Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Gammanpila charges national security compromised

The Director of the US Intelligence Agency CIA William Burns arrived in Sri Lanka on February 14, as a part of a top secret visit to the island, MP Udaya Gammanpila charged.

For over three weeks we have been questioning as to who visited the island, but the government and the US have maintained their silence,” he said. 

Four proposals compromising the national security of Sri Lanka during this meeting, Gammanpila said. 

The first proposal discussed during the meeting is the setting up of an Intelligence Analysis Centre for the purpose of intelligence sharing with the US, he said. 

This proposal first came in 2002 when the current President was Prime Minister. The then government attempted to implement this project amidst strongest objections from the local intelligence community,” he said. 

The second proposal is the gifting of a biometric immigration control system to Sri Lanka, for which US will retain access to, Gammanpila alleged, warning that such a move will discourage Chinese and Indian investors from doing business in Sri Lanka. 

The third proposal includes access to submarine telecommunications cables and data, for which the US is willing to provide prior intel on terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka. This is the biggest joke of the year,” he said.

The final proposal was the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the two countries, Gammanpila said. Except for the final proposal, it appears that the President has not agreed to the other proposals. If our national security is compromised in this manner, Sri Lanka will soon follow the fate of Panama,” he said. (Kalani Kumarasinghe)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Taking everyone by surprise, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank today raised policy interest rates by 100 basis points, though many predicted the monetary authority to either maintain the status quo or signal a dovish tilt by cutting rates.

Inflation, which peaked almost at 70 percent, has been steadily coming down and the Central Bank is hopeful that it will come down to the desired 4-6 percent band by end of this year as the island nation appears to have firmly embarked on a disinflation path.

However, today’s monetary policy decision showed differences of opinion between the Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when it comes to inflation projections and expectations. 

There have been some differences between the CBSL and IMF staff on the inflation outlook,” the Central Bank said in its monetary policy review document.

In this backdrop, the Central Bank Governor Dr.Nandalal Weerasinghe said the Central Bank and the IMF reached a consensus to increase the policy interest rates by 100 basis points, though what was agreed with the IMF at the time of entering the staff level agreement in last September was 250 basis points.

Projections are projections. When we move forward, we would know whose projections are right,” Governor Weerasinghe said referring to the clear difference of opinion between the Central Bank and the IMF about inflation projections. 

Accordingly, it was decided today to raise both Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points to 15.50 percent and 16.50 percent.

The monetary policy review was originally scheduled to be announced on Thursday morning, but was postponed to Friday afternoon. The reason for the delay could be that the Central Bank and the IMF wanted more time to reach a consensus on the policy action.  

However, Governor Weerasinghe said the increase in policy rates is unlikely to have an impact on the market interest rates, though he said the rate hike would narrow the spread between the policy rates and the market interest rates, which have stayed stubbornly high, largely due to the uncertainties stemming from delay in IMF bailout and the worries pertaining to debt restructuring.

The most important thing is that with this rate hike, we have completed all the ‘prior actions’ that will facilitate the unlocking of IMF financing,” Governor Weerasinghe said.

This decision demonstrates Sri Lanka’s commitment to the IMF-EFF arrangement, which has been pursued by the Government in order to ensure stability in the economy on multiple fronts. The finalisation of the IMF-EFF arrangement is expected to benefit all stakeholders and bolster confidence, which would help restore stability in the economy on a sustained basis. 

This will incentivise more foreign exchange flows in the period ahead that would aid the economy to overcome the prevailing economic crisis. The Board was of the view that the economy has already traversed through the most difficult and unprecedented times with tremendous resilience and strongly believes that today’s decision would pave way for a faster-than-expected deceleration of inflation,” the monetary policy review document stated. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, stated that Sri Lanka stands ready to unlock the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme this month.

Speaking at a press conference held this afternoon (03 March), Dr. Weerasinghe assured that all required prior actions with the IMF have been completed.

We have now completed all the required prior actions with the IMF and stand ready to unlock the IMF programme, hopefully, this month”, he said in this regard.

Meanwhile, the CBSL has decided to increase the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) by 100 basis points to 15.50% and 16.50%, respectively, with effect from the close of business today.

The decision was taken at a meeting held this afternoon, in an attempt to fulfill the pre-requisites required to move forward with the finalisation of the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement Sri Lanka currently awaits.

Courtesy Adaderana

The All Share Price Index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) increased by over 100 point during today’s (03 March) trading.

Accordingly, the ASPI increased by 111.09 points (1.19%) to 9444.92 at today’s trading, while the turnover was recorded at Rs. 2.8 billion.

Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 went up by 9.70 points to close at 2,838.18 points. This is an increase of 0.34 percent

Courtesy Adaderana

The Department of Motor Traffic has approved the use of ‘Vega’ cars – not only Sri Lanka’s, but also South Asia’s first all-electric supercar.

Accordingly the number plate for the first Vega car registered in Sri Lanka was handed over today (03 March) to the President and CEO of CodeGen and the designer of the car, Harsha Subasinghe.

The number plate was handed over by the Commissioner General of the Department of Motor Traffic, in the presence of Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Minister of Industries Dr. Ramesh Pathirana.

Vega Innovations, a subsidiary of CodeGen International (Pvt) Ltd., created history in 2020 as the Vega EVX, Sri Lanka’s and South Asia’s first fully Electric Supercar was shipped out to Switzerland, to be unveiled at the 90th Geneva International Motor Show, 5-15 March 2020.

Vega EVX was the first-ever vehicle in history, entirely designed and engineered in Sri Lanka to be showcased at a premier international motor show.

The all electric two-seater Supercar is powered by a dual-motor all-wheel-drive drivetrain delivering 804HP and 720NM of torque. With a 40kWh battery-pack, recent test drives confirm a staggering 0 to 100 kmph acceleration in 3.1 seconds, an estimated range of 250 kilometres and a top speed of 240 kmph denotes the overall performance of the Vega EVX Supercar. 

The supercar showcases advanced multidisciplinary technology applications and a skilfully fabricated lightweight carbon fiber body.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasised that the only way a change of government can be brought about is through a Parliamentary election.

Accordingly, he noted that a Parliamentary election is the only way through which change can be implemented, emphasising that taking to the streets is not an option for the Parliament.

Speaking at the Passing Out Parade of Air Force cadets and other officers held at the Trincomalee Air Force Base this morning (03 March), the Head of State highlighted that a nation can become anarchic due to an economic collapse, and thereby urged everyone to prioritise safeguarding both the economy and the constitution of the country.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who arrived at Trincomalee Air Force Base, was received with air force honours.

Meanwhile, 40 Officer Cadets including three females were commissioned as Officers of the Sri Lanka Air Force by the Chief Guest, and received their ceremonial swords, which symbolizes their status as Commissioned Officers.

Thereafter, flying brevets were pinned on 13 pilot officers and 07 trophies were awarded for special achievements.

Two Officer Cadets who have shown exceptional performance were awarded the Sword of Eagle for the best student of General Duties Pilot Branch and the Sword of honour for the overall best student among all branches.

The President also posed for a group photograph with the newly commissioned officers and senior officers.

The Sri Lanka Air Force Band rendered a special performance and the parachute display adding colour to the event.

Attached below is an excerpt of the speech delivered by the President at the event:

“In order to move forward as a united and prosperous country, all individuals regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or cultural background must work together. Whether Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu or Muslim, it is essential that all citizens come together to work towards the greater good of the nation. Only by working together can we build a stronger, more prosperous future for our country and its people.

The legitimacy of Sri Lanka’s government is established by the executive, legislature, and judiciary. The judiciary plays a crucial role in upholding and enforcing the laws enacted by the legislature. All three institutions are focused on safeguarding Sri Lanka’s constitution and ensuring that the country functions in accordance with its laws and regulations.

It is the responsibility of every citizen to help protect these institutions, which are essential to the proper functioning of the government and the preservation of Sri Lanka’s democracy. Without these institutions, there can be no assurance that the country will remain stable and secure.

It is important to note that any changes to the government must be made through the proper channels, such as a parliamentary election. The streets are not an option for the parliament, and any attempt to subvert the established process would be a violation of Sri Lanka’s constitution and the rule of law.

I am deeply grateful to the armed forces for their role in protecting the Parliament last June. As we have seen in other countries, when a parliament is not safeguarded, chaos and anarchy can quickly ensue. Similarly, a country without a strong economy is also at risk of devolving into chaos.

It is therefore the responsibility of all of us to work together to protect both the constitution and the economy of our country. In recent days, I have met with various organizations to discuss strategies for boosting the economy, and I am confident that our efforts will yield positive results in the near future.

By protecting our country and upholding its constitution, we can ensure that our democracy remains strong and vibrant”.

Lt Col Anil Amarasekera. (Rtd.) Co-President National Joint Committee

01^st March 2023.

His Excellency, President Ranil Wickremasinghe,

The Presidential Secretariat,
Colombo 1.

Your Excellency,

You have made a public statement that you intend to fully implement the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The National Joint Committee (NJC) intends to caution you against implementing such a decision which would amount to opening a Pandora’s Box. The Ven.Mahanayake Theros too have in a joint statement requested you not to do so.

The Indo Lanka accord signed on 27^th July 1987 that was forced on Sri Lanka by India through gunboat diplomacy is illegal according to articles 51 and 52 of the Vienna Convention on the law of Treaties. India also failed to implement some of the provisions therein such as disarming the terrorists and as such the Indo Lanka Accord can be considered as repudiated. Therefore do you consider the 13^th Amendment enacted on 14^th November 1987 in accordance with the Indo Lanka Accord to have any validity?

When the 13^th Amendment was challenged in the Supreme Court, while Chief Justice Sharvananda, Justice E.A.D Athukorale, Justice Percy Colin-Thome and Justice H.D. Thambiah in their determination said that a referendum was not necessary for its enactment, Justice R.S.Wanasundara, Justice O.S.M Seneviratne, Justice L.H.De Alwis and Justice H.A.G de Silva in their determination said that this Amendment cannot be enacted sans a referendum. Though Justice Parinda Ranasinghe in a separate verdict conceptually agreed with the Chief Justice Sharvananda, he dissented on article 154G (2) (b) and (3) (b) which he said should be approved at a referendum. He refused to suggest any amendment to the said articles 154G (2) (b) and   (3) (b). The subsequent amendment made to the said articles at the committee stage was not subjected to the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. Therefore putting together Justice Parinda Ranasinghe’s verdict with that of Chief Justice Sharvananda can be interpreted as incorrect and if so the 13^th Amendment has been enacted sans the approval of the Supreme Court that makes it controversial if not illegal.

The ruling given by Chief Justice Sharvananda that the Provincial Council bill be passed after the 13^th Amendment became law was also ignored by the then government which took a vote on the Provincial Council bill two days before the 13^th Amendment received the speaker’s certification on 14^th November 1987. Therefore the Provincial Council bill too has been enacted illegally. 

On or about 1995 the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government introduced the devolution proposals that was commonly known as the Package. It was to campaign against the package and to educate the masses regarding the danger of devolving political and administrative power from the centre to the periphery that the NJC was established by Retired Supreme Court Judge Mr. R.S. Wanasundera. The NJC also established the Sinhala Commission to inquire into the grievances of the Sinhala majority. Two reports were published by the Sinhala Commission to educate the international community in this regard.

The NJC advocated the view that political and administrative power should be decentralised from the centre to the periphery but should never be devolved. Many organizations including political parties such as the UNP and the JVP joined with the NJC and when these devolution proposals were tabled in the National State Assembly on 8^th of August 2000 all approach roads to the parliament was blocked by protesting masses and President Chandrika Kumaratunga had to use helicopters to fly her MP’S to parliament. It was Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa who walked from the parliament to the Batheramulla junction to inform the people that the devolution proposals had been postponed indefinitely and for the protesting people to disperse which they did peacefully. 

The English meaning of decentralization and devolution of power seem very similar when looked at superficially. However the important fact that needs to be realized when it comes to the governing power of a country is that decentralization amounts to the transfer of that power from the central government to a local authority be it a region, a province or a district while devolution is on the other hand the removal of central government power and handing that power over to a region, a province or a district. Therefore decentralized power if misused by a region, a province or a district could be recalled by the central government while devolved power cannot be recalled by the central government if misused by a region, a province or a district. Taking into consideration the difficulty or virtual impossibility for a central government to recall devolved power to a region, a province or a district let us consider the possible repercussions of such an eventuality in this country with several simple examples.

Firstly let us consider irrigation which is the life blood of the farming community in the northern and eastern provinces. Once this subject is devolved to a province, if the provincial administration fails to maintain the reservoirs (Wewas) and irrigation canals in the Sinhala villages, there is nothing the central government can do to help the Sinhala cultivators in distress. The only alternative left for them would be to leave those villages in the northern and eastern provinces and migrate to some other province.

Secondly let us consider the subject of health. Once this subject is devolved to a province, if the provincial administration fails to provide adequate funds to maintain the rural hospital buildings serving the Sinhala community or fails to provide adequate doctors, nurses and other staff or even medical supplies to rural hospitals in their area, the Sinhala villagers will have no other alternative left other than to leave the province and to migrate to some other province where these facilities are available.

Thirdly let us consider the subject of education. Once this subject is devolved to a province, if the provincial administration fails to appoint the teachers needed to schools in Sinhala villages and also does not allocate adequate funds to maintain and repair school buildings in the Sinhala villages, there is nothing that the central government can do in this regard. The Sinhala population will therefore leave the province and migrate to some other province where good education facilities are available for their children.

These are only three simple examples that I have provided to bring to your attention the danger of devolving power to the provinces. However the situation would be the same with regard to distribution of electricity, repair of roads, purchase of agricultural produce and many other such subjects, if there is devolution of power to a province where the Sinhala population is a minority. Therefore while devolution will only hasten the division of the country by creating administrative avenues to encourage the migration of the Sinhala population from the northern and eastern provinces of the country to other provinces, decentralization of power will not encourage such action as these powers can be withdrawn by the central government if found to be misused by any provincial council.

Mr. C.V.Wigneswaran M.P said recently that the full implementation of the 13^Th Amendment is good but that he will not look back until a federal constitution is promulgated. He is trying to apply Samuel James  Veluppillai Chelvanayakam’s policy  of ‘little now more later’  with an intention to first federate a unitary state through the full implementation of the 13th amendment. The federated state will subsequently be divided to establish Eelam, which is the final objective of the separatists. If  Wigneswaran and likeminded separatists succeed to achieve during peace what they failed to achieve through three decades of war, all the sweat, blood, tears and toil expended by the security forces sometimes even by sacrificing their very life and limb to defeat the separatists would have been in vain.

This ‘little now more later’ policy has been applied with great success by racist Tamil politicians since independence. They first succeeded in making Tamil a language of the minority community an official language in par with Sinhala which is the language of the majority community in this country. Tamil incidentally is not an official language even in India where the majority of the Tamil population live in this world. Through the enactment of the controversial 13^th Amendment the racist Tamil politicians succeeded in devolving much of political and administrative power to the northern and eastern provinces that can be utilised to create an exodus of the minority Sinhala population from these two provinces as pointed out previously in this letter.

Through the enactment of the 16^th Amendment these racist Tamil politicians succeeded in making Tamil the language of administration in the northern and eastern provinces for the maintenance of public records and transactions of all business by public institutions. The majority Sinhala population not being racists had little or no objection while such discriminatory legislation was enacted for political expediency but can the Sinhala majority continue to allow this ‘little now more later’ policy to continue?   

Therefore in the interest of the Sinhala minority that is living in the northern and eastern provinces, the NJC kindly request you to promulgate a new Constitution for which the majority of the people in this country gave a mandate both at the last presidential and general elections so that the people living in any part of this country are not discriminated based on their ethnic, caste or religious identity.

Lt Col Anil Amarasekera. (Rtd.)

Co-President National Joint Committee

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

Why a constitution needs a country may be a complex and broad question, but it involves many points to consider. The answer to this question would be analytical that should cogitate various points relating to modern democratic aspects which concern with rights and responsibilities of citizens. It invites views and discusses many points without relegating to lower quality people without values.

In a country like Sri Lanka which consists of small populations, land area and limited assets, resources may not need to consider complex points of view but, constitutional lawyers and experts may present an ocean of various reasons or views favouring having a constitution. John Doily in his publication wrote about the sketch of the constitution of the Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka and broadly explained the nature of the constitution of Sri Lanka when the British rulers took over the country. The views in the books were collected from the field when he was working in Sri Lanka.  

In the beginning, John D’Oyly explained the nature of the state in Sri Lanka, “the power of the King is supreme and absolute. The minister advises, but cannot control his will….” The other significant point is the authority of the King is exercised through many officers of the state, which means in history the power of the state was not divided into provinces the power entire country was exercised by the officers of the country appointed by the King. Provincial authorities like Wanniyar were officers like village headmen or village service officers in current Sri Lanka. Some people interpret that Wanniyar was a provincial king but in terms of John Doily’s book it is not true and the details could find in the book of John O’Doily.   

When it refers to experts in political theory, we cannot ignore the views of Harold Laski and the author of the originally written constitution of Sri Lanka, Sir Ivor Jennings. In general view, a constitution indicates that it needs to determine the power distribution of the country, explain the nature of the state and many points as indicated by Doily.  The uniting people of the country would give equal rights to all citizens of the country and ascertain the rights of people. It also needs to note that while a constitution is directing the rule, despite constitutional rules many countries encountered revolutions and destroyed the constitutions.

Sri Lanka gained a constitution as the result of the implementation of Saulsbury reforms in 1947 and the majority of people in the country gave consent to the content of the constitution by the general election in 1947. After the political changes in 1956, many experts critically evaluated the contents of the constitution and the election held in 1970 gave the required authority of the parliament to either change the constitution or to introduce a new constitution. In addition, a revolutionary political group of Janata Vimukthi Peramuna pushed for political reforms through a bloodletting revolution and a new constitution in a democratic way came into effect in 1972. After introducing the second written constitution in Sri Lanka the constitution and related activities politized and without a real solution, the concept of constitution and related activities seems a dogma continuing without a clear solution and neighbouring powerful countries use this situation for political advantages rather the than honestly helping to poor communities in Sri Lanka

The 1972 constitution was abolished by the government elected in 1977 which introduced a new constitution allowing free investments and an economic system in 1978.  The constitutional issues became the rights of citizens who suffer people of a grave issue that goes beyond Sri Lanka.  12% of the Tamil population was unhappy about the contents of the constitution which has defined the country as a unitary state and the Tamil population originated from the links of South Indian Tamils being associated with a conflict demanding for the country to a federal status from the unitary system. Sri Lanka had been managed as a unitary state before the era of King Anawas, at that time there was no country called India. This idea was expressed by Indian historians and the political manuring promoted India to influence on this issue India wanted to introduce the 13^th Amendment to the constitution allowing the country to convert as a federal state. What was the secret agenda behind the reform could not determine and less than 12 per cent of the population stuck implementing this reform.

Converting Sri Lanka which is a small country to a federal administration would be a Boeotian decision and it is a major reason to increase government spending and increasing inflation. The Indian concern was to control the possible repercussion resulting from Tamil unrest. Sri Lanka is not a country viable for a constitutionally federal state, and the contents of the 13^th amendment might support disuniting people current Sri Lanka needs sophisticated economic strategies to attract investment and the management of investment to increase the general productivity of the country. The rule of God is to allow land to use by everyone without limiting the humans of the country. May common assets such as water, lands, education and all other assets should not be limited to selected groups and the assets created by God must be available to every citizen of the country despite racial and religious limits.

The 13^th amendment is just a piece of paper, sometime, it could be used to make toilet paper in the country when critically considering the contents of the 13^th amendment. Every person born in Sri Lanka has the right to enjoy the benefits of land and languages. Since the colonial era, the major disadvantage that has been encountered by people of the country could be considered as the division of rights of people without differentiation on the races and religious beliefs. Colonialists used differences to their advantage and ethnic issues were the major point. Forcing or insisting on fully implementing the 13^th amendment by an outside force is not acceptable and Sri Lanka’s people should have the right to implement or not the 13^th amendment.

In the meantime, the majority Sinhala community also seems to fuel to fire widening ethnic and religious gaps. Sinhala community should wisely act and should not use the 13^th amendment for political purposes.        

Aloysius Hettiarachchi

It was announced that our country is to go for nuclear energy with the help of Russia according to a news item on Sirasa this evening.. As a country we always start late. Color TV was one. But then we do it in style. Radio Ceylon that captured the hearts of Indians was one.

We must thank Russian Prez Putin for that. This was a long felt need Patali and them have been planning for a long time. However this does not mean that as a nation we are anti-west. We are more western oriented than most countries in the region. And we want peace in the world as most Russians do as seen in the comments to the video given below. Mr. Putin here is singing for an American delegation here, I believe.

Aloysius Hettiarachchi

The term ‘cloud’ in cyber space refers to a server farm in large box type buildings constructed in remote areas in the US or cold Western countries like UK, Iceland, Norway etc. Sometimes they immersed the servers in water to dissipate the heat they generate or send water through the servers to keep them under optimum temperature . The people who once lived harsh lives in those countries now do so comfortably by circulating that hot water to keep their dwellings warm thus saving electricity and generating revenue by ‘taxing’ the cloud companies and also doing highly skilled high-tech jobs. But ultimately who get taxed?. It is us who keep our many useless photo of many mega-bytes (or eight times that of bits) and other ‘data’ in the form of bits in those servers for ever. Finer the image more the number of bits required to define a pixel or a dot that makes up the image on our device.

How many of us know what those innovative companies like Nvidia (a name coined from Latin to give a twist to NV or envy) process and keep those images in their ware?. They have billions of tiny units called capacitors stacked in their graphics processing units (GPUs) that will send back the pictures to us at the press of a button!. Each capacitor retain a charge (or 1 bit) or no charge (ie. 0 bit). So a sequence of 0s and 1s are used to define a picture or our data. But these capacitors have a problem; the electrical charge slowly leaks there by heating up the processor and to retain that data the system has to pump electricity or energy continuously. So we have to burn more and more fossil fuels thereby causing environment pollution and perhaps catastrophic consequences like floods, droughts etc. The Norwegian girl Greta Thunberg who makes a huge din everywhere these days does not know that her country is one of the problem creators. In fact the US or the west does not mind as they benefit from this technology.

Perhaps a body like UN should intervene to stop this madness. They should have a panel like the one they had to formulate the law of the sea to either regulate how much data each country is entitled to keep in servers or to find a new method to store 0s and 1s and retrieve them instantaneously, in order to save the humanity. At the moment 18-20% of world’s energy is used for this purpose it seems. And it is these Nordic countries hosting these server farms that benefit to the detriment of others.

As late singer Don William sang us say “Send down the cloud (thunder) and send down the rain”

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

The Temple of the Tooth –Relic which was built near the Palace of King Parakramabahu VI in
the kingdom of Kotte, had been ruined due to foreign invasions, relocation of the Relics and thus
the administration to Kandy.
Reconstruction of the Temple of the Tooth Relic Kotte has been commenced with the patronage
of Kotte Raja Maha Viharadhipati Ven. Aluthnuwara Anuruddha Thera.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena visited Kotte Rajamaha Vihara today (02) to observe the
plans of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic to be estorted.
Yadamini Gunawardena MP, Isura Devapriya former Chief Minister of Western Province, Upali
Kodikara and Salochana Gamage former municipamo council members and a large gathering including
Urban Council members were present on this occasion.

උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින

දමිළ භාෂාවයි සිංහලයි මට මගේ ඇස්දෙක වගේ ” தமிழ் மொழியும் சிங்கள மொழியும் எனக்கு இரு கன் போல

by Darrell Proctor Courtesy PowerMag

Government officials in Sri Lanka said they will work with Russia to bring nuclear power to the country as part of its effort to increase the supply of electricity for the island nation.

Professor S.R.D. Rosa, chairman of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board, told local media the country is looking at offshore and onshore installation of small modular reactors, or floating nuclear installations, that would have generation capacity of 100 MW per unit. The Daily Mirror newspaper on March 1 reported that Rosa said, The government has sought to implement the project in collaboration with the Russian government. The required technology will be provided by them, and they had also agreed to take back the nuclear waste. The Russian government has the technology to reprocess the nuclear waste.”

Bandula Gunawardana, a Sri Lanka Cabinet spokesperson and minister, said the country wants to diversify its power supply and considers nuclear a low-carbon option. Officials in 2021 made a pledge for Sri Lanka to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The island receives most of its electricity from hydropower, followed by the burning of coal and fuel oil.

Sri Lankan officials last year submitted a self-evaluation report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), asking for approval to establish an independent nuclear regulatory body and also develop training programs for nuclear power personnel.

Russia is active in its support for nuclear power in Asia. It is notably building the two-reactor, 2.4-GW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, the first nuclear power facility in Bangladesh, which is expected to enter commercial operation next year. The Rooppur plant will feature VVER-1200 reactors from Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear power group.

Levan Dzhagaryan, Russia’s new ambassador to Sri Lanka, last month met with members of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board to discuss Russia’s support for nuclear power on the island. The talks included a meeting with Kanchana Wijesekera, Sri Lanka’s minister of Power and Energy. Dzhagaryan told local media that Russia is ready to support construction of two 55-MW nuclear power stations.

To begin with, it could be two plants, then four plants, and finally six plants. This suggestion was critical from several perspectives. First and foremost, this would save oil and coal. Second, because there will be no coal, it will be environmentally friendly, and the ecology will be safe and secure. It is also less expensive,” said Dzhagaryan in an interview with Ceylon Today.

Dzhagaryan previously was Russia’s ambassador to Iran and oversaw completion of that country’s first commercial reactor at Bushehr in 2011.

—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that a foundation is presently being established to advance Sri Lanka’s economy to a global level over the next five years by implementing green economic policies.

The President made this statement while attending the ceremony held today (02 March) for the opening of Volta Auto Tec Engineering Private Limited, Minneriya.

As a solution to the current fuel crisis in the country, when there is a need for electric motorcycles and three wheelers, Volta Auto Tec Engineering Private Limited has facilitated the purchase of assembled tractors, electric motorcycles and three-wheelers from today onwards.

At present, Volta Auto Tec Engineering Private Limited has established a collaborative production partnership with India, and has reported receiving orders from countries such as Vietnam.

During his visit to the factory, the President inquired about the assembly process of bicycles, electric motorcycles, and tricycles from the officials.
A representative from a local farmers’ organization also presented a souvenir to the President marking this occasion.

Speaking further, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said:

I am delighted to have come to see the talents of the Volta Auto Tec Engineering Private Limited. The government is looking into ways of supporting this initiative. We should appreciate this step taken to create a green economy. All should work to shift the country’s economy to a green economy by implementing such projects. Now, the countries of the world are moving towards a green economy.”

As Sri Lanka, we should also embark on that journey. Sri Lanka has the potential to achieve many advantages by moving towards a green economy in the next five years. In this regard, the country needs such investors and businessmen who stand up on their own. Therefore, I congratulate Mr. Jagath Makavita on this initiative.”

Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, State Ministers Dilum Amunugama, Siripala Gamlath, Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake, former Minister Ravi Karunanayake, former Member of Parliament Chandrasiri Sooriyaarachchi, Chairman of Volta Auto Tec Engineering Private Limited Jagath Makavita and others were present on this occasion.

Courtesy Adaderana

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission to Sri Lanka has stated that the new tax reforms in Sri Lanka helps meet the objective of correcting the imbalance of tax revenue and expenditure. 

Accordingly, they stated that the new tax rate schedule for the personal income tax helps meet this objective, adding that these new reforms will also help regain the confidence of creditors.

Courtesy Adaderana

World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser has reaffirmed the World Bank’s continued support to help navigate Sri Lanka’s navigate economic challenges, implement critical reforms, and chart a path towards a resilient and inclusive recovery.

During his four-day visit to the island nation, which concluded on 28 February, Raiser met with President and Minister of Finance Ranil Wickremesinghe, Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of the Central Bank, senior government officials, development partners, and key opinion leaders including members of Sri Lanka’s political opposition, thinks tanks, civil society organizations and academia.

The people of Sri Lanka have been deeply affected by the macro and debt crisis affecting the country. The depth of the crisis has made it clear that Sri Lanka needs a new development model, but this requires greater confidence in and understanding of the government’s reforms”, said Martin Raiser. 

Improved communication and consistent implementation of the reform and adjustment program is urgent, as is faster international debt relief and financial support to ensure people don’t lose patience and the opportunity for a change isn’t lost.”

During the visit, Raiser discussed progress on reforms to transform economic governance in Sri Lanka through strengthened institutional and fiscal oversight and better debt management. 

He also stressed that greater transparency, improved governance, support for job creation, as well as better targeted protection for the poorest are critical to garner and sustain public support for reforms.

Raiser also visited North Central and Northwestern Provinces to observe first-hand World Bank-funded projects in the health and agriculture sectors, and to engage with a broad range of stakeholders on Sri Lanka’s development needs.

The World Bank was among the first to respond to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, with the Bank’s emergency response having repurposed $325 million from existing projects to protect the poor and vulnerable from the worst impacts of the crisis.

In December, the Bank approved Sri Lanka’s request to access concessional financing from the International Development Association (IDA). 

This type of financing, offered at low interest rates, will enable the country to implement its government-led reform program to stabilize the economy and protect the livelihoods of millions of people facing poverty and hunger”, a statement issued by the World Bank read.

The World Bank Group has started preparing a new Country Partnership Framework for the next four years (2023-2026) with a focus on private sector led job creation, inclusion, preservation and strengthening of human and natural capital, improved governance, and a shift towards a greener growth path”.

Courtesy Adaderana

Borrowing costs hovering at two-decade highs to quell Asia’s fastest inflation rates will be in focus in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as the crisis-gripped economies review monetary policy settings in decisions seen as key to winning multilateral bailout funds.

The two monetary authorities are likely to take different tracks as price pressures have somewhat eased in Sri Lanka after peaking at nearly 70%, while still on the boil in Pakistan where the central bank advanced the meeting by two weeks to March 2.

State Bank of Pakistan will on Thursday probably increase the target rate by 200 basis points to 19%, according to 28 of 38 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, with the rest expecting even higher increases ranging from 250- to 300-basis points. SBP doesn’t provide a set time for the announcement.

On Friday, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will probably keep the standing lending facility rate at 15.5% for a fifth straight meeting, according to all eight economists in a Bloomberg survey ahead of the decision at 4:30 p.m. in Colombo. The nation’s benchmark rate is at the highest since 2001, according to central bank data.

The International Monetary Fund’s bailout — $2.9 billion for Sri Lanka and $6.5 billion for Pakistan — if approved will unlock more funding, boost foreign-currency reserves that right now can pay for less than a month of imports, and arrest a deepening turmoil. 

But the loans have strings attached, such as ensuring sustainable revenue and enabling market-determined exchange rates that have led to a spate of energy price increases, tax hikes and depreciation in currencies — all of which tend to spur inflation.

Consumer prices in Colombo cooled to 50.6% in February from a year earlier. In Pakistan, price gains quickened to 31.55%, the most since the 1960’s, according to central bank data.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka are well behind the inflation curve,” according to Hasnain Malik, a strategist at Tellimer in Dubai. More rate increases and more fiscal cuts are ahead, which means further pain for the economy is in store.”

Bailout programs of the two countries have been pending for months, and in the case of Pakistan, for years.

Pakistan secured a $1.1 billion IMF loan in August, which was part of a $6.5 billion package approved in 2019. Disagreements over spending plans after last year’s devastating floods and government’s failure to meet loan conditions stalled the program. Reviving the bailout became crucial as the nation teetered on the brink of a default.

What Bloomberg Economics Says…

Pakistan is at serious risk of default. The International Monetary Fund has been dragging its feet on aid for months. And even if the IMF finally comes through, the debt won’t be sustainable unless creditors agree to large write-downs. China, Pakistan’s largest external lender, might have to accept a haircut of as much as $8 billion, by our calculations. That is high unlikely – and shows just how dire the situation is.

An IMF review last month ended without a deal for Pakistan. The government on Tuesday insisted that IMF’s loan review is progressing well and a staff-level agreement can be clinched in the next few days.”

In the case of Sri Lanka, an IMF staff-level pact for a $2.9 billion loan program was secured at the start of September, with the board originally anticipated to approve the funds by the end of 2022. Authorities have since adjusted expectations to within this quarter. 

The main reason for the delay is the absence of a formal assurance from China, also Sri Lanka’s biggest bilateral creditor, that it would support a debt restructuring for the bankrupt island nation.

While crippling supply shortages in Sri Lanka have eased, foreign currency reserves have been inching up and inflation slowing, Sri Lanka needs the IMF bailout to get more funding and turn the corner.

Just getting into a program is not enough,” said Dhananath Fernando, the head of a Colombo-based economic think tank Advocata Institute. Sri Lanka can also fall back like Pakistan. It has to bring long term stability and do the reforms.

Source – Bloomberg
-Agencies

Courtesy Hiru News

Spot rupee traded at Rs.356.75 – 357.75 yesterday
– Deal with IFC, rising prospects for IMF relief and eased forex conversion rules reinvigorate sentiments
– Inflows from remittances and tourism sector revival also add a fillip
– Currency dealers observe forex supply outstripping demand as of late
– Sri Lanka returning to economic normalcy after a year of turmoil when rupee was let go

Sri Lankan rupee appreciated yesterday on improved sentiments over the current and future foreign exchange conditions in the domestic market after the announcement that International Finance Corporation (IFC) is willing to provide US$ 400 million worth of swap facility for three commercial banks to support essential imports.

The spot rupee appreciated to Rs.356.75 – 357.75 against the US dollar, yesterday.

The telegraphic transfer rates quoted by commercial banks in Colombo also eased yesterday, as both buying and selling prices of US dollars stood at Rs.358.36 and Rs.367.93, respectively.

The market also remains upbeat over the prospects of getting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unfreeze its US$ 2.9 billion relief package as early as next month with or without adequate financing assurances from China whose assurances fell short of what the multilateral lender sought.

In a further positive development, the Central Bank relaxed the mandatory foreign exchange conversion requirement applicable to banks to 15 percent from 25 percent, effective from Monday, in a reflection of improved foreign currency liquidity conditions in the domestic market.

According to treasury department of banks, this has the potential to release between an additional 30 to 40 million US dollars further enhancing liquidity in the market.

Sri Lanka was seen looking past its dire foreign currency liquidity conditions from around the third quarter last year as the Central Bank ramped up its net purchases bucking more than a year-long trend of being a net seller.

In December last year, the Central Bank bought US$ 103.78 million on net basis before increasing to US$ 211.15 million in January, signalling a gradual improvement in foreign currency liquidity conditions.

A currency dealer said that they get more supply nowadays for dollars than the demand. Sri Lanka crushed demand and thereby imports last year teaching the principles of frugality and contentment for the masses who for decades relied on foreign made goods, as the country ran out of foreign currency.

Meanwhile, the inflows from worker remittances and tourism also reached record highs in January after more than a year long weakness in both sources.

Sri Lanka’s rupee lost nearly 80 percent in 2022 against the US dollar after the Central Bank let go the currency on March 7 without an anchor when the country ran out of foreign currency reserves which set off a series of crises in the country.

After months, Sri Lanka is seeing some semblance of economic normalcy with prices, yields, rates and foreign exchange conditions easing.

Courtesy Hiru News

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the head of the International Monetary Fund that China is open to participating in multilateral efforts to help heavily indebted nations in a constructive manner.

China is willing to take part in resolving relevant countries debt issues, Li said in a phone call with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

China maintains that all sides should take joint action and share equitable burden,” he said.

China, a major lender to debt-laden countries such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is mired in disputes with multilateral banks over which parties should take the lead in restructuring sovereign debt.

The IMF is considering approving a Sri Lanka bailout without the formal assurance of debt-restructuring support from Beijing.

The Chinese government, which accounts for about 52% of the nation’s bilateral debt, has offered term extensions via state-owned policy lender Export-Import Bank.

Georgieva told Li that the IMF wants to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to handle the debt crisis in developing countries.

Courtesy Hiru News

Tourist arrivals for the second month in succession went pass the 100,000 market with February recording 107,639 arrivals. The January arrival figure was 102,545.

This was 96,507 in February 2022 showing an increase of over 11% as against the second month of previous year.

For the third successive month Russia became the top source market for Sri Lanka accounting for 29,084 arrivals showing an increase of 27% as against February 2022.

India followed with 13,714 arrivals which also was an increase of 13%as against the previous year February.

Thin third and fourth source markets for Sri Lanka tourism were United Kingdom 8,575 and Germany 7,930 both showing around 7.5% increase against previous February.

The first group of Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka this year arrived in the island last night, resuming the arrival of Chinese tourists after the covid pandemic.

RANJITH SOYSA 

We have heard from reliable foreign sources and the Minister of Justice, Wijedasa Raajpakse that there is either a  sum of dollars 32 billion or 52 billion dollars which is legally due to Sri Lankaas export earnings held in overseas accounts of Sri Lankan exporters.While the country is heading from bad to worse and the people are told to tighten their belts, the policy makers act dumb and deaf to exhort that they must wait until the IMF decides to ‘donate ‘ dollars 2,9 billion. 

We have visited the IMF on a number of occasions but we are yet again in a very tight spot and await them to alleviate our ills.

If the policy makers are keen to adopt IMF stipulations and get their funds as the only possible remedy let them pursue their goal, BUT, why cannot the policy makers negotiate with the exporters who hold Sri Lanka’s export earnings to remit the funds at least  in installments of 10 billion dollars at a given time from March onwards. Can the Nation hear a response from the Government as the countryis being pushed to uncharted waters while our dues are deposited in foreign banks ?

RANJITH SOYSA 

By Chandre Dharma-wardana

The provincial government of Ontario passed a bill (Bill 104) implying that a genocide of Tamils occurred in Sri Lanka, and introduced a Tamil genocide education week” (TGEW) into the school system [1]. This implicit Genocidal Tag” on Sri Lanka will discourage many entrepreneurs from investing in Sri Lanka, at a time of its dire need.

The bill is part of a continuation of long-standing militancy of the Tamil Diaspora in Canada against Sri Lanka. This Diaspora massively supported the military struggle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka [2], even though the LTTE had been designated as ‘terrorist’ by many countries including Canada.

Other Sri Lankans resident in Canada, those outside the activism of the Tamil diaspora, those whose mother language is Sinhalese, and Sri Lankan-Muslims immigrants felt that the TGEW was injurious to them, diminished their dignity and rights as citizens of Canada, or dual citizens of Canada and Sri Lanka. Their children were becoming targets of name-calling and bulling even before the Genocide education week”. They felt that a provincial government had stigmatised them as members of a genocidal nation”. Consequently, they mounted a legal challenge to Bill 104, currently before the courts [3].

The Sri Lankans have changed their governments many times over during the separatist wars that took the toll of some three decades. The current government is not even the government that led the thrust against the LTTE. Unfortunately, the Tamil-speaking people under the LTTE had no voice; even minimal dissent was not possible until the elimination of the LTTE, in May 2009. Even after the demise of the LTTE, any dissent continues to be suppressed, as demonstrated by the forced resignation of a distinguished Tamil Anglican prelate who dared to criticise in 2015 the brutal past of the LTTE in Sri Lanka and oppose separatism [4]. The Bishop said that he was constantly threatened by Tamil Diaspora groups living elsewhere in the world”.

So, while the LTTE killings of its own people [5, 6] and its continued push for separatism are ignored, the Canadian provincial legislature has implicitly condemned Sri Lanka for a genocide” of Tamils, although no competent authority has recognised such a genocide. The UN Human-rights commissioner, Al-Zeid Hussein had ruled out a genocide in Sri Lanka, as stated in September 2014 [7].

The good name of the current Sri Lankan government, and its capacity to attract foreign investments have been compromised by the TGEW act. Its reputation as a country with very high social indices where democracy has been practiced since the 1930s has been injured by the enactment of the TGEW by the Ontario legislature. While politicians stand discredited for various reasons of corruption and mismanagement, as is the case even with Lanka’s south-Asian neighbours, even the private sector of the country is held to ransom by an injurious act of a Canadian province.

And yet, Sri Lanka and its diplomatic mission seem to consider that it cannot even appear to intervene” in the politics of the host nation (Canada), especially at the provincial level. Such action is left to the host nation. For instance, if a Canadian group were to desecrate the Sri Lankan flag, the local Canadian Police and the RCMP are expected to act, even without a Sri Lankan complaint.

Given the grave injury to Sri Lanka’s reputation and its capacity to attract investors caused by the implicit Genocide Tag” contained within the TGEW, with no mechanism for Sri Lanka to defend itself within Canadian soil, the Canadian Ministry of Justice is obliged to step in. The concepts of international obligations discussed here argue for it. Canada’s Attorney General should provide representation for the Sri Lankan government at its courts. Alternatively, Canada should formally inform the Lankan government that Sri Lanka could present itself at the courts as an interested party, although that would be openly avoiding its obligations.

If Canada fails to follow the pitch and substance of the Vienna convention, the concepts of diplomatic protection, and the need to protect international obligations in the face of regionalism, then Sri Lanka should present its plaint to the United Nations and other international legal bodies.

Canadian obligation to intervene, or at least allow Sri Lanka to protect itself.

We consider three concepts in international relations to clarify issues.

The concept of ‘diplomatic

protection’.

The expression ‘diplomatic protection’ if used in its formal sense, as defined by the International Law Commission in its draft articles [8,9,10] implies the following.

The invocation by a State, through diplomatic action or other peaceful means, of the responsibility of another State for an injury caused by an internationally wrongful act to a natural or legal person that is a national of the former State with a view to the implementation of such responsibility”.

A triter meaning, namely the informal assistance given by diplomatic missions and consular posts to their nationals” should not be confused with the formal sense of the expression, that we wish to pursue here.

In the present case, Sri Lanka can invoke the responsibility of Canada in regard to the injury caused to its nationals, dual citizens as well as to itself by the enactment of TGEW.

The Challenge of regionalism on international law and accepted international conventions”.

There has been much discussion [11,12] of the challenges of regionalism to global obligations, universality of right to justice, etc. In contrast, the erosion of the powers of a sovereign state due to the actions of a province or state tend to be considered an internal matter to be dealt with by the sovereign state.

However, the conflict between the center and separatist tendencies in Quebec have generated a hesitancy in Canada to enforce its hand, and avoid engagement, leading to an accentuation of centrifugal forces, e.g., with Alberta moving against harmful” federalist legislation like gun control. Within such a backdrop, stresses caused by the TGEW to the federal government are of little concern to the Feds. On the other hand, unlike federal-provincial concerns, its impact on Sri Lanka makes it an inter-nation injury similar to de Gaulle’s vive Quebec Libre”. This is especially hurtful to Sri Lanka because the Genocide Tag also hit it just when its foreign debt became unbearable due to the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and misdirected agro-economic policies [13].

Canada’s obligations under the Vienna convention.

The article 3 (b) of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations asserts the right of a diplomatic mission to Protect in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law”. Nevertheless, diplomatic missions work with through the host government. So, it is the Canadian federal government, through its ministries, the Attorney General, etc., who has the obligation to uphold the tenets of the Vienna Agreement in dealing with the injury to Sri Lanka’s interests.

Conclusion.

The publicly available facts regarding the proceedings of the legal challenge to the TGEW act show that the Canadian government has ignored its obligations and taken the easy way out” by ignoring the actions of the Ontario legislature.

Lord Naseby who concluded a study of the alleged Genocide using classified UK diplomatic dispatches came to the defence of Sri Lanka [15]. The Sri Lankan Government needs to increase its pressure on Canada and remind Canada of its obligations, not only by making representations to the Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo, but also by submissions to the UN, the International Courts of Justice and similar fora. Sri Lanka must act, not just to put the record right, but also to kick-start its collapsed economy. Foreign investors would hesitate to inject capital into the economy of a nation accused of genocide.

[1] The adoption of Bill 104 as the Tamil Genocide Education Week act: https://dh-web.org/place.names/posts/HansardReport-Bill104_05-MAY-2021_L258A.pdf

[2] Report of the MacKenzie Institute, Ottawa (1995); Funding Terror: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and their Criminal Activities in Canada and the Western World – The Mackenzie Institute

[3] The legal challenge to the enacted Bill 104; Superior Court hears constitutional challenge to Ontario’s Bill 104 | Law Times (lawtimesnews.com)

[4] Forced resignation of the Anglican Bishop, Rt. Rev. Shanatha Francis, Daily Mirror report, (2015); https://www.dailymirror.lk/60411/gala-bishop-plans-to-resign

[5] Rasalingam, S, Sri Lanka Guardian, (2008); http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/10/how-first-class-tamils-promoted.html

[6] Anandasangaree, V., Statement of the General Secretary of the TULF at its annual general meeting regarding LTTE killings of its own cadre at the last stages of the war, Dec. (2008).

[7] Statement of the Secretary General of the UN Human Rights Commission, September (2015); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7bhAkM8PaM

[8] UN Doc. A/CN.4/L 684; Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its Eighteenth Session, 4 … (http://www.un.org/law/ilc/index.htm).

[9] Amerasinghe C.F., Diplomatic protection. OUP, Oxford. (2008)

[10] Denza, E. Nationality and Diplomatic Protection. Neth Int Law Rev 65, 463–480 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-018-0119-4

[11] Starke, J. G., Regionalism as a Problem o£ International Law”. Law and Politics in the World Community, edited by George A. Lipsky, Berkeley: University of California Press, (1953), pp. 114-126. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520349568-00

[12] Van Staden, Alfred, and Hans Vollaard, ‘The Erosion of State Sovereignty: Towards a Post-territorial World ?’, in Gerard Kreijen and others (eds.), State, Sovereignty, and International Governance (Oxford, 2002; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Mar. (2012), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245383.003.0006, accessed 26 Feb. 2023.

[13] Drama-wardana, Chandre, (2023); https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2023/01/05/the_us_must_learn_from_sri_lankas_green_policy_mistakes_873852.html

[14] Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, (1961): https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf [15] Debate on Sri Lanka in the UK House of Lords, (2019); https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-02-05/debates/2E1B15B0-E8D5-42AF-B53C-240E0473212C/SriLanka

Lanka Lead News

මැයි 9 වන දින අරගලය හමුවේ නිවාස ගිනිතැබීම් පිළිබඳව කරන්නාගොඩ කොමිසමෙන් ආරක්ෂක මාණ්ඩලික ප්‍රධානී ෂවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා මහතා හට චෝදනා කර තිබීම පිළිබඳව ලංකා ලීඩ් නිවුස්” වෙබ් අඩවියට ප්‍රකාශයක් කරමින් ගෝලීය ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සංසදයේ විධායක කමිටු ලේකම් යසස් ධර්මදාස මහතා ප්‍රකාශකර සිටියේ ෂවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා මහතාට වෙනත් විකල්පයක් නොමැති වන්නට ඇති බවයි.

යසස් ධර්මදාස මහතාගේ සම්පූර්ණ ප්‍රකාශය පහත සඳහන් වේ.

අප 2017 වසරේ මාර්තු 12 වෙනි දින සිට, ජිනීවාහි මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසම 2015 ජූනි මාසයේ 27 වන දින සිට ප්‍රඥප්ති 30/1 යටතේ, අපේ රණවිරුවන් යුද අපරාධකරුවන්‍ වන්නේය යනුවෙන් පිළිගෙන තිබීම නිශ්ප්‍රභා කර අපේ රණවිරුවන් යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා වලින් නිදොස් කරගත යුත්තේය යන්න පළාගිය ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාට පවසා සිටි නමුදු එතුමා ඒ පිළිබඳව කටයුතු නොකරන ලදී.

එයට හේතුව විය යුත්තේ නීතිය පිළිබඳව එතුමාට ප්‍රමාණාත්මක දැනුමක් නොතිබීම, එතුමාගේ නීති උපදේශකයින් පවසන මතය පමණක් දැඩිව පිළිගැනීම සහ වෙනත් මතයන්ට විශේෂයෙන්ම කරපටිධාරීන් නොවන කණ්ඩායම්වල මතයන්ට ඇහුම්කන්දීමේ ඌනතාවය යැයි සඳහන් කළ හැක.

2017 අප එසේ ආරම්භ කළ අපේ රණවිරුවන් යුද අපරාධකරුවන් නොවේය යන්න ලෝකයට කියා පෑමේ අවසාන උත්සාහය 2021 වසරේ ජනවාරි 11 දින පළාගිය ජනාධිපති ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවති ආරක්ෂක කවුන්සිලයෙන් අවසන් කිරීමට අපට සිදුවිය.

එදින අප බාගතකරනලද යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා පත්‍ර ඇතුලත් බොක්ස් ෆයිල් දෙකක් ආරක්ෂක කවුන්සිලයට ඉදිරිපත් කරනලදී. අපේ නියෝජිතයින් එහිදීද සැලකර සිටියේ යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා නිශ්ප්‍රභාකර, චූදිතයින්ට ස්වභාවික යුක්තිය ඉල්ලා, චෝදනාවලින් නිදොස් කරගෙන ඳඬුවම් වලින් වලක්වා ගත යුතු බවයි.

එහිදී ෂවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා සහ ජී.එල්. පීරිස් යන මහතුන්ගේ උපදෙස වූයේ ඒ කිසිවක් නොකර ඳඬුවම්වලින් බේරීමට මධ්‍යස්ථ මතධාරී දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාව එන්ගේජ් කරගත යුතු” බවයි.

එසේ එන්ගේජ්” කර ගැනීම සඳහා අධික මිළක් ගෙවීමට සිදුවිය හැකි බවත් එම මිළ රට බෙදීමේ ඉල්ලීම් ඉටුකිරීම දක්වා මාර්ග සිතියම විය හැකි බවත් අපේ නියෝජිතයින් පෙන්වා දෙන ලදී. රටේ අවාසනාවට මෙම කරුණු කිසිවක් ගෝඨාභය ඇතුලු ආරක්ෂක කවුන්සිලයට නොවැටහුනි.

ප්‍රාථමික වරිග සභාවක වුවද චූදිතයෙකුගේ මූලික අයිතිවාසිකමක් වන්නේ ඔහු හෝ ඇය විසින් තමා නිර්දෝශී නම් ඒ බව පැහැදිලි කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් ඉල්ලා සිටීමයි. එසේ නොමැතිව චූදිත විසින් චෝදක සමග ඳඬුවම් වලින් ගැලවීම සඳහා ඩීල්” එකක් දමා ගැනීමට යොමුවන්නේනම් එයින් පිළිඹිබු වන්නේ චූදිත එම වරද පිළිගන්නා බව වේ.

මේ සංසිද්ධිය වටහා ගැනීමට නීතිය පිළිබඳව මහාචාර්ය දැනුමක් අවශ්‍යවන්නේ නැත. ඒ අනුව චූදිතයින් වරද පිළිගෙන ඇති බවට උපකල්පනය කළ හැක. තුන්වන පාර්ශ්වයක් ලෙස අප එම චූදිතයින් එම යුද අපරාධ නොකළ බවට කොපමණ කරුණු හා සාක්ෂි ඉදිරිපත් කළද ඒවා තවදුරටත් වලංගු නොවේ. මෙම ඩීල්” සරණ යෑමේදී චූදිතයින්හට විවිධ ආකාරයට චෝදකගේ තීරණ වලට යටත්වීමට සිදුවේ.

ඒ අනුව චූදිතයින් තමුන්ට කැමති ආකාරයට චෝදක සමග ඩීල්” වලට යෑම අපේක්ෂා කළ හැක.

ඉහත පෙන්වාදුන් පරිදි යුද අපරාධ චෝදනාවලින් රණවිරුවන් නිදොස් කරගැනීමට පළාගිය ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය මැතිතුමා සාධණීයව මැදිහත් නොවුන බව පෙන්නෙනට තිබෙන බැවින් පිටු 133 ක ‍යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා හිමිකරුවෙක වන ෂවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා මහතාට කෙසේ ක්‍රියාකරන්නේද යන්න පිළිබඳව සාධාරණ සැකයක් මතුවීම වැළක්විය නොහැක. එම කරුණු පසෙක තබා කරන්නාගොඩ කොමිසමේ සඳහන් නිර්දේශ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම මහා චිත්‍රයේ වැදගත් කොටසක් මකා දැමීමක් වෙනු ඇත. එබැවින් දේශප්‍රේමී ජාතික සංවිධාන කරන්නාගොඩ කොමිශමේ නිර්දේශ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම පිළිබඳව දැඩි අවධානයෙන් සිටිය යුතු අතර එහි පාර්ශව කරුවෙකුද විය යුතුවේ.

එසේ කිරීමෙන් මධ්‍යස්ථ දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාව එන්ගේජ්” කරගැනීමෙන් ඉදිරියට ගෙනයාමට සැළසුම් කර ඇති සියළුම බෙදුම්වාදී මාර්ග ඇහිරීමට සමස්ථ දේශප්‍රේමී ජනතාව පෙළගැස්වීමට හැකියාව ලැබෙනු ඇත.

 Lanka Lead News

පසුගිය වසර පුරාම රුසියාව සහ යුක්රේනය අතර ගැටුම එක්සත් ජනපදය විසින් නිර්වචනය කළේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය සහ ඒකාධිපතිවාදය අතර යුද්ධයක්” ලෙස ය.

එම මතය තහවුරු කිරීම සදහා එක්සත් ජනපදය හා බටහිර සමාජය දිගින් දිගටම උත්සාහ දැරීය. කෙසේ වෙතත් රුසියාව යුක්‍රේනය සමඟ ගැටුමකට ක්‍රමක්‍රමයෙන් තල්ලු කරනු ලැබුවේද එක්සත් ජනපදය ප්‍රමුඛ නේටෝ සංවිධානය බව වර්තමානයේ ලොවට හෙළිදරව් වී අවසානය.

යුක්‍රේනය තුළ එක්සත් ජනපදය සහ එහි නේටෝ සහචරයින් ක්‍රියාත්මක වූයේ රුසියාව පිළිබදව එරට ජනතාව කෝප ගන්වමින් සහ ඔවුන් අතර කෝපය වපුරවමින් දැවැන්ත මිලිටරි ආධාර ප්‍රමාණයක් ලබා දී නේටෝව පුනර්ජීවනය කිරීම සදහාය. ඒ වෙනුවෙන් ඔවුන් තම අධිපත්‍ය රඳවා ගැනීමට මෙම ගැටුම අඛණ්ඩව භාවිත කරමින් සිටියි.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් තොරතුරු වාර්තා වන සවිස්තරාත්මක ලිපියට පහළින් පිවිසෙන්න…

රුසියානු-යුක්රේන ගැටුම එක්සත් ජනපදය මුලාවෙන් හසුරුවන්නේ කෙසේද?

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Cabinet approved signing the international conventions relating to generate electricity using nuclear power as it was a reliable, low-carbon baseload source of electricity to complement renewable energy sources in the future, Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board (SLARB) Chairman Professor S.R.D. Rosa said. 

He told the Daily Mirror that the country is supposed to have either off-shore or on– shore Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) that have a power capacity of up to 100 MW per unit. Upon signing the conventions, the project will qualify to reach a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as the next step. With the use of nuclear power generators, the country would be able to minimize the use of fossil fuels. 

“The government has sought to implement the project in collaboration with the Russian government. The required technology will be provided by them, and they had also agreed to take back the nuclear waste.

The Russian government has the technology to reprocess the nuclear waste,” the Prof. Rosa said. 

A feasibility study has been conducted to identify suitable land for establishing a nuclear power plant, however, the first priority would be given to the barge-mounted power plant. Electricity is vital for society’s functioning, and the steady production of nuclear electricity will help us avoid shortages and outages. Sri Lanka is seeking to increase and diversify its power production capacity. The government is looking at nuclear power as a reliable and low carbon option for its energy mix as it aims to achieve carbon neutrality in the power sector by 2050. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Even though the trade unions with certain political agendas had called for a massive trade union action, they were not successful, Director General of Trade Unions to President Samana Rathnapriya said.

Practically, no trade union action had taken place during the day in any private or government-related sector, he said.

However, a number of professional trade unions from the essential services sector, including power, petroleum, water, ports, teachers, university lecturers, and banks, assured yesterday that they will engage in a countrywide one-day strike today.

Rathnapriya told the media that the health sector and the education sector were functioning as usual.

The postal services were also as usual. There has been no trade union action, but they have launched a demonstration. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had launched a work-to-rule campaign, but not a trade union action. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had provided a continuous power supply, and repairs were done after breakdowns. A trade union meeting was held in the CEB headquarters by a few members applying for sick leave. The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), private buses, and trains continued to operate normally. No trade union action was launched in the ports, but they had launched a trade union action to slow down their work.

However, a trade union was organized to some extent in the banishing sector, Rathnapriya added. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy Adaderana

The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka has ruled that the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act are relevant to parliamentarians as well and that they are legally bound to declare their assets and liabilities.

This ruling was delivered by an Appeals Court judge bench consisting of Sampath Abeykoon and P. Kumaran Ratnam, upholding a decree by the RTI Commission that had directed the Secretary General of Parliament to publicize a list of parliamentarians who have submitted declarations on their assets and liabilities.

Stressing the fact that lawmakers are representatives appointed by the members of the public, Appeals Court Judge Sampath Abeykoon mentioned that the provisions of the RTI Act are applicable to them as well.

The Appeals Court ruling notes that parliamentarians are legally bound to declare their assets and liabilities, as they are maintained by the public.

Judge Abeykoon explained that failing to abide by this is an unlawful act, punishable by a prison sentence not exceeding one year, or a fine no less than Rs. 1,000, or both.

On June 21, 2021, journalist Chamara Sampath, directing a letter to the Secretary General of Parliament, had sought a list of parliamentarians who have declared their assets and liabilities.

He later filed a complaint with the RTI Commission after the Secretary General of Parliament rejected his request.

After probing the matter, the RTI Commission had ordered the Information Officer of Parliament to provide the information requested by the said journalist.

However, the Secretary General of Parliament filed a petition before the Appeals Court, challenging the RTI Commission’s order.

Following a lengthy trial, the Appeals Court judge bench ruled that the particulars mentioned on the petition are baseless.

Accordingly, the judge bench, backing the order given by the RTI Commission on February 02, 2021, dismissed the petition put forward by the Secretary General of Parliament.

Courtesy Adaderana

A decision has been taken during a special Cabinet meeting held today (March 01) to permit state institutions, ministries, departments and statuary boards to open accounts at private banks, if trade union actions are hindering the opening of letters of credit to import medicines and other essential goods, says the Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Bandula Gunawardene.

During the meeting, the ministers have pointed out to the President that as a result of the state bank staff resorting to trade union actions, the continuation of public services may become problematic. 

They have also highlighted that it will affect the lives of the people, if a situation emerges, where it is not possible to issue letters of credit on time, especially for the most essential services such as purchasing fuel, gas and medicines.

 Accordingly, drawing attention towards this situation, the Cabinet of Ministers has proposed to permit public institutions to open and maintain accounts at private banks to be useful in case of an emergency.

Thus, the President has instructed to grant approval for the matter with prior approval of the Ministry of Finance, Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

Courtesy Adaderana

Premier Li Keqiang told the head of the International Monetary Fund that China is open to participating in multilateral efforts to help heavily indebted nations in a constructive manner,” China Central Television reported. 

China is willing to take part in resolving relevant countries’ debt issues,” Li said in a phone call Wednesday with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, according to CCTV. China maintains that all sides should take joint action and share equitable burden,” he said.

China, a major lender to debt-laden countries such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is mired in disputes with multilateral banks over which parties should take the lead in restructuring sovereign debt. 

The IMF is considering approving a Sri Lanka bailout without the formal assurance of debt-restructuring support from Beijing, Bloomberg News reported last month. 

The Chinese government, which accounts for about 52% of the bankrupt nation’s bilateral debt, has offered term extensions via state-owned policy lender Export-Import Bank.

Georgieva told Li that the IMF wants to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to handle the debt crisis in developing countries, CCTV reported.

Source – Bloomberg
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

China says it will continue to support relevant countries and international financial institutions to jointly play a positive role in helping Sri Lanka navigate the situation, ease its debt burden and achieve sustainable development.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made this remark in response to a question raised during a regular press conference held on Tuesday (Feb 28) whether China is willing to make any adjustment to fall in line with the assurances required to finalize Sri Lanka’s IMF bailout package or if there are other steps that have been taken to overcome Chinese concerns on the island’s recast and the overall debt restructuring landscape.

Speaking further, the spokesperson reiterated that the Export-Import Bank of China has provided a financing support document to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization & National Policies of Sri Lanka, reassuring that the Bank plans to provide an extension on the debt service due in 2022 and 2023 to help relieve the island’s short-term debt repayment pressure.

The Bank also noted that it will support Sri Lanka in its loan application to the IMF and continuously call on commercial creditors (including the International Sovereign Bondholders) to provide debt treatment in an equally comparable manner, and encourage multilateral creditors to do their utmost to make corresponding contributions.”

Mao said what China did first is based on its existing policy and position on debt issues. At the same time, as a special arrangement, it also reflects the traditional friendship between China and Sri Lanka.”

She underscored that China’s action fully demonstrates its sincerity and efforts to support Sri Lanka in achieving debt sustainability. 

China will continue to support relevant financial institutions in actively working out the debt treatment. We will work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to jointly play a positive role in helping Sri Lanka navigate the situation, ease its debt burden and achieve sustainable development.”