Sitavaka and Kandy. The takeover was therefore heavily resisted by the Sinhala Buddhists, and the Portuguese had to subjugate Kotte by force, using methods of the Portuguese Inquisition then being heavily implemented in Goa, formally completing the process during Dom Jerónimo de Azevedo’s captaincy of Colombo from 1594 to 1612. A Portuguese administrative superstructure headed by a captain-general was then imposed on the kingdom following the demise of Don Juan Dharmapala (1541 – 1597) who stands out in the history of Sri Lanka as the country’s greatest villain among a long list of 180 Kings that ruled what was then called ‘ Sinhale ‘ the original name of Sri Lanka.

Azevedo was nominated the 20th viceroy of Portuguese India in 1611 and left Colombo for Goa in 1612. In 1615 he backed an audacious expedition to Pegu in Burma to loot the Moon imperial treasures in Mrauk-U, an enterprise that ultimately did not succeed. However, the fact that it was supported at such a high official level showed how plundering and looting the treasures of other nations was considered a legitimate policy objective of the Portuguese in their colonies and the rest of Asia.

Don Juan Dharmapala was so despised by the Sinhala Buddhist people of Sri Lanka for his conversion to Christianity and Betrayal of Buddhism and the Sinhala nation that his grave which was located in Gordon Gardens adjoining the Queen’s House ( the seat of the British Governors ) in Colombo, was totally ransacked and the remnants of the dead corpse was thrown into the sea when Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike ( 1956 – 1959) allowed public entry to the Gordon Gardens.

(Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, former Ambassador to UAE and Israel, President Ambassador’s Forum, Solicitor England and Wales)

‘Study of Law’

Study of law is study of social sciences, education of human beings, to govern over persons, social, political, business and like through the rules and study of those relationships. It runs back to ages and currently developed with the digital age fast with modern technology. In certain parts it is digitalized and available on finger tips on CD’s. In developed Latin American countries the modern update legislature is available on CD’s. In our parts of the world the legislation in 1800 in UK is still used in day to day life with few new law introduced from time to time – penal code and the civil procedure being a classic example. (Penal Code- ordinance no 2 1813 adopted in 1883, Two amendment 22/1993 and 16/2006) The case on other legislature is the same with few exceptions.

Study of law in Sri Lanka runs back to the era of Sri Lankan Kings where  they used the traditional  legal system subsequently codified as ‘’Neethi Nigantuwa’’, until British Rulers introduced English Law under British Rule. Late Dr A. R.B. Amarasinghe says that monarch’s (Sri Lankan Kings) followed different levels of hearings as they wish which is confirmed by Robert Knox in his experiences as a prisoner of the last king of Sri Lanka. Kings were expected to follow the principles on /of  ‘Dasaraja Dhamma’ ten rules a king is expected to follow in rule namely,  1- Dhana  (charity),  2- Sila (morality),  3- Altruism (pariccae), 4- Ajjawa ( Honesty) 5 – Maddava (Gentleness) 6- Tapa ( self-control) 7- Akorasha 8-  Avisansa (Non  Anger ) 9- Kanthi  ( nonviolence  ( forbearance) 10- ‘’Aviridatha’’ ( upbringings ) are the ten commandments a King should follow to be a ‘just king’ based on according to writings of historians  on the subject . They are not expected to on dictatorial and arbitrarily rule on the citizen they are told to consider as children of the family. These are guideline a ruler is expected to follow in ruling with absolute power with Ministers to assist and other set of advisors including senior Buddhist Monks. These are the rules expected to be followed by kings and the personal laws such as later known as ‘Kandian Law’ in the current   format today ‘Muslim Law’ and ‘Tesavalama’ were practices as personal/regional laws by respective groups. Portuguese and Dutch introduced their laws in maritime areas they controlled and the most important to note is the introduction of Roman Dutch law still used in property law in Sri Lanka and South Africa. Currently Sri Lankan legal system  is governed by English Law that enacted the supreme law on the island, the subsidiary legislation, and a mixture of English law for trade and international law, ‘Kandian’, ‘Muslim, ‘Tasawalamai’ , for personal Property laws, Roman Dutch Laws on property, and English legislation coming down from generations from 1800 years by way of acts still in force in Sri Lanka in English Language. After the introduction of ‘Swabasha’ ‘(Sinhala and Tamil) new legislation was passed in three languages namely English, Sinhala and Tamil whilst all previous laws introduced by British prevailed and effective as part of legislation. Acts of 1800 years are not translated to ‘’Swasha’’and it is a nearly impossible task to do so due to practical impossibilities. It is prudent to read the acts rather than attempting to translate.

Late Justice A R B Amarasinghe – a Supreme Court Judge and a scholar wrote extensively on the subject with the newly introduced book by Dr Jayatissa de Costa in his book Laws of Sri Lanka on this subject and as a result the English Law and Jurisprudence became a part of Sri Lankan Law (then Ceylon) with legislation runs back to 1800 years such a Penal Code, civil Procedure and many legislation still applied live in Sri Lanka available only in English. Education of Law commences at the Law College (professional aspects) managed by the Council of Legal Education (headed by His Lordship the Chief Justice) that deals with the professional limb when the Universities commenced academic studies initially leading to LLB in line with English model in traditional universities, now expanded to many in Sri Lanka and worldwide with degree awarding institutions available at a prize. COUNCIL OF EGA EDUCATION was introduced in 1872, and the Law College in 1974, as a self-governing fee levying institution managed by a group of Supreme court Judges headed by the Chief Justice, with some working arrangements with the Ministry of Justice to ease management of the institution. Legal Reforms and Disciplinarians of lawyers are within the ambit if the Bar Association and the Supreme Court in a most traditional format unlike the most vibrant and modern forms are practised in UK USA and the Commonwealth.

Introduction of ‘’Swabasha’’ (Sinhala and Tamil mediums) with legal systems changed

1972 Constitution broke  the continuity of the colonial rule, also brought about further changes when Sinhala and Tamil were given preference/priority over English especially on interpretations and the subjects were taught with freedom for the students to learn and answer of their choice that followed swiftly until the disputed gazette notification was introduced taking measures for legal and procedural reforms on legal education with the introduction to conduct examinations only in English language, when the gazette of 2208 was defeated in the Parliament for 113 against only one vote by ‘’Chndima Weerakkody’’ Member of Parliament – a lawyer from Galle and once deputy Speaker  for reasons given at his speech in fair detail. It is learnt that the gazette notification was an introduction of a package for legal and procedural reforms with preventive measures to control moneymaking and substandard educational institutions offering substandard degrees with international links, and gradual transformation of converting language of instructions to English with ‘’Swabasha’’ too in practice. The legislature and usual may have not studied the concepts properly and voted against the gazette as a block the proposition for the students to answer only in English leaving the freedom to answer at their choice, which is in force today. Medium of studies was originally on the mother tong, that is now changes to trilingual and English only in private schools abundantly found at a price that attracts parents. Legal studies have direct bearing on the medium of study to meet the main hurdle of law college entrance and study of law in universities on completion of academic studies and highly competitive law college entrance examination. Legal profession feels threatened on the massive number entered to the legal profession by various means using shortcuts most of whom try to be magistrates court lawyers where proceedings are  conducted in ‘’Swabasha,’’. Not many take to alternate employments in public and private sector like in the UK  EU and Commonwealth countries where the  lawyer is well placed in business and like venture successfully with knowledge of IT and extra qualifications acquired. Those who are well conversant in IT and English competency find employments and find way in the superior courts as practitioner’s completing the vacuum created due to want of legal professionals.

By Garvin Karunaratne

Half a century ago I was privileged to be one of the youngest lieutenants handpicked to implement the Paddy Lands Act, the magnificent piece of legislation devised by the visionary leader Hon Philip Gunawardena to allay all the ills of peasant agriculture in Sri Lanka.

 It was a time when our country, basking in the early glory of independence, was seeking new roots to serve the people. Hon Philip Gunawardena was a man of the people, loved by the people and admired by all who worked under him. With a background of academic expertise gained at famous seats of learning at the Universities of Illinois and  Wisconsin, he joined the band of patriotic statesmen- Dr N.M.Perera, Dr S.A.Wickremasinghe, Dr Colvin R de Silva and spearheaded the movement for the common man.

 When Hon SWRD Bandaranayake of the SLFP and Hon Philip Gunawardena came together and formed a pro Sinhala Front, the MEP- Mahajana Eksath Peramuna we were all enthusiastic supporters. That was a move for the people to move forwards, a move from colonialism to the sovereignty of the people at large.

 I was  young, having only a years’ experience,  a product of the free education system of our country. In about January 1956 I was posted as Assistant Commissioner for Development of Agricultural  Marketing at Ratnapura. Ven Henpitagedera Gnanasiha’s temple happened to be in Ratnapura.‚  Ven Gnanasiha took on the mantle of supporting the cause of the downtrodden masses led by Hon SWRD Bandaranayake and Hon Philip Gunawardena. Many an evening I met Ven Gnanasiha at the temple‚  and came to admire his‚  teachings and political slant. He stood up for the Buddhists and the Sinhalese.   The visits to the temple became more frequent as the 1956 General Election approached, with Ven Gnanasiha playing a major role. Every day he left the temple in the early hours of the morning in his car, a Volkswagon, as far as my memory goes, and came back late in the night to be greeted and worshipped by us. He was busy addressing publicity meetings all over the island. We had endless discussions on how the masses had to be victorious at the elections. Ven Gnanasiha was an eloquent speaker and his famous dictum was “-Are you a Buddhist?, are you a Sinhalese?, then the choice is clear.”

 With victory at the 1956 General Election, Hon Philip Gunawardena‚  was appointed the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives and a few of us Assistant Commissioners were handpicked from the Marketing Department for the Agrarian Services Department, a special department created overnight.

 I served under Minister Hon Philip Gunawardena only for the years 1956 to 1959. That was because Minister Gunawardena had to relinquish his duties as a Minister due to the rightist  and non socialist elements in the Bandaranayake Government,  taking over power. Hon Philip Gunawardena  was not going to change his policies to suit anyone. He was for the masses and if that was not accepted he gracefully backed out.

 As the Minister for Agriculture he drafted and passed the Paddy Lands Act in Parliament. That was a  progressive piece of legislation intended to solve the ills that the peasantry suffered since the colonial days.  His sudden departure from the Cabinet did not erase what he had done. He was a visionary leader who left his imprints on the sands of time within a short space of three years. He had established a major Department , the Agrarian Services almost overnight and built up a brigade of young officers in whom he instilled the duty of working for the masses and I am proud to have been‚  one of them. All was not lost with his departure from the Cabinet because the officers took on his mantle to work for the masses. We were an enthusiastic lot that could not be tamed. The Department of Agrarian Services, covered the full services required for advancement in paddy cultivation- the Guaranteed Price Scheme for purchase of paddy and other cereals, rice milling, crop insurance, minor irrigation, fertilizer subsidy and distribution, agricultural credit, agricultural extension and the people’s organization- the cultivation committees. 

In addition he established Multipurpose Cooperatives with an apex body at the Divisional level to support the village level multipurpose cooperative. This was a vast organization covering‚  all aspects of paddy production, agricultural marketing and even though Hon Philip Gunawardena left he had provided the essential development administrative framework, which could not be brushed away. Most of the development work in future years was possible because of the development infrastructure he left behind

My experience tells me that we can today benefit immensely in the manner that Hon Philip Gunawardena directed us.

 Tackling Inflation

As Assistant Commissioner for Marketing we were in charge of fair price shops in almost every city.  In Colombo there were easily over fifty. These were established before Minister Gunawardena came in,  but he fine tuned them to work very efficiently. We ran around in circles to keep all these shops fully stocked with  essentials like dhall, chillies, flour, sugar, vegetables etc. all sold at a rock bottom priceš‚  Working in charge of the Tripoli Market it was my duty to see that every shop was having the essential stocks and also selling them to genuine consumers and not selling in large quantities to traders.

 I can remember an incident. At the District  Coordinating Committee in Anuradhapura in around 1957, the District Land Officer reported that the colonists who had just moved in to Padaviya were fleeced by the traders who kept fantastic margins of profit.  I said that the Marketing Department was meant to tackle that problem and I undertook to solve it.‚  One telephone call to the Commissioner for Marketing BLW Fernando brought me approval. Those were the days of Hon.Philip Gunawardena who never bowed down to the trader mafia. No errant mafia could ever get near him. I think they could not face his very gaze. He looked a tough rough that could not be tamed. Under him, we were not worried to make decisions. We obtained some buildings in Padaviya, collected a staff of assistant managers and labourers. They were moved in a lorry with all the goods. I followed. We worked till late in the night establishing the shop and that night I slept on some gunny bags. It was a task accomplished within three to four days.

 The answer to the present problem of inflation is,. as far as imports are concerned to import and sell at a rock bottom priceš‚  so that no trader can sell at a higher price. This is being done today by Satosa to reduce the margins of profit kept by the traders.

 As far as local produce is concerned the Marketing Department purchased vegetables and fruits at the village fairs, transported it overnight to Tripoli Market, the headquarters where the vegetables were graded and sent to the fair price shops all over, As the Assistant Commissioner at Tripoli.‚  I studied the prices at the wholesale market in Colombo and fixed the prices at which produce was to be bought all over the island.  The Assistant Commissioners in the District had to report to me the prices at which traders were buying at the Fairs and I fixed a higher price. The Department kept only 10 to 15% margin to cover transport and handling and sold the produce at cheap rates to city consumers. This can be compared with 50% or more which each trader keeps The trader who purchases at the Fair keeps around 40 to 50% and the wholesaler in Colombo too keeps a margin and the retailer also keeps a margin. This easily totals to over 100%. . Our aim‚  was to compel‚  all traders to sell at a price close to what we sold at our shops. The traders had to be satisfied with keeping a low margin because otherwise they would be out of business. Under Hon Philip Gunawardena we fine tuned this scheme and though the Department purchased  only 10 % of the crop we were able to control the prices unofficially.

 The  Canning Factory was further developed  and during Hon Philip’š‚  time we became totally self sufficient in fruit juice, tomatoe sauce and jam. The Canning Factory enabled us to offer floor prices- prices at which we will purchase the entire stock offered in tomatoes, red pumpkin, ash pumpkin and pineapple.  Recently the farmers at Hanguranketa built a pandal with tomatoes to prove to the Government that they could not sell their crop.  The Red Pumpkin was turned into Golden Melon Jam and the Ash Pumpkin was turned into  Silver Melon Jam.

 The UNP of President Jayawardena under the advice of the IMF disbanded the Marketing Department and privatized the Canning Factory. Today Sri Lanka imports Jam, Fruit Juice etc, all produce which we can manufacture. A year ago I saw Keels Supermarkets full of Heinz Tomatoe sauce. Meanwhile our tomatoe producers cannot sell their produce.

The message is very clear. Re establish the Marketing Department’s Vegetable and Fruit Purchasing Scheme and the Canning Factory. We can tackle inflation as well as help the producers with a better price than what the traders offer.  A very valid development, something we did do in the past.  Today have we not created another trading unit between the producer and the consumer by establishing Economic Centers- nothing other than  a conglomeration of traders. 

 Inflation in the prices of food is caused in two ways. In the case of imports we have to be guided by the import prices. But in those days‚  we had a staff that did specialize in imports, that was in the CWE and the Food Commissioner’s Department. The Food Department was in charge of importing flour and there was a special team led by a Deputy Director to contact foreign governments and foreign suppliers to negotiate supplies at competitive rates..‚  President Jayawardena under the guidance of the IMF to privatize all commercial undertakings‚  came to a deal with a Singaporean Company to handle all the flour imports. He sold the task of importing, milling and selling wheat to Prima, a Singaporean company.  Thereafter the profits in milling flour went to Singaporeans. Under Hon Philip Gunawardena it was the Food Commissioners Department that imported flour. We continued the method of importing and establishing‚  rice mills and also encouraging local entrepreneurs to establish rice mills. In this process the profits in milling rice stayed with local people. Then the Government directly imported wheat flour. From the time of President Jayawardena it was a foreign firm Prima that bought the wheat for milling. Prima is authorized to buy at prices it likes and sell the flour to us at its price.

. A few years ago it was reported that when there was a shortage of flour in Sri Lanka, Prima sold flour to the Maldives. Prima also takes away the bran, which is the main ingredient for cattle feed.  Our Dairy farming will get a shot in the arm by‚  using the bran. The message is that Prima should be sent packing

The Public Sector as the Engine of Growth

 Hon Philp Gunawardena was for the public sector as opposed to the private sector being in charge of development. That is a forte which is very valid for today.  During his time and right up to 1977 it was the public service of administrators and engineers that brought about the development of Sri Lanka.

There was a Planning Department that looked after the development of the country and President Jayawardena disbanded national planning and accepted the private sector as the engine of growth under the tutelage of the IMF. The Private Sector development today is to open up Supermarkets and to import and sell. Earlier, the Government Departments played a major role in every development aspect. Take industries, the Government produced paper at Valachchena. The Government produced Textiles at mills and Powerlooms. The Powerlooms were guided by a specialist unit at Velona in Moratuwa and we did produce suiting and textiles of excellent quality. All Powerlooms were run by administrators, working as the President of a cooperative. At Matara it was the Divisional Revenue Officers that were in charge and they were not paid. They had to attend to this task in addition to their duties. In my work at Kegalla as Additional GA and at Matara as the GA I was responsible for the proper functioning of all powerlooms and I interfered if there was a problem.  Take the Marketing Department, the Department that totally controlled  the prices at which traders purchased vegetables and fruits all over the island and also controlled the prices at which traders in the cities offered vegetables and fruit to consumers. This was done by the Commissioner for Marketing, a Grade I officer. He did not draw‚  millions of rupees in salary‚  like the Golden Key directors- Golden Key is said to have had some seven Deputy Chairmen who drew salaries of over  three million rupees, plus many perks  a month. The motto of the Public Service is service to the people, not to aggrandize profits and to get paid fantastic salaries.  It is true that currently certain commercial undertakings of the Government are in the red. The answer is not to offer them to the private sector and allow the people to get further fleeced but to build up expertise within the public sector to run them efficiently. We have within us the administrators to tackle  them.

 Agricultural Extension in the hands of the people

In agriculture the main message that Hon Philip Gunawardena‚  tells us is that‚  Paddy Cultivation was to be directed not by officials but by the people themselves.  This was the Paddy Lands Act in action. The Act ensured that a Cultivation Committee, elected by the farmers would make all decisions regarding the cultivation of paddy. Paddy cultivation has to be done by the cultivators in an entire village in cooperation. Before the Paddy Lands Act the Government Agent appointed a Vel Vidane for every village and it was his duty to hold a meeting of all proprietors of paddy land to decide when to commence clearing the irrigation canals, commence cultivation, when to sow, when to harvest etc. The Vel Vidane controlled cultivation. With the Paddy Lands Act this task fell to the cultivation committee. It was my experience in Kegalla and Anuradhapura that the farmers were very active participants in the cultivation committees. Further when there was, any repair to be done on an anicut or canal or tank the cultivation committee was entrusted with that task and the work was done by the people, not by outside contractors‚  The importance of this lies in the fact that people- community leaders‚  gain expertise in management as they cooperate in doing tasks together. This is actually community development in action. I can make a definite statement that the cultivation committees in Kegalla in 1960 and in Anuradghapura in 1962 to 1964 did attend to development tasks very efficiently. That was possible because the Paddy Lands Act put the farmers at the helm of decision making.  Today the cultivation committees are disbanded and all decisions are made by an O Level qualified official called a Niyamaka, who is also not trained in agriculture. This Niyamaka is today the laughing stock of the farmers. Paddy cultivation is dependent on the rain, which requires that the Kanna Meetings are held systematically and the dates fixed for cultivation etc. are adhered to. Today the Kanna Meetings are held in many areas but the decisions are not adhered to with the result that there is crop damage due to farmers cultivating late. This is due to pests originating from fields that had been planted earlier. Further late cultivation means that the harvest comes in late, with the rains damaging the crop. Even the next season is cultivated late as a consequence. A visit to any district today will find paddy fields with the crop at different stages.  Recently looking out of my window at Devon Hotel Kandy I saw paddy fields just sown alongside fields that had a three month crop.

The message is simple. A farmer organization has to be entrusted with paddy cultivation. Not officials. The Niyamaka is an officer. The active cultivation committees paved the path for the use of high yielding seed and fertilizer use. It is unfortunate that the Paddy Lands Act was not implemented seriously after the UNP took over in 1977, which led to the cultivation committees being disbanded. Let us hand over the cultivation of paddy to the people. Incidentally, the only success story in peasant cultivation to talk of comes from Comilla in Bangladesh where people organized in cooperatives did double the paddy yield and create a Division of full employment within nine years. The Comilla- Kotwali Thana, a Division is a  paradise in a world of poverty. This is documented in my book:How the IMF Ruined Sri lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success, Godages).

Handing over the management of paddy cultivation to farmers is a must for progress and Hon Philip’s cultivation committees show us the path to success.

Community Cooperatives.

 Multipurpose Cooperatives and its apex body at the Divisional Level, the Union of Multipurpose Cooperatives was the brainchild of Hon Philip Gunawardena to handle all commercial aspects. It was to provide all the services- supplies of food, fertilizer etc. for agriculture, the purchasing of paddy etc.  The aim was also to get community members involved in the development of their area. As community leaders  get involved in commercial activities their abilities and capacities develop and they can attend to further development aspects.  The effect of these cooperatives were not very evident in the time when Hon Philip was a Minister, but in later times it was this framework that enabled rural development.  The Powerlooms that were established were cooperatives and these were thriving commercial ventures that provided employment to the people and also provided textiles of high quality, cutting off imports. 

The flagship of the Sirimavo Government, the Divisional Development Councils Programme(DDCP) used the Cooperative structure left by Hon Philip to the maximum. Cooperatives handled all commercial ventures. In Matara, the Crayon Factory, which produced crayons of high quality for about a tenth of the island’s requirements was a cooperative venture. The Deniyaya Multipurpose Cooperative Union handled the production of Coop Crayon and had islandwide sales under the leadership of Sumanapala Dahanayake the Member of Parliament of the area.  This was only one of the commercial ventures commenced to provide employment to youths.  In that process the community members who handled this venture got the experience to handle more and by the close of 1977 the cooperatives had a large number of commercial ventures implemented successfully. This was the situation in other areas too. At Matara the Cooperative Boatyard was a great success. Similarly many cooperative industries sprang up all over the island under the DDCP because of the infrastructure that Hon Philip had once created.

The message from Hon Philip for today is to rejuvenate the cooperative structure, with the Divisional apex body and to get the community totally involved in the development of the rural areas. This will never be done by the private sector because as  a venture becomes successful the owners will move themselves and their ventures to areas of luxury, leaving the original habitat. Rural Development and creating employment in rural areas‚  is key to development today and cooperatives have to play a major role.

Hon Philip Gunawardena had the idea that banking was important and that a bank of the people should be formed. He gave out this idea in discussions and it was left for Minister T.B. Illangaratne to implement‚  this task when he became a Minister in the  1960 Government of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayake..

Today foreign banks are mushrooming and taking the profits away.  The foreign banks are even allowed to fix the sale price of‚  foreign exchange they collect and take the profits away. It has even been found that when there is a shortage of foreign exchange the banks that hold foreign funds are allowed to bid the price of the foreign exchange upwards. This did happen in January 2001 when just after the Rupee was free floated a State bank had to pay a large oil bill and the two State banks did not have sufficient dollars. They approached the private banks‚  and these private banks bid the price upwards. The Rupee that was valued at Rs. 85 to the pound was devalued to Rs 115 in a flash.  In other words our foreign exchange is today a commodity where banks can create profits and devalue our currency in the process. This is documented in my book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka& Alternate Programmes of Success.

The message from Hon Philip to our finance section is that foreign banks cannot be trusted. The State banks have to be solely in charge of our foreign exchange. 

 The Industrial Development Board(IDB) established by Hon Philip Gunawardena. Industries have to be developed to enable the people to be employed and also to manufacture the requirements of the people. . The IDB has highly qualified technicians and engineers who could provide plans for establishing industries.  The IDB is thus the prime institution and deserves to have  a unit in each District, to study the produce in the area and to draft plans to enable manufacture, a task that falls to the cooperatives. Today we import everything; we do not make even a bicycle. Most of our industries are of the assembly type. Instead  we should get down to manufacture. To quote the success of the Crayon Factory which I myself established as a cooperative, which could have been easily developed to produce all our requirements, the way ahead for us  to create employment and also to save foreign exchange that we today spend  on imports‚  is to develop industries.

In this task the IDB of Hon Philip can easily play a major role.

Conclusion

 It has been a pleasure to pen this paper detailing how the ideas of Minister Hon Philip Gunawardena can help the present Government’s effort at development. Truly the Programmes. of the present Government, like Gama Neguma are a success, but it has to be said that if the development infrastructure created by Hon Philip could be used, Gama Neguma and other programmes will flower to greater success.

 Hon Philip Gunawardena’s idea of Power to the People is also the motto of President Rajapaksa and it will augur well for him to consider having farmers and community leaders to be in charge of their development, in agriculture, animal husbandry and small industry. It could be an elected body like the cultivation committees or a cooperative like at Comilla. At Comilla,  a village farmer took the role of the extension officer. He was trained a day every week. As far as I can see this is the devolution of power that has to be done to activize the people and bring about prosperity. All officials and institutions like the IDB should be providing expertise to this august body and the people have to be  activated‚  to plan and further paddy cultivation, the Cooperatives to establish Tractor Stations to help cultivators and also to establish Fruit Canneries in fruit growing areas, Creameries churning out butter and cheese and all types of small industries. For instance, today we burn wood shavings and saw dust. In the UK and USA these are turned into processed timber with the addition of some latex. We import such processed timber from Malaysia and India. Many such industries have to be developed. Creating full employment should be the aim and in my experience this is a task that can be achieved in a few years.‚ 

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.

Former SLAS

Courtesy Adaderana

To tackle the enormous economic challenge that Sri Lanka is facing, everyone must come together to support the recovery and promote stable and inclusive growth, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer.

Speaking in a video on the IMF YouTube channel on supporting recovery and promoting stable and inclusive growth in Sri Lanka, Peter Breuer states that after years of increasing economic problems and policy mistakes, Sri Lanka has committed to report and rebuild.

The IMF is here to help. The fund has approved about USD 3 billion over the next four years to support Sri Lanka in this time of need”, he said, in the video.

Peter Breuer, the IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka expresses that since 2019, significant tax cuts and delays in anticipated reforms have left the country entering the pandemic with thin currency reserves, high debt levels and no fiscal space to buffer against shocks.

 With no reserves left, power cuts, shortages of food and medicines, and long lines for petrol emerged. Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history. There are no easy solutions, but that’s where everyone must come together to tackle this enormous problem”, Mr. Breuer mentioned.

Furthermore, Mr. Breuer points out that Sri Lankans must make efforts to continue their way out of the crisis while supporting the less fortunate, highlighting that the global community must support Sri Lanka in this effort so that it can once again be on a path of strong and inclusive growth.

Working with the Fund, the Sri Lankan authorities have put together an ambitious economic recovery program, including reforms to raise the government revenue, stabilize prices, build up foreign reserves and safeguard financial stability, he explained, adding that the Sri Lankan authorities are also asking their creditors to support their efforts by granting debt relief.

When a crisis strikes, the poor are hit hardest. The program aims to raise spending for the poor and vulnerable, strengthen social safety nets and introduce progressive tax reforms to ensure greater contributions come from high-income earners”, he said.

In addition, Mr. Breuer has also highlighted that with breathing room from external debt relief, the IMF expects Sri Lanka’s economy to gradually start to recover and expand. 

It’s critical to ensure the hard-won gains from the reforms benefit the Sri Lankan people, and the crisis will not repeat itself”, he claimed.

The IMF representative who emphasized that the authorities have committed to improving public financial management and strengthening the anti-corruption legal framework, also expressed that in addition, the IMF will assess governance and corruption vulnerabilities and provide recommendations.

We, at the IMF look forward to working closely with the people of Sri Lanka for a brighter future for all.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said on Sunday that the government would follow the Supreme Court’s observations on the proposed new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), amid objection from the Opposition and the civil society groups.

He said the decision to delay the tabling of the bill in parliament was based on requests made by various organizations for more consultation. So that they would have more time to go to the Supreme Court if they wished to do so,” Rajapakshe said.

The new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) will replace the much-maligned Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, which was enforced to counter the then Tamil separatist militancy.

On April 1, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters that the new counter-terrorism law will be introduced later this month. However, the justice minister later said the bill would be delayed to either late April or early May.

Rajapakshe said that under the new bill the defence minister’s powers of PTA, which allowed indefinite and arbitrary detention, had been diluted.

It will be the police who will be ordering detention and anyone arrested must be produced before court in 24 hours,” he told reporters.

Rajapakshe said if the new counter terrorism act was going against the fundamental and human rights of individuals, the Supreme Court would rule as such.

Under the Sri Lankan parliamentary practice, any new bill could be challenged in the highest court to judge on its constitutionality within 14 days of its presentation in parliament.

The Supreme Court would rule if it required a simple or absolute majority in the 225-member assembly and if it would need a national referendum for its adoption to become law.

On March 17, the new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 97 pages was published in the government gazette.

The opposition and civil society groups objected to the new ATA, saying it targets the civil society protests which took place mid-last year over the then government’s failure in handling the ongoing economic crisis.

Since 2016, the European Union has been urging the government to repeal the PTA and bring in new counter-terrorism legislation in line with international standards. The EU has linked its GSP+ export tariff concessions to Sri Lanka modifying its counter-terrorism Act.

The main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa had slammed the bill as undemocratic and authoritarian”.

The opposition and rights groups fear that anyone expressing democratic opposition to the government could be targeted using the ATA.

Sri Lanka, which currently is reeling under its worst economic crisis, has witnessed several activities that have threatened its national security.

The nation saw the end of the Tamil insurgency in 2009 after the killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A fresh security threat dented the country’s security after the Easter suicide attacks in 2019 that killed 290 people. 

Source – PTI
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara says Sri Lanka has reached a bilateral agreement with the government of Japan, in order to establish training centres aimed at Japanese employment that will open up more employment opportunities in Japan which generate higher income.

Minister Manusha Nanayakkara, who is on an official visit to Japan, has reached this agreement when he met with Japanese top diplomats and the heads of the institutions from which the foreign employees are recruited.

At the time, Minister Nanayakkara has pointed out that, more Japanese job opportunities will be opened up by increasing the number of days and the number of centres for the examinations related to the recruitment of employees for the nursing service.

Accordingly, Japan’s Minister of Labour has agreed to provide more opportunities for job seekers to appear for the said examinations.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday assured justice for all the victims of the 2019 Easter bombings in which 270 people were killed, saying legal proceedings are being processed independently and impartially, without any influence. 

President Wickremesinghe also pledged his unwavering commitment to ensuring the security of the country, by preventing any recurrence of heinous acts. 

On April 21, 2019, nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 270 people and injuring over 500. 

The legal proceedings related to this tragic incident are being processed independently and impartially, without any influence. The necessary groundwork towards this end has been laid, to ensure justice for all the victims,” Wickremesinghe said in his Easter Sunday message.

 I pledge my unwavering commitment to ensuring the security of our country, by preventing any recurrence of such heinous acts,” the President said. He also said that the Government is dedicated to realising the aspirations of all Sri Lankans regardless of race, religion, party or colour. I strongly believe that we can overcome these challenges in the near future,” he said. 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Easter message 

Easter Sunday celebrates the ability of Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, to transform lives by dispelling darkness in people’s minds and bringing hope to the world. 

With Easter commemorating the resurrection of Jesus, it is an occasion for us to reflect on the values of love, peace, and forgiveness as espoused by Him, which are at the core of Sri Lankan culture, and we must come together with family, friends and communities, to solemnize the blessings life has to offer. 

We are presently seeking to overcome an era of unprecedented hardship, uncertainty and disappointment and are looking forward to a better tomorrow. The Government is dedicated to realizing the aspirations of all Sri Lankans regardless of race, religion, party or color. I strongly believe that we can overcome these challenges in the near future. 

However, it is crucial that we all unite on a common agenda that elevates us beyond narrow political objectives and regressive trends, and instead paving the way for the country toward progress. Let us all unite and work for a brighter future for Sri Lanka. 

I am very much aware of the extreme pain caused by the Easter Sunday attack being still fresh in your minds, and I share that pain. I wish to reassure you that the legal proceedings related to this tragic incident are being processed independently and impartially, without any influence. The necessary groundwork towards this end has been laid, to ensure justice for all the victims. I pledge my unwavering commitment to ensuring the security of our country, by preventing any recurrence of such heinous acts. 

As we continue to face these challenges, let us draw strength from the spirit of Easter, and its message of hope and renewal. 

May the Easter celebration bless the country, with wisdom, positivity and spiritual strength to overcome all its challenges. I extend my heartfelt wishes to all those who are celebrating the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, a meaningful and peaceful Easter.

 –With agencies inputs

by Garvin Karunaratne

Courtesy WION

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Before approving the loan, the IMF had urged Sri Lanka to reduce corruption by improving fiscal transparency and public financial management and introducing a stronger anti-corruption legal framework.

Sri Lanka has gazetted a new anti-corruption bill that is in line with the conditions listed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before approving the $2.9 billion loan to bail out the economic crisis-hit nation.

A gazette was published on Thursday on the order of Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, listing some of the objectives of the proposed act.

These rules, according to the act, are meant to prevent and eradicate bribery and corruption in order to meet the just requirements of the general welfare of a democratic society; enhance transparency in governance; strengthen integrity of governance and increase accountability.

The provisions of the act, once passed, would pave way for the formation of an independent commission which will be mandated to conduct preliminary inquiries and investigations into, and to prosecute against, bribery, corruption, offences relating to declaration of assets and liabilities and associated offences.

If the draft bill is enacted, it will enable the authorities to introduce an effective system for the declaration of assets and liabilities in order to prevent illicit enrichment by public officials, promote inter-agency cooperation and international collaboration in preventing bribery and corruption.

It will also give effect to obligations under the United Nations Convention against corruption and any other International Convention relating to the prevention of corruption to which Sri Lanka is a party and recognise international standards and best practices in order to establish a culture of integrity in Sri Lanka.

Before approving the loan, the IMF had urged Sri Lanka to reduce corruption by improving fiscal transparency and public financial management and introducing a stronger anti-corruption legal framework.

On April 2, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the Sri Lankan government will enact key points of its agreement with the IMF into law upon parliamentary approval, one of which would be new anti-corruption legislation which would likely be enacted in May. 

DR KALINGA SENEVIRATNE courtesy The Fiji Times

For almost two years, the western media, aided by its Indian counterparts, has flogged a false narrative of predatory Chinese lending as the cause of Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, ignoring the fact that it is reckless borrowing and lending in the International Sovereign Bond (ISB) market which is the main cause of it.

There are many skeptics in Sri Lanka who wonder if the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is really bailing out the international bond markets who have made reckless lending to successive corrupt governments and stand to make huge profits?

This has not been properly discussed in the local or the international media. The ISB market is mainly controlled by western hedge funds, and in April 2021 Sri Lanka’s Department of External Resources released a colourful chart that showed 47 per cent of Sri Lankan debts are market borrowings” (meaning ISBs) and the exposure to Chinese loans is only 10 per cent. ISBs lend at high interest rates around 5-8 per cent while Chinese and most bilateral loans are between 2-3 per cent.

In what Noam Chomsky calls the theory of manufacturing consent” in the The Port City. function of the news media, Sri Lankan media taking the cue from international news sources created an environment where the local public agenda was mainly focused on why Sri Lanka needs to go to the IMF for a bailout.

This suited the US geo-political agenda perfectly, as it gradually changed the Sri Lankan public perception of China as an all-weather friend” who can be depended upon to help the country’s development funding needs.

On March 21 when the long awaited official announcement from the IMF, that bailout” loan of $3 billion was approved by their board, some of President Ranil Wickremasinghe’s supporters lit fire crackers to welcome the news.

Using the IMF approval, Wickremasinghe is projecting himself as the saviour of the nation to dispel the widely held notion in the country that he is an unelected President who came forward to save the corrupt rule of the former President Mahinda Rajapakse’s family.

The fact is, that he is heading a government that is supported by the Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) that commands a majority of seats in the parliament, and thus is still referred to as the ruling party”.

For the past three decades, Wickremasinghe has been the darling of the West, who could be depended upon to serve the West’s geo-political interests.

It is this perception in Sri Lanka that was his undoing when the SLPP won a 2/3rd majority in parliament in the August 2020 general elections campaigning against Wickremasinghe as a national security threat because as the then Prime Minister, he was accused of secretly negotiating with the Americans to hand over Sri Lankan land to US companies, and also facilitate stationing of US marines in Sri Lanka.

Wickremasinghe not only lost his own seat, his United National Party (UNP) — Sri Lanka’s oldest political party — lost all its seats in parliament. He was able to sneak into Parliament through a consolation seat the party got under the proportional representation system.

Then how is he the president today? The huge street protests that forced President Gotabaya Rajapakse to flee the country and resign could be compared to the 2014 colour revolution” in Ukraine that outsted a proRussian president.

Rajapakses is perceived to be too pro-China by the West (and India). In puzzling circumstances, Gotabaya first appointed Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister and after the resignation of the president, Wickremasinghe became the president under the constitution to serve the rest of Gotabaya’s term (until November 2024).

But, for that the parliament had to endorse his appointment, which they did with a majority of the SLPP members voting for Wickremasinghe! The Prime Minister and the Cabinet is made up of almost exclusively SLPP members.

Many Sri Lankans still debate what has the July 2022 ousting of President Gotabaya by the protest movement has achieved? The movement was against corruption of the Rajapakse family and its ruling party cronies, but today, the strings of governing are believed to be pulled by former finance minister Basil Rajapakse who is the most tainted of the Rajapakse family with corruption allegations, and he is also a duel US-Sri Lankan citizen.

Since taking over the presidency, Wickremasinghe has been repressing the democratic rights of the people cracking down on workers’ and students’ protests. As Prime Minister, he is well known for the ruthless suppression of the Marxist-JVP uprising of Sinhala youth in the late 1980s.

Speaking on Mee Massoo TV You-tube channel, Yamuni Thushara, President, Anti-Corruption and Anti-Wastage Peoples Organisation pointed out that within hours of taking over power in July 2022, Wickremasinghe has signed an order to import 5000 canisters of teargas and in January 2023 he has increased it to 10,000.

He showed documents signed by the president to prove it. Government knows that there will be three to fours years of protests (over the IMF program) and teargas is needed to suppress peoples’ dissent” he argues.

Recently a security guard at the University of Colombo died after police fired teargas at protesting students. Government says they have no money for holding (local government) elections, but they can spend 144 billion rupees (about $F1 million) to import teargas” points out Thushara.

Sri Lanka is no longer a bankrupt country,” declared Wickremasinghe in presenting the IMF agreement to Parliament on March 23. Our banks will be internationally recognised. International financial institutions will honour our banks’ letters of credit.

The basis for obtaining credit from other international financial institutions at low interest rates will be created”. What he failed to tell Parliament is that under the IMF agreement, Sri Lanka could only borrow from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (both controlled by the West and Japan).

He also did not say how this agreement is going to help Sri Lanka to renegotiate the loans owed to the western hedge funds (ISBs).

The London-based campaign group Debt Justice that includes 182 economists and development experts from around the world, said two months ago that some of the world’s most powerful hedge funds are the cause of Sri Lanka’s debt crisis.

Such lenders charged a premium to lend to Sri Lanka to cover their risks, which accrued them massive profits and contributed to Sri Lanka’s first ever default in April 2022” they argued. In June 2022, one such bond holder, St Kitts and Nevis-based Hamilton Reserve Bank which holds more than $250 million of Sri Lanka’s ISBs, sued the Sri Lankan government in New York federal court seeking full payment of principle and interests.

The court case is still to be heard. Hamilton’s lawyers in their submission to court said that the default is causing American retirees tremendous suffering from potentially massive losses of up to 80 per cent of their original investment value”.

Well to safeguard US retirees making bumber profits from loans given to poor countries, it seems the poor have to suffer. Speaking on a popular social media site POD TALKS, Manju Nishshanka, a former Vice President of International Banking at Merill Lynch and currently the leader of the Global Sri Lankan Congress, which he founded, pointed out that IMF’s programs are designed to support market-driven economic policies and globalisation which its member countries believe in.

IMF has predicted that if the government implement some of their recommendations, there could be social and political chaos,” noted Nishshanka. It is people who will be effected when tax is raised, or when government enterprises are privatised. Government has promised (to IMF) electricity and fuel subsidies will be eliminated. That also effect peoples’ pockets. And when peoples’ savings (in Employee Provident Fund accounts) are siphoned off for (domestic) debt restructuring that will create resentments”.

IMF has acknowledged that the chance of a failure of their program is very high due to the unfavourable international environment where disposal incomes of people in developed countries are decreasing due to inflation and that will impact on Sri Lanka’s two main foreign exchange earners — tourism and apparel — and also disruption of supply chains and tense political environment in the country.

With Wickremasinghe using the IMF agreement to paint himself as the saviour of the nation, perhaps with a view to contest the 2024 presidential election, he needs to control the media narrative. On Thursday (23rd), after calling a meeting with editors and news directors of main media organisation in the country, Wickremasinghe asked them to tow the government line and support the IMF program.

He scolded the media for predicting revolution if the IMF program is implemented and for suggesting that Sri Lanka would become a pawn of the West.

The day before this meeting, opposition lawmaker and former banker Eran Wickremaratne addressing a media conference claimed that the IMF has blanked out sections of the report that was released to Parliament, which they claim were market-sensitive information.

The IMF should look into its own transparency” he remarked holding a copy of the report.

What is so secretive about your policy intentions being known,” he asked. IMF reform could succeed only if a popularly elected government could carry the people along to implement the reforms in the interest of the country and the people” argues Nishshanka.

At the moment, Wickremasinghe is refusing to release money to hold local government elections which were due this month (March) and the opposition is demanding a general elections. Under the constitution, the President can dissolve parliament any time after March 2023.

We have an extremely corrupt government in power says Nishshanka, so there’s no hope(for eradicating corruption)”.

• DR KALINGA SENEVIRATNE is a Sri Lankan born journalist, broadcaster and international communications specialist. He is a consultant for the journalism program of the University of the South Pacific in Suva. The views expressed in this article belongs to the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper

Courtesy The New Indian Express

In December 2022, the NIA arrested nine people from the Sri Lankan refugee camp in Tiruchy.

CHENNAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches in eight locations in the city and arrested a trader for allegedly possessing unaccounted cash, ganja and gold, among other things. The authorities made recoveries worth Rs 1 crore, which included Rs 82 lakh in cash, 300 gm of gold, 1,000 Singapore dollars and 10 kg of ganja.

The searches were conducted after authorities had thwarted an attempt in Kochi to allegedly revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The arrested man was identified as Muhammad Iliyaz, who runs a shop at Burma Bazaar.

The surprise checks were conducted based on a specific tip. At least six NIA officials from the Kochi NIA had come to the city and conducted the surprise check at specific locations and in a shop functioning at the Evening Bazaar near the RBI subway. Nearly 50 police personnel from the Armed Reserve unit helped the NIA officials. The raid started on Thursday afternoon and went on till 9 pm. NIA officials took Iliyaz to Kochi for questioning.

In December 2022, the NIA arrested nine people from the Sri Lankan refugee camp in Tiruchy. All of them were allegedly connected to Haji Salim, a drug dealer operating out of Pakistan. Haji Salim is suspected to be related to the incident where a boat carrying 300 kg of heroin, five AK-47 assault rifles, and 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition was intercepted by Indian defence forces in March 2021 near Kerala’s Vizhinjam port.