Lanka Lead News

උත්තර ලංකා සභාගය නියෝජනය කරන ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ, ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී වාමාංශික පෙරමුණ, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමය, විජයධරණී ජාතික සභාව හා යුතුකම ජාතික සංවිධානය ද ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, නිදහස ජනතා සභාව, ජන ජය පෙරමුණ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන පක්ෂය, නිදහස් ජනතා පෙරමුණ ද ‘නිදහස් ජනතා සන්ධානය’ නමින් අද කොළඹ දී සන්ධානගත විය.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=external&v=889121092217695

නිදහස් ජනතා සන්ධානය පිහිටුවීම සංකේතවත් කරමින් නිදහස් ජනතා සන්ධානයේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්, හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී තිලංග සුමතිපාල, උත්තර ලංකා සභාගයේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය ජී. වීරසිංහ, නිදහස ජනතා සභාවේ කැඳවුම්කරු, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී, මහාචාර්ය ජී. එල්. පීරිස්, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දයාසිරි ජයසේකර, ජන ජය පෙරමුණේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී අනුර ප්‍රියදර්ශන යාපා, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන පක්ෂයේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී, අසංක නවරත්න, නිදහස් ජනතා පෙරමුණේ ලේකම්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නාලක ගොඩහේවා යන මහත්වරු සන්ධාන ගිවිසුම් පත්‍රයට අත්සන් තැබීම ද මෙහිදී සිදු විය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව අමතා ජන ජය පෙරමුණේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී අනුර ප්‍රියදර්ශන යාපා, උත්තර ලංකා සභාගයේ සභාපති, ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විමල් වීරවංශ නිදහස ජනතා සභාවේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ සභාපති, හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන යන මහත්වරු අදහස් දැක්වූහ.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry summoned the Canadian Acting High Commissioner Daniel Bood today and expressed the deep regret of the Government on the announcement of unilateral sanctions brought against four individuals including two former Presidents of Sri Lanka by the Government of Canada based on unsubstantiated allegations, the ministry said.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry had called the move by the Canadian government as ‘harmful’ to the local reconciliation process.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s output is estimated to have fallen by 9.2 percent in 2022 as the government ran out of the foreign exchange needed to cover food and fuel imports while the rupee plummeted and imports contracted sharply, and to service external debt, the World Bank says.

In its Global Economics Prospects in January 2023, the global financial institution raised concerns about the continuing shortages of food, energy and medical supplies facing Sri Lanka nation while the authorities are implementing a stabilization program.

Stating that the crisis and its repercussions have increased poverty and reversed much of the country’s income gains over the past decade, the World Bank went on to note that tourist arrivals, an important source of foreign exchange, continue to be depressed with international arrivals last October about one-third of their 2019 level.

The World Bank expects Sri Lanka’s output to contract again this year by 4.2 percent. The forecast for 2023 growth has been revised down owing to the ongoing foreign currency shortages, the effects of higher inflation and policy measures designed to restore macroeconomic stability.

The global financial institution, in its outlook for the South Asia, mentioned that the region continues to be adversely affected by spillovers from the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising global rates and weakening growth in key trading partners. 

The regional growth is estimated to have slowed down to 6.1 percent in 2022 and is projected to slow further to 5.5 percent in 2023 – below the projections on global spillovers – before picking up to 5.8 percent in 2024.

According to the World Bank, some economies in the region such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the deterioration in economic conditions has led to a substantial rise on poverty. Many households are consuming less nutritious food, and rolling electricity blackouts have become common as fuel has been rationed, it added.

With regard to the soaring food prices in the South Asian Region, especially in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the World Bank said the situation has increased the incidence of food insecurity in the region. In Sri Lanka, for example, more than, one-third of the population are food insecure, from less than one-tenth in 2019.”

The World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report has highlighted that the outlook is particularly devastating for many poorest economies where poverty reduction has already ground to a halt.

The report mentions that the World Bank expected global gross domestic product growth of 1.7% in 2023, the slowest pace outside the 2009 and 2020 recessions since 1993. In its previous Global Economic Prospects report in June 2022, the bank had forecast 2023 global growth at 3.0%.

It forecast global growth in 2024 to pick up to 2.7% – below the 2.9% estimate for 2022 – and said average growth for the 2020-2024 period would be under 2% – the slowest five-year pace since 1960.

Courtesy Adaderana

Adarsha Karadana, who was recently in the spotlight after releasing a controversial video of her estranged partner former MP Ashu Marasinghe, has been arrested by the Police Computer Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). 

Accordingly, Karadana was arrested over a complaint lodged by the former Presidential Advisor, pertaining to a video released by the former in which Marasinghe is allegedly seen sexually abusing her pet dog. 

On 24 December, Marasinghe had filed a complaint with the CID against Karadana, accusing her of doctoring the video in question, which was widely circulated on social media, and attempting to defame him. 

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (10 Jan.) rejected a petition filed by Karadana on 03 January, requesting that she be released on anticipatory bail. 

The petition was rejected on the grounds that allowing for such a petition to proceed would hinder the ongoing investigations into the accusations of beastiality levelled against Marasinghe. 

Calling a media briefing along with SJB politician Hirunika Premachandra on December 23, Karadana released a video of Marasinghe allegedly sexually abusing her pet dog. 

Marasinghe subsequently vehemently denied the allegations, and went on to demand Rs. 1 billion from both Premachandra and Karadana for defamation.

Accordingly, notices were issued to both Premachandra and Karadana, demanding Rs. 500 million from the former, and Rs. 1 billion from the latter, over recent claims made by the duo at the aforementioned press conference.

Courtesy Adaderana

The ‘Nidahas Janatha Sandhanaya’ (Freedom People’s Alliance), a new coalition with the combined participation of 10 different political parties, was launched a short while ago. 

The novel party was ceremonially launched today (11 Jan.), at the Headquarters of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in Colombo 10. 

Accordingly, 10 political parties, including the SLFP, the ‘Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya’ (Supreme Lanka Coalition) and the Freedom People’s Congress, collated to form the ‘Freedom People’s Alliance’, with the aim of jointly contesting for the upcoming Local Government elections. 

A total of 35 MPs who entered Parliament under the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), including former President Maithripala Sirisena, Wimal Weerawasna, Dullas Alahapperuma and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa are already part of the newly-formed alliance.

Courtesy Adaderana

A new political alliance under the name ‘Nidahas Janatha Sandhanaya’ (Freedom People’s Alliance) is scheduled to be announced, with the combined participation of 10 different political parties, including those representing the opposition.

Accordingly, it is reported that nearly 35 MPs will join the alliance, including former President Maithripala Sirisena, MPs Dullas Alaheppruma and Wimal Weerawansa, with 10 political parties, including the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the ‘Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya’ (Supreme Lanka Coalition) and the Freedom People’s Congress also collating. 

The would-be members met for a discussion about the formation of the alliance in Colombo yesterday (10 Jan.), with several MPs expressing their high hopes for the new political faction.

MP Dr. Nalaka Godahewa deemed the alliance a ‘very strong one’, being formed on behalf of the people.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

The complicated picture of university education in Sri Lanka sends a message that University Education Reforms are required to make radical changes in higher education and is a vital part of the higher education system in Sri Lanka since 1960s and no attempt of reforms have been successful as the misunderstanding of reforms has not been appropriately adjusted by the authority using relevant and required strategy. The most regrettable way of working was attempting to enforce reforms without clearly educating about reforms and without understanding the possible impact of reforms to the country. The major reason for the delinquency in reforms could be identified as misguided politics in universities which were a part of the economic, social and other crisis of the country. The lack of knowledge on reforms and the possible impact of such reforms have not been clarified by the authority using simple language to the public and opening opportunities to use university problems like a beggar’s wound for education problems in the country.

Many university education policy makers were lack of understanding of the relationship between changes coming on the way resulting from the reforms to modify education, and how to apply such changes in practical environment for making the quality education that will support to resolve problems of the society.   University students have been used by various political parties with selfish motives and there was not a creative debate on this matter among university students and their parents and how should reforms be structured to generate benefits to the country. This means stakeholders of university education should have a part of reforms planning. Educators on the reforms were lacking experience on the expected modern changes and the majority of educators were like pupil teachers or university tutors, and how they prepared to adapt the education environment of Sri Lanka were a grave problem and the knowledge of proposed reforms. The understanding of the expected changes among students and educators looked like groping in the dark.

It has been a fundamental issue that have not come to the vision of academic policy makers and they converted education reforms to a joke.

While the views and ideas of reforms were going on critical issues for political parties to adapt for expected changes and the idea of reforms to gain advantages for political parties was fishing in contaminated water not because they needed quality and productive higher education in the country but they wanted to gain political advantages using ideas of reforms and possible impact of education in the higher education to the country.

As I can remember a conflict against the reforms which was commenced in 1969 by the Wilmot Perera Commission wanted to introduced drastic reforms which purposed to provide competency skills for university students in various trade areas.  At that time university students and student organizations had no knowledge about work competencies and the significance of such skills and knowledge for the success of higher education in the country.

By Sena Thoradeniya

Chairman Mao concluded his article titled, Report on An Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan” (1927) quoting the parable of Lord Sheh who loved dragons. As told by Liu Hsiang (77-6 B.C.) Lord Sheh was fond of dragons that he adorned his whole palace with drawings and carvings of them. But when a real dragon who heard of his infatuation for dragons and paid him a visit, Sheh was frightened and ran for his life.

Bible says: For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7). We should anticipate suffering serious consequences as the outcome of our own actions.

Foreign funded NGOs, Sarvagamika priests wearing saffron robes, white cassocks and skull caps, media personnel and anglicised Western embassy cocktail party scribes, some sections of the so-called professionals and academia, gentlemen criminals” donning black coats and pseudo theorists who theorised   the Galle Face Carnival making modern myths jointly created a Frankenstein at the Galle Face Green.  They celebrated it and glorified it not knowing that it will be morphed into a sinister monster. All of them were descendants of Lord Sheh who sang hosannas to the so-called  ”Aragalaya, Porattam, Struggle” (their words) colouring 2022 as the year of victories”, describing Galle Face Carnival as a popular uprising”, birth of a revolutionary movement”, bloodless revolution” etc. Thus, they sowed a wind without realising that they are going to reap a whirlwind.

The monster first appeared at Peradeniya University soon after the end of Galle Face charade, on September 14, 2022, when a group of IUSF members (or Raggers”) attacked a group of Law students (anti-Raggers”) while they were dinning in it and subsequently prevented them from entering the canteen. Protests erupted against the Dean of the Faculty of Arts threatening his ouster. The rallying call was if we can oust an elected President ouster of a Dean is child’s play”.  Peradeniya Arts Faculty Teachers ‘Association (PAFTA) was compelled to issue a statement condemning this act, becoming a set of descendants of Lord Sheh notwithstanding their unstinted support to Galle Face Protesters, as the most violent segment at the Galle Face was IUSF members.

We cannot recall whether various Teachers’ Associations at Peradeniya and elsewhere came forward in support of the besieged Dean.

In December 2022, about 300 student- marauders attacked a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, his son and inflicted considerable damage to his official residence forcibly trying to enter it and injuring some residents. No doubt all of them may belong to a group who spearheaded the campaign against the former President.  

Very same television anchors, editorialists who celebrated, lauded, championed and supported the Galle Face Protesters saw these students as savages in Universities”. All of them condemned this attack unreservedly and preached about the virtues of discipline. This is how they began to feel the rage of the whirlwind. FUTA had to ask the police to arrest the group of students accused of assaulting the former V.C.  PAFTA decided to observe a complete work stoppage for five days from December 14, 2022. The statement issued by it says, this decision has been taken over the Peradeniya University administrators’ failure to protect the University staff”. Protection from whom? From the very same people whom they had suckled a few months ago.  A bourgeois-liberal academic who pays lip service to Gramsci, Althusser and other Marxist Revisionists were happy to write that the university academics supported the former V.C. making a statement denouncing the attackers.  TheseLord Shehs had to hide behind press statements!

Then came the So-called Porattam” of unshaven, saffron- robed marauders at Pali and Buddhist University. One saffron- robed student was audacious enough to state at a press conference that he was ready to become its V.C. and solve the problems immediately. This is a sign of the caliber of people going to man top institutions after capturing political power in their Cloud Cuckoo Land.

The worst happened when a pro-JVP/NPP You Tuber, a Galle Face activist made sacrilegious remarks about the sacred Dhanta Dhatu, insulting the sacred relic as a Labba” (literary a bottle gourd, metaphorically male genitalia). This is the culmination of debasing Buddhism in general and Vesak in particular by the Galle Face Protesters. (For how the Galle Face Protesters celebrated” Vesak making Veask a multi-religious masala, please read my article, Culture of Galle Face Protesters” posted on September 3, 2022). Some saffron- robed pretenders commenced a false Was at Galle Face Green against Vinaya rules.

All these activities took place under the shadow of a political monk who visited the Galle Face Green at crucial times accompanied by the Cardinal with the sole intention of making   press statements. Now the same Ayatollah in saffron robes urges the government to enforce law against those who make blasphemous statements against Buddhism and regulate unobstructed social media usage.  Did not this monk understand how the Galle Face Protesters abused social media when he was acting as their patron-saint along with other religious leaders?  Now all have realised how dangerous the morphed Frankenstein which they all have jointly created.

Time has come for all of these Shehs to run for their lives!  

Bourgeois liberal press in Colombo described the above-mentioned You Tuber as a freethinker, a non-believer and outspoken man”, well-known for his unorthodox views that challenge what he claims are parochial tradition and customs”, famous for his biting, unfiltered political commentary”. What more they have to say about the Frankenstein they have created other than giving him kid glove treatment, joining him to debase Dalada as an object associated with parochial tradition and custom”?

As a person who knows about this person as an acquaintance of his parents, from the day he came to the big city from Sabaragamuwa as a tiny tot winning a fifth standard Shishyathwa scholarship until his metamorphism as a You Tuber vilifying every target, better not to reveal the sick mind and unsavory reputation of a psychopath.

A big mistake done by various columnists and people who have domiciled in foreign countries who do not know the ground realities here except what they have experienced a few decades ago is branding these people as Marxists. It’s the biggest insult they can make to Marxism-Leninism. Even the saffron- robed marauders of Pali and Buddhist University were painted as Leninists by some! One basic question they should ask from these marauders is how many volumes of Collected Works of Lenin are available in print form published by the former Soviet Union and name at least the title of a single article authored by Lenin.

Similarly, naming JVPers as Rathu Sahodarayas” has become an occupational disease of media men and women. How they have metamorphosised from an ultra-left, adventurous, roving rebel” killing squad into a petty-bourgeois, liberal grouping with a penchant for sartorial elegance displaying best of designer wear, haute couture for their unsuspecting listeners    should be a case study for political and cultural analysts. (I repeat here what I have stated in 2015 at a press interview).

A woman writer reminiscing 2022 stated that Aragalaya” opened their eyes, ears and more importantly their mouths. Now see with open eyes, ears, mouths and more importantly with bleeding hearts and dissected body parts what your (P)aragalaya” has brought to Sri Lanka!

Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, the elder statesman of Sinhala literature told the writer recently that economic or political disasters can be remedied within a few years. But the cultural disasters and devastations cannot be rectified even after generations. South Korea, the Philippines, many Latin American countries and US Protectorates provide ample evidences to this conjecture.  Western powers, INGOs and their bogeymen here have understood this very well.

By Raj Gonsalkorale

“In my mind I see a group of chickens in a cage disputing over a few seeds of grain, unaware that in a few hours they will all be killed,” -Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh

Zen Master late Thich Nhat Hanh was a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled from his native Vietnam for almost four decades, Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer bringing Buddhism and mindfulness to the West, and establishing an engaged Buddhist community for the 21st Century – https://plumvillage.org/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/

Jo Confino writing in the Guardian many years ago  (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2010/ sep/02/buddhism-environment) said quote Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh teaches that the world cannot be changed outside of ourselves. The answer is for each one of us to transform the fear, anger, and despair which we cover-up with over-consumption. If we are filling our bodies and minds with toxins, it is no surprise that the world around us also becomes poisoned. He also argues that those who put their faith in technology alone to save the planet are bowing to a false god”

Confino goes on to say Like many other spiritual leaders, he sees the genesis of our pain as coming from our dualistic mindset that sees our connection to God, or Buddha, or spirit as outside ourselves and accessible only after our death. As a result, we have developed a strong ego that sees itself as separate and threatened and needs to amass things like wealth to feel strong and protected. But none of these can fill the chasm created by our deep sense of separation”

Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh believed that within every person are the seeds of love, compassion and understanding as well as the seeds of anger, hatred, and discrimination. Using a gardening metaphor, he said our experience of life depends on which seeds we choose to water. His words are very profound and yet, they are simple and very logical. They remind one of the words of a Buddhist Monk of repute in Sri Lanka, Venerable Galkande Dhammananda, the only Monk pupil of late Ven Walpola Rahula, who constantly refers to the mental wounds that all human beings carry and the chain of events that follow whenever such a wounded person thinks, talks and acts in a particular way. Practicing the tenants of Metta, Karuna, Muditha, and Upekka (loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy or empathy and equanimity) at all times, towards all living beings, is what Ven Dhammananda espouses at all times. This would be the seed of love, compassion and understanding that Ven Thich Nhat Hanh referred to above.

Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh’s words “The energy we need is not fear or anger, but the energy of understanding and compassion. There is no need to blame or condemn. Those who are destroying themselves, societies and the planet aren’t doing it intentionally. Their pain and loneliness are overwhelming and they want to escape. They need to be helped, not punished. Only understanding and compassion on a collective level can liberate us.” are identical to what Ven Dhammananda has been saying about the need to understand and do one’s utmost to heal the mental wounds of oneself and in others by extending Metta, Karuna, Mudith and Upekka to all others.

Buddhist Monks like Ven Thích Nhất Hạnh and Ven Dhammananda have expounded what Buddha taught about the oneness and interdependence of all living beings.  The National Library of Medicine in an article titled Cosmic design from a Buddhist perspective (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11797750/) says one of the basic tenets of Buddhism is the concept of interdependence which says that all things exist only in relationship to others, and that nothing can have an independent and autonomous existence. The world is a vast flow of events that are linked together and participate in one another. Thus, there can be no First Cause, and no creation ex nihilo of the universe, as in the Big Bang theory. Since the universe has neither beginning nor end, the only universe compatible with Buddhism is a cyclic one. According to Buddhism, the exquisitely precise fine-tuning of the universe for the emergence of life and consciousness as expressed in the “anthropic principle” is not due to a Creative Principle, but to the interdependence of matter with flows of consciousness, the two having co-existed for all times”

Margaret Blaine, author, Buddhist teacher and a former mental health counselor, who lives in Eugene, Oregon, United States in a concise but an in-depth observation says Buddhism teaches the principle of the oneness of life and its environment. That means as though our subjective self and our objective surroundings might appear to be two independent realities, they are in fact two dimensions of a single reality, each arising in relationship with the other. As Nichiren Daishonin, the founder of this form of Buddhism says, Environment is like the shadow, and life, the body. Without the body, no shadow can exist, and without life, no environment. In the same way life is shaped by its environment.” 

The Buddhist concept of interdependence which says that all things exist only in relationship to others, and that nothing can have an independent and autonomous existence is the key to the survival of everything one sees before their eyes and feels in their inner selves. This and Buddha’s words that We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” is the context in which the those who are causing untold harm to the environment should consider why the broader view of what comprises the environment is important and why it should be saved and preserved.

Efficient and effective land and water resource management, the criticality of forest cover, development of renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuel generated energy to lower carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions, realization and acceptance of the universality of the value of all living beings, not just human beings, to sustain and maintain a safe and healthy environment are all vital elements that should be integral to thinking of people of Sri Lanka and of course the entire world.

The destruction of forests, the indifference to any value to life, both fauna and flora, the wanton destruction of wild life habitats are clear examples of people not realizing and recognizing what Margaret Blaine said about our subjective self and our objective surroundings in fact being two dimensions of a single reality, each arising in relationship with the other.

It is sad and unfortunate to note the reported decline in Sri Lanka’s forest cover down to 16% now, whereas Bhutan’s forest cover is in excess of 70%, (As reported in News 1st, Rain Forest Protectors of Sri Lanka movement has said that Sri Lanka’s forest cover that stood at 82 percent in 1881 has dropped drastically to 16 percent https://www.newsfirst.lk/2021/02/02/sri-lankas-forest-cover-at-17-percent-environmentalist/. The Conservator General of Sri Lanka has denied this reported decline in forest cover). However, whether it is 29% as reported in 2015, or 16%, it is best for the country if an assessment could be carried out by an independent body as the general belief amongst many is that there is degradation and exploitation of forest cover and opening up of land for cultivation” and development” purposes at the behest of politicians. What matters for the future generations is the truth. Hiding the truth is a sure way to bring forth the destruction of all living beings.

The Buddhist concepts outlined here are logical, common-sense concepts. They need not be Buddhist concepts, but simply common sense concepts. The Buddhist doctrine relating to greed and anger as clearly explained by Dalai Lama, True happiness comes from having a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved by cultivating altruism, love and compassion, and by eliminating anger, selfishness and greed” are clear pointers that accumulation of wealth, engaging in armed conflict and war, and lack of empathy and sympathy with and towards the less fortunate are, among other things, the drivers of ignorance, the root cause of unhappiness and suffering. Buddha’s fundamental message that he teaches only two things, suffering and end of suffering clearly applies to life in general but to the environment as well as it is the ignorance about the reality of interdependence of all living beings and that all things exist only because of others that causes human beings to destroy what in fact sustains them.

Whether Buddhism provides a way to save the environment or whether common sense provides the way, what influences negatively on it is political shortsightedness and ignorance.

In saying this, politicians are not solely identified as the cause as they are a product of a political system which only people create and which they only can continue with or change. Such a change can only come from the younger generation through a more informed, questioning, and challenging education system. If this generation is not exposed to rational thinking and objectivity, they will behave in the same manner as their forebearers and before they realize it, the environment would have become irreparable. What has been borrowed from them would be of no use to them when it is passed onto them. They will have nothing to pass onto their succeeding generations.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

” අලුත් ගමක්, අලුත් රටක් ජාතික ඒකාබද්ධතා සහභාගිත්ව සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන  සම්බන්ධයෙන්  දිස්ත්‍රීක් ලේකම්වරුන්  සමග 2023.01.10 දින ස්වදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයේ පැවති  සාකච්ඡාවකදී  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා මේ බව  අවධාරණය කළේය.

එහිදී  වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක් වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා –

 නැවතී තිබුණු ආර්ථිකය දැන් මේ වෙනකොට වැඩ කරනවා.  වෙනදාට වැඩිය ආර්ථික යන්ත්‍රය  සහ සේවා යන්ත්‍රය වැඩ කරනකොට ඔබතුමාලට එන වගකීම ඔබතුමාලා මත පැවරෙන අලුත් අභියෝග ජයගැනීම සඳහා ඕනෑ කම වැඩියි .  

පාසල් දහ දහස් එක සියයක් ලංකාවෙ තියෙනවා. එයින් භාගයකට වැඩිය පාසල් වල  අක්කරයකට වැඩි  වගේම අක්කර 10ක් 12ක් තිබෙන භූමි භාගයන් තිබෙනවා.  ඒවා හරියාකාරව හෝ අත්හදා බැලීම් වශයෙන් කෙටිකාලීන බෝග වගාවට පත් කර තිබෙනවාද නැද්ද යන්න පිළිබඳ  වාර්තාවල කිසිතැනක සඳහන් වෙන්නේ නැහැ.  

 නමුත් ඵලදායිතාවයට පත් කිරීම සඳහා සෑම බිම් අඟලක්ම පරිවර්තනය කර ගැනීමට උපදෙස් දීම සහ මග පෙන්වීම හා එහි අඩුපාඩුව මොකක්ද කියලා සොයා බැලීම අපගේ වගකීමක්. අපි සංඛ්‍යා ලේඛනවලට පමණක් සීමා වෙන්නේ නැහැ.

 නොබෝ දිනකින්  අපේ උසස්පෙළ විභාගය තිබෙනවා. කිසිම විභාගයක් ප්‍රාදේශීයව  අවහිර නොවී පවත්වාගෙන යාම පිළිබඳව දිසාපතිවරුන්  අවදියෙන්  සිටිය යුතුයි. ඔබතුමාලට අයිති නැහැ විභාග කොමසාරිස්ටයි අයිතිකියලා ඉන්න බැහැ. විභාග කොමසාරිස් සමග දුරකථනයෙන් සම්බන්ධ වෙලා සාකච්ඡා කරලා හෝ ඒ පිළිබඳ කටයුතු කරන්න.  විභාගය අවුල් කරන්න  කිසිවෙකුට ඉඩ තියන්න එපා.  ගුරුවරු දහස් ගණනක් එහි සේවාවට අනුයුක්ත කර තිබෙනවා. විභාග තියෙන්නෙ මේ මාසේ සිට එන මාසේ තුන්වැනි සතිය දක්වා. ඔබේ  දරුවෝත් ඉන්න පුළුවන්. ජනතාවගේ දරුවෝ ලක්ෂ ගණනක් මේ විභාගයට පෙනී සිටිනවා. මේ වාරය කඩාකප්පල් වුනොත් තව අවුරුද්දකට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට යන්න බැහැ. ඒ අපරාධයට හවුල් වෙන්න එපා. ප්‍රශ්ණයක් තියේ නම් අපිට වාර්තා කරන්න.   අපේ දරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් මේ  විභාගය තියෙන්නෙ දැනටමත් ප්‍රමාද වෙලා. ඒ අයගේ ඉල්ලීම නිසයි ප්‍රමාද කළේ.  

 අපේ රජය ගුරුවරුන්ගේ වැටුප් වර්ධක අධ්‍යාපන  අමාත්‍යාංශයට ලබාදීලා තියෙනවා. උහුලන්නට බැරි බරක් වුනත් අවුරුදු ගණනාවකට පස්සේ අපි එය ලබා දුන්නා. අපි අධ්‍යාපන   සේවයට අවශ්‍ය මූලික ඉල්ලීම් ඉෂ්ට කරලා නැහැ කියලා ඒ කිසිම කෙනෙක්ට කියන්න බැහැ.

 ඒ වගේම රජයේ සේවයේ විශ්‍රාම යාමෙන් හිස්වන පුරප්පාඩු  පුරවලා  අවුල්  නොවී ගෙන යාමට අතිරික්තයක් සිටිනවා.  පසුගිය කාලයේ   රාජ්‍ය සේවයට අපි 56000 ක් බඳවා ගත්තා. ඒ කාලයේ රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලනය  අන්තර් ගත කිරීමේ කමිටුවේ  සභාපති සිටියේ මම.

   ගුරු සේවයට විසිහතර දහසක් මෙන්ම  සංවර්ධන කටයුතු සහ අනිකුත් රාජ්‍ය සේවයට අනෙක් සියලු දෙනා අනුක්ත කරලා තියෙනවා. තවත් අතිරික්තයක් ඉන්නවා දිස්ත්‍රික් කාර්යාල වල සහ ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාලවල. ඒ අය ඵලදායීතාවයට පත් කරන්න ඕනේ.  

 පෞද්ගලික මහා කර්මාන්ත කුඩා කර්මාන්ත වල අය ඉන්නවා.  දිසාපති කාර්යාල වලට මේ අය  ගෙන්නගෙන මේ මහා කර්තව්‍යට අපට උදව් වෙන්න කියලා කියන්න. අපේ විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් සහ සුභ සාධක වැඩපිළිවෙළට උදව් ගන්න.   වෙනස් වෙමින් තිබෙන කාල කාලපරිච්ඡේදයක මා යළිත් කියන්නේ ඔබතුමාලගේ වාර්තාවල කිසි තැනක හිඩැසක් තියෙන්න බැහැ. “

   රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන අශෝක ප්‍රියන්ත, ජානක වක්කුඹුර,‍ ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ, සිසිර ජයකොඩි, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක,  මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්  මහින්ද  සිරිවර්ධන, රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන, ස්වදේශ කටයුතු, පළාත් සභා හා පළාත් පාලන අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් නීල් හපුහින්න, ජනාධිපති උපදේශක ආචාර්ය සූරේන් බටගොඩ, ඇතුළු දිස්ත්‍රීක් ලේකම්වරුන්  මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගී වූහ.

 අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ශ්‍රී දළදා වහන්සේට අපහාස වන අයුරෙන් ප්‍රකාශ සිදුකිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් සේපාල් අමරසිංහ ලබන 17 වනදා දක්වා යළි රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාර ගත කෙරුණා.

ඒ කොළඹ ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත් ප්‍රසන්න අල්විස් හමුවේ අද යළි නඩුව කැඳවූ අවස්ථාවේදීයි. <br /><br />විත්තියේ පාර්ශවයෙන් ඉල්ලා තිබූ ඇප ඉල්ලීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන තීන්දුව එදිනට නිකුත් කරන බවද මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා එහිදී ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

සේපාල් අමරසිංහ විසින් දළදා වහන්සේට අපහාස වන අයුරින් ප්‍රකාශයක් සිදුකර ඇත්තේ, 172,000 ග්‍රාහකයන් පිරිසක් සිටින සිය සමාජ මාධ්‍ය පරිශීලකයන් හරහා එය බෙදාහරිමින් මුදල් උපයා ගැනීමේ අරමුණින් බවටයි පැමිණිල්ල වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය සොලිස්ටර් ජනරාල් දිලීප පීරිස් අධිකරණයට පෙන්වා දී ඇත්තේ.

ඔහු මෙම ගිනුම් මඟින් මසකට රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 14ක මුදලක් උපයා ඇති බවටද ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය සොලිස්ටර් ජනරාල්වරයා සඳහන් කළා.

මේ අතර සේපාල් අමරසිංහ විසින් සිදුකළ මෙම ප්‍රකාශය චේතනාන්විතව, දළදා වහන්සේට හෝ බුදුදහමට අපහස වන අයුරින් නොකළ බවට සේපාල් අමරසිංහ වෙනුවෙන් පෙනීසිටි නීතිඥවරුන් අධිකරණය හමුවේ කියා සිටියා.

කෙසේ වෙතත් අතිරේක සොලිස්ටර් ජනරාල්වරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ සැකකරු පුරාවිද්‍යා අඥා පනත යටතේද වරදක් සිදුකර ඇති බවට කරුණු අනාවරණය වන බවයි.

“සේපාල් නිදහස් මාධ්‍යවේදියෙක් නොවෙයි- ඔහු ජාවාරම්කරුවෙක්

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (10 Jan.) further remanded YouTuber Sepal Amarasinghe until 17 January.

Amarasinghe was remanded until today on 06 January, on orders of Colombo Additional Magistrate Tharanga Mahawatta, over the recent controversial statements he made about the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, commonly known as the ‘Sri Dalada Maligawa’.

He was arrested in Bellanwila by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on 05 January after the public complaints division of the CID commenced probes into the matter.

Investigations into the matter commenced when the Inspector General of Police (IGP) C. D. Wickramaratne received several written complaints in this regard.

Meanwhile, the chief prelates of Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters, Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero and Most Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero also wrote to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, raising concerns about the offensive statements made by Amarasinghe, and urged the government to take necessary measures to nip the matter in the bud.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe also vowed legal action against Amarasinghe, stressing that the religious harmony in the country cannot be allowed to be disrupted.

Pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, No. 56 of 2007, propagating war or advocating national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is a punishable offense with rigorous imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.

 Lanka Lead News

දළදා වහන්සේට අපහාස වන අයුරින් ප්‍රකාශ නිකුත් කළ සේපාල් අමරසිංහ අද දින(10)  කොළඹ මහේස්ත්‍රාත් වෙත යොමුකිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව ලබන 17 දක්වා යළි රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාර ගත කිරීමට නියෝග කෙරිණි.

මෙහිදී විත්තියේ ඇප ඉල්ලීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් තීන්දුව එදිනට නිකුත් කරන බවයි මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයා පැවසුවේ.

කෙසේ වෙතත් අද නඩුව කැදවූ අවස්ථාවේ පැමිණිල්ල වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි නියෝජ්‍ය සොලිස්ටර් ජනරාල් දිලීප පීරිස් අධිකරණයට පෙන්වා දුන්නේ සේපාල් අමරසිංහ දළදා වහන්සේට අපහාස වන අයුරින් ප්‍රකාශ නිකුත්කර ඇත්තේ 172,000ක ග්‍රාහකයන් පිරිිසක් සිටින සිය සමාජ මාධ්‍ය පරිශීලකයන් හරහා ඒවා බෙදාහැරීමෙන් මුදල් උපයා ගැනීමේ අරමුණින් බවය.

ඔහුගේ මෙම ගිනුම් මගින් මසකට රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 14ක මුදලක් උපයා ඇති බවද මෙහිදී සොලිස්ටර් ජනරාල්වරයා කරුණු අනාවරණය කළේය.

මෙහිදී අතිරේක සොලිස්ටර් ජනරාල්වරයාද පැවසුවේ සැකකරු පුරාවිද්‍යා අඥා පනත යටතේ වරදක් සිදුකර ඇති බවට කරුණු අනාවරණය වන බවය.

By Dr Tilak Siyambalapitiya Courtesy The Island

At a time the entire society is confused about who does what in determining electricity costs and prices, it would be useful for the learned and intelligent Sri Lankans to examine the correct procedure. What is written here is practiced across the civilized world, in countries where electricity generation is not a monopoly but electricity supply is still a monopoly. That includes India.

Five activities to get electricity to customer

Electricity industry comprises five businesses: electricity production, transmission, bulk supply, distribution, and retail supply. Transmission and distribution are natural monopolies, since there cannot be several companies building their own lines in the same geographic area to facilitate competition. However, electricity production, bulk supply and retail supply can be open for competition. Competition in generation can be at the initial procurement (as in Sri Lanka) or through short-term competitive contracts. They can be day-ahead competitive procurements (eg: India) or real-time competition. In Sri Lanka, electricity generation is open for private investments. If the investment is private, what is procured competitively is a power purchase agreement. If the power plant is to be CEB’s own”, then what is procured is a turnkey contract” to supply, install and commission a power plant. If the power plant is based on renewable energy up to 10 megawatt and private, electricity is purchased on feed-in-tariffs (some are competitively procured, too). For bigger renewable energy power plants, the law previously said it must be procured competitively, but a few months ago, the government changed the law to imply competition is not required.

Procurement is not the theme of this article. Once a power supply system is in place, how does one calculate the costs and then pass it down to customers in the form of tariffs?

Just like any other industry, electricity supply industry costs, too, can be divided into fixed costs and variable costs.

Fixed Costs

Fixed costs relate to the capacity” of electricity production and delivery. A power plant built with a loan requires the loan principal and interest to be paid. The equity investment on the power plant should yield a return on investment. If the power plant is a private investment, its fixed cost are called capacity charges” stated in the power purchase agreement in which the investors commitments to his banks and co-investors are included. Transmission and distribution lines, and various equipment at substations, too, require investments. There will be debt repayments and return on investments, too, required for such investments.

Fixed costs are independent of the amount of electricity produced. Supply of electricity requires a certain level of reliability of service to be assured. Investments on power plants, transmission lines and distribution lines should ensure the required capacity (amount of current), reliability (no power cuts, blackouts) or quality (no brownouts) are available to electricity customers.

Electricity regulators in most countries in the world review fixed costs submitted by electricity suppliers, compare with norms, examine opportunities to be progressively cost efficient” and then approve the fixed costs. Fixed costs so approved include depreciation, interest costs, maintenance costs, spare parts, and staff salaries, and profits. Since electricity industry cost regulation includes a pre-defined profit, a return on investment is also included in the fixed costs. Since fixed costs do not vary rapidly, they are approved, upfront, for three years or five years. This time-interval, for which fixed costs are approved, is called the tariff period”. Sri Lanka, from 2011 to 2020, followed a five-year tariff period, and since 2021, follows a three-year tariff period. Presently, the active tariff period is 2021-2023.

So, fixed costs are totally independent of how much of electricity is produced. Fixed costs are incurred anyway, literally, even if a single unit of electricity is not produced or purchased by customers.

Variable costs

Variable costs are proportional to the energy delivered. Energy is measured in kilowatthour (commonly called units of electricity). Fuel costs are incurred when a thermal power plant, or a biomass power plant, is operated. For renewable energy power plants, such as hydropower, wind and solar energy, there are no fuel costs. Their variable costs, that mean costs that depend on the quantity of energy delivered, if any, are very small.

When a thermal power plant operates, there will be costs on fuel, lubricating oil and other maintenance expenses. These costs are expressed, based on one unit of electricity (a kilowatt hour). If the power plant is private, the price paid per unit of electricity is based on the price of fuel, as stated in the respective agreement. Almost all agreements do not carry any mark-up on production costs. Investor’s profits are built into the fixed costs. For renewable energy power plants that sell electricity to the grid, without any storage, their costs, too, is based on electricity produced to the grid. Since generation costs depend heavily on hydrology and fuel prices, variable costs are required to be submitted for approval, once in 12-months, but represented in two six-monthly intervals, i.e. January-June and July-December.

Regulatory procedure and timetable to approve costs and prices

The Electricity Act 2009 specifies that a tariff methodology” must be established by the regulator, PUCSL. This tariff methodology” is available in the public domain for anyone to study. Electricity transmission and distribution license holders (currently CEB and LECO) must submit their costs, based on a specific format, which are then reviewed and approved by PUCSL. Submissions for transmission and distribution must be once in three years. These formats, too, are available on-line for public to view. This has been done for the window 2021-2023.

The timetable for cost and price review and who submits what, in which format, are all defined in the Electricity (Procedure for Review and Adjustment of Tariffs) Rules No. 03 of 2016”, published in Gazette No. 1978/21, dated 2nd August, 2016. For example, the rules say On or before the last working day of April, the Licensee shall submit to the Commission the following (using the templates approved by the Commission)” and provides a list of documents. It goes on to say On or before the last working day of May of each year the Commission shall prepare the Draft Tariff Estimates using the Tariff Methodology and post the Draft Estimated Tariffs in its Website.” None of these happen on schedule.

The timetable has been largely ignored by CEB/LECO as well as by PUCSL itself who issued the timetable. However, delayed submissions and delayed decisions have been published from time to time, about costs and prices.

Most recent Published costs

Cost estimates for 2023 have not been submitted by CEB+LECO to PUCSL, as it has been widely stated in the media. Apparently, costs have been submitted to the Ministry. Thus, we have to go by the costs approved by PUCSL for the first half and second half of 2022. Sri Lanka’s national average price of electricity, right now, is Rs 30.13 per unit, which is closer to the costs approved by PUCSL and included in electricity prices announced in August 2022. However, it is clear that the costs of the second half of 2022 of Rs 48.45 per unit, published by PUCSL, would not be covered by charging the present price of Rs 30.13 per unit.

We do have to remember that fixed costs” include depreciation, interest payments, staff, spare parts and a fixed return on investment (i.e. profit). If CEB and LECO agree to forego the profits, the fixed costs” will be lower. Depreciation allowed is expected to finance debt repayments related to investments and for equity for ongoing or future investments. If debts are not being repaid, what happens to the cash set aside for depreciation is a question.

Even if depreciation, interest payments and return on equity are taken out of the calculation of pure cashflow requirements, still the following questions require answers:How much of electricity is planned to be produced, in 2023, from diesel and other petroleum fuels? Actual production from these expensive oils, in 2021, was 21%. Seven years ago, the long-term plan stated that only 13% of electricity will be produced from oil in 2021. So, what happened and where did it go wrong? For 2023, the plan of 2015 said only 9% will be produced from oil, but how much does CEB plan to produce from oil and who is responsible for the gap?

At what price is oil bought to produce electricity. A barrel of diesel is now about USD 100 delivered to Colombo, and a barrel has 160 litres. A small calculation yields that a litre of diesel should be Rs 231, since there are no delivery or retail costs to be added to the import costs. Electricity production does not get oil at these actual international prices. Fuel oil should be still cheaper.

However, it is clear that the delay in getting the full quantity of coal for the Norochcholai power plant (2022-23), the absence of Sampur (was due 2021-22) and Norochcholai No 4 generator (due 2024-25) all cancelled by politicians, and numerous renewable energy power plants delayed or cancelled by various people, and the absence of a gas terminal, may require at least 28% of next year’s electricity to be produced, using the killer fuel, oil.

Once the costs are reviewed and approved, they must be converted to a price schedule. The theory of pricing is taught to all electrical engineers, and it is not too complicated to be learned by anyone.PUCSL’s own approved costs for the second half of 2022 are Rs 48.45 per unit, or about 15 US cents per unit. Internationally, 15 US cents is considered a high” cost of electricity. If CEB was private”, the entire Rs 48.45 would have to be paid, even for the past six months. Thus what is important first, is to get the generation costs down, which for the past six months, was an exorbitant Rs 37 or 10 US cents per unit.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

According to the electricity board act and the Public Utilities Commission act, either the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Power and Energy Ministry, or the Cabinet Ministers do not have the authority to increase the electricity tariff, Former Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka today said.

He told the media that the aforementioned parties lacked the authority to change the tariff in a way that affected the past.

The full authority for announcing the electricity tariff is with the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

The PUCSL will conduct a public consultation and decide the percentage of the tariff revision, he said.

Accordingly, the cabinet announcement to increase the electricity tariff with effect from January 1 is against the constitution and against the law.

“The CEB General Manager and the Minister had said that the expenses of the CEB have increased and, therefore, a tariff revision is essential,” the former Minister claimed.

“There was a 75 percent hike in the electricity tariff in August 2022. CEB made cash profits in both October and November 2022, without taking into account old debt or financial costs. After increasing the tariff, the CEB had incurred a profit of Rs. 34,573 million,” the mininister said.

He presented that after the electricity tariff hike in August, the financial costs for the power generation and maintenance costs were covered to some extent.

Hence, the current “cost-reflective” 65% tariff hike could not be justified. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy Adaderana

The United National Party (UNP) has decided to join hands with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to contest the upcoming Local Government (LG) Election.

The general secretary of the party, Palitha Range Bandara stated this speaking to the media today.

At a recent meeting with electoral organizers of both parties, the UNP and the SLPP have agreed to contest certain electoral areas under the ‘elephant’ symbol, some electoral areas under the ‘lotus bud’ symbol and the other electoral areas under a common symbol.

Meanwhile, a general consensus has been reached to contest the Colombo Municipal Council, Kandy Municipal Council and Puttalam Urban Council under the ‘elephant’ symbol, Range Bandara said further.

Courtesy Hiru News

It has been revealed that a Sri Lankan gemstone company that was key to sanctioned terrorist facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib’s revenue generation in support of Al -Qaida continued doing business after Talib was sanctioned &amp; arrested.

Courtesy Hiru News

Canada has imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankan state officials, including former Presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, over alleged human rights violations during the island nation&rsquo;s civil conflict from 1983 to 2009.

Minister of Foreign Affairs M’lanie Joly has announced sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Sri Lanka) Act targeting four Sri Lankan state officials that Ottawa says are responsible for gross and systematic violations of human rights&rdquo; during armed conflict in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009.

The regulations impose on former Sri Lankan presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, Staff Sgt. Sunil Ratnayake and Lt. Cmdr. Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi a dealings prohibition, which would effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada and also render them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The sanctions came into force Jan. 6.

A statement published by the Canadian foreign ministry on Tuesday (Jan 10) accused the two Rajapaksa brothers, Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake and Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi of committing gross and systematic violations of human rights during the period the country was grappling with the armed conflict.

The Special Economic Measures (Sri Lanka) Regulations impose on the listed four persons a prohibition on any transaction (effectively, an asset freeze) by prohibiting persons in Canada and Canadians outside Canada from engaging in any activity related to any property of these listed persons or providing financial or related services to them. The four individuals listed in the Schedule to the Regulations are also rendered inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The sanctions will effectively freeze any assets that these four Sri Lankans may hold in Canada and render them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Over the past four decades, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered a great deal due to the armed conflict, economic and political instability, and gross violations of human rights, Joly said in a statement from Global Affairs Canada Jan. 10.

;Canada is steadfast in its support to attain peace, reconciliation, justice and accountability on the island, Joly said. ;Canada has taken decisive action today to end international impunity against violators of international law. Canada stands ready to support Sri Lanka’s path to peace, inclusion and prosperity through the advancement of accountability, reconciliation and human rights, including international assistance to address the domestic crisis.&rdquo;

Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, who spoke on the sanctions, said this decisive action was taken with the aim of ending international impunity against violators of international law.

Canada stands ready to support Sri Lanka’s path to peace, inclusion and prosperity through the advancement of accountability, reconciliation and human rights, including international assistance to address the domestic crisis.

The statement on the sanctions by M lanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs The Honourable Mlanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced Canada imposes targeted sanctions under regulations pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act against four Sri Lankan state officials responsible for gross and systematic violations of human rights during armed conflict in Sri Lanka, which occurred from 1983 to 2009.

The regulations pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act impose on listed persons a dealings prohibition, which would effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada and render them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Despite continued calls from Canada and the international community to address accountability, the Government of Sri Lanka has taken limited meaningful and concrete action to uphold its human rights obligations. This jeopardizes progress on justice for affected populations, and prospects for peace and reconciliation.

Victims and survivors of gross human rights violations deserve justice. That is why Canada continues to call on Sri Lanka to fulfill its commitment to establish a meaningful accountability process.

These sanctions send a clear message that Canada will not accept continued impunity for those that have committed gross human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

Canada will continue to collaborate alongside international partners, including through relevant multilateral bodies to advocate for human rights and accountability in Sri Lanka, which is an important step toward securing a safe, peaceful and inclusive future for the country. Canada, as part of the Core Group on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council will continue to advocate for the full implementation of resolution 51/1 and support efforts towards attaining accountability and peace on the island.

Canada supports efforts towards urgent political and economic reforms to alleviate the hardships faced by the people in Sri Lanka. We strongly encourage the Sri Lankan government to promote democracy, human rights and maintain the rule of law as it works to address this crisis.

In addition to today’;s announcement, and in response to the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, Canada announced $3 million to the appeals launched by the United Nations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to address immediate needs, including food security and livelihoods, shelter and non-food items, as well as nutritional assistance and primary healthcare services for vulnerable children and women. Canada has also readjusted ongoing international assistance projects to address pressing needs, providing support, for instance, to the World Health Organization for the procurement of essential medical equipment and supplies.

Courtesy The Morning

 Conservator General of Forests K.M.A Bandara has refuted media reports implying that Sri Lanka’s forest cover has reduced to 16%.

He said this in response to a query made regarding the media report on the instructions of President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

The Presidential Secretariat had focused its attention on these reports published in the media, it added.

The assessment of forest cover is carried out every five years and the census conducted in 2020 is scheduled to be completed in June this year. According to the census conducted in 2015, the natural forests of Sri Lanka stood at 29.15% (1,912,970 hectares) of the total land extent, according to the PMD.

The Conservator General of Forests also said that although there has been some reduction in the amount of forest area due to various development and human activities in the country, there has definitely been no decrease in the amount of forest area up to 16% as stated in media reports.

According to media reports, if the forest area in Sri Lanka is 16% of the total land extent, then the existing forest area in the country should be 1,040,000 hectares, which would mean that 872,970 hectares of forest have been destroyed during the seven years from 2015, which translates to 124,710 hectares per year and 341 hectares of forest being destroyed per day, it mentioned further.

He also said that the method used to assess forest area should have been described in the presentation of data on forests, such as the definition of forests, the method of estimating forest size, and the estimation of forest size. However, there is no source from which the relevant data was obtained in the media reports suggesting that the forest cover had decreased.

The Conservator General further stated that if there is widespread forest destruction, as reported in the media, it should have been observed by the Department of Forest, the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Sri Lanka Police, and the Sri Lanka Air Force, which monitors forest area from the air. However, such extensive forest destruction has not been reported to any of these institutions. He also stated that no such forest destruction was observed during the Forest Department’s activities related to the updating of forest maps.

BY Sumudu Chamara Courtesy The Morning

Balancing consumer demand for cheap protein against the low level risk of possibly introducing Avian influenza/bird flu and evading local egg production industry issues

Sri Lanka is struggling to deal with what could be described as one of the most controversial food-related issues stemming from the economic crisis. The prevailing lack of availability and the high prices of eggs sent shockwaves through the country, due mainly to the fact that eggs are one of the cheapest and most popular sources of protein. At the same time, the egg shortage affected several industries, especially the bakery industry, causing an issue that drew more criticism during the Christmas and New Year season, during which there was an increased demand for eggs.

After several attempts to control egg prices – including a gazette notification issued by the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) in August 2022, stipulating a maximum retail price for eggs, which was later suspended by the Court of Appeal, and also a special programme launched by the Government in the Colombo and Gampaha districts to sell eggs at Rs. 55, both of which were unsuccessful in reducing and controlling egg prices in the long run – last week, the Government announced that it is planning to import eggs to combat the shortage and uncontrollable prices of eggs. This was following the granting of Cabinet of Ministers approval for a proposal submitted by Trade, Commerce and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando for the same.

The potential health risk of imported eggs

The Government’s decision, which is to be implemented soon, received mixed feedback. Consumers and retailers have expressed support for it on the basis that imported eggs are to be priced lower than locally produced eggs, while egg producers and others in that industry condemned this move, adding that the Government must focus on addressing the factors that have made it difficult for them to supply eggs at a lower price instead of importing eggs, which they claimed is unsustainable.

However, last week, allegations were leveled that this decision is an unwise one, not only due to the prices and market-related concerns, but also due to the possibility that imported eggs have the potential to lead Sri Lanka into an unexpected health crisis.

That is the possibility of the spread of Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu – which has caused a number of outbreaks throughout the globe – in Sri Lanka. Based on this concern, the State Veterinary Surgeons’ Association strongly urged the Government to reconsider this decision. Explaining this potential threat, the association’s President Dr. Sisira Piyasiri said that in a context where importing eggs could pose a massive health threat to Sri Lanka, refraining from importing poultry products such as eggs from countries that have recorded the disease is the first step in preventing an outbreak in Sri Lanka. 

He told The Morning: Avian influenza is a viral disease. In order to control such viral diseases, we employ biosecurity measures, which include refraining from importing certain products from countries that are suspected to be at risk of avian influenza. That is the first measure we could take to prevent the spread of this disease. In a context where India has recorded cases of avian influenza, the risk has been controlled through restrictions on importing poultry products from India, because importing such could allow the virus to enter Sri Lanka. It is the Department of Animal Production and Health that should grant permission for the importation of eggs, and permission should be granted after taking into account the relevant measures taken to control the risk.” Adding that there are various safety measures to deal with the said risk, Dr. Piyasiri opined that irrespective of such measures, the standard practice in the world is to refrain from importing poultry products from countries that have been exposed to diseases such as avian influenza.

That is not to say that importing such products allows the virus to enter Sri Lanka. But, there is a possibility of it happening. Due to that possibility and due to the magnitude and damage of such an issue, usually, such risks cannot be taken.” 

He opined that Sri Lanka’s situation is such that there is no room for experts’ opinion to be implemented or to be taken into consideration by decision-making politicians. If the plan to import eggs is implemented, he further said, eggs should be imported from a country that has not been exposed to such diseases and after subjecting such eggs to proper health and safety measures.

In addition, he opined that proper measures should be taken to streamline egg production in the country instead of importation.

Avian influenza and India

Although The Morning attempted to contact Fernando and Trade, Commerce and Food Security Ministry officials to discuss whether the Ministry has paid attention to this alleged risk and from which countries eggs will be imported, they were not reachable. However, citing importers, media reports claimed that India is one of the countries, if not the only one, from which eggs will be imported.

When it comes to the avian influenza in the South Asian region, India attracted serious attention on a number of occasions. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India has reported avian influenza outbreaks in poultry farms every year since the first case was reported in a poultry farm in 2006 in the Maharashtra State. Among the areas that recorded such cases are Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. According to health experts, the type of avian influenza with the greatest risk called Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been recorded in India, and the first case of human infection of avian influenza was reported in 2021. Last month, the state of Kerala decided to cull hundreds of birds after an avian flu outbreak.

According to the US’ national public health agency, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the HPAI virus occurs mainly in birds and is highly contagious among them. It added that the HPAI subtype-A (H5N1) strain was first detected in humans in 1997 during a poultry outbreak in Hong Kong, and has since been detected in poultry and wild birds in more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Among the six countries that are considered to be endemic for the HPAI H5N1 strain virus in poultry are Bangladesh and India. The CDC noted that human infections with novel avian influenza viruses like H5N1 are concerning because of the virus’ pandemic potential.

Can avian influenza be transmitted through eggs?

Sri Lanka’s main concern is whether the country could face a risk of avian influenza through imported eggs. However, international health experts and studies show that the likelihood of this happening is minimal. They say that there is no evidence to suggest that the virus that causes avian influenza is transmitted to humans through the consumption of properly cooked poultry or eggs.

Adding that there is no epidemiological evidence to suggest that people have been infected with avian influenza by the consumption of eggs or egg products, in a statement issued in this regard, the WHO said: The HPAI virus can be found inside and on the surface of eggs laid by infected birds. Although sick birds will normally stop producing eggs, eggs laid in the early phase of the disease could contain viruses in the egg white and yolk, as well as on the surface of the shell. Proper cooking inactivates the virus present inside the eggs. Pasteurisation used by the industry for liquid egg products is also effective in inactivating the virus. Eggs from areas with outbreaks in poultry should not be consumed raw or partially cooked (i.e., with runny yolk), the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the WHO advise.”

The US’ food and drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has said that the likelihood that eggs from infected poultry are found in the retail market is low, and that proper storage and preparation further reduce the risk. International studies that looked into the human health impact of the virus in shell eggs and egg products suggest that the risk of humans becoming infected with HPAI through the consumption of contaminated shell eggs is low.

The WHO has issued several good hygienic practices that could be taken to avoid any risks of contracting avian influenza through the handling or consumption of eggs. Among them are refraining from consuming raw eggs in or from areas with outbreaks in poultry, refraining from using raw or soft-boiled eggs in food preparations that will not be heat treated or cooked, keeping clean and washing hands after handling eggs, and thoroughly cooking eggs to the point where egg yolks are not runny or liquid.

By Marianne David Courtesy The Morning

• Focus on sending skilled workers for foreign jobs
• Working to prevent human trafficking, smuggling
• Expects foreign remittances to increase this year
• Benefits introduced to encourage remittances
• Upskilling domestic aides as housekeepers
• New foreign employment markets identified
• Now digitising foreign employment sector

While Sri Lanka recorded the highest-ever number of people migrating for work last year, the focus this year is not on achieving large numbers of expatriate workers but sending skilled workers for foreign jobs and making 2023 the most beneficial year for expatriate workers, said Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara, in an interview with The Sunday Morning.

He also noted that foreign remittances were expected to rise this year, while outlining steps taken to encourage remittances through official channels. The Minister revealed that despite the perception that Sri Lanka was only sending women for foreign jobs, this was wrong as the majority of those leaving for work were men.

The Labour and Foreign Employment Ministry has also identified new foreign employment markets and is working on opening up job opportunities, including in Japan and Romania. Nanayakkara said the ministry was actively contributing to the prevention of human trafficking and human smuggling and working with many ministries and departments to tackle the issue.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

Last year some 311,000 people left for jobs in foreign countries, which is a record. What are the expectations this year when it comes to labour migration?

When I took over this ministry, the outflow of workers to foreign countries had slowed. The sending of workers for Korean jobs had stopped. As soon as I took over this ministry, I discussed with the Human Resources Department of Korea and was able to resume sending workers for Korean jobs.

We also prepared and implemented short-term and long-term plans to get new job opportunities for our workers in foreign countries. That is why we were able to make last year the year in which the largest number of workers were sent to foreign countries.

We were able to achieve this because we worked with a goal and a plan. On the surface, it could be seen that last year was the year when the largest number of workers left for foreign jobs, but there was a lot of commitment and effort behind the scenes to achieve it.

This year, there are two things that are getting more attention than sending more people for foreign jobs. That is sending more skilled workers for foreign jobs. The other important point is to make this year the most beneficial year for the expatriate worker.

Why is this not reflected in remittances, which show only a marginal increase?

As over 300,000 people left for foreign jobs in 2022, we expect foreign remittances to increase this year. When I took over this ministry, monthly foreign exchange revenue had reduced to around $ 200 million per month. The amount of foreign exchange that was received earlier was $ 600-700 million per month.

There were several reasons for the limitation of foreign exchange earnings from our migrant workers. One is how our migrant workers were treated. I don’t have to remind you how they were treated during the Covid period. Some people extorted money from our migrant workers while providing quarantine facilities at exorbitant rates. Migrant workers were looked at as human bombs. Given this, our workers in foreign countries were hurt and they limited the sending of money back home.

The other thing is, because of the wrong decisions taken with regard to the economy, foreign workers started to remit money through illegal methods such as undial. Due to receiving more rupees through undial rather than through the banking system, they had chosen such methods. As a result, remittances from workers using official channels, like the banking system, diminished.

However, we have changed these conditions. The gap between money paid for remittances through undial and banks has been reduced. Therefore, it is possible to increase foreign revenue by way of remittances from migrant workers.

Also, the benefits received by expatriate workers when sending money through the legal system have been increased. A licence to import an electric vehicle was given based on the amount of money sent by workers. The long-awaited pension scheme for migrant workers was started. We also arranged to provide housing loans for our migrant workers. Thus, with such efforts, we were able to increase remittances.

Last June, when I took over this ministry, we received only $ 242 million as remittances. By July, it had risen to $ 279 million. It was possible to raise the amount to $ 325 million by August and $ 359 million by September. This went further up to $ 355 million in October and to $ 384 million in November. It is a 42% increase compared to the corresponding month last year. 

Looking at these statistics, it can be seen that we were able to increase our foreign remittances relatively. We expect that with the concessions we provide, we will be able to further increase foreign remittances in the future.

What programmes have been initiated to encourage Sri Lankan migrant workers to remit through legal channels and how effective have they been?

As I mentioned before, two months after I took over the ministry, we introduced a system where permission was given for migrant workers to import an electric vehicle with CF value equal to half of the amount they have remitted using legal channels. A special permit was granted. The necessary Cabinet approval was obtained to increase the duty concession at the airport.

A special entry gate (Hope Gate) was introduced at the airport to give due respect to the workers going abroad and returning to Sri Lanka. We were able to introduce the long-awaited pension scheme for expatriate workers. All this was done to give the necessary encouragement to foreign workers to send money through legal methods.

Changes should have taken place in other institutions to provide certain concessions for expatriate workers approved by the Cabinet. The approval of certain ministries should have been received for that, but some State agencies worked very slowly. That is a sad situation.

What is the outlook for remittances this year? Do you believe there will be a significant increase?

Our goal is to bring foreign exchange of $ 1 billion per month to Sri Lanka. Some may think that this is a rather distant goal, but it is not a difficult goal to reach. We will stop sending women to work as domestic aides from this year. Instead, arrangements are being made to send housekeepers. Also, we are working to send skilled workers. We expect that we will be able to get more foreign exchange through it.

In our neighbouring country, India, the amount of remittances received from expatriate workers exceeded $ 100 billion last year. It is regarded as the highest annual income a country has earned from foreign remittances in the world. If India can reach a target like that, then we can reach a target of $ 1 billion per month.

We will not send domestic aides abroad from 1 April. We are working to send housekeepers with training. I expect that this will cause a big revolution in the field of foreign employment. It is not just a case of changing the name of the housemaids and sending them for domestic work. These housekeepers are sent after formal training, with NVQ certificates. We will only send skilled workers after the necessary training. 

Housekeeper is a higher job placement than housemaid. They have better training. It is a job opportunity where you can get a higher salary. Instead of a service category that used to get a salary of $ 300, we are sending workers for a service category that can take a higher salary. That is a big change.

What kind of jobs are Sri Lankans primarily moving for and what are the new markets?

Most of the people who are talking about foreign jobs think that we are only sending women for foreign jobs. That is a wrong perception.

The majority of those who left for foreign jobs last year were men. The number of women is low. Among the workers who left for work last year, there were only 120,000 women. Over 180,000 were male workers while 71,000 people left for domestic work. 

More people left as skilled workers. Over 90,000 skilled workers left for foreign jobs recently. The number of people who left untrained and with minimal training is around 102,000.

We have also identified new foreign employment markets. We are opening up a lot of job opportunities, especially in countries like Japan. We have taken huge steps forward in that direction. Romania is also a new job market we are focusing on.

When Saudi Arabia is mentioned, many people think we are sending only domestic workers. Through the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, we are working to get jobs in the construction industry and job opportunities for professionals.

How is the Sri Lankan Government dealing with human trafficking? What steps has your ministry taken so far?

Our ministry is actively contributing to prevent human trafficking and human smuggling. We work closely with the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Police Department, Immigration Department, and other institutions to prevent human trafficking. A committee has been formed by bringing these institutions together to take the necessary steps.

As a Government, we never encourage human trafficking. No opportunity is given for that. We always work to ensure a safe labour migration process and work closely with local institutions as well as international institutions in this regard.

This Government has a clear policy: we do not allow any space for human trafficking. Sometimes we have also identified people who come in the guise of revealing information about human trafficking and engage in human trafficking themselves. They will also be dealt with according to law. Whether they leave by boat or through the airport, we take every possible step to prevent them if they are involved in human trafficking.

When talking about human trafficking, the situation in the Sri Lankan embassies in Oman and Dubai drew everyone’s attention. There are nearly 150 workers in the safe houses of these two embassies. Most of them went to those countries with tourist visas and engaged in work and faced many problems. We have obtained Cabinet approval to bring back the workers from these embassies and are now working accordingly.

In recent times, on three occasions, we brought home workers who were in shelters. Eight people were brought back the first time and on the next two occasions, we brought six more workers. In this way, we are working to bring home all workers in shelters. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment is also working to take legal action against people who left for foreign jobs on tourist visas and were brought back to Sri Lanka at the expense of the Government.

People cannot work in a foreign country with visit visas; they need to obtain valid employment visas. On the other hand, they have left the country while not mentioning that they are leaving for work; they have committed fraud. If any foreign employment agency is involved in this, we do not think twice about dealing with those agencies in accordance with the law.

Agencies have been given the opportunity to send workers to countries like Dubai on tourist visas on a conditional basis, which means they have to ensure the worker who will be transported to Dubai will be given a job and that they are duly registered.

The relevant agency is responsible for getting a job for that worker and registering them with the Foreign Employment Bureau. We temporarily suspended the licences of 400 organisations that had violated these conditions and removed the ban only after they submitted the relevant information.

We do not condone any person being involved in human trafficking or smuggling. We are not protecting anyone. Bringing foreign exchange to the country through safe labour migration is our only goal.

Why is Sri Lanka still lagging behind in digitising matters related to foreign employment? What steps have been taken to resolve this issue? 

If the field of foreign employment was digitised, we would not have to face the current situation regarding human trafficking. 

When more people are involved in the same thing and there is more human intervention in the same process, more problems and corruption can occur. This also applies to the field of foreign employment. If the work in the field of foreign employment had been digitised, human trafficking would have already been put to an end.

This is why the idea to digitise the foreign employment sector has emerged. When we say that we are digitising, it does not mean that we are working with some computers on the table. It goes beyond that and is a complex process.

When a person in a certain country wants to find another person for work, we want all the related activities to be done on a digital platform. That means if a person from any country hires a worker from Sri Lanka, the job order can be given through this digital system. Then the need to get approval from the embassy to give a job order, pick up the relevant documents, and travel long distances for the purpose will disappear. It becomes possible to do the relevant work in a more formal and diverse manner.

My goal is that by the end of this year, the Foreign Employment Bureau will be able to digitise all its activities. We hope to fully digitise the foreign employment sector by the end of this year. Then, when the foreign employer wants to find one of our workers, they can do it online from there and do all the tasks related to foreign jobs through a digital platform.

How strong is the Foreign Employment Bureau’s presence in key markets serving Sri Lankan migrant workers?

In almost every country where our workers have gone to work abroad, there is a Labour Division with officers from the Foreign Employment Bureau and the Department of Labour. The main positions in these Labour Divisions are held by the officers of the Foreign Employment Bureau. They know this field very well.

However, it has become difficult to send officials to the Labour Departments of the embassies of some countries. Due to a decision taken last year, the appointment of officers to embassies was in a weak state. However, we have obtained the necessary Cabinet approval to send officials to the embassies in countries in which there are many Sri Lankan workers.

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ නායක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක කියන්නේ නොම්බර එකේ දේශපාලන ජාවාරම්කාරයෙක් යැයි  බුද්ධිමය අරගලය සිවිල් සංවිධානයේ නායක චන්දන ප්‍රේමසිංහ මහතා පැවසීය.

අද (09) පෙරවරුවේ අනුරාධපුරයේදී මාධ්‍ය හමුවක් කැඳවමින් ඒ මහතා මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ ඒ මහතා,

අපි සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වල දේශපාලන ජාවාරම් දුෂ්ඨිවාදීව, විමර්ශනශීලීව පෙන්වා දුන්නා, ඒ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ සියල්ලම නිහඩයි, අපි කිව්වේ සම්පූර්ණ ඇත්ත, අපි ඉදිරියටත් ඒවා හෙළි කරනවා.දැන් අතිගරු ෆේස් බුක් ජනාධිපති අනුරකුමාර දිසානායකගේ ෆේස් බුක් කමෙන්ට් කල්ලිය බොහොම කළබල වෙලා පිස්සෝ වගේ හැසිරෙනවා.අපි ඇතත් පෙන්නා දුන්නාම ඇත්ත පිළි නොගෙන අපිට අභියෝග කරනවා අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක කියන්නේ කවුද කියලා දන්නවාද කියලා? අයියෝ අපි දන්නවා, අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක කියන්නේ මේ රටේ නොම්මර එකේ දේශපාලන ජාවාරම්කාරයෙක්.ඒක තමයි ඇත්ත, මේ බුද්ධිමය අරගලයට කියලා දෙන්න එන්න එපා මේ රටේ දේශපාලඥයෝ කවුද කියලා.මේ හැම කෙනෙක්ගේම පට්ටන්දරයන් අපි ලඟ තියෙනවා.

අපි මඩ ගහන්නේ නෑ, අපිට අතිගරු ෆේස්බුක් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකගේ ළපයෙන් වැඩක් නෑ, පුංචි අම්මගෙන් වැඩකුත් නෑ, පුංචි අම්මාගේ දුවගෙන් වැඩකුත් නෑ, අපිට වැදගත් වෙන්නේ අතිගරු ෆේස් බුක් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකගේ දේශපාලනය පමණයි, අපි විවේචනය කරන්නේ අනුර කුමාරලාගේ දේශපාලනය.හැප්පෙනවා නම් හැප්පෙන්නත්, සාකච්ජා කරනවා නම් සාකච්ජා කරන්නත් බුද්ධිමය අරගලය සූදානම්.

ජනාතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ /ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ දේශපාලන ජාවාරමේ තොරන් රාජයාගේ පළවැනි කොටුව අපි මෙහෙම විස්තර කරනවා.අපි කියනවා පැහැදිලිවම අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක කියන්නේ නොම්බර එකේ දේශපාලන ජාවාරම්කාරයෙක්.අපි මේක ඔප්පු කරන්න තමයි සූදානම් වෙන්නේ.මම වගකීමෙන් කියනවා අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකලාට වංචාව, දූෂණය කියන වචනයවත් කියන්න අයිතියක් නෑ.යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුවේ අමාත්‍යය මණ්ඩල තීරණ පත්‍රිකා 150005/602/202 යටතේ වංචා විමර්ශන කමිටුව පත් කරනවා. මේ කමිටුවේ සභාපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක.මේ කමිටුවේ හිටියා රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, පාඨලී චම්පික රණවක, විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ, සරත් ෆොන්සේකා, රාවුෆ් හකීම්, ආර්.සම්බන්ධන්, සුමන්තිරන්, මලික් සමරවීක්‍රම යන අය, අපි මේ කියන්නේ බොරුවක් නම් මේ සියලු දේශපාලඥයින්ගෙන් සාක්ෂි ගන්න පුලුවන්, අනුකමිටු පත් කළා, ඒවායෙත් සම්බන්ධිකරණ කටයුතු සඳහා අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක ඉන්නවා.අනු කමිටු වල ලොක්කත් එයා.අනුර කුමාරට තිබුණ බලතල දැක්කාම ජනතාව පුදුම වෙයි.ජනාධිපතිවරයකුට හා සමාන බලතල තිබුණා වංචා දූෂණ නවත්වන්න වර්ථමාන ෆේස් බුක් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකට. පසුගිය වකවානු වල සිදු වූ වංචා- දූෂණ හෙළි කර ගැනීම, සැක සහිත ඕනෑම අයෙකුගේ බැංකු ගිණුම්, සේප්පු, සියලු ගණුදෙනු, ලිපි ලේඛණ පරික්ෂා කිරීමේ බලය ලැබුණා මෙයාට, අනුර කුමාරට අවශ්‍ය ඕනෑම රාජ්‍යය නිළධාරියෙක් තොරා ගන්න පුලුවන් මේ කටයුතු සඳහා. අනුර කුමාර මහතාගේ අභිමතය පරිදී ඕනෑම පොලිස් නිළධාරීන් කැමති ප්‍රමාණයක් යොදා ගන්න පුලුවන්, තමන් කැමති නීතීඥවරුන් තෝරා ගන්න පුලුවන්, අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ ඕනෑම නිළධාරීන් කොටසක් තෝරා ගන්න පුලුවන්, කිසිඳු නියෝගයකට යටත් නොවී ඕනෑම පුද්ගලයෙකු සාක්ෂි සහිතව අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන නීතිමය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීමේ බලය අනුර කුමාර මහත්තයාට තිබුණා,ඒ විතරක් නෙමෙයි,  අනුර කුමාර මහත්තයෝ ඔයාට හෙණ ගහනවා, බලන්න මෙයාට තිබුණ බලතල අනාගතයේ කිසිදු වංචා – දූෂණයකට ඉඩ නොතබා එය වැලැක්වීම සඳහා අවශ්‍යය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම සඳහා නීතී සම්පානය.දැන් වැඩිය ඕන නෑ, අපිට මේ බලතල ලැබුණා නම් අපි ඉස්සරලාම කරන්නේ පොලිස්පති පත් කිරීමේ බලය ගරු අධිකරණයේ විශේෂ කොමිෂන් සභාවක් පත් කරලා ඒ කොමිෂන් සභාවට ලබා දෙනවා.එහෙම කළා නම් මේ දේශපාලඥයෝ ඉවරයි, ඊලඟට නීතීපති පත් කිරීමේ බලය විනිසුරු ඡන්දයෙන් තෝරන්න නීතී හදනවා. දැන් විගණකාධිපති වගකියන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවටනේ, හොරුන්ගේ ගිණුම් පරික්ෂා කරන කෙනා වගකියන්න ඕන හොරුන්ට, ඉතින් කොහෙද වංචා දූෂණ නවත්වන්නේ, මේ ඔක්කොම අනුර කුමාරට වෙනස් කරන්න තිබුණා.මේ බලතල ඕනවාටත් වඩා වැඩියි ඔය දැන් කයිවාරු ගහන අනුර කුමාරට, මේ රටේ වංචා දූෂණ හෙළි කරලා, ඒ මුදල් අය කරගෙන, හොරු ටික හිරේ දාන්න.

ඒ බලතල අරගෙන අනුර කුමාර මේ රටේ ඔක්කොම වංචා දූෂණ හෙව්වා, ෆයිල් හැදුවා, ඒවාට වගකිව යුත්තන්ට කථා කරලා කුට්ටි පිටින් ගිල්ලා, ඔන්න ඔහොමයි අයිඩෙන්ටි කාඩ් එකතු කරලා කැලේ හැංගිලා හිටිය අනුර කුමාර බිලියනපතියෙක් බවට පත් වෙන්නේ.වංචා දූෂණ ෆයිල් හදලා එක එක වරදාන , වරප්‍රසාද, ප්‍රථිලාභ අරගෙන, කුට්ටි ගිලලා ඒ ෆයිල් එක ගෙදර අරන් යනවා.වංචා දූෂණ අල්ලලා ඒකට වගකිව යුත්තන් හිරේ දාන්න තිබුණ ෆයිල් ටික කුට්ටිය ගිලලා ගෙදර අරන් යනවා, ගෙදර ෆයිල් පුස්ථකාලයක් හදලා, අර පහුගිය දවස් වල එළියට දැම්මේ අන්න ඒ ෆයිල් ටික, කොච්චර නම් කුට්ටි ගිළින්න ඇතිද? මේ තරම් බලයක් ලැබිලා ඔහේ හොයාගත්ත වංචා දූෂණ මොනවාද කියලා අපි අභියෝග කරලා අහනවා.මොනවාද කරපු පරීක්ෂණ, මොනවාද ඒවායේ ප්‍රථිපල කියලා අපි අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකගෙන් අහනවා.ඔය තරම් බලයක් තිබිලා කාවද අත්අඩංගුවට ගත්තේ කියලා කියන්න ෆේස් බුක් ජනාධිපතිතුමෝ.ජනතාව රවට්ටපු තක්කඩියා ආයෙත් කියනවා වංචා දූෂණ නවත්වනවාලු, කට්ටිය හිරේදාලා, ඒ මුදල් අය කරගෙන රට ගොඩනගනවාලු,ඕක ගිහින් කියන්න ඕන කොණ්ඩේ බැඳපු චීන්නුන්ට,මේවාට රැවටුණ ජනතාවක් ඉන්නවා, අපි මේ රටේ ජනතාවට පැහැදිලිව කියනවා අනුර කුමාරට තවත් බලයක් දුන්නොත් දැන් බිලියනපතියෙක් වෙලා ඉන්න අනුර කුමාර, ට්‍රිලියනපතියෙක් බවට පත් වෙයි, වෙන නම් රටටවත්, ජනතාවටවත් සෙතක් වෙන්නේ නෑ.

ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ රෝහණ විජේවීර මැතිතුමා නිර්ධන පන්තිය වෙනුවෙන් සටන් කළා, ප්‍රථිපත්ති පාවා නොදී , ධනපති පන්තිය ලඟ දණ ගහන්නේ නැතිව, ධනපති පන්තියේ සපත්තු ලෙව කන්නේ නැතිව සිංහයෙක් වගේ තමන්ගේ ජීවිතය පූජා කළා, නමුත් රෝහණ විජේවීර සඟයා මේ අනුර කුමාරලා වගේ ධනපති පන්තියේ සපත්තු ලෙවකෑවා නම්, නිර්ධන පන්තිය පාවා දුන්නා නම් එතුමාත් අද බිලියනපතියෙක්, ගෑණු -දරුවෝ සුර සැප විඳිනවා.රෝහණ විජේවීර සඟයාගේ මළ-මිනිය විකුණන් කන අනුර කුමාරලාගේ දේශපාලනයේ නිරුවත පෙන්වන්න අපි ලෑස්තියි.අනුර කුමාරලාට රෝහණ විජේවීර ගැන කිසිම තැකීමක් නෑ, රෝහණ විජේවීරගේ මරණ සහතිකය ගන්න ඔහුගේ අහිංසක බිරිඳට උදව් නොකළ අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකලා අරන් යන දේශපාලන ජාවාරම තේරුම් ගන්න පුලුවන්ද කියලා අපි අහනවා සැබෑ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණු පාක්ෂිකයන්ගෙන්.

ධම්මික පෙරේරා ව්‍යාපාරිකයා ලඟ දණ ගහලා සපත්තු ලෙව කාළා, නිවටයෝ වගේ පෝස්ටර් ගහන්න මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාර වලට සල්ලි ගත්තේ, අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක.ඇයි මේ රෝහණ විජේවීර උතුම් මිනිහාගේ ප්‍රථිපත්ති මේ ධනපති පන්තිය ලඟ පාවා දෙන්නේ.විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ නීතීඥතුමන්ගේ හිතවත් ව්‍යාපාරිකයකුගෙන් රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 25 ක් ගත්තා, ඒ ධනපතියාගෙත් සපත්තු ලෙව කෑවා නිවටයෝ වගේ දණ ගැහුවා ධනපති පන්තිය ඉස්සරහා.පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට චෝදනා ලැබූ ඒබ්‍රහීම් කියන ව්‍යාපාරිකයා ලඟ ගිහින් බිලියන ගණන් කුට්ටි ගිල්ලා, ඒ ගිලපු චූන් එකට ඒබ්‍රහීම් මහත්තයාගේ එකම පවුලේ දරුවෝ දෙන්නටයි, ලේලිටයි ලිස්ට් එකෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු එන්න යෝජනා කළා.අනුර කුමාරගේ යට ඇඳුමෙන් පවා නිරූපනය වෙන්නේ ධනපති පන්තියේ ආශ්වාදය.

ටී.වී දෙරණ එකට අනුර කුමාර මේ දවස් වල බනිනවා, අනුර කුමාරලාගේ හෙංචයියෝ, ටී.වී දෙරණ එකෙන් මිලියන ගණන් ඇඩ් දාගද්දී, ටී.වී දෙරණ හොඳායි, දැන් පිනට ඇඩ් නැති වෙද්දී ටී.වී දෙරණ නරකායි.දිලිත් ජයවීර මැතිතුමා අනුර කුමාරගෙන් අහන්න එපැයි ඈ ගස් බල්ලෝ රෝහණ විජේවීර කියන්නේ නිර්ධන පන්තිය නියෝජනය කරන මිනිහෙක්, ධනපති පන්තිය ලඟ දණ ගැහුවේ නෑ, සිංහයෙක් වගේ මිය ගියා, උඹලාට ලැජ්ජා නැද්ද ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ විකුණගෙන කන්න කියලා.ඕකයි අනුර කුමාරලාගේ දේශපාලන පතිවත.අනුර කුමාරලා අවුරුදු 30 ක් නිර්ධන පන්තිය ධනපති පන්තියට යටකළ වරදට අද රෝහණ විජේවීර සඟයා හිටියා නම් අනුරකුමාරටයි, හතර දෙනාගේ කල්ලියටයි ඔලුව කුඩු වෙන්න වෙඩි තියෙනවා.අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකට තවත් ඇඳුමක් ඇඳගෙන ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ වේදිකාවකට නගින්න පුලුවන්ද කියලා අපි අහනවා.

රෝහණ විජේවීර මැතිතුමා කියලා තියෙනවා, ධනපති පන්තියේ දෝලාව කරේ තියන් යන්නේ කුණම්මඩුවෝ කියලා, අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකත්  කුණම්මඩුවෙක්. චන්ද්‍රිකා මැතිණියගේ දෝළාව කරේ තියන් ගිහින් චන්ද්‍රිකා මැතිණිය එක්ක හනිමූන් ගියා, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ දෝළාව කරේ තියන් ගිහින් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ එක්ක මගුල් කෑවා, ඊළඟට සරත් ෆොන්සේකාගේ දෝලාව කරේ තියන් ගියා.එහෙම මගුල් කාපු අනුර කුමාර, රනිල් හා මෛත්‍රී එක්ක එකගෙයි කෑවා, දැන් හොරෙන් හොරෙන් වර්ථමාන ජනාධිපතිතුමාගෙත් දෝලාව කරේ තියන් යනවා.මෙහෙම මගුල් 05 ක් කාපු අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක, අනාචාරයේ හැසිරිලා දැන් ස්වයං වින්දනයේ යෙදනවා.

අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක දැන් ප්‍රධාන ආයතනයක් එක්ක දැන්වීම් කරනවා, ජාතික ජන බලවේගය දැන් ප්‍රචාරණ ක්‍රියාවලියට යොදාගෙන තියෙන්නේ මාකෝස් න්‍යාය.මේ තරුණ තරුණයේ ෆේස් බුක් එක තුළින් අනුර කුමාරලා එක්ක එකතු වෙලා නෑ, අනුර කුමාරලා කල්ලියක් දාලා ෆේස් බුක් එක තුළ  පෙන්වන්න උත්සහ කරනවා එයාලට රැල්ලක් තියෙනවා කියලා. මාකෝස් මුළධර්මය යොදාගෙන එයාලා සමාජ මතයක් නිර්මාණය කරන්න උත්සහ කරනවා.ඉස්සරහට අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මේ රටේ ප්‍රධාන ජාතික මාධ්‍ය ඉස්සරහට එන්නේ නෑ, ඒ වගේ ජාතික මාධ්‍යයේ ප්‍රශ්න වලට උත්තර දෙන්නේ නෑ.සමාජ මාධ්‍ය විතරක් යොදා ගෙන බොරුව වපුරලා වැරදි ජනමතයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමයි අනුර කුමාරලාගේ උත්සහය. අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකලා අර වංචා දූෂණ කොමිසමේ සභාපති ධූරය දරණ කාළයේ ගිලපු කුට්ටි වලින්දෝ, එහෙම නැත්නම් ධනපති පන්තිය ඉදිරියේ දණ ගහලා හිඟාකන කුට්ටි වලින්ද මේ විශාල මැතිවරණ මෙහෙයුමක් කරනවා.බස් දාලා, ජනතාව ගෙන්නලා, මාධ්‍ය කණ්ඩායම් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් යොදා ගනිමින් ධනපති පන්තියේ අරමුණු ඉෂ්ඨ කිරීමේ පජාතික බලවේගයක්, මේ ධනපති අනුරලාගේ වත්කම් බිලියන ගණන්, අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහත්තයෝ කොන්ද පණ තියෙනවා නම් ඔයාගේ වත්කම බිලියන 06 ද 08 ද කියලා කියන්න.අනුන්ගේ වංචා දූෂණ හොයන්න යනවා තමන්ගේ වත්කම් හංගාගෙන, අනුර කුමාර වත්කම් හංගන කොට මට මතක් වෙන්නේ වයසක අත්තම්මලා, වයසක අත්තම්මලා හැබිලිය හංගනවා වගේ තමයි අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකලා වත්කම හංගන්නේ යැයි පැවසීය

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ සහාය ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 2.9කට සීමා කරන ප්‍රකාශ සිදු කරන්නේ IMF හි ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය ගැන නොදන්නා කණ්ඩායම් විසින්…මුදල් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ

ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 2.9කට සීමා කරන ප්‍රකාශ සිදු කරනු ලබන්නේ IMF හි ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය ගැන නොදන්නා කණ්ඩායම් විසින් බව මුදල් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ශෙහාන් සේමසිංහ මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කරයි. රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය වරයා මෙසේ ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේ අද දින (08) අනුරාධපුර ප්‍ර‌දේශයේ පැවති රැස්වීමකින් අනතුරුව මාධ්‍යවේදීන් අමතමිනි.

ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල සහ එහි ගෝලීය මෙහෙයුම්, ඒ අනුග්‍රහය හරහා රටේ මුල්‍ය විනය සහ මුල්‍ය කළමනාකරණය, යළිත් ආර්ථික අර්බුදයක් ඇති නොවන බවට සහතික වීම, බැංකු ක්‍රමයේ විශ්වසනීයත්වය අමතක කළ නොහැක.  ඒ නිසා මේ වගේ වෙලාවක ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදලෙන් රටට ලැබෙන සහයෝගය ගැන දේශපාලන කෝණයෙන් නොබලා අපි එකතුවෙලා කටයුතු කළ යුතුයි.” ඔහු වැඩි දුරටත් එහිදී පැවසීය. 

මුදල් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ මහතා පවසන්නේ මේ වසරේ මුල් කාර්තුව තුළ ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය රජය අපේක්ෂා කරන බවයි. 

අපි නිල ණය හිමියන්ගෙන් සහතිකය ලබා දීමේ අවසන් අදියරේ ඉන්නේ. ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල මේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමේ පුරෝගාමී මෙහෙවරක් ඉටු කරනවා. මේ රටට පමණක් නොව තවත් රටවල් රැසකට මේ සහයෝගය ලබා දී තිබෙනවා.  ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩලයේ අනුමැතිය ලබා ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය සියලුම ක්‍රියාමාර්ග අප විසින් ගෙන තියෙනවා. මේ වසරේ පළමු කාර්තුව තුළදී අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය ලබා ගැනීමට හැකි වනු ඇතැයි අපට විශ්වාසයි. ඒ සඳහා අප විසින් බොහෝ දේ නිරාකරණය කර ඇත.  හදුනාගත් ගැටළු පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කළ යුතුය. විශේෂයෙන්ම අපි මූල්‍ය කළමනාකරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් කටයුතු කර ඇත. 

අපගේ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික ණය හිමියන්ගෙන් මුල්‍ය සහතික ලබා ගැනීමේ අවසන් අදියරේ අප මේ වන විට කටයුතු කරමින් සිටිමු. ඒ අනුව ආර්ථිකය ස්ථාවර කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගෙන ඇති බවට සහතික වී ඇත.”  රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයා වැඩි දුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

 Lanka Lead News

දේශීය දැනුම, ශ්‍රමය හා අමුද්‍රව්‍ය යොදා ගනිමින් රේල් පීලි පමණක් ආනයනය කර මහව – ඕමන්තේ රේල් පාර ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීම සදහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දුම්රිය දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් ඇස්තමේන්තු කළ මුදලට වඩා හතර ගුණයක වැඩි මුදලකට ඉන්දියාවට කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව ලබාදීම පිළිබදව දුම්රිය ඉන්ජිනේරු අංශ විමතිය පළ කරති.

ඒ පිළිබදව අදහස් දැක්වූ හිටපු දුම්රිය සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරීවරයකු සහ අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයකු වූ මහාචාර්ය ගුණරුවන් මහතා සදහන් කළේ එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය දේශීයව දුම්රිය දෙපාර්තමෙන්තුව මගින් සිදුකළහොත් උපරිම වශයෙන් ඩොලර් මිලියන 20ක් පමණ වැය වුවත් දැන් ඉන්දියානු සමාගමකට එම කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව ලබාදෙන්නේ ඩොලර් මිලියන 90කට බවය.

මීට පෙර 2015 දී රංජිත් මද්දුම බණ්ඩාර ඇමැතිවරයා විසින් එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය දේශීයව ඉදිකිරීම සදහා අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය ලබාගෙන තිබුනද ඉන්දියාවේ බලපෑම සහ කොමිස්කාරයන්ගේ බලපෑම නිසා එය අත්හිටවූ බවද ඔහු සදහන් කළේය.

Courtesy The Firstpost

With the help of Vostro account in local currency, Sri Lanka will be able to seamlessly import from neighbouring India without worrying about its depleting dollar supply.

New Delhi: Economic crisis-hit Sri Lanka has been keen to trade in the Indian rupee and to speed up the process, an Indian public sector bank – Indian Bank –  has received a regulatory approval to hold special Vostro accounts of three banks from the South Asian island nation.

Notably, Indian Bank, headquartered in southern India’s Chennai, has had a long presence in Sri Lanka. The financial institution is expected to activate the special accounts in about a week.

A report by Economic Times quoted a person aware of the clearance saying, RBI (Reserve Bank of India – the country’s central bank) has given permission for three vostros…. The accounts are expected to be functional any day now.”

With the help of Vostro account in local currency, Sri Lanka will be able to seamlessly import from neighbouring India without worrying about its depleting dollar supply.

The Vostro accounts would also aid Sri Lanka utilise rupee lines extended by India and would contribute towards stabilising the economy of Colombo.

Last month, Sri Lanka agreed to used Indian rupee (INR) for international trade.

What is rupee trade settlement mechanism?  

Last year in July, the RBI opened up rupee trade. It came at a time when the dollar was appreciating at a very fast rate. Also, a lot of sanctions were imposed on Russia.

To mitigate both the issues, the central bank of India – RBI – came up rupee trade mechanism.

How does it work?

Rupee trade settlement mechanism is a method of using INR instead of dollars and other big currencies for international transactions.

Now, trade transactions are done in US dollar since it is the globally accepted payment benchmark.

With the rupee trade mechanism, the exporter can receive or pay remittances in rupee.

For the unversed, dealing and payments of most of imports, including crude oil and several overseas transactions by India have to be paid in US dollar.

India has to sell INR to buy dollars to pay OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) for its oil imports.

Also, INR is not fully convertible and, therefore, it is often difficult to get buyers for it. On the other hand, USD has higher demand as compared to INR and its supply is controlled by the Fed.

Must Read: Indian rupee going global? After Russia, 35 countries show interest in INR trade settlement mechanism

If the trade is done in rupees, RBI will not be required to look for buyers for INR to sell dollars in return.

For example, if a buyer in India enters into a transaction with a seller from Spain, he/she first has to convert rupee into dollars to make payment of the purchase.

After receiving those dollars, the seller will have to get the amount converted into euro. Both the parties involved will incur the conversion expenses and also face the risk of foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

India has been reportedly looking to bring countries that are short of dollars into the rupee trade settlement mechanism.

A Vostro account will enable countries to get the invoice of the goods and services made in Indian rupees if the counterparty has a Rupee Vostro account. They will no longer have to pay or receive dollars.

What are Vostro accounts?

Vostro is an inter-bank, inter-country accounts.

For example, a bank in India does not have a branch in other country, say Denmark. So, this bank opens an account in another bank in Denmark, which is already present in the european country. This is called as Authorised Dealer (AD) for which it takes the AD permission from the RBI.

Rupee Vostro accounts keep a foreign entity’s holdings in the Indian bank in INR. When an Indian buyer wants to make transaction in rupees with a foreign trader, the amount will be credited to this Vostro account. When the Indian exporter needs to be paid for goods supplied, this Vostro account will be deducted, and the amount will be credited to the exporter’s account.

Don’t Miss: Russia starts foreign trade settlements in rupee, more countries to join

For example, a bank of Denmark may approach an AD bank in India for the opening of Special Rupee Vostro account. After which, the AD bank will seek approval from RBI with details of the arrangement and post the approval granted by the India’s central bank, the Special Rupee Vostro account in the Indian AD bank by a Denmark bank will get operational.

The trade settlement between the two parties can then start in INR. Also, the exchange rate between the currencies of the two trading nations may be market determined.

Giving greater flexibility to Vostro facility, the Indian central bank last November clarified that the rupee balances lying in the accounts can be hedged so that foreign companies can minimise their losses from foreign exchange fluctuations.

Also, the RBI has given its approval to transfer balance in one special rupee Vostro account to a similar account of another bank from the same country.

Last month, Russia became the first country to begin settlement of foreign trade in rupee, giving up dollar and euro all together.

About 35 nations have expressed interest in better understanding the rupee trade mechanism. They include neighbours such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar which have been grappling with a shortage of dollar reserves.

As per reports, Tajikistan, Cuba, Luxembourg and Sudan have also been talking to India about using the mechanism.

Also Read: Sri Lanka, Russia to use Indian rupee for international trade, more countries in talks

On Friday, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said rupee settlement for cross-border trade has huge potential. He added that the central bank has initiated talks with some nations in South Asia to facilitate such trade.

We are already in discussions with some of the countries in this region to facilitate rupee settlement of cross-border trade in the South Asian region. So, that can be another area which has a very big potential in the years to come,” he said.

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The incident took place in the temple town of Katharagama in Sri Lanka, where pilgrims were travelling in the van.

Author: Editorial Board, ANU Courtesy East Asia Forum

If you think your New Year hangover was bad, spare a thought for Sri Lanka. In 2022 what was once a dynamic economy on its way to high middle-income status became a cautionary tale of how rotten politics, and the bad policy it produces, can trump otherwise promising economic prospects.

As Dushni Weerakoon writes in this week’s lead article, a continuation of our Year in Review series on the major developments of the year across the region, Sri Lanka has set out on a hard road to recovery in a political environment not conducive to the structural reforms the country needs to achieve its potential.

In the short term, ‘Sri Lanka is banking on an IMF bailout to facilitate access to bilateral and multilateral financial support to get the economy back on track.’ Progress is being made in securing a deal, with the IMF agreeing access to US$2.9 billion under its Extended Fund Facility and the World Bank confirming Sri Lanka has ‘reverse graduated’ to be eligible for concessional finance under the International Development Association. But with Sri Lanka having an unwieldy mix of private and official creditors, the IMF program will require financing assurances and a good faith effort from creditors to restore debt sustainability before Sri Lanka is able to get the support it seeks.

Further bad news, Weerakoon says, is that ‘the standard IMF policy prescription that demands stringent financial discipline means that adjustment costs will be front-loaded, preventing the government from spending its way out of recession. Accordingly, taxes are being hiked and expenditures are being cut’ to get the Fund’s money in the door.

From the IMF’s perspective, this is a feature of the Extended Fund Facility, rather than a bug. The IMF program is intended to help Sri Lanka restore macroeconomic stability and implement necessary reforms, including anti-corruption reforms, to address medium-term balance of payments challenges — rather than subsidising the government’s day-to-day expenses. ‘Even if everything goes according to plan, it will be another two or three years before the Sri Lankan public feels any real improvement in economic conditions.’

That timeframe could be of great importance. As Weerakoon notes, ‘[w]ith all the uncertainties, next year will be crucial for Sri Lanka as it gears up for the all-important presidential elections in 2024.’ Until then President Ranil Wickremasinghe — an ally of the ousted Rajapaksa brothers who was installed by parliament after they fled the country in July 2022 — will navigate both the international debt restructuring negotiations and the domestic policies they entail without any electoral mandate.

For this reason, as Weerakoon says, ‘[a]n economic crisis can sometimes be the catalyst of a major economic overhaul, but in the absence of political stability the downside risks are significant. Governments have far fewer resources in hand to compensate those who are bound to lose out from reforms.’

The Sri Lanka situation occurs against the backdrop of the need for new modes of global debt governance as the international landscape of sovereign creditors becomes more diverse, with China, the Gulf states and India, and private and state-owned creditors based in these countries, all claiming larger roles as development financiers abroad.

As the role of non-traditional creditors grows, governance frameworks for global debt need to change. Recent controversies over the role that Chinese lenders have played in the debt crises afflicting Tonga and Tanzania haven’t substantiated the ‘debt trap’ narrative — nor has China’s role in Sri Lanka’s current problems. Rather, they’ve obscured a more mundane but equally concerning reality: that Chinese lenders got out over their skis in extending loans abroad, driven by a complex mixture of domestic commercial and bureaucratic interests. It’s in everybody’s interest, including China’s, that its overseas lending practices are guided by more clearly-articulated policy principles and are executed with more transparency that has been the case so far.

The impulse to make the developing-world’s debt problem the object of geopolitical rivalry shouldn’t distract from a more worthwhile goal: to fold China, as well as the other emerging non-traditional leaders into fit-for-the times coordination — and, if necessary, adapting those frameworks to the reality that business as usual is increasingly an anachronism. As the World Bank’s chief economist warned in a recent interview, ‘we are applying a restructuring model that was devised for another time’, when Western governments or multilateral lenders were dominant. The Paris Club creditors’ coordination group no longer reflects the creditor mix in emerging economies.

Change is in the interests of all the stakeholders in this mix. The need for multilateral economic coordination through bodies like the G20 couldn’t be clearer. The beleaguered G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI has had only one country achieve debt restructuring in two years. One significant improvement could be expanding eligibility to middle-income countries: until its December ‘reverse graduation’ under the World Bank, Sri Lanka was ineligible — as alluded to in the 2022 Bali G20 Leaders Declaration which noted that members were ‘concerned about the deteriorating debt situation in some vulnerable middle-income countries’.

Sri Lanka will likely face economic pressures for much of the decade ahead, but it would do well to take inspiration from the experience of the region in moving past the Asian Financial Crisis. Indonesia was forced to ‘reverse graduate’ in 1999 in order to access concessional finance but proceeded to graduate again in 2008 and is now a powerhouse economy in the region, whose sustained run of sound macroeconomic management can in no small part be put down to the memories of the traumas of the crisis and its aftermath.

If there’s a silver lining to the hard years ahead for Sri Lanka, it is to be found in the hope that its elites will never allow a repeat of the abysmal policymaking that its people are now paying for with their economic livelihoods.

The EAF Editorial Board is located in the Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Wildlife officials have been advised by their director general to arrest people who feed wild elephants and those cause harm to them, after increasing incidents have been reported.

Director General of Wildlife Department, Chandana Suriyabandara said that incidents were reported not only on the Buttala-Kataragama road, but also in other places like Udawalawa, Habarana, etc.

The attention of the ministry in this regard had been focused on the news published in the media as well as on social media, showing cases of accidents to vehicles due to attacks by wild elephants on the Buttala-Kataragama road, he said.

Accordingly, the damage caused by wild elephants has increased due to people traveling in vehicles on those roads, feed the pachyderms, he said.
 
They said the animals used to get food from the vehicles, and some passengers and drivers tried to harm the wild elephants by driving them away with thorns. 

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera advised the Wildlife Director General to initiate a short-term program immediately to minimize such incidents.

As a result, officers and vehicles from the Yala Forest Site Office were deployed over the last four days, from 5:00 am to midnight and mobile vehicles were used to drive away the wild elephants that were straying on the Buttala-Kataragama road, to prevent vehicle accidents.

The wildlife department says that during the past four days, due to the deployment of mobile vehicles on the Buttala-Kataragama road, wild elephants have stopped coming towards the road, and incidents of damage to vehicles have not been reported during that period.

Wild Life Director General Chandana Suriyabandara said that the wildlife department has decided to continue to apply this program from now on. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Power and Energy stated that cabinet approval has been granted to amend the general policy guidelines for the electricity industry and to implement a cost-effective electricity tariff beginning from January 2023.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) today said that they cannot accept the proposed electricity tariff hike and said the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is not incurring a huge loss over the past few years.

While accepting the public petition signed by 6.9 million electricity consumers at his office, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Rathnayaka said today that at least Rs. 35 billion goes out of the CEB indirectly and the CEB does not incur losses.

The prime reason for the loss was due to the inability to accurately manage Rs. 35 billion. The ordinary tax policy of the country had been violated when taking the decision to increase the electricity tariff.

When valuing one metric ton of coal, there is a US$90 price difference. “There is an error in this calculation,” he said.

As a result, the PUCSL has full authority to reject the cabinet decision and announce that the electricity tariff hike based on incorrect values. “The proposal for the electricity rate revision is an illegal decision taken by the ministry,” Rathnayaka added. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)